I purchased a homebrewing kit
 

from here

CONTAINS:

* Six gallon glass carboy
* Six gallon bottling bucket with spigot
* Funnel
* Blowoff hose
* Fermentation lock
* Rubber stopper
* Siphon tubing
* AutoSiphon
* Bottle filler
* Bottle brush
* Carboy brush
* Bottle capper
* 144 bottle caps
* Beer thief
* Thermometer
* Hydrometer
* 8 oz One-Step Sanitizer
* Complete instructions

I also added an ingredients kit for a German Alt.

I had done some searching for kits and this seemed like the best for the price. I'm anxious to start.

Congrats! I've been brewing for over 10 years and I love it! There are many good sources of info on the web. Have fun and have a homebrew!!

It's a blast....but even more fun if you do it with a buddy!!

Get a few going at once....so you can drink one while you brew another!

I'm almost finished printing out John Palmer's How To Brew. I had to use some crafty methods at the school computer lab there is a 10 paper limit.

A friend of mine is looking into some kits. So I hope I can show him up with a good first batch.

Did it for years living in Saudi. You can make some good hootch that way!

JoeA

Congrats man! Definately get a batch going and keep us posted on how it turns out. . . Remember, sterilize the crap out of everything! You can't use too much idophor.

I think my next is going to be an all-grain IPA. We'll see how motivated I feel when I hit the homebrew shop this week. . .

I too have been homebrewing for about 10 years, and recently have started making wine as well. A fun hobby, and one that all of my friends enjoy "sharing."

I forgot to ask in my original post but are there any items, like kitchen utensils, that I should get specifically for brewing that isn't included in the kit?

My Father-in-law got a “Mr. Beer” kit almost 2 yrs ago as a gift. It’s grown into a decent operation. His brew is coming around VERY nicely and my wife even likes it. He made a version of Moretti La Rossa and it turned of great! He’s been tweaking his “Bass Ale” and he’s really getting into it. We went for lunch Saturday and had a Four Peaks Kiltlifter and he said “Hmm, It’s not as good as I remember”. Went to his place later and had one of his brews and he says “Heck, I only like drinking my own stuff now”.


He uses a large 30 qt pot (I think) for brewing. He says it can be tough getting the stove to sustain heat in something that large at the required temp. I’m not sure what else he has aside from your list but it seems you are on the right track. He very thorough (read anal) and sanitization is very important. Plan on the preparation-brewing-racking to fermentation-clean up to take several hours. Probably 5-6 hours or so. Just guessing here so if I'm way off let's hope someone pipes up with a more accurate timeline. I’m sure it shortens as you get better but set aside more time at first.

Take pics and keep us updated!

I use 10 gallon stainless steel kettles to brew and a King Cooker unit hooked up to my natural gas line to get all the BTU's I need to bring 7 gallons of water to boil in less than 15 minutes! No more brewing on the stovetop!