Beginner Home Brew Kits - Small Format

I brew indoors in my little kitchen all winter(Northern Michigan), and it's no problem. I have an 8 gallon pot that takes a bit longer to get up to temp on the stove than with a turkey fryer, but no real issues. Don't limit yourself!

Most shops should be able to make a little kit for you.

 

A lot of your success for brewing a batch that is in the 5-gallon size is whether your heat source can handle the boil of a liquid that is in the 4-5 gallon size (assuming your kitchen stove is electric). If you want to try brewing beer as larger batches that what you propose in your 1-3 gallon amount, then I suggest that you try boiling a 4-5 gallon pot of water (or as big of a pot that you can) just to see if your stove can handle it in a reasonable time period. Since you are hoping to make 3-gallon batches, you probably should at least see if your stove can handle 3.5 gallons because that will help you determine what kettle size you should purchase. (That 3.5 gallons allows for some boil-off, but you could get by with less liquid and then top-off with water after the boil.)

Also, read backward among the pages in this thread because small-batch brewing is a topic that comes up occasionally.

 

Lots of 1 gallons starter kits out there now. Many homebrew shops like Northern Brewer, Austin HB and Love2Brew among a few others...not positive if MoreBeer does. My colleague does 1 gallons sizes and cranks through several a month...for him it's like making dinner. When I homebrew, it's kind of a production, needing to slot out a big chunk of my time. I'd recommend starting there, then stepping up when you feel the timing & recipe is deserving.