Not sure if this is the correct place for this, and if it isn't, my apologies. With that said, what is the best kit / essential equipment for someone who wants to seriously get into homebrewing?
Good question and I'd say you're in the right place. Check out the plethora of Black Friday deals on the major home brewing retail websites. Brulosophy pushed out the following this morning: http://brulosophy.com/2018/11/23/black-friday-2018-homebrewing-deals/ Proceeds are being donated the CA fire victims, pretty good group of dudes. As far as which one to get, I'd say the majority of us started the same way so it's really more about the quantity you desire to produce, 5 gallon batches being the most popular. I'll say that once the addiction hits, and it comes fast, you'll want to dump a lot of the equipment and upgrade. That said, I've found ways to convert the old stuff into something useful, so I wouldn't say it's an all bad deal. Hope this helps!
Agreed with @campbellvt, no one is really ripping you off, although you might be buying things in kits you don't really need. Regardless of what you buy you'll still need to find a homebrew store (and hopefully homebrew club) so you might want to just go there first and see what they've got. They should be able to help you immensely. I buiolt everything myself piece-meal and they understood that and still helped me with the things that I did need. I'll assume that you're starting with extract but it doesn't really matter, what I want to say is don't skimp on your kettle. Buy a nice one. A big stainless steel pot with a lid and solid handles. Even if you give up homebrewing you can use that for the rest of your life, or if you don't cook, sell it off because it has some value. Regardless, don't skimp on your kettle now, and bigger won't hurt unless you go really crazy!
Yeah I really don't want to get stuck with equipment I'm going to want to immediately upgrade after a few batches, It does seem like going to a homebrew store is going to be my best option in that regard. Is it really best to start with extract or could I use actual killed grain for malt if chose to?
I recommend doing at least one extract batch, to get familiar with most of the basics. Your first brew day will be a lot less stressful that way.
@campbellvt makes a major point about batch size being an important factor. Many homebrewers choose to brew small batches entirely without upgrading to larger batches. If you choose small batches you'll get only 10-12 bottles out of it. Drink them and you can get in to your next batch more quickly, so you get a larger variety of beers more quickly. If you choose to brew 5-gallon batches (most recipes are written for 5 gallons) you'll get 48-50 twelve ounce bottles. You can decide on batch sizes in between one and five and how you will be able to consume the beer amount personally or give some to friends before brewing another batch. also if you brew 5-gallon batches you can get into kegging your beer too.
