Best Homebrewer's kit

http://www.northernbrewer.com/essential-brewing-starter-kit

It even gives you the dropdown option to order a simple extract recipe with it as well, all for $89. Not a bad deal!

 

Here's a link to a search that I did of this forum using 'kit' as the search word in the thread titles. You'll be able to read many answers and opinions re: your question in these threads. http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/search/32578325/?q=kit&o=date&c[title_only]=1&c[node]=8

The kit that Lukass linked does not include a boil kettle, so you'll have to have something that you can use or come up with more money for that item. If you have 'limited space' can I assume that you're in an apartment? Frequently an apartment setting will give you two obstacles to try to overcome, or you'll have to work with what these obstacles will allow you to brew.

First, if your stove (I'm assuming that you won't be outside with an LP gas burner as your heat source) is electric, you may not be able to brew a large batch without using some workarounds. If you already have a boil kettle that can hold around 3 gallons of water, try a test boil to see if your stove handle it. If you can't get 3 gallons to a rolling boil, downsize the water amount until you can do so. That info will help you decide how much beer you can brew. There is nothing wrong with brewing 2-gallon batches (or even less) although the same amount of work is involved whether you brew one gallon or five. To also help you decide on a batch size, you should get around ten 12-oz. bottles for every gallon brewed.

The second obstacle can be whether you have a place to ferment your beer where you can keep an ambient temp around 65 degrees. Apartments generally lack this capability, and I see that you live in Georgia.... Again, there are workarounds to help overcome that obstacle (Google 'swamp cooler' or watch YouTube videos on the subject).

Also, do a search of this forum of thread titles using 'newbie' as your search word. You'll get many threads that discuss the topic of getting started.

Don't hesitate to ask questions, but those threads should give you a lot of answers. Also, it's pretty much standard operating procedure around here to recommend that you read John Palmer's book www.HowToBrew.com which is free online, or purchase the newer edition so that you have something that you can mark up with highlighting, writing notes, etc. Welcome to this hobby, and I hope that you'll find it to be an enjoyable time killer so that you can have your very own beer in the fridge.

 

I put this together for a friend a few years ago. Just another option(s) to an all-in-one kit.


Fermentation/bottling
http://morebeer.com/products/personal-home-brewery-kit-1-standard.html

kettle/burner
http://www.amazon.com/Brinkmann-815...ubst_lg_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=14G8ZEBYYHQVSGJXSM9Y

With

http://morebeer.com/products/stainless-weldless-ball-valve.html

Chiller
http://morebeer.com/products/stainless-steel-wort-chiller-25-38-tubing.html

Oxygenation (advanced)
http://morebeer.com/products/oxygenation-partial-system.html

Books
www.howtobrew.com (This is the new-brewers bible in my opinion. Its updated and free online.)

http://morebeer.com/products/brew.html

http://morebeer.com/products/book-brewing-classic-styles-80-winning-recipes-brew.html

Kegging instead? (Advanced)
http://morebeer.com/products/basic-homebrew-draft-system-pin-lock.html


Anything else would be chemicals for cleaning, miscellaneous tubing, ingredients, and little things like clamps which really can't be determined until building and dry-runs happen.

***Everything in this list has a substitute that may be cheaper or you may already have it and can be re-purposed. There is also a great homebrew shop in LC at Kirkman and Gulf St. The specific stuff I have listed has a great balance of price/quality/longevity/convenience/simplicity/one stop shopping. You can go broke on specialized widgets and the like. I'm more of a streamline/multitasker brewer.

***Also, everything in this list has it's counterpart in the Northern Brewer, William's Brewing, ect. catalog. I typically use MoreBeer because totals of more than $59 has free shipping.

***Kegs and kegging stuff, as well as all of this stuff, can be found as individual pieces on eBay/Craigslist cheaper if you have the luck and time to find it, but ASSUMING YOU HAVE A SPARE FRIDGE OR COOL/STABLE TEMP AREA TO FERMENT IN, this is everything you need (except for experience) to make fantastic beer and will be current for a long time.

I have not included a mash tun. That will come later after you transition away from kits/extract.

I know this seems like a lot, but there is much much more specialized areas that make an impact, like yeast starters and grain mills, that are great improvements but not necessary yet.

 

Both. If its something of moderate abv, that i want to consume plenty of and quickly, I keg. If its higher abv, and I want to store for longer periods of time, I bottle.

 

Beer in a keg, if properly handled, should actually hold up just as good if not better than bottled beer over time.

The issue I pointed out above comes down to storage practicality. I only have so many kegs and so much kegerator space. I want to put a keg in there that will be consumed within a month and not six months.

 

Kegging is a much more significant upfront cost and has a larger space requirement for a kegerator. Bottles are easy to get, but a pain in the ass (or in my case, knees) to fill and cap. Bottles have the added benefit of ease for sharing, but kegs can fill growlers or bottles (with a bottle gun) if desired.

Basically it comes down to the space/cost thing. If neither of those is an issue, kegging is the way to go.

 

I use very little of the original kit I bought, that being said, if you think it is a hobby you are going to stick with, my advice is go bigger than you think.

I keg. Once I made the switch I never looked back. I can bottle off the kegs if I want to age something long term, send beer to a friend, or enter a competition. Soooooo much easier..