First Beermaking Kit

From the NB website...
"The bottom of the (5G) kettle has a slight ridge, which can make it less than ideal for an electric stove."

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/5-gallon-stainless-kettle.html

As a small batch brewer myself...I'd take a pass.

 

I got a deluxe glass kit with an extra carboy and the California Common kit, which I actually just bottled today. Considering shipping and all, it came out to around $300 and I'd say it's well worth it, the glass and equipment are high quality, and they have really good instructions and a helpful DVD with the kits. My batch should be ready after a week or so of bottle conditioning, but what I've tasted so far is pretty close to style. I'm sure you can do smaller batches if you just scaled down the ingredients on a brewing calculator website like Mr. Malty. I'd also suggest getting a small outdoor propane burner and doing a full 5 gallon batch, you can get them for under $80 or so if you look. Get a pot that will hold more than your full boil volume, and look at local restaurant supply stores for great deals on huge pots (I did 5 gallons in a 6.5 gallon/40 quart pot.) And you need to get an immersion wort chiller IMO.
Quick brewing advice: pick a simple kit for your first time (a style your really enjoy) and focus on just getting your sanitization routines down and the timing of the boil additions/measurements. Clean, clean, and clean some more if you can and stay organized, it pays off later in a big way. Take good notes and measurements, and focus on temperature control as much as possible. Northern Brewer has a great kit selection and quick shipping turnaround, so you can count on fresh supplies. You can probably find a clone of one of your favorite beers on there, I love Anchor so I grabbed their kit of course. And most importantly, don't worry, relax and have a beer!

 

You asked a simple question. This ^^^ is not a simple answer (although good advice afrokaze, just too detailed for a start).
You do not need to do 'smaller batches', you will just do a smaller boil of 2.5 to 3 gal and then top it up to 5 gal with plain water in the fermenter (most kits are actually designed this way).
You do not need an outdoor propane burner. Not yet.
You also do not yet need a wort chiller. Yet.
All these things will come in time and you will know when to buy them.

The hook with this deal is the brewpot that you have to buy. HerbMeowing highlighted the problem with their cheapest version. The next cheapest option is a fairly expensive one at 79 bones, even though it is worth it. Truth is, you can get a perfectly usable pot for less than this at Walmart.

My advice: do it. Take advantage of this deal, but spring for the 7.5 gal pot to go with it (it will pay for itself in time). Or actually if you look at it this way, the free starter kit is worth twice the difference in price between the two kettles. Yeah, that didn't make sense to me either. But really, a good brew pot that gives you room to grow into full-boils or even all-grain will eventually be well worth the extra 40 bucks.
And as afro says, pick a kit for a style that you like, and pay close attention to your sanitation.

If you have any questions about the gear, the folks at NB are very approachable and will be happy to talk to you at length on the phone. Call them up.

 

Also you can check out your local homebrew distributor. They can be very helpful in hooking you up with the correct supplies as well as any questions you have regarding recipes etc.

 

Sorry, not trying to be a dick but since the guy is a newbie I want to make sure he gets the right size. 40 qt = 10 gallons which would be my vote. This size will give you plenty of room above your wort to prevent boil overs when you get into all-grain brewing. My pot was included with a turkey fryer I got from Bass Pro and it is a 30 qt. (7.5 gallon). I wish I had known to get a bigger pot. When you are trying to make 5 - 5.5 gallon all-grain batches you need to start with 6 - 6.5 gallons of wort as about 1 gallon will evaporate. You will appreciate the additional room in the pot.

I have this kit and it works great. It comes with a glass carboy which I like but may trade it for a PET carboy for weight sometime down the road.
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Equi...UTF8&coliid=ILHP1DWPLWNVS&colid=3FADVLY0BUAXE

The turkey fryer/30 qt. pot combo was $40 from Bass Pro. It was a Christmas sale so I'm sure it's a little more now.

OP, the deal seems like a pretty good one to me.

 

yeah, this is a great deal.

but get the bigger pot - i actually got the 5g pot from northern brewer originally, used it for 2 batches, then decided to go full boil and picked up a nice heavy duty 10g pot + turkey fryer and the first experience was a revelation.

i mean, you can still get the bigger pot, a beer kit, and the equip kit for basically $100...that is a steal

i convinced my sister to buy it

 

Right you are my friend, and I would have honestly gone for the 10 gal pot if I had the money at the time.

 

FWIW, if you are brewing on an electric stove, I would put the pot on top of some paperclips. Cuts down on the uneven heat and scorching.

 

The question was open-ended, so I gave an appropriate answer, albeit long-winded . And I would still argue that the wort chiller is probably the best extra piece of equipment I'd spring for, makes the process much easier/time efficient and helps with temperature control in a big way

 

To me the most important pieces of equipment are an auto-siphon and a wine thief. Those are cheep and extremely useful.

If you're not going to get an immersion wort chiller, count on about 20lbs of ice to cool your wort (assuming you're doing partial boils of up to about 3 gallons, a full boil would require even more ice).

 

I can get 3 gal of wort down to pitch temp in about 25-35 min with no ice at all in the winter, just circulating water in the sink similarly to a chiller. In warmer weather it takes only one 8lb bag to do the same.

 

REA - Yes, I've used a couple kits from Northern and I"ve been happy with the results. They're a large operation so they move inventory pretty quickly, which means you'll be getting fresh ingredients, which is nice.
The most recent kit I brewed from Northern is the Dry Dock Apricot Blonde Ale, which I just bottled last week, and I'm very happy with the results.

One thing you should always do, regardless of where you order from, it take inventory of the ingredients once the kit arrives in the mail. I'm not picking on Northern but I once received a kit from them that was missing a couple things. When I called they were very apologetic and mailed out the missing ingredients right away.

Unfortunately I don't have any advice on electric stoves or any batches smaller than 5 gallons, but logic says cut the ingredients by whatever your batch size. i.e. if you're doing 2.5 gallon batch then half the recipe.

Another tip: as other posters have suggested; you wont regret getting a larger put, just make sure that you pot will fit in you sink first, otherwise you'll need to invest in a wort chiller (potential hidden cost).

 

Or bathtub.