Best beginners homebrew kit

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Permalink Reply by Nathan on September 19, 2014 at 12:30pm

You can get a starter kit that comes with everything to make beer from a tin, If you got hat way id suggest getting some hop pellets as well to jazz it up a bit, Just add them to the brew by making a hop tea(coffee plunger) using a small handfull of hops and adding it to the fermenter when mixing up all the ingredients,Then about 5 days into fermentation throw another handfull into the barrel

http://www.brewshop.co.nz/brewing-equipment/coopers-home-brew-start...

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Permalink Reply by Cain Harland on September 19, 2014 at 1:20pm

You will definitely need a fermenter some bottles and a way of transferring beer to bottle. The plastic fermenters are fine and there are better things to spend money on than a fancier one. You can buy plastic screw top bottles or get empty crates from th mill for bugger all if your going glass you will need a capper. That would get him brewing from a kit. All grain requires quite a lot more gear.
First upgrade should be temperature control for fermentation which can be set up fairly cheaply with an old fridge an stc-1000 and a heat belt or pad. Being able to maintain temperature makes a big difference.
Mangrove jacks pilsner is fairly good for a kit beer. The cans all say ferment for 7 days or so but 2 week is better.

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Permalink Reply by Brett Mason on September 19, 2014 at 2:04pm

Since you are in Dunedin I would recommend the kit I started with, the Deluxe starter kit from Dunedin Malthouse. It has everything you need to start making kit beers. I'm still using the gear ~4 years later. If you head down there on a Saturday Bart should be able to sort you out with a couple of tweaks to ensure your boyfriend gets really good results from the kit beers.

http://www.dunedinmalthouse.com/?wpsc-product=home-brewing-delux-st...

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Permalink Reply by B Sawyer on September 21, 2014 at 1:30pm

Thanks very much everyone for your helpful suggestions. I have gone with the suggestion from Brett, and also bought some extra hops to add to the first brew. Now to find somewhere to hide it for the next week! And fingers crossed he likes it!

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