I’ve had a beginner kit in my basement for a while, but never had the time to make it. Now with the holidays, I set aside today to brew it. Probably could’ve done things better and sanitized more effectively, but I’m just happy to have done it at all. Now to let it ferment, and bottle in a week or so. I really hope it doesn’t taste like shit…
Hey welcome to the club!
Cover the bottle with something, light spoils the hops flavor even in dark brews and dark rooms. Kitchen foil should be more than enough.
This setup is surprisingly enough for almost everything one might need, if you are creative. Get a hydrometer early on though if you haven’t, it’s really a helpful tool.
I find induction heaters really nice to use, after using a gas burner for years, I’ve got a few induction ones and don’t plan to go back (one is outdoors, industrial unit mounted on a wooden rack). They are often pricy, but my 1200W unit was 50 Eur at most popular local supermarket and managed to boil quite some batches (industrial one was 10x that, it’s a beast I needed for other purposes).
If you keep evaporating a lot indoors, especially in colder weather, you’ll have condensation and might end up with mold and construction materials degradation, unless you set up proper exhaust really close to the boiler (make sure it draws well and whatever gets condensed in the line goes somewhere). Well, problems might start after several years of intense brewing probably, so don’t get too stressed about this.