Best carboys for labs according to redditors

Get a "Brew in a bag" bag, if you want to do BIAB. They're resilient and worth the extra money. You won't find them on Amazon.

If you want to start going to all grain you can buy a large Coleman / Igloo cooler (60 quart is what I use, can do up to 10 gallon batches). Ball valve and fittings, some pipe tape too. Don't forget a pulley to help get the bag out of the cooler!

You can get a flask, stir bar, and everything else you need to start making yeast starters.

Grab a large spoon and/or a flask wisk to help mashing.

Amazon also sells immersion chillers to help with the post boil. I bought mine for $50 and I think it's the 25' one. Works like a charm for 5 gallon batches.

Get a good pair of insulated gloves for your brew day!

Amazon also sells thermometers to help track mash temperatures. I have this one and this one. They're both great. An IR thermometer is great to have for yeast starters too...but definitely not needed. Would put that at the bottom of my purchase list.

Oh! A sterile siphon is also awesome. Bought that from Amazon too.

And so I don't keep rambling, Homebrewfinds as a good list of filler stuff from Amazon. Things like campden tablets, hop bags, pieces to make hop spiders....etc. http://www.homebrewfinds.com/homebrewing-related-amazon-fillers

Just get one of these. Best carboy ever.

Sterile Siphon Starter.

It's stainless so it will never break. Super easy to clean. Even easier to use. I hooked up a co2 line on mine to lower the chance of oxygen pick up during transfer.

You can probably get everything needed from your local Homebrew shop.

Like this

Looks like this shop sells PBW, so it's around. Also looks like there's a product called ChemiPro OXI that looks similar to Oxyclean Free.

You might be surprised how much gets removed by those products, I know I was when I first started, especially if you let them sit and work for a while (~24hrs is great). If you still need to get in there physically, there's brushes like this that can get in there and clean. They should be available through most Homebrew Stores.

If you're going to do this get those cubes they use in Australia for no chill and do it like them. Not all vessels will be safe to dump hot wort into, and there's a reasonable risk of infection or picking up something wild if it's not airtight. If it is airtight, it needs to be able to handle the shrinkage, or you're going to end up with a mess that's potentially dangerous. This is one I found googling around a little: https://www.amazon.com/Hudson-Exchange-Gallon-Container-Natural/dp/B01N7T5SGY (I think what you need to search for is "winpack" and "HDPE") Corny Kegs are another option.)

Here's a good write up: http://brulosophy.com/2015/02/09/a-year-of-no-chill-lessons-from-a-secret-xbmt/ A big takeway is you have to rethink how you formulate hoppy beers with this method.

FWIW I've added the occasional all-night mash, no sparge beer into the pipeline (saisons and blondes that work well with the higher attenuation you usually get from the extra long mash.) If I could add no-chill to those I'd have the ultimate lazy system.

I have one of these in my trunk. It's been knocked around plenty and cycled between 10°F and 110°F with no problems.

... I did not pay nearly as much as Amazon is asking for mine.

I think I've got it figured out, but I could use a help figuring out / confirming the parts and connections for a recirculating line cleaner for my keezer.


When I purchased the Mark II Keg & Carboy Washer it came with an inline attachment for the post that allows you to connect tubing on the side. I've done that and attached a swivel nut with a 1/4" barb so that I can hook up a gas or liquid disconnect and divert some of the flow into the gas or liquid dip tube while cleaning a keg.


Using the same pump and the abovementioned setup, would getting a pair of these (is this the right size threading?) and attaching them to either end of a length of tubing do the job? This would, in theory, connect the swivel nut at the end of the keg washer tube to the swivel nut of the beverage line that runs to a tap faucet (after removing the quick disconnect).

edit: to point to a different hose fitting (1/4" NPT rather than 1/8" NPT)

So something like this?

https://www.amazon.com/Vestil-CARB-5-Polyethylene-Rectangular-Capacity/dp/B00B514W0M

Those of you with a sterile siphon or similar set up: how do you handle sanitation?

With the auto-siphon I would just fill a jug with sanitizer and pump it through the rig for a minute or two. Do you fill up a carboy with sanitizer and drain it through the rig?

Glass carboys are okay but I prefer plastic. You don't need to secondary so that's cool you'd have two fermenting vessels.

Auto-siphons work but I think the Sterile Siphon is a lot better/easier/more sanitary/etc.

Carboy brush is good. I've never used a beer bottle brush but I guess they're handy? Capper + caps are good. The instructional DVD might be useful if you're into watching instructional DVDs.

I'm interested in the sanitizer. I see they have 1-Step in the picture but that's for cleaning. Star San is the best sanitizer in my opinion because it's no rinse and super effective when mixed properly.

This kit doesn't seem to include a hydrometer? You'll definitely want one of those to check your starting and final gravities. Refractometers cost more but are easier because they only require a drop of wort.

The extract kits are pretty generic. I'd probably choose the Caribou Slobber because every time I've brewed extract and seen other people brew extract, the wort comes out darker than expected.

Personally I don't like those kits. If I were starting all over again and wanted to do 5G batches, I'd get at least an 8 gallon pot, a fine mesh bag, a 6.5G Better Bottle, and the other accessories (hydometer/StarSan + spray bottle/bung/airlock/sterile siphon/etc) and just do all-grain brew in a bag (BIAB). For more on that, check out this post.