Best place to get new brewing equipment.

[lilhatchet]

Hello all,
I was home brewing for a few years and got out of it for a while due to time more than anything. Sold my equipment had the basic setup with buckets and bottles no chiller so it was quite a pain to say the least cooling down the wort. I haven't brewed in a couple of years now. However have seen the error of my ways and am going to get back into brewing. I would like to get a complete setup to include kegging and a chiller. I don't want to go half ass. I have looked at few sites like northern brewer, more beer and was wanting to know from the BN what are some other reputable companies to look at for setting myself to get back into brewing. Any advice or suggestions is greatly apprecitated.

[lilhatchet]

Ok looking around I see this here for All Grain. What do you guys think?
[url]http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/brewing/brewing-equipment/all-grain-equipment/deluxe-all-grain-system-10-gallon.html/url]

[Beer_Baron]

Other than M3 and NW Brewer, you might want to check out Midwest Supplies, William's Brewing, or Austin Homebrew. The NW 10 gallon AG kit is fine if you want to fly sparge, but if you are curious about batch sparging, check out Denny's site - hbd.org/cascade/dennybrew/‎ - less equipment required. Also check the Homebrew finds blog - www.homebrewfinds.com/‎ it keeps track of what's on sale or otherwise cheap around the interwebs. If price is no object, by all means buy a 10 gallon all grain 2 cooler set, kegging rig and 15 gallon kettle from one of the shops above. But it is also possible to do it on the cheap and save your money to buy malt, hops and yeast!

[maxwell]

If you're getting kegs too, check out kegconnection. Their website may look a bit 1990s, but their prices tend to be very low and quality identical to the other resellers. Corny kegs have gotten super expensive - no getting around that.

[lilhatchet]

Thanks Maxwell and Beer Baron more research to be done.

[mobrewer]

For propane burners and kettles/stock pots compare your local sporting goods store to your local homebrew shop. Amazon, Craigslist, Equipbid are good too. I brew 5 gallon batches with a 7 gallon aluminum stockpot and propane burner combo from Bass Pro Shops (Cabelas or REI woul be similar). For a mash tun seem out garage sales and flea markets. A friend hooked me up with a 10g cylindrical Igloo cooler he found at a flea market for $1. I pInitially used toilet supply line and a plastic ball valve for about $5. I upgraded to a Stainless ball valve and bazooka screen six months later just for convenience mThe brass valve and supply line work too. As a previous brewer mentioned reference http://www.dennybrew.com.

For kegging shop the net. These days $55 is a decent price for a ball lock keg, especially if you don't need to replace seals, o-rings and relief valves.

As far as where to go that's up to you. I'd rather pay more for shopping local than trying to shop homebrew shops on the Internet. The customer service is great and if equipment equipment malfunctions Jeremy at Apex Brew Wares has backed me up numerous times by exchanging items on the spot even outside of store hours. One may pay at a LBHS but the service and lack of shipping charges should make up for perceived discounts with online shops. My 2 cents+.

[BigHurt99]

Here's another thought. Compare the cost of your set up online with your local homebrew shops (assuming you have one). All of the above places are great but consider keeping it local if you can.