Where do you buy your brewing equipment?

[Balog]

Seriously considering getting into home brewing this winter, trying to plan out the needed purchases. Even though I'm generally a huge fan of buying used on Craig's List, I'm thinking of getting a basic kit and upgrading/adding to it as time goes on.

Also, a couple questions. Can I just save my old beer bottles and boil/recap them? Any books/websites you all can recommend?

[MillCreek]

Williams Brewing for online, and the Cellar, in North Seattle, for buying things in person.

[GigaBuist]

Back when I used to brew I got everything from a local store.  Shipping on bulky stuff like fermenters was expensive at the time.  This would have been probably 2004-ish.

Nice store.  They have a really good beer selection, all the gear and supplies you need, and everybody that works there is required to have some brewing experience.

[SADShooter]

I have been dealing with these folks for years: http://www.austinhomebrew.com/index.php

Shipping is free on orders over $100, and they have an extensive array of recipe kits, from in-house styles to commercial clones.

I frequently reuse bottles. Getting labels off and sanitizing can be a chore, but it's cheap. Caps are too cheap for me to reuse, but I have done it as an experiment.

[AZRedhawk44]

I reuse bottles as long as they're not twist-off.

I buy my stuff in-town from brew stores.  Tends to be too bulky to order online, though now that I have most of my core gear at this point, I can start looking into 'net orders for recipe components.

[RevDisk]

Seriously considering getting into home brewing this winter, trying to plan out the needed purchases. Even though I'm generally a huge fan of buying used on Craig's List, I'm thinking of getting a basic kit and upgrading/adding to it as time goes on.

Also, a couple questions. Can I just save my old beer bottles and boil/recap them? Any books/websites you all can recommend?

Buy local.  There's probably a homebrewing supply store within 20 minutes.  Buy a kit wine, and start with that.  It'll have everything you need and instructions.  Hit up YouTube for any specific questions or ask us. 

[cosine]

I just recently got a Brewer's Best Beer Brewing Equipment Kit as a graduation present. I'm currently saving up bottles before I make my first batch. There's a Northern Brewer brewing store about 8 minutes away for me, and I'm planning on starting with a Cream Ale or Pale Ale extract kit.

At least to me, starter kits seem like decent quality and you get all the basic hardware you need in one go except for a boiling kettle.

[Bogie]

Drink Grolsch or anything else that comes in fliptops...
 
I want a cheap reusable keg, so that I don't have to bottle.
 

[Northwoods]

Also, a couple questions. Can I just save my old beer bottles and boil/recap them? Any books/websites you all can recommend?

Yes, as long as they're not twist offs.  And you don't boil them.  You can sterilize them with either bleach or iodifor (iodine based sterilizer).  The iodifor would preferred as you don't have rinse as much as with bleach (they say you don't have to rinse it at all, but I always did at least a quick rinse).

Get "The New Complete Guide to Homebrewing" by Charlie Papazian.  "The Homebrewers Companion" by the same author is also good.

[bedlamite]

Drink Grolsch

 

I want a cheap reusable keg, so that I don't have to bottle.
 

I have no clue how well this would work:

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/tap-a-draft-starter-kit.html

[wmenorr67]

http://www.highgravitybrew.com/

I use these guys in Tulsa.

[MikeB]

Assuming you rinse out the bottles immediately after use a great way to sanitize is to run them through a dishwasher with no soap. The drying cycle will sanitize them. I've used this method for a few years now. Doesn't work as well if you have bottles with residue, for that you need the soak in bleach/iodine or something like OneStep sanitizer.

I have great local homebrew shop with reasonable pricing a few miles away so I personally have never ordered stuff online/mail order for brewing.

[zahc]

I just started brewing. I bottled my 2nd batch about an hour ago. Both of my batches have come out, but not that great. This one is going to be better. Since it takes a good 2 months per batch (if you bottle), it pays to get a pipeline going. I have a good store (Homebrew HQ in Dallas). I use plastic bucket fermenters; they are cheaper than carboys and you can put spouts on them. I like drinking homebrew for some reason, even if it's not actually better, and in the long run it should work out to about half price.

I reuse bottles as long as they are not screw-caps. I also mine for bottles at my (bachelor) friend's apartment. Each trip yields at least 12 suitable bottles, and he has more desk space afterward.