So, if buying from Midwest Supplies, could you tell me exactly what I'd need? (Obviously I'd need more bottles-I'd probably brew the hefeweissen the next time around).

Could I get by with just a 6.5 gal bucket w/ lid and an airlock as long as I had a pot big enough to burn 2.5 gallons?
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As an absolute minimum you should be able to.

Here's what I would do

1. Sanitize bucket and add 2.5 gallons of boiled water (this is anal, but I don't like to worry about my tap water having bugs in it) - let cool overnight while covered

2. Do an extract boil to finish up with 2.5 gallons of wort

3. Add wort to bucket and cover

4. Pitch yeast when you get to temp

So basically doing this you need a bucket, an airlock, and something big enough to boil 3 gallons of water in. Keep in mind with the pot that you'll have a hot break so you'll want a 5 gallon pot at least.

How did you bottle from the mr beer kit? I don't know how those kits work. Bottling using the method outlined above would require some additional equipment.
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This kit has everything you would need except the pot and ingredients to do an extract batch. I'd recommend getting a grain bag also so that you can do partial mash kits.

There's really nothing in the kit that I wouldn't want to have around except the instructional DVD. You can get that info for free online :-)
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What do you think of this pot? Is it worth the money?

http://indianapolis.craigslist.org/for/2723991745.html
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I haven't bottled yet. It's still about 10 days away. The kit came with (8) plastic 1 liter bottles. The Mr. Beer fermenter has a spigot at least for easy pouring into each bottle. I haven't looked at it in much detail yet, but I have to put a bit of sugar into each bottle I think.
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Those look like a lot more kettle than you'd need for doing extract batches. You won't need the fittings to move 2.5 gallons of water around. Just lift the pot. I bet the $95 is for the smallest pot he's offering without fittings also. I've seen that posting on my local craigslist also, which is odd.

I'd buy a pot like this 1, 2, 3.

I list 8 gallon pots there so you have room to go to full boils without buying a new pot if you decide to boil 5 gallon batches.
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Duane. Go on BedBathBeyond.com and sign up for their newsletter. They will then send you a 20% coupon that you can use for a very nice high quality pot.
Thats what I did. I think I got a 3 gallon pot for around $40 and its heavy duty.
I have been using it for 4 years now.
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Another thing he could do with the pre boil 2.5 gal is to freeze it (after boil) and then add this to help the other 2.5 boil mash come down to pitch temp quicker. I hate waiting ;o)
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If it's the 15 gallon pot as stated in the keywords, that's an awesome deal. I just got one similar to it for use as my hot liquor tank, but that's all grain. As Brendan says, it's much more than you'd need for extract.

(although, following other advice in these forums: you might as well go bigger--you'll eventually need the room!) :-)
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The guy posting those is http://www.spikebrewing.com/

He posts all over craig's list in different cities.
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Whoa!!!! Never seen that site before....Lots of great recipes there omg ;o)

thanks kaisersozei
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where the hell would one get bells liquid yeast?
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You would harvest it from the bottle.
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Checked the gravity last night and I'm about 1.012 so it looks like fermentation is about done. I think another two weeks in the primary to let it clear a little and I'll bottle it. I tasted the sample I pulled to test the gravity and it tastes like beer! Woo hoo!
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Once I get out of the lab today I'm brewing 10 gallons of German Pils.

% LB OZ Malt or Fermentable ppg °L
96% 20 0 Best Malz Pilsner 35 2 ~
4% 0 13 Weyermann CaraFoam 34 1 ~

use time oz variety form aa
boil 60 mins 2.75 Hallertau pellet 4.3
boil 15 mins 2.0 Hallertau pellet 4.3
boil 1 min 1.0 Hallertau pellet 4.3

The recipe (not mine) won best in show at last years homebrew comp up here and was in one of the latest BYO's. Let's see how bad I can mess it up...
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Today I took some time to learn about washing yeast. That would save a significant amount of money over time.
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Yep, that's exactly what I did. Bell's uses the same yeast for just about all of their beers, I've read where it might be a California V strain. Not sure. Anyway, last year I salvaged some Hopslam yeast from a bottle that newcigarz sent me and propagated it up to an adequate amount. I pitched it into an IPA where it performed pretty well, and then salvaged more from the secondary. I now have about a half dozen mason jars of Bell's yeast in my frig.

Since then I've used it in a porter, IPA, IIPA, and a brown ale, all to good results.
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Another thing I like to do is to pitch ontop of a yeast cake; if I am brewing a similar beer. It not only saves a little money, but fermentation starts faster.
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I am debating doing just that with the irish dry stout I have in the fermenter right now, then washing the yeast after that batch and storing it until the next time for a stout batch called for in a few months.
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I've always worried about overpitching when racking directly onto the yeast cake.
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