Hi
always nice to hear about this topic.
I probably will never ferment with salt and after the mold deal I won't attempt that either but I do like to hear about your success and attempts, lol.
I don't want to bother my friend that dabbles in this because of his ill health but I did get a few links he posted several years ago.
Here they are, I am not sure how much help they will be:
Beer Making Kits | Refills | Homebrewing Recipes | Mr. Beer
Northern Brewer Home Brewing Supplies
I will look for his mead recipe but his thread is 400 pages long, lol.
We all loved this thread, it was a get together thread and have fun.
Here is his thread if you want to go through it.
https://www.mycopper.net/Forum/yaf_postst1079p3_Beer.aspx
This post was interesting, keep in mind there is a lot of messing around that could be offensive but the thread has a lot of valuable info if you can drudge through it.
"yes, when you open the package it is time to get to it.....you need to swap over to a five gallon set up. 5 is standard. My guess is they sell those smaller kits, because when you get hooked you’ve got to buy a bigger kit.
There is a book called Brew Ware by Karl F Lutzen & Mark Stevens that will help you in purchasing the gear needed. Lots of tips on buying, scrounging, and making equipment. Why pay more.
Collecting bottles is not that hard. How many guys do you know who only drink out of a bottle(elitists)? The local tavern is a good scource...one of the best scources is your family and friends. Now that I mentioned those folks there will probably be some payback...."jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way"....they gooooinnnggg to love you Santa.
I’ve got two of those deep fried turkey setups. Those are my cooking units. I’ve got 4 carboys (two are the water bottles from the neighbor). Made my own paddle for stirring (good piece of hardwood I had laying around)...cut it to a shape I felt comfy with and drilled some 7/8 holes to allow easy passage of the cooking wort. Hardest thing I ran into is the language. Da*ned brewers talk like lawyers...mashing sparging, wort, lautering...all most gave up before I got started. It isn’t as hard as they make it sound."
Have fun
Thanks for posting, I always enjoy your posts.