Beer brewing for beginners

C

Carduus

Joined Jul 2005
588 Posts | 0+
Nebraska
I would like to begin learning how to brew my own beer. I got a “Beer Machine” for Christmas a few years ago and had mixed results. I had the opportunity to try some excellent home brew a few months ago and knew that I had to get a new hobby. (My wife is “thrilled.”)

I have been on several home brewing websites and have read a few books, but I have been really debating what starter kit to buy. There are a lot of options out there and I would like to start with a small budget.

Does anyone have any sites to start at? Are there any sites to stay away from?
 
What equipment do you have. What do you like. all grain or extract? what is the beer machine was it a Mr. Beer?
 
I know two people who are consummate experts on beer. I'll try to get some advice and wisdom from them and bring the information here.
 
Barcochris said:
What equipment do you have. What do you like. all grain or extract? what is the beer machine was it a Mr. Beer?
Click to expand...

I don’t have any equipment. The kit I got was called a “Beer Machine” and it did produce some good beer. However, it produced some pretty so-so stuff too. I was told that the “Machine” could be used with “raw” ingredients. But I think it is time to move to a more “standard” way of brewing. With all the hobbies I have now I really can’t afford too much and I really can’t afford to get burned by a shady vendor.

Do I like grain or extract? I don’t know, yet.
 
Being that this is just a start for you, You are going to do extract brewing, all that means is the fermentable malt is alreday in extract form, as all grain you have to go through the whole procces for ginding grain and such. The equipment is not that much I think my begining set cost around 125 bucks. all you really need is a Large pot for boiling the wort. hose to rack the wort form pot to primary fermenter and a priamry fermenter (6 gallon bucket works fine) and a secondary fementer ( iliked 6 gallon glass carboys for this) Remember that the first thing with homebrewing is you HAVE to be clean and sterile, Or your beer can get infected and turn a good beer bad very quickly.. Let me see what i can find.. I did find a lot of my equpiment on E-bay. justtype in homebrewing adn all kinds of things come up

look at this http://cgi.ebay.com/Homebrew-Deluxe-Hom ... dZViewItem

most of what you NEED to get started
 
If you can make tea and soup, and follow a recipie, you can make beer.

Extract kits are great for beginners, but I think they're highly overrated. I also think most folks underrate their capabilities in this regard.

If you want to do an extract kit once or twice, just to "get your feet wet", then that's cool. Understand that few homebrewers stop there, and for good reason.

I purchased my stuff through Beer, Beer and More Beer (when I was drinking enough to justify brewing):

http://www.morebeer.com/

Mostly due to the fact the hops are fresh, and everything is quality. For me, delivery is speedy.

Assuming you've already got a stash of bottles that can be reused, the most expensive parts will be the pot, and capper. I would recommend getting a good capper first, as a cheap capper will busticate on you........

No worries on a grain mill, I order mine milled. They mill it just before shipping, and as I noted, delivery for me is quite fast. No flavor loss.
 
If I'm not mistaken I think that Ravyn does some home brewing. Shoot him a PM and see. I think he has done a good amount of it and I'm sure he will share his info with you. Good luck.
 
Somehow, the idea of that creature asking about home brewing is weirdly hilarious to me. I have to go bust out laughing again. I'll be back later.
 
The guys here at work that home brew no longer bottle. They both have built keg systems. Bottling is a pain in the Butt.
 
Hi it’s me. I have not posted for a long time.

Anyway I have made a few batches with the equipment I bought and I have to toot my own horn. IT’S GOOD. They were kits with the ingredients already measured but I have to say they were good. I took some to work (I have a great boss) and now all I hear is, “when is the next batch ready.”

I do have a few questions however. How important is it to boil the entire wort? I have been told many different ways to boil. My way is to boil three gallons of the wort and then add the remainder of the water to bring the total volume up to five gallons in the primary fermenter. I wait until the foam drops and then transfer to a secondary fermenter. My other question is; I never get five gallons out of the primary and usually end up with 4.25 to 4.5 gallons out. Do I need to fill up to five gallons again? My secondary fermenter is five gallons to the brim.
 
Kits can be good, but when you opt to do a full-up brew, you'll tweek it to match exactly what you want. It'll be even better.

I took a dozen gallons or so out to a sniper school one time, for use after the sticks were cleaned and put away for the evening. By the end of the course, they'd renamed me Brewmeister.

It's important to boil the entire wort. Kills any bacteria that might be in the water, and there is bacteria in the water. Depending on what kind and how much, you can get a skunky, weird tastes, off colors, and odd flavors.

Also, no need to top up. Are you using some kind of floculant to get rid of the sediment? You'll waste a lot less if you do.
 
You should boil all the water as stated. But if your boil pot is limited in size, boil half the water and put it in a sterilized carboy to cool off while you boil the wort.

The only disadvantage to this is some darkening of the beer.

Topping off with boiled and cooled water will only weaken the beer, so is not normally desired. Although you do want to limit the amount of air above the beer as it ferments.

Lots of good books, homebrew clubs, message boards, etc. One excellent beginner book that is on line is http://www.howtobrew.com/

Enjoy. And if you have any questions please feel free to PM or post. Brewing is one of my favorite hobbies.
 
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