First Brew Tomorrow!

Used some of my tax refund and a Groupon from Midwest Supplies to purchase a starter kit and enter this fine hobby. Tomorrow I will finally be brewing my first kit (Autumn Amber Ale) and was just looking for any last minute advice or words of wisdom. I have that nervous/excited/kid on Christmas Eve feeling and even if it turns out horrible I'm still super pumped to get into this hobby!

Wise decision to get into this hobby. I'm only a couple brews in myself (brewing an IPA right now!). I would suggest making sure you read and understand all the instructions...and think about what all of the steps are before you begin anything. Make sure all your equipment is cleaned and sanitized. Enjoy yourself, and don't get stressed.

grace1760 said:

Wise decision to get into this hobby. I'm only a couple brews in myself (brewing an IPA right now!). I would suggest making sure you read and understand all the instructions...and think about what all of the steps are before you begin anything. Make sure all your equipment is cleaned and sanitized. Enjoy yourself, and don't get stressed.

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+1
May I recommend that you buy and read John Palmer's "How to Brew" and Charlie Papazon's "The Complete Joys of Home Brewing". They are both EXCEPTIONAL books with a TON of information. I am also going to give you one piece of advice that you will hear A LOT here. RDWHAHB = Relax, Don't Worry, Have a Home Brew. You will ask yourself or other if you have screwed something up or what to do. 99% of the time, RDWHAHB is the answer. Other then that, Cheers, and welcome to the addiction.

My advice is to be scared, be excited, and be ready for your brew to be deliciously addicting!

I am brewing my 4th Batch tomorrow (extract). My first was on Easter Sunday, so.... that's my time frame.

All I can say is this:

Be PATIENT. Read and reread the instructions. Have everything ready (cold water, ice, hops laid out w/ a note of when to add them, etc).

Sanitize EVERYTHING like you have an ODC.

Take your time. All will be fine. Your beer is tougher then you think

KillJoy

Congrats on joining this great hobby! I am fairly new myself, and the best advice I have is to sanitize like a madman and most of the time the answer to any worry is PATIENCE!

I also got the kit from groupon a while ago. Some stuff got in the way, but 2 weeks ago i brewed the autumn amber ale, and bottled it today. Just did a test from the bucket and it tasted pretty good. I think its gonna be pretty good in 2-3 weeks.

Just follow the directions, take your time, and if you dont have any home brew, drink a craft while you are working.

I had so much fun with my first kit, I just ordered 2 more this afternoon, the peace java stout, and raspberry whit from midwest. So im in it for the long haul.

Have fun!!

I'm sure you'll have the same experience many of us did after tasting our first batch. "This is the best beer I've ever had! And I MADE IT!" And the brews only get better with more experience.

Dude, I just did my first brew two weeks ago and bottled today. I tasted some of it and it was good. You will be fine man. Stick to your instructions man. You will be fine.

UnfixedShihTzu said:

Used some of my tax refund and a Groupon from Midwest Supplies to purchase a starter kit and enter this fine hobby. Tomorrow I will finally be brewing my first kit (Autumn Amber Ale) and was just looking for any last minute advice or words of wisdom. I have that nervous/excited/kid on Christmas Eve feeling and even if it turns out horrible I'm still super pumped to get into this hobby!

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Sorry man but it's illegal to brew an Autumn Ale in the spring. You'll get in trouble if you continue!

NOT! Just kidding, good luck and enjoy yourself and it. Just don't rush things, 3 week in the primary, 3 weeks in the bottle.

And never forget the cardinal rule: You gotta be drinking when your brewing (how could you all forget that one?lol)

brew it according to the instructions. next step, ignore the fermenting instructions. it'll tell you to ferment for 5 days, then transfer into the secondary. really, ferment it in the primary for 3 weeks, then bottle per instructions

rizomee said:

And never forget the cardinal rule: You gotta be drinking when your brewing (how could you all forget that one?lol)

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I had to back off drinking while brewing. I'll still have a brew or two, but while mashing a PM Irish Red, I downed 5 or 6 ~11% Quadrupels. I had friends helping who were a bit more sober, but no brewing experience, and I neglected to take my wort off the heat and properly stir when adding LME, and got a nice bit of scorching. Fortunately wasn't too bad, only taste it in maybe 25% of the bottles and those are still drinkable (drinking one right now- no scorched flavor ). But lesson learned- having a homebrew while brewing = good. Having too much homebrew while brewing = potentially very very bad.

best to have it down to a routine before slamming while brewing

lumpher said:

best to have it down to a routine before slamming while brewing

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Even a routine ain't gonna help to much when the room is spinning (as it was in my case). I'm honestly surprised I didn't make a much bigger mistake than that one.

only got wasted once before the brew was done. was an ipa, and only had to dump about 2 gallons

Hah! I got hammered brewing my second batch. Broke my auto siphon, spilled 1/2 the wort while pouring into 1ry, topped up to 5 gallons with water and pitched while it was still scorching hot. Had to wait for months for that beer to be drinkable. Lesson learned!

Enjoy the ride!

Xcorpia said:

Hah! I got hammered brewing my second batch. Broke my auto siphon, spilled 1/2 the wort while pouring into 1ry, topped up to 5 gallons with water and pitched while it was still scorching hot. Had to wait for months for that beer to be drinkable. Lesson learned!

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sounds like you got your ass ate on this 1, but we all had 1 like that

lumpher said:

sounds like you got your ass ate on this 1, but we all had 1 like that

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The ironic thing is a lot of people love that particular batch. Go figure!