Preparing for my First Brew Day

Today I went to my LHBS and picked up some things that did not come with my Midwest Supplies Starter Kit that I got for Christmas. I am preparing for my first brew day hopefully next weekend (still have to decide on a pot and burner to order). I have a few questions to hopefully ensure the best batch possible, I might be overly concerned about the cleaning and sanitation, but I have read and read about how important it actually is.

1. I picked up PBW and was wondering if there is anything I shouldn't use it on in a typical home brewery set up, and what is the best way to use this with some of the smaller items (let it soak im guessing?) and for larger items like a carboy, if i should fill it up or just put a gallon or so in there and swish it around/use a carboy brush.

2. With star-san, how long should i soak stuff in star-san, and i have the same carboy type question. Fill it up, or put some in there and swish it around.

3. I picked up a Brewers Best Belgian Tripel Extract Kit for my first beer, seems like it will be a great first brew. Is there anything in a typical extract kit i have to worry about storing somewhere special? (Dry yeast packet in fridge, or is that just yeast starters?)

Thanks!!

The cobtact time for star san is two minutes, no rinse. I brew one gallon batches so what i do is fill my carboy up with the star san mix and let it sit for a while during my boil. When i put my pot in the ice bath to cool, i dump my star san in a container with all my other supplies and cover my carboy opening with a piece of sanitized aluminum foil.

I would put your yeast in the refridgerator until the day before you brew, then take it out and let it warm up slowly over night.

That brewers best triple is a big beer 8.5-9% DON"T RUSH IT. You can probably brew an irish red a week or 2 later and be drinking it before the triple is ready to bottle.
I'm thinking it will be 4 to 6 months before that triple will really be ready to drink.

Maybe you should do a smaller beer first? Just a thought.

Wow 4-6 months? Didn't realize that, guy at the LHBS just said any box that said 'easy' would be good to start with, and the tripel looked awfully tasty. I figured it would have to spend a longer time (maybe 4-8 weeks before bottling) since the high ABV but didn't realize it was a 4-6 month beer. I guess I'll just rack to my carboy after a week and order a good Irish red like you suggest. If I were to hold off on the tripel can any of the ingredients or yeast go bad?

Make it, get another kit and bucket... get that pipeline going!
rack after 2 weeks is more likely I think, others will chime in here soon I'm sure.
You can bottle in 8 weeks. but bottle condition will take time could easily be 8 weeks before beer starts to come into it own.
It will still be easy to make.

My Blind Pig IPA took 7 weeks until it was ready to be drank. It had an ABV of 6%

I will be tring my first scotch ale after 7 weeks but wont open a second till after 8 weeks. 6% ABV

That Tripel will not be any "harder" to make, trouble as stated is the time it takes to ferment and then condition in secondary.

I would recommend Edworts Haus Pale Ale. I think he has an extract conversion. Cheap. Quick. Delicious.

My first was laden with whiskey and I brewed it in October. It's just now getting to the point where the whiskey has tamed a little bit. Pretty damn good now.

I'll answer question number two. StarSan. The guy that made it claims it only needs about 30 seconds contact time. The directions say 1 minute or 2, don't remember. The reason the directions don't say 30 seconds is because the government that rate
s this stuff only uses minutes. The makers of StarSan had to put a gov rating on it. So they had to use the goverments standard. @ one minute. The maker says thirty seconds is sufficient. Spray on is just as good as soaking.

With the Belgian Tripel, I think I read that the beer is best fermenting at around 65 for the first couple days (or week) gradually moving it up to around 70 over the next week after that or so?

If this is true, in my basement where I have to ferment for now, I do not have the ability to control the temperature. Right now I have a bucket of water sitting in a few different places with the sticky LCD Thermometer reading around 61-63 and I took a reading with a basic digital thermometer that read between 59-61 over the past two nights/days. Of course the fermentation would heat up the batch a couple degrees, but my only other option would to put my fermenting bucket in the small shower (doesn't get used), and use a radiator plugged into a cheap plug in thermostat control from Lowes or Home Depot.... Would this conceivably do the trick until I can afford a Dual Stage Thermostat Control to use in combination with the freezer chest and a heat lamp/paint can trick/space heater?