using recipes

Ok I see alot of recipes here, But I never see how much water to add. So I am thinking there must be a standard for water amount. Please shed some light on this for me.

The appropriate water ratio will depend on the type of recipe, total grain weight, etc. I'd say the majority of brewers pulling recipes from online are subsequently entering them into a brewing application like BeerSmith, Promash, or one of the other options out there. These will calculate the requisite water amounts based on the grain weight, mash specifications, and other options.

There isn't really a standard amount, as there are too many variables; it usually has to be calculated on the fly or simply estimated (as I have done before), so long as you don't worry about accuracy.

So I have to have software to be able to use a recipe?

T, are you brewing all-grain or extract?

Nothing yet. I will be going by and picking up this setup when I get paid.http://www.rebelbrewer.com/shoppingcart/products/Basic-Brewing-Equipment-Kit.html
I am just trying to get a understanding of it all.

For your first brew, I'd suggest just using a brew recipe kit (like one of the ingredient kits they link to on the page for your purchase there), as it is geared for beginners to get the ball rolling. The instructions will come with it and will be suited to your basic setup. Once you have a couple batches under your belt and understand the overall process a bit more, it'll be easier to adapt recipes on here to your own purposes.

If you have a particular recipe that you really want to try and would rather avoid the kits, you can always just post the recipe here with a question as to how much liquid you should use and the overall process. Users here can provide the details once we know your recipe and equipment setup. Keep in mind that the setup you linked to doesn't include a brew pot, so you'll have to have one of those already. Knowing the size of the pot you're working with will be needed in order to determine whether you are doing a full boil or partial, and thus how much liquid to add when.

For all grain batches how much water used also depends on your setup. Plus the water to grain ratio used for the batch. As long as you reach your pre-boil volume level, you'll be fine.

Software does help to get your volumes correct. Provided, of course, that you hav the preferences set correctly. I use BeerSmith with good results.

I do not mind trying a kit first. I think that would be the best way to go for starters. What type of kit would you guys suggest? I love killians red, and heineken. Can I reuse twist top bottles? I have seen those that say you can and those theat say no. It would be nice if I can to save on start up cost.

To answer your original question, the standard batch is 5 gallons, so you need to use enough water to end up with 5 gallons. Extract batches can be boiled with less than five gallons (called a partial boil) and then topped off with cold water in the fermenter, to bring your total volume to 5 gallons.

For a good overview of the process, take a look at the first chapter of www.howtobrew.com

tservice said:

I do not mind trying a kit first. I think that would be the best way to go for starters. What type of kit would you guys suggest? I love killians red, and heineken. Can I reuse twist top bottles? I have seen those that say you can and those theat say no. It would be nice if I can to save on start up cost.

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I like the midwestsupplies.com kits and austinhomebrew.com. But really on your first brew just about anybody you have easily and inexpensive access to will do. The first home made beer will be so much better than what you bought, that the kit probably won't matter much - assuming you get your sanitation right. That is key having good sanitation at the beginning

You can reuse twist tops if you have a bench capper but most basic kits come with a swing capper, and that only uses poppers. Bench cappers are signifigantly more expensive.

Typically I steep about 1 to 1.5 gallons if I have steeping grains, then boil about 2 gallons (2.5 to 3 with malt added). I use an electric stove (it can't handle much more than 3 gallons) and a 16qt/4gallon pot. After I'm done and put it in the fermentor, I top off with tap water to 5.5 gallons alowing for 1/2 gallon of sediment (called trub).