First brew tips

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Fireman-Mike

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Hey guys. This friday I will be doing my first home brew batch. Im doing an Irish Red. What are some good tips or advice do you all have for a first timer?
 
Keep everything nice and organized. Take notes of how you do things for future reference. Remember the devil is in the details. Make sure to remember to remove the pot from the burner before adding the LME (if your recipe calls for it, that is.) Take the damn ring off the LME jug after open the cap. (I didn't do that. Good thing it was before the boil. :eek:) Above all else: Enjoy yourself!!!!!
 
Read the stickys especially those in the beginner section, as well as the active discussions in there, especially if you see multiple threads about the same topic, clearly it's something folks deem important, as are the stickies...they wouldn't be stickified if they weren't helpful.

This thread alone if full of a ton of tips.

Here's some of my info geared to the new brewer.

Revvy's advice for the new brewer in terms of worry.

What are some of the mistakes you made...where your beer still turned out great?

And Never dump your beer!!! Patience IS a virtue!!! Time heals all things, even beer!

Bottling Tips for the Homebrewer.

In actually this whole forum is all tips, just pick a part that seems important and read, read read..
 
Take good notes, both for brewing and tasting!
Keep a large container (I use a salad bowl) of sanitizer around as you brew
Don't forget the Irish Moss (if you are using it)
Keep your fermentation temperatures low
Don't forget to take a gravity reading BEFORE pitching the yeast
And most importantly, have fun!
 
Read the instructions and make sure you understand them. Think through the entire process in your head while looking at everything in front of you. Hopefully during that period you aren't confusing yourself.

And like someone said, keep everything organized. You don't want to be running around in a panic on brew day looking for something you misplaced.

Keep everything clean and sanitized (not the same thing)

Listen to Revvy.
 
Revvy said:
BUT......Throw out anything that says to do anything based on a calendar and not a hydromter, or that beer will be carbed in under three weeks.

Ignore the Instructions,. Do not bottle after 5-10 days!!!!!!

Absolutely. Thanks, Revvy. What I really meant was the actions (adding what and when at what temp, etc.). It is pretty well documented that when an instruction sheet says "wait three days and bottle" are poor instructions.
 
Absolutely. Thanks, Revvy. What I really meant was the actions (adding what and when at what temp, etc.). It is pretty well documented that when an instruction sheet says "wait three days and bottle" are poor instructions.

Yep!!!!

Oh backpeddling on this idea, after you read the instructions, if you have questions, come here first and ask them before you do something, especially if you think something is wrong, and have a knee jerk reaction and want to "fix" something..come here first. Most of the time what you think is broken, isn't and doesn't need fixing. And you can end up doing more damage than if you leave things alone.

New brewers often think their beer is weak or something and feel the need to hover over it, and micromanage things...and obsess over everything, without usually even understanding what they're looking at....or if anything is wrong.

Usually the best advice on here is to;

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One small tip that I think helped me a lot, if you're using different types of hops throughout the boil, I labeled the packets with a B for bittering, F for flavor and Afor aroma along with the times I was adding them. Made it very easy for grabbing the packets from the fridge and tossing them in the boil. Also, if you're not adding a whole packet of hops at a time, pre-measure them. Best of luck and remember, you may not make the best beer ever the first time around but you will make beer, YOUR beer! Enjoy!
 
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