Complete beginner

Hey all, any advice is greatly appreciated. If I want to start brewing is a starter kit the bet way to go or should I go another route?

Welcome to HBT Russ!

Yes. A starter kit is a good place to start and is usually cheaper than trying to peice one together. If you don't have a good Home Brew Store near by there are plenty of places online to buy from. MidWestSupplies, MoreBeer to name just two but there are many more. They all have starter kits ranging from a basic kit to an advanced kit. I'd recommend a basic kit. You'll still probably need to but a large pot because they don't generally come with one.

Yes a starter kit is easy and cheap. When I started that's what I did. However I did one extract batch and it just didn't feel right to me. It wasn't "my beer". So I pretty much just set it aside and pieced one together. All I use from the kit is the carbon and hydrometer haha. But hey everyone is different. I do all grain and love every minute of it. I don't know if that helps or if I'm just rambling. Anyhow best of luck to you.
Cheers

Read John Palmers book (1st edition is free!!) How to Brew, its online. I bought my equipment kit from a LHBS (local home brew store) to help the local guys. I'm sure I could have gotten it cheaper online, but oh well. That came with a beer kit that they came up with. It was an English brown, which I just turned into a Brown ale, not much difference. Read as much as you can on here. Any questions, search the forum, or google it and 9/10 you will find your answer.
Once you get all your stuff and find a kit, a beer that you like, post up how your first beer day went! And any obscure questions we'll answer, but you'll find out it's really easy once you read about the basics.

Warning.... it get addicting!! :fro:

Thanks guys...greatly appreciated! Look forward to future conversations

A starter kit is great. I would recommend begining with an extract brew to see if it's your cup of tea. You can practice your sanitation, get your equipment settled, learn readings on a hydrometer and learn about temperature controlling, fermenting etc. Then if you are a craft brew drinker I would graduate fairly quickly to all grain. It's more time a little more money on equipment but if you love the hobby it expands your horizons to a practically limitless variety as far as your imagination can go. Cheers and welcome to a VERY satisfying hobby.

sweed said:

Read John Palmers book (1st edition is free!!) How to Brew, its online. . .

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I second this. I read it cover to cover twice before attempting my first brew and probably avoided several mistakes that I would have otherwise made had I just read the kit directions.

For equipment, it's hard to beat the starter kits. I've been brewing for three or four years now and I'm still using most of the items in my original starter kit (and added much, much, more). For the ingredients, brew whatever you like to drink - so long as it's an ale. Lagers take more equipment and are a little trickier to manage, so I wouldn't make one for your first batch. You can go with a kit, or look through the recipe database here to make your own (cost is about the same). But whichever you choose, stick to the recipe and don't try to improvise until you have a few brews under your belt.

BeerCat said:

A starter kit is great. I would recommend begining with an extract brew to see if it's your cup of tea. You can practice your sanitation, get your equipment settled, learn readings on a hydrometer and learn about temperature controlling, fermenting etc. Then if you are a craft brew drinker I would graduate fairly quickly to all grain. It's more time a little more money on equipment but if you love the hobby it expands your horizons to a practically limitless variety as far as your imagination can go. Cheers and welcome to a VERY satisfying hobby.

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That's what I did and I'm glad I went that route. I picked a simple wheat ale with a quick turnaround for my first batch. Brew day is awesome, but once you start the fermentation stage, the waiting game will kill you. Go with something that's quick to turnaround will help with those "I wished it would hurry and get done" feelings.

I think a good way to start off would be the first couple of batches being recipes that will be ready to drink within the month. Then maybe one or two that's ready in 1.5-2 months. Not only will this build up your pipeline and stock supply, but it will also build up your brewing experience to tackle the big beers you've always wanted to make. It's all about the pipeline.....

And I agree, this is one hobby that's very satisfying! My wheat beer isn't the best wheat I've had, but pretty damn tasty. It's a great feeling knowing the beer you're pouring into a pint glass is the one YOU made.

Brew on brewers.

The waiting is a KILLER! Definitely do some quickie's to get you going!

If you have a LHBS I'd head there and strike up a converstaion with whomever is working. You very well could be stopping there to pick up supplies in the future and may as well begin getting to know your local crew.