Very New Beginner

I was wondering if there is any general advice before I actually start buying supplies and start brewing if there is any certain words of wisdom or idea's that might have helped anyone when they started out.
I purchased a book on brewing. I have somewhat of a grasp on the idea of brewing becauseI make grain alcohol daily for a career. The book is somewhat like greek I pick things up here and there. I do better if I just dive in and start using my hands. I just want to be "WELL" prepared before I jump in. THanks

If you make grain alcohol for a career, I'm betting you'll have no issues with brewing. Read through the stickies in the beginning brewing section, and go through the book you have and make that first batch. Good Luck.

I guess I should say I have tiny grasp on it. The plant I work at produces about 350'000 gallons (Ethanol) per day. 90% of everything is automated. It's all controlled from two computers in a control room. Most of the employees grab samples and the lab runs them. I just understand it needs to be cooked, that you pitch yeast and that you have to separate mash from the alcohol retention times, temps, etc.... I figured there would be a big difference in that and small home brewing.

Its really not that difficult. In fact I think the hardest part is waiting patiently, and not being stressed about your beer and how its going to turn out.
Sometimes **** happens when brewing. We have boilovers, fermentations that dont seem to 'take off', very violent fermentations that make you scramble to make a blowoff tube cause the airlock is full.
I would suggest a kit to get your feet wet. Thats what I did, and I just bottled it (the sample tasted good!) From there expand your beer equip to help make it easier and easier.

Also, a batch of Apfelwein is rather simple to do. Let that sit next to your first brew.

Good luck and welcome to the addiction!
-Me

If you're like me, it is very difficult to read and understand books on home brewing (and many other things) without actually doing it. So my first piece of advice would be to stop just reading, and start actually doing. The books become much more understandable when you do this.
The next thing I would suggest is to start with a kit for your first brew, but to totally disregard the kit directions if they say to follow a rigid timetable. Unfortunately, yeasts cannot read and have no idea of the timetable they are supposed to follow, and they usually take their own sweet time to do their job. Be patient, and use your hydrometer to tell you when to rack or bottle. Do a search on "Is it ready" or "Is it too early", and you will see what I mean.

Good luck.

-a.

You came to a great place for resources for questions and such. Now get out there and get a beginners equipment kit, 30qt+ pot (SS or aluminum is fine, if its aluminum boil water in it for a hour or so and just use paper towels and hot water to clean it), big SS spoon, and a few cases of good beer that has no twist off caps. Lastly, get a ingredient kit for either a beer type you like and brew it up!

Did I miss anything?

Oh and after you make the first kit get another kit for a beer you've never had before (for expanding your knowledge and helping in developing recipes)

Three points:

1. You are already reading about the subject...one down.

2. Read John Palmer's "How to Brew" book. Version 1 is free to read on-line.

3. Stay away from boxed kits with liquid malt extract (LME). These brews will be darker than you anticipate. Go straight to Dry Malt Extract (DME) and read up on the Late Addition brewing technique.

Welcome moonshiner......I know, you're part of the corn/ethanol rip off...

Here is a link,


How to Brew - By John Palmer - Preparation

Good pointer homebrewer 99

Read the process form John Palmer, buy some equipment and a kit(I would suggest midwestsupplies.com, I really liked their equipment and their service was great), I started with a 20 minute boil kit because that way if I screwed up, I didn't feel as bad. Turns out I made great beer.

The biggest thing is ask questions as you think of them on here, people on here are extremely helpful and will answer you.

well I just started by getting the basics from the local brew store, I told him what kinda beer I wanted to make and he gave me some extracts and some yeast.... gave me a few basic instructions and I brewed my the seat of my pants on the first run

now I got my first one down, I have been reading on this forum more on how to refine the process, additions, techniques, and most of all variety

homebrewer_99 said:

Three points:

1. You are already reading about the subject...one down.

2. Read John Palmer's "How to Brew" book. Version 1 is free to read on-line.

3. Stay away from boxed kits with liquid malt extract (LME). These brews will be darker than you anticipate. Go straight to Dry Malt Extract (DME) and read up on the Late Addition brewing technique.

Welcome moonshiner......I know, you're part of the corn/ethanol rip off...

Click to expand...

I wont disagree with these, but i might suggest a slight variation of point 3. I'd suggest you get a kit, LME, DME, doesn't matter. Just brew some beer. For your first batch you should focus on the process and not worry so much about those areas a lot of people worry about here that i call 'judging guidelines.'

Things like color of the beer and other things are good to worry about when you have a firm sense of how to influence and control them (i.e. after a few brews). The experience of cracking open a beer you've taken from start to finish is pretty cool and very addicting. I think that is the first and most important experience. Brew first, worry about the other things later.

RonRock said:

Here is a link,


How to Brew - By John Palmer - Preparation

Good pointer homebrewer 99

Click to expand...

You have just made my day!

How could i not find this fabulous source of info before?

That's a good read. Read through it, and then go brew! There really is no substitute for just doing it.

Although, I would also recommend that once you get your equipment kit, you might read through the steps and PRACTICE with just water. You will likely find any spots that cause you trouble and can deal with them before you are actually brewing. Take notes, and avoid the trouble the next time you brew, which will be with real beer!

Of course, you will not boil over with just water, but no worries, everyone has a real boilover at least a couple of times! That's just part of the process!