Newbie

Hello all. I just signed up. A friend and I are planning to attempt our first crack at home brewing in about two weeks. We have both been interested in doing so for a little while now and finally decided enough with putting it off. I was wondering if anyone could inform me of some good websites, books, and maybe even a good starter kit or beer type to start off with as a good learning experience. All help is greatly appreciated.

The Complete Joy of Home Brewing is probably one of the best books you can have as a beginner. It takes you through all the basics and beyond. It also gives you plenty of recipes, most of which are pretty basic, so you have some options. I would recommend getting that book, give it a quick read through and just pick out a beer style and recipe from there that sounds good to you.

Cheers!

Search How to Brew by Palmer. The first edition is free online and it mostly hold true still. You can always check advice there against advice here. This site it fantastic and the wiki (see the link above) is a phenomenal resource when it comes to referencing techniques and different aspects of brewing. You can also find some very good, easy recipes in the recipe archive, also found above. Welcome to homebrewin!

The two aformentioned books are definately the place to start. As far as the recipie, you LHBS should have a bunch of differnt kits. I think wheat beers tend to be an easier kit to start with as they usually don't have alot of extra grains or hops to deal with, its a good tasty way to get your feet wet. Also these forums will be able to help you whenever you get to one of this awesome "oh sh*t, did it mess it up" moments.

Thanks everyone.

I recently wrote an article that covers the questions we see most frequently posted here by newbies: Common Sense for Homebrewers.

You may find it to be useful.

The books already mentioned are great resources. This forum is another great resource. I also listen to some homebrewing podcasts on my way to work. Basic Brewing Radio, Basic Brewing Video, The Brewing Network's Brew Strong and The Jamil Show/Can you brew it are all helpful in different ways. If you're going to listen, I'd recommend listening to the episodes that are most pertinent to you as a new brewer like sanitization and fermentation.

Homebrewdad I just checked out your article. Thanks. It was very clear and helpful.

And as for the recommendation for homebrew podcasts thanks O hadn't even thought about that. I was pretty much just looking up online sources but that will be pretty nice to just throw on in the car or while I'm doing things around the house.

howtobrew.com is one of the best starting points.
Sanitize well. I highly suggest starsan.
Look into controlling temperature during fermentation. This is THE key to great beer.
Recipes are all over the place. Pick a style and brew it a few times. If you like dark beers stouts and porters are a little more forgiving to the new brewer.
Stick to ales at first.

subzero829 said:

Homebrewdad I just checked out your article. Thanks. It was very clear and helpful.

And as for the recommendation for homebrew podcasts thanks O hadn't even thought about that. I was pretty much just looking up online sources but that will be pretty nice to just throw on in the car or while I'm doing things around the house.

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Glad to be helpful!

The recipes in Complete Joy are great, but I'd probably just do a kit recipe for my first time, just because it takes away one more level of complexity. The Brewer's Best Weizenbeer kit seems to be a pretty good recipe, I made it last month and the beer is conditioning in bottles right now.

Yeah, the Brewcraft Ingredient Kits are great for beginners!