The five things old homebrew me would pass to new homebrew me:

I love extract brewing and I am convinced that extract can compete in most categories with all grain. I've been brewing for a couple of years, and these are the five biggest lessons I have learned. I hope others will add to it.

1: Ditch plastic fermenters as quickly as possible.

2: Scour eBay for deals on temperature controllers and refractometers.

3: Ales are much more forgiving (as evidenced by my abortion of an altbier).

4: Clean your gear as soon as you are done using it. (Scraping 36 hour old hop sludge off an immersion chiller is less than fun)

5: Everything you can think of has been done before, as a new brewer. Research before you pull the trigger.

I think you mean everything you can think of has been done before, perhaps?

Edited. I'm trying to make a dent in my "Less than Alaskan Amber" alt and what makes sense in my head doesn't necessarily translate.

6: Just drop the coin on a brew stand right out of the gate (if you approach homebrewing on the cheap you'll spend twice as much for three times the hassle).

Why ditch plastic fermenters? Are you talking about the ale pales (which many vets still swear by) and/or better bottles (which I am a huge fan of)? Looking forward to hearing your reasons for the items on the list.

7. Start younger.
8. Brew more often.

jbsayers said:

Why ditch plastic fermenters? Are you talking about the ale pales (which many vets still swear by) and/or better bottles (which I am a huge fan of)? Looking forward to hearing your reasons for the items on the list.

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Nothing wrong with plastic fermenters. Ask anybody that has broke glass one and gets injured has story to tell and it isnt pretty. I take my chances with good old plastic. I even bottle in p.e.t plastic bottles with screw on caps i got tired of snapping necks off glass bottles and getting cut. Just not worth it.

But i have learned most mistakes turn out better then the so called "midnight plans"

1: Ditch plastic fermenters as quickly as possible.

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A lot of us actually prefer plastic fermenters. I have both plastic and glass and rarely use the glass. Buckets are easy to move, don't break, easy to clean. Many people make great beers using buckets.

More important is controlling fermentation temp and pitching the proper amount of healthy yeast.

* don't brew drunk :cross:
* read, read, read
* drink every kind of beer (for educational purposes of course)
* go all grain asap
* buy good equipment right away
* teach a friend to brew so you have a slave, err helper.
* have fun

Blackfoot26 said:

I love extract brewing and I am convinced that extract can compete in most categories with all grain. I've been brewing for a couple of years, and these are the five biggest lessons I have learned. I hope others will add to it.

1: Ditch plastic fermenters as quickly as possible.

2: Scour eBay for deals on temperature controllers and refractometers.

3: Ales are much more forgiving (as evidenced by my abortion of an altbier).

4: Clean your gear as soon as you are done using it. (Scraping 36 hour old hop sludge off an immersion chiller is less than fun)

5: Everything you can think of has been done before, as a new brewer. Research before you pull the trigger.

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I agree with everything but #1

All I use are plastic buckets and I have a lot of them! They are cheap, they don't break, they are easily cleaned, they provide better headspace, easier to dry hop in, they are lighter to handle and I already know what fermentation looks like and it ain't pretty!

In addition they can be used for various things besides fermenting they can store batches of Star San and can be used to soak bottles in as well. I also use them to keep odds and ends as well as other brewing supplies that are not be used.

9) It doesn't have to be that expensive or complicated. BIAB, picnic cooler mash tuns, etc. can make all grain brewing easy and cheap. Just get a 40qt pot and outdoor burner to start.

bless stuff up. That's how you learn.

Cleaning and sanitation are the most important things. Failure to do those and everything else that follows will be suspect.

LARGE healthy pitches of yeast. Don't just pop a smack pack and toss it in.

Temperature control. Temperature control. Temperature control. So important it's the last three things I'd tell myself!

Yeast is #2 and Temperature control is #3,4,5. Patience is #1 not being sanitary will teach its own lesson rather quickly.

Be patient. Time makes noticeably better beer

I know you're excited, but don't fiddle with the fermenter.

One of the best part of brewing is sharing with your half witted friends

It really is difficult to mess up a batch. As long as your sanitation is good, the yeast will get the job done for you.

Have fun. It really isnt rocket science

stevehardt said:

Have fun. It really isnt rocket science

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Sure isn't. This is more fun and less dangerous. Plus you get a nice beverage at the end. What do you get in rocket science? ..... math, then more math, theeeeennn ,you guessed it, more math. Then every once in a while you get to test a rocket. Hmmmm maybe rocket science could be fun. Still doesn't lead to fine beverages.

Aside from what has been posted, I have learned to clean as I brew. It really isn't any different than cooking.

No matter how bad you screw up, it will still make beer
Beer is like children: nobody really thinks theirs is ugly

1.) Buy once, cry once. Equipment breaks enough, you will need stuff that will be reliable.
2.) Buy equipment you can grow with.
3.)There will hardly ever be one answer to your questions. You will have to experiment and see what works for you. This will take time.
4.) Record tasting notes of the beer. Ultimately, this is what matters, and has proven to me to be more helpful than brew day notes.
5.) Don't give up. I had a lot of less than fulfilling experiences when I started out and I had been researching for a year before I started. The only way to get better is to keep trying.
6.) Bonus*** start out brewing to style. I had beers that looked ok on paper but ended up odd and off putting. If you are going to tweak a recipe, do it slightly.

Coopers and Mr. Beer offer plastic 6 gallon fermenters that you can see through.

I would add, keep a journal of each brew. You do have a lot of control over extract brewing like changing the type of water and yeast used. Plus you can tweak recipes by adding steeping grains and/or hops. Keeping a journal will help you tweak the recipe so that not only is it your recipe, but it is the best it can be.

There are also a lot of extracts available now than before, like vienna & maris otter. Bavarian wheat DME as well. A lot to choose from for AE brewing nowadays. My homebrewing book listed in my sig talks about a lot of this stuff with definitions & recipes as well.

I'd like to offer some specific variations on a couple things people have already mentioned:

* Don't panic. I wasted a lot of worry in the early days. Then I found that even the most disappointing result doesn't retroactively cancel the enjoyment of the fun brew day that led to that result.

* Re: "buy once, cry once". Specifically, buy a kettle (at least) one size bigger than what you think you need right now, e.g. you think you need an 8 gal, go for 10 gal; you think you need a 16 gal, go for 20 gal (I'm in that latter category).

I think if new brewers (and I include myself in that bracket) are reading threads in this forum that's half the battle. So I would add to the list, 10) Join HBT. The site is invaluable as a resource thanks to the generous members who for the most part willingly share their skill, knowhow, ideas and wit.

7. Brew for the love of brewing, and for the love of creating and sampling gods great gift to mankind beer.

8. Never, ever brew anything that doesn't need at least some grains. Preferably grains that are mashed. Even an extract is better with grain.

9. Post boil sanitation is critical.

10 correct yeast pitch is critical.

11. Fermentation temperature is critical. You should invest money and time in this before any other major investment.

My biggest one: make the stuff you actually want to drink, not stuff you think you should be brewing.