Noob Alert

Hello. How is everyone. I am brand new to Homebrewing. Fact is I havent even got my equipment yet, but I am getting it soon. I was just wanting to hammer out some details before I begin, get some input from you guys on what to get, and so on.

I have been wanting to get into brewing for awhile now but havent had time up until now and the economy decided to let me have some time off (layoff and no jobs). I started college in Aug.. I always hear kids and other people gripe about how college is hard so with that fear I wanted to get into the rhythm of school before I picked up a new hobbie. Not to brag but I guess after being in such a high stress job for so long (aircraft mechanic) college is easy, and now I assume the people I heard gripe just werent use to work.
BTW I as you can see I am chatty, sorry.

Im not really asking questions yet because I like to search the forums first because I know how some sites get POed about repeat questions. What I am looking for for now is just input and guidence on where to start with equipment. I know there are beginner setups but is that really the best way to go? or is it better to pick and choose stuff? I am a technical type person and I have been reading and watching videos and I love the way all grain brewing is done.

I will try to be an active member and will up grade once I get started.

I started with a very basic equipment kit and found it to be pretty complete. About the only extra that I needed was a 20 qt kettle that I already had and bottles. In the past 3 1/2 years of brewing I've added more fermenters and an autosiphon to make siphoning the beer into the bottling bucket easier. Once I started going all grain I added a long stem thermometer to keep tabs on my mash temperatures and I've collected and bought bottles since I get to brew in the winter and drink up what I have stockpiled over the summer. After making a couple of half size batches of all grain "brew in a bag" I bought a turkey fryer to get a bigger kettle and the ability to brew outdoors.

Welcome.

I found that reading through "How to Brew" prior to getting started helped a lot. You will likely not understand all of it at first, but the section on how to brew an extract beer is really useful. I actually had that site open on my computer when I made my first brew.

How to Brew - By John Palmer

I'd recommend reading through that a few times and then make a list of the steps that you're going to follow when you actually sit down to brew. Also, you want to make sure that you have all your gear out and organized, as well as your ingredients pre-measured and everything in its place.

I tend to be a bit obsessive about preparation, which is probably due to years working in kitchens. My first brew day went really smooth because I repeatedly walked myself through what I was going to do before I ever put anything on the stove. At least twice, I was ready to start and then realized that I didn't know exactly how I was going to do something (e.g., pitch the yeast, cool the wort) so I postponed my brew day until I had a chance to ask questions. You can read that thread here:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/starting-first-batch-tomorrow-282250/

Best of luck to you man!

Thanx for the advice so far. RM-MN mentioned a turkey fryer.. I have one that I used one time. Can it ever be cleaned enough to use for brewing or will the grease always be an issue?

Thanx for the cleaning info..

gmcastil has some great advice. Pre-planning and organization will make the first few batches go smoothly and if everything doesn't go perfectly, no problem. Never throw any beer away unless you come here and ask what can be done. Unless it's infected and looks like a pennicillin petri dish it can probably be salvaged to the drinkable state.

Yeast is smarter than you, it knows how to ferment very nicely without a brain so don't interfere...just prep it well and give it a good environment, it will do all the work for you.

PATIENCE!! PATIENCE!! It's worth repeating. You will be eager to try your first beer but be fair to it and give it time to mature and be all it can be. Sample all varieties of craft beer while you wait to see what you want to try next.

Great hobby, great support here....have fun!!!

Latamir,

The main reason I purchased this set-up is because you NEVER need to siphon. Transferring and taking samples is a breeze. I have used this system for over two years with no leaks or problems whatsoever. I highly recommend it. Check it out:

BREWERY WITH BROWN ALE @ Williams Brewing

NRS