First Step!

OK...I ordered the Brewer's Best Equipment Kit (a basic two-bucket kit) and an American Pale Ale kit, from Listermann's, today. I'm excited about getting it and getting started! I'm sure I'll be asking lots of questions as my first brew day approaches.
On a side note, Baton Rouge has a home brewers club called Redstick Brewmasters. I went to their meeting last night and joined. This is gonna be fun!

Yeah, I just bottled my second batch tonight and I am loving every minute of this hobby.

Glad to hear you made the plunge, Breaux. You won't regret it!

Thanks, Breaux. Now that you've bottled one batch and you've got 2 more in the works, you know I'm going to bug you with a bunch of questions. Hope you don't get sick of me!

No problem! Brewing is really fun.

I'm constantly asking questions and there are lots of people on this forum who have cheerfully put up with my questions too. That's how you learn, along with doing, and this forum and the people who post on it are extraordinary resources.

Grrrrrrrr. Ordering problems have delayed my start.

1. The Listermann site was not prepared for an address with an apostrophe in the street name. That eventually got cleared up, and I got my order placed.

2. When Listermann transmitted my shipping address to UPS, either Listermann or UPS stripped out the secondary address line. SO, my apartment number was missing. This prevented UPS from delivering today.

I called UPS and added my nephew's apartment number (he lives next door and should be home during the day tomorrow). I should have my kit tomorrow. I'm still reading a lot, but I hope to get my first batch brewing Saturday or Sunday. Wish me luck!

LOL Waiting on UPS is the second worse part of this new hobby of yours. The worse is waiting for your brew to condition/age while in the bottle - all the while you are wondering how it is going to turn out.

Ask away. That is how we all learn. Also recommend using the search option. Almost any question you will come across has probably been discussed.

Have fun.....and remember Relax and........

Yeah, UPS and Fed Ex drive me crazy. I wish they'd deliver on weekends to residential addresses. When I'm expecting a package and it doesn't arrive by Friday, it crushes me.

Aging my brew in bottles, on the other hand, is a little easier for me to deal with. Every couple of days I pick up a lovely unlabeled gold-capped bottle of ESB from my first batch, hold it up to the light, and just admire its clarity, its amber-brown bottle-filtered reddish color, and congratulate myself on its lack of sedimentation and cloudiness. Sure, I'd like to drink it, but I'm content to wait until I think it will be a pleasure to consume.

Hey Breaux, the search function is nice and you can learn a lot by using it, but it's no substitute for asking your own questions directly. Never fear asking a question. That's how we learn.

I may never get my kit. Maybe I wasn't meant to brew. I know one thing for certain. If given a choice between UPS and ANY OTHER METHOD (Bubba's 69 Rambler Delivery Service...I don't care), I will never choose UPS again.

The address correction I called in to customer service never made it to the distribution center. So, my kit was not delivered again, today. I argued with some snotty supervisor until I got angry and cussed at her, then I agreed to make sure someone would be here Monday to accept delivery.

I'm frustrated. No, I'm pissed off. It's hard to make me mad. I'm probably one of the easiest going people you'll ever meet (ask my brother...back me up, Breaux, are my feathers easily ruffled?). But this situation has me fuming. I sent an email to Dan Listermann and told him about this. I thanked him for providing free shipping, so as not to sound ungrateful. But I urged him to stop doing business with UPS.

Rant over. I need a beer.

LouisianaVince said:

I'm frustrated. No, I'm pissed off. It's hard to make me mad. I'm probably one of the easiest going people you'll ever meet (ask my brother...back me up, Breaux, are my feathers easily ruffled?).

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Oh, yes, yes you're right, I back you, Breaux! You're always calm; I'm the hot-headed one! Now, put that axe and the chainsaw down, OK? You sold the flamethrower, didn't ya? Remember what happened last time you got you feathers ruffled? It was hell convincing everyone that it was them chupacabra's that slaughtered AND roasted all our poor chickens. There, that's better. Relax! And don't worry. Have a home brew.. OOPS, I mean, have a Sam Adams, yeah, that's the ticket! A Sam Adams. You like Sam Adams, right?

OK, I couldn't resist, seeing that it's Friday the 13th today.

That is a total bummer about the kit not showing up yet. Nothing you can do about it, though. Seriously, just go grab a sixer of some microbrew you've never tried before and enjoy the evening. You gotta do research to figure out what you want to brew anyway.

My Kamado arrived. I'm going to fire it up later on and smoke some pork butt. I just gotta let the rub sit on the meat another few hours before I get started.

beer4breakfast said:

Oh, yes, yes you're right, I back you, Breaux!
[snip]
OK, I couldn't resist, seeing that it's Friday the 13th today.

Thanks for the laugh, Breaux! It helps...a little. But I'm still pissed.

My Kamado arrived. I'm going to fire it up later on and smoke some pork butt. I just gotta let the rub sit on the meat another few hours before I get started.

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Way cool Send me some pics...and some pork! Have fun grilling! I'm gonna drink some Buffalo Bill's Pumpkin Ale, have a pipe (Blue Note in my Georg Jensen, I think), and chill. The kit will get here eventually. I've got an American Pale Ale extract kit coming with it, so I'll get my first brew going Monday night (I sincerely hope!!!).

When you get your Pale Ale kit, I want to know what's in it. DME or LME and how much, what kind of hops, the hop schedule, etc.

beer4breakfast said:

When you get your Pale Ale kit, I want to know what's in it. DME or LME and how much, what kind of hops, the hop schedule, etc.

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Will do. I'll send you all of the details.

Well, apparently, if you cuss at the UPS supervisor, the spiteful ***** decides not to update your order at all. I wish I had gotten her name. Oh well...
A very nice UPS customer service rep was very apologetic today and assured me my kit will be delivered to my address (apartment number and all) tomorrow. We'll see...

LouisianaVince said:

Well, apparently, if you cuss at the UPS supervisor, the spiteful ***** decides not to update your order at all. I wish I had gotten her name. Oh well...
A very nice UPS customer service rep was very apologetic today and assured me my kit will be delivered to my address (apartment number and all) tomorrow. We'll see...

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Dang, I was fixin' to ask you if your kit arrived.

Ahem... "You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar"

beer4breakfast said:

Dang, I was fixin' to ask you if your kit arrived.

Ahem... "You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar"

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Yeah, I've seen you just ooze honey before when things like this happened. You're a regular honey comb, you are!

Oh well...I guess it's not worth getting the blood pressure up over. To quote Scarlet, "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow..."

On an up-note, I'm no longer a junior member. I've moved on up to member status!

It's here, it's here! Now I can make some beer!!! Well, not tonight. We're helping a friend who got evicted move things into storage, then she and her kids will probably crash here for a couple of days. I want to brew my first batch when it's just me and my wife home, so I can really concentrate on sanitation and doing everything right. But, after all of the UPS hassle...it's finally here.
First up will be an American Pale Ale. Wish me luck, and I'll post something on Brewing Day.

Good luck, Today is my first brew day after a 10 year break. I had to say hi after reading this thread.

I would love to get a kamado some day (BGE probably) for now I have a side smoker which fits about 6 butts so I'm always in good pork.

I think I'll go pack a bowl of Dunhill 965 in my Peterson exotic zulu!

Gotta love sharing more than one hobby!

LouisianaVince said:

It's here, it's here! Now I can make some beer!!! Well, not tonight. We're helping a friend who got evicted move things into storage, then she and her kids will probably crash here for a couple of days. I want to brew my first batch when it's just me and my wife home, so I can really concentrate on sanitation and doing everything right. But, after all of the UPS hassle...it's finally here.
First up will be an American Pale Ale. Wish me luck, and I'll post something on Brewing Day.

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Wonderful news, Breaux! I have to work Saturday, but I'd like to get a chance to talk to you about your first brewing session. I'm off Friday.

dantodd said:

Good luck, Today is my first brew day after a 10 year break. I had to say hi after reading this thread.

I would love to get a kamado some day (BGE probably) for now I have a side smoker which fits about 6 butts so I'm always in good pork.

I think I'll go pack a bowl of Dunhill 965 in my Peterson exotic zulu!

Gotta love sharing more than one hobby!

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Welcome back to brewing, dantodd.

I was looking at Klose and GatorPit, and I still might get a horizontal side firebox smoker one of these days. But my Kamado is the kat's pajamas, and I'm glad I got it.

28 hours of smoking at 175 for my first low and slow in it, and I was rewarded with the best two pork butts I've ever had in my entire life. After 30 minutes of warmup and 15 or so getting the temp set, it just holds that temperature perfectly steady until the charcoal is gone.

I have the main grill and the optional upper grill, 22.5 inch diameter and 18 inch diameter respectively. I could easily fit six butts. Up next is brisket (or a clod), then a smoked turkey (always wanted to try that).

Mmmm, food and brew - what a great age old combination. (Atleast that's what I think ur talkin about right? BBQs... )

JeanLucD said:

Mmmm, food and brew - what a great age old combination. (Atleast that's what I think ur talkin about right? BBQs... )

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Yep! Talking about Beer and Butts, and that's pork butts (actually shoulders) cooked low and slow to 192*F internal temperature so you can pull it apart easily with your hands. Pulled pork BBQ! It sticks to your ribs.

dantodd said:

Good luck, Today is my first brew day after a 10 year break. I had to say hi after reading this thread.

I would love to get a kamado some day (BGE probably) for now I have a side smoker which fits about 6 butts so I'm always in good pork.

I think I'll go pack a bowl of Dunhill 965 in my Peterson exotic zulu!

Gotta love sharing more than one hobby!

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DanTodd,
Too cool. Who would have thought that 3 pipe smoking, pork grilling home brewers would all be on the same thread?!?
I just got finished helping our friend get her stuff into storage, and I have to be at work in 6 hours. Yippee. I think I'll probably brew on Sunday. I hope your re-entry into brewing goes well!

beer4breakfast said:

Wonderful news, Breaux! I have to work Saturday, but I'd like to get a chance to talk to you about your first brewing session. I'm off Friday.

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Hey Breaux,
I'll try to call you Friday after work some time. I'm off Sat. and Sun. Janet will be here Friday and Sat., but Corie has a "mandatory fishing trip, off-site meeting" for work. Must be nice! They'll be fishing offshore over the weekend. He's looking forward to that. I'm looking forward to some redfish in my freezer!
Man, your pork butt experience sounds incredible. Maybe some day I'll be able to get one of those. For now, I've gotta be satisfied with my Weber.
No time for a pipe tonight...so sad. I have to be at work at 5 am all this week. But I'll spend my free time reading up on my first brew!

I was thinking about a half-bowl of Haddo's Delight in my chubby Shapiro rhodesian, actually. But maybe something a little milder would be better. Frog Morton, perhaps.

Hey, what kind of beer is that Hmmmmmm... in your sig?

LouisianaVince said:

Maybe some day I'll be able to get one of those. For now, I've gotta be satisfied with my Weber.

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If you have a charcoal weber you can cook a great pork butt. Just use the indirect method keep the number of charcoal low on each side and add often to just maintain the heat at about 220 degrees.
I do it about once a month, depending on the size of the butt it'll stay on there for 5 to 7 hours. I have a JenAir gas grill, and a large smoker that I can do 100 lbs of meat on, but I love my weber and use it the most.

beer4breakfast said:

Up next is brisket (or a clod), then a smoked turkey (always wanted to try that).

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Yeah, those kamados are known for the nice even temp holding.

We smoked a couple turkeys in my in-laws vertical water smoker and they came out GREAT!

Thanks for the welcome Vince. The brew went fairly well last night. I screwed up the hopping but figured it out immediately and was able to correct the recipe so the IBU will not be totally wacked out of range. It is bubbling away in the kitchen as we speak. I missed the OG by a few points but not terrible.