Teach a Friend

A casual friends wife wants to get him a homebrew kit for Christmas and asked for advise. He enjoys craft brews and my homebrew and will be retiring soon. She thinks this will be a good hobby for him. My first thought (and the opinion I’ve read here quite a bit) is to at least tell her to get a steeped grain / bucket type kit. But the more I think of it, the more I’m not sure.

I started with a Mr Beer that I got as a Christmas present. It was a long road, with a lot of trial and error to get to where I am now, but looking back, I wouldn’t have it any other way. A good part of the fun with this hobby has been the learning experience. Read, brew. Read more, brew again. There always seem to be a better way to go about the task. Sometimes it’s even a few steps backwards, but you learn from that too and have a good time while you’re at it.

Wouldn’t letting someone learn from my mistakes actually be taking away something from the experience for them? Where is the line between guidance and interference?

I think that you have some valid points- but if I were to only go by the experience with Mr. Beer, I would have stopped right then. I didn't understand why it wasn't good, but I did make wine, so I had realized that if I did a basic extract and steeping grains kit that I could maybe make something drinkable.

I think a basic kit and a Brewer's Best kit wouldn't be overkill for a new brewer. I think Mr. Beer would be a disappointment, and would get put away in the basement.

If I were to start over, I would go for the all-grain equipment right away, and start with a couple partial mash batches to get my feet wet. With enough reading and learning, you can catch on pretty quickly, and I didn't really feel like I was making beer until I went AG. Especially if he has a brew buddy to help him along, no reason to make a crappy Mr. Beer kit when you can help him make a great partial mash beer.

YooperBrew said:

. . . but if I were to only go by the experience with Mr. Beer, I would have stopped right then. I didn't understand why it wasn't good. . .

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But that is sort of my point. We both did learn something from that experience and showed the determination and dedication to move to the next level. Kind of a right of passage.

YooperBrew said:

I think a basic kit and a Brewer's Best kit wouldn't be overkill for a new brewer. I think Mr. Beer would be a disappointment, and would get put away in the basement.

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Your probably right. This is a level that will have a better chance of producing good beer, but still leave plenty of room for growth.

I have to agree that if your open to spending some time on his first few brews to keep him from making the major noob mistakes go with an advanced kit would be fantastic. (I wish I had a brew buddy who knew what they were doing on my first couple of batches).

BarleyWater said:

If I were to start over, I would go for the all-grain equipment right away. . .

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I don't know . . . there's something to be said in favor of foreplay

I would have to with the basic extract kit and the equipment go with it. And maybe The Complete Joy of Home Brewing too.