First timer

Tomorrow a friend and I are entering the world of homebrewing. We are both pretty excited and slightly nervous. I have been doing a lot of reading and some of the stuff is pretty over my head.

So a quick question. If we are using a dry malt extract, that takes the place of the wort correct? Some places I have been reading make it sound like that is the case while others are pretty vague about it.

Any and all tips and pointers are welcome.

DME+water= wort add hops while boiling, chill, rack to fermentation vessel, pitch yeast and a few LONG weeks later you have beer. It's easier than you think, have fun it's not a job.

Thanks for the response. I am really looking forward to getting started.

I plan on starting slow for a couple batches to get my feet wet and then hopefully will get into all grain brewing.

Cheers

Right, dme takes the place of the mash, and is used instead of an all grain mash to make the wort. Welcome and enjoy!!

What are you looking to brew? Do you have a kit, a recipe? Let us know so we can give you a hand.

Welcome to the hobby.

Cheers!

Dry Molt Extract is going to become your wort. Everything you do during the boiling process is creating your wort. Once the fermentation process is done, it's no longer really wort, it's beer, just flat and warm. Carbonation begins to take place shortly after bottling your beer. Do your selves a favor and make sure everything that touches your wort/beer is sterile. Also the more DME you use the higher the alcohol content, but that isn't what make a good beer. I have made beer with only a 2.5% ABV and it was great. Good luck and welcome to the addicting world of home brewing. Also check out videos on youtube and use craigtube as a search name this guy is good he's been brewing beer for over 20 years in his basement.

Welcome to the fold. This place is a wealth of knowledge... None of it mine but nonetheless a great place.

Got the kit and a brewpot.

We are starting with an american pale ale. A serria nevada type if you will. it all came prepacked from our local brew store.

We were told this one was pretty straightforward. A good first timer beer.

I guess my only question is how long to aerate the wort and do you do that after cooling to 70 degees, and then you pitch the yeast?

Aerate after chilling the wort. A lot of people do this by shaking the fermentation vessel for a few minutes, myself included. You can also pour it back and forth between pot and bucket or use a stirring spoon to whisk it for a few minutes. Most pitch yeast after aerating, but just prior to aerating works too.

Also, i would try chilling it to below 70. I like to go to about 63. Try to keep the fermentation temperature, the temp of the wort/beer, steady. The temperature will probably be about 5 degrees higher than the ambient temperature in the room during the first part of fermentation, first 5 days or so.

Awesome. Thanks for all the advice. I cant wait to get started.

I am sure I will be on here often, and more than likely looking for tips on bottling in about 3 weeks.

Cheers

If you can make Jell-o... you can make beer.

Actually... you just get to boil ingredients and add hops... the yeast make all the beer.

Gary