Hi from Columbus, OH!

[Skillafizer]

Hey everyone,

I just joined here after recently buying a homebrew starter kit, but I have very little working knowledge on how to homebrew. Should anyone want to give me pointers, starting tips, words of advice, friend me, etc., that'd be greatly appreciated.

I'm currently 3 days into the fermenting phase with my Craft a Brew kit, which is a plastic carboy kit with an American Pale Ale pack of ingredients. I've been following the basic instructions but would like to eventually get into more independent and inventive homebrewing rather than simply following instructions from a pre-made and packaged brewing package. Does anybody have any good tips or resources for how to get started and where to go to learn the terminology and basic brewing steps? And does anyone know of any good supply shops in the Columbus area?

Thanks in advance, peeps!

 

[DrFuggles]

Welcome to the hobby and the HBT forums!

My top 3 bits of advice:

1) Get stuck into the Basic Brewing podcast (www.basicbrewing.com). They've been running for 10 years now and is a goldmine of info. The early ones are indeed very basic and are a great starting point. I started listening last year through their archive during my commute and caught up to date in 8 months.

2) Read John Palmer's free online How to Brew book for an overview of techniques. Don't worry if you don't take it all in up front. Learn by doing - there is no substitute for diving in and making mistakes/refining technique by yourself.

3) The lynchpin for brewing is cleaning. Get this right and you'll certainly make a drinkable beer.

Welcome to the hobby that will take over your life...

 

[unionrdr]

Yup. Cleaning & sanitizing are the two things you'll spend the most time doing, but they must be done correctly if any success is to be hoped for. And some way to control fermentation temps is a good thing as well. There are lots of recipes on here by category in the red strip at the top of the page you can read through for ideas.

 

[Mirilis]

depending on your distance there are clubs in the columbus area that are great for meeting other people who brew.. i like to mentor and be mentored by other brewers.. its the best way for me to learn.

SODZ is one of the larger Homebrew Clubs in C-Bus (if I remember)

 

[Skillafizer]

depending on your distance there are clubs in the columbus area that are great for meeting other people who brew.. i like to mentor and be mentored by other brewers.. its the best way for me to learn.

SODZ is one of the larger Homebrew Clubs in C-Bus (if I remember)

Thanks guys. Mirilis, are you in the Cbus area and going to any of these clubs? I'd be interested in going to one or some of them if you have any recommendations for a particular one.

Does anyone have any basic beer recipes or anything like that, which I could use to just get the basics down? Nothing crazy complex, just a simple beer in which to practice the concepts of the brewing process?

 

[Mirilis]

Im not in the Cbus area anymore (lived in Marysville for a few years).. im North of Dayton in a local club here.

theres a recipe database here on the forum.. lots of great recipes there. If your just starting and dont want to do anything too crazy.. a simple cream ale or blonde would be great.

Centiniel Blonde

 

[unionrdr]

You can also look under a member's avatar where it says, " recipes", left click on the lil arrow & a drop-down window appears with recipes they've posted you can look at.

 

[worthog79]

There are a few shops in the Columbus area. I frequent Buckeye Brewshop in uptown Westerville. There is also Gentiles on King ave in Grandview. I believe there is at least one more, but I can't recall the name.

 

[Cyclman]

Welcome to the hobby, and the group, from CO

Designing Great Beers is a wonderful book on making your own recipes.

 

[MMJfan]

There are a few shops in the Columbus area. I frequent Buckeye Brewshop in uptown Westerville. There is also Gentiles on King ave in Grandview. I believe there is at least one more, but I can't recall the name.

The Winemaker's Shop is a nice little homebrew shop on N. High St. That's where I stop whenever I'm in C'bus...