New Brewer Gathering Resources

[DouglassBrewer]

Hey everyone,

I'm looking into starting up a homebrew set up pretty soon. I have been doing lots of reading trying to decide which kit to buy. Right now I am eyeballing the http://www.brewsupply.com/Merchandise/index.html#equipkits, the 2nd one that costs $120. I talked to the guy in the store about the other alternatives and it seems to be a good starting point. I know I have to get a few other things like a pot for the boil and such. I also got Palmer's book on how to brew.

Hope to get the kit for Christmas and start brewing as soon as possible. I am interested in Lagers but don't think I am going to start off with one. Does anyone have a suggestion for a first recipe that is easy and produces a nice beer?

 

[fatmoose]

Hey everyone,

I'm looking into starting up a homebrew set up pretty soon. I have been doing lots of reading trying to decide which kit to buy. Right now I am eyeballing the http://www.brewsupply.com/Merchandise/index.html#equipkits, the 2nd one that costs $120. I talked to the guy in the store about the other alternatives and it seems to be a good starting point. I know I have to get a few other things like a pot for the boil and such. I also got Palmer's book on how to brew.

Hope to get the kit for Christmas and start brewing as soon as possible. I am interested in Lagers but don't think I am going to start off with one. Does anyone have a suggestion for a first recipe that is easy and produces a nice beer?

The second kit looks nice, I see it has a carboy as a secondary vessel. As an FYI there's a decent amount of folks that aren't using secondary fermentation, I'm one of them. I did a secondary with my first two brews and haven't since, it seems to not have made much of a difference for me. I keep mine in the primary for about 3 - 4 weeks and then bottle, assuming I've got a couple stable hydrometer readings. You'll get a lot of different opinions on here about the "right" way to do things and most of them have merit. After a while you'll figure out how you like to do it and what works well for you.

As you may or may not be aware a lager requires significant temp control, typically down in the low 50's for a few weeks as I understand it (I haven't done a lager). Brown ale's are a popular first recipe as they tend to be forgiving, they're dark in color so you don't have to worry about clarity and they've got a strong enough flavor to mask imperfections. I did a cream ale as my first brew, it was an extract kit with steeping grains. I think that's a good way to start off easily while still being able to produce beers with some additional character.

Have fun and welcome!

 

[Kegcowboy]

We can only hope you will skip bottling and go straight to kegging. Welcome to HBT

 

[DouglassBrewer]

We can only hope you will skip bottling and go straight to kegging. Welcome to HBT

Ah all good things come to those who wait. I would love to keg my own beer. But for this lowly poor college student, it may be quite some time before that rolls around. I dream of carving my own tap heads for each beer I make. I say take the first brew in stride and take it from there!

 

[wacko]

Your title made me think "You need more pylons!"

Not sure if that will mean anything to you, but welcome aboard!

 

[DouglassBrewer]

Your title made me think "You need more pylons!"

Not sure if that will mean anything to you, but welcome aboard!

This gave me a laugh because it was actually exactly what made me think of it. But I play Terran so none of that pylon nonsense.