New to brewing and tons of questions!!

[filmman03]

Greetings everyone! I'm Sam from Southern California and I not only love beer (I mean good beer) but I am very interested in making my own beer.

I have yet to pickup a beer starting kit; saw the Mr. Beer kit at Sears last night and was tempted to pick it up but realized I could either get it cheaper online OR find a better starter kit. I found the Northern Brewer kit to be a much better kit and was thinking of purchasing it.

So first question; what is the best kit to purchase? By that; I mean one that includes everything I need (aside from the boiling kettle which I can pickup locally I think for cheaper)?

Next; the ingredients.... this is what confuses me a bit, not so much the malts, wheats, hops but rather the terms used and percentages used. I figured out what LME and DME and OG means but some of the other terms used and the numbers and percentages are a bit confusing.

Also; the type of beers I'd like to brew are mainly German wheat beers, lagers and ales. I love the various Hefeweizens imported from Germany and would love to replicate them. I also love some good IPA's from Dogfish Head, Sierra Nevada, Red Tail, and many others.

I'd like my first brew to be a hoppy, medium-dark and high gravity hefeweizen but not sure where to start.

any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Yooper]

Greetings everyone! I'm Sam from Southern California and I not only love beer (I mean good beer) but I am very interested in making my own beer.

I have yet to pickup a beer starting kit; saw the Mr. Beer kit at Sears last night and was tempted to pick it up but realized I could either get it cheaper online OR find a better starter kit. I found the Northern Brewer kit to be a much better kit and was thinking of purchasing it.

So first question; what is the best kit to purchase? By that; I mean one that includes everything I need (aside from the boiling kettle which I can pickup locally I think for cheaper)?

Next; the ingredients.... this is what confuses me a bit, not so much the malts, wheats, hops but rather the terms used and percentages used. I figured out what LME and DME and OG means but some of the other terms used and the numbers and percentages are a bit confusing.

Also; the type of beers I'd like to brew are mainly German wheat beers, lagers and ales. I love the various Hefeweizens imported from Germany and would love to replicate them. I also love some good IPA's from Dogfish Head, Sierra Nevada, Red Tail, and many others.

I'd like my first brew to be a hoppy, medium-dark and high gravity hefeweizen but not sure where to start.

any help would be greatly appreciated!

The basic starter kit from northern brewer is exactly what you need. I don't personally use a secondary carboy, so I would skip that at least for now. Then add a hydrometer and test jar, and extra airlock (trust me- they disappear and they are cheap), and the ingredients kit they have and you'll be all set. I see that the essential starter kit comes with a recipe kit of three choices. With those three choices, you might like to do the American wheat unless you like American brown ales.

Hefeweizens are among the easiest styles to brew, so that should be an easy goal for you! You can buy the ingredients for it, or purchase a hefeweizen kit from Northern Brewer as well. I've never seen a "hoppy" hefeweizen, though, so I'm not sure what to tell you.

 

[brigbrew]

Welcome to the hobby that will consume your life! I brewed my first batch 5 weeks ago, brewed two more while I was waiting and cracked my first batch this morning. My advice is just keep reading. I spent two weeks just learning the ropes from Revvy and Yooper and god knows how many others (unionrdr, etc...). If you have a specific question, do a search and keep on reading. It's amazing how much I figured out from this forum. The atmosphere is so positive and encouraging! That, and brew. Just take detailed notes so that a month later you can have the info to keep learning!

 

[duboman]

Welcome to the hobby!


+1 to the above! Pick up a book to read first, I'd recommend "The Joy of Homebrewing" and "How to Brew". Both are great to get started and help you understand basic terms and processes before you dig in brewing!

Also, I'd recommend a swamp cooler set up if you need a way to control fermentation temps which should ideally be in the 62-68F range, you can do a simple search on HBT or Google for the basic set up.

Cheers!

 

[Nonyaz]

On the numbers side of your question, I would look into a beer software like beersmith. It helps to see terms and numbers in context. In beersmith you there is usually a tooltip description of all the fields, or a help page for every tab.

 

[unionrdr]

Thanks for the honourable mention,brigbrew. I would also suggest looking into this one for $65; http://www.midwestsupplies.com/brewing-basics-equipment-kit.html
They also have many options to upgrade the kit. There's supposed to be a groupon floating around (if someone could give the link) to get it with a beer kit for the same price. They have very good quality stuff & fast Fed-Ex home delivery,which is their second cheapest shipping option.

 

[filmman03]

thanks for the tips and resources!! can't wait to start brewing!

 

[revco]

I would second the book recommendation "How to Brew" - it's been a companion of mine that's been with me the last three years and I still use it.

I personally feel it's important to source out your local homebrew store (LHBS) and to support them. They may not be your cheapest source for startup materials, but they will be for your consumables once you account for shipping. Regardless, they're a valuable source of information and it's important for them to stay in business via your support.

That said, I'd suggest you spend some time either in a book, online or here to learn the ropes. You have choices right now. My biggest suggestion is to consider carefully your purchases and research what others are doing here. Some things, like your kettle, are best not to be skimped on...or you'll end up like many of us, paying twice or even three times for the right thing. Even if you decide to not stick with the hobby, a good kettle will retain much of it's value for resale...whereas the wrong kettle might not.

Cheers & welcome to the hobby!

 

[filmman03]

how do i know how much of each ingredient i need? i know there are specific kits for different beers available but if i want to add more of one ingredient for a more bitter taste or higher alcohol content... how can i achieve these and what happens if i add to much of one or more ingredients?

 

[steber]

how do i know how much of each ingredient i need? i know there are specific kits for different beers available but if i want to add more of one ingredient for a more bitter taste or higher alcohol content... how can i achieve these and what happens if i add to much of one or more ingredients?

Those things come with knowledge and time. More hops early in a boil will give you a bitter beer. Higher alcohol comes from more sugars to convert, so more extract will do that. reading goes a long way. Start learning about all the ingredients in a recipe. Such as what your adding, why and when as well. Keep reading and it'll all come together with time.

 

[Kuzu]

how do i know how much of each ingredient i need? i know there are specific kits for different beers available but if i want to add more of one ingredient for a more bitter taste or higher alcohol content... how can i achieve these and what happens if i add to much of one or more ingredients?

Howdy, welcome to home brewing! For your first few batches, I recommend following basic "tried and true" recipes to cut your teeth on. They will have a higher chance of success and that will keep you interested in brewing. A bad first batch is a buzz kill. Then you can worry about fiddling with altering amounts or trying to create your own recipes as you learn what certain amounts of ingredients will do for you. You'll have plenty of time later to go crazy with developing your own recipes. Have fun!