Please help a beginner

[neilprosser6]

Morning, i do apologise if this has been asked a thousand times, I can't find if it has.
I have brewed before however only ever by the tin and in a plastic tub then to bottle.
I would like to brew something close to Guinness and also something like a desperado but from there on I want to try everything.
I have corny kegs and I'm looking to buy the masher/boil set up (excuse my ignorance I'm new).
Could someone please send me an idiots guide from start to finish.
How much it costs / where to get the ingredients please? What ingredients?
Does it have to be a mix of gas? And on.
Any help would be much appreciated.

Thank you in advance

Neil

 

[JohnSand]

Welcome aboard!
I started with hopped extract as you did. Then I started reading, first forums, then books and magazines. How To Brew by John Palmer is a very good book to start. This forum probably contains all the information you need if you keep browsing. I have a few suggestions: Start simple and progress as you learn. A kettle and BIAB bag is enough at first, you can buy more sophisticated gear as you decide how to advance. Use all grain kits or proven recipes before trying to be creative. The experience will help you understand processes and ingredients. Read this forum every day. Not all of the advice is good or relevant, but there are thousands of brewers here who have made an ocean of beer.
Have fun!

 

[RM-MN]

www.howtobrew.com

Read through the above online book, consider purchasing the latest edition and read it.

 

[tracer bullet]

https://www.northernbrewer.com/blogs/new-to-brewing-start-here/how-to-brew-beer-homebrewing-101
Start simple, for certain. You can get overwhelmed quickly.

I'd consider a "beginner's kit". At a minimum see what is in them and why, and then perhaps look around for the kits being sold by someone that decided not to stick with the hobby.

 

[neilprosser6]

Welcome aboard!
I started with hopped extract as you did. Then I started reading, first forums, then books and magazines. How To Brew by John Palmer is a very good book to start. This forum probably contains all the information you need if you keep browsing. I have a few suggestions: Start simple and progress as you learn. A kettle and BIAB bag is enough at first, you can buy more sophisticated gear as you decide how to advance. Use all grain kits or proven recipes before trying to be creative. The experience will help you understand processes and ingredients. Read this forum every day. Not all of the advice is good or relevant, but there are thousands of brewers here who have made an ocean of beer.
Have fun!

Thank you very much. I'll take that on board and thank you for the welcome.

 

[bobeer]

Welcome!! You're looking to brew a dry Irish stout if you're going after a Guinness kind of beer. There should be several clone recipes or recipe kits out there that can get you close. You'll have to decide which brew method will work for you based on the space you have, how much time you want to put onto it, and cost. A lot of people start with extract batches over 'all grain' batches. You can get a dry Irish stout kit in either extract or all grain. There is flaked barley in it, which is what gives the beer the frothy smooth texture, but you have to mash flaked barley so if you do an extract kit it might not be as silky smooth as the real thing. If you read about the all grain brew process you can decide if it's where you want to start or not. There's also a method called 'partial mash' that would work for a dry Irish stout too.

Good luck!

 

[Zambezi Special]

Keep it simple. Definitely initially.
I would directly go all grain BIAB. You don't need much in the form of equipment.
Buy a kit with the grain measured and milled, yeast and hop. Those kits work. Later on you can chop & change but for a 1st brew don't worry about all those choices.
Follow the instructions, be patient, work clean.
And read and ask and read more, but doing at least one measured out kit will help you visualise everything after.

And if you do a smallish batch, you might even have a big enough pot at home and you can just use your stove

 

[aceluby]

I started with a one gallon extract kit then immediately started brewing one gallon all-grain. I had most of the equipment needed in my kitchen already. I got the kit from Northern Brewer Craft Beer Making Kit With Siphonless Fermenter - 1 Gallon and then read this site 100 times: One gallon beer brewing

There’s also a huge thread here on one gallon brewing. Even after upgrading to a 5 gallon setup, brewing one gallon is my favorite way to brew. Then it’s just finding your recipe and getting ingredients for a dry Irish stout

 

[bracconiere]

i've been brewing successfully for ~20 years once a week, with just basicaly a 10 gallon cooler, and 15 gallon pot....

(with the price of malt these days, i have a hand me down dryer now also for deculming barley sprouts too though...i started out simple with that too though, but lifting 20lbs over my head 20-30 times felt like physical labor )

Lot's people have a lot of fun with fancy stuff though!

 

[z-bob]

What equipment do you have in your kitchen already that can be repurposed? (a tall 22 quart stockpot or canner would be ideal) See if you can work around that, but you might have to make smaller batches at first. I generally brew 4 gallons; I could do 5 or 6 now, but I started out brewing 3 or 4 gallons and I liked it.

A paint strainer bag from the hardware or home improvement store makes an adequate grain bag if it fits your kettle. You know it will fit a 5-gallon bucket; I bet one could use a bucket with a blanket wrapped around it for a mash tun

I'm not saying you should go cheap (unless you're into that), just see if you can try it out before investing a bunch of $$$.

Northern Brewer's all-grain beer kits are reasonably priced and highly regarded... wait, I just noticed you're in the UK. That may negate the details of everything I just said, I don't know, but I think the premise is still sound. Leverage what you have already, then add to it when something seems lacking. A kit would be a good place.