New to brewing

Hello all,
I am very new to brewing I haven't even started any of the prep or purchased any of the beginners equipment. I really want to get into home brewing but I am the type of person that needs to know why we do each step. So before I get started I was wondering if anyone knew of any great books I could buy just to get the background down before actually brewing my first batch?

 

Start here: http://www.howtobrew.com/


No need to buy a book when there is a wealth of knowledge online.

 

And any questions you may have in the book, use the search feature on here. Literally tons of information on here as well.

 

Check out the stickies at the top of the forums for a lot of info on different brewing styles from All Extract to Partial Mash & All Grain. Usually contractions like AE,PM or AG. Or E/SG for Extract with Stepping Grains. It'll also discuss equipment used. I'm still using the same 5 gallon stainless steel stock pot I got when I started with AE. I'm now up to PB/PM BIAB (Partial Boil,Partial Mash Brew In A Bag). Makes great beer with the only things different are a cake cooling rack to fit in the bottom of the kettle to keep the nylon 5 gallon paint strainer bag from burning on the bottom with the grains in it during the heating to mash temp & 1 hour mash itself.
Then of course,you'll need a 6.5 gallon fermenter to allow for krausen expansion during initial fermentation. Airlocks,blow off tube & jug,hydrometer,bottle brush,capper & caps,lid lever wrench for those tight bucket lids. And def PBW cleaner & Starsan sanitizer. A 5 gallon batch will generally need 48/12oz bottles or 2 cases to bottle the batch. You'll also need a long spoon or paddle to stir with. Floating thermometer &/or dial type thermometers come in handy for steeping or mashing.

 

Have a look at a few of 'terpsichoreankid' videos on you tube. He's an eccentric character but he has got some very good material.

 

Agreed. Start with howtobrew then run forum searches on what doesnt make sense. If you can't find it start a thread ans we will be happy to explain. Someone did for us afterall.

 

well you asked for a book so a book is what i will give you "how to brew" it is online for free but a copy can also be bought at a nuber of places.

 

Thank you all. I ordered the How to brew book so I will start with that and see how it goes. I will for sure be coming back with any and all of my questions.

 

I was gonna say, since you're in Madison, at the Wine and Hop Shop their beer kits come with The Complete Joy of Homebrewing.

 

I have heard about the wine and hop shop I will have to go down and check it out. I think their are a few places in Madison that have books and such. I do live in an apartment, which means I do not have a Garage do you think that will have a huge effect once I start to brew? A couple of my friends have a garage I could use I just wasn't sure if I should even attempt in my apt or just ask to use their garage.

 

You can brew on an electric stove,but the stock burners generally don't heat up very fast. I've a link in my profile for aftermarket burners that heat up faster.

 

Alright I will take a look thanks a lot.

 

You're welcome. They're on amazon,& I bought the 2 large burner replacements that the link is mainly for. they have the small ones too. You can always save the stock ones,so if you move,take yours & put theirs back in.

 

You can do partial boil extract batches on the stovetop. That's how many, many folks start out.

 

Most stovetops will only boil around 2-2.5 gallons at a time. Test it out on your stove to determine the size of the partial boils you can do. Partial boils are where you basically make a concentrated wort and after the boil top off your fermenter with more water to get yourself up to volumes and down to the proper gravity.

 

I do partial boils all the time. That's why I mentioned the link in my profile for the better aftermarket burners. Our GE stove's stock burners held temp great,but didn't heat up very fast at all. I def needed the aftermarket ones that heat up faster to do partial boil in a decent lenght of time. That's why I metioned them.
They don't cost much at all,& can now get 3.5 gallons to a rolling boil in about 18 minutes vs a couple hours with the stock heating elements. And I do those partial boils in a 5 gallon (20qt) ss stock pot. Everything from AE to PB/PM BIAB. So it's my learned opinion to replace the two large heating elements with aftermarket ones for the BK/MT & HLT. Fancy brewspeak for the boil kettle that doubles as a Brew in a bag mash tun. The other large burner for heating water for the sparge,etc.