TOTAL newbie, where to start?

So Im just starting this little venture; im gonna need ALOT of pointers! Since ive never even thought about this before, after you buy the deluxe kit, where do you start?
Think of a beer you want to make?

Thanx!

 

Read John Palmer's How to Brew... No seriously.....

 

Here, then here.

 

In a word, Yes. Think of the beers you like the most and make one of those. (Just not a lager. To long to wait). Stove top boils is where most people start. Extract is also a good place to begin. As you grow in your skills you can move to the garage. Welcome to the hobby. The biggest thing to remember is RDWHAHB.

 

If you already have the kit a good place to start is plamers how to brew book, the free edition that is online. Some of it isnt up to date anymore but it will get you started. I would find a kit at a home brew store and go from there. Pick an ale type you like to drink. Midwest, Austin and northern brewer are all good places to start. If i can stress 2 points its proper temp control and proper yeast pitching rates.

 

RDWHAHB ???

Yeast pitching?

WTH?

 

Relax, Don't Worry. Have a Home Brew.

Get the two books and read them. Trust us.

 

Got'em ordered!

 

You've got a lot of reading ahead of you, buddy.

Step 1) Read a lot of this
Step 2) Learn how to use the search function here on homebrewtalk.

Some common brewing terms:
Liquor: water used in the brewing process.
Wort (pronounced 'wert'): water with malt sugars and hops added to it.
Sweet wort: water with malt sugars added to it but no hops yet.
Trub (pronounced 'troob'): the protein / yeast / hop gunk left over from the brewing process.
Pitch (as in pitching yeast): Add.
Beer: Wort that has had alcohol added to it through the fermentation process.
Krausen (pronounced 'croyzen'): The foamy stuff on top of fermenting beer.
RDWHAHB: "Relax, don't worry - have a home brew!"
BDMA: "Bubbles don't mean anything."

 

You may also want to check out MoreBeer.

Something you can also do is look over their ingredients that they use in the kit and buy it separately if you want to save a couple of dollars. You can also skip the Irish moss and corn sugar for priming (carbing), which would save a little more.

What styles of beer do you enjoy the most?

 

+1 Buy the book or at least read the first few chapters online for free (http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html) This book will introduce you to the brewing science in simple terms and allow you to become familiar with the terminology used in this forum.

 

When I first started I looked at allot of YouTube vids, and still do.

 

Also, where do you live, maybe there's somebody close that can help you face-to-face when the need arises.

 

Unfortunately, lagers are my favorite, Anchor Steam is my fav. I really havent tried too too many dif. beers. An old standby is Sam Adams...

 

I agree 100%

If you want to do things right just read what jakenbacon says above and you'll be fine

 

Be patient. My big mistake starting out was rushing my first few beers. Let that baby sit in the fermenter for 3 weeks! Then bottle for 3 weeks! The wait is worth it. Once you nail down the process you can start a pipeline (have one fermenting, one in bottles carbonating, and one (or more) ready to drink!). Try some blonde ales if you're more partial to the factory lagers.

 

What are some blonde ales?

 

Go to the recipe part on this site and you'll see plenty

 

If you are a visual learner like me, reading a book won't do you much good. I bought 'how to brew' and was still kind of lost. Then, YouTube! There are GREAT videos there that explain the whole process. Once I watched those, I read 'how to brew' again and now it makes total sense.

One more bit of advice: AVOID KITS. They suck. It's fun and easy to snag recipes here, from other sites, and from your LHBS.

 

You serious, fella? How bout doing some reading and watchjng first before trying to get your education on brewing by posting a general query. Do you really expect this board to write the book for you, so to speak?

 

I would hardly say kits suck, for a new brewer they can be great. Usually tried and true recipes and it has everything minus the yeast. Makes it much less daunting for a new brewer. Not everyone starts out the same...

 

Something that I forgot to consider at the start - brew kettle boiling pot!

 

Here ya go to get started:

Forums like this one have FAQ sections that are loaded with good starter info.

Then look at:

http://www.youtube.com/user/BeerGeekNation/videos

http://www.youtube.com/user/basicbrewing/videos

http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/index.html



It also never hurts to ask questions of local brewers. You can often find them hanging around home brew supply stores when they're not brewing.

 

Thanks! These are the things I was hoping to find...
Thx again, B

 

My opinion for what it's worth? LHBS will set you up with a great starting recipe. My first brew was a simple California Pale Ale with one bag of LME and some cascade hops. the beer was great and the whole kit including the hardware was under $100. It got me hooked and 4 months later I was doing all grain. It's a fun and interesting journey.