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Start with the right equipment. I see you have a mash/lauter tun. You need a big brewpot, because you will be starting with about seven gallons of sweet wort and boiling it down to five or so. That is assuming you are making five-gallon batches. Before I bought my fifteen-gallon pot I used...

Aaaaaaagh! I can't believe I missed this one! I'm just now finishing up the stuff I bought last year. Oh, well. BTW, for storage I use Rubbermaid Roughneck 14-gallon totes. I buy them at WalMart. 55 pounds of grain fits perfectly.

Congratulations on the upcoming wedding! I'm not the authority or anything, so go ahead and try your recipe and let us know how it turns out. One change I would make would be to eliminate the Irish moss. Your beer will be opaque, so why add a clarifier? If your recipe doesn't meet your...

Add me to the old-school group that uses lined paper in a three-ring binder. I'm now in my second binder. The binders have pockets inside the front and back covers for other important papers like the owner's manual to my malt mill, some label designs, etc. I number my brews, and initially...

Here is my reason for doing step mashing and decoction in some of my past brews: curiosity. I had to try it to see if it had any benefit. My conclusion was that there was no detectable improvement in the final product that justified the extra work and extra time. So, no more step mashes or...

Good to see another Virginian. This forum has been a real blessing to me because of the ideas, advice, and encouragement I get here. I consult the recipe database before I plan a brew. And about a year ago, I got in on a bulk grain buy--big money saver.

+1 to the reply from Justibone, especially the part about the premium import beers. From the description you originally gave, your cousin is into all different kinds of beers, and tries to recreate them at home. So you can help expand his horizons. And in case you haven't figured out what...

On the off chance that your homebrewing cousin doesn't already have one, a digital kitchen scale is a great thing. They are in your price range, and are widely available. Homebrewers weigh hops, grain, priming sugar, malt extract, and I can't think of what else. A max capacity of about ten...

How much do you have to spend?

I use a 60-quart SS pot across two burners of a natural gas stove. The pot is 18 inches in diameter and totally covers both burners of a cheap Kenmore range that I installed in my basement just for making beer. It is not without problems, however: 1. I kept setting off the carbon monoxide...

I had a problem with OxiClean regular (with the little blue specks) that I do not have with OxiClean Free. When I soaked bottles overnight in a solution of hot water and the Oxi regular, my bottles came out covered in scale. The only way to remove the scale was to then soak the bottles in...

I wear a hat while homebrewing. I am a FedEx guy, and I have never gone into a business that processes food or drink where they didn't insist on covers for the head, beard, or even legs. There must be a reason. Perhaps it is the potential revulsion (and resultant lawsuit) of someone finding a...

So I'm not the only one who has had issues with dead Notty. It has happened twice, now.

I broke a 6-gallon glass carboy and cut my foot. Since then I have only bought Better Bottles, and installed handles on my remaining glass carboys. The disadvantages of the BB's versus glass are easily overcome. BB's are easy to clean. I use warm water and OxiClean, and they come clean...

It will not have a significant effect on the flavor of the beer. According to the Briess website, Golden Light malt extracts are made from base malt with a Lovibond color rating of 4 degrees. Pilsen Light is made from pilsen malt at 2 degrees Lovibond. The difference between the base malt and...

A wort chiller is a time saver, but not necessary. I did not have one for the first year I brewed. I used an ice bath. Your ideas are okay, but the first consideration, both during and after cooling, must be sanitation. You don't want any microscopic beasts eating the sugar out of your...

It's optional. I don't do it.

Bopper has the right idea. Buy a kit at the local homebrew store and give it a try. Then, when you are ready to do a partial mash, which I did before I went the all-grain route, try the recipe for Haus Pale Ale.

I made this. I bottled it a week ago, and am drinking one now. It is first-rate, clean (no banana or clove flavors) as promised. Two things I did different: I mashed at a higher temp, so it did not ferment all the way down to 1.009. And I substituted Strisselspalt hops for the Hersbruckers...

Crunchy, from what you posted about yourself and your tastes, I'm going to recommend you try the recipe for EdWort's Bee Cave Brewery Haus Pale Ale, found in the recipe database in the category of American Ale. I made some, and it is terrific. It is the third EdWort recipe I tried, including...