Best newbie guide?

[reiner]

I've gone through some. I've done fermenting before but only cider and mead. I need something to just give me the main differences for beer and not try to sell me a mr beer kit. Thanks.

 

[Yooper]

http://howtobrew.com/

The "hard copy" of the book is the newest edition, but this basic online books is really good!

 

[redgum]

Whilst I don't know of any beer brewing for cider or mead makers, there are always a couple of staples which can get you some good info for free:

I'm going to give you the obvious first: http://www.howtobrew.com/
Then there is good info at www.basicbrewing.com Don't forget the DVD on basicbrewing.com either if you want a visual run through.

 

[kyleobie]

I will go against the grain here and say that I found How To Brew intimidating when I was first starting out. I know it's a book and not a website but The Complete Joy of Homebrewing by Charlie Papazian is the best newbie guide out there IMO.

I also recommend searching around for YouTube videos on brewing technique if you're a visual learner (as I am).

 

[djfriesen]

I recommend the wiki on this site. You have some experience with brewing, so this archive should be right up your alley. Find the section laying out the general process of brewing beer. Then you can fill in these broad strokes by researching other techniques like BIAB, fly-sparging, extract/partial mash/all grain brewing, etc. That is where I went when I was just starting out. I'm still really new, but I like to think I have a good grasp of the general concept and some of the cause/effect relationships with beermaking.

 

[Seven]

+1 for How To Brew. The Complete Joy of Homebrewing is OK but it's now very dated and the constant "RDWHAHB" mantra got really old after a while (for me).

 

[Crew]

relax. dont worry. have a home brew... most annoying part of that book. I agree, it did seem dated. It did a good job of laying it out for me in an easy to understand way.

 

[Grumpybumpy]

+1 on How to Brew. That was my first book and gave me a very good idea of what to expect. That, and reading the living s*** out of these forums. Thanks guys!

Complete Joy is alright, but I usually refer back to H2B more often

 

[redgum]

relax. dont worry. have a home brew... most annoying part of that book. I agree, it did seem dated. It did a good job of laying it out for me in an easy to understand way.

Honestly, flicking through that book at the bookstore and getting the constant RDWHAHB put me off because it seemed so cheesy. Now of course I am enlightened and have a RDWHAHB bumper sticker on my car from the AHA :rockin:

I bought Dave Miller's book that day instead but now do own Papazian's books as well.

Also, don't forget to have a look at stuff on youtube. There's plenty of people showing how they brew there and a good one showing the day's brewing process for an extract brew is:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/user/BobbyFromNJ#p/u/59/RENxL0HhRu4[/ame]

Good old BobbyFromNJ who'll you'll find on this forum.

 

[TopherM]

Before I brewed my first brew, I read HOMEBREWING FOR DUMMIES cover to cover twice. It is about a 150 pg book, but a very quick read (lots of pictures!). The first time I read it was on a 2.5 hour plane flight.

It really does make everything pretty simple. Between that book and the simple instructions that come with extract kits from Austin Homebrew, Northern Brewer, Midwest Brewing Supply, Williams Brewing, Farmhouse Brewing, Birdman Brewing, and even Brewer's Best kits, I think I did a great job on my first few brews. You always learn and understand more once you get going, but I can't express enough what a good base this book gave me when I first started.

 

[IrregularPulse]

You've stumbled upon the newbie guide to brewing. Hang around here and absorb. There's nothing in those books you can't learn here.

 

[Revvy]

You've stumbled upon the newbie guide to brewing. Hang around here and absorb. There's nothing in those books you can't learn here.

In fact here, you can learn what's wrong, with some of the info in those books, or what's changed SINCE those books came out.

 

[Homercidal]

Complete Joy of Homebrewing
How to Brew
Homebrewing for Dummies

All great and useful books to get you started.

You could also hit the Beginners section right on this site and read through the stickies. Honestly, there is a TON of information in them links!

But the books make a handy reference and are nice to take somewhere to read.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

I read How to Brew several times before I did my first batch. The first part (of the print edition) goes rather quickly through the mechanics of getting your first batch bubbling away. The second part goes into some detail about the science behind the processes and explains "Why". You don't need to understand the chemical processes in the reproduction of yeast to make good beer, but some people (like me) have an easier time remembering things in context. I occasionally go to the second part of the book for reference material. I have however learned 2/3 of what i know from cruising these forums.