Best way to start brewing

[codingmike]

Ok, I'm sure this has been asked before so feel free to point me to the proper thread. So Christmas is coming and this year I got signed up to make a gift for someone. I figured since I've always had an interest in homebrew it might be a great time to get some supplies and give it a shot. My question is what's the best way to go? Should I buy one of the Northern Brewery starter kits or should I just piece meal some decent equipment. I don't really want to spend a ton but at the same time I know I don't want one of those cheap one off Mr Beer kits. I really want to do a 5 gallon brew so I can give some away for Christmas and keep some for myself. It's also really important to me that my first brew comes out good as I really don't want to give someone terrible beer for a gift. Thanks in advance!

 

[dwhite60]

For my usual brewing I have a five gallon kettle, a five gallon plastic bucket with lid, airlock, stopper, spoon, hydrometer, immersion chiller, racking cane, and hose. I do ~3 gallon BIAB with good results. My kettle works on the stove top without problems.

Making three gallons at a time I get to brew more often (the fun part) and if something doesn't come out quite to my liking it's only three gallons to drink, not five.

Lot of advantages to doing smaller batches. Can piece all this together without having to buy a kit. There are some places out there that sell three gallon kits.

 

[Jtvann]

I’d suggest starting basic. You can make good beer with basic equipment. You won’t make award winning beer without more knowledge than you currently have. Nothing wrong with that. Best way to learn is starting small and cheap until you decide that you enjoy it.

If I had to start from scratch with nothing, and knowing little, I’d begin with extracts. I’d go with a basic electric digiboil. I’d get a plastic fermenter, either a bucket at cheapest or a fermonster at most. Maybe splurge and get a copper chiller depending on your budget. Start with bottling.

I just checked out this kit and it has everything you’d need to have a good starter kit, no junk, and have ability to upgrade.

https://www.morebeer.com/products/premium-electric-hombrewing-kit.html

That is what I personally would do. You can go cheaper if you want. A 3 gallon pot which you may already have to boil extract and water on the stove. A regular plastic bucket for a fermenter which you may have and just accessories listed in the starter kit above like a bottle capper.

 

[Jtvann]

I’d also suggest picking up an extra packet at Kveik yeast so you can skip temperature control equipment. The warmer the better, but room temp will work. Maybe steer towards a pale ale or ipa recipe to pair with the yeast, but that’s not a biggie when fermented at room temps.

 

[NSMikeD]

When my ex and I were looking for a new SUV many many years ago, I stopped and asked her are we were getting a car for us or for driving our kids' friends around. We rethought it and ended up with the Chevy Tahoe with the removable third row seats that spend 99% of the time either folded up or in the garage.

It's nice to consider giving away beer, but consider how most of your brewing and drinking use will be and match your set up for that.

While 5 gallons remains the standard, more and more brewers are going to smaller set ups like 2.5 gal (=20 pints). I think 5 gallons is the standard because the old soda kegs were 5 gallons, but there smaller kegs are now readily available for home brewers (and the soda kegs are now scarce).

Why is this important, well small batches might very well be better in line with your consumption and desire to brew different styles or tweak a recipe. I often will get a 5 gal kit and spilt it in half and brew two batches (family will give me 5 gal kits as gifts).

Ok, so once you have given thought to batch size and decided (say 5 gal). Extract with specialty grains is a great way to start. Plus you can add a mash tun later and continue to use your same extract equipment.

That being said, BIAB came around and enabled home brewers the ability to jump right in to all grain with very good results and skip the extract learning curve.

Start simple. Your head can explode digesting all the variables that can be tweaked.

 

[codingmike]

For my usual brewing I have a five gallon kettle, a five gallon plastic bucket with lid, airlock, stopper, spoon, hydrometer, immersion chiller, racking cane, and hose. I do ~3 gallon BIAB with good results. My kettle works on the stove top without problems.

Making three gallons at a time I get to brew more often (the fun part) and if something doesn't come out quite to my liking it's only three gallons to drink, not five.

Lot of advantages to doing smaller batches. Can piece all this together without having to buy a kit. There are some places out there that sell three gallon kits.

That's actually a good idea I haven't thought of. I didn't even think I could do BIAB without a huge propane burner but if I can do it on my stove top that would be sweet. I'm going to look into that. I'm still not familiar with some of the equipment you listed but I'll be sure to research it further. Thank you!

 

[NSMikeD]

Maybe splurge and get a copper chiller depending on your budget. Start with bottling.

This is actually one of the easiest DIY project and well worth it (unless a manufactured one is in your budget). refrigerator copper tubing, plastic hose, clamps and a faucet adaptor is all you nee, You tube has good instruction on how to build and coil the copper so it doesn't kink.

waiting for wort to cool to pitch temp sucks

 

[codingmike]

I’d also suggest picking up an extra packet at Kveik yeast so you can skip temperature control equipment. The warmer the better, but room temp will work. Maybe steer towards a pale ale or ipa recipe to pair with the yeast, but that’s not a biggie when fermented at room temps.

Thank you for the reply. Sorry for the ignorance but I didn't realize a certain type of yeast could help me skip the need for temperature control. How does this work exactly? I was leaning toward an amber or brown ale to start. Will this make any difference?

 

[NSMikeD]

That's actually a good idea I haven't thought of. I didn't even think I could do BIAB without a huge propane burner but if I can do it on my stove top that would be sweet. I'm going to look into that. I'm still not familiar with some of the equipment you listed but I'll be sure to research it further. Thank you!

5 gal batches of BIAB on a stove is a big stretch. Hoisting that much wet grain is another hurdle. But it was BIAB stove top that got me into 2.5 gal batches and I never looked back or considered 5 gallons again.

 

[codingmike]

When my ex and I were looking for a new SUV many many years ago, I stopped and asked her is we were getting a car for us or for driving all our kids around. We rethought it and ended up with the Chevy Tahoe with the removable third row seats that spend 99% of the time either folded up or in the garage.

It's nice to consider giving away beer, but consider how most of your brewing and drinking use will be and match your set up for that.

While 5 gallons remains the standard, more and more brewers are going to smaller set ups like 2.5 gal (=20 pints). I think 5 gallons is the standard because the old soda kegs were 5 gallons, but there smaller kegs are now readily available for home brewers (and the soda kegs are now scarce).

Why is this important, well small batches might very well be better in line with your consumption and desire to brew different styles or tweak a recipe. I often will get a 5 gal kit and spilt it in half and brew two batches (family will give me 5 gal kits as gifts).

Ok, so once you have given thought to batch size and decided (say 5 gal). Extract with specialty grains is a great way to start. Plus you can add a mash tun later and continue to use your same extract equipment.

That being said, BIAB came around and enabled home brewers the ability to jump right in to all grain with very good results and skip the extract learning curve.

Start simple. Your head can explode digesting all the variables that can be tweaked.

Definitely like the BIAB idea. I've seen this around and it peaked my interest as a good way to start. I'm just kind of nervous because this will be my first brew and I heard that extract was a lot easier. I just don't want to screw it up too bad. As far as brew size goes. I definitely like my beer so I'm not too concerned with making a larger batch.

 

[NGD]

Agree with everyone saying simple is better.

Figure it will be about a month until your beer is ready to drink.

One thing that may be available to you depending on location is the ability to brew a batch at an offsite location. Some brew supply stores offer brewing classes and allow you to make a 5 gal batch, ferment and then you come back at bottling time, bottle it up them take it home.

 

[codingmike]

5 gal batches of BIAB on a stove is a big stretch. Hoisting that much wet grain is another hurdle. But it was BIAB stove top that got me into 2.5 gal batches and I never looked back or considered 5 gallons again.

Sorry if that came off wrong. I meant that smaller batches might work out a lot better if I can just do it on my stove and not have to buy a lot of equipment. I'm going to research the idea further. I really like it.

 

[Jtvann]

Most ale yeasts are happiest in the mid 60 degree range for fermentation, plus or minus a few degrees. Fermentation is an exothermic process, meaning it creates its own heat. Meaning if your room is 70, your beer may be 75-80, which is too high for many ale yeasts.

Just pay attention to which yeast you’re using. It will tell you on the packet what the acceptable and optimal temp range is. Kveik Yeast has a high and broad temp range. You’ll have a hard time fermenting too hot for it.

Of course temp control is ideal, but you can skip it or delay it for a while with Kveik

 

[codingmike]

Most ale yeasts are happiest in the mid 60 degree range for fermentation, plus or minus a few degrees. Fermentation is an exothermic process, meaning it creates its own heat. Meaning if your room is 70, your beer may be 75-80, which is too high for many ale yeasts.

Just pay attention to which yeast you’re using. It will tell you on the packet what the acceptable and optimal temp range is. Kveik Yeast has a high and broad temp range. You’ll have a hard time fermenting too hot for it.

Of course temp control is ideal, but you can skip it or delay it for a while with Kveik

Thank you for the explanation. Much appreciated! Man you guys know so much, I really hope I'm not jumping in over my head here. I definitely want to go as simple as possible but at the same time would like to the ability to take it further down the road if I choose.

 

[Jtvann]

I’d again stress the importance of learning process before going all grain. It can be done going all grain with biab for your first batch. I just helped a friend last week with his very first batch. He insisted on going all grain biab and not extract.

We planned for a 1.060 gravity beer at 65% efficiency. We got 1.041.

Extract helps you to learn the process and it makes fine beer. Better beer than I’m betting one nearly 20 points of will be.

 

[codingmike]

This is actually one of the easiest DIY project and well worth it (unless a manufactured one is in your budget). refrigerator copper tubing, plastic hose, clamps and a faucet adaptor is all you nee, You tube has good instruction on how to build and coil the copper so it doesn't kink.

waiting for wort to cool to pitch temp sucks

Thanks for this! I'm going to check this out. I think youtube will be my friend here.

 

[NGD]

Definitely like the BIAB idea. I've seen this around and it peaked my interest as a good way to start. I'm just kind of nervous because this will be my first brew and I heard that extract was a lot easier. I just don't want to screw it up too bad. As far as brew size goes. I definitely like my beer so I'm not too concerned with making a larger batch.

I’m an extract brewer. It is easier in many ways and less time consuming. The biggest problem with it in my experience is being able to develop beers to certain flavor profiles and issues with freshness. An old liquid extract is going to not make a beer that tastes as good as freshly milled grains. Old Milled grains would probably be gross too, but who does that.

edit: can’t type on my phone for sh**

 

[NSMikeD]

Thank you for the reply. Sorry for the ignorance but I didn't realize a certain type of yeast could help me skip the need for temperature control. How does this work exactly? I was leaning toward an amber or brown ale to start. Will this make any difference?

SafAle US05 is a solid dry yeast for american ale with a wide temperature range. SafeAle 04 is good for English style ales that are less hopped and feature more of a bready malt and noble (subtle) hops. These are two that are excellent starting points (and not bad for experienced brewers).

Yeast manufactures publish fact sheets if ever in doubt.


Ales will ferment nicely at room temperature. Once it starts to creep to the mid 70's and higher, yeast gets sloppy - it will still ferment but will produce off flavors - like nail polish. It will go back and clean up a lot of its mess as it ages. Keep in mind that yeast produces heat so it will ferment about 2 or more degrees above room temperature.

You can start with a wet towels or bins filled with water and/ice to keep the fermentor from heating up, if you don't have a cool basement. Down the road, you can look into a fermentor. I use a $25 used mini fridge with a $30 temperature controller to dial in my fermentation temps. I brew hundreds of batches at room temp prior to procuring the mini fridge, many of which were drinkable.

 

[NSMikeD]

Definitely like the BIAB idea. I've seen this around and it peaked my interest as a good way to start. I'm just kind of nervous because this will be my first brew and I heard that extract was a lot easier. I just don't want to screw it up too bad. As far as brew size goes. I definitely like my beer so I'm not too concerned with making a larger batch.

fwiw, I use to extract brew back in the 90's. I was intimidated with all grain and terms like mash tun, lauter and sparge confused the heck out of me and post about step mashing at different temperature just plain convinced me that a chemistry lab was needed. No thank you, extract with a mesg bag of specialty grains was my speed.

A few years ago I wanted to get back in to homebrew and stumbled upon BIAB. Make a big tea and then it's the same as extract. No way.

yes way.

and on my stove top no less.


half my fun is researching beer styles, plugging in the ingredients in to BeersSmith, tweaking the recipe and then ordering the ingredients.

 

[dwhite60]

Doing an extract brew as your first brew isn't a bad idea.

There are lots of one gallon recipes out there that are real easy stove top.

There's a book "Beer Craft“ by William Bostwick. Fun read. Lots of information. There's also a bunch of one-gallon recipes so you could get started with what you may already have. I highly recommend it. I've been brewing for thirty years but found this book a good read. Yes, it only yields eight or nine bottles but it's a great starting place.

 

[Nokie]

When I started I think it’s easiest to start extract 5 gallon batches.the easiest way is to just get a starter kit with at least a 4 gallon kettle, your fermenting bucket and all the little stuff you need and most come with an extract kit.
At least til you get a few batches under your belt and just about everything will transfer over once you start doing all grain.
There’s so much to get overwhelmed by when first starting. So when you get some batches under your belt you’ll get more knowledge of what you want.
You can get by with cooling down with ice baths and topping off with ice water.
Doing extract, you’ll make beer.... and pretty good beer at that. The biggest problem you’ll have no matter what you do is letting it condition in the bottles long enough.

 

[codingmike]

SafAle US05 is a solid dry yeast for american ale with a wide temperature range. SafeAle 04 is good for English style ales that are less hopped and feature more of a bready malt and noble (subtle) hops. These are two that are excellent starting points (and not bad for experienced brewers).

Yeast manufactures publish fact sheets if ever in doubt.


Ales will ferment nicely at room temperature. Once it starts to creep to the mid 70's and higher, yeast gets sloppy - it will still ferment but will produce off flavors - like nail polish. It will go back and clean up a lot of its mess as it ages. Keep in mind that yeast produces heat so it will ferment about 2 or more degrees above room temperature.

You can start with a wet towels or bins filled with water and/ice to keep the fermentor from heating up, if you don't have a cool basement. Down the road, you can look into a fermentor. I use a $25 used mini fridge with a $30 temperature controller to dial in my fermentation temps. I brew hundreds of batches at room temp prior to procuring the mini fridge, many of which were drinkable.

Thank you for the detailed explanation on this! I honestly had no idea that different yeasts could be so different from one another. I live in an area where the temperature fluctuates a lot (very warm during the day and very cool at night). I'm not sure how this will affect my brew but I will probably have to look into the mini fridge setup.

 

[codingmike]

fwiw, I use to extract brew back in the 90's. I was intimidated with all grain and terms like mash tun, lauter and sparge confused the heck out of me and post about step mashing at different temperature just plain convinced me that a chemistry lab was needed. No thank you, extract with a mesg bag of specialty grains was my speed.

A few years ago I wanted to get back in to homebrew and stumbled upon BIAB. Make a big tea and then it's the same as extract. No way.

yes way.

and on my stove top no less.


half my fun is researching beer styles, plugging in the ingredients in to BeersSmith, tweaking the recipe and then ordering the ingredients.

When you put it that way it sounds so easy. Now I'm really torn bewteen BIAB and extract.

 

[codingmike]

Doing an extract brew as your first brew isn't a bad idea.

There are lots of one gallon recipes out there that are real easy stove top.

There's a book "Beer Craft“ by William Bostwick. Fun read. Lots of information. There's also a bunch of one-gallon recipes so you could get started with what you may already have. I highly recommend it. I've been brewing for thirty years but found this book a good read. Yes, it only yields eight or nine bottles but it's a great starting place.

Thanks for the book recommendation. I actually looked into the one gallon recipes and my only problem is they are just so expensive for the amount of beer you get. At Northern Brewer it's like 20$ for the extract and another 5$-10$ for the yeast (ends up being like 30$+ for like 9-10 beers). I would rather just take my chances and brew a bigger batch.

 

[Jtvann]

When you put it that way it sounds so easy. Now I'm really torn bewteen BIAB and extract.

Do you understand what efficiency is and how it affects a beer recipe?

 

[codingmike]

Do you understand what efficiency is and how it affects a beer recipe?

Sorry, I'm really new to this. I understand the word efficiency and obviously anything that's more efficient is better but I really don't know the exact effect that this has on a beer recipe.

 

[Jtvann]

Sorry, I'm really new to this. I understand the word efficiency and obviously anything that's more efficient is better but I really don't know the exact effect that this has on a beer recipe.

It’s fine to be new at something and want to learn. There’s plenty to learn, and once you have the foundation to it, it kinda makes sense. It makes enough sense and is simple enough that you will be able to test out variables in the process and understand how to at least make a prediction based off what you’re experimenting with.

It’s easy enough to explain efficiency, but doing so at this point would just introduce more terms that you probably don’t yet know. That’s not meant to be insulting.

You don’t have the foundation yet. Extract brewing is the foundation.

 

[codingmike]

It’s fine to be new at something and want to learn. There’s plenty to learn, and once you have the foundation to it, it kinda makes sense. It makes enough sense and is simple enough that you will be able to test out variables in the process and understand how to at least make a prediction based off what you’re experimenting with.

It’s easy enough to explain efficiency, but doing so at this point would just introduce more terms that you probably don’t yet know. That’s not meant to be insulting.

You don’t have the foundation yet. Extract brewing is the foundation.

Point taken and thank you for your understanding. At this point I really just want the simplest way to get into brewing and make something that's drinkable (hopefully decent) without investing too much money. Everyone here is obviously very passionate about brewing and has given some great advice. I guess I'm just a little overwhelmed with all the different options. BIAB sounds easy but almost everyone recommends extract to start. I'm totally fine with either I just don't want to buy equipment I don't need yet or buy a starter kit that substandard.

 

[NGD]

Surprised noone has mentioned this yet. Its considered essential reading by anyone I’ve met that brews and gives you a well laid out glossary of brewing terms. Its also a good place to start prior to brewing to get an idea of what’s involved and pieces of equipment needed.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1938469356/ref=dp_ob_neva_mobile

 

[codingmike]

Surprised noone has mentioned this yet. Its considered essential reading by anyone I’ve met that brews and gives you a well laid out glossary of brewing terms. Its also a good place to start prior to brewing to get an idea of what’s involved and pieces of equipment needed.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1938469356/ref=dp_ob_neva_mobile

Awesome! Thank you!

 

[NGD]

Great thing about Brew in a bag is as long ad your boil kettle is large enough to start with its easy to transition over to. Most people recommend a 10 gallon kettle for 5 gallon batches. You can however get away with as little as 8 gallon kettles.

 

[McKnuckle]

Another perspective: Extract brewing certainly makes beer. But it's not the complete, traditional brewing experience. Think of it like tomato sauce; extract brewing is a jar of sauce from the store. Someone else made it, it tastes good, it's reliable, it's easy to heat and eat.

Beer in the outside world is made with grain, not liquid or dry malt extract. That's like making your own sauce from whole tomatoes, onions, garlic, and seasonings. You get to choose everything, and everything is as fresh as you want it to be. There are a few more steps and details to pay attention to.

If you are mostly interested in eating, either grain or extract will do (sauce from scratch or jar). If you want to learn how to cook, brewing with grain is more rewarding and arguably necessary (sauce from scratch all the way).

I hope this analogy doesn't cause someone to be offended. I think it's pretty accurate without resorting to making judgments about people's choices. Brew in a Bag (BIAB), by the way, is a method of brewing beer with grain.

 

[Jtvann]

Another perspective: Extract brewing certainly makes beer. But it's not the complete, traditional brewing experience. Think of it like tomato sauce; extract brewing is a jar of sauce from the store. Someone else made it, it tastes good, it's reliable, it's easy to heat and eat.

Beer in the outside world is made with grain, not liquid or dry malt extract. That's like making your own sauce from whole tomatoes, onions, garlic, and seasonings. You get to choose everything, and everything is as fresh as you want it to be. There are a few more steps and details to pay attention to.

If you are just interested in eating, either grain or extract will do. If you want to learn how to cook, brewing with grain is more rewarding.

I hope this analogy doesn't cause someone to be offended. I think it's pretty accurate without resorting to making judgments about people's choices. Brew in a Bag (BIAB), by the way, is a method of brewing beer with grain.

You’re exactly right in everything you said.

But ... do mushrooms go in the sauce? I mean we all know tomatoes go in. Are cherry tomatoes good enough, or do you need a specific kind. How much salt? Is it parsley or oregano... both? How much? Well crap, obviously I don’t know how to make sauce. I don’t know whether to simmer or boil the sauce. I actually don’t know that heating it to 150 vs 170 makes any difference at all.

If only there was a way to jump into this hobby, making a respectably good beer on my very first try ... and it actually coming out like the beer I intended to make. Oh wait, there is.

 

[NGD]

Your welcome. I forgot to mention that the first version is free on his website. The current version is worth buying though.
http://www.howtobrew.com/
@McKnuckle I almost made the exact same analogy in one of my earlier posts. Its fairly accurate

 

[McKnuckle]

LIke I said, no offense intended or even a debate. Truly!

Luckily, if you buy some basic equipment for BIAB you can start with extract and use the same gear. I just know that for me, after 2 extract batches I was hooked, and wanted to learn all about the full all-grain brewing experience right away. The OP may be the same way, hence my post.

 

[Jtvann]

LIke I said, no offense intended or even a debate. Truly!

Luckily, if you buy some basic equipment for BIAB you can start with extract and use the same gear. I just know that for me, after 2 extract batches I was hooked, and wanted to learn all about the full all-grain brewing experience right away. The OP may be the same way, hence my post.

I agree. I went to all grain after 2 batches as well. I might not have ever brewed more than 2 batches if I started with all grain. If you’re interested enough to brew more than 2 batches of beer, you’ve probably spent about a month or more reading and learning. In that short amount of time for the first 2 batches to ferment, there’s a base line of knowledge to know things.

I mean if on your first batch, you make 1.041 OG beer when the recipe said it should be 1.060, do you even know what that means? I saw just that last week. And that was with me helping with the brew.

 

[Dinadan]

I would go with an extract kit for the first couple of brews. Buy a six or seven gallon plastic fermenter carboy and a kit brew from Munton or or some such. Forty of fifty dollars for a carboy and twenty five or thirty dollars for a brew kit with hopped malt and yeast. A siphon bottle filler for a few dollars. Twenty dollars for a bottle capper. Just buy beer in recapable bottles for bottling. (You will have to drink the bought beer, of course.) After you brew a batch or two, you will have a much better idea of just what you want in the way of more advanced equipment.

 

[Nokie]

Another thing to consider is where you will be brewing. Most start in their kitchens(which most kitchens can’t do a full boil)
So if you plan to start in your kitchen and not invest in a burner and 10 gallon kettle or an electric all in one unit. Then extract is where you’ll need to start.
Boil as much as possible and top off with cold water.

 

[McKnuckle]

Brew a batch of extract to be able to experience the feeling of "Hey, I made beer!" That's the reaction we all had, once upon a time. And your friends will say it's great.

If you are the curious type, want to learn how and why things happen, understand the science of brewing, make it a hobby vs. a one off effort - then after this initial "Wow" phase, you can read about and explore all grain methods.

If you're content to repeat your success and enjoy drinking and sharing beer that you made, without the pressure some feel to complicate things - then that's fine too.

 

[codingmike]

Another thing to consider is where you will be brewing. Most start in their kitchens(which most kitchens can’t do a full boil)
So if you plan to start in your kitchen and not invest in a burner and 10 gallon kettle or an electric all in one unit. Then extract is where you’ll need to start.
Boil as much as possible and top off with cold water.

I'll definitely be starting in my kitchen. I do have a propane stovetop that gets pretty hot. Not sure if it's enough for a big batch or anything but extract seems to be the starting point for what I need for sure. Thank you