Best way to start brewing

[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

 

[AlexKay]

I started with small batch (1.5 gallons) BIAB. My very first beer went down the drain: tap water was way too hard, and the beer ended up undrinkably astringent. (That would have been an advantage to starting with extract.) Batches 2-5 were fine but nothing special. Batch 6 was the first beer I thought came out better than what I'd typically get commercially. It took another half a dozen batches before I was regularly making something very good.

So it might be a bit of pressure to come up with something you're proud to give away by Christmas.

(Edit: looking back at my notes, #6 wasn't all that hot. But #11-16 were all good.)

 

[Nokie]

As much as all grain is great, sometimes I still brew extract. Just for a quick brew day to build up the pipeline extract works great and does what I need.
And after brewing a lot using both methods even if you were to tell me you had all the greatest equipment and everything ever needed to do any kind of recipes I would say to start with extract.
Once you get familiar with the brewing process you’ll be able to advance and understand what is happening with an all grain batch.
There’s just more variables to add in.

 

[codingmike]

I started with small batch (1.5 gallons) BIAB. My very first beer went down the drain: tap water was way too hard, and the beer ended up undrinkably astringent. (That would have been an advantage to starting with extract.) Batches 2-5 were fine but nothing special. Batch 6 was the first beer I thought came out better than what I'd typically get commercially. It took another half a dozen batches before I was regularly making something very good.

So it might be a bit of pressure to come up with something you're proud to give away by Christmas.

Thanks for the insight. That's one thing that definitely makes me nervous which is why I'm looking for something simple to start with. Hopefully my first batch comes out somewhat ok or I'll be hitting up the stores before the party to buy something real quick.

 

[codingmike]

As much as all grain is great, sometimes I still brew extract. Just for a quick brew day to build up the pipeline extract works great and does what I need.
And after brewing a lot using both methods even if you were to tell me you had all the greatest equipment and everything ever needed to do any kind of recipes I would say to start with extract.
Once you get familiar with the brewing process you’ll be able to advance and understand what is happening with an all grain batch.
There’s just more variables to add in.

That definitely makes sense and seems to coincide with all the advice I've gotten so far. I'm definitely going to start with extract and hope for the best before I move onto something more complex. Thank you!

 

[AlexKay]

Really do consider small batches, though. It's easy to do on the stovetop, it's faster to bottle (and easier to store all of the bottles), and you can try more things faster. And then you can gift beer assortments.

 

[Jim R]

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

This is the best answer so far.

I wouldn't spend a nickel without first reading and studying John Palmer's newest book (Amazon). A few days reading this book will save you money and wasted time. Instead of spending money on a starter kit all of which you will replace in a few months, you will learn exactly what equipment you need that you can use long term. Instead of starting with the most basic brewing techniques to then learn by trial and error, you will understand the details of extract brewing, BIAB, all grain brewing, etc. etc. so you can make wise choices about what would work best for you. Read the book and then make your decisions.

 

[NSMikeD]

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.

IMO, BIAB can be that simple to brew a good beer first time out. You brought up efficiency I presume to make a point that all grain is complex. I had 20+ years away from extract brewing, forgot most everything I knew about brewing and had to start from scratch as I had absolutely no equipment from the extract days.

A pot, a bag, a thermometer, a hydrometer, a bucket, a scale, cleaning supplies a syphon and bottling stuff and i was good to go. I followed the BIAB site starter recipe/instructions and used their spreadsheet. I asked my LHBS to double mill the grains for BIAB. 99% of it was the same as extract brewing.

So what if my efficiency was 62% and I plugged in the default 65%. ABV was 5.3% and not 5.7%. Close enough and it was good beer. Taking the measurements was more about learning about them and what they mean as I was following the recipe/instructions based on solid repetitive experiences by the BIAB community. I didn't matter if I didn't"t yet know what those numbers really meant. Malt is efficient and consistent these days that it's like baking bread. Follow the recipe and you'll make good bread, but you can spend a lifetime tweaking it chasing perfection.

In your example, starting out with a 1.060 OG beer for one's first brew was the brewers first mistake. I would never recommend to anyone they start out with an outlier recipe. BIAB is far more forgiving than traditional all grain so that unless your scale, thermometer or hydrometer is broken you aren't getting differences like this example.

and yes read the Palmer book. The earlier edition is online and perfect as a starter (I still use it to refresh my memory) The latest edition has updated, IMO, are for more complex experienced brewers. Here is the link


http://www.howtobrew.com/



To the OP. Nothing wrong with starting with extract. My first post suggested doing so with specialty grains. Just don't rule out BIAB as it can be simple since the all the complex steps in all grain are simplified vis a vis the bag.

good luck.

 

[Jtvann]

I have never said Biab isn’t simple. Some people think calculus is pretty simple. They understand what a variable is though. They gained that knowledge from algebra.

If you don’t know any of the following concepts

OG, FG, specific gravity, how to use a hydrometer, mash temp ranges and what they’re used for, mash times and what they’re used for, grain crush sizes and the benefits of each, maybe your water profile or pH, amounts of water to use from system losses, grain absorption, what tannins are, how to drain a bag, pre boil volumes, how temperature affects SG, stratification, dough balls ... ok I’m tired of doing this.

The point is all that can be learned from reading all the resources that have been posted here. To have zero equipment and having never brewed a batch ... to learn half of that stuff mentioned above and have a drinkable batch of beer by Christmas to gift to friends and be proud of ... it’s not happening.

Nobody is knocking biab or saying that it’s in any way a bad option in the long run. Just try to think back before you knew anything about brewing and how helpful it was to actually do something yourself. It’s different when you do it yourself vs reading a book. Were you happy with your first beer? Did you drink it and say, hey I can do this. I can make beer as good as I can buy from the store. Was that very first beer all grain or was it extract.

I’d love to find one single person out there that says biab or all grain anything is simpler than extract.

 

[McKnuckle]

I agree with you, @Jtvann . If the situation is 1) one's first brew ever, coupled with 2) the pressure to supply beer for a large party, then I would do extract too.

If responding to the thread title "Best way to start brewing" with no further qualifiers, I'd say give BIAB all grain brewing a try.

I think we've beaten this one up a bit.

 

[Gruel]

My 2 cents:
a) there's nothing wrong with starting with a Mr.Beer extract kit; I don't think it's that much money wasted, even if you only use it for one brew. You can even reuse the plastic bottles (if it still comes with those?).

b) definitely read the free version of 'How to Brew', and get a water profile for you local water supply (free from your municipality; probably not free but needed anyway if you use your own well), which taken together will tell you which beers will work well with your water,

c) in order not to spend too much money, I see two main paths after the Mr.Beer experience (which just tells you whether you like brewing or not, have the fridge space to store bottles, etc.):

I) buy a 6.5 gallon or larger fermenter, buy or find a thermometer, stopper, air lock, Oxiclean Free, and collect bottles, buy caps and a bottle capper, and brew 5 gallons from extract (dumped right into the fermenter) with some hop tea and yeast; we are approaching winter, and a 5 gallon batch has quite some thermal inertia, so I wouldn't worry too much about day-night temperature fluctuations as long as you have a space in the right average temperature range. You need to shield the fermenting beer from light anyways, and that shield might provide some thermal insulation as well.
(Most fridges actually have room for a carboy, if you throw most of the other unessential stuff out; largely depends on whether you are or want to become single.)

II) buy a cheap 5 gallon (or larger) pot, a brew bag, buy the fermenter and other stuff above under I), and follow the 'How to Brew' instructions for an all grain beer, cooling the pot with the wort in your sink.

I started with a Mr.Beer and then went all-grain (path II above, but with a home made slotted copper lautering manifold instead of a bag), but these days I'm thinking path I is a good intermediate step. I was just forced to brew a very tasty Weissbier using some free Briess liquid malt extract (ebay anniversary coupon), and I'm seriously considering brewing a few more extracts in the future; it's so darn easy, and saves a lot on mashing and cleanup time compared to all grain.

Most important advice: do not burn spilled wort into your stove top!

 

[DTrain24]

Something I learned right away was that my darker beers turned out good almost every time compared to my lighter or even hoppy beers. Not that the light and hoppy were bad at all, but there is more room for error IMO. Some base 2-row, crystal and chocolate malt make some easy drinkable beers that will mask any off flavors better then a light or hoppy beer would. Oxidation, which you are likely going to encounter as a new brewer, will again be less noticeable in darker beers. This may be a stretch, but one more point on this is that most general beer drinkers will compare your blonde ale to a BMC beer, and may prefer the lighter taste they are used to. I could see the perception of a darker beer being more "crafty" and less prone to comparison to light lawn mower beers.

 

[jdudek]

I fully second the "start with extract" approach. If you want to maximize your chances of success (and for you I'll define success as something the recipient of your gift is going to enjoy drinking. That is VERY different from you enjoying your first brew).

There are a good few variables in making all grain beer, and while there's a good chance your beer will turn out fine, there's a good chance you'll feel like you're not really in control of what's happening. You're likely not be hitting the numbers the recipe says you're suppose to hit, you won't really know how to adjust/improvise, you won't know what to care about and what not to care about. The beer may be fine but the process may be less than fun and may have you walk away with a "this is just too much hassle" feeling.

Extract will almost certainly turn out good, will be pretty fun and relatively easy and is more likely to leave you wanting to brew more.

Let us know how your first brew goes, whichever method you chose to go with.

 

[kartracer2]

@codingmike Welcome !
One thing you haven't shared with us if you have a budget. This hobby allows you to spend at your budget (and beyond) and still make great beer.
As others have said, do some reading. There is a lot of good books already mentioned. I would sugest extract as a starting point. Lots of things go into making drinkable beer and extract keeps some of those off the table until you gain knowledge and learn some of the basics.
My self, I would look into this kit. It has every thing you need to make your first batch of beer except bottles. The price is right to get started and you will learn a lot the first time using it.

https://www.morebeer.com/products/deluxe-home-brewing-kit.html
No doubt you will want "bigger and better" as you go but then again maybe not. (I'm quite happy using that very kit and extract brewing many quafable brews). I also belive in K.I.S.S, (Keep It Simple Stupid)
Space and time need consideration on you methods also.
Best of luck on your choices and don't be afraid to ask questions. Good group of people here and eons of brewing experience on every level.
Cheers,
Joel B.

 

[NGD]

@kartracer2 suggestion is a solid kit. The next step up is what I usually suggest as it comes with an immersion cooler which will be important to cool the wort down before adding yeast, and an 8.5 gallon kettle for when you want to try to BIAB.

Read a bit first. See if its is something you want to do

https://www.morebeer.com/products/premium-home-brewing-kit.html

 

[kartracer2]

@NGD That's a good kit, bang for the buck. It's probably better than the cheaper one especially if you think AG/BIAB is in the future. That said, it depends on what you want to spend. If money was no object I would have a fancy brew rig worthy of sitting out for all to see. My beer might not taste any better but sure would look cool. (LOL) Knowledge is the key to making what you have work for you.
Cheers,
Joel B.

 

[Mexibilly]

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!

I started out brewing extract, with a kit similar to this:
https://www.midwestsupplies.com/products/brew-share-enjoy-homebrew-starter-kitNorthern Brewer has the same thing.
I've never brewed on the stove top, but I can't imagine it'd be easy with 5 gallons.
I did some research, bought a kit like that, an extra 6.5 gal bucket, already had a turkey fryer burner, and bought a 7.5 gallon kettle and a bottle of Starsan.
A turkey baster and an auto-siphon with tubing are solid investments too.
I use RO water from walmart for almost every batch, it's neutral and perfect as is for basic extract. 10 gallons costs a few dollars.
Just make sure everything is clean (I use oxi clean free), and sanitized with properly diluted starsan. Every surface the wort touches post boil must be clean and sanitized. I make 2 gallons of starsan in a dedicated 5 gallon bucket and put some in a spray bottle.
You'll also need bottles. You can buy them, or wash and save them, but clean and sanitized bottles, caps, and everything else on bottling day is super important.
Watch a few you tube videos, follow the directions, don't let it ferment too warm, and it'll turn out fine.

 

[codingmike]

My 2 cents:
a) there's nothing wrong with starting with a Mr.Beer extract kit; I don't think it's that much money wasted, even if you only use it for one brew. You can even reuse the plastic bottles (if it still comes with those?).

b) definitely read the free version of 'How to Brew', and get a water profile for you local water supply (free from your municipality; probably not free but needed anyway if you use your own well), which taken together will tell you which beers will work well with your water,

c) in order not to spend too much money, I see two main paths after the Mr.Beer experience (which just tells you whether you like brewing or not, have the fridge space to store bottles, etc.):

I) buy a 6.5 gallon or larger fermenter, buy or find a thermometer, stopper, air lock, Oxiclean Free, and collect bottles, buy caps and a bottle capper, and brew 5 gallons from extract (dumped right into the fermenter) with some hop tea and yeast; we are approaching winter, and a 5 gallon batch has quite some thermal inertia, so I wouldn't worry too much about day-night temperature fluctuations as long as you have a space in the right average temperature range. You need to shield the fermenting beer from light anyways, and that shield might provide some thermal insulation as well.
(Most fridges actually have room for a carboy, if you throw most of the other unessential stuff out; largely depends on whether you are or want to become single.)

II) buy a cheap 5 gallon (or larger) pot, a brew bag, buy the fermenter and other stuff above under I), and follow the 'How to Brew' instructions for an all grain beer, cooling the pot with the wort in your sink.

I started with a Mr.Beer and then went all-grain (path II above, but with a home made slotted copper lautering manifold instead of a bag), but these days I'm thinking path I is a good intermediate step. I was just forced to brew a very tasty Weissbier using some free Briess liquid malt extract (ebay anniversary coupon), and I'm seriously considering brewing a few more extracts in the future; it's so darn easy, and saves a lot on mashing and cleanup time compared to all grain.

Most important advice: do not burn spilled wort into your stove top!

Thank you for your thoughtful response and multitude of options here! I def don't want to spend too much money but at the same time I know I'm going to reuse the equipment so I don't want the cheapest of the cheapest if you know what I mean. I like the selection of equipment you put together here and I'm going to see what I can come up with for a shopping list. Thanks again.

 

[codingmike]

I started out brewing extract, with a kit similar to this:
https://www.midwestsupplies.com/products/brew-share-enjoy-homebrew-starter-kitNorthern Brewer has the same thing.
I've never brewed on the stove top, but I can't imagine it'd be easy with 5 gallons.
I did some research, bought a kit like that, an extra 6.5 gal bucket, already had a turkey fryer burner, and bought a 7.5 gallon kettle and a bottle of Starsan.
A turkey baster and an auto-siphon with tubing are solid investments too.
I use RO water from walmart for almost every batch, it's neutral and perfect as is for basic extract. 10 gallons costs a few dollars.
Just make sure everything is clean (I use oxi clean free), and sanitized with properly diluted starsan. Every surface the wort touches post boil must be clean and sanitized. I make 2 gallons of starsan in a dedicated 5 gallon bucket and put some in a spray bottle.
You'll also need bottles. You can buy them, or wash and save them, but clean and sanitized bottles, caps, and everything else on bottling day is super important.
Watch a few you tube videos, follow the directions, don't let it ferment too warm, and it'll turn out fine.

This was actually the exact kit I was looking at when I posted my original question. I read a few reviews and there was some complaints about the air lock not working and some leaking which is why I wondered if it would be better to just buy some basic stuff separately. Also, this kit is like 10$ more on the Northern Brewer website so thanks for link here!!!

 

[codingmike]

@codingmike Welcome !
One thing you haven't shared with us if you have a budget. This hobby allows you to spend at your budget (and beyond) and still make great beer.
As others have said, do some reading. There is a lot of good books already mentioned. I would sugest extract as a starting point. Lots of things go into making drinkable beer and extract keeps some of those off the table until you gain knowledge and learn some of the basics.
My self, I would look into this kit. It has every thing you need to make your first batch of beer except bottles. The price is right to get started and you will learn a lot the first time using it.

https://www.morebeer.com/products/deluxe-home-brewing-kit.html
No doubt you will want "bigger and better" as you go but then again maybe not. (I'm quite happy using that very kit and extract brewing many quafable brews). I also belive in K.I.S.S, (Keep It Simple Stupid)
Space and time need consideration on you methods also.
Best of luck on your choices and don't be afraid to ask questions. Good group of people here and eons of brewing experience on every level.
Cheers,
Joel B.

Thanks for the suggestion on the kit! That actually looks really nice and is about the price range I want to be in.

Edit: That's weird! When I first went there the kit was like 140 bucks or something and then I clicked again and it's $250. I must have gone to the wrong page the first time. Just wanted to throw that out there so everyone knows what my price range is. I'd like to be around $100-150 for my first brew.

 

[codingmike]

Something I learned right away was that my darker beers turned out good almost every time compared to my lighter or even hoppy beers. Not that the light and hoppy were bad at all, but there is more room for error IMO. Some base 2-row, crystal and chocolate malt make some easy drinkable beers that will mask any off flavors better then a light or hoppy beer would. Oxidation, which you are likely going to encounter as a new brewer, will again be less noticeable in darker beers. This may be a stretch, but one more point on this is that most general beer drinkers will compare your blonde ale to a BMC beer, and may prefer the lighter taste they are used to. I could see the perception of a darker beer being more "crafty" and less prone to comparison to light lawn mower beers.

Thanks for the heads up! I'm into darker beers anyway so that's great news!