brand new and seeking advice

[mtf5104]

Hello everyone, I'm brand new to brewing beer and recently purchased the complete joy of home brewing 3rd edition by charlie papazian. I also purchased a starter brewing kit. Everything seems a bit overwhelming to comprehend right now and I was wondering if anyone had any advice for a begginer. Thanks, any tips are greatly appreciated.

 

[frozennorth]

My advice is to learn as you go. Follow the recipe from your kit, keep everything clean, and it will go well. The first time can be intimidating, but it is easier than you think. If you can cook a recipe, you can make beer. As time and brews go by you will hone your skill and your beer will get better. I might also suggest buying How to Brew, by Palmer, great book. Best of luck, and brew on.

 

[frozennorth]

I just re read your post. I suggest buying a kit the first few times, then follow the directions in the kit. Once you get your feet wet, start experimenting.

 

[jekeane]

http://homebrewacademy.com/

you can sign up on this site to view some videos on getting started. There is also a paid feature which I haven't used. The just get brewing video clearly outlines everything you need to know about your first brews. Helped me a lot.

 

[flars]

Buy an extract kit from Northern Brewer to start out with. Recipe instructions actually make sense and will guide you.
No book or recipe will tell you that fermentation produces heat. The heat produced during the first 2 to 4 days of high activity can raise the wort temp 4° to 10° over ambient temp depending on estimated OG.

 

[Conan]

What kit did you get?
Where are you located?
As others have said, order up a kit from one of the homebrew stores- better yet, visit your local shop if you have one. The instructions are straight-forward and written for beginners.
Check YouTube. There's quite a few videos of how to brew extract batches.
The important things to keep in mind for a great brew: sanitation and fermentation. Make sure anything that touches the post-boil wort (soon to be beer!) is sanitized. When fermenting try to keep the temperature in control- below 70 is a great starting point.
I'm not trying to scare you at all. In the long run beer can take a decent amount of abuse before it goes bad.

Almost forgot: welcome! Feel free to ask any questions, and prepare to spend way more time/ money/ energy than you thought possible on making great beer! Kyle

 

[Wolfbrau]

Another piece of advice: Find a relative or close friend who also enjoys good beer and get them involved. Think of it as a force multiplier.

Also, never buy a piece of equipment that you will make obsolete real fast. So don't buy an aquarium pump if you already plan to buy the O2 kit, etc. You'll know what that stuff means soon enough. >:-D

 

[andy6026]

Biggest piece of advice for doing your first kit - DO NOT BOIL A PRE-HOPPED KIT FOR AN HOUR!!!

Sorry for the caps, but I also bought charlie's book before getting into this and it never told me not to do that anywhere, so I boiled the snot out of 3 kits before getting to even taste why it shouldn't be done.

 

[inkyHat]

I helped a buddy brew two all-grain brews, finally just brewed my first beer yesterday. One piece of advice that sticks with me is this: people have been brewing beer for thousands of years, take your time and don't overthink it!!!

 

[ChelisHubby]

Welcome to the hobby . Making beer is not hard, Making what you want can consume you and be much fun. Clean the hell out of it if it touches beer and keep you fermentation around 66 degrees to start. Extract kits will help you get the process down. .

 

[unionrdr]

The real point here being that you need to get a brewing process down pat that works for YOU. Brewing kits of beers you like or might like is the best way to start. but watch the time tables given in the instructions. They can definitely be too short, rushing you to bottling day with beer that could've been better given more time. So one of the most important things to learn in home brewing is patience!

 

[mtf5104]

Thank you everyone for your quick replies, it's greatly appreciated. I have "brewer's best equipment kit." It seemed like a good starter kit for someone completely new. I also have a stainless steel brew kettle. I'm from phila pa and I picked the equipment kit up from philly home brew. I'm probably going to try to brew an ipa for my first brew. Again, thanks to everyone that replied. I understand that this is going to be a learning process and it's going to take time to actually brew something memorable.

 

[jekeane]

let us know how it goes and always ask questions!

 

[mrdail87]

I remember that feeling well. Look for some homebrewing how-to videos on youtube. It's a lot easier to grasp when you can see someone doing it, versus just reading about it.

 

[pat1268]

Woo hoo an IPA man! Love those IPA s you are on a great website for information everyone on here is great! My best advice I can give , having only been doing this a few months is that you will make mistakes . No worries just remember what they were and don't do them again. Now that you are a home brewer , you will be suprized at how many friend you have ( free beer? )
Have fun!!


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