complete noob

[Landon90]

Hi guys! just joined the forum and am really excited to start brewing! basically i live in a trailer in college, and have always known about brewing beer and am kinda sick and tired of the same old beer over and over and over again(keystone, bud light and so on) so i wanna give a honey beer a try. anyone ever heard of this? if so can you give me a ingredients list and any advice you can throw at me i am greatly appreciative! also im lost on what i need! thanks guys



sincerely, Landon90

 

[mrk305]

also im lost on what i need! thanks guys

Well, to start you are going to need to read a lot. For the honey beer you just need to add about a half pound of honey malt to your ingredients. Using honey does not add honey flavor to a beer. It does increase the ahlcohol though.

 

[Brew_4iT]

Here's a good place to start. Welcome to homebrewing!

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/getting-honey-flavor-brew-96061/

 

[Ckarsanac]

First off, welcome!

Second, honey can be added to almost any beer! I don't know where to begin.

First off, find your local brew store and talk to those guys. They can set you up with all the equipment you will need. If you buy a beginner's kit, they usually come with a basic instruction book. You can then buy a kit with all the ingredients needed to make a specific beer.

Now, more complicated is the honey factor. Do you like Dundee Original Honey Brown Lager or Michelob Honey lager? Is that the type you like? Those brews have a sweet honey flavor, which is more difficult to make. If you like the honey flavor and don't mind not having sweetness, then that's easier.

Short reason is that the sweetness in the honey gets fermented away to make more alcohol by the yeast. In order to get that sweetness, you have to stop the yeast by chemical means or pasturizing.

Really, to start up, talk to your guys at the local home brew shop. And read "How To Brew" by John Palmer. Pretty cheap and is available on Kindle.

 

[Landon90]

oustanding response from the forum thank you! secondly i found the book and am beginning the read it pretty interesting. thirdly i have found a local supply store in austin so ill be reading more before i make that expensive trip to buy supplies(damn the diesel). but i would never have guessed adding honey increases alcohol content, and to be honest i like michelob honey!

 

[GoHawks]

Others may disagree...

but when you go to the homebrew store they will set you up with a beginners kit and a 20qt kettle. I would pass on the 20qt kettle and go to lowes/homedepot/amazon and buy a 30 (or larger, 30 is the minimum for all grain) qt kettle. I bought the 20 qt kettle offered to me by the homebrew store and within no time I upgraded to all grain brewing and now I have a $50 20qt stainless steel kettle that I no longer use.

If you just bought a turkey fryer/pot to begin with you will get a bigger (aluminum) pot for the less money and not have to upgrade later on if you decide to go all grain.

Just my opinion from one noob to another.

 

[IrishBrewer74]

I'd also do some searching of the forum and really get a handle on what equipment you actually need to get started. Your LHBS is after all, still a store. And trustworthiness aside they will still be trying to make a sale. As previously said, they will probably sell you a starter kit, but there are going to definitely be things in that starter that you can do without or find cheaper alternatives elsewhere. Most getting started kits I found weren't really any cheaper, just more convenient as someone has done the shopping for you. One usual example is some kits will include a secondary fermenter. While there is some debate on the use of a secondary, most agree that it is largely not needed and I would spend that money on another primary, or save it and now you have most the money needed for your first batch. The book you are reading probably has a getting started chapter that lists the bare bones essentials.

 

[Landon90]

very good info, and yes i am steadily reading on and finding things out as i go as well as casually reading over topics recipes equipment and so on. i will probably end up going to lowes i have noticed a few things about equipment people are using in pictures and descriptions. as well as the stores i know may possibly try to jip me. has anyones first brewing experience of a simple beer gone wrong?

 

[Tim_Kreitz]

I bought the 20 qt kettle offered to me by the homebrew store and within no time I upgraded to all grain brewing and now I have a $50 20qt stainless steel kettle that I no longer use.

You can always convert it to an HLT.