First time brewer : too many options... ADVICE!

[StuntActor]

Ok guys,

Like most first time brewers, there are WAY too many companies, Internet sites and "home brew" stores to chose from. Now I've heard over and over to avoid "Mr. Beer" kits all together if you want to eventually move into serious brewing.

I had a friend who worked for Budweiser and he suggested looking for a larger kit to get going.

SO.... What is a good kit to start building with? Or just the brands I should be looking at???

Any help is greatly appreciated!!!!

 

[uatuba]

I recommend the Mr. Beer kits so you get a good handle on things before dropping a chunk of money, only to get pissed and give up when something goes wrong. I started with Mr. Beer (Cowboy Ale was my first beer). I still use my Mr. Beer keg for mead and test batches. Now I do all grain and have the owner of the chain of liquor stores begging me to go commercial, although I'm nowhere near ready for that (I'm more lucky than good). I would use Mr. Beer for a couple batches, have some easy success and get hooked early on, then buy a kit from Midwest using a coupon (most of the time their kit items are cheaper, whereas Northern Brewer usually has cheaper raw ingredients and single pieces of equipment; as always, things vary so price match...they both have excellent customer service).

 

[Kyle66605]

Unless you are able to control temps, I would start with ales.
I've been ordering extract kits from Northern Brewer and going to my local brew shop for all grain recipes that I've designed.

Start with a kit for a style of beer you like, brew it and enjoy the experience!

 

[jph2275]

I started getting a mini mash kit from Austin homebrew supply. Every ingredient kit I've got had been super tasty, plus with mini mash you're doing a little bit of grain work which is cool and super rewarding.

I would recommend their imperial Irish red ale

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=12175

Or

*my favorite* falconers flight ipa
http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=12876


Cheaper alternatives ....

Any of their anniversary sale recipes (my Oktoberfest yesterday was $27)


Good luck! I'm only 8 batches in

 

[Cyclman]

Start with extract / boil on the stove with extract + steeping grain kits. Learn to ferment, good oxygenation, proper pitching (with starters), good temperature control, great sanitation.

If that goes well (minimal investment), you can move to a propane burner / larger kettle, and do BIAB. With a 10G kettle BIAB, many brewers see no need to go further than that. With BIAB 10G, temp. controlled fermentation, and good oxygenated pitching, you can brew virtually any beer you want.

All grain would be the next step, advanced lab equipment the final step. Kegging can be added at any point as a convenience.

Starting with extract + steeping grain kits, you'll be very pleased with the beer you can make.

 

[woozy]

You need to separate ingedient kits from equipment kits. Then, screw ingredient kits. Or not. Find recipes you want to brew (and the good kits release their recipes and can be found on the internet) and gather your ingredients. In a kit might be easy but individually is not hard and no more expensive.

And neither go for nor avoid Mr. Beer equipment. My first equipment was a Mr. Beer kit on clearance for ten bucks. As 2 gallon is the perfect size for me (which it might/probably not be for you) I never left. I now have 4 Mr. Beer kegs that I use as fermenters and bottling buckets. A fermenter is just a food grade container to keep liquid in for a few weeks. Might as well be made by Mr. Beer as anyone else.

Of course that meant that I had to use that can of ... stuff ... that came with the Mr. Beer equipment but I never once for an instant even at the very beginning assumed it'd be beer I'd want to drink. I brewed it to get it out of the way and immediately started on "real" beer and picked up a recipe/ingredient kit for an amber ale from my lhbs.

Nice thing about Mr. Beer equipment... You can continue to use it, upsize, or quit altogether without any huge heavy coin loss.

 

[StuntActor]

Hey guys!!!


Thanks for all the great ideas! I have to admit; I'm a rookie as rookies come. I just wanted to make sure I buy what I can continue to build on. ( and obviously not just replace)
Lots of good ideas!!

Here's another question.... I'm a guy who likes to have some kind of working knowledge of a project before I get rolling with it... That being said: What is a good book to pick up to get a good background in brewing and recipe development?

Thanks again all!!!

 

[twistr25]

Do you have any equipment to start with? I got my first kit from Midwest through a Groupon, something to keep an eye out for. This is a good e-book to get the basics of a lot stuff from. Some of the info is out of date, but all in all, it's a good place to start.

 

[Bradyfumbled]

There's a wealth of free knowledge on these message boards, personally I'd save the money and skip the books. I've been trolling these message boards for two years and till pick up new jewels of info and inspiration every day.

And nothing wrong with using Mr Beer as a starting point. Get comfortable with the process, then design our own recipes, ditch the MrB cans, and use the fermenter. The size and shape is pretty convenient.

 

[texcan2000]

I would start with How To Brew by Palmer.

 

[twistr25]

I would start with How To Brew by Palmer.

FYI, That's the e-book link in my response

 

[Darwin18]

FYI, That's the e-book link in my response

It's good but the free version is a bit outdated.

FWIW, most of the "big" online homebrewing stores such as Northern Brewer have excellent starting kits. If I were new all over again, I would order one of those and a couple extract recipes to start with. Start with recipes that are forgiving and will somewhat mask off-flavors such as a nutbrown or American amber.

 

[twistr25]

It's good but the free version is a bit outdated.

FWIW, most of the "big" online homebrewing stores such as Northern Brewer have excellent starting kits. If I were new all over again, I would order one of those and a couple extract recipes to start with. Start with recipes that are forgiving and will somewhat mask off-flavors such as a nutbrown or American amber.

I mentioned it had some out of date things, but all in all it's a good place to start. Obviously supplemented by everything on here.

 

[jwalker1140]

It's good but the free version is a bit outdated.

FWIW, most of the "big" online homebrewing stores such as Northern Brewer have excellent starting kits. If I were new all over again, I would order one of those and a couple extract recipes to start with. Start with recipes that are forgiving and will somewhat mask off-flavors such as a nutbrown or American amber.

^^^^ This ^^^^

And regarding the choice of starting equipment kits, I'd buy one that has 1 carboy and 1 bucket (like the Personal Home Brewery Kit #2 at MoreBeer). I don't see the benefit of doing a 2-stage or secondary fermentation so I would ferment in the carboy and transfer to the bucket when it's time to bottle. Alternatively, you could do a primary fermentation in the bucket, transfer to the carboy for secondary, and then transfer back to the bucket to bottle from. There's a lot of flexibility in the 1 carboy 1 bucket combo.

 

[boydster]

I would start with How To Brew by Palmer.

+1. This is free online. It's an older edition, but still valuable. www.howtobrew.com

I also really enjoy Charlie Papazian's Complete Joy of Homebrewing.

Edit: d'oh. didn't realize that was the ebook you linked to, twistr25

 

[Rhumbline]

I echo the advice to start off with a kit from a reputable house. I've used Austin and been very happy with the results and the simple, easy to follow instructions.

As for the learning end of things. I found Youtube to be very helpful. I just seem to learn better by watching and there are a lot of great video's on there.

Good luck, don't sweat the thousandth's of an inch, take care of sanitation and walk through the process before you ever put a pot on the stove.