Ok. Soon will be my first time brewing. And I'm looking at beginners Kits on several websites. Glass or plastic carboy? I have zero brewing supplies except for a kettle. I do have bottles I can reuse but they have been unrinsed and sitting in a bag for 6 weeks. Is it worth washing them? Any advice and tips would be appreciated. Thanks everyone. Btw, this website is awesome.
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Southern_Junior
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Okay, so I have been brewing for about three months now. So I would still consider myself a true beginner. Here is my advice:
READ!READ!READ!
These forums are nice, but I still recommend reading professional literature to understand the basics. I have three different "text" books I follow as if I were in a chemistry class.
Second, as far as the beginner kits go. Go ahead and but glass. When I was looking, it was only ~$10 more for a glass carboy. Totally worth every penny. Where are you looking to buy? I was looking to shave a penny here, and grab a quarter there, but in the end I found that the shipping costs were enough to equal everything out. I ended up going local. They also gave me half off my first two ingredient kits! And they had free beer samples. It was an awesome experience. The knowledge from the shop has proven invaluable.
Finally the bottles, I HATE BOTTLING. It the worst part of the process. I have moved on to kegging. Maybe a bit prematurely. Maybe not. Anyway, I digress. With the bottles, soak them in oxiclean over night to remove labels and clean them. Then properly sanitize.
Hope this helps!
READ!READ!READ!
These forums are nice, but I still recommend reading professional literature to understand the basics. I have three different "text" books I follow as if I were in a chemistry class.
Second, as far as the beginner kits go. Go ahead and but glass. When I was looking, it was only ~$10 more for a glass carboy. Totally worth every penny. Where are you looking to buy? I was looking to shave a penny here, and grab a quarter there, but in the end I found that the shipping costs were enough to equal everything out. I ended up going local. They also gave me half off my first two ingredient kits! And they had free beer samples. It was an awesome experience. The knowledge from the shop has proven invaluable.
Finally the bottles, I HATE BOTTLING. It the worst part of the process. I have moved on to kegging. Maybe a bit prematurely. Maybe not. Anyway, I digress. With the bottles, soak them in oxiclean over night to remove labels and clean them. Then properly sanitize.
Hope this helps!
Here is a link on how I brew and it may answer some questions. This describes how I brew inexpensively, but it answers many of your questions. Take what works for you, and good luck. There are many ways to brew, make it comfortable for you 
p.s.- regarding your bottles, if they have growth and/or dried residue consider dumping them. It may be too difficult to get them sanitary. If they are no chunkies and stuff stuck to the inside, I'd sanitize and use them.
p.s.- regarding your bottles, if they have growth and/or dried residue consider dumping them. It may be too difficult to get them sanitary. If they are no chunkies and stuff stuck to the inside, I'd sanitize and use them.
I have plastic, love it. Usually use buckets anyway. Have sern too many broken/smashed carboy stories and none of them are pretty. As far as the bottle soaking for 3-4 days in pbw will clean anything. I found a case of bottles that came back from a picnic and got lost during a move. There was some real grud in the bottoms, I let them soak for a week, a good hot water rince later and they were super clean.
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