I Wish Someone told me before I started homebrewing...

[Stauffbier]

That if you drop the whole bag of caps in StarSan they will be rusty by next bottling day. Oh, and to check your caps before the LHBS closes on bottling day.

That I should always have an extra bottling wand and racking cane, because one will absolutely break in the middle of a process.

I am really happy, though, that no one told me I should not try something more extreme and not to make my own flavoring tweaks in my first beer. Great beer.

How long were you leaving caps in starsan? I put mine in starsan when I bottle and I've never had this problem. I do remove any caps I didn't use right away and dry them, though...

 

[jezmez68]

Read "Designing Great Beers" after making a couple of kits. The knowledge there is easy to understand and will get you going in the right direction once you have some basic knowledge.

 

[mcbethenstein]

When you make the jump to AG read "How to Brew" followed by "Brewing better beer." LOVE both those books. Use a highlighter to mark sections that have important info in them and go back and read them again later.

Wish someone would have had the money to give me to jump straight to kegging as well.

Also know that if you have 2 medium to large pots instead of 1 giant one you can still do full boils on your stove (AG or not), you just need to time each one separately and divide your additions between the pots. (20+ AG batches later this is still how I do it. And since I am still mommy during brew day, with no foreseeable chance that brew day will move outside with a burner while my son is still a rambunctious toddler, it will stay this way!)

 

[SittingDuck]

How long were you leaving caps in starsan? I put mine in starsan when I bottle and I've never had this problem. I do remove any caps I didn't use right away and dry them, though...

Yup, that probably would have worked. Unfortunately, I didn't even think of it as an issue. Just grabbed the caps out of the bucket and stuck them in a zip-lock.

 

[Rbeckett]

I wish someone had told me...that getting into homebrewing as a hobby will more than likely mean weight gain, in the neighborhood of 20-30 pounds.

Damn, I lost over a hundred when I got sick, That would sure help get my body weight back up.
I wish someone had warned me of how addicting home brewing really is.
Bob

 

[Devo9]

I wish somebody told me that a 5 gallon batch would disappear in no time and have another batch ready to go before you bottle it!

oh and this:

work WITH gravity, not against it.

 

[thatjonguy]

I wish someone would have told me to buy more ball lock kegs when they were cheap(er).

 

[pilzner]

To never never look away from a pot that is about to boil.

 

[SittingDuck]

To never never look away from a pot that is about to boil.

Or one that is boiling. My one boil-over was when I walked away for a minute.

 

[Tyrone]

To not fill my pipeline with all Big Beers (after a long hiatus). Right now I've got a Mead, A King Czar Russian Imperial Stout, An English Barleywine, a Wee Heavy and Ed Wort's Apfelvine all in various stages of production..

Oh and the Porter I first brewed when I got back into brewing at the end of October... (At least it's drinkable!)

I'm screwed...

 

[BoundForBeer]

I wish someone told me always have a extra hydrometer on hand

 

[lonestar5020]

And, not to dip some hot, boiling wort out into the same container, put the lid back on, and shake vigorously causing the lid to explode off and hot steamy wort to spray all over me.

I second this.

 

[deggenbe]

"And, not to dip some hot, boiling wort out into the same container, put the lid back on, and shake vigorously causing the lid to explode off and hot steamy wort to spray all over me."

I second second this!

 

[rcook73]

That I'd be leaving on a 2 1/2 month trip the day BEFORE I cooked up my last batch ..instead of the day AFTER

 

[BBKing]

I wish someone had told me that the necessary equipment includes a large tub, an aquarium water heater, an aquarium water pump, at least 4 carboys, and a cover story for my second life.

This made me laugh.

I remember being in that same exact spot. I swear, SWMBO thought I was going crazy

 

[Hockeyhunter99]

I wish someone would have told me....

to put StarSan in a spray bottle to make sanitation easiser.

to store un-used bottles upside down.

to keep a spray bottle of water close to knock down foam.

 

[rjsnau]

My advice is to go straight to Kegging, All Grain, Get the Grain Mill (went from $30 per 5 gallon bath to $22), Start with Full Boil.

Get the Chest Freezer or Frig to Ferment in it is WAY easier than trying to maintain the right temp any other way!!!

Did you pick up that much efficiency from crushing your own grain? I am looking at getting a grain mill but couldn't justify it but with that much of a difference I certainly could.

 

[squirrelly]

My efficiency went up about 5-10% once the wife started milling our grains. I think the biggest factor for us though was how much longer the grain lasts not being all crushed. I keep 4 50 pound sacks of grain in the walk-in, and I notice almost no stale flavors that I got from pre-crushed grain.

 

[Mugsfull]

I'm totally glad no one told me to buy a glass carboy and I will never own one! I did my research and bought Northern Brewer's deluxe kit. I opted for better bottles. The kit had every thing that I had to have to start except a brew pot, bottles and an ingredient kit.

I wish someone had told me that all the information needed to brew properly is not included in ingredient kit instructions.

Ok - The glass Carboy may be unecessary, but a shiney clean glass carboy with 5 gallons of a beautiful golden copper colored beer is the best centerpiece a kitchen table has ever had! It will instantly impress your guests and they will be envious as you gloat with jealous pride over your abundant reserves.

 

[res291que]

Clean bottles immediately instead of taking hours to soak to get bugs and mold out.

 

[res291que]

Also don't forget to have an extra propane cylinder on hand, or you might have to borrow one from your neighbor's grill halfway through your brew .... Oops !!

 

[Hang Glider]

Ok - The glass Carboy may be unecessary, but a shiney clean glass carboy with 5 gallons of a beautiful golden copper colored beer is the best centerpiece a kitchen table has ever had! It will instantly impress your guests and they will be envious as you gloat with jealous pride over your abundant reserves.

sweet - your entire kitchen is temperature controlled?
I WISH I could look at my glass carboy while it's in my fermentation chamber...


and oh, yes, THIS -->

Also don't forget to have an extra propane cylinder on hand, or you might have to borrow one from your neighbor's grill halfway through your brew .... Oops !!

 

[drathbone]

I dunno, I have to disagree about not saving money. Other than long term investments on equipment, I've gone to the bar possibly hundreds of times and bought a batch or two, sometimes three worth of shots, drinks and brews. But I have to say it's not about the money, it's about the love of the craft and everything associated with it.

I'm gonna say, I wish someone would have told me about homebrewing sooner. I always disregarded it in my days as people just trying to get some cheap swill. I've come to realize it's far beyond that. I've learned many things, forged some great friendships and made some cool connections because of homebrewing. I even found out my grandfather used to homebrew a long time ago, prior to being diagnosed with diabetes and thus never cracking a beer open again.

 

[RuffRider]

I wish someone would have told me:
About homebrewing long ago...I feel like I missed out for years.
That a hydrometer will break if it touches ANYTHING (on my 3rd).
That this website is so addictive, I would even read it on my droid in the bathroom.

 

[Mugsfull]

sweet - your entire kitchen is temperature controlled?
I WISH I could look at my glass carboy while it's in my fermentation chamber...

Yes, it is, and nobody complains till I start lagering!

 

[BOBrob]

I wish I did'nt read this thread.... I just remembered what I forgot.

 

[Begin2Brew]

Not to listen to everything you hear or read. Sometimes you need to find out for yourself and go from there.

I do a D-rest for 23 days!

 

[msa8967]

-That I would lose my entire garage to brewing beer.

+1 and a good chunk of my basement, the trunk of my car, some garden space, both coolers we own and our spare refrigerator

 

[jmprdood]

that a secondary isn't necessary, that you can use plastic buckets for fermenters/bottling, I wish they had the internet back then!

 

[Yourrealdad]

Haven't even brewed yet (hopefully tomorrow if no more set backs), but get a kettle that will allow a full boil instead of finding out about full boils after you have already bought too small of a kettle.

Buy a IM with the garden hose couplings already soldered on instead of saying "why would I need those?" and then buy the one with just tubing and clamps and then solder the fittings on later.

Oh and I have lost hours of sleep trying just to prepare for my big day making sure everything is going to go right even though I am pretty sure I am going to mess it up