New Home Brewer Questions

[cfcjeff05]

Hello,

I just purchased a beginners kit for home brew and I'm 1 week into home brewing and I decided to start out with cider because it seemed easier and cider is in season. After I'm though with the cider I would like to start my first real true BEER home brew.

Does anyone have any recipe resources for my first home brew?

Should I buy some sort of pre packaged kit with all of my ingredients to make my wort or do you guys recommend purchasing the ingredients separately?

Do you guys have any recommended books or website resources for information on home brewing?

Thanks
Jeff

 

[duboman]

Start with a kit from either Austin Homebrew, Midwest Supplies or Northern brewer as they are proven kits with fresh ingredients.

As far as books, how to brew by John Palmer should be your go to resource. The joy of Homebrewing by Charlie Papazian is a good basic read as well. And this site to answer questions as you go!

 

[gwsiegfried]

How to proceed is totally up to you, there is no right eay to get into the hobby. Personally, my first three brews were with a fully put together kit, minus the lme which was right next to the kit. My fourth was a cider and as soon as my third is bottled, I'll be doing an all grain batch.
I felt as though I learned a lot doing those four brews and I've probably read a thousand posts on hbt which I feel has prepared me for an ag beer, not that people don't just start with ag as well.
Any way you decide, just make sure you have a beer opened when you start, even if your brew day starts at 7am like mine do.

 

[glick]

I recommend checking the recipe section of this forum. There are a lot of great recipes in there and many of them are highly recommended by the people that brew them. Finding an easy recipe will also be cheaper then buying a kit. Congrats on your first brew/ cider

 

[Transamguy77]

Do you have a LHBS? They typically sell premade kits and sometimes a good resource too. I am lucky to have a good one within 2 miles of my house. How about a local home brew club that is a great way to get feed back on your brews and a great resource.

 

[Hello]

Just curious, do you have a local home brewer shop? What state are you in? I'd go with a kit. I asked what was easy for a first time and a hefenweizen was recommended. Then I did a fat tire clone and then a pumpkin. I'd love to do a cider myself.
What cider recipe did you use?

Welcome BTW!

 

[Math0]

I would start with a kit if I were you! Don't go all in yet because you might be disappointed for the first batch! Pick up some tricks first

 

[oxpajama]

Costco/Sams apple juice, 6 gals (they usually come in two packs)
one package yeast of your choice, Ale yeast is good, D47 is great too.
one tsp yeast nutrient
patients

 

[rjbergen]

Costco/Sams apple juice, 6 gals (they usually come in two packs)
one package yeast of your choice, Ale yeast is good, D47 is great too.
one tsp yeast nutrient
patients

Just apple juice? Not actual apple cider?

To the OP: I just started myself and am researching all I can. I've found Brewtoad to be a nice site that has people's recipes. You can browse all different recipes and get a feel for what others enjoy and what ingredients go into different styles. Someone also recommended the smartphone app BrewR in a thread of mine today. I've also heard recommendations for BeerSmith, but that's not free.

As for kits, I'd suggest an extract kit. I thought it would be complicated, but it was actually rather simple. Just make sure to sanitize well.

There are all sorts of resources available online to explain what properties the different grains, hops, and yeasts impart. There are charts to find equivalent yeasts between Wyeast, White Labs, and dry yeast. There are pages discussing brewing equipment, brewing methods, and many other topics. Read all that you can.

 

[cfcjeff05]

Thanks for all the responses they are much appreciated.

I live near Rochester, NY and I'm pretty sure there's atleast two homebrew places near by. I plan on going to one in the future to buy a glass carboy for secondary.

As for the cider... I ordered an cider kit from homebrewing.org. I used fresh cider from a local orchard a few miles from my house and White Labs English Cider Yeast.

The kit comes with pre measured additive ingredients (I guess that's what you would call them) and instructions. You have supply the yeast and 5 gallons worth of cider.

Thanks again everyone for the help!

 

[rjbergen]

As for the cider... I ordered an cider kit from homebrewing.org.

I live about 30 minutes from the Adventures in Homebrewing store, they run homebrewing.org. Great website, store, and group of people.

 

[Backwoodsbrewing]

How to proceed is totally up to you, there is no right eay to get into the hobby. Personally, my first three brews were with a fully put together kit, minus the lme which was right next to the kit. My fourth was a cider and as soon as my third is bottled, I'll be doing an all grain batch.
I felt as though I learned a lot doing those four brews and I've probably read a thousand posts on hbt which I feel has prepared me for an ag beer, not that people don't just start with ag as well.
Any way you decide, just make sure you have a beer opened when you start, even if your brew day starts at 7am like mine do.

7:00 am seems a little late but who am I to judge

 

[geckholm]

7:00 am seems a little late but who am I to judge

You're day starts earlier?/sarc

 

[Backwoodsbrewing]

You're day starts earlier?/sarc

Well it does scrambled eggs and beer at 10 with a full fermentor.But I'm just busting chops glad to be part of the forum and make a few friends cheers