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wallyLOZ
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Welcome from Missouri, neighbor!
Welcome back to the hobby!
A few tips -
Buy equipment bigger than you think you need...if you buy say an 8 gallon kettle for 5 gallon batches, once you get addicted again, you all are going to be "why not 10 gallon batches" and have to buy new equipment.
Electric all in one systems are very popular. From simple models, to more high end models. They make beer just as good as high end $15,00 three vessel brewing systems. I win plenty of medals in comps with a $600 Anvil Foundry.
Buy hops in bulk from places like Yakima Valley Hops and get a vacuum sealer and bags to reseal hop bags to keep them fresh. It's cheaper in the long run. I have freezer full of hops. I also buy my base malts in bulk and store them in Vittle Vaults.
Consider getting a grain mill rather than having a shop mill your grains. You get better crush control and better efficiency, as shops set their mills at wider gaps to prevent customers from getting stuck sparges.
Start off slow, do a simple recipe to dial in your processes, before you decide to big beers or beers with a lot of ingredients or a ton of hops.
Kegging is so much easier than bottling.
Cleaning and sanitizing are two different things. PBW will not sanitize anything.
Dry yeast is much much better than it used to be and there are many more options available. If using liquid yeast, remember that lagers need much more (3x or more) yeast than ales do and the higher gravity the beer is, the more yeast you need. Online yeast starter calculators are a great tool.
Get your local water tested by Ward Labs https://www.wardlab.com/brewers-water-test-kit/ Test you want is 5A. With all grain, mash pH is key, so knowing your water make up, adjusting with water salts based on what you are brewing will improve beers greatly. Buy a good pH meter. For example, my water is high in Chloride and in sodium...if I used as is for an IPA, the beer would not be good. And I don't like that sodium is very high, so I used distilled water and adjust based on what I am brewing.
If you are brewing with a group of friends, consider making it a club. Friend of mine has a group he brews with, they all chipped in and bought a 1 barrel brew system that is stored in his garage. They each pay $25 a month for dues that goes into ingredients for group brews and food for brew day.
And the biggest tip of all - "Relax, Don't Worry, have yourself a homebrew!"
A few tips -
Buy equipment bigger than you think you need...if you buy say an 8 gallon kettle for 5 gallon batches, once you get addicted again, you all are going to be "why not 10 gallon batches" and have to buy new equipment.
Electric all in one systems are very popular. From simple models, to more high end models. They make beer just as good as high end $15,00 three vessel brewing systems. I win plenty of medals in comps with a $600 Anvil Foundry.
Buy hops in bulk from places like Yakima Valley Hops and get a vacuum sealer and bags to reseal hop bags to keep them fresh. It's cheaper in the long run. I have freezer full of hops. I also buy my base malts in bulk and store them in Vittle Vaults.
Consider getting a grain mill rather than having a shop mill your grains. You get better crush control and better efficiency, as shops set their mills at wider gaps to prevent customers from getting stuck sparges.
Start off slow, do a simple recipe to dial in your processes, before you decide to big beers or beers with a lot of ingredients or a ton of hops.
Kegging is so much easier than bottling.
Cleaning and sanitizing are two different things. PBW will not sanitize anything.
Dry yeast is much much better than it used to be and there are many more options available. If using liquid yeast, remember that lagers need much more (3x or more) yeast than ales do and the higher gravity the beer is, the more yeast you need. Online yeast starter calculators are a great tool.
Get your local water tested by Ward Labs https://www.wardlab.com/brewers-water-test-kit/ Test you want is 5A. With all grain, mash pH is key, so knowing your water make up, adjusting with water salts based on what you are brewing will improve beers greatly. Buy a good pH meter. For example, my water is high in Chloride and in sodium...if I used as is for an IPA, the beer would not be good. And I don't like that sodium is very high, so I used distilled water and adjust based on what I am brewing.
If you are brewing with a group of friends, consider making it a club. Friend of mine has a group he brews with, they all chipped in and bought a 1 barrel brew system that is stored in his garage. They each pay $25 a month for dues that goes into ingredients for group brews and food for brew day.
And the biggest tip of all - "Relax, Don't Worry, have yourself a homebrew!"
Welcome to HBT.
Welcome, mav. There's a lot of sound advice in that post.
