New to Brewing

[mla20408]

Hey all. I've been browsing these forums the last few weeks as I've been thinking about getting into home brewing. I've asked my girlfriend to get me a good starter kit for Christmas, but who knows if she will. Does anyone have any recommendations for an online starter kit?

Also, any recommendations on good ingredient kits to start, or that just taste damn good? I'm pretty new to beer itself, so I haven't tried any "good" beers, so I really don't know where to start!

Thanks for any and all help!

 

[winzerz]

go here

Compare All Kits :: Midwest Supplies Homebrewing and Winemaking Supplies

:rockin:

 

[mla20408]

go here

Compare All Kits :: Midwest Supplies Homebrewing and Winemaking Supplies

:rockin:

That's a great site... it's actually where I told my girlfriend to get my kit from, so that works out well.

Any suggestions on recipe kits?

 

[McKBrew]

All the midwest kits are pretty well received by the guys who have brewed them. As far as what to brew, that is up to you. Just pick a beer you like and go for it.

 

[Deacon240]

Got my kit and starter equip from Midwest. The beer came out good, SWMBO got me another one of their kits that is a Black Lager. Really excited to brew that one.

 

[mla20408]

All the midwest kits are pretty well received by the guys who have brewed them. As far as what to brew, that is up to you. Just pick a beer you like and go for it.

Got my kit and starter equip from Midwest. The beer came out good, SWMBO got me another one of their kits that is a Black Lager. Really excited to brew that one.

Midwest it is then! I'll just get a cheap one to start... but then I'll start experimenting. Thanks for the advice guys!

 

[Deacon240]

Be sure to get a large enough kettle to do a full boil. I got an aluminum 32 qt tamale steamer for $20, also got a 30qt with the turkey fryer I got recently that was missing a couple unimportant parts and a metal bar to mount the burner (need to replace that still). So I really could do a 2 part 10g brew or 2 different 5g brews at once.

If you get an aluminum kettle be sure to give it a good oxide layer by boiling water in it for about a hour. To clean it I just use a soft cloth and hot water, rinse and store upside down. I dont use soap or starsan or anything like that as it would help remove the oxide layer that keeps my beer from tasting like aluminum.

EDIT: I just got a basic brewing kit and am expanding my capacity slowly with glass carboys and hopefully a keggle soon.

 

[TheJadedDog]

I am a big fan of the equipment and ingredients from Austin Homebrew and Northern Brewer. Equipment is pretty generic anywhere you go so you are mainly looking at price and to make sure you get everything you need (check the wiki for info on the minimum equipment requirements).

Ingredients are a bit more important to source. You want to make sure you are using quality products and not something that has been sitting on the shelf for a year. Again, both AHS and Northern Brewer are my suppliers of choice.