New to the Game

[Kenyos]

Hello all. I am New, I am very very new. I have been browsing around the forums and have been inspired by all the home brewers and projects people have posted. I am a HUGE fan of craft brews and now want to try my hand at home brewing. I need a place to start and these forums have a wealth of information and knowledge base. I will be a frequent of the forums and I will probably have a ton of questions too. I also am in the market to buy some start up equipment, Norther Brewer has a kit that seems decently priced. If Anyone has any advise on the subject, let me know. Thanks

All the way from South Texas

-Kenyos

 

[worksnorth]

Northern Brewer is great! I've ordered tons of things from them, downside for me is the shipping costs are killer.
Austin Homebrew Supply is closer to you and I've ordered from them too with lots of excellent success.
You are gonna have a blast with this hobby! Enjoy!

 

[Kenyos]

Thanks a lot , Austin is close by. I will check out their kits?.

 

[worksnorth]

Thanks a lot , Austin is close by. I will check out their kits?.

I glanced at their starter kits and they look to be as good as anyone else's.
Good luck

 

[Bruin]

Welcome to the addiction Kenyos. Maybe because I'm not great at siphoning, but I found the ported Better Bottles work GREAT for fermenting and getting your beer off the yeast when the time comes. I started with a little Mr. Beer setup with minimal investment. By the time I upgraded to five gallon batches, I knew from research exactly what equipment I wanted to get, and it didn't come in a starter kit.

 

[Kenyos]

Did you start with Extract or go stright to All grain/ Partical grain mash brewing? I am going to take it slow at first and do my research before i make a first purchase of anything. I already know what the first step is, a 6 pack and a to start making a list for equipment.

 

[Calichusetts]

Try brookylnbrewshop.com

1-gallon kits with everything you need and almost all equipment is already in your kitchen. I know its a small brew but there is more room to learn with smaller batches and you won't ruin a ton of beer or need to get into any real equipment.

 

[Bruin]

I started with Mr. Beer extract kits. Quickly bought a 2nd fermenter (they are cheap) to get a pipeline going. One year later, I got stuff to make 5 gallon batches, and still am using extract kits, but now they are LHBS made kits from the Grape and Granary. Upgraded to kegging and built a keezer at that time too. Am researching going all grain now, but will need a bigger kettle, because I plan on doing 10 gallon batches. No sense in spending all the extra time doing all-grain just to fill one keg. I asked the guys in my club why they bother with all the extra time doing all grain. Their general answer: It's cheaper. Especially when they do group bulk grain buys.

 

[Cacaman]

Alas! Another South Texas brewer! Welcome to HBT!
Extract kits are a good place to start to get to know what your doing and learn the basics. For now, if you more or less know what you want to do, that will help point you in the right direction. I started kegging right away, but I feel i probably should have bottled a few batches before going straight to kegging. I eventually ended up bottling some batches later on.

I normally do all my shopping from Austin Homebrew, but as far as their beginner kits, they look pretty lame. It looks like they're giving you a bunch of cheap equipment. You may be better off individually buying the things you need to ensure you get good quality items the first time around, and won't have to buy anything again in the future.

If i were you, I would read Section 1 of "How to Brew" to get an understanding of the basic process, and what equipment you actually need to start your batch. How to Brew - By John Palmer - Introduction

From there, keep reading threads from HBT and keep using that search bar to answer your questions!

 

[Kenyos]

Thanks for the welcome Cacaman, I see your down in Laredo. let me ask you something, when you order from AHB, what the turnaround on the shipping. Do you usually get it the next day if you use standard shipping? I would think you would get things pretty fast since they are so close by, just curious.

 

[Kenyos]

Thanks Calichusetts, thats a good idea, i will look into those 1 gallon Kits.

 

[Kenyos]

I appreciate help from everyone so far, You guys Rock! :rockin:

 

[Cacaman]

Thanks for the welcome Cacaman, I see your down in Laredo. let me ask you something, when you order from AHB, what the turnaround on the shipping. Do you usually get it the next day if you use standard shipping? I would think you would get things pretty fast since they are so close by, just curious.

They're usually really good with shipping. If you order it early, they may even send it the same day. Once it's in the mail, it should arrive within 2 days. Same should apply to you considering we live in state.
Example: Once I ordered something Monday morning, it was on my doorstep Wednesday. AHS rocks! :rockin: