Newbie, Wondering what to do first

[DanS]

Hey everyone, name's Dan and I have recently gained a large interest in brewing my own beer. I just received a used homebrew kit over the weekend from a friend's Dad. I also have the book "The new complete joy of homebrewing" and it has offered a LOT of helpful information. My question is after I sanitize everything what is the best idea to start out with, a pre packaged kit, or should i try looking up a recipe and buying the seperate ingredients? And what type of beer should I be looking to brew first, keeping in mind I am not the largest fan of Pale Ale's however there are very few beer types that I can think of that I do not like. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks

Dan

 

[onecolumbyte]

Dan,

Congrats, you just found the cheapest way into homebrewing! I started a little more than 1 year ago the same way, got the equipment from my father in-law. Anyhoo,
I would recommend starting with a couple of kits. Get an "intermediate" kit that's for a beer style you like and includes some specialty grains for steeping, un-hopped concentrate (dried or liquid doesn't matter now), and some hops for bittering. Follow the directions and ta-da *beer*. Once you get a couple of the kits under your belt start expanding, make your own recepie, or modify one you already made to your tastes. Good luck and don't forget to post your results!!

 

[DanS]

Thanks guys, I talked my girlfriend into driving me to a home-brew shop about 30 mins. from me, I'm taking your advice and buying a kit, i will post when i start the brewing (should be wednesday)

 

[CBBaron]

The extract plus grains kits are an excellent way to get a feel for the process and they produce good if not great beer.
Brown Ales, Red Ales, and other moderately dark beers are easy places to start as you probably already like those styles and the dark color and roasty flavors will cover up many errors you might make. However most of the kits are fairly easy to follow and produce good results. Avoid the really high gravity or really unusual kits until you get a better feel for the process.
That said I did two kits (red ale and stout), modified the 3rd into a partial mash and did my own recipe all-grain for my 4th brew. Now I have ingredients for 2 more AG batches.
Good luck and it can be addicting.
Craig

 

[Moonpile]

When I first started with homebrewing, I think I did a Porter first and was very pleased with it. I still think Porters are a forgiving style and one that's very likely to make something better than you can buy in the store. I find commercial porters are often a little too "clean" tasting.

I'm just getting back into it myself and am looking forward to brewing one.

Here's a page with some great extract recipies.

http://byo.com/recipe/268.html

Moon

 

[BierMuncher]

Dan,

Early on, take pictures and take notes. It'll help you tweak future brews and repeat the processes that worked.

The more brews you do, the less you'll need to take copius notes (unless you want to).

The single most important rule I would offer is, follow the instructions and then leave the beer alone. Let nature take its course and don't try to over manage the beer...especially once it's in the fermenter.

The second rule I would offer is, once your beer is put away for fermentation, get prepared for your next brew. Getting on to the next brew session will keep you from fannarcking around with your beer.

Welcome to the club and good luck.

 

[brewt00l]

My 2 cents....I found working with some really basic kits a great way to get my feet wet and familiar with the basic process of brewing, racking, sanitization, ect...and eliminated much of the extra distraction and worry that every new brewer seems to experience. Heck, just look at all the posts in this forum were folks can't help but fuss with everything and worry about if their wort/yeast/fermentation/bottle/beer is ruined.

Everything after that was building on that foundation and it made progress very easy for me.

 

[mykayel]

The number one tip my brother gave me is cleanliness. Clean and sanitze everything. He suggested Star San to me as its a no wrinse sanitizer. Mix it up in a spray bottle and spray everything that is going to come close to your wort after the boil. I probably sprayed down my fermenter, lid, stopper, airlock, hydromiter, hands... 5 times while I was boiling my first batch. Maybe a little overboard, but the stuff is cheap.

 

[RichBrewer]

First off, pick a beer (ale) that you like. After that I would suggest doing a kit beer for your first brew. You can even choose an intermediate kit that includes specialty grains. It really isn't that hard.
If you have a home brew store (LHBS) to go to ask for their recommendations. If you are going to use mail order we can help you out.

Welcome to HBT!