The Beginnings, Where to start

[Jtwillis]

Im looking to start home brewing. I was interested in going all grain to begin with. Does anyone have any pointers on where and how to start up?
Like I said I'm starting from scratch, i have brewed with my old man, however I wanted some outside opinions.

Thanks

 

[FVillatoro]

Im looking to start home brewing. I was interested in going all grain to begin with. Does anyone have any pointers on where and how to start up?
Like I said I'm starting from scratch, i have brewed with my old man, however I wanted some outside opinions.

Thanks

Initially I was super eager to go full grain and start making things like a chocolate-vanilla-coffee-oatmeal stout with like 20 different types of grains - but I'm glad I didn't!

If you have some experience with boiling, hopping, water volumes and chilling/fermentation and packing I say go for it! If not, then You can try extract recipes to get the hang of what I mentioned above.

For all grain you should start as simple as possible both with recipes and equipment. Look into getting some cooler mash tuns with braided hose filters, 2 kettles to hold enough water, a good burner, and all the other essentials (fermentation bucker, sanitizer...etc...etc...)

Stick to easy recipes too that will let you experience the base ingredients so that you develop some knowledge into what grains can bring to recipes.
I suggest something like a cream ale, or a SMASH recipe (singleMalt+SingleHop).

Once you have a few batches you can start adjusting for wort volumes, gravity, efficiency, and so forth. Good luck

 

[boydster]

Someone here wrote an article that I won't even try to improve upon, just go read this: Which is Right for You? BIAB or Extract
It goes over required equipment and process pretty well, so you can know 1) what to buy and 2) what to expect when you start your brew day.

Cheers!

 

[mongoose33]

If I were you--and back at the end of November I was!--I'd do an extract kit or two before doing all-grain.

This will let you learn the process without having to concern yourself with whether you're producing good wort or not. Once you have the product of the all-grain mashing, it's the same with extract as with all-grain.

My first three batches were extract, then I lucked into a mash tun and associated stuff so I went right from extract to mashing in a mash tun. My first two all-grain batches were drinkable but not excellent; had I started with them, I would not know whether my mashing process was suspect or if I'd screwed up the boil, racking to fementor, and fermentation/temperature control. Now I know it was the mash.

Anyway, enjoy--it's fun to be drinking your own beer. And FWIW, my last three batches--I'd pay money for them in a bar.

 

[MaryB]

You know the basics but didn't say of you have ever done it start to finish on your own. Extract kits are a good starting point to get back into it and get the basics under your belt. I brewed all grain back in the 80's with a friend, then a 30 year pause. I started with extract to get the basics back into a rhythm then started building back to all grain. Almost ready for my first all grain brew again after a lot of building to make it easiest on my bad back.

 

[Atlmustang]

You have come to the right spot for advice!

I started brewing recently as well. Like you, I started brewing with my dad when I was 11-16 or so. It was a great experience with pops.

Anyways, that was 15 years ago and homebrewing has come a very, very long way. I received advice from pops a couple months ago when I mentioned that I was going to start homebrewing and the one thing he said was to use sanitize with warm water and colorox and rinse everything extremely well. Boy am I glad I came here first....learned about a little thing called Star san..."don't fear the foam!"...I digress.

First off, I purchased northern brewers beer kit for like $89 off amazon. Much of that expense was due to the glass carboy..which consequently I don't even use because I don't rack to a secondary vessel. Those things are a P-I-T-A to clean as well. But it gave me everything else I needed for bottling and racking and fermenting so...not a bad deal. You could piece it out if you wanted cheaper. The food grade buckets are only about $14 at my LHBS and can be had cheaper online. Here is a list of everything I use on a brew day equipment wise:

1.) 8 Gallon pot - I would recommend you get a 10 gallon pot at least. If money is tight, then a 5 gallon at walmart for $20 will get you started on extract. BIAB will be difficult unless you plan on 1-3 gallon batches.

2.) Stainless steel spoon - You can buy a paddle if you want. I prefer the spoon. To each his own.

3.) Hop bag - Get one from BSG or something. It'll help keep your beer a little cleaner.

4.) STAR SAN - get the big bottle from Amazon. 26 oz. I think it's $26 or something. But it concentrates to 1 oz per 5 gallons of water.

5.) Rubber gloves - Star San is not great for your hands. Any time I sanitize my bucket I always wear gloves. I dried my hands out something awful the first time. Just dipping your hand in for small parts isn't a problem. Just rinse your hands real quick after.

6.) Digital Thermometer - just a cheap one will do. Temp is very, very important. Especially if you go to all grain BIAB.

7.) 20 pound bag of ice for the ice bath. It takes a lot of ice. Unless you have a wort chiller.

8.) Fermentation bucket - Please get one with a spout near the bottom. You can avoid a siphon if you get one with a spout...for the most part. Depends on your trub bed.

9.) Air lock

10.) 6 foot hose for transferring

11.) Hydrometer

12.) Thief

13.) Gallons of Spring Water

14.) Bottle caps

15.) Bottle capper

I think those are all that I use on brew day. I don't use the hose for transferring until keg day, but you'll still need it at some point.

I did 1 extract kit to start out. I did a brewers best milk stout (stouts are pretty forgiving). The only downside is the take longer to age for the anxious beginner homebrewer. I then found a recipe for and Irish red (not in a kit) that I had my LHBS help me fill the grain bill and the extract. Then I found BIAB, I then bought the 8 gallon pot from a 5 gallon and started all grain. Haven't looked back. All I needed to switch from extract to BIAB was a Wilser bag and a bigger pot. Easy.

My LHBS gave the following advice on getting started. Start extract from a kit. Follow the directions and learn the process. Then select a beer that you want to be your house beer and get it to where you want it and can consistently make it taste the same batch over batch. Then branch out.

Most of all, have fun! It's a great hobby with great benefits. You get to share your beer that YOU brewed with friends and family. Also, it's a money saver, which for me, is always good. I am an accountant and have broken down the numbers. I am definitely saving money doing something completely awesome.

 

[Gusmedic]

The nice thing about starting with extract is you can really get your whole boiling, hops additions, cooling, sanitizing, fermenting and all other skills down while not having to worry about SG. I'm glad I started very basic and gradually improved and changed my methods to see what helped and how it made a difference.

 

[Homercidal]

There's TONS of videos online. Watch a bunch of them and see what equipment they use. There are plenty of options. You will probably want to start with BIAB because it's honest to goodness All Grain, but really darn simple.

In any case, I highly recommend you purchase a quality AG kit from one of the online places (not a brewer's best if you can help it.) because they will have the recipe calculated out and all the ingredients in one box. You can focus on the process.

It's really not that hard. I think AG is perfectly reasonable as a first time if you read a bit and watch some videos and see the many different methods you can use. The hardest part of AG brewing is calculating the amount of water properly, and the strike temperature. And it's not exactly difficult!

 

[Aristotelian]

Don't hesitate to go All Grain from the beginning. It's really not that complicated. If you really want a minimal equipment investment, start with 1 Gallon Brew-in-a-Bag batches on your stovetop. Then decide what scale and type of system you want.

I would suggest going to a local shop and talk with staff there to make sure you have everything you need for your first brew.

 

[PADave]

I'd second doing an extract brew or two to get started. Then look into BIAB. Minimal equipment, basically one more step than extract. I too said I was going AG from the start, did one brew then took a step back to extract for a few, got that down then went to BIAB. Start slow and learn as you go, don't try to do too much in the beginning.