Wanting to get back into brewing

[joshuaarndt]

I still have all my brewing equipment from when i used to brew with friends. I don't remember much but are getting the kits a good way to get back into it?

 

[Sammy86]

Definitely, not much thinking when you have a kit...add the water or adjust for your system, add hops per the schedule and ferment with the yeast...which you may want to change depending on the kit

 

[brandonlovesbeer]

Go to www.basicbrewing.com. Stepping in to all grain. I treat her this video before I start most of my brew days just for a refresher. It's easy to follow and very informative.

http://basicbrewingshop.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=7

 

[mainbutter]

I just got back in to brewing after a couple years - and didn't have my equipment anymore, so you are a step ahead.

My first batch is a kit and is fermenting away. Nothing was really a surprise to me, just an extract kit with special grains to steep. The next batch will be all-grain, third will be cider, fourth will be another kit I have waiting.

The biggest downside for me is they are a bit more expensive than buying ingredients in bulk. Even with their pre-built recipes I still do a little tinkering.

I did spend more hours than I care to admit watching brewing videos on Youtube. Most was familiar, but not all of it. It is a great place for any needed refreshers, and I certainly picked up countless bits of information I either didn't know or forgot.

 

[Kent88]

Kits work, but you can also search around and find extract and extract with steeping grains recipes. If you have a local homebrew shop the latter is a great way to go.

The kits that use pre-hopped malt extract can be decent, but when you steep grains, boil for an hour and add the hops yourself it gets a lot better.

 

[oms1981]

I also just brewed my first batch in quite a while so I decided to go easy mode and just grabbed one of the cheapest kits from Northern Brewer. Some people have mixed feelings about NB, but one of their stores is just a few miles from my house so it's convenient for me.

They come with really easy to follow, step by step instructions making it pretty hard to screw up anything too bad. So yeah, I think a kit is any easy way to get back on your feet. I will echo what others have said though; once you are more confident again, getting away from kits will save you money and allow you to experiment and explore more. There are tons of great recipes on this very website.

Random side note: finally got a turkey fryer burner and 10 gallon kettle and being able to do a full batch boil has been a game changer for me. I find it much easier to have this dedicated rig rather than fumbling about in my kitchen with sub par equipment and I expect my beer will turn out a little better too. Next batch will be all grain. For what it's worth, I wish I had done this years ago.

 

[brandonlovesbeer]

Random side note: finally got a turkey fryer burner and 10 gallon kettle and being able to do a full batch boil has been a game changer for me. I find it much easier to have this dedicated rig rather than fumbling about in my kitchen with sub par equipment and I expect my beer will turn out a little better too. Next batch will be all grain. For what it's worth, I wish I had done this years ago.

I have a turkey fryer. But my 10 gal pot is too big to get a boil. So I use a combination Electric heat stick in conjunction with the propane burner.

 

[joshuaarndt]

Thanks for the replies, i can't wait to start again. I have many flip top bottles, regular bottles, and a 5 gallon keg. Which is the best to get back into

 

[brandonlovesbeer]

Whichever is more convenient for you. You end up with the same final product.

 

[oms1981]

I've found that flip top bottles are easier than regular bottles, but I still use both. Just depends what I have available at bottling time. Never been a keg guy so I can't speak to that at all. If it were me, I'd use up the flip top bottles first. A few words of caution though. If they are green glass, be careful that your beer is protected from sunlight as the green glass will allow enough light to make the beer skunky. Also, make sure that the rubber grommets are properly cleaned and sanitized. If any of them look really beat up, see if you can replace. Those things aside, swingtop bottles are a time saver, imo.

 

[Hackwood]

I'm another that has taken the past year off from brewing(career change and sold and bought a new home). Buckled down enough to get back to brewing so I hit up "What Ales Ya" here in Phoenix and purchased a kit. American Pale Ale to get me going. I then stumbled upon a "Label Peelers" deal that was 35%off all kits and picked up 3 more kits(English Pale Ale, Bavarian Kolsch and a Scottish Ale). Going to get one or 2 of them going this weekend and then the others when able. Figured a couple/few kit brews and bottling would get the bugs out before getting back to AG and kegging! Can't hurt to knock a little rust off AND be making beer! Start it out slow(making good beer) and ramp it back up to full steam. GL to ya!