Complete Beginnner, Needs Point In The Right Direction

[Iron23]

Hello everyone, Hope this is the right place for this.


I have only brewed beer once, and that was back in chemistry class. Ive decided I want to give it another crack.

Can someone point me in the direction of a good guide, or advise me on everything I will need to buy to do this properly. For a beginner.
And maybe some of the best places to go buy this stuff.



Cheers

 

[Gavo]

Welcome aboard and welcome to the hobby. For a good starter check the articles link at the top of the page, first article is for beginning brewers. To buy stuff you could try the retailers at the top of the page also, or you could by a kit at a local supermarket.

Good luck and good brewing.

Gavo.

 

[Pennywise]

Welcome to AHB Iron23, check out this link http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...?showtopic=9233 on the forum, it should help answer alot of those newbie questions. As for where to shop, I've found the site sponsors very good for both quality and price, I do prefer to buy local if I can though, but good LHBS (local home brew shop) are few and far between unfortunatly.

 

[cpsmusic]

Hello everyone, Hope this is the right place for this.


I have only brewed beer once, and that was back in chemistry class. Ive decided I want to give it another crack.

Can someone point me in the direction of a good guide, or advise me on everything I will need to buy to do this properly. For a beginner.
And maybe some of the best places to go buy this stuff.



Cheers

I would recommend getting a copy of John Palmer's How To Brew.

The equipment you need depends on whether you're doing a partial or an all-grain brew. I've recently started doing AG brews and have a very simple setup - an esky/siphon for mashing, a large aluminium pot for boiling and standard plastic fermenter. You might also want to check the "brew-in-a-bag" method. I've seen it done but haven't tried it myself.

If you're in Melbourne, go to one of Grain and Grape's AG demos and you can watch the magic being done!

Cheers,

Chris

 

[[email protected]]

Good luck, don't read too much to start with, there's so much complexity as you read into brewing.

Start with a basic kit and kilo brew, buy a basic startup from anywhere. I suggest going to a brew store, you will pay a little more but atleast you get a chance to talk to the brewshop guy. And if you take the cost of beer at $40 a case generally you've paid it off by the second brew.

Just follow the instructions on the kit. Youll make an adequate first attempt and you'll be suprised how good a simple kit can be with very little effort. Then start reading as much as you can on here and on the web.

 

[kenlock]

Welcome Iron23 +1 for advice given. Adding your location will help you get advice about HB in your area.

 

[Iron23]

Thanks for the quick responses guys! Im in sydney by the way, There is a place called Dave's home brew Ive seen but its closed over christmas, Ill look into the sponsors though.

As for filtration, which Stood out for me as I was reading before. Is it worth going right out and buying a pump with a filter, Whats the best for someone like me. All up I can spend about $250 + To start with.

 

[[email protected]]

Keep It Simple Stupid.
Dave's is awesome, he closes on friday, so try and get there before then. IMO best brew store in Sydney.
Start with a fermenter, a thermometer, a large plastic spoon, and a bottle capper (make sure you get a lever one not a hand one). Ask Dave lot's of questions. Don't worry about a filtration system, start basic. Know how cloudy a beer is going to be, and what actual effect this has before you invest in a filtration system. You'll be suprised how clear it is. And you can add finings and chill the beer to make it clearer.

 

[cpsmusic]

You can also try Cooper's plastic bottles which have screw tops.

 

[MeLoveBeer]

In all seriousness I'd start with a coopers starter kit (comes with everything you need to make your first brew including bottles and an instructional dvd) and the online version of John Palmers How to Brew book.

Concentrate on the simple stuff before worrying about the clarity of your beer or the need for pumps etc (temp control and proper yeast handling are infinitely more important imho)

Edit: speeling

 

[proudscum]

use simple kits, good brewery hygiene ,get a better dry yeast than the one that comes with the kit.
Try and control fermentation temperature 18-20 degrees.

Try using fresh wort kits because they to me taste a lot better (flamesuit on LOL).

But keep it simple RE:Above.

 

[brad05]

use simple kits, good brewery hygiene ,get a better dry yeast than the one that comes with the kit.
Try and control fermentation temperature 18-20 degrees.

Try using fresh wort kits because they to me taste a lot better (flamesuit on LOL).

But keep it simple RE:Above.

+1. One of the biggest improvements you can make is controlling the temperature of fermentation.

Also make sure you clean and sanitise everything. You can worry about trying better yeasts ect.. once you learn the basics.

Good luck.
Brad

 

[flano]

try a fresh wort kit.
A fresh wort kit is basically a container full of brown liquid that you pour into your fermenting barrel .
Then all you do is add water ( as per instructions ) plus a little sachet of yeast .


very easy and you will get good to very good results straight off the bat.

The "brewers selection" ( brand ) are excellent...the pilsener is very good.
"Ezy Brew" (brand) do a good little creatures pale ale clone as well.

 

[Siborg]

Agree with what everyone has said above.

Try a simple coopers kit (pale ale, real ale are good starters) and a brew enhancer (1 or 2), and get your fermenting temperatures right. The instructions often say It will ferment at 26 degrees, but it won't taste any good. Start with Ales, which don't need to be clear and aim for 18-20 degrees fermenting temp. Just take into account that the yeast will give off some heat when they are fermenting, so ambient temperatures will need to be a tad lower than your desired fermenting temp.

Lagers are very difficult to do properly, especially in summer as you need to keep the temperature around 10 degrees.

Once you've got a couple of kit brews under your belt, look into using extract with steeped specialty grains.

After that, then learn about mashing grains. There's plenty of info on the how to brew website about steeping and mashing, but I'd highly recommend you get the basics down first with some kits as fermenting is the most important step to making good beer.

 

[olde]

Big W often have a Coopers brew kit on special, maybe $70 will get you started with everything you'll need for your first brew. For the first kit follow all the instructions EXCEPT about fermenting it at 27C, use a tub of water and iceblocks or a wet towel and fan to keep the fermentor as close to 18-20C as you can. You won't even need no-rinse sanitiser for your first one, as the bottles are sterile enough. Read Palmer or a few threads here to get the basics set in your head, don't bother with a different yeast until you've had a couple of brews done and are confident you can control the temps ok. Don't stress, it's dead simple and as long as you do the baby steps of cleanliness and temp control first up you can't go wrong. Once you're happy then start playing with a few things .
One thing to remember, don't try to lift and shift your fermentor once it's full of beer with the airlock in, you'll suck all the airlock liquid into your beer, so take it out if you move it around.

 

[Housecat]

here is a link to How to Brew (click me, I'm good for you!)

I find it good as it is split into different sections depending on what you are doing eg kits/partial/all grain

HC

 

[Steve]

Go to bunnings and get a $16 white 25l water container with a red lid and then go to your LHBS and ask for ingredients to fill it. (Last fermenter I bought from a LHBS was near on $40!)...once youve got your stuff come back here and ask what to do with it.....just dont ferment at the temps the instructions of the kit says. Have Fun!
Cheers
Steve

 

[Siborg]

just dont ferment at the temps the instructions of the kit says.

+100000000000000000000000000


Beginning to detect a theme here?

 

[earle]

As above temp control is very important. If you've got $250 to start get a brew kit as above and pick up a second hand fridge or freezer from ebay/trading post whatever and a temperature controller such as a fridgemate from one of the sponsors at the top. Having good temp control will make a much bigger difference to your brewing than a filter.

 

[felten]

+1 with reading how to brew, it's like the bible of brewing for beginners. I'd advise you to skip the all grain sections, it can be a little daunting for newcomers, unless you're interested in the science behind how AG works.