I've been wanting to attempt the home beer brewing. What should i get? I see so many different starter kits out there but which one is the best, any sugestions? I live in an apt so I don't have a sh!t load of room.
Home brewing.....
- Thread starter loosecannon
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We've had this discussion, try the search feature.
Actually, just check the beer and food forum for all of your brewing needs 
what BV said! best way to start is a 5 gallon kit. I'd personally recommend a glass carboy over a plastic bucket.
Also, start here:
www.northernbrewer.com
Also, start here:
www.northernbrewer.com
this is your pretty much barebones options:
http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/starter-kits/basic-starter-kit.html
this is the same, but with a glass carboy and not a plastic bucket. Definitely worth the extra $35 IMO:
http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/starter-kits/better-basic-starter-kit.html
Also, you will need a big pot for boiling. You could get away with 12-16 quart, but most people would generally recommend 20 quart, less likely to boil over.
http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/starter-kits/basic-starter-kit.html
this is the same, but with a glass carboy and not a plastic bucket. Definitely worth the extra $35 IMO:
http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/starter-kits/better-basic-starter-kit.html
Also, you will need a big pot for boiling. You could get away with 12-16 quart, but most people would generally recommend 20 quart, less likely to boil over.
I highly suggest a kit with two glass carboys. A local company here in Santa Cruz sells a great kit (including a submersion cooler).
The site also has a TON of useful info even if you don't end up buying from them.
http://www.breworganic.com/
The same kit I got from them:
http://www.breworganic.com/deluxe2stagebrewery2glasswithorganicbeerkit.aspx
Their beer kits:
http://www.breworganic.com/easy-brewkits.aspx
The organic red ale is amazing.
The site also has a TON of useful info even if you don't end up buying from them.
http://www.breworganic.com/
The same kit I got from them:
http://www.breworganic.com/deluxe2stagebrewery2glasswithorganicbeerkit.aspx
Their beer kits:
http://www.breworganic.com/easy-brewkits.aspx
The organic red ale is amazing.
Not to derail the thread... but would the second carboy be more for bottling, or 2 stage fermentation?
Both. I found that a second carboy also increased the clarity of my brew significantly.
That's what I figured.
Usually #2 is for bottling...
I like plastic for my primary fermentation because I like to not chill my beer after boiling. Living in an apartment and doing all grain with two boil kettles makes using my wort chiller a huge, messy pain in the butt.
homebrewtalk.com <--- ridemonkey for brewing
*edit.
oh right. secondarying can clear your beer well too... I always secondary all my beer.
I like plastic for my primary fermentation because I like to not chill my beer after boiling. Living in an apartment and doing all grain with two boil kettles makes using my wort chiller a huge, messy pain in the butt.
homebrewtalk.com <--- ridemonkey for brewing
*edit.
oh right. secondarying can clear your beer well too... I always secondary all my beer.
For a nOOb I highly recommendAmazon.com: The Complete Joy of Homebrewing Third Edition (Harperresource Book)…@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51KFMQB4WFL.@@AMEPARAM@@51KFMQB4WFL. It should cover everything you'll ever want to do with home brew unless you get super serious about it.
what do you recommend for those who do or will get super serious about it?
homebrewtalk.com !!
have you looked at it? It's better then any book you can buy. and you can always get into chat and get real time, quality answers.
My Brewing library includes:
Amazon.com: The Complete Joy of Homebrewing Third Edition (Harperresource Book)…@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51KFMQB4WFL.@@AMEPARAM@@51KFMQB4WFL.
Amazon.com: Designing Great Beers: The Ultimate Guide to Brewing Classic Beer Styles (9780937381502): Ray Daniels: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51F8BXXGDSL.@@AMEPARAM@@51F8BXXGDSL
Amazon.com: Radical Brewing: Recipes, Tales and World-Altering Meditations in a Glass (9780937381830): Randy Mosher:…@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/514MMBQEYML.@@AMEPARAM@@514MMBQEYML
Amazon.com: Dave Miller's Homebrewing Guide: Everything You Need to Know to Make Great-Tasting Beer (9780882669052):…@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51adPtvrCiL.@@AMEPARAM@@51adPtvrCiL
My copies of Dave Miller and Designing great bears have more post it notes with hand written notations and dog eared pages than the Republican party has closeted Homosexuals. If you want to get into some advanced homebrewing IMHO those two books are a must have. I've used both of those books to take some of my own brews and scale them up to 7 barrel recipes. A friend who owned a now defunct brewery here in town used to let me do that if I had a really good beer. One of the highlights of my life.
My Brewing library includes:
Complete Joy of Homebrewing.
Designing Great Beers
Radical Brewing
Dave Millers Homebrewing Guide
My copies of Dave Miller and Designing great bears have more post it notes with hand written notations and dog eared pages than the Republican party has closeted Homosexuals. If you want to get into some advanced homebrewing IMHO those two books are a must have. I've used both of those books to take some of my own brews and scale them up to 7 barrel recipes. A friend who owned a now defunct brewery here in town used to let me do that if I had a really good beer. One of the highlights of my life.
hmmm.... you got involved... brewery went defunct... where's that Oregon trail dysentery pic?
joking aside, thanks for the info. I know a lot of more advanced brewing is trial and error, ya just gotta know where to start. Doesn't hurt that I like to read.
Its more math than anything else, which is why I needed the books. I'm the sort of person who rarely brews anything more than twice. I like to experiment and try new ingredients way too much.hmmm.... you got involved... brewery went defunct... where's that Oregon trail dysentery pic?
joking aside, thanks for the info. I know a lot of more advanced brewing is trial and error, ya just gotta know where to start. Doesn't hurt that I like to read.
Well its chemistry, so yes, there's gonna be math. I'm OK with that
Greg Noonan, "New Brewing Lager Beer"
There's a bit of microbiology and chem, but nothing too intense. It really gets into the nuts and bolts of exactly what is going on every step in the process. Good stuff if you want to start tinkering with the process side of your brewing, which can affect your beer almost as significantly as ingredient choices. It's probably the book that started me on the road to being a pro brewer.
Cool thanks for the recommendation. I def wanna learn the chemistry of it, so i can learn/understand it, cuz I definitely wanna start tinkering
just a side q: is this book exclusive to cold fermentation (that's whats used for lagers right), or does it cover brew processes in general (ales included)?
The book is applicable to ale brewing as well as lagers. It really gets in to detail on some pretty traditional lager techniques like decoction mashing, but it has an appendix on traditional ale infusion mashing. The micro/chem stuff applies to both even though the text may refer more to lagers than ales.Cool thanks for the recommendation. I def wanna learn the chemistry of it, so i can learn/understand it, cuz I definitely wanna start tinkering
just a side q: is this book exclusive to cold fermentation (that's whats used for lagers right), or does it cover brew processes in general (ales included)?
Lagers don't necessarily ferment cold, just cooler than ales. The word "lager" is derived from the German word for storage, in reference to the period of cold conditioning, or "lagering" that lagers typically go through. We do our ales in the mid 60s and our lagers in the low 50s. That's not to say that they won't ferment at other temperatures, just that they may not produce the flavors/aromas you're most interested in at other temps. There are lager yeasts that ferment cleanly in the mid 60s and we've accidentally had ale yeast slowly ferment to completion in the mid 50s.
Cool, thanks for the info (and the etymology lesson).
And yea, I meant that lagers ferment cooler than ales, not cold ferment. I was a few brews deep when I posted that last night
And yea, I meant that lagers ferment cooler than ales, not cold ferment. I was a few brews deep when I posted that last night