Barley-Davidson
03-04-2008, 03:35 AM
I thought I would post some things for the beginner and first time homebrewer. I'm by no means an expert or authority, but between my own experience and postings I've read on various forums there are a few things I would say apply to most people starting out.
1 - Read up.
There are plenty of resources for learning how to brew; this and other forums, John Palmer's http://www.howtobrew.com/, The Complete Joy of Homebrewing by Charlie Papazian, as well as many others.
2 - Focus on how, not why.
There's a lot of information in the books and websites mentioned above, and it can be overwhelming. Everybody learns differently, so it might be different for you, but for me it was important to focus on procedure in the beginning.
You don't have to memorize the phases of fermentation in order to pitch your yeast. You do have get your wort to the proper temperature and practice good sanitation. Focus on what you need to do and keep reading about brewing, and the reasons for what you're doing will become clearer as you continue brewing.
3 - Brew some more.
There are several reasons for this. First, working on another brew will keep you busy so you'll be less likely to fiddle around with your fermenting and conditioning brews and messing them up. Patience can be hard to come by when you're starting out, so keep yourself busy. Second, practice makes perfect, so the more you brew, the easier it gets. Whatever didn't go the way you hoped it would during you first brew, make changes and try them out sooner rather than later.
Also, the more you brew, the more beer you'll have, so you've got that going for you.
4 - Take notes.
It's easy to forget recipes, dates, and details about you beers and brew sessions. If you don't keep records it'll be harder to improve you brewing. Read your notes from previous brew sessions before each new session, it'll accelerate the learning process.
That's it, my advise for new brewers, I hope you find it helpful.
Happy brewing :x
1 - Read up.
There are plenty of resources for learning how to brew; this and other forums, John Palmer's http://www.howtobrew.com/, The Complete Joy of Homebrewing by Charlie Papazian, as well as many others.
2 - Focus on how, not why.
There's a lot of information in the books and websites mentioned above, and it can be overwhelming. Everybody learns differently, so it might be different for you, but for me it was important to focus on procedure in the beginning.
You don't have to memorize the phases of fermentation in order to pitch your yeast. You do have get your wort to the proper temperature and practice good sanitation. Focus on what you need to do and keep reading about brewing, and the reasons for what you're doing will become clearer as you continue brewing.
3 - Brew some more.
There are several reasons for this. First, working on another brew will keep you busy so you'll be less likely to fiddle around with your fermenting and conditioning brews and messing them up. Patience can be hard to come by when you're starting out, so keep yourself busy. Second, practice makes perfect, so the more you brew, the easier it gets. Whatever didn't go the way you hoped it would during you first brew, make changes and try them out sooner rather than later.
Also, the more you brew, the more beer you'll have, so you've got that going for you.
4 - Take notes.
It's easy to forget recipes, dates, and details about you beers and brew sessions. If you don't keep records it'll be harder to improve you brewing. Read your notes from previous brew sessions before each new session, it'll accelerate the learning process.
That's it, my advise for new brewers, I hope you find it helpful.
Happy brewing :x