First time brewer...

[sorryimlate]

long time beer drinker. Girlfriend got me an elaborate beer kit for xmas that included the how to brew book. Wasnt too into it because when i hit 21, me and my friend bought a plastic beer kit. It turned out horrible and tasted like apple jacks + shitty cider.

Well i decided to go through the book and tried the extract method. Made a 5 gallon batch of an American Pale Ale. Followed all the advice, and wrote everything down. Went from primary, then rack, everything was going by the book. I just went to prime it several days ago for bottling then took a pint to see how close it tasted to real beer. I was expecting Meh, but it came out beyond what i could hope for. Im hooked.

It is so damn hard to wait for the 2 weeks for the bottles to be fully ready. I sneak a bottle pretty much every night though. I'm definitely going to start the process again this weekend and wanted to try an amber ale. Any suggestions? I'll probably stick with extract for the most part for awhile though. Although I have read through grain, mashing, water ph and all that jazz... Id rather get some experience behind the belt.

Oh yea, I heard about this from reddit.

I

[Lerxst]

Welcome to the board!

[Orpheus]

Welcome aboard Sorry!

I know a bunch of us frequent Reddit, but I think you're probably the first person we've had visit from there. Very cool!

Now that you're hooked, let your taste buds lead the way. If you're a fan of ambers, let that be your next batch. There's a world of recipes out there to try, so find a style you like and try out some different recipes until you find one that you enjoy.

[rdwj]

Welcome - sounds like you're off to a good start, but don't be afraid to ask questions

[shrekfx]

long time beer drinker. Girlfriend got me an elaborate beer kit for xmas that included the how to brew book. Wasnt too into it because when i hit 21, me and my friend bought a plastic beer kit. It turned out horrible and tasted like apple jacks + shitty cider.

Well i decided to go through the book and tried the extract method. Made a 5 gallon batch of an American Pale Ale. Followed all the advice, and wrote everything down. Went from primary, then rack, everything was going by the book. I just went to prime it several days ago for bottling then took a pint to see how close it tasted to real beer. I was expecting Meh, but it came out beyond what i could hope for. Im hooked.

It is so damn hard to wait for the 2 weeks for the bottles to be fully ready. I sneak a bottle pretty much every night though. I'm definitely going to start the process again this weekend and wanted to try an amber ale. Any suggestions? I'll probably stick with extract for the most part for awhile though. Although I have read through grain, mashing, water ph and all that jazz... Id rather get some experience behind the belt.

Oh yea, I heard about this from reddit.

I

Where are you getting the amber ale kit? Im brewing my 2nd amber ale kit from midwest supply. Its extract. First was for me and shared it my fiance's sister and she's hooked on it. She then bought a kit for me to brew for her, I'll take my 12pack brewers fee. It turned out really good.

What kind of beers do you like? We can lead you to good kits and stuff to try. I've done 4 extract kits and I'm stepping up to all grain (next weekend if all my stuff comes)..


Welcome to the addiction. :k2:

[Ó Flannagáin]

WElcome dude, its fucking addicting. I've get a ton of visitors from reddit when I post this place in comments, glad someone signed up!

[JXLT]

Glad to have ya. I'm not sure what's more addicting, brewing or this forum. Congratulations on discovering both.

[sorryimlate]

Wow. This place sounds great. It looks like another time vampire like reddit.

Ok, I cant figure out this thing http://www.flickr.com/photos/34074175@N03/4275222183/

It looks like part of the auto-siphon but it doesnt fit. I tried looking at the kit list and didnt see anything that stood out for what it is or what it does.

Personally I went for the APA on the first time because my favorite beer is the every day sierra nevada pale ale. I did the recipe mentioned in the book but since I wanted more of the grapefruit taste, I added more cascade hops during flavoring time than the recipe called for. I wish I read more about dry hopping before hand but I suppose I cant complain too much.

I really wanted to do a porter next but the girlfriend and friends want something lighter than a pale ale to try out. I dont have a fridge to lager (for now) so i wanted to try something like an amber ale. I'll start perusing the recipe forum for a list unless someone has a solid extract recipe.

Im in San rafael and the closest place that I have around here is berkeley for brewing supplies. Id rather get everything online so Im curious if anyone has recommendations for some good online sites for hops/yeast/malts.

I just got home and its still hard not to just start cracking open the bottles. I got some dogfishhead (FUCK YES BEER!) to hold me over for tonight though. I know... poor me.

[Big_John]

Welcome aboard. BTW, none of us ever waited the full two or three weeks for the bottles to properly condition when we first got into this hobby. There's a gazillion recipes floating around for just about anything you may want to brew. I would suggest learning how to convert al grain recipes to extract. It's fairly simple to do and that way you can use any recipe you come across. Don't be intimidated by all grain brewing. The reality is that it is not difficult at all and it's a lot more fun. Don't get all hung up on things like ph, water composition etc. Leave that stuff for later on. It's really hard to screw up making beer and especially so for extract. You really can't go wrong so long as you take care with sanitation and even with that there's no need to be paranoid about it. One of the best things you can do to improve your beer is to keep the fermentation temperature under control. If Flan can make good beer, anyone can.

[Big_John]

That thing is a racking cane used to siphon beer from the bucket fermenter. The red clip holds it in place on the side of the bucket. The little black cup on the end keeps it up off the bottom of the bucket which helps prevent picking up the yeast that accumulates on the bottom of the fermenter. The cane is used to transfer (rack) the finished beer to a secondary fermenter, a keg or to bottles. The vinyl hose will fit snugly over the top curved part of the cane. If you have an auto-siphon, you may not need the racking cane. Not sure how you wound up with both. The auto-siphon should have two parts. The outer tube and another smaller diameter tube which fits down inside it. The smaller tube looks very similar to the racking cane and it has a plunger kind of thing on the bottom end. The cane and the auto-siphon are used basically the same way, but the auto-siphon is easier to use just as it's name implies. You pump it to start the siphon, but once it's started they function the same way.

[Highlander]

In the "Beginners Kettle", you will find a thread called "Online Brewing resources". It will be one of the first threads you come across. It has a lot of useful resources.

Last time I bought on-line, I bought from Rebel Brewer. In comparing prices with several other places, Rebel Brewer seemed to come out cheapest for just about everything. Rebel Brewer does not have a cap on shipping like many other places, but once you are over the initial shipping, it seems to be about $0.30/ lb shipping weight, and their prices more than make up for that. Obviously it depends what you are after, you probably need to compare the places yourself.

I think most folks will say 'Hops Direct' is the cheapest place to get hops. Shipping starts about $10, so the more you get, the more economical it is. I bought 8 lbs a couple of months ago, the shipping was $14.

I do partial-mash/extract. I don't use kits. I buy my extract in bulk. 33 lb containers of Briess LME for $60 at my local LHBS. I find them easy to use and store. It is not a problem pouring out just 1 lb for a starter wort, or 8 lbs for a particular recipe, and you don't have the sticky sugar dust you get with DME (although most people seem to prefer DME).

[shrekfx]

I use Midwest supply and I'll the first to admit that their shipping is kind of high. They use FedEx though so you can get delivery on Saturdays. I like doing the kits just for the fact that being new you can get the feel of brewing over getting everything weighed out. Now that I'm comfortable with brewing going all grain. First couple will be kits from Midwest until I get me a scale and hopefully a grain mill. (to damn expensive). But go to different websites and compair prices and shipping.

[Ó Flannagáin]

Welcome aboard. BTW, none of us ever waited the full two or three weeks for the bottles to properly condition when we first got into this hobby. There's a gazillion recipes floating around for just about anything you may want to brew. I would suggest learning how to convert al grain recipes to extract. It's fairly simple to do and that way you can use any recipe you come across. Don't be intimidated by all grain brewing. The reality is that it is not difficult at all and it's a lot more fun. Don't get all hung up on things like ph, water composition etc. Leave that stuff for later on. It's really hard to screw up making beer and especially so for extract. You really can't go wrong so long as you take care with sanitation and even with that there's no need to be paranoid about it. One of the best things you can do to improve your beer is to keep the fermentation temperature under control. If Flan can make good beer, anyone can.

No fucking joke. I was tasting the beer every day from bottling day up until it was gone. No shame, brotha.

[PseudoChef]

"Sorry, I'm late..."

Man, have heard that from one too many girlfriend over the years....

[Ó Flannagáin]

"Sorry, I'm late..."

Man, have heard that from one too many girlfriend over the years....

:shark:

[zoebisch01]

Hey sorry! Welcome. :D

[Big_John]

"Sorry, I'm late..."

Man, have heard that from one too many girlfriend over the years....

Nothing surpasses that line to make a man's blood run cold. Jesus!

[Rhoobarb]

... The auto-siphon should have two parts. The outer tube and another smaller diameter tube which fits down inside it. ...
Actually, three parts - the inner 'cane', the outer tube and the tip, which keeps the whole thing out of the trub and is detachable. I love mine; haven't used a standard racking cane in years. Store the tip on the outer to keep it form getting lost. Don't store the inner cane and outer tube together or the washer-looking plunger will get worn quicker.

Nice tutorial here. Is that Forrest?:

VIu6IRpFNr8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIu6IRpFNr8

[berg123321]

Welcome sorry, we're in the same boat. My wife got me a home brewing kit for Christmas, and my first batch will be done next Thursday.

[Joos]

Welcome aboard dude! all the online stores mentioned are great. You should also check out http://www.hopsshack.com/ . There's this crazy guy named Salad. He's got a funny accent, but he'll hook you up.

[JXLT]

Shrek, the Crankandstein grain mills aren't that expensive and mine works great.

[Union Brewer]

Welcome to the forum!

[shrekfx]

Shrek, the Crankandstein grain mills aren't that expensive and mine works great.

where would you get one of these?

[Big_John]

Here ya go:

http://www.crankandstein.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7&products_id=12&zenid=d7815ce73b56f03a550da16894f7e70f

That one is the basic guts for $76. They are practically giving these away at that price. This basic unit will need a hopper and some way to power it. For the DIY challenged it may be better to get one of the more ready to fly units.

OTOH, I have one of the nearly extinct Listermann Phil MilI I units which I like a lot. You can adjust the gap while it running and milling the grain. I like that feature a lot. Don't know of any other mill that has it. The only mills I would avoid are the Corona and it's knock off relatives.

[DrunkTrucker]

Welcome to the forum. You came to the right place.