Looking to get started

[IronGiant]

Hi All

New to beer brewing and joined the site to be part of the brewing community and hopefully get some questions answered. Been reading and watching loads of vids on it so just about ready to get going.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Welcome to the forum.

Videos are good but there is nothing better than asking people who brew about what they brew.

 

[cushyno]

Welcome to the forum. We're all still on the learning curve here. Lots of talk about technique, equipment, recipes, kits, and ingredients. Get stuck in, introduce yourself and say what you fancy brewing (unless it's potato based).

 

[abeamer]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[DavidHatton]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Clint]

What's your plan?

 

[Gerryjo]

Hi and welcome to the forum...

 

[Rodcx500z]

Hi and welcome come, come join us on the road to utopia

 

[IronGiant]

What's your plan?

Going be doing small batch (11 litres) all grain BIABs then at a later stage upgrade the equipment

 

[Wynne]

Welcome - that’s a good plan. Brewing smaller batches regularly helps develop technique and control.

 

[NormanHurst]

Going be doing small batch (11 litres) all grain BIABs then at a later stage upgrade the equipment

That's exactly how I started 15 months ago - and I am still doing it that way. I'm 20+ brews in, have done a wide variety of styles and learned a huge amount. It also means I often have 3-4 brews drinking at the same time. I don't think I'd have that choice if I brewed 23L batches.

I deep meaning to upgrade but a combination of indecision on what to buy and the thought that 'it ain't broke so why fix it' means I'll probably keep going on half batches for a while yet.

 

[DocAnna]

Another warm welcome. It's an easy hobby to start with some really good kits available, and step up in complexity and equipment if you feel the need, but still can be really good with keeping it simple .

 

[Gerryjo]

Another warm welcome. It's an easy hobby to start with some really good kits available, and step up in complexity and equipment if you feel the need, but still can be really good with keeping it simple .

You forgot to mention that you also need deep pockets and own your own space and you become obsessed and and and.....

 

[IronGiant]

That's exactly how I started 15 months ago - and I am still doing it that way. I'm 20+ brews in, have done a wide variety of styles and learned a huge amount. It also means I often have 3-4 brews drinking at the same time. I don't think I'd have that choice if I brewed 23L batches.

I deep meaning to upgrade but a combination of indecision on what to buy and the thought that 'it ain't broke so why fix it' means I'll probably keep going on half batches for a while yet.

Do you get the 23 litre grain kits and just divide them in half?

 

[NormanHurst]

Do you get the 23 litre grain kits and just divide them in half?

No - I use Brewers Friend online software to scale down recipes (although given you are just halving everything it is easy enough to do yourself) and order what I need from suppliers.

I am sure splitting a grain kit would work just fine but I haven't brewed the same recipe twice yet and enjoy the variety so wouldn't want to do half a kit twice.

An easy place to start would be Single Malt And Single Hop (SMASH) recipes.

Use a good base malt like Maris Otter; choose your hop - maybe East Kent Goldings for an English style or Citra for something more American; a packet of dry yeast like MJ Liberty Bell and you are up and running.

 

[darkbright]

Do you get the 23 litre grain kits and just divide them in half?

You can do this with single grain kits but if you’ve got multiple grains you cant be sure they are split equally. You’d end up with a beer but maybe not quite like the other half.