New to brewing...

[holty]

Afternoon all,

A friend and I are wanting to start brewing, and both have very limited brewing knowledge (i.e. have used a brewzer kit to make a very questionable IPA).

We both want to have a crack at proper all grain brewing, and have been doing a bit of research (on this forum and a few videos on youtube) - we think it's do-able to go 'balls deep' straight away using the starter kit from hop and grape along with other bits and bobs.

I spoke to a more local home brew store owner and he really thinks I should start on the kits - I realise he obviously knows a load more than me and my mate, but we still think all grain is the way to go.

Anyone got any suggestions or ideas on what we should do?


Cheers

Steve

 

[Vossy1]

Hi holty,

Most of the AG brewers on this forum started on kits, including myself. Kits are a great way of making beer easily, and modern kits are very good. Kits don't teach you much about making beer though and AG brewing is surprisingly easy.
I only made a handful of kits before moving to AG, I was impatient and nosy, and I really haven't looked back since.
AG offers far more flexibility in making a beer to your own tastes, the skies the limit.

I'd say go for AG straight off. It's really easy, very rewarding, and a cheaper than kits.
As long as your sanitising is up to scratch it will be a doddle for you, especially with all the help from members of the forum.

Making beer is a science, but tbh, it's a very forgiving process and it's not as difficult as it looks

Go for it :thumb:

 

[holty]

That's all the encouragement I need...

Cheers! Will get looking for kit now!

 

[Aleman]

Making beer is a science, but tbh, it's a very forgiving process and it's not as difficult as it looks

Making beer is a craft . . . . You need to know zero science to make great beer (*)
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Says the :ugeek: :lol:

You have seen This How To All Grain and really it is that simple . . . . Most LHBS will recommend kits as they are easy to keep on the shelves . . . and they don't need an awful lot of knowledge. . . .plus the range of grain and hops that we ask for is huge . . . keeping that in stock and fresh is a major nightmare . . . which is why the internet retailers are the best sources generally . . . they turn over more stuff so what you get is fresher. . . . . I also don't think that a LHBS is necessarily more knowledgeable about brewing . . . some are, and some are woefully ignorant, being stuck back in the 1960's
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(*)Understanding the science helps make great beer better

 

[Alton_Bee]

I would add that if you mentioned your idea of getting the H & G starter kit he saw sales walking out of his shop if he encouraged you to follow that route. Does he stock much in the way of grains & hops ? or does he do mainly kits ??

at the end of the day you will be doing AG brewing - at the moment its just a question of when. Kits can be a good start if only to ensure you have your cleaning and sterilisation up to stratch.

Id suggest you read all your can on the web.

 

[arturobandini]

Most homebrew shops willl always steer you the way of kits for the reasons Aleman described. Chiefly it's actually ignorance and lack of Brewing knowledge that results in them advising kits.

Surprisingly I've been in a few homebrew shops and the people behind the counter not only don't brew but try and convince you you're wrong about something despite them admitting never brewing beer or wine!

Homebrew shops of good quality I feel are a rare find and it's best to get information from real Brewers like the folks on forums like these and then go to a Homebrew shop with your list and do not be deterred. Kits get a lot of bad press from the chaps that have gone All Grain and to be honest there is no comparison in terms of taste and flexibility. There are some excellent Kits out there though and if you want to get your sanitising and fermenting side of things more refined then have a bash at one or two more kits. If you feel you're ready then All Grain certainly shouldn't be daunting and only if you balls it up really badly will you get something undrinkable.

Kits I've been impressed with are the Coopers kits where the extra fermentables used are 1kg of Spraymalt instead of 1kg sugar and Brewferm Belgian kits. Personally I've no time for the two can kits as they are all made by Muntons who have a dodgy record when it comes to their kits finishing at advertised gravity amongst other issues. I'd also say that spraymalt gives a better taste to a kit beer than a second can of liquid malt extract as canned products taste "tinny" and "twangy" to me.

Good luck and don't forget to take a hell of a lot of pictures and report it all on here.

 

[holty]

Cheers fellas,

Didn't mention the H&G kit to the guy at the LHBS, but he still tried to push me the kit way. I've my heart set on doing it 'properly' so AG it is!

Had a look at bits and bobs to make my own Mash Tun yesterday and realised that it would be easier to just get the H&G kit than to start faffing around with holesaws and the like (I am quite scientific, but not at all good at knocking holes in stuff).

Will be up, brewing and posting photos within a month hopefully!

 

[tubby_shaw]

Good stuff :thumb:
Looking forward to the posts :

 

[A T]

Good stuff :thumb:
Looking forward to the posts :

Nuff said :thumb:
We are picture mad on this forum
Looking forward to your first AG brew thread Exciting stuff, the first brew

 

[Wez]

You never forget the first time you did it on your own :thumb:

 

[tubby_shaw]

You never forget the first time you did it on your own :thumb:

Or the silly little mistakes :lol:
But you quickly realise just how simple it is :thumb:

 

[holty]

I look forward to cocking it up!

Another naive question - we're pricing kit up and are starting to see the cost rack up - what do people recommend post fementation - bottling or kegging (or cornie-ing)?

 

[A T]

Beer is nicer out of the bottle but it's a lot more work to get it in there. You could pick up free Bulmers bottles in you local pub Cornies are very handy and you can fill them with very little effort. Up to yourself really but if you're counting cost the bottles would be a lot cheaper than cornies. You can always split the cost and but kegs or cornies at a later date