Total Noob!

[calumscott]

Hi everyone,

I will, over the course of the next couple of weeks, be getting started on a homebrew odessy! The plan is to do what I suppose most noobs do and brew up a couple of kits to get into the swing of things and, pending some form of drinkability progress to brewing something from "real" ingredients.

My folks used to brew a lot, some beer (from kits) and loads of fruit wines with a fair degree of success. I also studied microbiology, which really begs the question as to why I haven't got brewing before!

I guess all the noobs ask "what would be your #1 tip for a starter?" so I'm not going to ask that.

Instead: what, in your brewing career, gave you the biggest buzz? And what was your biggest dissapointment?

Yours excitedly

Calum

 

[Marrsy86]

Welcome to the forum and welcome to the hobby.

I would recommend you start on Turbo Cider in all honesty, it is essentially as easy as putting apple juice and yeast into a container, you have the option to add various other things and other juices.

If you are set on Wine the I have heard Wurzels Orange Wine is a winner, I'm on my phone right now so can't link it but there is a very detailed guide on how to make it in the Wine How too forum.

Cheers

Marrsy

 

[mozzy]

hello :)

 

[calumscott]

Wow, only been here a few minutes and managed to mislead people already! Sorry!

It's the beer route I'm going down to start with on account of drinking rather a lot of it and it becoming rather expensive and in some cases I'm actually starting to get bored of a lot of the commercial beers and ales. I have loads of stand-out favourites which I doubt I could tire of but the middle of the road bitters by the big boys (and frankly a lot of the local small brewers) are getting a little passe...

...that said I love the idea of brewing cider, even though the premium commercial cider offerings tend to be more exciting that the beery equivalents.

Cheers

Calum

 

[StrangeBrew]

Welcome to the forum... :

 

[Dunfie]

Hi Calum, good luck on your brewing.

As for my high points in brewing? Making my first AG was a real adrenalin rush. I never knew anyone else who brewed and it was before the forums popped up so I was relying on a list I had drawn up from reading the Graham Wheeler book.

The biggest dissapointment for me is definitely an infected batch of beer. So although you are not asking for tips on this thread I would make sure that sanitation and sterilisation are given the respect they need.

 

[Peapodmaster]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Moley]

Welcome to the forum :

High points:

Moving away from kit brewing and crossing over to the ‘dark side’ of All Grain brewing, which I would never have done were it not for this forum, and discovering that everything everyone had said was true - that I really could brew proper beer which was as good as or better than anything I could buy in the pub or supermarket.

Sharing those beers with my friends and workmates. “Homebrew” carries some very negative preconceptions, many of which are entirely justified if you ever brewed from kits back in the 70s and 80s. Kit brewing has come on quite a bit since then, and the ‘premium’ two-can kits can be quite decent, but AG brewing takes you into a different league and it's great when those friends who think “home brew :sick: ” change to “ :shock: Bloody hell, you made that? :thumb: : That's excellent :clap: could I have some more :pray: :drink: ”

Low points: We probably all lose a brew sooner or later, but in my own case I know what I did wrong and learned from it.

 

[equiliser]

Welcome to the forum