Walk before run?

[SmokinMesa]

Hey guys, so effectively a total newbie still reading and learning the basics.

I'd like to brew some hoppy IPAs but am unsure if that's too ambitious for my first brew.

Thing is I've gone off lager and don't drink real ale. I dont mind experimenting and/or failing. Happy to follow recipes and instructions if cheaper and potentially more rewarding than a "kit" (especially if likely to fail first few attempts).

I've not even bought any equipment yet.

Any warnings/advice/encouragement welcome. Thanks all.

 

[MyQul]

Plenty of people have dived straight in with all grain so go for it if you feel you want to and I dont think a IPA is too complicated simply because grain bill is can be very simple and the hop schedule doesnt have to be too complicated either

I've have the same Beavertown glass from your profile which I 'liberated' from a youngs pub. I'm currently drinking a bitter out of it

 

[SmokinMesa]

Plenty of people have dived straight in with all grain so go for it if you feel you want to and I dont think a IPA is too complicated simply because grain bill is can be very simple and the hop schedule doesnt have to be too complicated either

I've have the same Beavertown glass from your profile which I 'liberated' from a youngs pub. I'm currently drinking a bitter out of it

Thanks for the advice. Yea that glass is direct from Beavertown, my girlfriend bought me it along with a tasty selection of beers.

 

[NPi]

Hi @SmokinMesa, not too long ago I was in the same situation as yourself. Rightly or wrongly I chose to give a few kits a go before moving on to all gain. I must say I am glad I did for a few reasons.

Firstly, buying a starter kit meant I was able to buy the equipment enmass at a decent price (I bought a youngs IPA starter). This meant I had the fermenter and pressure barrel, as well as the small things that quickly add up, such as steriliser, sample jars, paddle, etc. This should cost you around £60 and give you 40 pints of very drinkable quality beer.

The premium kits, such as youngs include absolutely everything, where as other kits may mean you need to buy priming sugars, or extra fermentables.

Once I had this understanding from doing kits I have been chomping at the bit to try all Grain. Thankfully the forum is a great place to learn. I would suggest trying clibits (which I would link if I knew how) guide to AG.

Try searching the forum for this thread.
Best of luck it's a great hobby
Cheers, Nick

 

[Slid]

Here is the link:

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/have-a-go-at-simple-ag.51779/

 

[SmokinMesa]

Awesome thanks all

 

[HarryFlatters]

I started with AG. I watched a bunch of YouTube tutorials, bought a Peco starter kit and just went at it. The first couple of brews were questionable because of a lack of patience, but after that it's been fairly plain sailing.

Remember that brewing is about 75% waiting for things things, 20% cleaning things, 3% brewing and 2% writing stuff down

Good luck.

 

[Hengoedbrewer]

I had done some kits but my first AG brew was a Single Malt Citra IPA using BIAB and it was decent, using the guidance in the thread which @Slid just provided a link to. It's a lot easier than you think it's going to be!

 

[Harbey]

I started almost two years ago and jumped straight in with AG. The first brew was quite chaotic, but you quickly learn and things become second nature once you've been through the process a couple of times. I'm still loving the hobby and the results.

Where you start, particularly from an equipment point of view, will depend a fair bit on your budget and what you've already got in your kitchen. Have you got a rough budget?

 

[Deadhead]

You can go straight into all grain, for sure. If you wanted to hone in without spending much, Clitbit's method is ideal. It's essentially the same method as the expensive Brooklyn Beer Kits, but much cheaper. Lots of the home brew stores have ready made 4.5L all grain kits too. You will need some kit - a demi john and airlock, sanitiser, a hydrometer, a syphon,6 bottles and caps, or mini keg, and brewing sugar. But if you have a stockpot and a sieve, you can go for it!

But don't knock kits either, as that helps you learn how to sanitise, troubleshoot ,bottle, etc. Some nice kits out there these days too.

I went from simple kits (add brew sugar), to more advanced kits with grain steeping, to malt extract brewing, to partial mash, to brew in a bag, to 3 vessel coolbox mashing, to a Grainfather. Now this helped me hone my skills and allowed me to buy kit as when I could afford it, but wish I honestly had just jumped into small batch all grain!

 

[Sadfield]

Do it! Go straight to all grain if that is your desired end point. Whatever you'll learn doing kits, you will learn from doing all grain. Spend the money you would spend on a beer kit, on a good book instead. As already mentioned, YouTube is a good resource. I would start simple with a single malt, single hop Pale Ale/IPA and work up from there. Good luck.

My book suggestion would be Mastering Homebrew by Randy Mosher. It details the process and some of the various setups for brew kit. As well as recipe design and all the different ingredients.

 

[An Ankoù]

Welcome SmokinMesa. I usually advise complete beginners to start with kits or extract because, then, the learning curves half as steep and you only need half the equipment. When you do go to all grain, the equipment you have already acquired will ft nicely into your all-grain set up. Why not get a book like Greg Hughes' I think it's called Home Brewing or something like that, and look at the Extract Option for each recipe. Most American authors give an extract version, too. Do a bit of reading first so that you understand the difference between the malts that have to be mashed, and those that can be steeped and added to your extract.

 

[SmokinMesa]

I started almost two years ago and jumped straight in with AG. The first brew was quite chaotic, but you quickly learn and things become second nature once you've been through the process a couple of times. I'm still loving the hobby and the results.

Where you start, particularly from an equipment point of view, will depend a fair bit on your budget and what you've already got in your kitchen. Have you got a rough budget?

Thanks for your message. Budget is flexible but expect to spend at least £100 but can stretch that depending on factors. When I get into things I typically drink all the knowledge I can and don't worry about the costs

Nothing really in the kitchen other than a large 6 burner stove with the wok type centre burner.

 

[An Ankoù]

Nothing really in the kitchen other than a large 6 burner stove with the wok type centre burner.
Wish I had. That would great for brewing on.

 

[SmokinMesa]

Do it! Go straight to all grain if that is your desired end point. Whatever you'll learn doing kits, you will learn from doing all grain. Spend the money you would spend on a beer kit, on a good book instead. As already mentioned, YouTube is a good resource. I would start simple with a single malt, single hop Pale Ale/IPA and work up from there. Good luck.

My book suggestion would be Mastering Homebrew by Randy Mosher. It details the process and some of the various setups for brew kit. As well as recipe design and all the different ingredients.

Awesome thanks for the recommendation, will check that out for sure.

 

[SmokinMesa]

Nothing really in the kitchen other than a large 6 burner stove with the wok type centre burner.
Wish I had. That would great for brewing on.

So that should be good enough for a boil? Don't need a fancy kettle boiler thing, just a large enough stainless pot/usual bits

 

[An Ankoù]

So that should be good enough for a boil? Don't need a fancy kettle boiler thing, just a large enough stainless pot/usual bits

Essentially, yes. What size boils are you planning? When you buy your SS pot you need to think about cooling the contents. I can easily slide my 12 litre pot across to the adjacent kitchen sink and fill the sink with cold water. Carrying large vessels full of boiling hot wort any distance is NOT a good idea.

 

[SmokinMesa]

Carrying large vessels full of boiling hot wort any distance is NOT a good idea.

Good advice, noted. Not decided on the size of the boil. Kinda thinking smaller ones to start with to "practice" almost.

 

[Rogermort]

I jumped straight in to all grain. I did attend a one day course at The Home Brew Store but that was more to help me decide on kit than anything else. Course was good BTW.
It's actually a very simple process to produce good beer, consistently. Assuming that cleanliness is a given, if I had to name one thing that is critical it would be temperature. Mash, sparge, chill, ferment, condition. Get the temperatures correct at every stage and you won't go wrong.

 

[NPi]

Good advice, noted. Not decided on the size of the boil. Kinda thinking smaller ones to start with to "practice" almost.

@SmokinMesa I would suggest a 20l pot as it gives you enough space to do a 10l plus brew with loads of run off room. For me it's also not too expensive, to heavy to lift and can fit in my sink to chill. I believe Wilkos do a great budget version of this but it's out of stock, so I was reduced to buying one on Ebay.

Best of luck!
Cheers, Nick