where to buy?

[proevofanatik]

I want to give beer a go but don't want to do a beer kit. I think it will be too artificial and also its just thrown together. theres no satisfying feeling using kits. its far more satisfying when you have made it all from scratch. so can anyone please recommend where I can get my ingredients cheap? also ive heard of some people using breakfast cereals to make a mash. does this actually work? and if cereals are ok what about digestive biscuits? can they also make a mash to make beer?

 

[Runwell-Steve]

Check the forum sponsors for your ingredients, you will need some equipment though, a large pan for a start to mash the grains in and then boil the wort in.

Extract brewing requires less equipment than all grain, and you can get away with boiling less and watering down later.

Depends how close to All Grain brewing you want to get to.

 

[proevofanatik]

So does the extract method taste just as good as making it from scratch? Ive never made beer before.

 

[PD]

theres no difference to the taste...its just a different method of making the wort that you ferment into BEEEEEEEER

 

[HLA91]

Can't go wrong with the malt miller or any of our other sponsors they are all tried and tested.

 

[Drunken Horse]

I wouldnt discount kit brewing right from the off. Starting with kits allows you to get the basic equipment that you will still need making from grain. By using kits you learn the basics of brewing. Although in theory you could throw it in the bucket and get beer, its unlikely to be a good beer unless you manage you temperatures and play about with the kit to get the best out of it.

You can mess with what you add (for example I've used maple syrup in my latest kit bitter) as you know the underlying wort is okay so can measure what changes you have made to the flavour and body etc

You can try dry hopping and adding hop teas to alter the flavour aromas and the freshmess of the brew.

You also learn how to do things quickly. Cleaning and bottling routines for example which take hours when you first do but you speed up quickly.

Going to all grain from the off is a noble effort just be prepared for a steeper learning curve and possibly a few disappointments. ( An all grain brew has more opportunity to go wrong than a kit)

 

[Awfers]

Some good beers can be made with Extract and kits. Granted, they'll not be as good as a well-fashioned all grain, but they'll still be excellent compared to 99% of what you can buy in the stores.

At the same time, unless you do a lot of homework before jumping in the deep-end with AG (all grain), I would recommend you cut your teeth on a few batches of extract before moving to AG. A couple of advantages; it's cheaper to start out with equipement wise, 99% of the kit you buy can be used when brewing AG, you don't need to worry about mash profiles, malt choice, hitting temp targets, sparge water temp, stuck sparges, vorlauf and the like. With extract you only need to "worry" about your water, your hops and sanitisation / sterilising.

Before you make your choice take a look at : http://howtobrew.com/intro.html it'll give you a great over-view on brewing both Extract and All Grain, so you can decide for yourself.

Breakfast Cereals: No. They contain a lot of stuff other than the ingredients you're looking for. Avoid.

You can use wheat, rice, corn, oats, rye and other grains when mashing, but some require treatment of some sort before they can be "mashed" with the malt (rice, oats and corn need to be gelitinised and wheats and rye malted).

 

[Bluezephyr]

Don't knock it until you've tried it.

As much as I want to eventually brew AG what I've done so far with kits is turning out very nicely :

 

[Easy Peasie]

Go all grain from the start.
I had never made beer of any kind before jumping in at the Dark End and have never made an un drinkable brew. With the help of the forum members and plenty of questions ( although from biscuits was a stormer) you can do it. My first brew from a forum recipe ( bouncing squirrel) did not hit the starting gravity and was still about 4 litres short, but I can remember my dad telling all his mates at the pub that his son had made a better pint than they served there. After a few brews you get used to your equipment and it all becomes second nature. Go for it!...