Hi, Im new to home brewing and got the True Brew Maestro kit. I've seen a couple of relatives brew and always been interested. I was wondering what advice people can offer for thinking of what to brew. Do you find a recipe and then buy your grains to match the recipe? Or do you recommend using one of the pre-packaged kits? Also, I thought making your own beer was cheaper than buy cases at the liquor store. It seems like most of the pre-packaged kits are 30 to 50 dollars. Any information would be appreciated.
Before @HerbMeowing eschews using the search function, literally go to the bottom of this page currently, you will find this. Follow it to delicious Homebrew. http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/help-want-to-brew.249167/ And find "How to Brew" online and read it.
I would never ever eschew anyone from using the SEARCH function. Quite the opposite. I wholeheartedly encourage people to use the SEARCH function.
Oh. I see the mistake you made. You didn't realize that I thought eschew means to encourage. Don't sweat it. I guess I was too clever by half.
Golfgod, welcome to the forum. Yeah, you can use the search function to get an answer to your question, or there is typically a question like yours on every page of this forum, so you can browse to your hearts content to get as many opinions as possible in a short amount of reading time by finding those threads and reading them from beginning to end. Your choice of what to brew should be a simple recipe to get started, and probably should be a recipe that uses malt extract along with some specialty grains that you can seep. This is kind of a short cut method to making beer, but having the seeping grains is a first step to learning a little bit about the mashing that is done for all-grain brewing. So don't choose to try an imperial stout, or a clone of a Pliny the Elder because those recipes are a little more advanced, and you need to start slow and get some practice on basic procedures. You can find a recipe for a basic pale ale, IPA, an amber ale or a stout (whatever you favorite simple beer is), and then purchase the ingredients specifically for that recipe, or you can purchase a recipe kit with all of the ingredients included. The cost is all very dependent upon what those ingredients are, and extract brewing is more expensive that all-grain brewing, but the cost will be comparable with your purchase of some of the better beers that are available in the store. BUT, this will be a beer that you have made.
Welcome! As @Mothergoose03 had said, start off simple, and go with what the recipe suggests. Don't try to make it your own by tweaking this and that; just brew it how it is. And yea, read up on these forums, and read How to Brew, and you should be good to go!
there were too many other questions without answers that I figured I would ask my own question and get my own answer. It was easier to do after looking through this site for awhile. Thank you for the info. Also, I do have basic skills, i've brewed with basic kits and made a couple of small batches. Ive just updated my stuff to a true brew 5 gallon kit. I've made beer with pre-made kits and liquid malt extracts. I've watched relatives brew before who mash/steep. I dont have access to a homebrew supplies in local retail shop. thats why I came on to here to find some advice or places to buy ingredients
“Also, I thought making your own beer was cheaper than buy cases at the liquor store. It seems like most of the pre-packaged kits are 30 to 50 dollars.” Homebrewing is extremely cost effective for brewing certain styles of beers. I like Belgian Trappist style ales. A case of a Trappist ale is well north of 100 bucks at my beer stores. I can brew 2 cases of Trappist style ales for less than 50 dollars of ingredient cost. I also homebrew styles that are not commercially available to me: Classic American Pilsner, Sticke Alt, Tmavy Lezák (Czech Dark Lager), etc. I also homebrew IPAs that are not available to me: Mosaic IPA, Galaxy IPA, etc. Cheers!
Far be it from me to correct @Mothergoose03 ... but I'm going to. (I think.) He probably meant to say that "... you can steep." and "... having the steeping grains ..."
