Hey all, i want to start homebrewing, and had questions i apologize if these questions come off elementry What do i need to purchase to have the best set up I have a backroom in my house, can i do it all in there? Where do i find hops How do you learn to follow recipes, and this might be getting too far ahead eventually create your own? if theres anything else, please let me know! thank you!
Welcome! For me I purchased a kit from Northern Brewer. It's served me well and I still use all of the equipment 2 years later. Most web shops have kits that cover all of the basics.
I finally get to be the first to say this! Before you do anything else, read "How to Brew" by Palmer. Read it twice, and then figure out your needs.
Totally agree with this. I am currently taking taking college courses to become a professional brewer and that book has more complete info than some of my textbooks.
I'm a disciple of Charlie Papazian, "The Joy of Homebrewing." The best thing I can tell you is: jump in with both feet. You'll probably make decent beer right off the bat. With a little practice, it will become excellent beer. But this is not a spectator sport, there's only so much you can read before you have to go and do. As for your specific questions on this post, there should be plenty of web resources to help you at this point. Quick Google search, or the website above. RDWHAHB
Not sure where in Wisconsin you are located in. If you are unlucky enough to live in the far north, we can commiserate -- lots of mosquitoes and no homebrew shop. But there are some fairly well stocked shops in many parts of the state. If there is one near you they'll set you with equipment and ingredients. But do your research first so you know how deep you want to dive.
Most shops will start you out with a set of equipment that is designed to ferment kits, or even just pre made wort. In addition to what they offer in those starter kits (you will need all that stuff anyway), I would pick up a stainless steel pot (5 gal can work) to do your own extract batches. You will find its more fun to make wort than to buy it pre made. You will also have the freedom to look up any recipe online and just make it yourself without buying an ingredient kit. If you are a hop head, you might want to go right for the 10 gal pot and burner so you can do full boils (you can read more about why in How to Brew) You can find just about any hop variety you please in well stocked home brew shops or online. As far as doing it all in a back room - you will need to boil wort, so you either need a stove top (for small or partial boils) or a propane burner, which of course should happen outside. Down the line the extra room would be good if you have the means to pick up a small chest freezer and a temperature controller for your buckets / carboys. You will likely have much more success avoiding off flavors because you will be able to control temperature during fermentation. A lot of people will cite temperature control as the biggest improvement to their brewhouse early on. cheers!
Welcome to the BA site and to the Homebrewing forum. There is a ton of info in this forum if you want to read many different opinions and suggestions. Here is a link to a search that I did of the forum using 'newbie' in the thread titles: https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/search/40569248/?q=newbie&o=date&c[title_only]=1&c[node]=8 Pick and choose the threads that look good to you. Also use the search feature to look again using 'equipment' or 'noobie' in thread titles. You'll get more of the same stuff again, but maybe other opinions/suggestions too. The HowToBrew.com book has an equipment section, so spend time there. The online version is free to read, but the edition that you can find on bookstore shelves (or the internet) is two editions newer, but probably not a lot has changed. However, having a hard copy (usually around $15) allows you to highlight, take notes, or generally mark-up the book for your needs. Right now, you need to decide how you will boil your beer. Small batches are easy to do in the kitchen, but larger batches are best done outside on an LP burner. You also need to decide whether you will start out with 'extract' brewing (less needed equipment) or all-grain brewing (more equipment is needed plus the basic stuff you buy to do extract brewing). You sort of need to match your equipment to the size of the batches that you will brew, but that is not at critical in some ways. Five-gallon batches are very popular and most published recipes are for this batch size. It makes about 2 cases of 12-oz. bottles. However, you can scale down a recipe to a smaller batch if you can't drink 5 gallons, or if you want to brew often enough to try many different styles quickly. A lot of variables for you to decide upon, so get reading to discover what your real questions might be. Good luck. Come back if you have more questions -- we'll get you thru them.
Fella' at my local home brew store, Nepenthe, turned me onto this book. Its been highly informative and helpful. It goes over equipment, recipes, starting to advanced brewing techniques. The first chapter gives you a crash course to brew your first batch right away, which works well, but the rest of the book breaks down each section from the first chapter into all the minor details. Afterwards proceeds to troubleshooting and what not. The authors humor is priceless at all the right points. Make sure to have fun with what you're doing here to obtain best results and to produce the best tasting beer. Twiddle your thumbs around the internet for a bit too. I started with 1 gal. batches and am working my way to a 5 gal. rig. Figured I'd get some bruises in smaller batches first. GOOD LUCK MAN HAVE FUN. Welcome to BA
A good start, but the new edition is impressive. I'm thinking of picking up a copy, and I have the second edition in print. Buying the book supports John Palmer financially, so that he keeps writing books and articles (that and he is one of the genuinely nice guys involved in the hobby).
The fourth edition is full of new stuff, and is 600 pages. Check it out if the LHBS has one on the shelf. I see it is $9.60 if you want a Kindle version. https://www.amazon.com/How-Brew-Eve...1938469356/ref=dp_ob_title_bk#customerReviews
