So I have no experience brewing, and I have only done a small bit of research. I purchased how to brew by John Palmer, which I plan on reading over the weekend. I plan on brewing my first batch a week sunday. Any advice on an easily approachable style, or any tips for a noob would be greatly appreciated. Cheers Jesse
Excellent book. It contains everything that you need to know to get started and details on how to move forward with more complex beers. I would recommend starting with a wheat beer or an amber ale. Both are pretty hard to mess up and will be ready sooner than some other styles. This gives you a chance to taste your first batch sooner. Here is a link with some recipes for both beers and some instructions on how to make them. http://microbebrewer.blogspot.com/p/brewing-101.html
I'd advise starting with an American Pale Ale, because it's very simple, and because if there are flaws in the beer it will be fairly easy to detect and (hopefully) diagnose them. Someone may tell you to make a porter or stout, because flaws (off-flavors) will be harder to detect, and you want to be happy with your first batch. That works too, but I'd rather learn something if I were starting out.
Brew what you like to drink. The process is basically the same for most beers. Sanitation and proper fermentation temps are the biggest factors to pulling off a good beer IMO, and you need that regardless of the style you are brewing.
There is a pale ale recipe in Johns book that is simple to make and very tasty. If you follow his steps you will have no problem. If your planing with brewing with extracts don't worry about reading the all grain section just yet. There will be plenty of time for that later. Have fun!
Mashing from whole grain is more equipment intensive, takes longer and involves steps that have to be carefully followed. I recommend using extracts with the first recipe and maybe some steeping grain such as you get with some True Brew kits (I have made their red ale and it came out really nice). You can then focus on your timed boil, hop additions, and most of all, cleaning and sanitation practices. You can't practice good procedures too much. Like cmmcdonn said above, there are certain basics that apply to all beers such as sanitation and fermentation management, so I would recommend practicing with a simple (extract) version of a beer style you like. Over time, as you add complexity to your process and acquire more (and more and more) equipment, you will get to revisit that same style of beer and be able to observe how the beer improves with changes you make. I still find this to be very rewarding, having gone from an all pre-hopped extract recipe on my first batch to partial mashing with a timed hop boil on a couple of different beer styles now. It's all fun. I hope you grow to enjoy it as much as I have.
You know Mick, I never thought of it that way. I am one of the ones who always replies with make a stout or a Wit exactly for the reasons you mentioned. While I stick to my suggestions, because I want first timers to enjoy their first home brewed beer, your take on it makes alot of sense esp. if someone somehow knows they will stick with the hobby.
Get a kit of the beer style you like the best. Follow the directions. Sanitize the hell out of everything. You'll be good.
Keep it cool. It's one of the hardest things to do but it's the one thing that will help your beer taste better right away.
Everything already said. Plus, I am very much for making a checklist before you start, and checking off each step as you go. I have generally needed to revise it a few times before each brew in order to perfect it. Once I have a checklist though, the brew days have gone well. Each list has kept me from forgetting about simple steps! You're no doubt going to down a few brews (good idea) so it's even more necessary to have a checklist so you don't miss steps! Document everything! It might help if you have a friend help you, especially if you have one who's a home brewer already. The recipe ideas given so far are good ones. I did an easy IPA for my first solo batch and it came out good. Practice siphoning before you try to bottle! Also just break down and get an auto-siphon and a wine thief now (if you don't already have them), you will need them. If you're cooling with ice, you will need about 20 lbs to get it cooled at any decent rate. Make sure you don't pitch too warm. No matter how good you actually are, you will be convinced that you f'd it all up, big time. Relax, you probably didn't.
