First attempt at homebrew

Since you already bought the equipment, just two pieces of advice...
- Read www.howtobrew.com
- When things seem to go wrong, don't panic. It almost never pays to do something quickly after making a mistake. Think it through, and even ask on here while you are brewing. There's almost always someone around.

 

there were some cool replies here to another noob enquiry. Everything I said there. Plus what Everyone else said too. Plus what Vikeman said.

 

Think everything through. Carefully. VERY carefully. EVERYTHING. Seriously, when you read how-to articles, look at every step in fine detail, and ask yourself how you are going to do it. Since you aren't brewing on the set-up that the person writing the articles did, your brew day will differ.

Identifying beforehand how you will physically manage your equipment, your ingredients, and transferring various liquids and kettles will make your brew day go MUCH more smoothly. Make sure your brewing set-up can actually accomplish what you want it to - for example, if your recipe says you need to boil 6 gallons of liquid, it might not hurt to throw your kettle on the stove, fill it up, and see if you can get it to boil. If you are going to need an ice bath to cool down your wort, and you probably will starting out, make sure you have something your kettle will fit in. Stuff like that.

Some of the fun of homebrewing comes from dealing with the unexpected, but not when you're first starting out. Attention to detail will make the learning curve smoother and less steep.

 

Read How to Brew

Full wort boils

Sanitize everything that touches the wort post boil

Patience

Learn from mistakes/search forums for answers/ask us for answers

 

This is from this year so far...good information here also.

http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/recomended-materials-for-beginners.72840/
http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/homebrew-novice.79446/
http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/just-another-noob-recipe-recommendations.78667/
http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/want-to-get-into-homebrewing-what-to-get-and-tips.76666/
http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/homebrewing-where-to-start.70838/
http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/absolute-noob-here.56172/
http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/how-do-i-start-homebrewing.62630/#post-853379
http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/absolute-beginner.22189/
http://beeradvocate.com/community/t...ewing-where-to-shop-online.49108/#post-632027
http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/start-up-cost-for-home-brewing.43242/#post-544831
http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/best-beer-to-brew-for-a-first-timer.82162/#post-1228253

Good luck.

 

I would consider writing a step by step checklist of every part of your process before brew day. If there is anything you aren't sure of research it before it's time to brew. On brew day take good notes. If anything goes wrong and you have to ask some questions on here detailed notes of your brew day will be helpful. And even if stuff does go wrong more than likely the beer will turn out better than you expected. Just clean and sanitize well and you should be good to go.

 

The best things you can do for your beer (and it took me about a dozen batches to learn this):

Aerate your wort if you can. Pour from ahigh, pour through a sieve, use O2 (I don't think you're there yet)

Temperature control is crucial. Keep it low and keep it consistent. One of the advantages of fermenting high on a hefe yeast is that you get a lot of banana flavor, if you're into that kind of thing. Otherwise, you'll get more clove. Consider a large Tupperware bin and some frozen 2 liters full of water if you don't have a fridge dedicated to this project.

Sanitation is imperative AFTER you cut the heat and begin to cool your wort. Not so important on the hot side of brewing.

 

We were probably drunk for most of those posts.

We are probably drunk for this one too.

 

Don't skimp on sanitation is the biggie.

Outside of that, as VikeMan said, don't panic if you think you screwed up.

If you make sure everything is clean and you follow instructions in the kit you got, you'll find it hard to totally screw the pooch.

 

Remember to have fun, don't get too drunk, and give yourself plenty of time.

These are the biggest the mistakes I have made so far. All on the same brew day in fact

 

Stay focused on the recipe's steps and the timeline. Watch that boil! -- your first boil-over is yet to happen, but only you can stop it from happening.

 

Once you have the basics down track, don't be afraid to experiment. Try out any idea that takes your fancy, but make sure you take notes and try to approach it one step at a time (if you brew the best thing in the world, you will want to be able to repeat it!).

Most of them probably won't work, but that's the beauty of Home Brewing, you don't have to worry about whether or not something will appeal to other people, just whether or not it appeals to you. As long as you are having fun, then don't worry about it.

That being said, there is a certain amount of self-satisfaction in nailing a specific style absolutely spot-on.

 

Two GREAT peices of advice here.

 

Reiterating:

- BUY How to Brew
- make a brewday checklist (Google it!)
- know the process as well as you can BEFORE you try it (it makes the inevitable surprises a little less alarming)
- Make beer
- Take notes on brewday, on bottling day, on tasting day(s)
- Repeat

 

- No matter how much you plan or prepare, something will inevitably go wrong, so don't panic.
- Don't be afraid to screw up. No matter how much I read, I always learn more going back and re-reading after doing something (This is coming from a scientist).
- Take detailed notes so you can learn from your mistakes.
- Learn the basics about brewing, recipe construction and the like before making your first bacon infused toasted coconut cocoa nib sour mashed berliner porter dry beaned with $40/lb coffee and diamonds.
- Check lists help.
- Making good extract beer (some of this may be over your head now):
* Full wort boil, pitch adequate amounts of yeast, aerate your wort, control fermentation temperature, use fresh extract (DME stores way better), build up recipes using Extra Light DME/LME as your base malt (just as a person brewing from grain only would do) and steeping or mini-mashing specialty grain, practice good sanitation.

 

This is great advice. Having a procedure and a checklist is probably one of the main reasons my early beers came out good.