First batch ever style? Equipment?

Since you have a few weeks, take a step back and read this book.

As far as process there isn't much difference between a brown or dubbel only the type of ingredients you buy.

 

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/...-starter-kits/deluxe-brewing-starter-kit.html

Have fun

 

Welcome to this great hobby. Beside reading the How to Brew book that was already mentioned, if you have not already done so, I suggest that you also look back on prior pages of this forum to see the number of threads that were started on the topic about first brew help, tips, suggestions, etc. There is a lot of good info in these posts that will be very helpful to you.

 

If this is going to turn into a hobby for you, you should go to the LHBS with about $225-250 and see what you can do. Wheat beers are very quick to shape up and chug. Darker styles with a modest ABV are usually very forgiving with beer flaws.

 

I bought Morebeer.com's starter and am mostly happy with it. It seems like most of the online supplier kits are similarly valued, if you pay a little more you tend to get a little more, or it includes a first ingredient kit. I would add an autosiphon - other than that a big pot (you can get by with 3 gallon or so but if you stick with it and make 5 gallon batches you will want something more like 8-10 gallons), and a wort chiller, it is essentially the same thing I still have. I would suggest going for the brown for a first beer. I have made morebeer's dubbel, and thought it was pretty good, but it took a decent amount of time in the bottle, 2-3 months, before it really got there. For a first brew I would want something that was a little quicker than that. Also belgian styles are heavily dependant on yeast strain and handling for their flavor, will likely require liquid yeast, and a starter, which are all things I didn't want to deal with on my first brew.

 

Northernbrewer.com deluxe kit for sure. NB for all your homebrewing needs

 

set yourself up for success by focusing on the important things

• fermentation temperature control (below 70F for ales, preferably more like the low 60's)
• yeast pitching temperature control (below 70F for ales, i.e. you probably need a wort chiller and possibly a pre-chiller)
• sanitation (starsan: don't fear the foam)
  
• full boils (you can't do a full boil on a five gallon batch with a five gallon pot; you need more like an eight gallon pot with enough heat to get a rolling boil. For many of us, a turkey fryer does the trick perfectly. buy the day after thanksgiving for extra cheep prices)
• KISS methodology and recipe formulation
• do not mess with your beer at all for any reason whatsoever for at least two weeks*
• don't get too drunk on brew-day
• have a written procedure and check-list. my early blogs have examples which you could adapt for your equipment and recipes
• If you are going to bottle, each bottle should be thoroughly washed out with hot water, air dried upside-down, then capped with a square of tin-foil** until bottling day. Also practice using your siphon with water before you try it on beer. Get a bottling wand and an auto-siphon.

*only exception would be if your airlock got clogged, in which case you would carefully remove/clean/sanitize/replace

**or equivalent method of ensuring no dust/dirt/bugs gets in there

 

A brown ale is very forgiving of flaws for a first time brewer. Also, you will do fine starting with the $89 essential brewing kit fron NB.

 

Are you doing all-grain or extract? This video for all-grain was very helpful: