I'm looking to start homebrewing soon and I have been doing my research and what not trying to figure out what equipment I need, what kind of extract kit I am going to get, what I don't need to get. But I figured what better way to learn than to ask the people who have been doing it. I've heard to start off with an extract kit and something darker. So I figured I'd start off with some kind of amber or brown ale. But what has been y'all's experience. Some things to consider, I live in a smaller city with only 1 homebrew supply store, I am joining the local homebrew society soon, and I am a college kid on a short budget. Any advice you've got, throw it out! I'll try to respond to any questions also. Thanks in advance!
On a full sized budget, you'd be looking to make 5 gallon batches, use a turkey fryer for boiling 6.5 gallons in your 8 gallon pot. You want to try to buy once and be done with it if this is something that you want to stick with for a hobby. On a college budget with possibly limited space? you may want to consider a couple of kettles and a stove to boil wort. You'd be boiling off twice as much wort, so you'd need maybe 2 stock pots that are able to hold 4+ gal each (this is including headspace). Lots of ways to skin this cat. It depends on how you want to go about it.
First off, welcome to the BA site and to the Homebrewing forum. You'll be able to see more suggestions and opinions to answer your questions by reading 5-6 pages (or more if time permits) because your questions are the same ones that are frequently posed in this forum. Next, you should take the time to read howtobrew.com by John Palmer. This online version is essentially the same as the newer edition that you can purchase, so take advantage of a freebie with a ton of good advice (including a discussion about how to get started). To answer your question about what to brew first, if you like the flavor of hops, then choose a pale ale. If you like dark malty beers, then choose an amber/red, porter or a stout. Those are all easy styles to brew for your first time, so the answer is basically brew what you'd like to drink. By joining a homebrew club, which is an excellent thing to do, will get you in touch with a ton of first-hand experience by your interacting with the other members. You may have the opportunity to brew with an experienced brewer, or have someone be with you during your first brew. Those are great opportunities. These members can also steer you to the best places to get your ingredients. Who knows, you may also walk into a situation of being able to buy some of their used equipment on the cheap. Keep doing your research, listen to the advice (sometimes conflicting or a wide variance of it, but usually all well intended) and answer some of the questions yourself about what you want to get out of this first brew. Good luck.
If you want to save money, then skip the carboys for now - you'll need a plastic bucket for fermenting (with lid, airlock, etc) and another for bottling. If you want to brew on the stove top, then you might have trouble getting more than 4-5 gallons of water to boil. In that case, you'll either brew partial-volume extract (ie, make 3 gallons of wort and top it off with extra water in the fermenter) or else you can consider making smaller batches. A cheapo 5-gallon kettle would let you do both of those for not a lot of money. Making smaller batches is a bit less cost-effective per beer, but is cheaper per batch, which means you get to brew more often. That's good for learning the craft, and you don't get stuck drinking a bunch of mediocre beer from your first batches. The downside is that most commercial kits are made with 5 gallon yields in mind, so you'll either need to buy your ingredients piecemeal or else choose from the smaller selection of 1 and 3 gallon kits out there.
So starting off, I can probably afford to buy the larger kettle, but not the propane burner and propane. Would I be able to do a full size kit batch with a standard stove? Also as far as chilling goes, I have a medium sized rectangle cooler. Not sure if the pot would fit in it but let's say theoretically it does, would that be adequate for the time being to chill the wort?
Depends on the power of that power burner. Really, the only way to know for sure is to try it. You can do that with water first as a rough approximation.
Youd be better off filling a sink with ice than using a cooler I think. Consider 1,2, or 3 gallon batches. Why? -5 gallons of even really good beer is a lot of one kind of beer to drink(and unlikely your first beer will be really good) -more experimentation/variety (see above) -less to boil on a stove top -easier to biab -easier to cool -less $
5 gallons is not a helluva lot of beer. It goes quickly. And I think you're off the mark with your generalization that it is "unlikely your first beer will be really good". That's neither helpful nor correct, in most cases. Follow the instructions that came with the kit and, odds are, the beer will be just fine.
I agree. For my first batch, I went to the local homebrew store and talked to the guy working there. He gave me advice and told me what to buy. I got the kit (a porter), a book, the bottles, and the brew equipment for about $100. First try and the beer came out great. All I had to do was sanitize everything and follow the recipe in the kit.
...and five gallons, lol, that's only 50 12 oz. bottles or so and that ain't enough! Every batch I make I have to ration. Everybody wants some. Some get 2, some get 4, some get 1, and my dad always gets 6. I'm lucky if I get 12 out of each batch lol.
I would start with whatever beer you like to drink, with the caveat that strong beers -- barleywines, DIPAs, imperial stouts, etc. can be tricky, so go for whatever you like that is less than 1.065 starting gravity. And read howtobrew.com
Yes it is helpful, the average first timer will not make exceptional beer. Im sure it will be 'just fine', I didnt say itd be bad, but probably not mind blowing, especially if youre accustomed to drinking beers that we talk about on this site. And 50 12oz bottles is a lot of beer to me. If you like the brewing hobby and want to quickly brew again, those 50 12oz bottles can turn into 150 pretty quick. It was just a suggestion..I like to brew frequently and switch up recipes, and I dont drink a lot so hence smaller batches. To each his own.
There are several small batch brewers on this forum. We all drink and brew at different frequencies. Im just offering him a different option. If 5 or more gallons works for you theres nothing wrong with that either.
I think my response may have come across as a bit heavier handed than I intended. While it's true that the average first timer will not make exceptional beer, it's more than likely to be something that will be enjoyed. Indeed, it's more than likely to be better than what was expected. In that context, 5 gallons is not a helluva lot of beer. Obviously, ymmv, but most of my brewing friends, myself included, routinely brew 10 gallon batches because most agree that 5 is just not enough. I've got 12 kegs that I like to keep full (never made it yet). There's always a variety on hand and I no longer worry about running out.
