Help out a newbie please!

Welcome to the hobby. Appears you are jumping right into all-grain so hopefully you have the equipment to mash that 11lbs of 2-row.

How much water to use will depend on what you want to end up in the boil and if you are going to sparge or not and you'll want to work backwards. If your boiling 90 minutes and want to end with 5g you'll likely need at least 6.5g in the boil. With that info and knowing grain soaks up roughly .1 gallons per pound you'll need a total of 7.5-7.75 gallons of mash and sparge water. I'd likely just split it 50/50 so 3.75g mash and 3.75g sparge but that becomes totally up to you.

Also considering using RO water if you don't know your water profile as I learned from my first few all-grain batches: crappy water makes crappy beer.

 

That's an all-grain recipe, so you're going to be mashing, rather than simply steeping. 1.5 quarts water per pound of grains is a good starting point for your mash. The rest of your water will be used to sparge or mash-out at the end of the mash, depending on how you want to do it.

Have you read "How to Brew" ( www.howtobrew.com ) or one of the other beginner books?

 

I agree that crappy water makes crappy beer, but plain RO water, with no salts added, isn't going to be good for most mashes, including this one.

 

Starting with extract is best, IMHO. You can jump right into all grain and make it, but the equipment is a little hard for some to grasp. You didn't say what you have for equipment beyond the NB starter kit. So something like a 8 or 10 gal kettle is needed, and if you don't have that it might be hard to get an all grain batch off the ground.

If you neighbor does homebrewing and you are on good terms with him, ask if he can help you set up you all grain batch.

 

Sorry forgot to add the comment about adding some salts. I was in a rush to get to lunch so food was on my mind!

Starting with extract would be a great way to get your feet wet. You can use the same recipe and just sub Dry Malt Extract in for the 2-row. If you wanted some specialty grains you would just steep them in the water you plan to boil in. Most extract recipes have you boiling a smaller volume and adding additional water after chilling and before pitching the yeast. How much water to start with will come down to kettle size. When I did extract I only had a 5 gallon kettle so would typically start boil with 3-3.5 gallons and top off the rest when complete.

 

Extract is a excellent way to start. Having a local Homebrewer who makes good beer willing to help you is equally excellent.

 

That would be my recommendation.

Do you have a mash tun to mash grains?

Cheers

 

Like others said, I would start there. Once you've done that, assuming your brew kettle is large enough, you're only a bag away from doing all-grain.

 

Best of luck with your extract batch.

I personally would recommend that you buy some Briess Pilsner Dried Malt Extract (DME) for your 'base malt' but your LHBS person should help you out here.

Cheers!

 

I second both of Jack's sentiments. DME is a lot easier to work with than LME. Also, a couple or few extract batches will cut down on the complexity of the brew day and let you focus on the most important part of brewing -- cleanliness and sanitation.

 

Let us know how the brew day goes.

 

If you have any Homebrew stores close by look to see if they offer any classes on beginning all grain or extract brewing.

 

Seems like you might be get a kick out of things like building a mash tun, wort chiller etc, if so, so more power to you. But if you are thinking of building to save some $, be sure to take a look on Craigslist. I guarantee you there is someone down the road, looking to get an allgrain setup out of their garage for way cheaper than buying new or even building.

 

Make sure your reading your refractometer/hydrometer at its calibrated temperature to get accurate readings. There’s some good Homebrewing software websites out there that will help in your endeavor into this addictive hobby. Cheers!

 

It looks like you experienced a boil-over. You're officially a homebrewer now, so welcome to the club!