New to homebrewing, tips?

Read: http://www.howtobrew.com/

Search this forum for 'new' , 'beginner' theres a few great threads with lots of links and info. Check out your local home brew shop for starter kits, get atleast a 5 gallon kettle(pref higher but do your research). I think a kit beer is a good way to get your feet wet and hold your hand through the process, but everyones different. Do a little more reading and decide whats best for you.

 

Definitely read How to Brew.

My basement is a graveyard for kettles that ultimately were not big enough. For 5 gallon full boil batches, I would recommend nothing less than an 8 gallon kettle, or a combination of two kettles (one 5 gallon or larger, and one 8 gallon) if you have to brew on a stovetop with relatively weak heat. (That way you can split the boil between two kettles and recombine at the end when it's time to chill.)

Since you will likely start with extract batches... Here are HB42's Extract Brewing Tips, which I would read immediately after reading 'How to Brew'...
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First of all it's important to realize that good quality, fresh extract alone can brew fantastic beer as long as your recipe formulation and brewing technique are good. One of the best beers I've ever brewed, extract, all grain, or otherwise, was an abbey singel that was nothing but pilsen DME, a little table sugar, a touch of hallertauer, and wyeast 1214. I've brewed show stopping English bitters with nothing but Muntons extra light DME, a touch of crystal, some goldings, and wyeast 1968. And nothing is more popular than my simple extract hefe, which is nothing but 6 lbs of wheat DME, an oz of noble hops, and wyeast 3068 (it doesn't get any easier than that, and it's a great beer).

if you want to brew great extract beers, the following guidelines are imperative:

1) FULL WORT BOIL.

I can't stress this enough. If you're doing concentrated boils, you're never going to produce flawless beers, no matter what else you do. If you're brewing 5 gallons of beer, you MUST start with at least 6-6.5 gallons of wort, and this is ESPECIALLY true for very pale colored or very hoppy beers. Late extract additions are helpful for those who do concentrated boils, but they're not a sub for a real FULL wort boil.

2) Use only high quality, extra light, light, or pilsen extracts, and I much prefer dry extracts over liquid, as they tend to be fresher and lighter in color.

Every extract beer that you brew should be based on either extra light DME, or pilsen DME. When an all grain brewer builds a recipe, they start with a pale base malt and work from there, even for the darkest beers, and a great extract brewer should do the same. Extra light extract is nothing but basic good quality 2-row, and a touch of carapils, while pilsen extract is 100% pilsner malt, and either of these are a fantastic slate on which to build any amazing beer. If you want to brew beer like an all grain brewer, then you need to think like an all grain brewer and build your recipes from the ground up.

3) Use only FRESH extract!

Don't buy extract kits that have been sitting on a store shelf for who knows how many millennia. This is especially true with liquid extract, which has a much shorter shelf life than dry and tends to darken and taste stale over time. This alone is a good reason to completely avoid liquid as far as I'm concerned. And try to find a retailer that moves their product and always has fresh inventory. For example a larger online homebrew supply may be better at providing fresh products than your stagnant local shop.

4) Do NOT scorch your extract.

This is yet another reason why I prefer DME over LME, as DME floats while LME sinks to the bottom of the kettle. If you decide to use LME however, remove the kettle from the burner and FULLY dissolve your extract before putting it back on the heat.

5) Know which grains can be steeped and which can't.

The only grains that can be steeped are crystal/caramel/cara malts, and roasted grains like chocolate malt, roasted barley, and black patent malt. EVERYTHING else really needs to be mashed. Doing things like trying to steep oatmeal or munich does nothing but load up your beer with unconverted starch, which is not doing your beer any favors. If you want to include other grains in your extract beers, then do a mini mash, NO exceptions.

5) DO A FULL WORT BOIL! Partial boils kill beer. Seriously.

6) Keep your yeast happy at all times.

It's very important to pitch healthy yeast in adequate numbers, and use yeast that's appropriate for the style. Many extract kits come with a packet of generic "ale yeast" that is typically of low quality. You're never going to brew a fantastic English bitter with an old, stale packet of characterless "ale yeast". Get familiar with handling liquid yeast strains and making starters, and pay attention to proper pitching rates and proper fermentation temperatures, as both are extremely important for producing high quality beers devoid of off flavors.

7) Never ever rush your beer.

Great beer takes time, and most beers will benefit from spending some extra time in the fermenter and in the bottle. This means at least 2-3 weeks in primary before either bottling or moving to secondary, and if you're bottle conditioning give your beers at least 6-8 weeks in the bottle and you're sure to see a great improvement.

And for shit sake, get yourself a bigger kettle! That, along with getting some decent ingredients, are the best things that you can do for your extract beers.

And don't let anyone tell you that you can't brew great beer with extract, because that's BS. Some of the best beers that I've ever brewed were extract beers, no question.

 

I recommend darker, roastier beers for a first beer. They will better cover up minor flaws while you get the process down.

 

One of the most important tips i have picked up is relax and have a beer.

 

Yes, but most people would tell you to focus your attention on How to Brew rather than Complete Joy. How To Brew generally has better advice and more specific information on what you are doing and how to do it right.

 

Concertrate on your temps, fermentation & pitching. Use enough yeast & cool your wort quickly.

All good tips, but hard to mess up a boil. Much easier to mess up the above. GL!

 

I would (and do) second this. A porter is a good beer to start with. Low ABV, and will hide any flaws you have with your process, until you get your process down.

 

I always recommend the opposite. Start with a simple pale ale. Nothing to hide behind. How will he get his process down if he can't taste the results of the process?

 

because if he makes a beer and it tastes like crap, more people are inclined to give up. Get them to brew something that is decent to taste, and then get them over the hump of process.

 

It's easy to make a shitty porter also : )

edit: I'd make an ale I was familiar with so that I had a baseline to compare to...light or dark.

 

And then the second beer will taste like crap and that would be better? I do understand your viewpoint, and lots of people share it. But in my mind it's better to start learning from the very beginning. Also FWIW, with research and planning, a first batch will not necessarily have major flaws. But there's only one way to tell.

 

I think not having to worry as much about the final result on the first beer makes it easier to jump in. You dont have to perfect it on the first try. People might be more hesitant otherwise. Just because they arent making a beer that shows more flaws doesnt mean they arent learning anything. The second beer might not taste like crap because they learned a lot on the first try, god knows I did. Different personalities would probably take different approaches. Some might be all in, some might be hesitant. Good to have both options in mind.

 

It's easy to make anything shitty. All I'm saying is that a first time brewer is more apt to just be excited to make beer, and might screw something up along the way. The lighter a beer, the more a flaw will shine through. Think back to your first beer, did you knock it out of the park from the get go? I read the complete joy cover to cover 3-4 times over. When it came down to the first time to do it, I was a little panicky. "Did I do this right? It didn't come out like it said to in the book, etc".

My first beer wasn't that great, but it was drinkable. Got me to the point where I wanted to learn what I did wrong and fix it. If I had spent the time/effort/money and had 5 gal of crap beer, it might have taken me a long time to come back around to it. I've seen enough guys give up after that first beer (hell, look at craigslist and the "only been used once" homebrew kits that are available). Not saying one way is best way to go, but some people keep up with things if there is encouragement. On the other hand, there are those that are all about the process/scientific approach. To each their own.

 

Both these guys make valid points. I think a lower gravity ale is a good place to start, but recommend brewing what you like to drink; dry stout, porter, brown ale, pale ale, and hefeweizen are all good choices for an introduction to the hobby.

I think pale ale is the most likely of these to show subtle fermentation flaws, but none of them will hide a major flaw. Because you are brewing a beer you like to drink, you will probably be able to pick up on flaws. Most mistakes result in average beer, not undrinkable beer. Don't be afraid to make mistakes because as you learn from them, you stop making average beer.

 

One thing I'd like to touch on here is keeping good notes on your brewing process, this is how I got better. A good brewing software like beersmith, or any of the many others some that are free can help you keep track of what you do wrong, and what you did right.

 

I would second the motion to keep good notes and especially to have your procedure (with a check-list!) laid out BEFORE you start. Here's an example of a procedure I used on a blonde ale:

Clicky the linky

I'd also suggest a simple beer for your first. I always recommend my elderberry wheat because it's very simple and quite tasty. You could skip the elderberries and just use wheat extract and make a very tasty beer too.

Otherwise I'd suggest a nice pale ale with a fair amount of hops, but not a ridiculous amount (don't try to make a double IPA right away, get some batches under your belt before tackling higher gravity, uber-hopped beers like that).