Newbie here, probably the 150th thread like this

Take the ride down to East Brunswick and go to Love2Brew of any and all brewing related supplies. They are the best in knowledge, service, and selection IMO, and are always there willing to help. If I do place orders online for whatever reason I use Northern Brewer or Austin Homebrew.

I would recommend something like a simple Pale Ale to begin with. Read a few books before starting (this is extremely important) such as How to Brew by Palmer and The Complete Joy of Homebrewing by Papazian. Also, I would strognly advise to not follow the instructions in a beer recipe kit you buy, follow what is recomended in those books and in forums like this and homebrewtalk.

 

Northern and Midwest are local for me, and two of the largest retail websites for homebrewing. These might become useful shops for you in the future, but I would suggest going into your local homebrew shop (LHBS) and talking with the knowledgeable people who work there to get started.

 

I started with a deluxe kit from Northern Brewer. I thought it was great for getting started. Over time I've started adding or upgrading equipment piece by piece once I learned more what I liked and/or needed. That approach worked for me. As far as your first batch, brew what you like but I'd keep it simple. There's going to be a lot of stuff going on so a simple recipe helps. I had read How To Brew first and just did the amber ale in the book to learn the process. But it is important to read up first to understand what you're doing and why.

 

So far as the start up equipment goes, I don't think that there is much difference online vs. local. Do your homework and figure out what will best suit what you want to do at the price. Always remember that you can buy more equipment if you need it. You're biggest outlay will be the boil kettle, which won't be included in the kit, anyhow. Definitely read How to Brew. My first brew was an oatmeal stout kit that I couldn't help but add stuff too. I'd suggest a pale ale kit and buy an extra oz or 2 of hops to add at FO/DH, since you like IPAs. A lot of retailers will throw in a free extract kit with an equipment kit.

 

Maybe for a 2 gal batch. I think we'll all advise you to get at least an 8 gal (32qt) pot. This will allow you to do a full 5 gal boil. You'll start your boil with 6+ gal of wort and you will have 1+ gal boil off through the hour or 90 minutes that you'll boil. You get better hop utilization and you'll get a better result.

 

1st things 1st...
How much beer do you want to brew?
How often can you...and want to...brew?
How much room do you have to store your brew and equipment?
How much money do you want to spend if...in the end...it turns out you don't want to make your own beer?

There's an order of magnitude difference in the equipment and space needed to brew 5Gs vs half that volume.

 

No. Your boil pot (for five gallon size batches) needs to be a lot bigger than that. The more of your wort you boil, the better. Full boils are preferable. Even splitting the boil between two pots is better than topping off with water after you've only boiled part of it. Your boil pot is very important, so don't skimp on it when you first start brewing. Get a bigger one than you think you need. The investment will pay off. NOTE: a five gallon stock pot is NOT big enough to do a full boil on a five gallon batch! You need bigger than that.

I got a turkey fryer, on sale at home depot for fifty bucks. It has a boil pot big enough to do full boils on five gallon batches. It also has a burner powerful enough to get a good rolling boil going with that much wort.

Your other primary concern should be your fermentation temperatures. You can't let fermenting wort sit in a room that's too warm, or you'll make lousy beer. In some areas, like where I live in Tx, you need a freezer or fridge with a controller to keep things cool enough, because ambient room temperature is just going to be too high. If you have a room that's consistently below 70F, you should be ok. I used to ferment in a closet that was a steady 68-69F, and that was cool enough to make good beer. Remember, the fermenting beer will be a number of degrees higher than ambient temperature, so IMO I was probably near the upper limit of being able to ferment at room temperature.

Your kit is a concern, but not your biggest one. There are lots of kits that will make fine beer. Just make sure you get an AUTO-siphon. I would get two 6.5 gallon buckets and a carboy, so you can have two batches going at a time. I personally use my carboy for bottling, as it's a five gallon carboy (not really big enough to ferment a five gallon batch), so consider getting a 6.5 gallon carboy with your kit (you will often need a blowoff tube, btw).

Your process is most important when you're starting off, make a procedure checklist and follow it. Sanitation is also extremely important. The recipes you choose also will affect your success (choose simple ones early, a hoppy but simple pale ale or simple wheat beer is a great place to start).

 

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

Read: How to Brew, by John Palmer
http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html

 

If you live near Boonton, there's a great homebrew supply store on Main Street called Cask & Kettle Homebrew. They have everything you need and are very helpful with questions for the beginner.

 

I'd recommend your LHBS over online to get started, assuming they know what they're talking about (sadly, that's not always the case). Equipment can be cheaper online, but the tie always goes to brick and mortar. It also makes for a good chat session.

12 qt is definitely too small for a 5 gallon batch, no matter how you slice it. Bigger is better. That said, I started with a 20 qt (5 gallon) kettle that I found in the basement. Not ideal, but it got me started with a minimal outlay of cash - about $100 for the equipment. I was using extract and doing partial boils, topping it off with straight tap water in the carboy. FWIW, I won some ribbons with beers brewed on that setup. Personally, it was hard for me to commit to much more than that without knowing if I would stick with it. (I also spent about $700 on kegging/dispensing equipment before I brewed my first batch, but that's a discussion for the Self-Help forum). Even a 5 gallon kettle would be a non-starter for all grain. I would recommend extract until you nail the procedure for boiling, fermenting, bottling, etc. before venturing into what some might consider the more glamorous aspects of brewing.

Your experience will tell you where to go from there as you expand and upgrade (you have lots of money that you don't know what to do with, right? ).

 

This. All of it.

 

You'll overload the poor guy.

 

If you're not IN the wedding, you could occupy your downtime by listening to podcasts from Basic Brewing radio or other available podcasts. It's a great way to learn more about the many different aspects of brewing. I started about a month or so ago and have learned a lot...