Recomended materials for beginners?

Before buying any equipment, I'd read "How To Brew" by John Palmer. It's pretty detailed, and will give you a good idea just what you're getting yourself in to, including the amount of space, time, and resources you'll want to dedicate to the hobby, etc. As an added bonus, it also teaches you how to brew. You don't necessarily have to read it cover to cover. You could stick with the extract sections, if that's where you're going to begin. But there's good information throughout, so if you have the time, I'd read it all.

After having done that, then you can decide if you're still interested. If so, I'd recommend one of the starter kits from either a reputable local homebrew shop, or one of the major online retailers (Midwest Supplies, Northern Brewer, More Beer, Williams, etc.). Those are a good way to make certain you have most of what you need without finding yourself short an important piece of equipment on brew day. If the costs surprise you, remember that most of the equipment is durable, and much of it may never have to be purchased again should you decide to stick it out.

Lastly, after ordering the equipment kit (and a recipe kit... preferably one that doesn't require a ton of extras like fruit or oak chips, etc., and doesn't need extended aging) and you're waiting for the stuff to arrive, read Palmer's book again. The more information you have when you start your first brew, the less likely you are to screw that first one up. The better your first one turns out, the more likely you'll want to keep doing it.

 

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

If you are still interested, then buy the book. Usually it is the other way around, but the book is more up to date than the site.
Also check out The Joy of Homebrewing.

Also check out: http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/what-would-be-in-your-essential-homebrewers-library.55709/
There is lots of good texts, links, and information.

Also: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/101/

Equipment: do a litte research then decide on what you will need. It will depend on what you already have that you can repurpose and also how deep you want to get into it.

JimSmetana said:
Cannot beat this!
http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/...arter-kits/essential-brewing-starter-kit.html

Ipas-for-life said:
Got this kit for my brother for christmas. Thought it was a good price. I just added on a 8oz bottle of starsan and he can buy the bottle caps. https://bellsbeer.com/store/product...ewing-Equipment-Kit-w{47}-Better-Bottle®.html

You can also do a beer advocate forum search for:
Absolute noob
Absolute beginner
Best kit or best homebrew kit

Beer advocate also has a decent search feature for whatever else you are looking for

Or you can just post a question on the forum.

Then when you are ready for recipe info:
Listen for free to The Brewing Network's Jamil Show podcasts on iTunes. They are broken down by style, but they all have good information in them. Some of the shows are much more than just style guidelines and recipe information. You can buy the book "brewing Classic Styles" by Jamil Zainasheff and John Palmer

Then if you need more in depth information there is also:
Brew Strong podcasts for free on iTunes
A subscription to Zymurgy and/or Brew Your Own magazine

There are other homebrew forums, but bad advice is shot down pretty quickly on this forum AND backed up with solid information and/or experience. I have never found the need to go outside BA. And tons of good information online, just understand that not all of it is good, and some of it is really really bad.

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Here are HB42's Extract Brewing Tips...(Courtesy of Vikeman)

http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/how-do-i-start-homebrewing.62630/#post-855434

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.
by: Homebrew42

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By: reverseapachemaster

If you have a local homebrew shop they usually carry starter kits of all the basic equipment and then you just need to buy a suitable kettle. You can buy those at the same place but you might have something at home/parents have something that is suitable to start with and you can upgrade later.The basic equipment kits are mostly all you need other than the kettle. I've been brewing for 3.5 years and still use the same stuff as my primary equipment.

If you don't have a local shop, midwest supplies frequently runs groupons for the starter equipment kits for I think $60. You probably have to pay shipping on top of it but it might be a little cheaper than ordering at other places online or even locally.

Lots of people are getting into the hobby and deciding they don't like what they are making or don't want to put in the work and unloading equipment on craigslist. Look around locally, you might be able to find a basic kit with minimal use dirt cheap. There's usually some Mr. Beer kits that people use once or twice after getting them as Christmas gifts and then try to unload on CL a couple months after the holidays. That's also an option to start with but the ingredient kits are not the greatest beers and are expensive for what they are. Still, you might be able to get the Mr. Beer equipment kit for like $20 and that equipment is all perfectly useful in the future. There are people with 10+ years of brewing that use the Mr. Beer equipment from time to time.

JackHorzempa says:
Permit me to discuss one item: if you have a ‘good’ LHBS nearby I would strongly encourage you to buy your homebrewing kit there and establish a relationship with the folks at the store. Keep in mind that the LHBS has a BIG interest in getting you educated and making good beers. If your first batch is a ‘success’ you will come back to the store and buy more ingredients. Don’t be shy in interacting with the store personnel; ask them lots and lot of questions. Brew your first batch during store hours; that way you can call them up if you have any questions while brewing your first batch.

OK, I will discuss a second item: remember to Relax, Don’t Worry, Have a Homebrew!