Home Beer Brewers Help Wanted!

So a few friends and I are going to attempt to brew our own beer. I think we're going to begin with one of those starter Mr. Beer type setups first, and then proceed from there.

Is there any information you could provide and any websites you can recommend to gather How-To information and purchase things like bottles caps and other necessities?

I appreciate the help.

 

My future FIL suggested I jump on google and search for a home brew store in your area. I was surprised to find two sizeable stores within 5 miles of my house.

 

Thanks!

 

If you can't find a local store, this is a good place to gather info:

http://www.northernbrewer.com/

 

Thanks.

As of Saturday our first batch is in step one.

We've decided to do 2 trial runs using Mr. Beer before we go all out.

 

my biggest two tips are 1. Be anal about being clean. Don't contaminate your batch before you even start. Rinse everything that it going to touch the beer in a bleach solution then re-rinse everything in cold water. Bacteria and molds LOVE the sugar rich wort and grow like crazy in there. and 2. use just regular tap water. I tried using distilled water once and it was about the most tasteless beer that I had ever tried. The guy at the brewstore told me that you need the dissolved minerals and stuff in the water to get the best taste.

After you get through with the Mr. Beer thing you can try brewing using prepared malt extracts. This will be "phase 2" and will let you be a little more involved in the process. After you get proficient with the extracts you may want to try extracting your own malts from cracked grains.

I do love brewing my own beer, but there are a few drawbacks. Your house is going to smell like malt for a couple of days after you brew your wort and you never know what the final product is going to taste like until after you are all through and the process takes weeks to complete. Other than that it is a fun hobby that lets you drink the fruits of your labor.

 

Thanks a lot for your tips. I'll be sure to pass them on to my friends.

We were very anal about making sure everything was super clean. We used plain tap water, as we read not to use distilled. We also have Good Eats episode on brewing saved to the DVR as an added go to guide. We look forward to formulating our own brews eventually. I already have a few ideas in mind.

Thankfully it's not my house! lol....it'll smell like brisket and beer...if that's bad I'd like to know what good is.

 

Well, the first batch tasted like crap. Very malty, and each sip left my mouth very dry. Needless to say I didn't drink much of it. I sort of think the ingrediants may have gone bad and not that good quality.

We did transfer our second batch into it's secondary fermination. We did take a little bit of the wort just for ****s and giggles. It tasted really good. Like flat beer, so we have a really good feeling about the 2nd go round.