I want to start brewing but i got a few questions??

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As soon as i start I'll be sure to post so q-view. it just sucks having to be a slave to the weather but i cant afford to set up a controlled environment for my fermentation right now. So i just have to wait
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Squirrel since I have the canning down this is my next project!!!
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  I have a place only 20 min. away that started selling equipment so I'm going through them vs. internet for product.  I have the same issue (ambient temp.) as I burn wood in my basement ( cellar ) so its warm down there, too warm.  Get a small starter kit!!
 
This is really exciting to read all this about brewing. I had a friend many years ago that did some and, well, they tasted HORRIBLE! I would love to learn more about it, not sure if I am willing to try it myself, but maybe someday.

Can you guys maybe start showing some home brewing Q-view? I for one would love to see it first hand! Thanks!
Brewed yesterday.  I don't think you'll be brewing quite like this when beginning.  Here's some pics....

Uncrushed malted barley




After crushing



recirculating mash...I have a stand built.  Just waiting on some small pieces and this will all sit on a 59"x24"x22" stand.  It'll be much cleaner and more functional then.



Control box w/pid controller.  I'm not fully functional yet w/controller but use it as a temp gauge



Chilling the beer



The chiller tower.  It's 50 ft. copper bent with a 9" interior diameter with quick disconnects on the in and out of the chiller



Happily fermenting away with two other beers.  I ferment in 15.5 gallon sanke kegs w/the spear removed and rack using a ss cane and CO2.



Like mentioned above, your set up will not be like this when you begin.  Any questions, please ask. :mug:
 
Wow. That is sooo awesome thanks for sharing those pics. I've got to get my sausage project going before I can even think about brewing. I try to stick with one project at a time so I don't get overwhelmed, but it is great to see and read all this great info. Keep posting please!!!!
 
those are some great pics i would to get a set up like that in the future. As of now am going to start off small do a lot of research and get my feet wet first. I got some air locks in today so little by little am going to get started!! Am a little strapped for cash at the moment (unemployed since all American jobs are in China now) so that's why am going get everything little at a time.
 
I just scored on 5 gallon food grade bucket from my local lucky's super market. for free
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the thing smells of butter cream frosting but thats no big deal. now i just have to install a airlock in it.
 
Originally Posted by Pit 4 Brains  
One more vote for the turkey fryer! Do not do this on the kitchen stove. Malt extract is like roofing tar when cold and it doesn't loke to come off of things. You can get a large, porcelain-coated stockpot really cheap at outlet malls or army surplus type stores. You will be boiling around six gallons so you need something that can handle the volume plus expansion and some boiling. A lons, sturdy wood spoon is gonna be handy also. Good luck with your first brew.

Remember. SANITATION IS EVERYTHING. Get some iodophor and clean everything very well. Keep your work areas and your hands clean at all times.
A five-gallon batch only requires a boil of about 2 1/4 gallons. Our local tap water is good, but too highly chlorinated.  I first boil the tap water, then let it sit so the chlorine evaporates out. When it cools to below 170 I add my bag of steeping grains. Half an hour later I take the bag out, and bring it to a boil again. Then I add the LME and first hops. After the boil's finished I pour a 2.5 gallon container of refrigerated spring water into the fermenter, and strain the wort into that. Usually brings it to just around 90 degrees. Let cool a bit longer, then pitch the yeast.

Point being you can easily get by with a 15 quart stock pot, and not fill it to the top. Makes it all easier to handle. But you are correct that sanitation is crucial; once the boil has begun, everything from that point onward must be as sterile as possible.

 
 
They make temperature strips that stick on the carboy so you can tell what the beer temp is. If you do make a hefe weizen use all malt and a liquid yeast. My very first beer ever was a hefe with corn sugar, liquid wheat malt and dry yeast. I got bad advice from a store that's not around anymore. It did not taste like a German wheat at all.
 
as stated in one of the posts, try mr beer. easiest and cheapest intro into homebrewing. i ended up with 2 mr beer fermenters, so i ended up buying 5 gallon kits and splitting into the 2 fermenters. the brew that i made was that good that i absolutely, positively will never drink another mega brew again. once you drink a fresh brew that you crafted, you will wonder how  you drank the domestic monkey piss they pass off as beer.
 
Ive been brewing for the last couple months and home-brew is really damn good. i just went all grain and it was fun i enjoyed brewing all grain. currently i have a peach wheat, APA bottled and am fermenting a all grain Blond ale. just like homemade sausage home-brew is the best!!!!!
 
just to reiterate what everyone else said..start with a GOOD expanded brewing "starter kit"...this will have most everything you need for our first few brews....what I'd personally add to that is a GOOD brew kettle with a thermometer built in...one big enough to boil the entire 5 gallon batch....you'll also need something to COOL down your wort/must quickly..the longer it stays warm, the more possibility of infection or other "off" flavors. and cloudiness as well.

Lastly, you NEED to control your temperature of your wort/must....you can buy fancy PID controlled setups...or simple "brew belts" to keep your wort at a specific temp.

I personally ferment in conicals, so all the "junk" in the wort/must can settle out and be disgarded quickly...plus I have heat jackets controlled by a PID temp controller...so I can ferment at just about any temp I choose, so I can do an Ale, Lager, Hard Cider, Mead, or whatever a particular yeast calls for.

These few items will take your beers from the average "ok" homebrew..to something really nice and tastey that you can be proud to share with others.

Dan
 
Do you drink it right from the Mr. Beer or is there a secondary clarification stage? Never was real big on those. I have seen more people quit homebrewing because of them. I hear they make not so good beer compared to brewing the proper way. You can't really expand your brewing system with them either like you can with a regular kit. When I owned a homebrew store a few years back we refused to sell them. But if it works for you who am I to say different I guess.
 
well, if i went out and bought the best of everything, either brewing equipment, smokers, etc., and didn't take the time to find out the correct way of doing things, it would probably not go so well. i used the mr beer fermenters as a fermentation vehicle. i bought a number of extract kits, created a half dozen of my own recipes, and other than the first brew with booster, they here fantastic brews. i never graduated to ag. just couldn't set aside a half day for brewing. the process is the same as any extract brewing, just a bit more convenient for me.
 
well, that's the impression i got from some of the other forums. i don't think the missus would appreciate me turning the garage into a microbrewery. as a side note, a friend of mine started brewing ag right off the bat. you are right, there is a diff between extract and ag, however, both done correctly produce results that will keep you away from megabrews.
 
hey i have made some really good brew using extracts!! but its a more cheaper to go all grain and there is more choices you add more of your personalty to your home-brew.
 
Good advice from above.  We brew 20-100gal batches here.  My recommendations are to do an extract beer first to learn about the processes.  Actually, do several to gain repeatability.  Then you can move to grain mashing if you want.  The largest problem with home brewers is precision and cleanliness.  Don't know how many times we see people hap hazardly adding this and that.  Remember that after you boil your wart, consider things surgery room sterile.  Anything, even a drip of sweat or the bacteria from your finger is enough to throw a brew.  Document EVERYTHING you do.  We have a friggin novel on brews, results, and impressions on the brew.  I HIGHLY recommend an extract because people commonly just jump all in and then do not know what actually went wrong when it is not quite right.  If you do an extract right, it will taste every bit as good as something you would get at the store.  You half ass the process, you will get a half ass, non-repeatable result.

You will probably read that all grain is better BUT I can put a rookie on on a hot MX pro level bike and he will do nothing but kill himself BUT, if I give that guy a starter bike, then stage things up, he will have respect for the bike and an understanding of what to do.  

We do not bottle here.  Used to and the process just straight SUCKS unless you are retailing at large qty. We pony keg and just put that in cap off bottles for transport.  We will also just kill growlers for functions. 
 
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A five-gallon batch only requires a boil of about 2 1/4 gallons. Our local tap water is good, but too highly chlorinated.  I first boil the tap water, then let it sit so the chlorine evaporates out. When it cools to below 170 I add my bag of steeping grains. Half an hour later I take the bag out, and bring it to a boil again. Then I add the LME and first hops. After the boil's finished I pour a 2.5 gallon container of refrigerated spring water into the fermenter, and strain the wort into that. Usually brings it to just around 90 degrees. Let cool a bit longer, then pitch the yeast.

Point being you can easily get by with a 15 quart stock pot, and not fill it to the top. Makes it all easier to handle. But you are correct that sanitation is crucial; once the boil has begun, everything from that point onward must be as sterile as possible.

 
I stand corrected about boiling the six gallons.. Haven't brewed in a whhile. I do have a five gallon stock pot that easily holds my 3 gallons of boil. I had one boil over because of lack of attention and it made a decent mess on my patio. I would have hated to have that on my stove. If ya use the kitchen, just be carefull.

Here's a few pics I dug up of me and my bro inlaw racking some brew after the secondary fermentation..

Checkin the hydrometer..

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Trying it out, no need to keg and carbonate bad beer...

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And into the keg ready for some co2

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