Well in the pass few week i really been thinking about getting in to home brewing and i just want to know how much money i have to invest to get started? also i live in southern California and i am not sure how the weather here will effect my fermentation? Well i want to make a wheat brew so if anybody has in advice it would really help me out thanks.
You can buy home brewing starter kits. Here's one that would get you started.
http://www.brewmasterswarehouse.com/product/0101895/silver-starter-kit
IMO, it's better if you can boil the full volume (beginning volume is ~6.5 gallon) than boiling a couple of gallons and topping up with water, but either will work for you. If you have a
turkey fryer, you can use it for the boil kettle.
I ferment all of my ales between 59F and 63F depending on the yeast strain. Remember, fermentation is exothermic, so the ambient temp is not the actual temp inside your fermenter. There are fairly simple ways to adjust ferment temps. Something as simple as partially submerging your fermenter in water. Place frozen 2-liter bottles in the water to keep both the water and beer cooler than ambient temp.
A wheat beer is typically pitched with an ale yeast. They're pretty straight forward. When using extract, it'll be ~6 lb of extract, some hops added at different times during the boil, and yeast.
Do you prefer a weizen (german wheat) which typically has more of a banana/clove flavor or an American wheat that's hop forward?
If a weizen, here's a simple, solid recipe:
http://www.brewmasterswarehouse.com/recipe/42345095/shoultzmeyer-brewery-dont-call-me-hefe
If an American wheat, try this one:
http://www.brewmasterswarehouse.com/recipe/ff78ccf5/shoultzmeyer-brewery-golden-us-wheat
Any other questions, ask :mug: