Where to start ???

[The_Sleevez]

So I noticed a fair number of my fellows here craft their own oat sodas. This is something I have been considering for awhile and I think I am ready to give it a whirl. I was thinking I would start with one of those pre made brew at home type kits just to learn the process. I understand cleanliness and sterilization are key. But was wondering if anyone has any tips or advice for a beginner?.

[Masked Dude]

I'll nudge my brother to chime in. He's the beer mad scientist.

[jgiffin]

I'm new, too, but here's a bit of what I've learned so far: (1) get a bigger kettle/pot than you think you need - I'd recommend 10 gallons, 7 at the very least; (2) pitch more yeast than called for in a standard recipe - two/three smackpacks if that's what you're using; (3) go to a homebrew store and ask them questions - they're into this stuff; (4) take your time at first and plan out your brewday - no rushing around; and (5) use a blow-off tube instead of a bubbler for the first couple days - the initial fermentation can be aggressive, particularly if you followed my advice about the yeast.

Good luck! I hope you post your experiences and results.

[Hominid]

Go to youtube and search for craigtube.  He has a bunch of basic brewing videos that are short and very informative.  I'm partial to him because he's Canadian...

Like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uL5IaFD5k7g

[Kinku]

I would start with buying a book on how to brew beer it'll take you through the whole process. Another good idea is to go to Amazon.com and look up Brooklyn Brewshop. They have kits to brew beer that includes a glass carboy as well as other equipment and ingredients. It's for a 1 gallon batch but you can reuse the equipment and this way if you need up you don't have to pour 5 gallons down the drain it drink it til it's all gone. If you do but one of these kits you should probably buy another 1 gallon carboy for secondary fermentation.

[Jefftos]

I know lots of homebrewers like to say that you should invest in a big 10 to 20 gallon pot and encourage making vast quantities of beer to people new to the hobby. But to be honest after my first 4 batches going to shit because of mistakes made on my part even after reading up as much as I could before my brewing each batch. I'm going to actually suggest smaller batches until you get used to the process. do a 5 gallon pot with a three gallon carboy. Look into "brew in a bag" so you can do a full volume boil and that'll get you about 2.5 gallons. That's somewhere around 24 bottles per batch. Or even do one gallon brews until you get the hang of it and are used to your equipment and local water. That being said here are some lessons I've learned in the last six months or so.

1. If your using tap water, invest in campden tablets. It'll kill the chlorine. If you don't your batches are going to come out tasting like swimming pool. It took me three five gallon batches to learn that lesson. On the other hand spring water will work just fine in a pinch.

2. If your re hydrating your yeast and you boil the water just before hand. Wait till it cools before putting your yeast in that water. It shouldn't have to be said but boiling water will kill your yeast.

3. Another great thing about doing small batches is that you don't have to do the whole, "I'm going to make a yeast starter" thing just yet. Just one yeast packet will do the trick for 2.5 gallons and you really don't need to worry about not having enough yeast.

4. Clean and sanitize, just do it. Or you'll get lazy and end up with a lacto infection in your english pale ale that you totally thought was going to be the batch that made it.

5. I found writing out what I needed to do for each brewday like a checklist to be helpful, that and, don't drink too much during brewday, especially for your first.

6. Beersmith is a wonderful little program that'll help you design your own beers or even to scale an existing recipe to a smaller size.

7. "How to Brew" By John Palmer is probably the best resource to learn about it if you want a quick overview and then later on you can start getting into the deeper stuff if you like, like water chemistry and such.

8. You probably don't need a secondary fermentor, when I started it seemed that all the literature was pulling me to do it, but unless your brewing lagers or something that needs to sit for longer than a month or so, just let it sit in primary for the about three weeks and that will clear it up more than enough. Even my shitty batches were poured clear, they just tasted like shit.

9. It isn't a cheap hobby, most of the fun for me is in the process of making mistakes and correcting them. Your first few batches are likely to range from horrible to just okay. Don't let that discourage you, in the end it's a really fun time just putting it all together. Being able to drink it and share it with friends is only one aspect of it.

[DigitalBuddha]

Hey Jefftos dude, welcome to our beer community...oh, sorry, beach community! Good to have you here, mang. Awesome advice on home grown brew, dude! Grab an oat soda and abide!

[Masked Dude]

Hi, Jefftos!

Kinku (my brother) would agree. He has so many recipes and is always trying out new ones. It costs money to experiment, and you don't want to go broke.

[The_Sleevez]

Thanks for all the advice I am picking up a complete kit from a friend of a friend who runs a home brew shop. I should have everything I need and I am doing one of those everything you need in a bag kits just to learn the process. Once I have a successful batch or two then I plan to start playing mad chemist / brew master.

[jgiffin]

I know lots of homebrewers like to say that you should invest in a big 10 to 20 gallon pot and encourage making vast quantities of beer to people new to the hobby. But to be honest after my first 4 batches going to shit because of mistakes made on my part even after reading up as much as I could before my brewing each batch. I'm going to actually suggest smaller batches until you get used to the process. do a 5 gallon pot with a three gallon carboy.

1. If your using tap water, invest in campden tablets. It'll kill the chlorine. If you don't your batches are going to come out tasting like swimming pool. It took me three five gallon batches to learn that lesson. On the other hand spring water will work just fine in a pinch.

Lots of good advice in this dude's post. Campden or an equivalent is necessary if you have city water. Gypsum is another good water additive. Unless you absolutely know you have hard water (preferred for many styles of beer) a bit of gypsum will add enough to cover you.

I gotta stick with my pot-size advice, though. Starting with small batches if fine - even advisable. But you're going to do a 5 gallon batch pretty soon. If you only have a 5-7 gallon pot, you either have to do a partial boil or risk a dangerous and messy overflow - particularly at the boiling point and/or first hop addition. Well, or buy a bigger pot. So why not start off with that and save $40-50 bucks.

[Jefftos]

I know lots of homebrewers like to say that you should invest in a big 10 to 20 gallon pot and encourage making vast quantities of beer to people new to the hobby. But to be honest after my first 4 batches going to shit because of mistakes made on my part even after reading up as much as I could before my brewing each batch. I'm going to actually suggest smaller batches until you get used to the process. do a 5 gallon pot with a three gallon carboy.

1. If your using tap water, invest in campden tablets. It'll kill the chlorine. If you don't your batches are going to come out tasting like swimming pool. It took me three five gallon batches to learn that lesson. On the other hand spring water will work just fine in a pinch.

Lots of good advice in this dude's post. Campden or an equivalent is necessary if you have city water. Gypsum is another good water additive. Unless you absolutely know you have hard water (preferred for many styles of beer) a bit of gypsum will add enough to cover you.

I gotta stick with my pot-size advice, though. Starting with small batches if fine - even advisable. But you're going to do a 5 gallon batch pretty soon. If you only have a 5-7 gallon pot, you either have to do a partial boil or risk a dangerous and messy overflow - particularly at the boiling point and/or first hop addition. Well, or buy a bigger pot. So why not start off with that and save $40-50 bucks.

I'd agree with you there. My only real point was that you don't necessarily need to buy all the things when you are just starting out. I remember when I had my starting budget of about 300 dollars and I was so excited to get started, only to find that 300 bucks wasn't going to get me all that far in equipment. It did however, get me the basics, 5 gallon stock pot, fermentor, carboy, thermometer, airlocks, my first extract batch and so on. With a small budget like that I didn't have the 100 to 250 dollars or so to throw down on a 15 gallon pot. Plus when you do upgrade, that old five gallon pot comes in handy for other small jobs. But I suppose if your starting out and you've got more money to play with or if you can find the equipment for cheaper then a larger pot is just fine.

[jgiffin]

True enough, Jefftos. And, certainly, if somebody already has a large stock pot lying around it wouldn't make sense to buy a bigger one just to see if they like brewing. I hope you check out some of our other brewing posts. I learned a lot just from your first nine pointers.