I just bought a home brew kit.

[jbland]

I have been wanting to do this for some time and never had the money, time or space to do so. But finally I do so I am picking up my kit tomorrow. The first beer I am going to brew is an oatmeal stout.

Do any of you brew your own beer, if so do you have any suggestions?

I cant want to get started.

[logic1977]

find a local brew club, buddy of mine from work stated out with a home brew kit, but he really got better by getting with other doing the same thing

[Montsta]

Make sure you have a 5 gallon glass carboy and a bottling needle, and the rest is gravy.

[j2sgam]

King Klong is our resident homebrew, uh, king... Hit him up for tricks of the trade...:thumbsup:

[jbland]

Thanks guys!

[PantherBrew]

I am the resident brewmaster goddamnit.

lol, anyways, just make sure you sanitize, don't get lazy.

Are you planning on doing all-grain or extract?

Don't be afraid to play with recipes, even if you buy a kit of ingredients, toy with the recipe and have some fun with it. IMO, brewing is boring when you go by the books.

Always drink beer while making beer, but not too many or you'll get sloppy. I have forgotten to add irish moss twice because of too many beers.

Oh yeah, sanitize everything.

Set alarms with your phone or something, make sure to stay with the times as good as possible.

If you know someone who brews, invite them over, it always helps to have a little experience present.

If doing extract, don't squeeze the grain bag.

Don't boil too hard, nice, controlled rolling boil.

Oh yeah, sanitize.

and have fun. Don't make it a chore, cause sometimes it can be that way.

Oh yeah, clean your poo right after the boil. It is ten times harder to clean when the stuff dries.

[Shufdog]

I got one for Christmas, I haven't got it out yet though. Y'all keep saying sanitize, will I poison somebody or something?

[PantherBrew]

I got one for Christmas, I haven't got it out yet though. Y'all keep saying sanitize, will I poison somebody or something?

No, if bacteria gets into the batch, it could stop the fermentation process,and/or it could multiply and spoil the whole batch.

I've never had it happen to me, but it would suck to spend several hours and $$$ on brewing, and a month after fermentation find out that it messed it.

[jbland]

I will make sure to keep it sterile. Thanks for the input guys, keep it coming.

[Kettle]

Theres a thread for home brewing. I just bumped it a little earlier. Also, buy "The complete joy of homebrewing" by Charlie Papazian. Its great for reference and has some recipes in it.

And bruce does know more than me I think. He does all grain where I just steep a little and then boil extract on top of that.

[PantherBrew]

Theres a thread for home brewing. I just bumped it a little earlier. Also, buy "The complete joy of homebrewing" by Charlie Papazian. Its great for reference and has some recipes in it.

And bruce does know more than me I think. He does all grain where I just steep a little and then boil extract on top of that.

haha, nah man I was just talking crap.

You know your stuff.

I need to learn the more advanced stuff, as well as, I just need to brew more, but I am a little cash short at the moment.

[Kettle]

This is the thread. http://www.carolinahuddle.com/forum/the-lounge/56037-the-official-home-brew-thread.html

I'm really looking forward to the next two brews that I just posted about there. Drinking on a bock right now with about a case and a half left.

[Hairless Cat]

I got one of these for xmas- Ive been making wine for about 30 years now but the only time I ever tried beer it was a giant fail because I believe of sanitation. anyone ever use a Mr Beer kit? it looks like its for beginners like me

[Kettle]

Mr beer is very basic but gets you started. My wife bought me the similar coopers kit. If I had gotten myself started I would have bought the true brew or brewers best kits. They are more complete. Regardless of what you get, if you enjoy it you will end up buying more. I now have a few hundred dollars of equipment in addition to what I started with.