Home Brewing...

Guinea pig here too...and I don't have to worry about getting up for work the next day. 

  #1 Sanitation, sanitation, sanitation is critical, you don't want to spend hours boiling and siphoning just to end up with spoiled beer due to a bacterial infection from poor sanitation.  When in doubt sanitize and then sanitize again.  #2 Would be temperature control during fermentation.  As you gain more experience this will probably become #1,

Wiser words have not been typed.

MolBasser

Agreed! I didn't mention this in the earlier posts but they are dead on correct about minimizing temp fluctuations. In my home set up I've got a Ranco dual stage temperature controller hooked up to a chest freezer and brew belt, which allows me to precisely keep temps within 1 degree of my target temps while fermenting. Making this change was when my beers went from good to great. But it ain't cheap and it took me about 3 years before I moved up to this level of control. At first you're going to want to focus on getting comfortable with the process of brewing and then begin making the process/equipment upgrades that will result in perfecting your beer.

The advice I've followed for learning as I got started was the following progression:
1. Move to full boil (I started here)
2. Control your fermentation temps - this can be as simple as finding a cool place in your house to ferment and use a brew belt to increase temps as needed
3. Use yeast starters (pitch the ideal amount of yeast for the beer your making)

By the time you're comfortable with all three steps above you'll know enough about what you want to do as a brewer to pick your own direction. You could look at learning all grain brewing, or perfecting your fermentation temp controls, or you might be perfectly happy with what you're making and how you're doing it. 
I will say though, you can make some great beers with extract, but if you ever want to get a greater amount of control over your product you'll need to brew all grain to get it.

Another great source, but often overwhelming, is homebrewtalk.com. I learned a lot on that site, but I also confused myself plenty of times due to some of the people being really lazy about their processes while others are "over the top" in their precision, and they all think their way is the best. 
I'd also recommend bookmarking the site www.mrmalty.com.

Thanks for all of the information so far.  It's really been very helpful to me and will hopefully help me to avoid a few failures.


I'm really looking forward to buying the equipment and figuring it all out.

Angel, there is an entertaining weekly podcast called Basic Brewing Radio. They also have some vids on YouTube. I've learned a lot during my commute hours.

I'm taking a field trip to the Russian river Brewery and to the North Coast Brewery  for inspiration. 

I'll report back Sunday. 

I'm planning on going to morebeer on Sunday and will pick up a keggle next weekend.

The wheels are rolling.

I'm taking a field trip to the Russian river Brewery and to the North Coast Brewery  for inspiration. 

The more I read the more interested I am becoming.
Going to take a field trip to Powell's Steamers right now. They have 24 beers on tap.

When? I'm not far away. Drop by "the beverage people" on piner road about a mile away from RRBC. Best homebrew shop around.

I would highly recommend full boil straight away.

You're gonna buy the pot anyway, just do it now.  Your extract beers will be much better.

MolBasser

We were at Russian River this afternoon.  Now we're at North Coast. 

I think we'll drop by Russian River again tomorrow

*shameless plug*

Check out www.brews-bros.com

That is my online homebrew club.  Awesome forum with great people and a ton of knowledge.

I ride the same handle.

*/shameless plug*

MolBasser

Field Trip Report:  RRBC kicks a lot of ass.  They have a lot of good beers. At first taste I didn't like the sours but then decided that they are actually pretty good.  I was a bit disappointed that they didn't sell it in growlers and that they didn't have bottles of the one I liked most.  Hanging out in the brewery meeting others was fun...it was only 2PM on friday and the place was packed with people who didn't look like they were planning on leaving anytime soon.

North Coast Brewery...totally different place.  I'd been there before and I like thier beers but after having hung out at RRBC just a few hours before made it seem a bit dull.  Not a bad place at all and I'd definetely go back but if I was on a brewery tour that would not be the place I'd like to end the tour.

On the other hand staying at the North Cliff Hotel was very nice.

============================================

For fathers day a friend of mine gave me a "Mr. Beer" kit.  It seems pretty cool, obviously a bit of a toy compared to a real set up but still pretty cool.  Having received the kit made me think a bit harder about buying a real one.

I finally started my first batch of the Mr. Beer kit yesterday. It came with two batches.  Omar and I checked it this morning and the fermenting seems to be coming along pretty well... the wort seems to have started bubbling and the beer is venting, I had to clean up the mess this morning (lesson learned).  Day 1 down, only 13 days left for the fermenting and then 14 for bottling and then finally drinking.

Sunday I also drove out to MoreBeer in Los Altos.  It's a very cool place and Gary (I think that was the guys name) was pretty patient with my questions.  The goal was to go in and just "look" but I'm not much of a looker and instead prefer instant gratification so I walked out of there with a kit, minus the boiler. 

I'm planning on picking up the keggle next week in Sonora since my mom lives out that way.  I spoke to the guy who makes them and he seemed pretty pleasant to deal with.  Said he'd have what I was looking for ready but that if I needed any mods done to it he'd be able to get it done in about 20 minutes.

When I got home with the kit I pulled it all out and looked it over, there were a couple of small pieces that were in there that I didn't know anything about...I'll have to ask questions about them.  But for the most part I think I understand most of it.

I was going to take the chance and try to brew a batch yesterday evening but the pot I was going to use (my crab cooking pot) smells like crab so I decided against using it.  I'll wait until I get something that's not going to make the beer taste so much like seafood.   


Spent a lot of time on YouTube checking things out.  I notice that lots of people seem to use buckets as the primary fermenter and a carboy as a secondary fermenter.  Why is that?  It doesn't sound like a secondary fermenter is always necessary....when is it necessary?


Molbasser, I'll be joining your forum later today...so if you see a bunch of silly questions from some knucklehead named Pacifico just know it'll be me.   

I have this setup from More Beer
http://morebeer.com/products/personal-home-brewery-kit-4-bottling-super-deluxe-1.html  I also have 5 cornelius kegs that I used for kegging which is much easier than bottling. It is just collecting dust and haven't brewed in a while if interested I can get some photos. the kegs run around 40 each and work great and are much easier to deal with.  Plus a bunch of other accessories. If anyone is interested just send me a pm
Later
Jimbo

I have this setup from More Beer
http://morebeer.com/products/personal-home-brewery-kit-4-bottling-super-deluxe-1.html  I also have 5 cornelius kegs that I used for kegging which is much easier than bottling. It is just collecting dust and haven't brewed in a while if interested I can get some photos. the kegs run around 40 each and work great and are much easier to deal with.  Plus a bunch of other accessories. If anyone is interested just send me a pm
Later
Jimbo

PM sent!!!

Please don't judge the quality of homebrewing by the product of the Mr. Beer kit.

Secondary fermentation vessels are used to rack the beer off of flocculated yeast as should be done for flavor reasons, but you will get lots of people who say it isn't worth it.

MolBasser

This thread has me wanting to brew again.  I think I will never bottle again though!   Kegs only!

My lab is an ideal spot to brew and I have a basement that will be great for maintaining a good temp for ales in the summer and lagers in the winter. 

I can create pure water with the Reverse Osmosis Dionization system I have.  A few burners and I'm set.   

It is a bit of a drive for most but I'm open to a winter brew party hook up if anyone is interested. 

Brew on brothers!


Eric Morgan
Trident Ultra 4.7
Not the guy selling the Outback
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