Looking to brew my own beer, where are some good places to start?

[Saltin]

Be ready to brew complete crap the first few times. It takes a little hands on experience to get the hang of it, best books or not.

 

[spyordie007]

I find that incredible.... even here in madison (200,000 people) we have a homebrewers store...

There are actually a couple of places that you can go here to brew beer, but there isnt a "homebrewer's store" that I'm aware of (Portland area has a little over 1Mil.). Anyone from the Portland/Vancouver area know of anything please feel free to correct me.

-Spy

 

[Antisocial Virge]

Its been a long while since I brewed my own but did any of you guys find your beer to be very strong alcohol wise? I tested it for content and it didn't seem high but after you drank a few it felt like someone hit me between the eyes with a hammer 😉 Some good though.

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

Originally posted by: Saltin
Be ready to brew complete crap the first few times. It takes a little hands on experience to get the hang of it, best books or not.

Keep your equipment CLEAN and STERILE and follow a recipe and you will do just fine.

Sterilize everything.

Always minimize the amount of air that gets mixed into your wort. Air is your enemy.

Buy a good strain of yeast (about $2-5).

 

[spyordie007]

Originally posted by: Saltin
Be ready to brew complete crap the first few times. It takes a little hands on experience to get the hang of it, best books or not.

It wont hurt my feelings too badly if most of the first batch just gets thrown away. Should be fun learning how to make it, plus once I get decent at it beer would make a damn good gift 😀

Beats spending all the money on good bottled beer and gin (the 2 alcoholic beverages I drink 95% of the time).

-Spy

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

Originally posted by: Antisocial-Virge
Its been a long while since I brewed my own but did any of you guys find your beer to be very strong alcohol wise? I tested it for content and it didn't seem high but after you drank a few it felt like someone hit me between the eyes with a hammer 😉 Some good though.

i always measure the gravity of my beer pre and post fermentation to estimate the alcohol. anywhere from 3-7 %. I like my beers around 4%. Made a Cider once with 10% oh boy that kicked a lot of unsuspecting asses!

 

[Antisocial Virge]

I think my first batch was probably my best 🙂 The only bad batches I had were not real bad just not my kind of beer. Never had one go skunky or anything.

 

[Zebo]

LOl moonshine is illegal🙂