Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge brewing beer

I am looking to brew my own beer. A Sam Adams type would be nice. I know there are some brew masters on here so any help would be appreciated. I am looking for a decent kit.

I'm not exactly a brewmaster yet... actually today I am bottling my first two batches, so it'll be a couple weeks before I know how successful I am at it.

But anyway, I got a Mr Beer kit off a buddy of mine and it seems to be a pretty good starting point, and at a decent price too.
Really all you need is the fermenting keg, a cooking pot, spoon and measuring cup, and bottles - that's it.
On the other end of the spectrum is primary and secondary fermenters, hydrometers, airlocks, bottling taps, scales, etc.
I got three of the fermenting kegs and some other stuff from him, and bought some of the malt extract cans from the Mr Beer site. Then I bought a "Homebrewing for Dummies" book for ideas, and went to my local homebrewing shop for extras to add in - hops, corn sugar, an additive for better head, flavorings.
I started with a Nut Brown and pretty much followed the dirctions for that one, than I cooked up a Witbier and got creative with it. My next project is a stout, and I'm just going to use the canned malt extract as a base and cook it up with specialty malt and lactose and molasses etc. We'll see how that one goes.

Anyway, I tasted both of the batches last night and they were pretty good (other than them still being uncarbonated). The Witbier turned out better than I expected, wish I didn't have to wait two more weeks after I bottle them today.

With the MrBeer, you minimize the equipment you need to buy and it only takes an hour or two to get your batch in the keg and fermenting, quick and simple. Plus as a bachelor in an apartment, I don't have room for all the advanced gear. But I figure this is a good way to master the basics of brewing before I get all complicated.

Good luck with it - I know I've been having fun checking on my kegs every evening and looking forward to the tasty results

I just got done brewing my second batch, a Rogue Dead Guy Ale. my first batch, a scotish ale, is still in the secondary fermantor. It needs another week or so to go.
You can go with MR Beer or with a 'real' starter kit (bucket fermentor, glass carboy, hydrometer, syphon, capper, etc) for arround $75-100. Either will get you hooked and you will want more gear.
A batch of clone beer runs between $40-50, makes about 60 12 ounce bottles. (price of hops has trippled in past year)
Anyway it is a lot of fun, and something to do when I can't be riding. "the waiting is the hardest part" to solve that you need more gear so there is always beer brewing and bottling.
Hope that helps, check out homebrewtalk.com they have a bunch of info and links to other sites.
Cheers

Very simple to make. Get two 3 pound bags of Munton medium dry malt extract (or two big cans of a brown ale/nutbrown kit - again muntons or coopers are great).
Bring about 3 gallons of water to a boil, then VERY SLOWLY add the extract over about 10 minutes and bring it back to a boil. Add about an ounce of northern brewer, cascade or golding hops as soon as it is boiling. If you use the liquid, you can stop the boil and proceed to the cooling by adding enough cold water to get 5 gallons of 75º wort (rhymes with dirt). DO NOT pour the boiling liquid into a glass carboy and then add cold water - you will shatter the glass and make a huge mess.
If you used dry malt extract, boil it for 60 minutes, adding another 1/2 ounce of hops when there is 15 minutes left to the hour of boiling. Then do the cooling by adding cold sterile water to bring 5 gallons to 75ºF. nThen shake the crap out of it for awhile to saturate the liquid with oxygen. Then add your yeast. be sure to follow the directions on the package of either the liquid or rehydrate dry yeast first. The liquid white labs is excellent yeast to use, you can pour it right onto the wort without making a starter like you should with the wyeast smackpacks.
Let this concoction sit in a room where you can control the temp to be no more then 75ºF. This is the most important part, temperature is the key to good brewing, as is sanitization. If it is too warm, it will taste like gasoline (fuesel alcohol, bleech) too cold and it takes too long to finish. I just put a baggie on the lid of the carboy and wrap a rubber band around it, no need for the fancy bubblers, everything is being expelled with the fermentation process, don't fret infections getting into the brew at this stage. The baggie allows it to outgas just fine and is far less of a hassle.
If your room is not the right temp, place the carboy into a large plastic muck bucket and fill it with water as high as you can get it. Then you can add frozen soda bottles of water for cooling. Swap the botles twice a day and you can maintain an very nice 72ºF even in the hottest summer months.
Anyway, let it sit in the fermentor for at least 3 weeks, patience grasshopper....if you can let it sit even a month to be sure it is done fermenting.
Then go,ahead and bottle'keg depending on your desired method. I highly recommend getting some small coke/pepsi kegs and a CO2 tank and skip all the bottle cleaning and hassle. Far easier to clean and bottle one big keg then it is 54 small bottles, lots more room for error bottling as well. kegs rule.
Have fun, and check out my site, I also have a big homebrewing section. Dinqua.com