Buying my first home brewing kit...help?
Welcome.
Not to pitch one website over another, however I have always had good luck w/ midwest and their prices work out slightly better than most. Their shipping charges are true and not built into the price, so you may find your order being dirt cheap, but then shipping will make it comparable to most.
A brown ale or stout or porter would be a good recomendation for your first, everyone is impatient with their first batch, they want the fruits of their labor appreciated, and impatience sneeks in. If you do a beer that dosn't need to clear in a secondary you can go from brewday to bottles in under 2 weeks and drinking good beer in a month. I suggest following up shortly thereafter with another brew so you can be more patient with that one.
As for the lager, if you prefer that style, maybe try a kolsch kit, you can use an ale yeast and temps, but get a very lager like beer result.
thirsty wrote:
Welcome.
Not to pitch one website over another, however I have always had good luck w/ midwest and their prices work out slightly better than most. Their shipping charges are true and not built into the price, so you may find your order being dirt cheap, but then shipping will make it comparable to most.
A brown ale or stout or porter would be a good recomendation for your first, everyone is impatient with their first batch, they want the fruits of their labor appreciated, and impatience sneeks in. If you do a beer that dosn't need to clear in a secondary you can go from brewday to bottles in under 2 weeks and drinking good beer in a month. I suggest following up shortly thereafter with another brew so you can be more patient with that one.
As for the lager, if you prefer that style, maybe try a kolsch kit, you can use an ale yeast and temps, but get a very lager like beer result.
Great...thanks Thirsty. I'm hoping the impatience isn't an issue with me, but you guys have been doing this longer and would know more than me. I don't think I'll have a problem waiting...however long it takes as long as I can do it right.
Thanks so much for all your help guys...
I've used Midwest once, and they were pretty good......also check out www.beer-wine.com. They ship from Woburn , MA so it may be less to get it to NJ...and I'd say their prices are comparable.
Thanks Ricka!
Nuno wrote:
Great...thanks Thirsty. I'm hoping the impatience isn't an issue with me, but you guys have been doing this longer and would know more than me. I don't think I'll have a problem waiting...however long it takes as long as I can do it right.
Thanks so much for all your help guys...
I thought the same thing at first too. It is much more difficult when you have 48 bottles of your very own beer sitting on a shelf in the next room though. My first batch barley lasted 1.5 months from its brewing day. Still working on patience, but it does help to brew as much as you can.
Good brewing!
Oh...patience in drinking it after it's bottled isn't an issue...no patience there. But I will be patient to let the brewing process take it's full course...if I'm gonna drink it, no cutting corners. LOL
Thanks
McBrewer wrote:
I thought the same thing at first too. It is much more difficult when you have 48 bottles of your very own beer sitting on a shelf in the next room though. My first batch barley lasted 1.5 months from its brewing day. Still working on patience, but it does help to brew as much as you can.
I started off being very patient to the point where I wouldn't even crack a bottle open until 2-3 weeks after bottling. Now I'm lucky if I make 24 hours. I love tasting my brews periodically to see how the flavors change and meld together from day 1 to until they're all gone. And yes, you are right about brewing as much as you can. It keeps your mind occupied so you're not constantly thinking about those 2 cases of scotch ale aging in the back of your brew closet.
And on another note, Midwest is a good website that I've ordered from multiple times. Other good sites with decent shipping include:
http://www.williamsbrewing.com/
http://www.austinhomebrew.com
http://morebeer.com/view_product/15912/102142
You will need a propane burner, but starting with this will leave you alot less to upgrade when you decide to go all-grain (and you will) .......and free shipping 
Thanks dartgod...a little more than I wanted to spend right now, but probably worth it. Definitely worth considering.
Quick question, some starter kits come with a wort chiller, and some do not. Being that I've never done this before, how imperative is it that I get a kit that includes one?
Nano wrote:
Quick question, some starter kits come with a wort chiller, and some do not. Being that I've never done this before, how imperative is it that I get a kit that includes one?
Wort chillers aren't a must have on the beginner level especially if you're not doing a full boil but I would recommend it. I like my immersion wort chiller because I don't like sitting around waiting. Combined with a cold water bath I can bring my wort from a boil to 75 degrees in 10-12 minutes. If you don't get a kit that includes one, there are different methods to lowering your wort temperature such as an ice water bath, adding ice from a sanitized container and even sticking your brew pot in a snow bank.