Hi I'm Dan :)

[DanBarnes]

Hi All.

Looks like a top forum so thought i'd join.

Brand new to all this. At 22 i've taken a massive interest in all types of Ale. I really enjoy the vast difference in taste and characteristics of them.

I'm really keen to start brewing my own and take the process very seriously, ultimately to create a brew i would be happy to use as a product and sell. My aim is to eventually come up with something easy to drink, which will appeal to a wide amount of people and to drag people (mostly my mates down the pub) away from god awful fizzy pop like fosters etc! I think this is a perfect time to get the ball rolling as more and more younger people seem to be jumping on the Ale drinking bandwagon...and why not!

So i send out a cry of help to anyone who can give me and tips on how to get started. I see a lot of you have been doing this for some time, so your experience would be very valuable to me.

In terms of equipment, i would like to have stuff that will see me through the long term. What i mean by this is not beginner kits that i am only going to have to change a few months down the line. What are the best ingredients you have used to start with. I understand that it is the change of hops, that and the most character and that is down the personal preference.

Thanks for your time. Nice to meet you all!

Dan

 

[dennisking]

Hi and welcome, let us know where you live as some one local to you may well invite you to join in a brew day.

 

[calumscott]

Hi Dan and welcome.

The first thing is that "beginner kits" contain (well, if you just go to your LHBS for them) lots of stuff that will stand you in good stead for years and years.

The second thing is that with that basic kit you can brew some pretty good beer - I just started my 20th 5 gallon batch at the weekend and, with one exception, they've all been as good or better than the bottled ales and lagers I used to buy from the supermarket.

Beginner kit really comes down to a fermenter, a bottler, some bottles, an airlock (but you don't even need that), a hydrometer, some long stirring device and that's about it. All of which you will reuse as your brewing progresses...

...that's one of the really great things about the hobby, pretty much everything you start with will be in continual use until it wears out or you do!

Your paths in order of start up cost are:

1) Start with kits
2) BIAB
3) "Full" All Grain

As I said, I'm 20 kit brews in and loving it, I'm just waiting on completion on a house to start building my AG brewery and once I do all the "beginner" kit that I've accumulated so far will just become part of the brewery.

Even if you were going AG there is a lot to be said for brewing up a couple of decent kits while you plan it and build it, for one you'll have some beer to drink! But really you'll get the discipline of meticulous sanitation, the experience of observing fermentation, the skills of racking and bottling and so on before you add in the additional complexity of grain brewing - you can even start to mess around with some of the techniques that you will take to grain brewing like dry hopping or making "hop teas". The "two can" and new "squidgy bag" kits are really quite impressive IMO, I've served a squidgy-bag IPA that I dry hopped with some american hops to an all grain brewing friend of mine and he just looked wide eyed and said "This came from a kit? I'd be happy if I brewed that..."

There are loads of great "how to" guides on the forum, have a good read (I might have written a couple of kit-brewing ones :whistle: ) and ask away, the guys here will help you find your feet, and help you down whatever brewing path your choose.

Mines a pint... :

 

[charlie_mead_face]

welcome to the forum :

 

[DanBarnes]

Hi and welcome, let us know where you live as some one local to you may well invite you to join in a brew day.

Hi there!

I'm from Southampton, Hampshire

Cheers for your welcome

 

[graysalchemy]

Hi and welcome to the forum glad to see you are enjoying real ale. :thumb:

 

[joe1002]

Welcome to the forum :

 

[Vossy1]

Welcome aboard :thumb: