Greetings from Virginia

[KaijuSoul]

How do you do!
I figured I would make an introduction since that seems customary. Kai here, yeah really, its Kai and its Norwegian! Although I was not fortunate enough to be born in Norway, thats where I come from culturally.

I have long had an interest in the magic of home brewing for a few years, ever since i learned its practically two of my great fascinations. cooking, and potions! Im a potion crafting nerd, I love apothecary based games. Finally this year though is when I'm finally taking the leap. I havent yet purchased my equipment, but ive got my list all planned out, and will be purchasing it in about a month or so. Im going for a complete basic set up, nothing fancy, good advice gathered said thats all you truly need. As long as you have that you can do whatever. So thats the plan.

I just love the magic and passion of homebrewing, and as ive discovered, it really fits who i am. Theres so much to learn too! I love learning things, and something near endless in its possibilities and experiments like homebrewing? SIGN ME UP!

Long time ive been looking for that thing, that thing that lets your soul finally gasp for air, and it turned out that homebrewing was the thing. Also being autistic, well finding a gateway to get out there, is a tough thing. I really fell in love with the homebrewing communities personality, and look forward to many happy years, and many tasty brews.

 

[Minbari]

Welcome to the group.

How long have you been brewing?

 

[KaijuSoul]

Thanks. Actually completely new to it! its a fun new leap to take for a new year. Im building my knowledge base before i get my equipment in about a month.

 

[Sandy Feet]

Buy the John Palmer book "How to Brew". Lots of good information in that book. I would also look at simple Brew In a Bag set-ups. Keep in mind if you go that route, and want to brew 5 gallon batches, you will need a big kettle. Look at the 15 or 16 gallon ones, and also start thinking about how you are going to heat that much water (about 8 gallons to make 5 gallons with BIAB).
I am lucky enough to be able to brew outside almost all year. After having some challenges and some very serious safety concerns from a camp stove, I spent the big bucks and bought a Blichmann Hell Fire. If you are brewing inside, you might want to look at where you can plug in a 220V electric burner. If someone in your household gets pissy about what malt and hops smell liked when cooked, keep in mind it will smell that way inside for a few days without having everything open. You also need to think about temperature control when you ferment.
By the way, welcome.

 

[KaijuSoul]

Buy the John Palmer book "How to Brew". Lots of good information in that book. I would also look at simple Brew In a Bag set-ups. Keep in mind if you go that route, and want to brew 5 gallon batches, you will need a big kettle. Look at the 15 or 16 gallon ones, and also start thinking about how you are going to heat that much water (about 8 gallons to make 5 gallons with BIAB).
I am lucky enough to be able to brew outside almost all year. After having some challenges and some very serious safety concerns from a camp stove, I spent the big bucks and bought a Blichmann Hell Fire. If you are brewing inside, you might want to look at where you can plug in a 220V electric burner. If someone in your household gets pissy about what malt and hops smell liked when cooked, keep in mind it will smell that way inside for a few days without having everything open. You also need to think about temperature control when you ferment.
By the way, welcome.

indeed i have palmers book on my list, its so highly reccomended that i thought of it as part of my basic essentials. i will be doing BIAB method at first but i have interest in all methods, and all styles. however im choosing to do small batch of 1 gallon fermentations. everything im getting will fit into my kitchen and its not so much excess beer that i cant drink or give it away. plus doing single gallon batches i can rotate and experiment more frequently without breaking the bank.

one day though id hope to move to a better location and brew outside too, with larger batches. Thanks very much for the welcome and advice!

 

[Ward Chillington]

Welcome and good choice of places to learn!

Where in Virginia are you? If you're near a good homebrew shop, go in and chat it up with the help, they'll be happy to set you up. Since you are starting small, you may have all of, or a good amount of the equipment for your first brewday. Craigslist is another hardware option against bank breaking! You might want to do a couple of extract batches before the more complicated grain route since there's less dialing in work to figure out.

 

[KaijuSoul]

Welcome and good choice of places to learn!

Where in Virginia are you? If you're near a good homebrew shop, go in and chat it up with the help, they'll be happy to set you up. Since you are starting small, you may have all of, or a good amount of the equipment for your first brewday. Craigslist is another hardware option against bank breaking! You might want to do a couple of extract batches before the more complicated grain route since there's less dialing in work to figure out.

im in lynchburg, there arent any homebrew shops close by, but i found resources lists and im ordering my equipment piecemeal. Youre right, i do have quite a few things on hand already, including a spare cooler that isnt doing anything. which when i get my equipment ill have everything i need, plus im getting enough carboys that i can rotate 4 single gallon batches.

ive heard that extracts are a great place to start, and ill likely do one round of those to get familiar, but the BIAB seems super easy as well. my plan is to start with a nice simple traditional mead to become familiar with the process, then an amber ale, pale ale, then finally a stout. then work those basics, trying with extracts then move to each style of process. i think theres a nuance to each process and im going to try them all to find my favorites.

Edit: i did however find a reliable homebrewers shop i can order from and they have a great selection.

 

[Zambi]

Welcome!
There are a couple of people here doing smallish batches. Some with real simple set ups (like me), some a bit more sophisticated.
Try to start with a simple beer like a blonde before tackling dry hopping, neipa's etc.

 

[Ward Chillington]

im in lynchburg, there arent any homebrew shops close by, but i found resources lists and im ordering my equipment piecemeal. Youre right, i do have quite a few things on hand already, including a spare cooler that isnt doing anything. which when i get my equipment ill have everything i need, plus im getting enough carboys that i can rotate 4 single gallon batches.

ive heard that extracts are a great place to start, and ill likely do one round of those to get familiar, but the BIAB seems super easy as well. my plan is to start with a nice simple traditional mead to become familiar with the process, then an amber ale, pale ale, then finally a stout. then work those basics, trying with extracts then move to each style of process. i think theres a nuance to each process and im going to try them all to find my favorites.

Edit: i did however find a reliable homebrewers shop i can order from and they have a great selection.

Like @Zambi said, there's a number of small batchers on here and trust me...plenty of folks with advice and know how...make use of it. Check out the how to's out there on you tube...( i found this guy a good source)

https://beernbbqbylarry.com/

and buy yourself a bottle of star san and take care to keep things sanitary. Best sign I ever saw in a brewery was " Cleaning is what you do when you're not brewing"!

 

[Sandy Feet]

im in lynchburg, there arent any homebrew shops close by, but i found resources lists and im ordering my equipment piecemeal. Youre right, i do have quite a few things on hand already, including a spare cooler that isnt doing anything. which when i get my equipment ill have everything i need, plus im getting enough carboys that i can rotate 4 single gallon batches.

ive heard that extracts are a great place to start, and ill likely do one round of those to get familiar, but the BIAB seems super easy as well. my plan is to start with a nice simple traditional mead to become familiar with the process, then an amber ale, pale ale, then finally a stout. then work those basics, trying with extracts then move to each style of process. i think theres a nuance to each process and im going to try them all to find my favorites.

Edit: i did however find a reliable homebrewers shop i can order from and they have a great selection.

Might want to brew inside up there I remember being at the Peaks of Otter Lodge years ago with my wife in May. I froze my ass off at night LOL.
I started off doing some extracts because I wanted to get the process down. I probably should have started with the BIAB.
I was just playing around online, and it looks like there is one in Roanoke.

 

[KaijuSoul]

Might want to brew inside up there I remember being at the Peaks of Otter Lodge years ago with my wife in May. I froze my ass off at night LOL.
I started off doing some extracts because I wanted to get the process down. I probably should have started with the BIAB.
I was just playing around online, and it looks like there is one in Roanoke.

lol i run around with just a hoodie in 30 degree weather, i love the cold and snow. i take refreshing night walks in the dead of winter, so calm and peaceful. (oh that sounds like a good beer name, night walk)

Like @Zambi said, there's a number of small batchers on here and trust me...plenty of folks with advice and know how...make use of it. Check out the how to's out there on you tube...( i found this guy a good source)

https://beernbbqbylarry.com/

and buy yourself a bottle of star san and take care to keep things sanitary. Best sign I ever saw in a brewery was " Cleaning is what you do when you're not brewing"!

i have seen some good ones on youtube, one was apartment brewer, and another tree hill? i forgot the name but it was tree something (i avoided youtube like a plague before, now i have at least some reason to like it). and hey i know a phrase like that! my very first job when i was 16, dishwashing in a local resturant. one of the older women there, said this to me and ill never forget "if theres nothing to do, theres always something to clean" so long ago,

plus it fits, i became something of a wizard in the kitchen, so that phrase always stuck with me. i got my star-san coming with my equipment for sure!

 

[Sandy Feet]

Night Walk would be good for a Porter Actually, a brewery in Tampa has a Night Swim. Apartment Brewer is decent. I watch a few of those. You will probably watch a bunch more when you are learning recipes and what ingredient does what.

 

[KaijuSoul]

Night Walk would be good for a Porter Actually, a brewery in Tampa has a Night Swim. Apartment Brewer is decent. I watch a few of those. You will probably watch a bunch more when you are learning recipes and what ingredient does what.

yeah i was thinking that same thing, make a good winter style stout or porter, or even one thats good for those breezy summer evenings. i feel that ill try to learn some recipes, but i feel like im going to jump in with experimentation instead. its a big part of how i cook and how i learn. if i fail in an experiment, ive learned more than just following a recipe. kind of, intimate, if you get my meaning.

me and the ingredients getting to know one another, having our little dance, learning their nuances. how can i titilate, how can i nudge? making magic, and blossoming passion together. when i see pictures of brews around here i think they are beautiful, each of them in some way, like lovely jewels.

ive been talking my partners ear off about it, hes quite sick of me babbling about it for weeks now lol.

 

[Sandy Feet]

Well, it helps to get a good understanding of how to get it within reason and play around after that to get it to your liking. You don't just throw shit together with beer. You need to have a reason to add something. It isn't as forgiving as food sometimes.
I kind of cheat with my Oatmeal Porter, but I really like it. The Chocolate Malt will give it some bitterness, so I use Munich to offset it with a little maltiness. I like some Crystal 120 in it, and I like Maris Otter as a base malt. English hops and a Guinness yeast strain also help a lot.
A low or moderate alcohol Irish Dry Stout or English Porter even go well down here in the summer when it is miserably hot.
Start with something simple. Use the same base malt and same hops for a few batches if you want to play with a different style. I did a Brown, a Pale Ale, and a Porter from Cascade, 2 row, and S-05 or S-04 when I first started. It did teach me some things. Then you play with other hops, other base malts, and other yeasts. You need to have some humility at times as things don't always turn out as expected, but if you sanitize, use a decent recipe, can mash and ferment at correct temperatures, and again, sanitize everything, you will have beer.

 

[Donoroto]

Palmer’s boik goes deep into the science, and once you understand that, experimenting intelligently is great. Just keep really good notes. If a particular batch comes out outstanding, you want to be able to reproduce it.

 

[KaijuSoul]

Palmer’s boik goes deep into the science, and once you understand that, experimenting intelligently is great. Just keep really good notes. If a particular batch comes out outstanding, you want to be able to reproduce it.

ive been journaling notes like crazy lately. every trick, tip, piece of advice i can find. im picking up palmers book before my equipment arrives, so ill have a good time to sit with it and study my keister off. ive also been studying what science i find here on the site, plus others. im a type of person that does experiment a lot but my approach is always to experiment intelligently, i knew coming into brewing half-c*cked wouldnt get me anywhere. So i planned to be as prepared as possible. (i kind of feel like its a rarity to be so prepared? lol)

 

[KaijuSoul]

Well, it helps to get a good understanding of how to get it within reason and play around after that to get it to your liking. You don't just throw shit together with beer. You need to have a reason to add something. It isn't as forgiving as food sometimes.
I kind of cheat with my Oatmeal Porter, but I really like it. The Chocolate Malt will give it some bitterness, so I use Munich to offset it with a little maltiness. I like some Crystal 120 in it, and I like Maris Otter as a base malt. English hops and a Guinness yeast strain also help a lot.
A low or moderate alcohol Irish Dry Stout or English Porter even go well down here in the summer when it is miserably hot.
Start with something simple. Use the same base malt and same hops for a few batches if you want to play with a different style. I did a Brown, a Pale Ale, and a Porter from Cascade, 2 row, and S-05 or S-04 when I first started. It did teach me some things. Then you play with other hops, other base malts, and other yeasts. You need to have some humility at times as things don't always turn out as expected, but if you sanitize, use a decent recipe, can mash and ferment at correct temperatures, and again, sanitize everything, you will have beer.

i was sort of speaking future reference once i learn the ropes ill jump in with experimenting, cant help state it kind of out of order due to how excited i am to begin. i actually have marris otter malt, the S-05, S-04, on my order list from the HBS. fifth season gardening is the name. plus im getting S-33 and the very well known and reliable W 34/70 lager yeast. i found the inventory tool on the site ill definetly be putting to use, cause it will find recipe suggestions. the hops im getting was Magnum, Kent Golding, and German Tettang, i learned about that one from apartment brewer from a stout he made. Five other malts im getting from them besides the Otter. Bestmalz german pilsner, Simpsons roasted barley, English Dark Crystal Malt, Briess Victory Malt, Murphy and Rude Belgian Amber Malt. lots to work from. I will of course order others or even change the ones i have, but it was a good feeling selection. i heard of several of them around the web. plus ive been tooling with the recipe calculator here on site to run some theory recipes

Edit: got more ingredients into the budget for hops and grains, some for a brown ale, seasonal beer and a vienna lager, another few recipes to follow as well. thanks for the reminders to get some more to follow.

 

[Sandy Feet]

I hope you have a dedicated refrigerator and a controller if you are doing lagers. I probably would not start out doing that, and I would order my yeast close to when I plan to use it. Don't go nuts ordering stuff. Order what you need for a recipe or maybe two. Learn first, order a bunch of shit later.

 

[Sandy Feet]

The most important thing is sanitation, but patience is also very important. Don't be in a hurry for everything. Learning takes time. Fermenting takes time. Lagering takes time. Most things don't come in a hurry when you use yeast, or at least yeast that makes good beer. If you can't be patient, it is the wrong hobby.
There is nothing wrong with a brewing wish list. I have one in my head too but take things one at a time. There is also nothing wrong with doing a little research, but don't be too manic

 

[Zambi]

The most important thing is sanitation, but patience is also very important. Don't be in a hurry for everything. Learning takes time. Fermenting takes time. Lagering takes time. Most things don't come in a hurry when you use yeast, or at least yeast that makes good beer. If you can't be patient, it is the wrong hobby.
There is nothing wrong with a brewing wish list. I have one in my head too but take things one at a time. There is also nothing wrong with doing a little research, but don't be too manic

Absolutely
And be prepared but don't overthink things!
And don't be too hung up about the figures, just try to get close. Aim for the OG, not the volume