Brand New

I am probably newer to this than most who come here, I want to start brewing beer but have no idea where to start as a newbie. My wife bought me a Mr. Beer brewery but should I just play with that first? Will it give me the taste im looking for, any advise would be great. Thanks in advance. :cheers:

Since you have the mr beer kit, go ahead and use it. Keep in mind that mr beer is not the extent of this great hobby. Treat it as a stepping stone…a very small one.
This forum is a very good place to learn. Read read read read! An older version, free copy of How To Brew is available online, but you might as well purchase it. Its worth it.
Don’t hesitate to ask questions.

Or, if you can take the mr beer kit back, do that and get a starter kit from one of the homebrew stores.

She got this for me about a yr or so ago and I am just finding time to get into it. It came with a west coast pale ale beer mix, it sounds not so tasty. lol I like Grolsh & rolling rock any ideas what beer mixes I should consider?

You may need to expand your taste in beers if you would like to get into home brewing.

Do you have a bar with a extensive tap selection? Go there and ask for a sampler platter. Ask for an American wheat, brown ale, Mild, American Pale Ale, and a good Stout (not Gennis!) or Porter, and an IPA.

Also, a good liquor store will allow you to by bottles individually. A good way to sample different styles/breweries with out buying a 6pk. The same style from different breweries can be very different.

When you sample these, keep an open mind. Think of yourself as a food or wine critic. Smell the beers before tasting. You might be surprised in what you like.

Having your location in your profile, someone may be able to point you where to go. Or they my even invite you over for a brew day and sample some of their creations.

I have to second, third and/or fourth the suggestions to do your research. John Palmer’s book “How to Brew” is a great start, Charlie P.‘s book(s) ‘The Complete Joy of Homebrewing’ are others. I also happen to like Stephen Snyder’s ’ The Brewmaster’s Bible’. J.P.'s book has better info. but Snyder’s has an easier-to-use index, so I find it easier to find the info.
This forum will be your best friend. I spent 6 months trolling here, following one link to another before I even posted. Home Brewtalk’s forum is another good one.
Brewing is basically easy- a great combination of Cooking, Biology and Chemistry. You can start off without a lot of knowledge and brew a batch of pretty darn good beer. Then as time, research, and yes your share of mistakes happen, your brewing will get better and better and your results will improve with every batch. Welcome to the world’s best obsession! :cheers:

Watch Brewing TV episode 28 Back to Basics, it will get you motivated.

You guys are great thanks for the help and guidance.

I also started with Mr beer, made some good beer but found out that the cost was the same to make 2.1 gallons or 5 gallons. Good luck on you’r new hobby.Read here and learn to make fine beer.

Two additions to the sage advice you’ve received so far - though somewhat cryptic:

A guy named Denny

batch sparge

I’m a little surprised nobody has said this yet: I would get a fresh kit. A year is a long time to hang onto a kit from any supplier. Who knows how long the Mr Beer kit sat around before it found its way to you. If you’re interested in a “west coast pale ale” style, have a look at some of these:

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/brew ... _style=253

[quote=“Nighthawk”]
Also, a good liquor store will allow you to by bottles individually. A good way to sample different styles/breweries with out buying a 6pk. [/quote]

Heck. maybe it is the recent interest in craft beers, but my local grocery stores (I live in Ohio, talking for me about Krogers and Meijer) even have sections now where I could build my own 6 pack. and they don’t have the most elaborate selection, but they have a pretty decent one.

I may repeat some of the stuff above, but I have a few pieces of advice that may or may not help:

  1. As mentioned above, with the mr beer kit you have being over a year old, I am not sure I would even use it. OR if nothing else if you did want to try that as a first step, at least try to find a FRESH mr beer kit. not the equipment, but the recipe kits they have. you may be able to even find one more to your liking anyway.

BUT if you think you may really get into this, I am not sure I would bother, I would just jump to a very basic extract kit.

  1. you do not need to buy every single gadget right off the bat. a simple kit will be fine and if you do 3-4 batches and like it you can start to introduce fancier things like wort chillers, yeast starters etc.

  2. use this place frequently. I go to 5-6 different forums for different things (sports, this place, book) and this is BY FAR the best group of guys and gals you will run into. they are awesome, patient, and always willing to help

  3. Don’t over think it or stress out. remember this is meant to be fun, not a second job or thing to worry about. get good basic equipment, find 1-2 good youtube videos (I won’t watch 20 of them, may get information overload) and try to follow the kit and steps. it is not as hard as you think. main things at first is sanitize everything and try to keep it in a reasonable range while fermenting. you don’t need to jump into secondary fermenters, yeast starts etc right off the bat.

Welcome, and enjoy what you are about to do.

Regardless of the age, get that Mr. Beer kit going! Even if it’s not so fresh, you will probably come out with beer. If for some reason it fails, you only will have invested a small amount of time.

Do your research while you wait for the MB kit to finish. Don’t rush it - give it at least 2 weeks to ferment, and 3 weeks in the bottles.

Have fun!