New guy from WI

[Kelob pie]

Hi Folks-
Never brewed a single thing before and want to jump right into all grain knowing absolutely nothing. (At least it should make for a good comedy show!)
Anyways, I have already picked up a Spike CF5 and Penguin chiller, so I have a start on the cold side.
Need to start looking at hot side, but don't know if I want something like Brewtools or the new Spike ebiab stuff. Or maybe 3-vessel????
So I'll continue to do research and ask plenty of stupid questions along the way!
Thanks!!!

 

[bracconiere]

(At least it should make for a good comedy show!)

I Look forward to competing! Welcome, and all i use is a big pot and a round cooler......


edit: before you worry about fancy brew rigs, get into kegging....bottling sucks....

 

[IslandLizard]

Welcome to brewing and our forums!

Good equipment is nice to have, but knowing how to brew is even more important:
Read: John Palmer - How to Brew, 4th Ed.

For a quick start until the book arrives: The old, online version of How to Brew

 

[bracconiere]

Welcome to brewing and our forums!

Good equipment is nice to have, but knowing how to brew is even more important:
Read: John Palmer - How to Brew, 4th Ed.

For a quick start until the book arrives: The old, online version of How to Brew

i don't trust books. i learned to brew from a book by some guy named byron birch when i was ~18....it was horrible...but i did make beer. (not sure if it was because i was a kid, or it was really as bad as i remember it, but it had me sparging to fast, and using boiling hot water...i remember also liking rye beer so much trying to make a 100% rye beer with raw rye berries, needless to say it took me a decade to figure out why it didn't work)

 

[Cyclman]

Welcome to the hobby, and the group, from Colorado

 

[AJinJacksonville]

Welcome from FL Kelob! Congrats on going all in...I wish I would have done more research and jumped in the deeper end. I kind of started off easy (extract) and then slowly gathered equipment (which means I have a bunch of 'obsolete' stuff sitting in the garage). I think I may have started with Biab looking back. Oh well, it's been fun nevertheless. Cheers!

 

[k-os]

Where at in Wisconsin? I'm an hour north of Milwaukee and do eBIAB batches in my basement.

 

[Joshua Hughes]

Welcome

 

[Kelob pie]

Kewaskum area

 

[mongoose33]

Hi Folks-
Never brewed a single thing before and want to jump right into all grain knowing absolutely nothing. (At least it should make for a good comedy show!)
Anyways, I have already picked up a Spike CF5 and Penguin chiller, so I have a start on the cold side.
Need to start looking at hot side, but don't know if I want something like Brewtools or the new Spike ebiab stuff. Or maybe 3-vessel????
So I'll continue to do research and ask plenty of stupid questions along the way!
Thanks!!!

I'm always an advocate for new brewers starting out simply. I admire your commitment, but complicating things means if something doesn't work, how do you figure out what went wrong? The more variables you have, the harder to isolate problems.

I taught a friend to brew (not the high level stuff like you have--which, BTW, I have), and it went like this: First brew, he watched me do it. I made all the choices, and explained as I went along. Second brew: I watched him do it, correcting as we went along. Again, I made all the choices (recipe, amounts, water amendments, mash schedule, etc. etc. etc.). All he had to do was work on getting the process down.

Third brew he did by himself; I got about 5 texts and one phone call during, but again, I made all the decisions for him, so he could focus on process.

To his credit, he allowed me to simplify it so the process variables would be nailed down, and then he was able to take those established recipes and make adjustments as he liked.

I'd advise you, if you can--and in this day of social isolation, maybe impossible--try to find someone who can either allow you to watch a brew day, or walk you through one or two of them. The key question is where you want to be with regard to brewing in six or nine months, not next week. There IS a learning curve, and you can accelerate it, but if you fly solo, well, it's not the way to bet.

Where are you located? I'm in Platteville. And I have a Penguin, a CF10, electric brewing, a RIMS system to control mash, etc. etc. etc. so I have a little bit of a clue as to what's going on.