I'm 2 months into my brewing experience, and just finished my 4th batch - an extract Kwak clone. I've built a 4 tap kegerator and have went through a lot of trials and tribulations so far it's safe to say. Just wanted to post my lessons learned for all to see and maybe comment on. Who the hell knows - maybe it will help someone who just started.
I haven't done #3 yet, but #1 and #2 are very important. Read the yeast manufacturer's website for the temperatures it should be at. And if you're brewing a strong beer, make sure you have enough yeast. This is one point where I'd say - don't always trust a recipe in these regards. I'd go by the manufacturers website for a yeast temperature over an internet form posted recipe any day of the week, and you should as well. If you're brewing a strong beer, chances are that you will probably need more than just 1 pack.
Anyways, that's lessons learned so far. Good luck with brewing and if you have any questions let me know. Hopefully this helps someone.
1 - Create Your Brew style
I will preface this whole thing by saying that you're going to create your own style in brewing, and what I do is different from how my friends probably do it. How you set your equipment up, what you do during the brew process, etc...You're going to get your own method to your madness. So take ideas from this site, but don't take 100% of what you read as gospel either.2 - Brewing is Pretty Forgiving
My first batch of beer was a mess. With little precision and a whole lot of mass confusion, I somehow managed to get some wort into a fermenter. I didn't know if my wort had been boiled, I spilled a bunch during the chill process, and I only had cleaner and NOT sanitizer. I was scared to death that I infected the stuff. One week later I did a quick taste test and it was fine. Two months later I am getting compliments right and left on that beer. There's so much science to this art, numbers and calculations being thrown around and hundredths of an ounce grain measurements. For at least your first few brews, chill out. Enjoy the experience. Know that whatever comes out of these first batches, you're probably going to make them better and better every time you try. And if you screw up something, you're still probably going to end up with some good beer. And if you DO screw up and it tastes awful, it just means you get to brew that second batch even quicker and speed up your learning curve.3 - Make your own Wort Chiller
The wort chiller is probably one of the most complex steps to brewing. The reason that I highly recommend making your own Wort Chiller is that you can select the size of the hoses that are specific to your situation. In my instance, I am brewing in the backyard of my house. The garden hose faucet is literally 15 feet away. My wort chiller is therefore sized with 20 feet on one side, and only 5 feet on the other (I take the 5 foot hose and put it into a cooler where I do some of my sanitizing and cleanup). The LAST thing you want to do during the chilling process is lug around a 5 gallon pot of boiling water. It's dangerous, it's unsafe on so many levels, and lastly - you don't want to drop all that beer you just spent 2 hours making. Build your own wort chiller, and size your hoses appropriately to your water source and to your water dump-out point. Save yourself some trouble for the same (or even cheaper) price. 4 - Know your boiling point
This one is close to home for me, living in Denver Colorado. I guess it's pretty obvious when something boils, but for the life of me I was always shooting for a higher temperature all the while not knowing that water boils at only 202 degrees here in Denver. Getting to the boiling point is absolutely key to all of this. You'll spend 60 minutes at least in the boiling point zone. Know what temp you are shooting for.5 - Corny Keg vs. Sanke
This argument seems to be like Republican vs. Democrat. I use Sankes, and I swear by them. About 5-10 years ago you could get corny kegs really cheap. They became really popular with homebrewers. In short, the prices have skyrocketed on them and you'll probably find 80% of people on here use them. I believe it's to the point where corny kegs are now more expensive than Sankes. I use the slim 1/6 barrel sanke and most of the time when I have found them it's because someone is going to corny kegs. Corny kegs in my mind are the new wave while Sanke's are still reliable but just a little more to work. I will tell ya though - I fought with my sanke kegs for about 3 nights in a row. But with some tips and watching a lot of youtube videos, the sankes are not a problem for me anymore. I can get one unlocked and locked in less than 2 mins now. And I swoop in like nobody's business when I see someone dumping them off cheap to get a corny. The best parts of sankes? Few parts, cheaper now than cornys, and can take them anywhere. I'll be bringing two of them with me to Moab next month. No jockey box required. That's convenience. But to each their own. Just know there's options is the bottom line.5 - Get a tool like Beersmith
All of those crazy numbers I reference in #1 come to fruition in Beersmith and other tools like it. If you want to progress and become scientific with your brewing, this is the way to do it. Also, there's usually a ton of recipes on these programs for you to use and play around with. I'd say they definitely take you to the next horizon with your brewing.6 - Three Keys to Brewing
So when I went to pick up one of my Sankes I met a really great guy who had beers with me. He was a random craigslist guy, but had been brewing for 15+ years. Very knowledgable cat, and he gave me these three tips to great brewing:1 - Your fermentation temp should be controlled/steady at the manufacturer suggested temp
2 - Make a yeast starter, and always make sure you have enough yeast
3 - Join a brew club
I haven't done #3 yet, but #1 and #2 are very important. Read the yeast manufacturer's website for the temperatures it should be at. And if you're brewing a strong beer, make sure you have enough yeast. This is one point where I'd say - don't always trust a recipe in these regards. I'd go by the manufacturers website for a yeast temperature over an internet form posted recipe any day of the week, and you should as well. If you're brewing a strong beer, chances are that you will probably need more than just 1 pack.
7 - I don't get MFL's
I went out and bought a ton of MFL's thinking it was better than barb connections. MFLs seem to be the craze and in that same trend area as corny kegs. Still to this day I don't understand the benefit of them. I am told they are "quick connect/disconnects" but they seem just as cumbersome as beer nuts to me (except the nut is even smaller). If I had to do it over again, I would have just saved the dough and bought these. Now if they made a wing nut for the little MFL nut, it would be a different story....But in general, I have found the MFL route is a big waste of $$$. I wish it were different, since I now own a whole bunch of them.8 - Shop around for your services
Pretty self explanatory. If you're kegging beer and need CO2, most people here use AirGas. I've found much cheaper family-owned operations that save me some bucks. If you're using a turkey fryer burner to heat your kettle/wort, you're going to go through a ton of propane. Don't switch your propane bottle out!!!!! Go get it refilled by a local propane shop. I just paid $1 per lb today for a propane fill-up, and every fifth fill up for me is free. Bottom line - explore for small family owned places for some of these resources. This is one activity/hobby I've found where it pays to go to the small guy.Anyways, that's lessons learned so far. Good luck with brewing and if you have any questions let me know. Hopefully this helps someone.
