Need Help Thinking Outside of the Box (Kit)

[EnviroMan]

So I've brewed lets say 6 batches, all of which have been a brewers best kit. I think I've got the following directions like a monkey thing covered, but I'm lost on where to go next. I've taken a look at the BeerSmith2 program. It looks amazing but overwhelming for a novice like me. I'm really trying to find some information, advice, recipes that are good for tinkering, anything really that would allow me to get to the next step of brewing. This is an awesome weekend for making some brew, and I'm all ears.

Thanks brewmasters!!

 

[RoundKid]

Buying and reading this book is a good place to start if you are ready to move away from kits.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0937381926/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[J-Drew]

+1 to Brewing Classic Styles. It's a great place to start.

 

[rodwha]

Have you read the online How To Brew?

Brew Smith is pretty in-depth. There's a calculator that took over another called Brewtoad. I'm still checking it out, and am not sure what to think of it yet. I'll be testing out how accurate it is this coming week. Maybe you'll want to check it out.

What exactly are you wanting to do outside of the kits?

What I initially did was find a calculator, look at many recipes of a certain style as well as the ingredients in a kit to help determine what it takes, and then just worked on it. Then asked here for advice on what they'd change and why. Read the description of the grains on an online source and make sure you know if it needs to be steeped or mashed.

And check out some videos on how you can progress. I watched a video by death brewer on doing BIAB. Pretty easy and very relatable once you've been steeping.

 

[homebrewdad]

Books are great. They aren't the only way to step forward, though. I love reading and learning, but I don't just want to sit down with a book and try to understand beer theory.

I personally spend a lot of time here and on reddit.com/r/homebrewing, and have learned a lot from both places. I really like to browse the recipe database here for styles of beer that I enjoy.

I have brewed two recipes from the homebrewtalk database. The first was The Kings Nutz Imperial Nut Brown Ale. The second was my first partial mash - I adapted Revvy's Belgian Blonde Ale (a Leffe clone).

After that, I made my first recipe that I feel is "my own", by adapting the Mojave Red Ale recipe, "Irishing" it up, and brewing it as my own "Big" Irish Red Ale.

Consider doing like me. Search out recipes with a lot of positive feedback, so you know that you are going to brew a good beer. Kits are great, but there does come a time when you want to stretch your legs beyond them.

 

[arborman]

One thing I did, besides reading books and TONS on here, was to find a beer kit you like (say a dead ringer from Northern), and then download the recipe they give. Then, buy beersmith and plug in the numbers to get a feel for the program. Then, go for it and buy the ingredients as a non kit... Say, a sack of base malt, some bulk hops, and your specialty grains.

I felt that actually just doing it was a huge learning experience for me, other then just reading.

But, TBH, I am still trying to understand beersmith and all its numbers. I have done about 8 batches using it, so its getting more familiar. I now totally understand when people say that you need to get to know your own equipment. That is a huge roll in the process

 

[GASoline71]

I have been brewing for 2.5 years now. I bought Beer Smith 2 last fall, and have just now got it tweaked to where I can use it... little alone understand it. Now that I've got it wired (for the most part), it's a useful tool. But I believe that it's just a feather in the cap for a home brewer. There are so many resorces available in book form or on the interweb now, it's mindblowing. That being said... Beer Smith 2 isn't my favorite thing to use.

One cool thing about this hobby is... you never stop learing!

Gary

 

[ABrewingApe]

As far as book recommendations go, I wholeheartedly recommend Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers by Stephen Buhner. There's a lot of mystic fluff, Noble Savage crap, patronization and some outright wrong information, but it is an EXCELLENT introduction to the world of beer beyond malt, yeast, hops, and the occasional tentative adjunct added with a shaking hand. Historically speaking, beer is some very freestyle stuff.

If you've been brewing beer long enough to understand the basic process and want a license to cut loose, it's a good start. I read it as a newbie and I still refer back to it sometimes--as a more seasoned brewer I freestyle all over the place.

It's easy to get caught up in numbers and process. Very, very easy, especially when there's people waving hydrometers at you and endless charts for every step along the way. If you find that happening to you and don't like it, remember that beer has been made in shacks and flavored with whatever was growing next to the shacks for longer than it's been made according to Reinheitsgebot. You have a lot more leeway for experimentation than you think.

 

[homebrewdad]

For the record, I love beersmith. I find it to be incredibly useful for recipe tweaking, converting from all grain to partial mash/extract, etc.

 

[GASoline71]

I completely agree with that homebrewdad. That is what I mainly use it for.

Gary