Lactose wrote:
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>Hi all, I had a few questions about my upcoming first attempt at home
>brewing. I've read a bit on this list; everyone seems to have so much
>knowledge.
>
>A bit of background--although I've never had the chance to try this
>yet, my wife did try it once about a decade ago. Unfortunately, her
>attempt ended badly (I haven't got much more information than it was
>"really, really bad"). This has soured her on the entire idea of
>homebrewing. I would still like to give it a try (it sounds both fun
>and rewarding), but would like to have a nice easy-to-make batch or
>two at minimal cost to convince her that it a) is possible/can produce
>something that tastes reasonable, b) is not "too" expensive, and c)
>won't drop a huge amount of cleanup work in her lap.
>
>We get relatively cheap beer that works out to about $5.50/gallon.
>It's not the best in the world, but it's drinkable. I'd like to try
>to aim for this or ideally cheaper, especially for the first couple of
>forays into it. If it tastes good (hopefully better than what we
>buy), it's easier to justify spending more.
>
>As for flavor, we'd like just about anything (light, dark, etc.).
>Where we grew up, the beer we liked had around 6.50-7% alcohol in it,
>so I'd rather avoid the recipes that come out with amounts in the 3ish
>range.
>
>As for local homebrewing options--we are now living in Western New
>York, perhaps someone knows some good ones. If not, maybe someon has
>some online suggestions.
>
>I think I have most of the most basic hardware necessary, I'm
>especially looking for recipe/supply suggestions with an eye on ease
>and price.
>
>
>[/color]
I suggest you buy a cheap, glass lab thermometer. It can help you to
prevent shocking your yeast when pitching it into your wort. This is
especially important if you don't have a wort cooler. I prefer to keep
5F max difference between yeast and wort. If there is a bigger
difference, you can add small amounts of wort to the yeast cream until
it gets closer. This pertains to rehydrated yeast, but some seasoned
members of this group will recomend you just sprinkle dry yeast onto the
wort. I prefer to rehydrate, but don't dispute the claims of those who
pitch dry.

Before I had a wort cooler, I boiled in smaller volumes (~3 gal) and
used chilled water to bring down the wort temp. A wort cooler was the
best thing I ever did to improve the quality of my beer, since smaller
boil volumes affect hop utilization (inversely proportional to SG).
Also, smaller boil volumes can lead to caramelized (unfermentable)
sugars. I found it helps to dissolve the extract in hot water, off of
the burner, and keep it stirred frequently during the boil.

Regards,
Tom