I would suggest going with a extract kit recipe the first time around. The
necessary knowledge is all in the brochure! :) You're probably not going
to come in under $30 but the cost goes down significantly once you have all
of your equipment. And for about the same price you'll have something
infinitely better than "drinkable"

"True Brew" makes kits that mimic most styles so there is a freedom of
choice.

Warning!!!! There is a reason that the greeting for most new brewers from a
veteran is "welcome to the obsession.... uh hobby!

I started out two years ago with extract kits and now have a five tap
kegerator! My wife won't drink commercial beer anymore unless it's
something I haven't perfected the clone of yet!


"Lactose" <LactoseTI@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1175793614.444444.31690@n59g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...[color=blue]
> 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]