Where the heck to start?

Ralphus · Post by **Ralphus** » Wed Aug 10, 2011 6:38 pm

I would second or third buying "How to Brew" by John Palmer. Easy to read, understand and get started with - plus it has a ton of detail which will keep you referring back to it time and time again.

JeffPorter · Post by **JeffPorter** » Fri Aug 12, 2011 6:44 pm

'm in the same boat - wanting to get starting, but it seems VERY daunting...Have read parts of How to Brew, I'm also thinking about getting festabrew supplies from Magnotta...

My question...what kind of bottles should a "first-time-brewer" get? Is it worth it to spend the money and buy some flip tops to save headaches?

markaberrant · Post by **markaberrant** » Fri Aug 12, 2011 9:01 pm

JeffPorter wrote:My question...what kind of bottles should a "first-time-brewer" get? Is it worth it to spend the money and buy some flip tops to save headaches?

I did this, and ended up spending a ton of cash. I guess I'm still using those bottles, and they work very well, but still.

I would just keep all your pry-off bottles, clean them up and they are as good as new. Buy some caps and a capper and let er rip.

Or better yet, just start kegging immediately. I wish I had.

phirleh · Post by **phirleh** » Fri Aug 12, 2011 9:18 pm

markaberrant wrote:
cmadd wrote:Where does one join these clubs?
Move to Regina and join the ALES club!

In Toronto, check out the Southern Ontario Brewers.

Their website is http://www.areyouansob.com/ easy to join, just post an intro about yourself in the intro section before you start posting to the forum.
I recommend the November Learn2Brew day, it's usually held at the Amsterdam brewery and there is usually at least 10 setups going from a simple extract setup to a Brutus. Better still, you can volunteer to assist one of the brewers, I did this last year and through it I met up with a whole network of brewers in my area in Hamilton. We meet regularly and have tasting and brewing sessions, lots of fun!

Keep an eye on the Learn2Brew website
http://learn2brew.ca/index.html

JeffPorter · Post by **JeffPorter** » Fri Aug 12, 2011 10:38 pm

markaberrant wrote:
I would just keep all your pry-off bottles, clean them up and they are as good as new. Buy some caps and a capper and let er rip.

Any particular size of bottles that people like to use? I was thinking keeping all my 650ml bombers...seems like a good size.

phirleh · Post by **phirleh** » Sat Aug 13, 2011 8:23 am

JeffPorter wrote:
markaberrant wrote:
I would just keep all your pry-off bottles, clean them up and they are as good as new. Buy some caps and a capper and let er rip.
Any particular size of bottles that people like to use? I was thinking keeping all my 650ml bombers...seems like a good size.

My personal fave is the German 500ml Weiss bottles (Schneider, Amsterdam). With most of the euro brewers, the labels come off very easily.