I am keen to start brewing my own beer and fear I will soon grow tired of the all in one kits which limit what I can brew and are not so individual - from what I have heard.

Thus I was interested in the other methods, such as malt extraction and making my own mash. Where can I find an introduction to the various methods including what equipment is needed for each type of brew process and the pros/cons of each along with the time requirements?

I guess I need a beginners guide

I'm new to beer also and "Wild" referred me to the below web site. It has lots of good info in the form that I can understand. I printed everything out and put it in a notebook. How to Brew by John Palmer

http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html

Most home brewers do start out with the mentioned kits. However, extract brewing is definitely an excellent place to start. It's easy, low start up cost, and can produce excellent brews. I highly recommend steeping grains be used in conjunction with extract brewing. There are endless possibilities regarding flavor with your brews using this method. It is just a simple, extra step that will give your beer some additional character. You can then tranisition to to all grain brewing as you get more comfortable with the extract method.

Here are a couple of resources for you to get started:

http://www.beereasy.com - This is an excellent video tutorial for beginning homebrewers. There's a ton of video instruction out there, but I thought this was pretty straight forward.

The Complete Joy of Homebrewing - by Charlie Papazian - This is a classic home brewers reference book. You won't meet too many home brewers that have not read or heard of this one. I have not read How To Brew by Jim Palmer, but I hear that it is good to.

Continue to use this forum and you will get some fantastic advice and feedback on every step of your home brewing experience. Good luck and look forward to helping out in the future.

Man your guns and stay away from extract, go for it and go all grain the extract will just suck up money. Your right chosing the grain is fun and hair pulling also. But the ones that are tasty are well worth the effort and you were the chef. Not to say you wont have some your not sure if you should have ever made it.

I started with the book "Home Brewing for Dummies" and it was a great source of information. Read it and decide for yourself. I do both extract and all grain depending on how much time I have. All grain does make a better tasting beer but I have done some great beers with extract as well..

In terms of beginning homebrewing books there still is a special place in my heart for the my first homebrewing book, Charlie Papazian's book The Complete Joy of Homebrewing.

It is a classic book and it is worthy of being in any homebrewer's library.

- Scott

I'd highly recommend 'Dave Miller's Homebrewing Guide' for the new brewer. My only quibble with it is that I outgrew it too quickly. The book should be titled Dave Miller's Beginning Guide to Homebrewing. Still, it was a very informative resource when I first got started brewing.

The best, single book for a beginner is John Palmer's, "How to Brew." This is a book that will take you from your first brew day, on into some of the most advanced topics as your skills develop.

The first book that helped me out was also Miller's Handbook of Homebrewing, and as GuitarLord5000 did, I eventually outgrew it, too.

As for kits, I say go ahead and use them. Kits let you work on the fundamentals of brewing process, like managing the boil, sanitation, fermentation and bottling, and still give you a decent tasting beer. Most brew shops make their own kits and take pride in them tasting good.

Once you learn the process and what to expect along the way, then you can play with ingredients and recipes. Brewing comes with its own language and unique activities. Its easy for a new brewer to get lost and frustrated. It doesn't take long to get the hang of it, either. I find that most brewers are ready to move on from kits by their fourth or fifth batch.

I'm a fan of Charlie's "Complete Joy of Homebrewing", myself. I like to read, and it's a big book to read through. If you go through it cover-to-cover, you'll have a pretty rock-solid grasp on the entire brewing process from kits to all-grain.

Jim Palmer's "How to Brew" website (also cited above) is also an excellent resource.

xraptorx wrote:I am keen to start brewing my own beer and fear I will soon grow tired of the all in one kits which limit what I can brew and are not so individual - from what I have heard.

Thus I was interested in the other methods, such as malt extraction and making my own mash. Where can I find an introduction to the various methods including what equipment is needed for each type of brew process and the pros/cons of each along with the time requirements?

I guess I need a beginners guide

Home Brewing for Dummies was a great starter for me. Then the Complete Joy of Homebrewing.

Those are the books I started with. They cover all the bases and then some. You'll get a good overview, background, dos and don'ts, hints, and you'll have lasting references (I still go back and look things up) and some good recipes to get started with.