New User, New Brewer

[GilesTH]

Technically I'm not even a new brewer yet. My wife and I just got a kit and we're going to brew our first EVER batch tonight. I wanted to join this community to talk about beer. I know next to nothing about brewing, and I'm ALWAYS open to advice

[spiderwrangler]

Welcome! Feel free to ask any questions you have (just don't post the same question in mulitple threads, it makes me cranky )

[snowcapt]

Welcome.
You should pick up "How to Brew", by John Palmer before you brew.
if not before, get it shortly after. You'll be glad you did. So will spider.
What are you going to brew?

[TheDarkSide]

Welcome. It's cool your wife is joining in on the fun. My wife has no interest in brewing, or beer at all.

But then I don't run the risk of feeling like Andy Wood who's wife brews better beer than he does

[GilesTH]

Yeah, I'm excited! I bought a kit, with an extract, but I'm going to start mashing as soon as I can afford the extra time and equipment (is that right? Do I need other equipment for mashing?).

I have a buddy who's been brewing for over a year now, and he made an AWESOME mint-chocolate stout that is one of the ten best beers I've ever tasted. That's when I KNEW I had to start brewing.

[Bugeater]

Welcome! Good luck on your first brew! You might want to quickly look through www.howtobrew.com before you start. It may help you avoid a few common newbie mistakes.

Wayne

[spiderwrangler]

Just to clarify, www.howtobrew.com is the online older version of the book SnowCapt suggested. Still lots of good info there, and if you've already tapped out your brewing budget a good place to start. The current print version has some updates and additional information, but nothing in the online version will be incorrect.

[Ironman]

If your first batch is shit don't give up, brew again and watch your sanitation. If your fermenter is empty then fill it again. It sucks to run out of homebrew.