New from Des Moines, Iowa

[brickfoot]

Heya, I'm 'Foot from Des Moines. I'm gonna be doing a lot of lurking on here if not posting a ton of questions. Thought I'd introduce myself!

Anyone from the Des Moines area? I'm really interested in homebrewing but can't get started until I move out of the dorms and into a new place. It would be nice to meet people in the area and learn what's up!

Later,

'Foot.

[oneal66]

Welcome to the addiction!

How long until your out of prison..I mean the dorms?

[brickfoot]

Thanks!

I move out in May, when I'm quite possibly getting a 2br house (god bless des moines cost of living). Plenty of time to learn how to start and where the pitfalls will be... then learn a whole new set of pitfalls once my hands are watch-deep in hops.

I'm looking through the forum right now but I can't find any guides on how to start homebrewing. The important things are the necessary beginner's gear, along with companies that make the best kits (if kits are the way to go.) Then advice on a couple good first recipes, things to watch out for, things like that.

Any ideas?

'Foot.

[oneal66]

John Palmer's "How to Brew" - required reading http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=12&products_id=57&zenid=36396d899bf82cc29689533b6fe8fdcb

It will basically walk you through what equipment you need, how to brew your first extract batch, and a whole lot more. For kits and equipment check out the sponsors for the BN. Morebeer and Northern Brewer are great online resources for ingredient kits and equipment.

Also the archives for the Jamil show and the Session have all the information you need to brew excellent beer. You can catch up between now and May, and aside for the need of serious counseling you should be making excellent beer.

[BrewerB]

Welcome to the BN.

Lots of knowledge to tap into here on the forums.

Cheers!

[BrewTa2]

I'm looking through the forum right now but I can't find any guides on how to start homebrewing.

You must not be looking very hard:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAJKWCdaPq4&feature=user

Edit: Forgot to add:

[BadRock]

Hey Brotha Welcome!

Your best bet is to get a hold of some bathroom reading, since your not going to brew until May that gives you plenty of alone time with you and our books. As oneal66 mentioned How To Brew by John Palmer is a great book for beginers so is [url=http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=12&products_id=25&zenid=36396d899bf82cc29689533b6fe8fdcb]The NEW Complete Joy of Homebrewing by Charlie Papazian
[/url]

Again welcome and goodluck!

[numsquat]

Welcome from a fellow Iowan

+1 on How to Brew. Even better, go to the BN store and order the How to Brew/Classic Styles combo books. It will give you the best brewing knowledge and best recipes to get you started.

You also have a couple of homebrew shops in your area to check out.

Beer Crazy http://www.gobeercrazy.com/

Heartland http://old.heartlandhomebrewsupply.com/location.htm

And Northern Brewer has ground 1-day shipping to our area if you order before noon Mon-Thu.