help with my first beer brew

[Duster]

Ok Guys, I have been doing wine now for about a year or so and feel as if I almost know what I'm doing (that may be a matter of opinion). Anyway I have really had the urge as of lately to venture into beer. When I started making wine i went right for the gusto and bypassed the kits, i have never made wine from a kit and most of them have turned out really well. (again, another mater of opinion) but with that said for some reason i feel the need to start with a beer kit. Can some of you here help calm my nerves and maybe answer a few questions.

Should I start with a kit or go strait to all grain?

my local brew shop has a large selection of brewers best kits, some Coopers Malt Extract Beer Making Kits, and some Muntons Malt Extract Beer Making Kits. are any of these kits better than the other?

When using a malt extract kit, the brew shop recommends using DME or unhoped canned malt extract or corn sugar. Can someone explain to me what the differentness in the finished product would be.

Finley, I prefer a nice amber ale, not too bitter with a heavy yet smooth finish. My every day go to beer is Killians Irish Red, is there a kit that would come close to this? I am thinking of either RED ALE Brewers Best CLASSIC Beer Making Kit or Muntons Connoisseurs Nut Brown Ale Malt Extract Beer Making Kit.

I have most of the equipment but have not purchased any kits or products yet to I hear back from you guys.
Thanks for your help

 

[Wade E]

All grain would be quite the first day and I wouldnt recommend iy nor would I recommend an all extract kit myself. The Brewers Best kits make some decent beer!! It just so happens that oe of their best kits is the Red Ale to!!! They have quite a spread of kits. Dont know if your LHBS carries them all but so you can get an idea heres what FVW carries as for as those.
http://www.finevinewines.com/c-82-brewers-best.aspx?pagenum=1

 

[Tom]

Like wade said. If you have a LHBS near tell them what equipment you have. Then they will suggest what you need. Or call George. You have most of the equipment already.
All grain should be done after you understand the brewing. A/G will also need pricey equipment and a propane burner.

 

[Duster]

Thanks for the advice guys, my LBHS is http://www.homebrewit.com

After hearing Wade's comments I think I am going to go with brewers best red ale kit. However this raises another question, do you recommend using the dry yeast that comes with the kit? the reason i ask is that I have seen a few reviews that recommend switching out the yeast with a "White Labs Liquid Yeast". Like I said I have never done a wine kit but I do know that if the kit manufacture recommends a yeast then use it! is this the same with beer kits or is it possible that the kit manufacture has chosen a cheaper yeast to keep the cost down?

 

[Tom]

Look at the expiration date. If still good use it as that is the proper yeast for the brew

 

[Duster]

thanks Tom, the funny thing is that if this were wine i could answer the questions myself but for some reason I feel like I am venturing into uncharted territory all over again.
Again to all, I really do enjoy and respect the advice I revive from this forum.

 

[Malkore]

brewer's best may not ship with the 'best yeast' for the kit...I've had many that only had Munton's yeast inside which is as generic as you can get.

depending on what the style is I sometimes upgrade to liquid yeast ...sometimes not.

 

[Duster]

I picked up my first kit the other day, I ended up going with brewers bes summer ale cause it was on sale. My 20qt brew kettle arrived today and I think were gonna start it this Saturday. One more question that came up is that all of my carboys are 6 gal or 1 gal. I would like to rack the beer into a secondary to clear, I know with wine 5 gallon batch will not survive in a 6 gallon carboy but what about beer? Should I fill 5 1 gallon jugs or will i be fine?

 

[Wade E]

Beer is a little different in that aspect. I let mine frement and clear in the bucket. Beer clears very fast, I just leave my beer in the bucket for 2 weeks and then rack to keg myself.

 

[Malkore]

Just backing up Wade...secondary can be used, but skipping it does not mean 'cloudy beer'.

Go a solid 3 weeks, even 4, in primary, and CAREFULLY rack it for bottling. Reckless racking is usually what resuspends the yeast cake and gives you a cloudy bottled beer (which WILL settle again anyhow)

Commercial breweries need to get off the yeast cake more quickly because the volumes they ferment create so much pressure on the yeast cake that autolysis is a much bigger risk for them versus us.

 

[LJPelletier]

I picked up my first kit the other day, I ended up going with brewers bes summer ale cause it was on sale. My 20qt brew kettle arrived today and I think were gonna start it this Saturday. One more question that came up is that all of my carboys are 6 gal or 1 gal. I would like to rack the beer into a secondary to clear, I know with wine 5 gallon batch will not survive in a 6 gallon carboy but what about beer? Should I fill 5 1 gallon jugs or will i be fine?

What do you mean WON'T SURVIVE??

 

[Putterrr]

Beer is a little different in that aspect. I let mine frement and clear in the bucket. Beer clears very fast, I just leave my beer in the bucket for 2 weeks and then rack to keg myself.

Wade

Just a question for you about leaving in the primary to finish

I started a Festa Brew on Sunday, Noble Dry Hopped Extra Special Bitter, only available at Noble Grape stores. This kit has a bag of hops and special instructions from Noble Grape. Their Instructions say

"In 2-4 days, you will notice that the foam will begin to change in appearance, etc... It's now time to rack into the secondary. Note: Neglecting to rack at this time can be hazardous to your beer. Also, you should never let it sit in the pail for longer than 5 days, even if the foam is still present. This is one of the most important steps so be careful no to wait too long. (bold and underlining is how they have it shown)"

I'm at the transfer stage. I would like to just snap the lid down with an airlock and let it finish in the primary. Is there risk of infection with the extra air space? Will it pick anything up from the yeast cake?

TIA