Lawrence Brewers Guild

My name is Marc Tiemann and I am very interested in becoming a homebrewer. So far my only experience with this is watching a friend cook up a batch that never turned out.
I've toured the New Belgium and Boulevard breweries this spring and it re-ignited my love for craft beers, well anything other than the colored pi**water the big guys produce.
My favorites are darker beers and wheats.
I really hit the jackpot with my girlfriend: She loves beer as much as I do and totally supports my desire to brew at home. Needless to say, she's a keeper!!

Marc in O.P.

Welcome Marc in OP. Come to a meeting and we will get you started the right way!

Welcome Marc!

You gotta watch those beer-lovin girlfriends.. they become your wives and drink you dry

Look forward to seeing you both at a meeting!

Welcome Marc!

That first batch of homebrew seems pretty daunting, doesn't it? Especially since your only previous experience ended in failure. My husband and I recently completed our first batch, and it proved to be a success.

There are probably thousands of approaches to homebrewing, so there are no absolute right or wrong ways of going about it. But I have a few suggestions.

Start out with a kit. That way you'll familiarize yourself with the equipment, and reduce the number of variables. And there are very good kits on the market. The kits I'm referring to are ingredient kits that contain the correct type and amount of sugars, extracts, grains and hops to create the specific style of beer you desire. Of course there are also equipment kits.

Be extra vigilant with sanitation. Poor sanitation practices can lead to fermentation failure.

Have a place prepared ahead of time to place your fermentation bucket that will keep it within the correct temperature range.

Set all the equipment and ingredients out ahead of time, and go through a dry run of the process to ensure you have everything you need before you start.

And don't rush things on the day you prepare your wort and the day you bottle. It takes as much time as it takes and not a moment less. (And bottling too early can lead to disaster.)

Good luck! I'm sure it'll turn out great and you'll be on to batches two and three in no time.

-Sally