Newbie Needs intro to beermaking advice...

Wow... I always thought wine making would be harder. I've brewed a couple batches of beer now and I think it's pretty easy and hard to screw up. For some people, it may be a lot of work. But I think it's easy.

-jd p.s. Any good weblink references for wine making?

Beermaking has some steps in it that winemaking doesn't, but you can start out with a small (1-3 gallon) batch using hopped extract (this is the easiest solution).

I brew beer, mead, wine, and cider, and find all to be relatively easy. My own experience has been that wine has been a little easier than beer, mead even easier, and cider the easiest way to make a good product. It all depends on what you're making, of course. As for a good winemaking page try Jack Keller's page at

For beermaking try

Go to

The only thing i would add is that it become adictive after a while and you will never taste beer like you did before. You will discover what impact each ingredients have on the final product and even if you start thinking that you will be happy with kits, there is a good chance that you will want to go whole grain after a while even if it's more trouble.

Xiejol previously mentioned:

Would the Mr. Beer 3.3 lb. cans serve as a good small batch? I have not used these, but saw them in my LHBS just yesterday. Quite a variety to chose from, too. I stopped doing cans a few months ago, moving onto LME. Hoping to go into AG soon.

Those pre-hopped cans of extract should be good for 2-3 gallons. Talk with your LHBS about what you're needing, I'm sure they can help.

Fair enough, but bleh. Hopping is so easy to do! At least get the unhopped stuff and buy some hops of your own. Find some hops from the same region as your favorite beer, or try something new.

Steve