New guy from Saint Louis

Sun Jul 08, 2012 8:12 pm

Hey there,

I am doing some research on home brew. I have brewed mead with a friend of mine in Albuquerque before I moved. I am going to start brewing beer soon.
I will be cruzing the forum looking for tips on everything required to start this adventure.

Mon Jul 09, 2012 5:52 pm

Welcome! I'm not familiar with your area, but local brew shops are a great resource for someone just getting started. As they will be spending a significant amount of time chatting with you and showing you around (hopefully), try to stop by during non-peak hours so they can give you their full attention.

Mon Jul 09, 2012 6:53 pm

Make sure to check out Saint Louis Wine and Beermaking on the West side (Lamp and Lantern).
There are also a few local meetings if you want to get face to face feedback/info.
momalt.com is a great source for all of your ingredients and supplies.

Shoot me a PM if you have any specific questions.

Mon Jul 09, 2012 7:41 pm

The kits out at St. Louis Wine & Beer are a good place to start (don't listen to them if they try to sell you a 5 gallon glass carboy as part of it though--they tend to peddle that secondary voodoo nonsense). Spiderwrangler is right, try and go by on a weekday. The owner, Dave, is great and will be happy to answer all your questions. When you start buying ingredients in larger quantities, Kent at Missouri Malt Supply is the best place for the cheapest (and freshest) stuff.

There are several local clubs. Tim and I are members of the largest and oldest St. Louis Brews. The Brews forum has a lot of good info. If you're out in the sticks, there is also the Garage Brewers (West) and East Side Brewers. I highly recommend regularly attending at least one club's meetings--try them all out and see which group's style & geography fits your sensibilities best.

--Drew

Tue Jul 10, 2012 4:43 am

siwelwerd wrote:Spiderwrangler is right, try and go by on a weekday.

As someone who works at one, it's tough to give a through run through on brewing on a Friday evening.

Tue Jul 10, 2012 4:57 am

spiderwrangler wrote:
siwelwerd wrote:Spiderwrangler is right, try and go by on a weekday.

As someone who works at one, it's tough to give a through run through on brewing on a Friday evening.

Granted, to be more precise I should say "weekday day", but that seemed a little redundant

Tue Jul 10, 2012 5:16 am

siwelwerd wrote:
spiderwrangler wrote:
siwelwerd wrote:Spiderwrangler is right, try and go by on a weekday.

As someone who works at one, it's tough to give a through run through on brewing on a Friday evening.

Granted, to be more precise I should say "weekday day", but that seemed a little redundant

I consider Friday evening to be weekend... just agreeing with you agreeing with me.

Wed Jul 11, 2012 7:24 pm

This is all great advice. Thanks guys!! I am planning on heading out on monday to talk and learn (mainly learn). I live in south county so, no biggie on getting around the area. :-)