Don't buy canned beers or anything like that. Stick to high quality kits, the reason why most people are dissapointed with their first home brew kits is that they bought a garbage kit to begin with. None of the coopers stuff is any good, avoid whatever they sell at co-op and superstore, and starters should always use a malt concentrate kit for best results.......
The RJ Spagnolls "The Brew House" kits are fantastic quality, make really good tasting beer, and are a perfect base for "beer modding" (see my earlier posts).
Get a batch or two under your belt before you start experimenting with adding stuff, and there will be adding stuff trust me........
THere is also a calgary based beer making forum called the calgary yeast wranglers, can check it out for more info....I have nothing to do with it but I'm a member who checks it out occasionally.......
Here is my next up batch recipe!
2 oz. chocolate malt (500 Lov.)
6 lb Munton's amber dry malt extract (DME)
2 oz Cascade pellet hops (6 %) (45 minutes of boil)
1/2 oz Willamette pellet hops (5 %) (last 1 minute of boil)
1 1/2 tsp gypsum
2 packages Danstar Nottingham yeast
Steep the 2 oz. of chocolate malt in 3 gallons of 150 to 160 degree water for about 20 minutes. Remove chocolate malt; add gypsum and DME and bring back to boil. At boil, add the Cascade hops. After 44 minutes, add the Willamette hops. After another 1 minute, stop the boil and cool the wort. (Leave the hop bag in the wort for the first 5 minutes of the cooling period, if you are using a hop bag.) When wort is cooled, transfer to fermenter, top up to 5 1/2 gallons with boiled, cooled water and pitch the Danstar Nottingham yeast per the Danstar instructions. After 6-7 days, transfer to secondary. After 6-7 days in the secondary, prime with 1 1/4 cup DME boiled in water and bottle.
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