2. CHOOSE A RECIPE AND BUY THE INGREDIENTS
For you, the beginning brewer, this step is accomplished all at once, because you are simply going to buy a "beer kit" which tells you what kind of beer it will make and includes all the necessary ingredients. (More experienced brewers find a recipe they like and purchase the ingredients separately. Not you, novice.) A beer kit consists of a big can of hopped malt concentrate and a packet of yeast. You will also need to purchase additional "fermentables" (this is the stuff that makes alcohol. All together now - "More fermentables means more alcohol"). Common additional fermentables are include brewers sugar, dry malt extract, liquid malt extract, rice syrup, demerera sugar, Belgian candi sugar or any combination of the above. You will need at least two pounds, and not more than three on your first go-round (you want to get just drunk enough to be charming, remember).
Beer kits eliminate a lot of your capacity for error and let you get used to the procedure before you start messing around with loose ingredients. These beer kits are available online or at brewing supplies stores and most people in the world brew with beer kits. Some brewers like the convenience and certainty of them so much that they continue to use them throughout their homebrewing careers.
There are, however, many variations on the brewing theme. We don't provide you with any recipes in this article because it is aimed at the beginning brewer. If and when you wish to move beyond beer kits, we recommend that you purchase a book about homebrewing which contains a good recipe section, subscribe to a brewing magazine which will provide you with new recipes each month, or look on the Internet yourself for online recipes. (We took the liberty of including some links to homebrewing books with this SYW.) Once you've selected a recipe, you can then purchase the required ingredients and proceed.
