stepping up from kits

[pongobilly]

i really want to make a step up from making kits eventually, but i havent a clue where id start, ive read loads of the posts on grain and extract but it just seems to baffle me

[tubby_shaw]

PB, it's simple.
Take some crushed barley malt, add it to hot water, leave it to stand, drain off the suagary liquid from the malt and hot water mix, rinse the drained malt with some more hot water to get the sugars out, boil the sugary liquid with hops for an hour or so, strain the hops out of the boiled sugary liquid, cool it down, add yeast, wait till its finished fermenting, put it in bottles or a barrel, wait as long as your patience allows, drink
Easy
The only really important steps are the temperature of the mash when you add the barley malt to the hot water and controlling the sparge when you rinse the sugars out of the malt.
It really is that easy, once you have made one or two beers you will change things to suit yourself.
It's not difficult to make good beer, after all I can do it
Bite the bullet and give it a go

[pongobilly]

what extra kit am i gonna need

[tubby_shaw]

You are definately going to need a boiler and a mash tun of some description.
It depends on how good your DIY skills are but you can make a boiler and mash tun yourself.
Use the search facility and you will find a number of threads

[Horden Hillbilly]

It may seem daunting when you first toy with the idea, but take it from me as well as t_s, it is not rocket science, I freely admit that I am not the brightest person around, if I can do it anyone can!

Here is a step by step simple guide to the ag process from one of my brew days. Click here

[ColinKeb]

a good look at the "brewing techniques" of this site will show you , thats how i learnt . its jims fault ! be warned though once you cross over there is no going back