Newbie to brewing in Okinawa

[lilhatchet]

Hey all,
New to brewing my own beer have brewed my own brandy before but that is somewhat different. I just purchased this kit from homebrewery
I am in the US Army stationed in Okinawa so I went with something basic and light.


5 Gallon Basic Beer Brewing Equipment Kit

Beer Brewing Equipment KitT his beer brewing system includes all the equipment you will need, except bottles and a brewpot, to start brewing homemade beer in five gallon batches by the single-stage method. A 5 gallon glass Carboy (FE315) and drilled #7 Rubber Stopper (FA210) can be added at any time for two-stage fermentation.

* 7-gallon Plastic Fermenter and Lid
* 6-gallon Bottling Bucket
* Airlock
* #2 drilled Rubber Stopper
* Racking Tube
* Bottle Filler
* Five feet of Flexible Tubing
* Hydrometer
* Floating Thermometer
* Two-handle Bottle Capper
* 144 Bottle Caps
* Sanitizer
* Starter Booklet

and these are the two beers I ordered to brew

Barleywine - Barleywine is the strongest possible beer style. There are no firm rules about what goes into a barleywine, so long as there is a lot of it! This brew will be good 2-3 months after bottling but to truly appreciate this one, age it a year.

Wheat Beer - Traditional beer recipe brewed in the German tradition from wheat and barley. Great as a refreshing drink in warm weather, this beer style is known for its crisp, clove-like flavor.

Can't wait to get started and brew my own look forward to learning from others here and the podcast although I will have to go to archives because of the time diff.
Carl

[meisterofpuppets]

Welcome to the BN army lilhatchet! I would brew the wheat beer first because it is faster to mature so you can see what you did right and wrong the first time and not have to wait for six months to see how good it is.

[lilhatchet]

Thanks miesterofpuppets I was planning on that. Thanks for the welcome.

[BDawg]

Welcome-

If you haven't already, be sure to check out http://www.howtobrew.com before you brew anything. There is a ton of good info in that book, and it is sure to help you.

HTH-

[lilhatchet]

Thanks BD already bookmarked and started reading.

[BadRock]

Welcome to the insanity! Good luck with the beer, I have to say I kind of feel for ya, I mean if you screw something up I'm betting there isn't another homebrew shop just down the way where you can pick up another vial of yeast and so on.

[bub]

yeah order a couple packs of dry yeast to keep on hand Just in case.
BUB

[seanhagerty]

I was over in Okinawa a few years ago and was looking to hang out with some one that brewed on the island. I posted on several forum boards and found a guy name of TyphoonBrewer. He hangs out HERE. He doesnt appear to be active on the board anymore. You can still see if he is around.

Also, on the north west end of the island there is the pineapple winery and the Kirin brewery. Both are worth the trip.

GL.

Sean