My Brewing Education Starts

Last Sunday I visited the nearest homebrew shop, Mountain Homebrew and Wine Supply of Kirkland, WA, to get a couple of brewing books for the beginner. Half an hour before closing time, the small shop was plenty busy with customers. The website shows most of the items in the physical store: brewing equipment kits from basic to advanced, malt extracts, whole grain, yeasts, and a fair variety of hops. A couple of customers were milling grain as they filled their latest ingredient lists. On the counter, I was encouraged to see cards from three great East Side establishments: Black Raven Brewing Company, the Malt and Vine bottle shop, and Mac and Jack's Brewing Company.

There are a few things in my mind that have been blocking me from making my first batch of delicious home made beer.

1. We have a very small galley style kitchen, and a stove that I don't trust to heat the beer ingredients to high enough temperatures. I have made homemade blackberry jam on this stove, and it took a loooooong time to get the stuff up to jelling heat. I've also canned pickles, and found the cramped space very limiting.
2. Money is tight for buying a bunch of brewing equipment. 
3. I'm not entirely sure how much gear I'll need to brew that first batch, and I want the gear to be an investment that I can expand from my first basic batch as I become a (hopefully) more accomplished brewer.
4. With no tasting experience, I don't know if an initial batch will meet my bar for flavor. 
5. Our garage is probably the perfect place to brew, it is sheltered from the elements and our continual fir tree organic material droppings. But, with a bathroom remodel now way behind schedule, I'll need to do some cleaning before the garage is a comfortable place to brew.

With all these uncertainties, my best course of action: seek advice from the masters. The clerk at Mountain Homebrew suggested Charlie Papazian's book, "The Complete Joy of Home Brewing, 3rd Edition", as a good, easy to read book for the beginner. John J. Palmer's book, "How To Brew", was also recommended and said to be more up to date with the latest in brewing techniques, gear, and ingredients.

With both books in hand, I returned home to begin reading and to figure out a plan for buying the right gear for my first batch of beer. My wife, Lynne, ever the bargain hunter, yelled at me as I came in the door, "I hope you didn't pay full price for those books! - You could have gotten them for 30% off at Borders with my coupons."