Here at Flex Technologies, your source for silicone hoses and tubing, we get a lot of customers who are home brewers. Whether you're new at home brewing and just getting started, or if you've been brewing for years, there's no doubt that you've made a few mistakes in your home brewing journey. Today we're going to look at some of the most common mistakes made by beginner home brewers. 

• Don't use the sanitizer that comes with your beer kit because it's slow and not really that effective. Instead, we suggest getting a no-rinse sanitizer that's much faster and certainly easier to use. Make sure that everything that touches your beer after boiling is sanitized and that everything is carefully sanitized after each use. 
• Don't start out with a recipe that's unusual or strong. While we know that brewing big and complex beers are fun, if it's your first batch we suggest playing it a little safe and brewing something simple. 
• Don't brew with unfiltered tap water that contains chlorine. This is especially important to remember if you're on a municipal water supply. If you want to remove the chlorine or chloramines, you can use a charcoal filter or treat the water with metabisulfite. Alternatively, you can always use bottled water. 
• Make sure you aerate the wort adequately. This takes several minutes as you have to shake the chilled wort for it to absorb the right amount of oxygen to allow the yeast to go through and complete a growth phase.