1. Have you been trying to brew a beer with very light color? Brew as much of the wort as you can. This helps avoid darkening of the wort through caramellization of the sugars and dextrins in the wort.

2. Do you suffer "Brewer's Angst" while waiting for your fermentation to get started? Especially with liquid yeast cultures, long lag times also invite infections, and the best way to reduce lag time -- and brewer's angst -- is to pitch a large population of yeast. And the best way to pitch a large population of yeast is to make a starter. Look for instructions to do this in Making a Starter Wort.

3. Don't boil specialty grains! It's probable that you'll extract tannins from the husks. Instead, just place your ground grain into a saucepan and cover with cool water, letting it sit for a few minutes. Add enough additional water to replace what was absorbed, and slowly heat to about 160°F. Let it sit for a few minutes, then strain it into your wort, rinsing with an additional 2 quarts of water at about 170°F.

4. Buy the freshest, highest-quality ingredients you can find and afford. Your beer will never be better than the ingredients you use, and given a choice, I would buy less-expensive equipment in favor of better ingredients.
5. Be a safe brewer! There's nothing that will ruin a great brewing day than dumping 5 gallons of boiling wort, especially if it ends up down your pants! So...

   Enjoy your homebrew AFTER you brew!

   I really apologize for seeming to be a stick in the mud, but there are times when it simply makes sense NOT to relax and have a homebrew, and I firmly believe this to be one of them.

Good Brewing!