First 5-gal Batch Going Now
 

Bought a kit for English Brown Ale from the local home brew supply store and started it last week. Hope to start siphoning it in a week to a second pale for priming and then bottle. I got the Dunkel Weizten kit as well and want to start that soon too. So far, so good. Keeping this and the Mr Beer kit busy right now as I start my own 'pipeline' and get some extras together for the office Christmas party. Promised a dozen bottles of 4 types and it looks like I'll meet that goal in time.

Welcome to the addiction that's masked with a hobby label. 1st advice to you would be to not rush things. Unless you're just brewing session beers, that seems like an ambitious goal you set for the party. Good luck to you.

Congratulations. I just did my first batch this weekend. A celebration clone that I hope to crack on Thanksgiving.

I've got 3 bottles of a Mr Beer Blond Ale sat aside, and plan to put aside 3 each of the MB Cowboy Lager and the 5 gal English Dark Ale, but might increase the number of each of those to make 12 without waiting on the Dunkel Weitzenbier. We'll see. The Cowboy Lager and the Dark Ale are due for bottling this weekend. Will probably start the Weitzenbier on the 13th or 14th then. I shared my Mr Beer Bewitched Red Ale with my soon-to-be son-in-law and he enjoyed it. May have a new homebrewer in the family shortly with him. At least, so far I have not had a bad batch. Not everything has come out as expected, but it's all gone down well. Now to learn the fine art of siphoning. :)

Tom

a dozen bottles of 4 types...meaning 48 beers? I have six homebrews on tap right now and that's more homebrew then I'd be willing to give away...Whattawort gave you good advice. Good work on the brewing...save some for you!!!

Just read your above post- west coast, the coffee hasn't kicked in yet. 12 beers not so much. ;-) Nice work.

Bottled and lagered the MB Cowboy Lager last night. With a bit of a head cold, I didnt want to mess up while transferring 5 gallons of brown ale and bottling. My next issue comes to how long I can leave it in the pale before bad things start happening if I dont make time to bottle. Wednesday makes 14 days. On a good side, I noted that the basement has maintained a pretty steady 64 degrees over the period, so being as it is on the low side of the recommended temperature, I think it will still be okay if I transfer, prime and bottle on Saturday. I plan to drop a hydrometer in on Saturday morning to be safe, but an intial taste sample came out very good. I figure I can bottle this weekend and then start the dunkle weitzen next weekend.

Nothing bad will happen if you let your beer sit on the yeast. I've let a batch (nut brown) sit in the bucket for over 4 weeks. Believe it or not, I just forgot it was there. You can bottle whenever. Also, don't drop your hydrometer in the bucket (not saying you were going to). That's when bad things can happen.
This is just my personal opinion, but if you're aiming for a banana flavor in your dunkel, let her go on the warmer side of the yeast suggestion.

Thanks. Wasn't 100% sure on putting the hydrometer in the bucket or using a tube for it. Seems I see it done both ways in the books I've been reading. I tend to err on the side of caution, so I will use a tube for it instead. Between the cold I had and a few pesky gnats buzzing around the kitchen, I was hesitant to open the pale this past weekend. A cold snap has pretty well taken care of the gnats and my cold is going away, so this weekend looks like a pretty sure bet for the job at hand. Hadn't really thought about aiming for a flavor on the dunkel yet. My memory of drinking beer in Germany is more around how much I enjoyed it than around remembering how it really tasted. I'll have to tinker a bit and see. I enjoyed the local Cluss as well as the Stuttgart and Hofbrau beers served in Heilbronn. Big difference from the Schmitts that was the mainstay around Fort Monmouth, NJ the last few years before I retired in '95. I think my goal is to get the tastes I remembered enjoying in Germany. One thing I have been doing since I started home brewing is bying the seasonal sample cases of different craft beers available at the local air base Class VI store. That has helped me sort out flavors I enjoy, but to be honest, I dont think I have found one yet that I didn't like. :D

I would give anything (ok not anything) if they would let us civil servants use the class VI store here on post.
You have the right idea about trying different beers to find the right style for your upcoming brews. I have a hell of a time trying to choose what I want to have on deck. Between the good beers I've made and the adventurous ones I want to make, it's never an easy choice. I finally got the yarbles to make up my take on an old ale this weekend. I probably wouldn't have done it if most of the ingredients hadn't landed in my lap for free. Looking forward to see how this one comes out. The wort after the mash smelled and looked exactly as I expected and the taste after the boil was like candy!