next batch! what to try?

When I went to my local homebrew shop to buy my first ingredients I ran into a guy who told me to try a Stout. I mentioned a weizen and he told me that a stout was easier to brew than a weizen. why?
I dont have the time to get into all grain yet so my next batch or two will have to be an extract w/ an additional steeping grain.
and does anyone have any suggestions for a second batch?


bootytrapper

ps. to filter out suggestions; I cant stand a weak beer!

well.. with winter coming up soon here, I would suggest a very dark beer with some 'warming' potential. A robust porter or a stout.

Wheat beers typically make me think of 'spring or summer', as so lighter ales.

Amber and brown ales are my fall selections, along with sweeter porters and stouts.

Basically, my beers tend to get darker and heartier as the weather gets colder.

But, that's just me.

hmmm... i'm unclear from your original post... what WAS your first batch? Was it a weizen or a stout?

-walker

Well it sounds like a stout would suit your tastes. I don't know if a stout is particularly "easier" per se, but the strong flavors of darker beers are able to mask mistakes and off flavors more readily.

easier in that the darker beers can be more forgiving to a beginner in that they can cover up some slightly off tastes if little things go wrong, the lighter the beer the more likely you are to notice to weird flavors (if they occur) cuz its a more delicate tasting beer to begin with

if you're up for it, i'd say a great strong first beer would be a overloaded stout, maybe 9lbs of lme if you want a lil burn in your belly from it.
actually, the coffee stout walker recently asked about (7 lbs extract IIRC) wouldn't be too hard and should be right up your alley, nice dark beer with plenty of fermentables and a slight coffee/espresso taste, you could even up the extraxct a lb. or two if you want the extra kick in yer pants.

kneemoe said:

actually, the coffee stout walker recently asked about (7 lbs extract IIRC) wouldn't be too hard and should be right up your alley, nice dark beer with plenty of fermentables and a slight coffee/espresso taste, you could even up the extraxct a lb. or two if you want the extra kick in yer pants.

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Yup.. that one has about 7lbs of extract, plus a pound of dark brown sugar. The sugar is only added to my recipe because I used Dutch Laagland DME, which is slightly lower in fermentable sugars than British DME. If you use any other DME, you can probably omit the brown sugar.

As for adding more extract, I actually intend to prime that one with DME rather than corn sugar, so it will probably have about another lb or so in it before I am done.

-walker

My first batch was an Irish Stout LME 4lb can with an additional 1lb steeped barley grain. I don't know what to try. My selection at the local HB shop is limited.

what's the main difference between a porter and a stout?

BT

bootytrapper said:

My first batch was an Irish Stout LME 4lb can with an additional 1lb steeped barley grain. I don't know what to try. My selection at the local HB shop is limited.

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Was that a 5 gallon batch!? That's a really REALLY low amount of extract, and that 'stout' is going to be pretty watery.

bootytrapper said:

what's the main difference between a porter and a stout?

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most stouts have a roasted/toasty/coffee taste and are black as sin. usually pretty heavy beers (it's easy to get a full belly from drinking stout before you get drunk from it.)

porters can range from brown to black in color, and can range from sweet and malty to dry and roasty in flavor. Porter is a big bridge between "ale" and "stout".

Check out this reference for info on different beer styles with good descriptions of flavors:

BJCP Style Guidelines

Walker said:

Was that a 5 gallon batch!?

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it was a 3½ gallon batch!

Thanks, this is what I'm looking for!!!
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V

Walker said:

porters sweet and malty in flavor.

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BT

Walker said:

most stouts have a roasted/toasty/coffee taste and are black as sin. usually pretty heavy beers (it's easy to get a full belly from drinking stout before you get drunk from it.)

porters can range from brown to black in color, and can range from sweet and malty to dry and roasty in flavor. Porter is a big bridge between "ale" and "stout".

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Further, the origin of stout came along when someone would ask for a "stout porter" meaning a heavier and stronger version of porter. Eventually the 2 styles became a different entity, especially when dark roasted malts like roasted barley and black patent became popular.

I learned that in Designing Great Beers, cause someone asked me what th edifference was adn I wasn't sure.

further FURTHER more...

Pale Ale was a term created to differentiate normal ales (what would today be called a porter) from the new style that was very light in color.

So.. in the beginning there was the porter. Praise be to the porter (my favorite style of beer.)

-walker

Walker said:

further FURTHER more...

Pale Ale was a term created to differentiate normal ales (what would today be called a porter) from the new style that was very light in color.

So.. in the beginning there was the porter. Praise be to the porter (my favorite style of beer.)

-walker

Click to expand...

Aaaa-meeen

Walker said:

... Praise be to the porter (my favorite style of beer.)...

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One of my favorite styles, too. If you love Porters, try and find some Edmund Fitzgerald Porter from Great Lakes Brewing in your area. It is my favorite domestic porter that is readily available on the store shelves where I live.

In my extremely humble opinion, Walker's Stout would be just the thing. Personally, I'd leave the brown sugar in. More sugar = more alcohol ( to some extent) = Winter warmer, or a warmer winter.... Stout is the ticket for cold nights around the campfire. The addition of coffee just brings the beer to life and adds a new dimension to it. I did a batch like that a while back and have one bottle left. Saving it for a special occasion.

sudsmonkey said:

... Saving it for a special occasion.

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You just hit 275 posts. Isn't that a 'special occasion'?

Rhoobarb- You're what we call an "enabler" at the meetings.

sudsmonkey said:

Rhoobarb- You're what we call an "enabler" at the meetings.

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you go to the meetings?

nobody likes a QUITTER, man.

-walker

Who says he quit going to the meetings?

No, man. I went and introduced myself. Told them I was an alcoholic. They clapped and cheered for me. I didn't want to let them down, they being so proud of me , and all. I came home and doubled my brewing efforts. Maybe I'll go again one day. It was very encouraging.

This hobby has attracted the attention of my best friend. Yesterday we got silly with it. We took the Goat Scrotum porter recipe from the Joy of Homebrewing. We left out the brewing licorice, spruce essence,and szechuan peppers. So we added white chocalate, three times the juniper berries, two fresh vanilla beans, and three dried habanero peppers. I am laughing while behind me the blow off tube in the water is going crazy. And with all that this was not difficult at all. I have been into all grain stouts and imperial stouts so this was the first time in a while to use extracts. It was fun you wanted something good i think this would be perfect for you. We hopped the heck out of it too.

could someone suggest an easy weizen recipe for a 4 gallon batch using an extract? or possibly a dunkelweizen?

i've got a friend who wants to try brewing.

BT

Walker said:

further FURTHER more...

Pale Ale was a term created to differentiate normal ales (what would today be called a porter) from the new style that was very light in color.

So.. in the beginning there was the porter. Praise be to the porter (my favorite style of beer.)

-walker

Click to expand...

Amen Bro, Life without Porters would be a shame!

bootytrapper said:

could someone suggest an easy weizen recipe for a 4 gallon batch using an extract? or possibly a dunkelweizen?

i've got a friend who wants to try brewing.

BT

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This is stolen from The Complete Joy of Home Brewing by Charlie Papazian. It's a darker brew because of the grains used.

Phat Fired Weizenbock

1 lb crystal malt
1/4 lb chocolate malt
1/4 lb caraffe malt (debittered black malt)

3.3 lbs light extract syrup
3.3 lbs wheat extract syrup
1.5 lbs amber dry extract

1.5 oz spalt hops for 60 minutes
1 oz santiam hops for 5 minutes
1 oz santiam hops for 2 minutes

German Wheat yeast

NOTES:

- this is a 5 gallon batch recipe. multiply everything by 0.8 to cut it down to 4 gallon.... or... just use it as is to make a strong 4 gallon batch.

- mount hood or american tettnanger hops can be substituted for santiam

Walker said:

Phat Fired Weizenbock

1 lb crystal malt
1/4 lb chocolate malt
1/4 lb caraffe malt (debittered black malt)

3.3 lbs light extract syrup
3.3 lbs wheat extract syrup
1.5 lbs amber dry extract

1.5 oz spalt hops for 60 minutes
1 oz santiam hops for 5 minutes
1 oz santiam hops for 2 minutes

German Wheat yeast

NOTES:

- this is a 5 gallon batch recipe. multiply everything by 0.8 to cut it down to 4 gallon.... or... just use it as is to make a strong 4 gallon batch.

- mount hood or american tettnanger hops can be substituted for santiam

Click to expand...

Hell yeah man, this is perfect!!!

BT

I am glad to know others have my same beereligous beliefs about porter and good ole dank beers. Its calmed down some today and time for the air lock. Looking awesome. I ll let yall know how its progresses. That phat fired recipe looks pretty darn spiritual also.

How about a Helles or Dunkel Bock?