First time trying Ales.

Ok, All I really drink, until now, is Cider, different brews of cider. I've also brewed a fair amount of different ciders.

But today i went to a real ale festival with over 25 different ales.
I had a taste of almost all of these, and I liked most of them.

Now i would love to try and brew some

There was a range of lighter ales and darker ales, from 3-8% Some where stout like, and some were spiced and such.

I liked many of the darker looking, but not as malty tasting ales.

What id like to know is, what equipment do i need to start brewing different ales.

I have all fermentation equipment I need, and a local brew store that supplies alot of good stuff.

Any help to get me started on brewing ales, and any recipes that I could try!

Thanks

Are you saying you never really drank beer until now? Ales are very similar to lagers, both in taste and brewing equipment. Lagers require longer fermenting in cold temperatures. Lagers require a different type of yeast as well (bottom fermenting). Not very much difference in equipment though.

I would suggest going to the store and buying several different styles of beer, to see what you like. Try to buy microbrews, as AB and miller coors don't really make anything you probably want, and I'm sure you've had a budweiser before. Maybe check out a few michelob beers. Theyre cheap and actually pretty good. Amber Bock, Rye, Porter are decent beers. Also maybe check out a few flying dog, dogfish head, bell's, etc. beers. Find out what you like and I'm sure you can find a similar recipe on here.

I'm sure your local homebrew store could help too. Check out the beer kits they sell, and just buy whatever you don't have.

BTW if you want a specific place to start I would say check out some Brown Ales. There's tons of them out there. As a style a Brown ale is just a good all around beer. Nothing too extreme, some hop flavor, malty enough, easy drinking, etc.

Do you want to do extract or all grain?

Considering that you have the fermentation gear, all you need is a big pot for extract batches. If you want to get into all-grain you'll need another vessel or two and maybe a burner.

As for which beer, I'm guessing you would be happy with a pail ale or a bitter. There are plenty of recipes on this site for extract, partial mash, or AG for these.

mezak1gd said:

Try to buy microbrews, as AB and miller coors don't really make anything you probably want, and I'm sure you've had a budweiser before. Maybe check out a few michelob beers. Theyre cheap and actually pretty good. Amber Bock, Rye, Porter are decent beers. Also maybe check out a few flying dog, dogfish head, bell's, etc. beers. Find out what you like and I'm sure you can find a similar recipe on here.

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Unfortunately, I'm not sure they get much of the good American stuff on that side of the Pond. However, their Newcastle, Guiness, Harp, et al probably are nothing like what we taste/view them as over here!

From what the OP mentioned, I would totally agree with starting with brown ales and moving around from there. Some malts, some bitterness, nothing too strong either way!

Haha didn't even notice the UK location. Well nonetheless try to taste at least a couple styles to see what you like.

Yea sorry for a tad of confussion, Iv'a had beers, like lagers and such.

But these were un-carbed ales straight from a metal keg. Sounds like dark ales are what i would be after.

Ill pop to my LHBS and see what i can pick up.

Cheers guys

edit: Id also like to go all grain, or partial grain. As ive made a few batches of GRAFF a malty cider, where grains need to be boiled and splarged and such, and have equipment for that also.

Cazamodo said:

edit: Id also like to go all grain, or partial grain. As ive made a few batches of GRAFF a malty cider, where grains need to be boiled and splarged and such, and have equipment for that also.

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Haha, 'splarged'.... noobs are cute

PS: grains are never boiled, just steeped like tea bags.

Gremlyn1 said:

Haha, 'splarged'.... noobs are cute

PS: grains are never boiled, just steeped like tea bags.

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haha... "grains are never boiled, just steeped like tea bags"... noobs are cute

(See "decoction")

Cazamodo said:

Yea sorry for a tad of confussion, Iv'a had beers, like lagers and such.

But these were un-carbed ales straight from a metal keg. Sounds like dark ales are what i would be after.

Ill pop to my LHBS and see what i can pick up.

Cheers guys

Click to expand...

Ah, you're looking for a cask ale. A true cask ale is somewhat difficult at home, but making any of the traditional styles with low carbonation should get you what you're after.