What To Brew (as a Noob)

My Deluxe homebrew kit finally arrived today. What a great birthday present! My initial (first-ever) batch will be an Irish Red and I am very excited.

My question is, since I like all beer styles and want my family and friends to enjoy my homebrew as well what kind of beer kit should I look to buy for my 2nd and 3rd batches? I want to have some diversity. What is a good (non-Irish-Red) beer to make for my next batch or two?

I realize this question is kind of open ended but hopefully I can have another batch brewing, come bottling day in 3 weeks or so. Thanks in advance.

I think that 2 beer styles will be appreciated by almost any beer drinker, even the ones that only drink light beer and Corona;

1. English Brown Ale (mellow, malty, not overly bitter or harsh)

2. American Pale Ale (mellow, hoppy flavor, will please hop lovers and will be drinkable by everyone else). I think a Pale Ale is probably the easiest beer for a beginner to brew. Highly hopped beer tends to hide any flavor problems in the malt portion of the profile with hop bitterness. Hops also discourage bacteria from taking hold in enough quantity to cause problems. It's pretty hard to make a bad pale ale from a known recipe even as a beginner.

Go to NorthernBrewer.com and browse their extract kits. There are many other online brew supply places too, but I use them a lot. You'll find some great ideas.

I go along w/the "simple" brews. A brown ale, a pale ale or an IPA. Get the system down pat before doing more complicated brews, but then if you are doing extract kits it's really hard to screw them up. Extract is pretty straight forward. Just ferment about 3 weeks and bottle condition about the same. Disreguard the kit instructions that say fermenting is done is a week and a half. Also no need to use secondary.

Besure you sanitize carefully that's one area that beginners can slip on.

You could go with a clone of something like Fat Tire, it's a easy drinking beer that most everybody likes.

+1 for English Brown Ale.

It's pretty much ready from start to finish in 3 weeks, also. Good for beginners who haven't learned the patience it takes for beer

My kit has the bucket for Primary, and glass carboy for Secondary. The kit instructions for Midwest Supply seemed pretty detailed as far as when to go from primary to secondary, and secondary to bottling. Should I keep the beer in longer?

I also used to think the whole "sanitary" think wasn't that big of a deal but months of reading up on this it seems to be quite the opposite.

Thanks for the suggestions, the more the better!

You definitely can't go wrong with keeping it longer in the primary.

As a general rule of thumb:

Leave your beer in primary for at least 3 weeks before bottling.

There is really no need to secondary unless you are adding other flavorings to the beer. Transferring a second time just leads to increased chanced of oxidation of the beer (NOT GOOD)

One of the biggest thing beginners don't realize is that ales need to ferment at about 65 degrees which is the temperature of the beer itself, not the air temp in your fermentation area! Beer creates heat when it ferments so the beer can get up to 8-10 degrees hotter than the air! This means you should ferment in a 57-60 degree room for the first few days! Unless you have a basement there is no easy way to maintain fermentation temp without a temp controlled enclosure. Just food for thought. Do some research on temp control. Very important for good tasting beer!

Eman24dx said:

My kit has the bucket for Primary, and glass carboy for Secondary. The kit instructions for Midwest Supply seemed pretty detailed as far as when to go from primary to secondary, and secondary to bottling. Should I keep the beer in longer?

I also used to think the whole "sanitary" think wasn't that big of a deal but months of reading up on this it seems to be quite the opposite.

Thanks for the suggestions, the more the better!

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So in other words, you can have two batches going at once. Awesome!

Rick

2 beers going at once is better than awesome. I trust you guys here just wondering why the instructions call for 2 weeks in the secondary if there is no need for it? Why would they add the step if it is useless and can even have a negative impact in taste?

Eman24dx said:

2 beers going at once is better than awesome. I trust you guys here just wondering why the instructions call for 2 weeks in the secondary if there is no need for it? Why would they add the step if it is useless and can even have a negative impact in taste?

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It is the old way. There were concerns in the past that leaving beer on the trub (gunk that settles out of the beer) could cause bad flavors. This myth (for homebrewer's volumes of beer anyways) has been dispelled over and over again.

Trust us, just leave it in the primary until you bottle.

Glad I can here before starting. I will just leave it in the primary then, my only question now is my kit came with a 6.5 Gallon plastic fermenter bucket and a 5 gallon glass carboy. I realize I can now brew 2 beers at once but if both options are open am I better off fermenting in the bucket or carboy? I will eventually use both at the same time but are there pros/cons with using one over the other? Besides the carboy you can see whats going on.

Fermenting a 5 gallon batch in a 6.5 gallon bucket may have enough headspace to prevent your krausen from rising up and producing a clogged airlock or blowout. (I USE THE WORD MAY). ALWAYS have a blowoff tube ready in any case.

If using a 5 gallon carboy you should leave a decent amount of headspace and brew a smaller amount of beer and by all means set a blowoff tube into the carboy from the start.

bosco

I'd suggest a Scottish Export 80 Shilling, simple, tasty and it'll mature fast.

Instead of making smaller batch for the carboy and having to figure out the measurements I think I will just use the bucket. If I decide to brew again within the 3 week fermentation I will go to the carboy as a secondary, otherwise just keep the beer in the primary.

I would hate to brew less beer. I'm starting to question why I ordered a 5 gallon carboy at all.

6 gallon carboys are perfect. I brew 5.5 gallon batches in my 6-gal carboys and if you watch them and keep temp low you don't need a blowoff tube.

Eman24dx said:

I would hate to brew less beer. I'm starting to question why I ordered a 5 gallon carboy at all.

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I maintain a pipeline of at least 350 bottles (enough for me) and do not use a secondary.

If you use your bucket to ferment and then rack to the carboy after fermentation is done your first batch can brighten up a bit and you have the fermenter free to get another batch going. This way you can start a new batch every 2 weeks or so..


bosco

I agree with jayhem on the English Brown Ale. I would also brew a Scottish Ale. I have found that those two have been very popular with everyone I have served.

You can use the 5-gallon for some apfelwein. Would be all set to go by springtime

I am also a noob trying to learn as much as possible about best practices before starting. I have read that using a secondary will produce better clarity in the beer and reduce sediment in the bottles. What are your thoughts about that?

brewlong1 said:

I am also a noob trying to learn as much as possible about best practices before starting. I have read that using a secondary will produce better clarity in the beer and reduce sediment in the bottles. What are your thoughts about that?

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I brew dark all grain ales and do NOT use a secondary. My last batch (bottled this past Sunday) was done fermenting after 10 days. After 11 more days (total time in fermenter 21 days) I dropped the temperature down to about 38 degrees for 36 hours.

It went into the bottles crystal clear. There will always be some sediment in the bottles after carbonation from the yeast acting on the priming sugar.

Be careful not to siphon or drain any trub from the fermenter into your bottling bucket or bottles.

bosco

After you brew a couple of kits and get the process down, I'd look into
the recipe database. The first couple of kits I did were ok, but both had
a funny bittery aftertaste I couldn't explain.

Buying the ingredients separate and following recipes has given me some really good beers!

I recommend

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f58/german-pilsner-ale-221631/


And

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f62/yakima-blonde-ale-78635/

Both are relatively easy and are great tasting. Most everyone I've shared them with really likes 'em. They go fast tho!

So what is the best option for me:

A. Brew, use primary only for 3 weeks, then bottle and brew again

B. Brew, Primary 7-days, then brew again as I transfer to secondary

C. Brew 2, keep one in primary bucket, and one in primary 5 G Carboy?

First timer but I want a variety and few brews available.

Thanks,

Eman24dx said:

So what is the best option for me:

A. Brew, use primary only for 3 weeks, then bottle and brew again

B. Brew, Primary 7-days, then brew again as I transfer to secondary

C. Brew 2, keep one in primary bucket, and one in primary 5 G Carboy?

First timer but I want a variety and few brews available.

Thanks,

Click to expand...

You can get a second brew bucket at your local brew shop for about $20 with lid and airlock. I'd go that route. I love watching my beer ferment in carboys but it's so much easier to clean a bucket!

Thanks but I hate to have spent the extra $$ on a glass carboy and not use it at all. I think the answer being a beginner and all might be to make my 1st batch and moving it to a secondary (when ready) and then using the primary only method for my 2nd batch.

This way I can see the difference and will have 2 batches only a week apart from one another. Any downside to this plan?

Eman24dx said:

Thanks but I hate to have spent the extra $$ on a glass carboy and not use it at all. I think the answer being a beginner and all might be to make my 1st batch and moving it to a secondary (when ready) and then using the primary only method for my 2nd batch.

This way I can see the difference and will have 2 batches only a week apart from one another. Any downside to this plan?

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Bucket for primary 2-3 weeks then to the carboy for 2-3 weeks and start your next batch in the bucket. Just make sure ther is as little headspace in the carboy as possible to avoid oxidation.

New batch every 2-3 weeks, nothing else to buy.

bosco

Eman24dx said:

So what is the best option for me:

A. Brew, use primary only for 3 weeks, then bottle and brew again

B. Brew, Primary 7-days, then brew again as I transfer to secondary

C. Brew 2, keep one in primary bucket, and one in primary 5 G Carboy?

First timer but I want a variety and few brews available.

Thanks,

Click to expand...

D. Buy another bucket, and brew whenever you want.

You can do A, just as easily, of course but it depends on how often you want to brew.

A piece of duct tape with the brew name and date on the outside of the bucket is all I use (along with a stick-on thermometer) and I normally do about two weeks in the fermenter.

If you put a 5 gallon batch in a 5 gallon carboy, you WILL have a blow off. Some people don't mind too much. I'm not a fan.

Eman24dx said:

Thanks but I hate to have spent the extra $$ on a glass carboy and not use it at all. I think the answer being a beginner and all might be to make my 1st batch and moving it to a secondary (when ready) and then using the primary only method for my 2nd batch.

This way I can see the difference and will have 2 batches only a week apart from one another. Any downside to this plan?

Click to expand...

Not really a down side, but make sure you use absolutely sanitary process, and don't splash when you rack to the clearing vessel (carboy). You risk oxidation and infection a little with each transfer, so I try to minimize moving beer unnecessarily.

I use 5 gallon carboys when I make 5 gallons of wine, but otherwise I don't use them.

Thanks guys, I am taking note of every tip on here like a small cheat sheet for Saturday's brew. I am sure I will forget or do something wrong but I guess that's the process.