Need help choosing first brew

Hi everybody,
My name is Erik, but everyone calls me Cooler. I've been lurking around for a long while now and thought I should finally chime in and say hello.
I got into real beer about 6 years ago thanks to my dad who introduced me to IPA. Since all I had known before that was Miller, I was simply blown away with how much flavor beer could have and was instantly hooked. Living in WI, I fell in love with New Glarus pretty quickly, and their beers are what made me want to try my hand at home brewing. I finally got a Brewer's Best kit for Christmas (basic kit, 2 buckets/no carboy), and I cannot wait to start brewing! But for the life of me I cannot decide which brew to start with, so I figured maybe you all could help me out.
Since this will be my first batch, I'm having trouble judging what would be the best one to start with so I don't end up in over my head or waiting months to taste my first batch.

I've narrowed it down to three choices (all Brewer's Best kits):
German Altbier, American Amber, or Imperial Blonde Ale

I'm sure I will end up brewing all three, but which one would be the best (read easiest) to start with? I'm leaning towards the Alt, but the phrase "A great beer to ferment cool and cold condition" (with no additional explanation) kind of intimidates me for a first batch.
Thanks in advance!
Cooler

amber is a great style to start off with! alt's are great too, but require a bit more attention and preferably the ability to lager at cooler temps after fermentation.

Don't do the Alt. You certainly have to have firm control over your fermentation temps. I'm not sure what your craft beer drinking has looked like over the last six years, but start with a style with which you're well acquainted. If you can identify flavors that don't belong with a particular style, you'll have an easier time identifying problems with your process.

Thanks guys!
That's what I was afraid of with the Alt. I live in an upper apartment, so I have limited options as far as space with suitable temps. With winter here, I'm sure it would either be too warm or too cold.

What about the Blonde? From my understanding, beer with higher ABV can take longer to reach completion than something like the Amber with a lower ABV. Is that accurate?

yep, higher gravity, the longer it takes to ferment and condition. since you'll want to try your new creation, i'd say go for a style that'll finish up in 5-6 weeks, boil to bottle.

NordeastBrewer77 said:

yep, higher gravity, the longer it takes to ferment and condition. since you'll want to try your new creation, i'd say go for a style that'll finish up in 5-6 weeks, boil to bottle.

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Does the Amber fit in that time frame?
If so, Amber it is!

yep of your choices the amber is your best choice.

You may consider a wheat beer, though not on your list. Quickest to your glass. Can be ready as fast as 3-4 weeks.

If you want to stick with Brewer's Best kits, you could do their English brown ale. It's pretty good, and it helps "hide" a few mistakes because of the dark color and full flavor. It's similar to a Newcastle in taste and body.

I assume you're going to Homebrew Market? That is a good store. You could also brew one Brewer's Best kit, and then find a recipe here on our forum (we have a nice recipe database) or have us help you make a recipe and you can pick up the ingredients at Homebrew Market and make exactly what you want!

I have a nice Fat Squirrel clone posted, but I don't think it's easily done as an extract batch. So maybe you aren't ready for something like that, but you will be soon once you get a few batches under your belt!

Yooper said:

I assume you're going to Homebrew Market? That is a good store. You could also brew one Brewer's Best kit, and then find a recipe here on our forum (we have a nice recipe database) or have us help you make a recipe

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Yooper can you point me to that thread?

Balto said:

Yooper can you point me to that thread?

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The recipe database? Sure- it's up in the "tool bar" next to the link to our wiki. Here's the direct link: Recipe Database - Home Brew Forums

haha got it! Thanx

Yooper said:

If you want to stick with Brewer's Best kits, you could do their English brown ale. It's pretty good, and it helps "hide" a few mistakes because of the dark color and full flavor. It's similar to a Newcastle in taste and body.

I assume you're going to Homebrew Market? That is a good store. You could also brew one Brewer's Best kit, and then find a recipe here on our forum (we have a nice recipe database) or have us help you make a recipe and you can pick up the ingredients at Homebrew Market and make exactly what you want!

I have a nice Fat Squirrel clone posted, but I don't think it's easily done as an extract batch. So maybe you aren't ready for something like that, but you will be soon once you get a few batches under your belt!

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Yeah I just figured for my first batch it would be easiest to get an already assembled kit so there's no guess work, and since I got the Brewer's Best equipment kit i figured I would stick with them for the first batch.
You are correct, I'll be headed to the Homebrew Market in Appleton. I haven't been there yet so I'm pretty excited to check it out. I'll be going in Monday after new years to get the last stuff I need, talk to them for a bit about my first batch, and hopefully start working shortly after that.
I'm sure I'll move on quickly to loose ingredients, just a quick browse of that recipe database and I can already see a ton of brews I'm gonna want to try!

Thanks for the help!

coolharry said:

Yeah I just figured for my first batch it would be easiest to get an already assembled kit so there's no guess work, and since I got the Brewer's Best equipment kit i figured I would stick with them for the first batch.
You are correct, I'll be headed to the Homebrew Market in Appleton. I haven't been there yet so I'm pretty excited to check it out. I'll be going in Monday after new years to get the last stuff I need, talk to them for a bit about my first batch, and hopefully start working shortly after that.
I'm sure I'll move on quickly to loose ingredients, just a quick browse of that recipe database and I can already see a ton of brews I'm gonna want to try!

Thanks for the help!

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Be careful what you choose out of that recipe database. I've tried a few and ......I'm hooked. I don't always follow the recipe because not all the ingredients are available at my lhbs but I've learned enough here to substitute what I have or can get and I still make beer that I think is good.

coolharry said:

Thanks guys!
That's what I was afraid of with the Alt. I live in an upper apartment, so I have limited options as far as space with suitable temps. With winter here, I'm sure it would either be too warm or too cold.

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i live in a loft apt and my brew room is my closet, where the water heater is too, and where a loop from the heated floor runs through. temp control has been my biggest problem. i settled on putting my fermenters on a stand about 3 feet from the floor. in the first 48hrs or so, i use wet towels and ice buckets around my fermenter to keep temps lower during peak activity. then a couple of blankets to insulate for when the closet heats up for about two more weeks.

Welcome! Should have checked out your thread sooner, just posted a similar one.

Btw, I am from the La Crosse area, nice to see a fellow Wisconsinite! I am also a fan of New Glarus.. That Smoked beer they had during the summer was awesome!

Happy Brewing! I just did my first Brewer's Best kit of an IPA... Still fermenting currently, but the instructions were thorough and really straight forward.

The cream ale kit from Brewer's Best is a good beginner kit. It's light and easy drinking, but still flavorful. Also I've done the Red Ale kit from Brewer's Best(my first brew) that turned out pretty good!

Alright, it looks like Saturday is finally gonna be brew day!

I went with the Amber kit and I've been sampling various amber's for the last weeks to get more acquainted with the style. I think I've got everything planned and ready to go... except one thing. The lhbs is out of star san until next week. so I'm stuck with the easy clean that came with the equipment kit (which from my reading here i think should work, but is not ideal to say the least. looks like everything will get a good soak instead of a simple rinse!)

My parents were nice enough to let me brew at their house because of my crappy apartment with the tiny stove and normally high temps. So I filled my PF with 5 gallons of water and let it sit in their basement for a few days to see what kind of fermentation temp range I'll be working with and its been right around 59-61 for a few days now. a tad lower than expected, but better than 75-80 the apartment seems to sit at normally (without the heat on in this wintery Wisconsin weather believe it or not!).

Hopefully everything goes well and I can report back Saturday night with a successful story.

Hey Cooler keep us posted!

As far as I can tell, everything went great. Beer is now sitting in the PF in the basement.
No boilovers, but wow was the hot break cool to see first hand!
The whole thing was covered in foam, couldn't even see the wort, and then all of a sudden it boiled up and within a few seconds the foam was gone and the boil was rolling nicely.
Cooled it down in an ice bath for about a half hour, got down under 70, mixed in the top off water, poured it back and forth between buckets a few times and pitched the re-hydrated yeast.
I can already tell I'm gonna have a big problem with patience. I pitched the yeast 45 min ago and I've already checked the air lock twice.
Hope it turns out!