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Hegh

Hegh

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Two years ago my wife told me I couldn't brew until we had a house, so I could ferment in the basement. Guess what! We have a house now, so I'm trying to come up with a good first batch. :D

So, since I'm sure everyone here has good memories of past recipes... What would you suggest?

Since it'll be my first, I'd like something relatively easy (mostly extract, but I wouldn't mind some specialty grains), and I'm planning on doing a secondary.

Oh, and I prefer dark beers. Ales would obviously be easier, and I wouldn't have to wait quite so long to find out if I'd messed it up. So something in the brown ale/stout/porter range would be good.

Thanks!
 
Welcome to the board. Basements are nice to have. I also really like browns and porters. Good luck!!
 
foppa78 said:
Welcome to the board. Basements are nice to have. I also really like browns and porters. Good luck!!
Click to expand...

Thanks! I'm really excited, and I think that bugs her because I don't get excited for much... Plus she doesn't like beer :eek:
 
That'll have to change, maybe brew something a little different for your 2nd or 3rd batch that she might like? Some sort of spiced ale perhaps? Most people I know who aren't beer snobs still seem intrigued by the butter rum cider fermenting in my closet...
 
If you want something quick, satisfying, and in the brown ale range, try a mild. I brewed Northern Brewer's Mild Ale kit, and it was good after only ten days in primary and a week in the bottle. That's not saying it won't improve, but it's tasty and surprisingly clear already. Austin Homebrew also has a mild kit that looks good (and has a slightly higher OG).

Get a quick brew done first, and you won't sweat waiting two months for the next one! :mug:
 
jrakich87 said:
That'll have to change, maybe brew something a little different for your 2nd or 3rd batch that she might like? Some sort of spiced ale perhaps? Most people I know who aren't beer snobs still seem intrigued by the butter rum cider fermenting in my closet...
Click to expand...

ok, that sounds too good not to try.... recipe?
 
jrakich87 said:
That'll have to change, maybe brew something a little different for your 2nd or 3rd batch that she might like? Some sort of spiced ale perhaps? Most people I know who aren't beer snobs still seem intrigued by the butter rum cider fermenting in my closet...
Click to expand...

Butter rum cider, eh? That does sound intriguing... I do plan to make a hard cider at some point, but probably not for a while. Maybe next year, since it's pretty much past apple season now.
 
Nanik006 said:
ok, that sounds too good not to try.... recipe?
Click to expand...

It's more of a cider/wine hybrid... I used ~3 gal regular apple juice, and ~3 gal of TreeTop's "Butter Rum Cider." You could use all cider I suppose, but it smelled pretty strong so I figured a half and half mixture would be just fine. I added about 5 lbs of cane sugar and mixed well (using EdWort's method of emptying half a gallon then adding sugar and shaking vigorously). I used Fermax yeast nutrient (b/c of low nutrients in apple juice), and pitched Lavlin LV1-1116 wine yeast. The OG was a whopping 1.085-ish, but the yeast I used should be fine up to 18% alcohol so I'm not worried. The ABV will be around 11-12%, so as I said, it's kind of a cider/wine, I don't really know what it'd be classified as. It's fermenting nicely (1st week) right now and the entire room smells of fresh squeezed apple cider! It's my own little experiment, I'll let anyone that's interested know how it turns out when I first taste some, however it won't truly be ready for months!
 
Lots of encouragement, but I have yet to see a dark beer recipe. Are you guys afraid of sharing? :p
 
i love a nice smokey scottish ale myself.....done 2 batches this year and never dissapointed.
 
Penguin said:
i love a nice smokey scottish ale myself.....done 2 batches this year and never dissapointed.
Click to expand...

Scottish ale does sound pretty good... I assume they pre-peat smoke the malt, I don't think I could manage that on my own... :p
 
jrakich87 said:
It's more of a cider/wine hybrid... I used ~3 gal regular apple juice, and ~3 gal of TreeTop's "Butter Rum Cider." You could use all cider I suppose, but it smelled pretty strong so I figured a half and half mixture would be just fine. I added about 5 lbs of cane sugar and mixed well (using EdWort's method of emptying half a gallon then adding sugar and shaking vigorously). I used Fermax yeast nutrient (b/c of low nutrients in apple juice), and pitched Lavlin LV1-1116 wine yeast. The OG was a whopping 1.085-ish, but the yeast I used should be fine up to 18% alcohol so I'm not worried. The ABV will be around 11-12%, so as I said, it's kind of a cider/wine, I don't really know what it'd be classified as. It's fermenting nicely (1st week) right now and the entire room smells of fresh squeezed apple cider! It's my own little experiment, I'll let anyone that's interested know how it turns out when I first taste some, however it won't truly be ready for months!
Click to expand...

how long do you think it will take to ferment? there shouldn't really be a clearing phase or any racking necessary since you used fruit juice instead of actual fruit? i would think once fermentation is done it should be ready to bottle and not long before you can drink it
 
I'd go with a simple brown porter. Where are you getting your ingredients? Maybe just order a good kit from one of the online stores? They're good quality if they're made fresh.

Look at AHS or morebeer, or if you have a local store, let us know what is available to you.
 
carnevoodoo said:
I'd go with a simple brown porter. Where are you getting your ingredients? Maybe just order a good kit from one of the online stores? They're good quality if they're made fresh.

Look at AHS or morebeer, or if you have a local store, let us know what is available to you.
Click to expand...

There is a local store, but we've been so busy with the move that I haven't had a chance to check it out. I will almost definitely buy my equipment from there, and if it looks busy enough, my ingredients also (higher turnover -> freshness).

Brown porter... I suppose that would probably use a mix of a lighter malt of some sort with a chocolate or similar?
 

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