First Beer - Looking for Pale Ale

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

sacks13

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 18, 2007
Messages
59
Reaction score
0
Hello all,

Brewing my first beer this weekend and hoping for something resembling a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Posting here because I'm looking for all types of suggestions, like...

1. Any good tutorials on brewing?
2. Any tips with this recipe?
3. Any general Pale Ale specific tips?

Here are my ingredients:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

6.6 oz. Coopers Light Malt Extract
2 oz. Cascade hops
2 oz. Perl hops
1 lb. Crystal Malt
1 packet of Danstar Windsor Yeast

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thoughts guys?

Thanks!
 
Welcome to the obession!


1) Go to www.howtobrew.com and read it, live it, and breath it. It has helped me get on my feet in the past few months. Also this forum is a wealth of knowledge.

2) I just did a similar beer 2 months ago and it turned out great. I highly suggest dry-hopping with some Perle Hops in a secondary clarifying tank, if you have one.

3)Follow the 1-2-3 method. At least a week in the primary, 2 weeks in the secondary, and 3 weeks bottle/keg conditioning. IT WORKS.

4) My own little advice ---- Since this is your first brew, you will be VERY excited to drink your beer so you might want to stock up on some microbrew to help calm the nerves for 6 weeks. Also start another beer as soon as you finish the first! You will get better.
 
I have read in several places, including howtobrew. com, that as a first timer I should not use a secondary fermenter. Being that my recipe calls for it and I hear good things though, I'd like to try it.

Any thoughts? If I do it, what do I need to be wary of?
 
Mr. Mojo Rising said:
4) My own little advice ---- Since this is your first brew, you will be VERY excited to drink your beer so you might want to stock up on some microbrew to help calm the nerves for 6 weeks. Also start another beer as soon as you finish the first! You will get better.
Best advice you'll ever get.

I always use a secondary. Get in the habit of doing so and you'll be a better brewere for it.

Follow the recipe you were given. IF you like the citrusy flavor of the SNPA, I'd suggest taking 1/3rd of the hops and adding it at flame out and letting it steep for 5 minutes.

This will lower the bitterness a little and add that grapefruit tone.
 
no one way to do it...use a hydrometer and keep good records of your process. wait until your beer has stopped fermenting before transferring to secondary. be patient, keep brewing, and you'll enjoy many a fine brew! best hobby ever! :)
 
My first suggestion would be to fallow the recipe as exactly stated, just for the experience, but I SECOND doing a secondary. It can only improve your beer. I suggest transferring to secondary after 4-5 days.

After that, I would suggest going to a home brew supplies shop and getting 8 pounds of liquid pale malt extract, or doubling the DME. Also try cutting the crystal by at least half a pound.
 
Using a seconday is another point that you could potentially aerate or infect your brew, so that's probably why it's not recommended for newbies. That said, I've always done a secondary excepting hefeweizens since they really don't need it. It's not hard, just an extra step.
 
How do you guys generally add your hop pellets? Do you just dump them in or add them in a grain bag? The recipes I read tend to handle it differently.

Also, my homebrew guy suggested using 2oz of Perl hops at the start of the boil rather than the 1 my recipe suggested. What is this likely to do?

Thanks again for all the help.
 
I don't like the 1-2-3 method, nor do I do secondaries most of the time. I leave my beers in the primary for 2-3 weeks and my beer is just as clear as when I used to do secondaries.
 
sacks13 said:
How do you guys generally add your hop pellets? Do you just dump them in or add them in a grain bag? The recipes I read tend to handle it differently.

Just dump them in.

Also, my homebrew guy suggested using 2oz of Perl hops at the start of the boil rather than the 1 my recipe suggested. What is this likely to do?

Your homebrew guy probably just wants to make sure that you can taste your first brew, and don't become discouraged by a bad utilisation. Don't become discouraged. You will have bad batches, but you will also have sweet victory.

Seriously don't worry about it. JUST BREW, and keep notes.
 
sacks13 said:
How do you guys generally add your hop pellets? Do you just dump them in or add them in a grain bag? The recipes I read tend to handle it differently.

Also, my homebrew guy suggested using 2oz of Perl hops at the start of the boil rather than the 1 my recipe suggested. What is this likely to do?

Thanks again for all the help.

I always use muslin bags....srickly personal opinion. I find it easier to get rid fo them when going to fermenter from pot. Here is a great link on a SNPA clone...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=18932&highlight=SNPA
 
Back
Top