Noob trying to pick a first beer....

Alright.. I am taking the plunge! Ordered a burner and a pot... been reading online here and Stephen Snyder's The Brew-Master's Bible and Charlie Papazian's The Joy of Homebrewing.

I am wanting to do a full boil extract with some grains and don't have anyplace to ferment except a cool closet that stays about 70-72F. I really miss some of the ALT bier's and Kolsch Bier's from my time in Germany. I have seen a few extract recipe's that don't require lagering and actually call for these temps. So I should be fine with these temps... :rockin:

I need to decide and go shopping... But since it'll be my first, I would like a little help from some of you folks who may have done one or more of these beers and the typical pitfalls of newbie brewers... Any input or suggestions?:fro:

Thanks Fellas

Do you like German weizens at all? They're pretty straightforward and you should get a nice, spicy flavor at that temperature if you use the right yeast.

Full disclosure: I am on my second Dunkelweizen of the night.

personally, i'd stick to a proven recipe and i'd avoid some of the 'pre boxed' kits. The kind that are all extract and come in shrink wrap.

There are several recipes on here that might be good to start with, but i can't think of any that meet the beers you listed. Several online vendors all have kits that usually contain grains and extract that will be fresh. My suggestion is surf austin home brew, northern brewer etc and find one of the house kits that looks good and give it a shot.

One of the best things new brewers can do is to find a way to control your fermentation temperatures. Your closet may be 70 or so but during fermentation the temperature will rise 5-8 degrees possibly and you can get some funky flavors with some yeasts. You should probably plan on using a water bath to lower the temp to the mid 60's if you can.

Thanks Fellas

I am getting into home brewing as I really enjoyed these beers and miss them. I am avoiding the pre-pack kit and going for a proven recipe... As for the closet, it is coldest spot in the house and the house is kept at 72, so... I figured it'd be good...

My greatest fear is cooling the wort fast enough... Just need to take the plunge...
As for weizens... yep paulaner is what i am drinking now.. I am planning to do that next... just in time for those dog days of Summer.

don't worry about cooling the wort fast enough, you'll be fine with whatever method you use to do so (aside from letting it sit at room temp overnight or something). IMHO, a cream ale, blonde ale, american wheat, or something that uses nottingham or US-05 for yeast to limit off flavor production would be good.

Since a significant element of the recipe is what specialty grain you use, it would be neat if you made your own specialty grain for your first brew. It's quite simple. Take a pound or two of Pale Base malt (2-row) and lay it out on a cookie sheet. Get the grain completely moist with water. Put it in the oven at 150'F for an hour. Then kick up the oven to 330 "F until you reach the desired color of your grain.

My first all-grain batch was a porter with 100% home-roasted grain. Pic related. It was very rewarding and a great kick-off to my homebrewing experience.

Slasher said:

Thanks Fellas

I am getting into home brewing as I really enjoyed these beers and miss them. I am avoiding the pre-pack kit and going for a proven recipe... As for the closet, it is coldest spot in the house and the house is kept at 72, so... I figured it'd be good...

My greatest fear is cooling the wort fast enough... Just need to take the plunge...
As for weizens... yep paulaner is what i am drinking now.. I am planning to do that next... just in time for those dog days of Summer.

Click to expand...

Hey, I've been thinking of doing a Paulaner clone. It's a simple recipe. It might make an easy first batch for you.

If your not going to use an ice bath to cool your wort, try cooling the wort to the mid 60s before adding the yeast. The yeast generate heat during fermentation so if the air is 72 then the fermentor will be hotter. If you add the yeast on the colder side the yeast will have done a lot of the work as the temperature comes up.