Beginner Beer Recipe

anyone have any forgiving beginners beer recipes? i'm in the process of building a 2 corny keg kegerator and am going to want to whip up a batch as soon as it's set. preferably something simple. i'm into pilsners, wits, hefeweizens, pale ales, ummm... pretty much all beer haahah. i guess for my first batch i'd like to steer clear from stouts and porters. simple recipes, that are forgiving and taste awesome like mirror pond ale or saranac pale ale or something.

You better get the beer started first. It should be fermenting for three or four weeks before it goes into the kegs. Congrats on the keg set up. Will you be brewing from extract?

If I were to pick my first batch all over again...I would get a Brewers Best or Coopers kit... relatively cheap and really good practice on sanitation and your process. You can find them online easily and they have many different styles.

not sure if i'll be using extract or not. i'm pretty much gonna roll with whatever people recommend. what's up with the williams brewing kits. those are 30 bux.

Another option is http://www.midwestsupplies.com/homebrewing-ingredients/recipe-kits.html . Most show the instructions step by step so youll see what your getting into.

WCD said:

If I were to pick my first batch all over again...I would get a Brewers Best or Coopers kit... relatively cheap and really good practice on sanitation and your process. You can find them online easily and they have many different styles.

Click to expand...

+1. I'm a noob too and got started with prehopped canned kit brews - very easy way to go and beer should be decent. It will get you beer in your keg as quickly as possible without having to think much or learn much. You can just focus on the real basics. Then you can move on to an extract batch (as I will be doing for my next one) - but there are so many more variables to think about and decisions to make so you can read up and learn about all that stuff while your first kit or 2 is in the fermentor (or you might be happy enough with the kits to stick with them for longer). I reckon it's good to experience the easiest possible way to make beer first and you'll probably have less chance of messing up.

The Coopers kits are well recommended but there are many other good ones too. After my extract batch I want to do a Coopers Stout - Guinness lovers seem to like it. I also want to try a Coopers English Bitter as I've heard good things about it too.

the midwest supplies homebrew kits look a lit less mr. beerish than the coopers kits. anyone use those? those seem straightforward enough because u pay $25, get a box with everything, crush some grains steep boil some stuff, sanitize chuck in fermenter with yeast, wait a few weeks chuck in keg bam done. can i make do without a wort chiller?

Im on my 5th batch so still much to learn. I have not bought a wort chiller yet but it depends if your doing 5 gallon boils or 2-3 gallon boils(im in this class). I usually do the ice bath putting my pot in the sink method. It takes probably 20 minutes with 2-3 water changes to get to 80-90 degrees. Top filling the rest, Its in the 70 degree range and ready to pitch the yeast.

Also Austin Homebrew has a big selection of clone kits for commercial beers. some are in the lower price range but they come with instructions as well. Most have options for Extract, Mini Mash or All grain. Extract is the way for the beginner. Instructions are not posted on the site but in the kit when you receive it. TMK

I've used Brewers Best and Midwest kits. Either are good choices. I think the instructions are a little better written with the Brewers Best but I've made good (some of it very good) beer with both. I'd suggest a cream ale, easy to do, can learn the basics and learn about making your beer clear. From the time I started cleaning things up on the brew day until the beer was optimum flavor for drinking was about 2 months (in bottles). It will be ready to drink a bit sooner if you keg it but don't rush it too much. I only had mine in the fermenter for a week (I'd suggest you go for 2 at least, I've learned better now) and then racked to secondary and added gelatin to settle the yeast. If I had left it in the fermenter longer, the yeast would have settled on its own.

This was my first ever brew kit:

http://morebeer.com/view_product/9821//Blonde_Ale_-_Extract_Beer_Kit

It had great instructions and the final product way exceeded my low expectations for my first go. I think that initial justification of a likable beer by not only myself but also the SWMBO jump started the addiction. Since then I have brewed the same recipe 5 times each time tweeking things like LME addition times, hop schedules and yeast. In the end it was a great learning experience and I now have a nice light beer that everyone I know enjoys.

My biggest piece of advice is keep the recipes for any kit you buy and keep a log. After awhile you will see what the basic ingredients for those styles are. Then you can start buying the ingredients in bulk "A LOT CHEAPER" and make brews with flavors you like.

As for Kegging I just started recently myself and highly recommend it. I have yet to invest in proper AG equipment. But short of just getting the gear needed to Brew the investment for Kegging was by far the best.

Welcome to the addiction.

woah the austin homebrew clone kits look fun too!