Oktoberfest

Well, I have just cracked a bottle of my fourth brew. Brewers Best Oktoberfest kit, I must say, I like it! It has only been in bottles for 2 weeks, but I couldn't wait. I am nervous about breaking away from the kit method because of how easy they are. I do have an English Brown Ale, but I added 4.5 oz of crushed roasted barley to it, that will be in bottles in a week. How soon has anyone else started experimenting with recipes without the box kits?

I made one kit ever, the one that came with the starter kit that SWMBO gave me for Christmas sevral years ago. I've been doing recipes ever since, researching them online and in print, tweaking them here and there, and eventually coming up with a few on my own. You'll do the same whenever the urge hits you.

I did about 3 kits, then started experimenting. I am lucky in that I have an exceptional lhbs who really knows what he is talking about and is more than willing to spend (literally) hours teaching you and helping tweak recipes.

Typically I put something together based on style and the ingredients I like to use, then I bring it to my lhbs and he recommends any changes and tells me why he is recommending them so I can learn.