Any recommendations for my second brew?

I am a fan of IPA's and Hef's. Favorite IPA is a Stone brewery, Hef is either Shocktop or Blue Moon. I dont know if I want to move from extracts after only 1 brew. Any suggestions? Im up for anything, not just Hef or IPA
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Primary: Red Ale (1st brew)
Bottled: N/A
Planning: Undecided

If you like it, then make a Blue Moon clone.

7-8 pounds of wheat malt extract, some Williamette for 15ish IBUs and some Coriander and orange peel for spicing.

any thought on yeast?

I just finished conditioning a couple cases of Yoopers "Dogfish Head 60minute IPA Clone" recipe you can find here, under the IPA section of recipes. Turned out amazing (impressed the buddes), and was relatively easy to make.

I believe there's a extract recipe listed as well.

Or how about a nice stout, something a little different then what you're used to?

Fungus, I'll take a look.

On the stout, I'm going to wait for a few batches to start the less popular brews. I want to brew a few batches and let some friends try them, and stock up on my homebrew before trying stouts and stuff. So I guess trying some good tradtional brew, and move on from extracts before getting adventurous

Personally, I'd go with WB-06, but I'm very far from an authority on wheat beers. From what I've tasted myself, WB-06 at 70 will give you a very rich banana taste, and I've read that the same yeast at 65 will give you a pleasant clove flavor. Whichever one of those is closer to the normal profile of Blue Moon is the temperature I'd ferment at.

Blue Moon being a mass produced American beer is probably using that strain or a similar one.

FungusBrew said:

I just finished conditioning a couple cases of Yoopers "Dogfish Head 60minute IPA Clone" recipe you can find here, under the IPA section of recipes. Turned out amazing (impressed the buddes), and was relatively easy to make.

I believe there's a extract recipe listed as well.

Or how about a nice stout, something a little different then what you're used to?

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I have a DFH 60 minute fermenting right now. I got the kit from Austin Homebrew. I want to try Yooper's next time. This is my second batch and I had no problems with this recipe (so far). The first thing I do when I get home from work is inhale the aroma coming out of the airlock.

Just bought all the ingredients for a Bell's Two-Hearted cone as my 2nd brew.

kingmatt said:

Just bought all the ingredients for a Bell's Two-Hearted cone as my 2nd brew.

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I have a 2 hearted clone on tap right now, it's da bomb!

socalhomebrewer said:

Fungus, I'll take a look.

On the stout, I'm going to wait for a few batches to start the less popular brews. I want to brew a few batches and let some friends try them, and stock up on my homebrew before trying stouts and stuff. So I guess trying some good tradtional brew, and move on from extracts before getting adventurous

Click to expand...

Before brewing a stout you should buy a bottle from the store. There is no sense in making something you're not going to drink.

Why not make a wheat IPA? I've seen a lot of people making Belgian IPA's so I don't think this would be too far off.

I agree with making whatever you like! You can make almost any kind of beer you want with the skills you already have, so you can pick just about any style you want. From American ambers to stouts, you can brew almost anything. If you want an IPA, make an IPA! If you want a hefeweizen, brew one!

I will say that Shocktop and Blue Moon are NOT hefeweizens, so if you make a true hefeweizen you'd be in for a surprise! You can certainly do a Blue Moon clone, which is closer to a wit, but still not exactly what most brewers think of when you say wit. Kinda like Bud light isn't what we think of when we think of lagers. But if you love Blue Moon, a clone is easy to find and will be very drinkable this summer!

Neon and yooper, thank you for you input. I think I want to try my hand at a few clones just to get the hang of things and be able to compare the real thing. I know the clone is not going to be 100% the taste of the original, but I feel that I can try and if the clone is really off base from the original, I can trouble shoot, and post what is wrong on here and get some feedback. I like the thought of the wheat IPA though. I am thinking of doing a clone of a commercialized hef, then a stone beer, them likely try the wheat IPA, first 2 just so I can compare what I am brewing to the real thing.