I don't know the screen name of my brewing mentor, probably Rob-something. He went through all the bad batches for me so I knew to start out using a full boil, wort chiller, and secondary fermentation/aging. Eventually I will probably follow his footsteps into all-grain brewing, but extract is so easy and so good... We live in Raleigh, NC, and have a wonderful LHBS-
www.americanbrewmaster.com.
My first batch was a Bells Two Hearted IPA clone. It came out so well I've had a really hard time not drinking it all, but I want to share it with everyone I know too.
For the second batch I wanted to do something smoky- my wife loves rauchbier- and made an American wheat with 1 lb. smoked malt for her birthday party. Everyone loved it but the smoke flavor wasn't as pronounced as I wanted so I've been considering a smoked mini-mash for the next version.
Just bottled my 3rd batch last weekend, an Irish Red. Can't wait to taste it! I brewed it as a birthday gift for a friend but already know I'll have a hard time giving half of it away.
The 4th was a collaborative effort between my wife, sister-in-law, and myself, a chocolate and ginger imperial stout. I was afraid it would blow the top off my fermenter once it got started! After some reading here I fear I racked it to secondary a bit early as it still had some foam on top, but I feel sure it will be great in a few months.
Right now there's a Scottish Export in my fermenter and plans for another IPA in my head. The first IPA was so good I have trouble coming up with any changes to make, but I would like it to be a bit clearer.
Woot! Homebrew!!
