First Time Recipes - What Was everyone's first time?

[Rypcord]

What was everyone's first brew recipe? What style did everyone brew their first times?

And of course - follow up; how did it go?

 

[McGarnigle]

True Brew's Nut Brown Ale kit. It didn't go well. I recall it being a hot summer, so I threw the kit in a closet for a couple weeks. Then I brewed when it was still too warm in my place and didn't do anything to bring the ferment temps under control.

 

[Junk-Man]

First that I brewed was a brown ale that a friend provided recipe and instructions for. Came out passable but had a bit of a harsh alcohol off-taste. Someone compared it to sharpie marker. Had we let it bottle condition a little longer I think it would have cleaned up, but me and my brew-buddy were to impatient/giddy to care (We made beer!)

First beer I designed was a chocolate stout. It came out pretty decent, but roastier than I was aiming for (my brother liked it better tan the beer I was trying to clone for him)

 

[BeerAddikt]

My first attempt at brewing was years ago. It was a Vienna Lager using a Mr. Beer Kit that had a sugar based booster. It was utter crap!

Fast forward 6 years and I'm giving it another shot. Currently have an Amber Ale bottle conditioning. Samples pre-bottling were yummy!

 

[Erik_Mog]

My first beer was an IPA recipe from my LHBS. Not good at all, but mainly due to my errors.....having to stop during the 'boil' to run get a propane burner because my stove would not boil 3 gal of water, no temperature control during fermentation, not enough priming sugar......the list goes on.

My first recipe that I designed is a blood orange hefeweizen that has been in the bottle a week now. Tasted great when it was bottled, so should be a really good beer once ready to drink. I am doing my first all grain brew this weekend, with a recipe I came up with (with pointers from the forum).

 

[smokinop]

My first brew was a fuggle ale kit from Midwest Supply. Ordered it the same time I ordered my brewing kit. I was so excited for it to finish & taste it. I honestly thought it was the best thing I ever tasted. Drank it all in about a week or two...just couldn't leave it alone.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

Chocolate Maple Porter, from Brooklyn Brew Shop. It tasted great, but didn't turn out very clear. It was also a bit over-carbed, but still as good as or better than anything I had ever paid for in a bar. Since then, I've acquired the actual recipe for this one, so I plan to brew it later this year, along with a Peanut Butter Porter, and see if I've improved during the 15 or so brews since this first one.

The first brew that was "my" recipe was a 50/50 mix of Maris Otter and wheat. I should know how it turned out in a few days, as bottle conditioning is almost finished. I'll put it in the fridge over-night, at least, and give it a try.

 

[bigrsmith]

My first was a honey lager which is still maturing in the bottles. The few I have sampled and the few I have handed out have had good reviews.

 

[stratslinger]

Mine was "The Home Brewery"'s German Oktoberfest kit... I had been sitting in on brews with a buddy up to that point, and had been reading here for a little while, so my process was pretty good. The kit, on the other hand, was about the least flavorful Oktoberfest in memory...

 

[JimRausch]

December 26,2011 - Truebrew 'Oktoberfest' kit. I knew nothing- didn't even know that an Oktoberfest is a lager and the little packet of Munton's yeast was not an appropriate yeast. Sanitized with bleach, used tap water, fermented for 3 days before moving it to a secondary bucket and bottled it 7 days after brewing(all recipe directions).
Surprisingly, it turned out pretty good. Good enough that the obsession began.......

 

[Staylow]

My first brewing experience was an Irish Stout kit from True Brew. It was kinda terrible. Outside of it sitting on the shelf for who knows how long, I brewed in December and fermented in a very cool part of my basement - about 50-55 degrees. I didn't rehydrate the yeast, and fermentation took about 72 hours to kick off. Despite all this, it got drank, and set the wheels in motion of my obsession.

First recipe I created was my first all grain brew, 13th overall. Shooting for Irish Red, looking back, it was more of an american amber. Not having my equipment dialed it, I missed my volume and gravity numbers, but it was a damn tasty beer despite that and the over abundance of specialty malts used.

 

[pepindavid]

Mine was American Pale Ale (my own recipe... based on some some recipes found here), BIAB. It wasn't terrible terrible, but it wasn't very good. I'm pretty sure the main culprit was my impatience: I pitched the yeast when the wort was at about 90F. Things improved dramatically around my third batch (the famous Centennial Blonde).

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Almost a year ago after making a few small batches of mead, I purchased a 1 gallon kit for Oktoberfest on sale from Williams Sonoma ( an awful lot like a Brooklyn kit) with steeping grains and DME. Made some minor mistakes and didn't control fermentation temps... It didn't taste much like an Oktoberfest but was clovey and drinkable, with a very nice head.

 

[schatzke]

Bought a Brewers Best Brown Ale kit when I bought my starer kit at my LHBS and brewed it the next day. I was hoping it would turn out (and it did) since I had brewed my 3rd batch by the time that 1st batch was fully carbed up.

 

[JimEb]

First was Midwest Supply's Autumn Amber Ale extract kit.

Personally I thought it was kind of ...'meh'. Looking back on my first 5-10 batches I'd say they were all 'meh'.

Now 3 years later, all-grain capabilities, fermentation control and 40+ batches of experience I think my latest brews are all pretty dang good. I'm going to brew a batch of that Autumn Amber Ale again for old time's to see what I missed out on the first time around.

 

[Vammy]

I had to go pull the recipe book to find out what was brewed on "the virgin brew session" ....Brewers Best American Light ale extract kit. My notes from that day say nothing extraordinary happened...which is to say I didn't know what should have been normal vs not quite right lol....tasting notes say it was malty sweet (probably diacetyl, but what did I know....) but highly drinkable.

And, as others have said, the obsession started....

 

[brewpool]

5 gallon IPA partial mash kit. Stupidly took a gravity reading without mixing well so gravity "measured" low. As a result I chose to reduce top off water and limited to 4.25 gallons total volume (wort + water) in the bucket. Turned out drinkable but definitely more bitter than it should have been.

 

[treacheroustexan]

My first beer a few years back was a brewers best IPA. I'd like to rebrew it now and compare the notes now to the notes I took when I first brewed it. Just to see how much my palate has changed and how much better my process is.

 

[Sammy86]

My very first brew was a coopers kit in college...made drinkable beer but nothing outstanding...my first AG was the Cascade Orange Pale Ale from HBT and it was awesome! I renamed it Worry Wort Ale because I checked the the fermentor every 12 hours and made sure the temp was spot on...tasted great and was very happy with it for my first go around at AG!

 

[Singletrack]

SNPA clone, extract. Not bad, but not SNPA. Now, I see no reason to brew that beer. It's relatively inexpensive, and they do a nice job with it. There are so many other beers with a bigger "payoff."

 

[DaNewf]

My Cooper's DIY equipment kit came with a can of Original Series Lager (with ale yeast) and a box of Brew Enhancer 1. It was definitely different from the beer I usually drank at the time (Molson Canadian/Labatt's Blue) but it tasted decent and seemed to be about as potent as MC/LB. Even taking the equipment cost into account I was ahead money over buying store bought on a cost per bottle basis on that first batch.

It wasn't great but it was good enough to get me hooked.

 

[TonyKZ1]

My first was a Mr. Beer 2G American Ale recipe, it turned out good with no problems. And anyone who tried it, thought it tasted pretty good. I then made a 1G AG recipe, it was a lager amber ale but I fermented it at Ale temps and it also turned out okay.

 

[ToddStark]

Old American ale, extract kit from Williams. Had a heck of a time getting the extract out of a refrigerated bag. Heater in room I put the bucket in went crazy and when discovered the room was 92 deg. Airlock I just bought was cracked and I scrambled to find a local store I could get another from. I have made eight different beers since then and my friends and family still say they liked that first one I made best.

 

[Clavain46]

Coopers Ale prehopped kit. Was actually pretty good!

 

[Bilsch]

My first was an extract hefeweizen from a can back in the mid 80's. Ireks brand if I remember correctly with a little white packet of dry yeast included that simply said "yeast".

 

[figgnewton]

brewed a pale ale that I tried to add extra flavor to by putting cherry and blueberry extract but those falvors did not come through at all. The final product was still a very good beer. A little similar to sam adams lager with a bit more hops

 

[FatDragon]

Extract knockoff of @KingBrianI's Caramel Amber Ale with steeping grains and brown sugar in place of the homemade candi. Fermented by seller's instructions with S-04 at 24C in my newly-purchased wine fridge ferm chamber and predictably got off flavors, but it was drinkable and got me started in the hobby, so it's still a fond memory.

 

[safedude]

A gluten free pale ale. I bit off more than I could chew. It was a disaster.

 

[jmill]

AHS Kolsch extract kit that came in with my starter kit. Fermenting temps were a little high, but resulted in a decent beer. Just finished the last pint from it last night.

 

[ChemErik]

A 3-gallon all grain Irish Stout. Came out good, but not great. I assumed I'd have low efficiency but did not and was a bit strong for IS. That was 9 months ago and it's still fairly average among my brews. Thankfully I've had a couple I've found excellent.

 

[Kharnynb]

Coopers kit, dme and some mittelfruh to make a steam beer they had on their website.
Not amazing, but better than anything you can get at that price from the store ;D

My first all grain was deathbrewer's vienna smash, still one of my favourite easy brewing beers.

 

[afro_lou]

Brooklyn Beer Kit - Everyday IPA

I got it as a Christmas gift, and before it even stopped fermenting, I got "the bug" and bought enough equipment for 5 gallon stovetop recipes. Funnily enough, I never managed to bottle or even try a sample of the Brooklyn kit... I couldn't wait to get the 5 gal kit going, so I brewed an extract Lagunitas IPA clone on the bigger system and kind of forgot about the little 1 gallon jug in the back of the closet... Well, 10 or so months later, I decided to cut my losses and dump the oooooold batch.
Anyway, I think they say the rest is history!

 

[Scout]

First and only so far was a Brewer's Best Scottish Ale. Made a few minor mistakes, nothing big I couldn't fix, and did my fermenting in the garage where the temp is pretty stable at around 70°. I think it could have carbed a little more, but the result was tasty.

My biggest mistake is waiting too long to brew the next batch. I have one bottle left and have nothing in the fermenter.

 

[mwfripp]

First was a Green Flash West Coast IPA. Ignored the advice to not drink until you're done with the boil. Don't remember the rest of the brew day but my GF said things turned out well. Had a blowout during fermentation. Long story short the beer turned out pretty good. It seemed to get better the longer it was in the keg.

I just kegged my first own recipe. DME, crystal 20 and warrior and lots of citra. It is actually really good. GF says its the best one to date. It'll be in the house beer rotation for sure and will be fun to experiment on.

 

[catdaddy66]

Can't recall the style but my first beer was a True Brew kit in 1995 and was probably an amber ale. It was ok but good enough thst I was hooked!

My first allbgrain batch was a pale ale kit from Morebeer and it was good but not great. That was in 2013 and i haven't looked back since!

 

[itsbarleytime]

I did brewers best Oktoberfest. Turned the fridge up all the way and fermented in the low 40s for six weeks. It was great. The madness of brewing has been an amazing journey and mentally stimulating. Cheers.

 

[glick]

My first was 2.5 gallons of Edwort's hefe. I remember the brew going well enough and the results being good enough for me to be hooked!

 

[Oldskewl]

My first was last summer. Boss gave me a Craft-a-Brew kit of Chipotle Amber Ale. Actually turned out very well. Only complaint is 10 bottles we not enough. Lol!

 

[libardinho]

My first was a NB Irish Red Ale (Extract) just 3 weeks ago Now is bottled. Let you know in 2 weeks if I pass the test.

 

[Kerrbrewer]

All grain biab Centennial Blonde.3 gallon batch, I ended up 1.020 post boil and only added half the hops I should have. It was pretty thin LOL, but good enough to buy a bigger kettle and get it right the second time! Even though I have 3 vessels now I still do this one biab. I now do it with a little more vienna and around 30IBU. Just about everyone likes it. Biermuncher pretty much nailed it with this recipe.