Planning first brew.. Beer style tips?

[Man-O-Leisure]

Hey all, im planning on starting brewing shortly.. what i would like from you guys help on choosing my first style of beer to try and brew (full grain).

I would like to try and make my first go as easy as possible, so if there is a certain style of beer that seems to get best results or is somehow easier for a beginning brewer then that is what i am after..

Taking into account that where i live is hot year round and most people drink Pilsner.. i was hoping to make something like a Kolsch or something similar to Corona.. but am totally open to another style so i can try and make my first brew go well..

I absolutely love Stouts, Amber Ales, IPAs, Wheat Beers.. But for first batch wanted maybe something lightish that my wife will also like.. (Brazilians love their Pilsner..)

Only problem for me is that in my house, which is the only lace i can store the fermenting beer, it is always around 25 degrees Celcius..

Thanks guys and looking forward to your assistence and possible ideas of recipes to go along with your suggestions

 

[lush]

Stouts are really easy to make with minimal attention needed. Usually there is only one hop addition in the 60 min boil.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[rodwha]

I would suggest a cream ale as it's the only one similar to a lager that I've done, and it was good! I used plenty of roasted jalapeños in it!

All-grain generally isn't quite so easy for a beginner though. Are you certain this is what you want to try?

Do you have room in a freezer for several bottles of water that you can freeze to help maintain your beer's temperature? I'm not sure of non Belgian ale yeasts that do well in warmer temps.

 

[DSorenson]

I second dark beer choices, ales are your best bet.

Brown ales aren't exciting, but they do not disappoint either.

 

[lush]

I made a honey nut brown ale. Amazing!


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[Man-O-Leisure]

Thanks for all the replies guys.. Full grain is definately what i want to do..

Stouts and Ales are definately what i want to be brewing for sure, just wanted to try a simple one for the first batch. Maybe im wrong, i just thought that a Pilsner or similar would be the easiest to make as they are boring

Maybe i should have added that until i get equipment that the first couple of test batches i will do using the BIAB method and just do 1 gallon batches.. so i can see what i like before doing larger quantities.

Other thing confusing me a little is how to know what grains, hops and yeast to choose?

I love Kolsch, had some great ones the last time i was in Cologne, so i thought of that style as a good option..

 

[Man-O-Leisure]

I made a honey nut brown ale. Amazing!


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

That definately sounds nice.. Secret recipe or are you able to share?

 

[Gnomebrewer]

I'd recommend something hoppy like an american pale ale - hop flavour and aroma cover a lot of other 'off' flavours so are more forgiving (easy to make one that tastes good). Also, they only need a single temp mash and dry yeast.

For most yeasts, ambient temperature of 25C is too hot. If you absolutely don't have any way to keep the fermenting beer cool, maybe consider a saison - saison yeasts work well (so I've heard) up to and above 30C (I haven't brewed one myself yet though).

 

[GotDrunkThenLost]

I'm inclined to disagree a little with Rodwha on the difficulty on the all grain option, I've done a few all grains and a few steeping brews and have found the all grains simpler as it's much easier to maintain temperature during the mash due to much higher mass keeping the temperature stable. That being said I'm not yet trying to do much with water chemistry and you need to understand how you want to sparge to make sure you get as many of the sugars out as you can (I BIAB, dunk and soak the mashed bag of malts for a few minutes in 170f water, there's probably more technical names for that).

Fermentation temperature control and yeast pitching rates are probably the first two thing to control from the technical side of things.

I've had better tasting darker beers so far (I've only tasted 7 brews) but they're the only brews I've done from recipes rather than my cockameme (sp) ideas.

 

[lush]

That definately sounds nice.. Secret recipe or are you able to share?

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Honey Nut Brown Ale
Brewer: lush
Asst Brewer:
Style: American Brown Ale
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 6.87 gal
Post Boil Volume: 5.72 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.056 SG
Estimated Color: 24.6 SRM
Estimated IBU: 32.2 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 75.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
7 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 63.6 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 2 9.1 %
1 lbs Honey Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 3 9.1 %
8.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 4 4.5 %
8.0 oz Special Roast (50.0 SRM) Grain 5 4.5 %
1.50 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.80 %] - Boil 60.0 Hop 6 31.3 IBUs
0.25 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 7 -
1 lbs Honey [Boil for 10 min](1.0 SRM) Sugar 8 9.1 %
0.50 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.80 %] - Boil 2.0 Hop 9 0.9 IBUs
1.0 pkg California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [35. Yeast 10 -


Mash Schedule: 03 Medium body profile (152F)
Total Grain Weight: 11 lbs
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 3.12 gal of water at 162.5 F 152.0 F 60 min

Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (Drain mash tun , 5.57gal) of 170.0 F water
Notes:
------


Created with BeerSmith 2 - http://www.beersmith.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I used regular 2 row last time I made it and it was fantastic. This time I went with Maris Otter and I used US-05 for the yeast this time. Its currently fermenting so I am not sure how much has changed

 

[Man-O-Leisure]

I'd recommend something hoppy like an american pale ale - hop flavour and aroma cover a lot of other 'off' flavours so are more forgiving (easy to make one that tastes good). Also, they only need a single temp mash and dry yeast.

For most yeasts, ambient temperature of 25C is too hot. If you absolutely don't have any way to keep the fermenting beer cool, maybe consider a saison - saison yeasts work well (so I've heard) up to and above 30C (I haven't brewed one myself yet though).

Thanks, what temperature do i need to be able to store my different batches of beers when fermenting? i want to try and do 2 or 3 small 1 gallon batches and store them all here to see what works out best.. 25 degrees is my guess.. it could be a tad lower maybe.. ill have to get a thermometer to see properly.

 

[Man-O-Leisure]

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Honey Nut Brown Ale
Brewer: lush
Asst Brewer:
Style: American Brown Ale
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 6.87 gal
Post Boil Volume: 5.72 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.056 SG
Estimated Color: 24.6 SRM
Estimated IBU: 32.2 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 75.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
7 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 63.6 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 2 9.1 %
1 lbs Honey Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 3 9.1 %
8.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 4 4.5 %
8.0 oz Special Roast (50.0 SRM) Grain 5 4.5 %
1.50 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.80 %] - Boil 60.0 Hop 6 31.3 IBUs
0.25 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 7 -
1 lbs Honey [Boil for 10 min](1.0 SRM) Sugar 8 9.1 %
0.50 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.80 %] - Boil 2.0 Hop 9 0.9 IBUs
1.0 pkg California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [35. Yeast 10 -


Mash Schedule: 03 Medium body profile (152F)
Total Grain Weight: 11 lbs
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 3.12 gal of water at 162.5 F 152.0 F 60 min

Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (Drain mash tun , 5.57gal) of 170.0 F water
Notes:
------


Created with BeerSmith 2 - http://www.beersmith.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I used regular 2 row last time I made it and it was fantastic. This time I went with Maris Otter and I used US-05 for the yeast this time. Its currently fermenting so I am not sure how much has changed

Thanks heaps! Other question comes to mind now.. i wanna do a 1 gallon batch size.. so do i just divide all ingredients by 5 or will that be off? is there some kinda software or app that i can like put this recipe into and then calculate a 1 gallon batch size? Even into metric if possible which is what i understand

 

[rodwha]

When considering beers I'm not familiar with I like to look over recipe sheets for beer kits, as well as looking over the recipe database here. And then asking questions here.

 

[rodwha]

I'm not sure how accurate or inaccurate it is, but I've been using Brewtoad.com software to formulate mine.

 

[lush]

Thanks heaps! Other question comes to mind now.. i wanna do a 1 gallon batch size.. so do i just divide all ingredients by 5 or will that be off? is there some kinda software or app that i can like put this recipe into and then calculate a 1 gallon batch size? Even into metric if possible which is what i understand

Beersmith is what I use! It is excellent. There is a trial-period. It does scale for you.

 

[Man-O-Leisure]

Beersmith is what I use! It is excellent. There is a trial-period. It does scale for you.

Awesome, thanks. ill check it out

 

[Man-O-Leisure]

When considering beers I'm not familiar with I like to look over recipe sheets for beer kits, as well as looking over the recipe database here. And then asking questions here.

Yeah thats what ive been doing a bit of.. but whats confusign me a little is all the different names of the hops and grains and yeasts.. i mean, are these names that are worldwide called the same? Im Australian and live in Brazil.. SO i read recipes and stuff in english, but am going to have to try and source the ingredients here in Brazil.. are they likely to have the same grains?

 

[Qhrumphf]

Unless you've got a way to get your ferm temp down, 25C is going to be a problem unless you're brewing a Belgian beer, and even then with heat created by fermentation that's still too hot even for most Belgians. I would definitely go Saison if you can't control the temp. Many ale strains are best in the 17-20C range (with most lager strains best around 10C), and start becoming problematic above 22C, and that's the temp of the beer, not the surrounding air. Fermentation creates heat, and the temp in the fermenter can be 3-5C higher than the surrounding air, give or take.

So point here is, for most of styles 77C is too warm. If you can stick surround your fermenter with water, and then use periodic ice to drop the temperature of the surrounding water to maybe 18-19C, you can control temp very well that way. Plus surrounding your fermenter with water will restrain the heat produced by fermentation, unlike air.

 

[Man-O-Leisure]

Unless you've got a way to get your ferm temp down, 25C is going to be a problem unless you're brewing a Belgian beer, and even then with heat created by fermentation that's still too hot even for most Belgians. I would definitely go Saison if you can't control the temp. Many ale strains are best in the 17-20C range (with most lager strains best around 10C), and start becoming problematic above 22C, and that's the temp of the beer, not the surrounding air. Fermentation creates heat, and the temp in the fermenter can be 3-5C higher than the surrounding air, give or take.

So point here is, for most of styles 77C is too warm. If you can stick surround your fermenter with water, and then use periodic ice to drop the temperature of the surrounding water to maybe 18-19C, you can control temp very well that way. Plus surrounding your fermenter with water will restrain the heat produced by fermentation, unlike air.

Ah ok, i see. I will have to try and see what i can do then using the water and ice like you mentioned. Thanks!

 

[Qhrumphf]

Ah ok, i see. I will have to try and see what i can do then using the water and ice like you mentioned. Thanks!

Clarification, 77C should say 25C. It's what I get for trying to translate between F and C on the fly

 

[Man-O-Leisure]

Thanks again guys for the replies.. just a couple small things that i am not sure about after reading alot and looking at some recipes:

1. Sparge or dont sparge? is that a brewer by brewer preference of does it depend on the style of beer you are making? Wouldnt it water down the wort and flavour?

2. most recipes i see are 5gallon recipes.. what does that mean? starts with 5 gallons of water in mash or actually get 5 gallons of beer in the fermenter?

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Thanks again guys for the replies.. just a couple small things that i am not sure about after reading alot and looking at some recipes:

1. Sparge or dont sparge? is that a brewer by brewer preference of does it depend on the style of beer you are making? Wouldnt it water down the wort and flavour?

2. most recipes i see are 5gallon recipes.. what does that mean? starts with 5 gallons of water in mash or actually get 5 gallons of beer in the fermenter?

Sparging is preference only, but most choose to do it. It increases efficiency (so you use less grain for the same batch of wort).

5 gallons means 5 gallons into the fermentor.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Is this right for your situation:
limited to 1 gal batches
Unsure about ingredient availability
Warm apartment for fermentation
Not completely sure about procedure

If so, I'd suggest a really simple ale to start with.
Something like:
90% 2-row base malt
10% Crystal/cara malt (whatever colour you can get, preferably 60L).
60min hop: 18IBU's of whatever you can get.
30min hop: 10IBU's of whatever you can get.
5 min hop: 2 IBU's of whatever you can get.
Dry ale yeast (preferably SAFALE US-05).
Keep fermentor cool by wrapping with wet towels with a fan blowing on it.

Something like this should be forgiving (won't matter if your gravity is 1.060 or 1.040) and will work with almost any hop. It won't be the most amazing beer ever, but will be very drinkable.

 

[Man-O-Leisure]

Is this right for your situation:
limited to 1 gal batches
Unsure about ingredient availability
Warm apartment for fermentation
Not completely sure about procedure

If so, I'd suggest a really simple ale to start with.
Something like:
90% 2-row base malt
10% Crystal/cara malt (whatever colour you can get, preferably 60L).
60min hop: 18IBU's of whatever you can get.
30min hop: 10IBU's of whatever you can get.
5 min hop: 2 IBU's of whatever you can get.
Dry ale yeast (preferably SAFALE US-05).
Keep fermentor cool by wrapping with wet towels with a fan blowing on it.

Something like this should be forgiving (won't matter if your gravity is 1.060 or 1.040) and will work with almost any hop. It won't be the most amazing beer ever, but will be very drinkable.

Hey yeah thanks.. you basically got it all correct.. apart from not limited to 1 gallon batches, i just think its good for me to start with the small batches and test a few beer styles out.. so maybe over the first week of brewing try and do 5 different 1 gallon beers..

Ill see in the next couple of days what ingredients i can actually fond here and see how that recipe goes. The Gravity that you mention, is that somethign that i am supposed to check whilst fermenting or something?

 

[Gnomebrewer]

The gravity is normally checked before fermentation starts (eg. before adding yeast). It tells you how much sugar there is, so how much there is potentially for yeast to eat or leave as body (depending on mash temp and yeast strain). Alcohol content is calculated from starting gravity (before fermentation) and final gravity (after fermentation is complete). I.E. how much sugar has been converted to alcohol.

 

[Qhrumphf]

Especially if you're looking to start out with all-grain brewing, start out here: http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html. All-grain brewing is a lot more prone to error and a lot more variable than extract brewing, and if you don't have a good grasp of the fundamentals, "you're gonna have a bad time" as the saying goes.

As far as a recipe, the above is a good start and would be pretty flexible given any issues that might come up.

 

[Man-O-Leisure]

Cool thanks for the help guys.. ill go take a few days to read that link and see what ingredients i can get here. Cheers!

 

[rodwha]

A quick search produced nothing for a homebrew store where you are, but I did find a forum that seems more local, and they'd likely know where to go.

If you cannot find anything maybe you can go to a brewery there and ask them if they know of anything.

http://www.gringos.com/forum/f162/wine-beer-making-bahia-19515/

 

[Man-O-Leisure]

A quick search produced nothing for a homebrew store where you are, but I did find a forum that seems more local, and they'd likely know where to go.

If you cannot find anything maybe you can go to a brewery there and ask them if they know of anything.

http://www.gringos.com/forum/f162/wine-beer-making-bahia-19515/

Cheers! Thanks for that. Yeah it seems there isnt any stores here (Maybe i should open one).. I got a reply from a guy on the Brasilian HBT site and he said that there isnt any shops here in Salvador, so only possible to buy online

 

[Man-O-Leisure]

Hey guys, coming back to this thread.. ive been reading alot on different beer styles, especially looking for something similar to what i would like to make and drink.. I want something light and refreshing like a Kolsch, but am not able to do the lagering currently.. So here is what i am thinking and want your input:

As i am in a reasonably hot place, and dont know really what temperature i am able to keep to when fermenting, would you agree that a Saison would be the best style beer for me to try out on my first brew?

From what i have read about it, the yeast used is ok in hotter temperatures.. and a Saison is similar in essence to a kolsch, i mean its light and refreshing, nice summer session beer.

Any suggestions?

 

[metanoia]

Fermentation is the single most important factor in how your wort develops into beer. If you are genuinely concerned about the temperature of the fermenter being too high and have the cash, you can typically pick up a chest freezer off Craigslist for under $100, throw in a temp control unit from eBay for $20, and have an easier to control environment for fermentation. On the cheaper end, you can also rig up a swamp cooler for about $10 and a few minutes spent swapping out frozen water bottles every day.

 

[YeastMode]

Take a look at this thread regarding a cooler bag and think about whether this may help you control temps:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/wow-cool-brewing-insulated-fermentation-bag-482461/

I know it's way too big for a 1 gallon batch, but you can for several in there and you can use it should you move to 5 gallons. I started like you making 1 gallon batches and it was fun. The downside is all the work bottling for 8-10 beers. After 7 batches, I had the process down and moved to bigger batches.

 

[Qhrumphf]

Swamp cooler temp control will do you well at the temperatures you're talking about. My ambient temp is only a touch lower than yours (high 60s to low 70s depending on the season and day), and I can brew a mean Kolsch with a swamp cooler (fermented at 58 and then "lagered" at 40). It's a LOT of work to keep temps that low, but it can be done. But if you want to ferment a beer in the 66-68 range (which will work well for many ales) a couple soda bottles of ice a couple times a day and you'll be in fantastic shape.

Saison and Kolsch are both refreshing, both on the light body end of the spectrum, and both usually have a bit of hop character. I'd say that's where the similarities end. Kolsch is usually paler than Saison (depends on the example, they can be about the same, but most Saisons are a little darker), and a Kolsch is clean with little to no esters, where a Saison really has more esters than any other style. A traditional Saison is definitely a session beer, but most modern ones are quite strong.

I love a good Saison, but you need to be careful with the yeast. Some Saison yeasts are notoriously problematic and love to stall out on you (which also happen to be, in my opinion, the best strains). If you can get Wyeast 3711 French Saison, go with that one for your first. It's a workhouse, very low maintenance compared to other strains, will reliably get the beer to the right level of dryness, and still provides a nice character, it's just not as in your face and complex as other possibilities.

 

[Man-O-Leisure]

Thanks for the replies guys, really helpful!

Unfortunately i am currently in a small apartment and unable to even think of getting another fridge at all to make a chamber, and here in Brazil (no craigslist) a second hand crappy fridge would set me back about $500.. Contrary to belief, nothing in Brasil is cheap (Apart from commercial beer )

The swamp cooler idea seems cool, just worried that if i am not around to change the ice bottles that i will cause a problem with the beer.. I would LOVE to make a Kolsch first.. No one replied to my main question, Wikipedia says that Saison yeast work perfectly fine above 25 degrees celcius, this true? Thats why i imagined that to be the style for me to try.. Plus i want to make a reasonbly lite version, say around 5% ABV, nothing too high.

 

[Man-O-Leisure]

Take a look at this thread regarding a cooler bag and think about whether this may help you control temps:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/wow-cool-brewing-insulated-fermentation-bag-482461/

I know it's way too big for a 1 gallon batch, but you can for several in there and you can use it should you move to 5 gallons. I started like you making 1 gallon batches and it was fun. The downside is all the work bottling for 8-10 beers. After 7 batches, I had the process down and moved to bigger batches.

Thanks for that, ill take a look at it for sure. Still in the process or looking for the equipment to buy and use, so i may in the end bite the bullet and go for a 5gallon setup anyways, incase i decide to go bigger that the 1gallon inicial test batches that i want to do... I am actually thinking of maybe doing a 5gallon batch and them splitting the wort into a few small fermenters to test different yeasts or flavours. dry hopping maybe.

 

[rodwha]

This one certainly can:

https://www.wyeastlab.com/hb_yeaststrain_detail.cfm?ID=60

Their French saison yeast only goes up to 25*C. And that's beer temp not water or air temp.

 

[Qhrumphf]

This one certainly can:

https://www.wyeastlab.com/hb_yeaststrain_detail.cfm?ID=60

Their French saison yeast only goes up to 25*C. And that's beer temp not water or air temp.

That's a good strain. I use it for my Saisons. But it's notoriously problematic. If the ambient is 77C then in a swamp cooler with no ice is perfect for 3711, and even ambient would be fine. I wouldn't take it as high as others but its fine here.