Poured my First Homebrew

[kuelhof]

I brewed this back on February 22nd, and have sampled a few along the way, but it is really coming into its own now. I'm not sure if the pictures will show up properly, so bare with me! I had a few friends and family over for a BBQ and a few homebrews!

Thanks for all the help from this board! I am in the process of moving to Colorado from St. Louis, but when I get to Colorado, I am already planning my next few batches!

 

[kuelhof]

Hmmm...pictures (links) aren't showing up....


http://www.flickr.com/photos/49710101@N06/4558388164/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/49710101@N06/4558388834/

 

[android]

way to go, looks pretty tasty!

 

[maxamuus]

Looks excellent. Was this a kit ? Looks like something i would like.

 

[kuelhof]

Yep, it was the Belgian Harvest Ale kit from Williams Brewing...
http://www.williamsbrewing.com/BELGIAN_HARVEST_ALE_P1975C184.cfm

I bought my starter kit from them and got that kit to start my brewing! My only complaint about the kit is that it doesn't tell you what you are putting in your beer...directions were fine, but I even emailed the customer service to merely inquire about what types of hops I was using, and I was told that it was a proprietary recipe and they couldn't help me...

So, if you want to be able to replicate your beer, and actually buy the ingredients on your own, don't buy a kit from williams! I'm sure you can find a "strong belgian ale" pretty much at any of the online retailers!

 

[PolishLogic]

Well done sir!!

 

[tamoore]

Very nice!

 

[coastwx]

Congrats, nothing like the first taste of your own homebrew, especially if it's better than you anticipated. Sounds like the two months of maturing worked well for you. I'm working on two batches (my 11th and 12th) that were brewed around the same time and tasted the 13th that was done in early March. It only gets better from here buddy! Welcome to the hobby.

 

[fatmoose]

Yep, it was the Belgian Harvest Ale kit from Williams Brewing...
http://www.williamsbrewing.com/BELGIAN_HARVEST_ALE_P1975C184.cfm

I bought my starter kit from them and got that kit to start my brewing! My only complaint about the kit is that it doesn't tell you what you are putting in your beer...directions were fine, but I even emailed the customer service to merely inquire about what types of hops I was using, and I was told that it was a proprietary recipe and they couldn't help me...

So, if you want to be able to replicate your beer, and actually buy the ingredients on your own, don't buy a kit from williams! I'm sure you can find a "strong belgian ale" pretty much at any of the online retailers!

This seems a bit odd, the kits I've gotten from Midwest Supplies have their ingredients listed on the website. Any time I see this type of tactic of I get the sense that they're trying to charge too much and don't want you to know what you're getting so you can't make an appropriate value judgment. Folks gotta make a buck and I'm fine with that but this type of thing really bothers me. Don't try to hide your products in some proprietary cloak of darkness, keep my business by providing good quality and good service.

That kind of turned into a rant, sorry about that.

 

[kuelhof]

I'm with you fatmoose...I am getting ready to buy a couple of kits (after a move) and I am not even considering ordering from Williams for this reason. I'm definitely still learning, and I'd like to be able to replicate a beer that I make later on if I want to. The only thing we can do is speak with our purchases...NB, AHB, etc will get my money from here out!