Yukon_Skiers
Well-Known Member
So i am drinking my first batch right now and thought I would share a story to give help to the other beginners out there.
I received the kit for xmas from the wife. Well she everything out and wrapped it individually so I had a **** ton to open. Because of this, I didn't know the recipe kit came with its own instructions, so i was following instructions from the brewing book she got me. Long story short, here is the list of mistakes I made....
1. didn't steep any of the grains.
2. only added the DME when I was supposed to
3. Added 2 out of 3 packages of hops at one time about 25 minutes after adding the DME
4. I then realized I had a package of LME, so i just dumped that in.
5. I then also realize there was a whole package of grains and a package of hops left. So i put them all into the same grain bag and dropped them in for the last 10-15 minutes of the boil.
6. Once i did find the kit instructions, it told me to have it ferment from 62-68Deg, which i did. It sat there for 3 full days not doing anything.
7. on a whim i moved it to an upstairs closet where it was roughly 68-70 and had activity in about 12 hours.
8. I brewed on MLK day and bottled on the 30th of Jan. Prolly not nearly long enough. During bottling, i realized after about 6-10 bottles that I didn't stir in the priming surgar what so ever. So in a panic, I grabbed an unsanitized spoon from the kitchen, gave it a quick stir and continued bottling.
However, the moral of the story, I have a drinkable beer. It tastes nothing like it is supposed to but it has decent head (enough retention to hold a bottle cap) and tastes like beer.
I think it is safe to say i screwed up a lot of steps and still ended up with a decent brew!
I received the kit for xmas from the wife. Well she everything out and wrapped it individually so I had a **** ton to open. Because of this, I didn't know the recipe kit came with its own instructions, so i was following instructions from the brewing book she got me. Long story short, here is the list of mistakes I made....
1. didn't steep any of the grains.
2. only added the DME when I was supposed to
3. Added 2 out of 3 packages of hops at one time about 25 minutes after adding the DME
4. I then realized I had a package of LME, so i just dumped that in.
5. I then also realize there was a whole package of grains and a package of hops left. So i put them all into the same grain bag and dropped them in for the last 10-15 minutes of the boil.
6. Once i did find the kit instructions, it told me to have it ferment from 62-68Deg, which i did. It sat there for 3 full days not doing anything.
7. on a whim i moved it to an upstairs closet where it was roughly 68-70 and had activity in about 12 hours.
8. I brewed on MLK day and bottled on the 30th of Jan. Prolly not nearly long enough. During bottling, i realized after about 6-10 bottles that I didn't stir in the priming surgar what so ever. So in a panic, I grabbed an unsanitized spoon from the kitchen, gave it a quick stir and continued bottling.
However, the moral of the story, I have a drinkable beer. It tastes nothing like it is supposed to but it has decent head (enough retention to hold a bottle cap) and tastes like beer.
I think it is safe to say i screwed up a lot of steps and still ended up with a decent brew!
but you still made beer 
