American Kit

[vinper]

bought a kit to start my 1st brew , I dont like the dark beers . so figured I would start with somthing easy

 

[Yooper]

Sounds great! Let us know if you have any questions or need some advice. That's what we're here for.

 

[TTB-J]

bought a kit to start my 1st brew , I dont like the dark beers . so figured I would start with somthing easy

You'd be surprised how you change on this. I too didn't particularly like porters or stouts when I first got into homebrewing. Knowing more about how they are made, though, and the characteristic flavors that you get from dark roasted malts, really changed my opinion on them. After you've got a few brews under your belt, you might try doing something like a dark Kolsch or black lager - something that will isolate the dark roasty, chocolatey, coffee-ey flavor against a lighter style that you already like; you'd be surprised how well they can compliment each other and you might start to like having that flavor.

Good luck with your 1st brew!

 

[unionrdr]

Funny how that preference changes over time. I got into home brewing after being into wine making to get a product that was ready to drink sooner. I also wanted to bring back that good lager flavor of beers up to about 1965 that I remember from back then. I'll still get around to it,but need more reasearch .
Anyway,I got to doing more field research into ale beers,& got to liking many different styles/colors. I wasn't too partial to stouts,but after getting my son into good craft beers,that's all he drinks now. He turned me on to two of Left Hand Brewing's stouts. The milk stout,& the Fade To Black from 2011,some kind of chili pepper porter. They are both very good & not like the usual offerings. The milk stout is a smooth,iced coffee with some of that stout toastiness on the back. Or the Rouge Dead Guy ale,a dark amber offering with a good flavor that'll surprise you as a light colored beer drinker.
What I'm getting at is I was pretty much the same way,& now after having tried many different colored ales,etc from around the country & world,I've found other flavors I enjoy. So just try some different craft beers & imports to see what you've been missing. There's a whole big world of great beers out there. Given time,you'll broaden your horizons.

 

[vinper]

I am reading up ... Starting to worry I'am going to to have problems with fermenting . the temp here is creeping up fast ... planned keeping it in the garage but it will be hitting 80 steady here pretty quick

 

[WestCoastCurt]

I am reading up ... Starting to worry I'am going to to have problems with fermenting . the temp here is creeping up fast ... planned keeping it in the garage but it will be hitting 80 steady here pretty quick

A wet towel is a great tool for keeping everything cool. I will also set my carboy in an old photography tray filled with ice water.

 

[spokaniac]

definitely need somewhere cooler than that. Maybe the basement or get a tub for a swamp cooler. A lot of people use the tubs and 2 liter bottles of ice they switch out to keep it cool. I'm working on an idea to use the water supply line to my house to keep my kegs cool and possibly do some lagering, since our tap water is usually in the mid 50's.

 

[vinper]

Got my kit , will start this weekend,guess i will do the bucket ,ice, T-shirt method... If all goes well plan on building a fermenter . I Have been researching builds

 

[vinper]

Has been bottled 2 weeks , tried one last week low carb ,and the bitters was very strong . This week gets a decent head taste just like good beer. will give it another week then to the fridge. Very happy with results