nullifidian
Member
- Joined
- Feb 23, 2012
- Messages
- 11
- Reaction score
- 1
After kicking around the idea of getting into homebrewing for the better part of 2 years, I finally took the plunge a couple months ago. For $40, I snagged a complete, unopened basic Brewers Best equipment kit off craigslist from a guy who had purchased it from Midwest and never got around to using it. I figured this would be an easy way to get started without making too much of a financial commitment. Surprisingly, when I opened the box to inspect my new equipment, inside was a sealed Irish Stout extract kit from Midwest! From looking at the still-attached shipping label on the box, it was clear that this kit had been sitting at room temperature for 8 months.
From reading this forum, I was certain the crushed steeping grains, LME, and hops would all be stale after sitting so long at room temp, but since I had absolutely nothing to lose, I decided to brew it up anyway just to get a feel for the process. To make matters worse, I fell short of my target OG by a point (due to accidentally adding a little too much top-off water) and my FG stuck at 1.018 (I assume due to the old LME). After patiently waiting 4 weeks in the primary fermenter + 3 weeks in bottles + 2 days in the fridge, I popped open my first bottle last night. It actually tasted decent! With stale ingredients and the relatively low ABV, I expected it to be undrinkable or at the very least, have a strong, twangy aftertaste, but it is actually quite pleasant tasting. The flavor profile is clearly a bit muted (I assume due to the old steeping grains), but it does have a nice roasty, yet light and refreshing flavor. While I'll admit that my beer is far from award-winning, given the circumstances, I'm quite satisfied with my first effort!
Throughout this process, I have found this forum to be an invaluable resource - thanks to everyone for helping this clueless lurker learn to brew!
Knowing the value of a good pipeline, I now have an extract Amarillo IPA (from the recipe database) ready to bottle this weekend and an all-grain BIAB batch of the venerable EdWort Haus Pale ready for bottling the following weekend. I've been dutifully following a conservative 4 week primary + 3 week carb/condition timeline.
Since my original $40 "investment", I have now dropped another $300+ on a 10 gal. stainless pot, homemade immersion chiller, ingredients for batches 2 & 3, additional buckets, beersmith software, PBW, Starsan, autosiphon, etc. So much for this being a cheap hobby!!
Now I just need to get my hands on some more bottles!
From reading this forum, I was certain the crushed steeping grains, LME, and hops would all be stale after sitting so long at room temp, but since I had absolutely nothing to lose, I decided to brew it up anyway just to get a feel for the process. To make matters worse, I fell short of my target OG by a point (due to accidentally adding a little too much top-off water) and my FG stuck at 1.018 (I assume due to the old LME). After patiently waiting 4 weeks in the primary fermenter + 3 weeks in bottles + 2 days in the fridge, I popped open my first bottle last night. It actually tasted decent! With stale ingredients and the relatively low ABV, I expected it to be undrinkable or at the very least, have a strong, twangy aftertaste, but it is actually quite pleasant tasting. The flavor profile is clearly a bit muted (I assume due to the old steeping grains), but it does have a nice roasty, yet light and refreshing flavor. While I'll admit that my beer is far from award-winning, given the circumstances, I'm quite satisfied with my first effort!
Throughout this process, I have found this forum to be an invaluable resource - thanks to everyone for helping this clueless lurker learn to brew!
Knowing the value of a good pipeline, I now have an extract Amarillo IPA (from the recipe database) ready to bottle this weekend and an all-grain BIAB batch of the venerable EdWort Haus Pale ready for bottling the following weekend. I've been dutifully following a conservative 4 week primary + 3 week carb/condition timeline.
Since my original $40 "investment", I have now dropped another $300+ on a 10 gal. stainless pot, homemade immersion chiller, ingredients for batches 2 & 3, additional buckets, beersmith software, PBW, Starsan, autosiphon, etc. So much for this being a cheap hobby!!
Now I just need to get my hands on some more bottles!
