Beginning my addiction

[dcodd87]

Just wanted to stop by and say hi!

Recently purchased a basic brew kit from midwestsupplies.com and started my first batch of an Autumn Ale. Still has a few days left in the primary before bottling and I've already spent an additional $150 to upgrade my equipment. I love this forum app for my iPhone. I think I'm on this site 24/7!
Thanks for all the great info. My next batch will be a pumpkin ale!!

 

[Screech]

Welcome to the site. I too purchased my kit from Midwest supplies. I brewed there black dog ale, it was OK. I would suggest looking into austin homebrew for your next brew.

This is the place to be. You will find a ton of new information out everyday by reading around on this site. Good luck.

Kevin

 

[WhizardHat]

Just wanted to stop by and say hi!

Recently purchased a basic brew kit from midwestsupplies.com and started my first batch of an Autumn Ale. Still has a few days left in the primary before bottling and I've already spent an additional $150 to upgrade my equipment. I love this forum app for my iPhone. I think I'm on this site 24/7!
Thanks for all the great info. My next batch will be a pumpkin ale!!

Ha! you sound like me! I bought the groupon too + Autumn Amber Ale. It's delicious, let me tell you. I fermented a bit high because I'm in Florida, but it still tastes as good as most craft beers. I did a blind taste test with Barrel Trolley's Amber Ale and some other Amber Ale out of Atlanta (can't remember what it was called, but it had a black and red label and tasted like crap. My Amber came in too close to Barrel Trolley to determine a winner. I call that success!

Anyway, like you, I've got a pumpkin ale sitting in Primary now. Ready to bottle in 2 weeks.

I did a Sierra Nevada clone in between those batches. It's conditioning and I'll probably crack my first one this weekend! Welcome to the addiction!

 

[dcodd87]

When did you order your groupon, it seems like your on a roll?

 

[mopillar]

Yeah I did the Groupon buy last year and have my 8th batch in the primary now and my 9th ingredients should be arriving today. So yes you are correct it is an addiction!

 

[cbehr]

I'm addicted as well!!! Doesn't take long to get hooked on this hobby! Trying to figure out the whole 1G batches so I can brew every weekend.

 

[dcodd87]

Well, it was the wife who ordered me the kit, it was a surprise. She kinda regrets it now because I'm addicted and haven't even tried my first yet. I'm going to take my first reading tomorrow. Hopefully by Sunday I can bottle.

I'm both excited and worried about the pumpkin ale. I read a lot about when to add the pumpkin and how much to add. It just seems like so many different variations.

Any advice on the pumpkin ale?

 

[WhizardHat]

Well, it was the wife who ordered me the kit, it was a surprise. She kinda regrets it now because I'm addicted and haven't even tried my first yet. I'm going to take my first reading tomorrow. Hopefully by Sunday I can bottle.

I'm both excited and worried about the pumpkin ale. I read a lot about when to add the pumpkin and how much to add. It just seems like so many different variations.

Any advice on the pumpkin ale?

I did 30oz of pumpkin and added it at the end of the boil, per the Midwest instructions. They said 15oz for a hint of pumpkin or 30oz for a more pronounced flavor. I also added a bit extra brown sugar, mainly because I don't like having to drink 3 homebrews to get a buzz going. MY OG ended up being 1.052, so I'm estimating around ~5%abv if I can hit my FG number.

 

[dcodd87]

I was definitely thinking about adding a little extra spice, and was debating on the extra brown sugar as well. Definitely let me know how yours turned out with the extra sugar.

 

[WhizardHat]

I was definitely thinking about adding a little extra spice, and was debating on the extra brown sugar as well. Definitely let me know how yours turned out with the extra sugar.

I did a gravity reading yesterday (8 days in primary) and I always taste my samples. That said, I'd definitely recommend adding more cinnamon and nutmeg. I can barely taste it. Perhaps it will be more pronounced when it's carbonated, but I've noticed that Midwest seems to err on the side of caution with respect to flavoring in their kits. I'm getting pretty consistent flavor from brew to brew, which is kind of surprising considering these are very different styles of beer. I think that means I need to upgrade to all-grain. Hope your beer turns out excellent!