Biggest Noob Success

[Eman24dx]

So last fall on my birthday I took $100 and bought a nice start up homebrew setup and my first extract kit and started what I though would be a hobby that i did 2-3x per year at best.

I am now in my 10th month of brewing and have already made 9 batches with #10 fermenting. Although I am still just an extract brewer I have upgraded my pot and built a beautiful 2 tap keg fridge. My latest brew is by far my biggest success. AHS Kalamazoo (Bells Two Hearted) Clone. Not only is this an exact replica but I think it tastes better, because I made it. This is by far my biggest success to date.

Any other Noob success stories out there....?

 

[tooblue02]

Rolling into month 3 of brewing with one success under my belt (A nice hoppy IPA) and have a smashing pumpkin (slightly modified to make it my own) in the fermenter. Already researching my next batch, either a stout or a winter Ale. Since I am only renting the house I am in for another 10 months I will be holding off on purchasing any more "big" pieces of equipment or going to all grain, once I am settled though... Love this hobby and glad I have started brewing my own beer! Cheers!

 

[Veronis]

My biggest success was the first time I modified a recipe. Someone bought me a double IPA kit for my birthday, which would be my 5th brew. We tweaked the recipe (having learned a bit about hop usage/profiles), added brown sugar, oaked it, and dry hopped the crap out of it. It was a huge hit with our hophead friends, and the aroma was incredible. I'm glad I took detailed notes - I'll be able to brew it again.

and started what I though would be a hobby that i did 2-3x per year at best.

These were my "famous last words" as well...

 

[TheBrahmanBrewer]

Yup...same as above. We seriously modified an Irish Red Ale recipe and gave it to our friends/family to taste. Almost unanimous opinion can be summed up in 'out of this world'...Onto our fourth batch. All extract and partial mash for now. I have no intention of going to all grain yet.

 

[Double_D]

Cheers! Good luck on continued success!

 

[NewWestBrewer]

Yup...same as above. We seriously modified an Irish Red Ale recipe and gave it to our friends/family to taste. Almost unanimous opinion can be summed up in 'out of this world'...Onto our fourth batch. All extract and partial mash for now. I have no intention of going to all grain yet.

No need to get anymore equipment to do All Grain. Search BIAB. A buddy and I make 3.5 gallon batches with a 5 gallon pot. Easy as pie and the only thing you need is a paint strainer.

 

[Ster]

I am starting on Month 9 and also fermenting batch 10. Most have been very good to great. The only ones that weren't real good are the ones where I try things like rice solids for the people that think Bud is about as heavy and dark as they can handle.

 

[Xpertskir]

Cheers OP.

Im in month 13 of brewing.

Last June my GF bought me a Northern Brewer starter kit and I started extract brewing.

After a half a dozen extract beers I switched to all grain.

Fast forward to now and I have a 4 tap kegerator, 10 gallon all grain set up, ferm chamber, control of my own water profiles, ~20Lbs of hops in the freezer, ~400 lbs of grain in the basement, and am brewing batch 55 or so tonight.

Yeah..I'm kind of obsessive about my hobbies.

Im not a noob in my brewing activities but still am certainly a noob as far as how long I have been brewing.

Edit: Oh, and the beer I make is damn good.

 

[Eman24dx]

Cheers OP.

Im in month 13 of brewing.

Last June my GF bought me a Northern Brewer starter kit and I started extract brewing.

After a half a dozen extract beers I switched to all grain.

Fast forward to now and I have a 4 tap kegerator, 10 gallon all grain set up, ferm chamber, control of my own water profiles, ~20Lbs of hops in the freezer, ~400 lbs of grain in the basement, and am brewing batch 55 or so tonight.

Yeah..I'm kind of obsessive about my hobbies.

Im not a noob in my brewing activities but still am certainly a noob as far as how long I have been brewing.

Edit: Oh, and the beer I make is damn good.

So Xpert are you:

A. $10,000 in debt
B. Throwing keggers every weekend
C. An alcoholic

Either way I love it!

 

[Xpertskir]

A. Ive probably only spent 2500 on equipment.


As for B and C, its more marathon drinking than keggers every weekend.

My girlfriend and I are thirsty by the time we get home from work, we have people over frequently, and my dad has started drinking a decent share as well.

 

[TheBrahmanBrewer]

Xpertskir - You are my hero...This is where I want to be in my 13th month of this wonderful hobby. BTW...wifey loves my beers, so that helps in acquiring new gadgets, equipment w/o much fuss.

 

[whoaru99]

My biggest success in brewing...

My far-too-good-to-me SO bought me an extract kit and yeast for Christmas. Unbeknown to her it was a lager (Maibock). So, my third batch ever (now on 6 or 7, I think) was a lager and it turned out fabulous. Probably the best overall I've made so far.

 

[Eman24dx]

Congrats! Most Noobs (aka myself) dont have the balls to try a lager, you were forced into it.

 

[Uziyahu]

I will be brewing for 2 years in Christmas, but I can remember my biggest noob successes. My first batch (since it tasted like beer) was probably the most excited I've been about making beer.

But I think my biggest success was the first batch to come out of my newly made fermentation chamber. I built it right after and week of 80 degree days in March that caused my hefeweizen to ferment at about 85 degrees. It tasted like a banana sledgehammer. I built a fermentation chamber and the belgian tripel I made right after that is still one of my favorites. I even have a few bottles a year and a half later just waiting for a good time to open.

 

[twofocused]

My success was when a buddy of mine put 2oz of Amarillo in the wrong beer but, damn it came out good.

 

[bboyeruga]

Been doing research since January and finally took the plunge in June. Dropped $700 on equipment and got to work. Since end of June, I've brewed 9 batches and consistently have 3 in the fermenter. I'm starting to customize each kit I brew with some kind of added flavor. All brews have been very successful with great beer. Hoping to step up to kegging and all grain in the next 6 months to a year. First purchase is a bigger fermentation fridge so I can fit 4-6 at a time and convert my current 7 cf one to a keezer.

 

[k_mcarthur]

Been doing research since January and finally took the plunge in June. Dropped $700 on equipment and got to work. Since end of June, I've brewed 9 batches and consistently have 3 in the fermenter. I'm starting to customize each kit I brew with some kind of added flavor. All brews have been very successful with great beer. Hoping to step up to kegging and all grain in the next 6 months to a year. First purchase is a bigger fermentation fridge so I can fit 4-6 at a time and convert my current 7 cf one to a keezer.

Wow, $700 for equipment to start extract brewing? I started all grain with less than $100, even now my e-herms cost me less than $500, granted I'm a cheap skate and am always on the lookout for deals or materials that could be converted. I think this is a huge misconception that turns people away from brewing, yes its nice to have top of the line equipment but what are you showing off, your pots or your beer?

BTW: Go Dawgs!!

 

[Dirty_Dog_Brewing]

I think my whole experience has been a success, considering that I'm making something that every one has loved, BEER!!!. It's as follows: I started with a Mr. Beer Kit, which I didn't like because it was a little to simple. Found a fellow Home brewer, he took me under his wing, and i hit ground running. First weekend together, I was brewing all grain BiaB on my turkey fryer, a 5 gal water jug from Lowes for a mashtun, and fermenting in some food grade jugs, and carbonating in some 2L soda water bottles. I fabricated a wort chiller out of some 1/2" in tubing the following day, bought a secondary water jug, and slapped them together to form an ice bath wort chiller, which hooked up to my turkey fryer. In the first month, I brewed 2x 5 gal batches (Boont Amber & American IPA). Second month, I was out at a training exercise with the military, but a soon as I got home, I brewed a Dunkelwiesen and a White house honey ale kit. During their fermentation, I slapped a kegerator together. Now that I have been deployed for a while, all i can do is think of the first brew when I get home, and building an actual sculpture.

 

[Eman24dx]

Thank you for your service....


GO COCKS! Beat Georgia

 

[invivoSaccharomyces]

I'm only in my ~6th month brewing. My sixth batch, which I've nearly finished up, was a saison with the notoriously moody Wyeast 3724 Belgian saison strain. I remember I bought about 3-4lbs of some kind of grains, mashed/steeped, and added in the last bits of a couple jugs of liquid extract I had lying around. The idea was to use up all the ingredients I was too low on to make a good recipe with. I think I also tossed in a pound of brown sugar, but I can't remember. I chucked it all in a fermenter, pitched the yeast, and forgot about it, since 3724 likes warm temperatures (supposedly, up to 95 degrees).

Well, it was sitting in a warm spot in my A/C-less apartment in the hottest weeks of summer. It definitely got up to 95 inside the fermentor, possibly even higher. And damn is it a good beer! Fermented so clean, no off flavors whatever, and a very nice fruity flavor and aroma that hides the 7.5% alcohol.

Of course, since it's my best batch so far, it would be the one where I didn't write down the recipe and have no idea how to replicate it. Go figure.