Brand new to brewing!

[slantedbolt]

Hey everyone.

For my birthday, which is today, my wife got me a True Brew Brew kit with a 6 gal Carboy. I have been reading posts on this site for the last two weeks with the hopes that I was getting a brew kit. I have been checking out different recipes since I dont want to get a "box kit" to make beer.

So what I am hoping, is that someone can give me a little advice. I want get brewing ASAP and wanted to know if anyone had any suggestions for a good recipe for a first timer.

I thank everyone ahead of time for any suggestions.

Thanks again and happy brewing!

 

[Verio]

What kind of beer do you like?

I'm going to try this for my first recipe -

Recipe Type: Extract
Yeast: WLP 400
Yeast Starter: No
Additional Yeast or Yeast Starter: No
Batch Size (Gallons): 5.00
Original Gravity: 1.051
Final Gravity: 1.011
IBU: 14
Boiling Time (Minutes): 30
Color: 4
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 14 days at ~72
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 7 days at ~72

6.6 pounds of Coopers Wheat Malt Extract (boil 10mins)
1lb wheat malt (steep 30mins)
1 pound of clear Belgian candi sugar
.5 ounces of bitter orange peel (boil for 2 min)
1 ounces of tettnanger hops @ 4.2% (boil for 10 min)
1 ounces of styrian golding hops @ 4.4% (boil for 30min)
.75 ounces of coriander seed (boil for 2 min)
1 pkg of wlp400 or you could use wlp410.
0.75 cups of corn sugar (priming)

 

[slantedbolt]

I honestly love all beer, minus most IPA's. I enjoy hoppy beers more so then malty beers.

What I was thinking for a first batch was

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f66/cascades-orange-pale-ale-84558/

I love pale ale and it seems like it would be an awesome brew.

 

[Revvy]

Actually a 'boxed" kit is what I recommend new brewers do for their first couple kits, rather than make a recipe of dubious "parentage." For one thing you get everything you need. You don't run the risk of walking into a shop to fill a recipe, find out they are out of certain grains or hops, and having the onus on you to figure out the right substitute ingreients and still have the brew turn out the way it should.

Also kits are 'fool proof' meaning they have been vetted in terms of being good recipes (afterall a company's reputation is at stake) and therefore as long as you follow directions then your beer will turn out and so you can relax and concentrate on learning the process of brewing, AND if you make a mistake, and have a set kit, then it is easier to troubleshoot, because again you know then kit was already "perfect" to begin with.

There is absolutely nithing wrong with pre-made kits, especially from reputable companies like Brewer's Best Kits, ESPECIALLY the kits from retailers like Austin Hoembrew Supply, Northern Brewer, Midwest supplies, or any of the big retailers.

They are high turnover and therefore the ingredients are going to be at their freshest.

You are misjudging these kits if you think otherwise, we're not talking kit and kilo kits like coopers where you open a can of extract and add a pound of sugar....these are exactly as if you were making a recipe from elsewhere, except everything is already there for you. In fact during the hop shortage, often the only way to get the exact hops and to be able to brew exact recipes was to brew from kits, because the shops gave priority to their own kit recipes...so if you were ordering from Northern Brewer and wanted cascade hops for your IPA you probably ended up with a substitute, but if you bought THEIR IPA kit, you WOULD get the right hops.

SO don't count kits out...work with them til you understand the basics of what you are doing. The kits are going to be great beers, because a companie's reputation is at stake.

 

[beninan]

From what I've experienced and heard from others, you really can't ruin it unless you try. So on that note, relax, don't worry, and have a microbrew (unless you have a homebrew from someone else, then have that), until you have some of your own homebrew!

You could start off with a very simple American Ale until you get into the flow of everything.
for instance:
6.6 lbs Light LME
1 lb Crystal 60 (steeped for 30 min)
1 oz Cascade (45 min)
1 oz Cascase (15 min)
WLP001 yeast
Primary for 1 week, secondary for 2, bottle for at least 3.
5 oz corn sugar for bottling

 

[strat_thru_marshall]

Hey everyone.

For my birthday, which is today, my wife got me a True Brew Brew kit with a 6 gal Carboy. I have been reading posts on this site for the last two weeks with the hopes that I was getting a brew kit. I have been checking out different recipes since I dont want to get a "box kit" to make beer.

So what I am hoping, is that someone can give me a little advice. I want get brewing ASAP and wanted to know if anyone had any suggestions for a good recipe for a first timer.

I thank everyone ahead of time for any suggestions.

Thanks again and happy brewing!

For your first brew you should get a kit!!! I know thats not what you want to hear, but its true. Do what Revvy said and order a kit in a style you like from Austin Home Brew Supply or Northern Brewer. There is so much to learn, and a kit will ensure that you have fun, learn a bunch, and end up with good beer.

If you choose to do something else, thats cool too. Most importantly HAVE FUN!

 

[Revvy]

For your first brew you should get a kit!!! I know thats not what you want to hear, but its true. Do what Revvy said and order a kit in a style you like from Austin Home Brew Supply or Northern Brewer. There is so much to learn, and a kit will ensure that you have fun, learn a bunch, and end up with good beer.

If you choose to do something else, thats cool too. Most importantly HAVE FUN!

Thanks...The Op fails to realize that kit recipes are designed usually by PROFESSIONAL BREWERS, or at least experienced brewers or are recipes that have won awards, and are put together with the hobbyist in mind. And are usally tested over and over before being commited to a company's repetroir.

A lot of times a random recipe from a website, even ours and we have some excellant brewers on here, could be from someone who posted the recipe even before the beer was ever bottled or tasted, and there's no follow up no feedback, and maybe no tweaks to it. I never commmit a recipe to the databse unless I've brewed it numerous times til I perfected the recipe (but that's me).

Also a lot of times random recipes have odd ingredients or especially extra steps that really don't mean anything or are actually bad brewing techniques, and are in there because that's how the brewer did things, but may or may not be usefull or valid things to learn.

 

[brewd00d]

i started brewing about a month and a half ago and i went with the beer kits. it helped me learn a lot and its a great gateway into learning the techniques of beer making.

a couple more kits and i might try and tackle an all grain on my own (with a little help from the forums )

 

[dschof]

Welcome Slantedbolt,

My suggestion is to go out and get the latest printing of BYO homebrew magazine. (Brew your own). They had an article that you may enjoy: How to brew with extract. A couple of months ago they ran an article on brewing all grain recipes. Jump in and ask questions and read, read, and read more. Good luck!

 

[sportscrazed2]

I just did my second batch. word of advice if you can have someone to help you it will be a lot more fun. first time i did it alone second time with a relative much easier and more fun

 

[slantedbolt]

Actually a 'boxed" kit is what I recommend new brewers do for their first couple kits, rather than make a recipe of dubious "parentage." For one thing you get everything you need. You don't run the risk of walking into a shop to fill a recipe, find out they are out of certain grains or hops, and having the onus on you to figure out the right substitute ingreients and still have the brew turn out the way it should.

Also kits are 'fool proof' meaning they have been vetted in terms of being good recipes (afterall a company's reputation is at stake) and therefore as long as you follow directions then your beer will turn out and so you can relax and concentrate on learning the process of brewing, AND if you make a mistake, and have a set kit, then it is easier to troubleshoot, because again you know then kit was already "perfect" to begin with.

There is absolutely nithing wrong with pre-made kits, especially from reputable companies like Brewer's Best Kits, ESPECIALLY the kits from retailers like Austin Hoembrew Supply, Northern Brewer, Midwest supplies, or any of the big retailers.

They are high turnover and therefore the ingredients are going to be at their freshest.

You are misjudging these kits if you think otherwise, we're not talking kit and kilo kits like coopers where you open a can of extract and add a pound of sugar....these are exactly as if you were making a recipe from elsewhere, except everything is already there for you. In fact during the hop shortage, often the only way to get the exact hops and to be able to brew exact recipes was to brew from kits, because the shops gave priority to their own kit recipes...so if you were ordering from Northern Brewer and wanted cascade hops for your IPA you probably ended up with a substitute, but if you bought THEIR IPA kit, you WOULD get the right hops.

SO don't count kits out...work with them til you understand the basics of what you are doing. The kits are going to be great beers, because a companie's reputation is at stake.

Thanks a bunch for this bit of information. I was turned off of kits because I figured it is some generic mediocre product. If you, and others who posted here, really think a kit is the way to go then thats what I need do for the first couple batches. Thanks for all the suggestions so far.

 

[Revvy]

Thanks a bunch for this bit of information. I was turned off of kits because I figured it is some generic mediocre product. If you, and others who posted here, really think a kit is the way to go then thats what I need do for the first couple batches. Thanks for all the suggestions so far.

There are generic kits, but not all kits are generic. Look at the kits I mentioned above. If you are ordering online look at Austin Homebrew, Northern Brewer. If you go to a homebrewshop look for brewer's best or Brewcraft Usa (They even make an official kit of Rogue Deadguy Ale.) And if you have a really good homebrew shop in your town, they may have their own inhouse kits, with really fresh ingredients.

 

[slantedbolt]

There are generic kits, but not all kits are generic. Look at the kits I mentioned above. If you are ordering online look at Austin Homebrew, Northern Brewer. If you go to a homebrewshop look for brewer's best or Brewcraft Usa (They even make an official kit of Rogue Deadguy Ale.) And if you have a really good homebrew shop in your town, they may have their own inhouse kits, with really fresh ingredients.

Thanks again man, I am guessing you saved me some serious time and money by giving me this info.

I have decided on AHS Our Special Holiday Ale which sounds awesome and should be ready for the Christmas get together.

Thanks again Revvy and I am looking forward to posting how it went!

 

[sportscrazed2]

I bought the basic $80 kit from northern and a 32 qt aluminum pot on amazon for $25. wish i would have went with a carboy instead of 2 buckets. will probably pick one up a better bottle before my next batch. I guess i'm kind of paranoid if my beer is fermenting or not if i can't physically see it

 

[Revvy]

Thanks again man, I am guessing you saved me some serious time and money by giving me this info.

I have decided on AHS Our Special Holiday Ale which sounds awesome and should be ready for the Christmas get together.

Thanks again Revvy and I am looking forward to posting how it went!

Well, except for the beerglass looking disturbingly like mr hankey from south park, I'd say you have a good kit there.

 

[slantedbolt]

Well, except for the beerglass looking disturbingly like mr hankey from south park, I'd say you have a good kit there.

lol thats a good point. Sounds good for a first batch.

 

[logan3825]

I honestly don't think I will be going away from kits anytime soon. I can find a decent kit for almost anything I want to brew. Austin has a plethora of clone kits. Of course I am doing extract and plan to for the foreseeable future. Maybe if I was doing all grain I might. I have a few ideas in mind but I think I can find the base for them as a kit and add a few ingredients. Even extract in bulk only has minimal price savings. Yeast harvesting seems to be the biggest area to save money short of all grain.

 

[LaurieGator]

I used kits for a long time. I started with extract plus steeping grain and my first few all-grain brews were also kits. AHS has some really good stuff, I have also tried kits from Northern Brewer that were really good. It also let me try some new styles that I was not familiar with when I started brewing...

Happy brewing!

 

[mr_bell]

I honestly don't think I will be going away from kits anytime soon. I can find a decent kit for almost anything I want to brew.

+1, I couldn't agree more, and I've been brewing 2.5 years now. I've dabbled in recipe creation using beersmith, and have just started doing partial mashes, but the kits, for me, are proven and save time--and I have little free time. A store like Austin Home Brew (especially) has such a great selection I don't think you could go wrong there, especially just starting out.