First brew ingrediants?

[Kzang]

I am trying to decide what to do as my first brew. It will definitely be an extract brew. The types of beers I like are the gulden draak 9000 quad, Irish ales like Killians, xinghu black beer, and southern tier warlock.

I'm not sure if I should buy a recipe kit with ingredients from my local store that has amber, American wheat, brown ale, Canadian ale, continental dark, continental light, Irish stout, pale ale, pilsner, and porter style OR buy ingredients to make a clone recipe or another Internet recipe.

They have DME of extra light, light, bet, dark, and wheat.

They have yeast of danstar, muntons, safale, and saflager.

Also, I can't stand IPAs.

Thanks for the help!

 

[chickypad]

So you've got a quad, an Irish red, a schwarzbier, and an imperial stout. Of all those the Irish ale is probably the best for a first brew given that high gravity beers and lagers can require some special techniques. It should be easy to find an extract recipe either in the database here or from one of the online vendors, likely just some light extract plus crystal malt and roasted barley for steeping. That'd be my suggestion.

 

[Schecter]

I agree with Chickypad above,.but I would also like to say that maybe you should just do a simple ale to start, maybe a smash (single malt and single hop). I know it may seem a waste of time and money, but I so strongly advise to do a simple recipe to start. Familiarizing yourself with the ingredients and process is very important and a low stress recipe is appropriate. But maybe you're way awesomer than me and can start with a beautiful RIS

 

[Kzang]

Well, people said I would kill my first bonsai tree, and I've been working on them for 2 years now!

It would be nice to not do a kit and just try something and see how it works out. I have no idea of their ingrediants are decent and everything I would need?

 

[Nikoenig]

A kit is a great starter but if you feel like trying your luck then go for ingredients or maybe a clone receipe from the internet. Although most of the receipes I've found online are using grains at some point and I'm not ready to do so. Kegging is my next step.

 

[Braufessor]

I would find a good kit...... that said, you want to make sure it is a "good" kit. What do you have for LHBS options? Some places like Northern Brewer, Austin Homebrew, Morebeer (and others) have great kits that are tried and true.
I think you want to be a little careful if your LHBS does not turn over their inventory quickly and they have some generic kits, covered in dust. If that is the kind of kit they sell, you could tell the owner you want to put together your own ingredient list and let them know what you have in mind and he should be able to help you compile what you need.
Also - look through the recipes here, in the data base - some are extract - you could use one of these and put together your own "kit." Many of these are very good and popular.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f82/

In my opinion, one of the big mistakes beginning brewers make (god knows I did it too) is too go crazy trying to put some "original" recipe together. The end result is almost always overdoing some ingredient and ending up with some mish-mash of a beer that is mediocre at best. Start with something that is tried and true. Learn the process..... that is what really makes good beer. Recipes are a dime a dozen - it is about sanitation, controlling your fermentation temps, quality yeast, handling your beer properly after the boil and until it is bottled.... that is where the real art is.

Also..... a couple things for your first beer - because a lot of the instructions are not great:
*Clean AND sanitize - they are not the same. PBW to clean and rinse. Star San to sanitize and DON't rinse.... the foam does not matter - don't worry at all about it.
*Chlorine is your enemy. The simplest strategy for this is to simply buy RO water from one of those refill stations at walmart.... .39 cents a gallon. Get a couple 3 gallon containters.
*Chill your beer into 60's before pitching yeast..... 70's and 80's are too warm.
*Keep fermentation temps in the mid 60's for the majority of regular ales.... if at tall possible. There are various strategies for doing this.
* Leave your beer alone for 14 days....... don't worry about checking it, getting gravity readings, etc..... just leave it alone. The yeast are doing their job.
*After that, check gravity to make sure it is done fermenting and when it comes time to bottle, be gentle moving beer to bottling bucket, etc.... oxygen is the enemy at this point. No splashing.