Hey everyone, Im a complete novice when it comes to brewing. My girlfriend recently got me the Brewers Best 5 gal set up and Irish stout kit. Im currently a week and 2 days from my bottling date. I kind of went rogue and added some chocolate PB2 to the boil and the secondary. hopefully it added the flavor like I read online. Already though Im starting to get the itch to create my own brew from scratch. Im very interested in stouts and porters. I eventually want to get into kegging as well so I can make some Aged High gravity russian Imperials. Any advice or insight would be very much appreciated. thank you.
First time with home brewing and stout
- Thread starter LukeN
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brandonlovesbeer
BrandonLovesBeer
I found this homebrew talk article very helpful regarding the use of chocolate.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/brewing-with-chocolate.html
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/brewing-with-chocolate.html
Your first brew you will always want to get into it early, that is part of how it works. Stouts don't need a lot of carbonation so I'd rip one open after 5 days and see what it's like. It might be drinkable if you are lucky, in which case put a couple more in the fridge.
Otherwise the general rule with few exceptions is that the beer will be better after 3 weeks carbonating in the bottle.
Which is not to say that it won't be ok or good before then, it may well be. Just don't open one after a week and have a big panic if it's not carbonated properly or not as amazing as you hoped because they do get better with time.
Also it sucks to drink the whole batch early when it's average then find the last bottle tastes amazing. Again, with this being your first batch this is pretty much guaranteed to happen so get that second batch rolling as soon as you bottle the first one.
Also you don't need to keg to be able to do imperial stouts - they are great in bottles too - you just need a bit more brewing experience since they are a bit harder than a normal brew (need to be more careful with yeast quantities and temp control mainly).
Otherwise the general rule with few exceptions is that the beer will be better after 3 weeks carbonating in the bottle.
Which is not to say that it won't be ok or good before then, it may well be. Just don't open one after a week and have a big panic if it's not carbonated properly or not as amazing as you hoped because they do get better with time.
Also it sucks to drink the whole batch early when it's average then find the last bottle tastes amazing. Again, with this being your first batch this is pretty much guaranteed to happen so get that second batch rolling as soon as you bottle the first one.
Also you don't need to keg to be able to do imperial stouts - they are great in bottles too - you just need a bit more brewing experience since they are a bit harder than a normal brew (need to be more careful with yeast quantities and temp control mainly).
Best advice I wish someone had told me when I started is to take notes. Keep a pad of paper and a pen on hand and make notes on every step of the process. Temperatures, volumes, and rogue ideas can drastically change the exact same recipe from batch to batch. Your notes will help you understand why something tastes different good or bad.
catdaddy66
Well-Known Member
This helped me SO MUCH!!
Another word of wisdom is not to get too ambitious early in your learning process. There is nothing wrong with getting a few batches under your belt before branching out with uncommon ingredients or fermentation schedules, etc. Gotta walk before you run a marathon...
You won't follow my advice but I'll tell you anyway with the hope that you will remember it. Are you ready for it?
Your stout will begin to taste pretty good in about......6 months and will continue to improve for at least a year after that so wait the 6 months.
Now since I know you won't follow that advice, think about brewing another couple batches soon. A wheat beer will be ready to drink in about 1 month. A pale ale might be better if you waited 2 months. A Russian Imperial Stout will start getting decent in a year and will be excellent at the end of year two.
Remember whose beer it is. Go ahead and sample one after 3 weeks in the bottle. It won't hurt, it just won't be as good as the one you wait for. Sample another at 4 weeks and another one each week as you note the progression of changes in it. Make sure you have other beer to drink in between samples of the stout.
Depends on the stout. For an Irish stout no need to wait 6 months. It will be good in a month.
brandonlovesbeer
BrandonLovesBeer
I agree. Take it easy with exotic ingredient. Early in my brewing (3rd or 4th batch) I added lots of spices. Like Jim Koch talks about (grains of paradise etc). Let's just say, if I was making potpourri, it was the best potpourri I've ever tasted. But as for beer? It was the most disgusting thing I'd ever tasted. And I ended up throwing it all out. Except for a 6 pk. Every year since, I've opened a bottle to see the flavor has mellowed.
NO. no it has not. Not at all. It's still the worst tasting beer I've ever put in my mouth.
dwhite60
Well-Known Member
You won't follow my advice but I'll tell you anyway with the hope that you will remember it. Are you ready for it?
Your stout will begin to taste pretty good in about......6 months and will continue to improve for at least a year after that so wait the 6 months.
Now since I know you won't follow that advice, think about brewing another couple batches soon. A wheat beer will be ready to drink in about 1 month. A pale ale might be better if you waited 2 months. A Russian Imperial Stout will start getting decent in a year and will be excellent at the end of year two.
Remember whose beer it is. Go ahead and sample one after 3 weeks in the bottle. It won't hurt, it just won't be as good as the one you wait for. Sample another at 4 weeks and another one each week as you note the progression of changes in it. Make sure you have other beer to drink in between samples of the stout.
I agree, six months. You will not wait that long, I didn't.
But take six bottles and put them away somewhere cool and dark. In six months pop one then one at seven, then eight,..... You will be surprised at the difference.
All the Best,
D. White
