Good easy homebrew for a group brew

[djsereno91]

I've been home brewing for about 6 months now and have been pretty successful. I've got my coworkers excited about home brewing and now my boss has got the idea that we can do a group homebrew with the whole office. Part of this idea is to give out some of the beer to our clients (rather than the usual bottle of wine).

As a result, I'm looking for a relatively simple beer recipe that will be hard to screw up while still tasting great. They'll have my limited leadership (I have learned A LOT from reading Palmers book as well as from my own mistakes) so we won't be totally blind. Also, I'm looking for a brew that doesn't need strict temperature control. It will be fermenting in the office, which is an air conditioned environment, but we won't have super precise control.

One more thing, I live down the road from a MoreBeer warehouse so I will likely be purchasing a kit from there. Any help is greatly appreciated! Thank you!!

Edit:
Currently, I'm looking at MoreBeer's Irish Red and Citra Pale Ale Extract kits.

 

[Biergarden]

I've been home brewing for about 6 months now and have been pretty successful. I've got my coworkers excited about home brewing and now my boss has got the idea that we can do a group homebrew with the whole office. Part of this idea is to give out some of the beer to our clients (rather than the usual bottle of wine).

As a result, I'm looking for a relatively simple beer recipe that will be hard to screw up while still tasting great. They'll have my limited leadership (I have learned A LOT from reading Palmers book as well as from my own mistakes) so we won't be totally blind. Also, I'm looking for a brew that doesn't need strict temperature control. It will be fermenting in the office, which is an air conditioned environment, but we won't have super precise control.

One more thing, I live down the road from a MoreBeer warehouse so I will likely be purchasing a kit from there. Any help is greatly appreciated! Thank you!!

Edit:
Currently, I'm looking at MoreBeer's Irish Red and Citra Pale Ale Extract kits.

Be careful giving that beer away to anyone that wasn't there to brew it, or are good friends. You should check your state regs or call your Alcohol Control Board in your state. The state could accuse you of running an unlicensed brewery if some one complained about you giving away an alcohol you personally made.

 

[Subdivisions]

The beers you're looking at are fine for what you want to do but I'd look into at least SOME kind of temperature control. A swamp cooler is better than nothing and the mass of water acts as a good buffer to temperature change. You'll have to have a bunch of tubs of water around the office but they don't take up much more room than the fermenters themselves. I know the office is an air conditioned environment but the yeast working on the wort raises the temperature a good bit. Tossing some frozen water bottles in the water bath is a great way to keep temperatures down also.

Source: I ferment exclusively (in a cool basement) with a swamp cooler and frozen 2-liter water bottles. Originally I didn't do this and I had off flavors in the warmer months. My beer went up many notches since implementing this.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

What temperature is the office kept at? That will affect the yeast that you should use.

That citra pale ale is 45-48IBU's - too bitter for most (non-craft beer inclined) drinkers. It it's something to share around the office, something a bit less challenging (drinking wise) might be more appropriate. Out of the two that you've listed, I'd vote for the Irish Red.

 

[Subdivisions]

Be careful giving that beer away to anyone that wasn't there to brew it, or are good friends. You should check your state regs or call your Alcohol Control Board in your state. The state could accuse you of running an unlicensed brewery if some one complained about you giving away an alcohol you personally made.

This is a good point. Depending on local laws it may not even be legal to be brewing in a business even for free distribution. Check that out first. The laws are for 'home' brewing, that makes a big difference.

 

[djsereno91]

I should clarify, we are intending to brew two different batches. Sounds like the red is a good one to go with. Suggestions for the second?

I didn't even think about legal issues. Technically, we won't be brewing in the office. We were planning on doing that at someone's house then just storing at the office since there is AC there (we're in the SF Bay Area and most houses don't have AC). I'd say the office is kept right around 70 degrees +- 2 or 3 degrees

 

[thekraken]

I should clarify, we are intending to brew two different batches. Sounds like the red is a good one to go with. Suggestions for the second?
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Ambitious task. If it were me I'd have to brew a Keystone Light clone, anything else with decent flavor and they would spit it out in disgust! That said, any idea what kind of beer drinking demo your clients are? It's getting cold, how about an easy stout or porter?

Edit: sounds like the company needs to expense a ferm fridge.

 

[djsereno91]

Luckily everyone enjoys GOOD beer here. I do know what you mean though. I've wasted my precious beer on plenty of people who prefer bud light...

I have no clue really, they are my boss's relationships more than they are mine. I've brewed a couple IPAs with success but I know some people don't enjoy the bold hoppy flavors. I thought about a stout. I haven't brewed one myself but I read that their flavor profiles can mask mistakes. Probably safer to go lighter though

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Luckily everyone enjoys GOOD beer here. I do know what you mean though. I've wasted my precious beer on plenty of people who prefer bud light...

I have no clue really, they are my boss's relationships more than they are mine. I've brewed a couple IPAs with success but I know some people don't enjoy the bold hoppy flavors. I thought about a stout. I haven't brewed one myself but I read that their flavor profiles can mask mistakes. Probably safer to go lighter though

IME, those who are used to drinking BMC can appreciate malty (but not too roasty) beers, but don't appreciate hops. They normally sip my hoppy beers, politely comment on how nice and different they are, then leave them sitting on the table. A moderately hopped American brown might be OK.

 

[MaxStout]

Irish red. It's straightforward, hard to fark up, and tends to be a crowd-pleaser, even among BMC-drinkers. Tell them it's like Killian's, only better.

 

[djsereno91]

We ultimately decided on the Irish red and a nut brown. I think these have enough flavor without being too bold. Thanks all!

 

[thekraken]

Good luck and have fun! It's funny, a red and a brown are the next two brews on my list. Great minds think alike.

 

[thekraken]

We ultimately decided on the Irish red and a nut brown. I think these have enough flavor without being too bold. Thanks all!

Did you already order them? Those kits just happened to go on sale today for columbus day: http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/...s-for-14-92?icn=NBHomepage&1492-Beer-Kit-Sale

It's for the extract kits but I bet you could phone in the order and get the discount on all grain too.

 

[djsereno91]

Wow what a deal! Thanks for the link. Unfortunately, we are brewing on Friday. The MoreBeer warehouse is only 15 minutes away. Good thing the boss man is paying [emoji12]