Good starter brews for beginners?

[Yesfan]

What are some good brews for beginners to start? My next one will be an attempt at a Belgian Trippel, but that is something I'm going to let sit until Christmas. I'll probably bottle that one, but I'm thinking of maybe looking at one or two to keg with a bit of a quicker turnaround. Those I'll let sit while I start on my kegerator project.

Some of my favorite name brand beers are:


Coors Light
Bud Lime
Miller 64
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......KIDDING!! :big grin:


Seriously, some of my favs are:

Fat Tire (I'm eyeing NB's Phat Tyre clone)
Newcastle
Redhook ESB (their nut brown ale is tasty too)
Sweetwater Blue
Sweetwater IPA
UFO
***** Modelo

There are others I like a bit more, but I don't think they are as available nationwide as what I mentioned (Yazoo, Red Brick, & Bluegrass Brewery come to mind).

I'm not looking for clones of those brews (feel free to mention any), but just something that's similar.

Thanks and sorry for the winded post.

 

[Ceb2652]

I started about a month ago and did a nut brown ale extract with steeping grains. It was so easy that I went back to my LHBS and bought another fermenting bucket and did a Sweetwater 420 clone the next day. I bottled both this past Saturday. Can't wait for the first tasting (other than the hydrometer sample).

 

[Yesfan]

If you know where I could find a clone of one of the Sweetwater brews I mentioned, I'd appreciate it. I tried their IPA and was very impressed with it. My cousin has also gotten started in this hobby and he chose the Chinook IPA for his first batch. We just brewed it last weekend, so he has about 5.5 weeks to go until it's ready. Looking forward to trying it.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

It really doesn't take too much to brew the majority of beer styles so you should brew whatever you want. A lager is probably a little more advanced than what you want to start on for your second brew, especially if you don't have space to lager, but if you can ferment in the low 60s or upper 50s you can do very clean ales with lager recipes that will be close but not exact.

 

[Yesfan]

It really doesn't take too much to brew the majority of beer styles so you should brew whatever you want. A lager is probably a little more advanced than what you want to start on for your second brew, especially if you don't have space to lager, but if you can ferment in the low 60s or upper 50s you can do very clean ales with lager recipes that will be close but not exact.

I'm scouting around Craigslist for a cheap mini fridge (that will fit a fermenting bucket w/ airlock) for lagers.

What I would like to do is find extract kits that's close to those brands I listed. The Phat Tyre is a gimme, but what about the others? Is the Nukey Brown from NB a Newcastle knock off? I know their Caribou Slobber is a knock off of Moose Drool, but I've never had that so I don't know if Moose Drool is a better (assuming) brown ale than Newcastle or Redhook's Nut Brown.

I should have been more specific. I apologize for that. I know tastes are going to be very subjective here, but even though I've sampled a few here and there I like, there's still so much more out there for me to experience. The Belgian Trippel is a perfect example. If I had not tried that from my cousin's friend last weekend, I probably never would have given it any thought.

 

[agcorry00]

I have an ESB in the primary that will be ready to bottle next week. I can't wait to try it.

 

[BluBruShack]

Hello and welcome to the addiction. I enjoyed the Negra Modelo and made a 1 gal clone of it as all grain. Listed here http://hopville.com/recipe/1094040 Not sure if you have AG equipment or if you are still working with extract. I did a new castle extract that turned out decent but I would hold out for AG if you can with that one http://hopville.com/recipe/958141. You can always browse through the HBT recipe section here https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f82/ for your style then select all grain or extract. Most of them have reviews if they are good. I would try some of Beirmunchers stuff. I havent had a bad one yet.
Good Luck and Happy Brewing
-BBS

 

[kingwood-kid]

Stouts hide a lot of rookie mistakes. They taste pretty good if you've been brewing forever too.

 

[Yesfan]

Thanks. I'll check those links out. Might have to add a stout if it is that forgiving of mistakes.


And yes, I'm still extract brewing. I'll be doing that for a while (Sorry I didn't mention that).