Having a hard time deciding what styles/recipes of beer I would enjoy...

[LaconicMind]

So I am pretty new to the craft beer scene in general. I am looking to get into home brewing because I am sick of paying for beer that is past its prime before I even get it, I like the idea of an almost endless variety of possible beers, and I really need a hobby and home brewing seems to be the right combination of science and art to keep me intellectually engaged and entertained while being a very practical skill with a tangible and enjoyable result (hopefully ).

I will soon be brewing a one gallon trial run with Brooklyn Brew Shop's Summer Ale. I chose their summer ale because I had Oberon a couple times and I was very impressed with the taste and drinkability. I have tried a Southern Tier Porter and a Great Lakes porter and I really don't like the "roasted" taste. I also tried Southern Tier IPA and I have decided IPA's are too bitter for me, it took me 3 hours to finish one beer. I tried the PMX from Southern Tier a few months ago (American Pale Ale I believe) and I have to say it was pretty good but at the upper limit of what I can handle in terms of bitterness/hops.

Lately I have been buying the Sam Adam's Winter Variety pack and I have been really enjoying the White Christmas (although it usually makes me crave a hoppier beer) and Winter Lager (although it is a little boring and light on hop intensity). I have been avoiding anything not sold in an enclosed box because I keep getting burned at my local beer store with skunky beer, otherwise I would probably buy more PMX and new styles.

Any suggestions for recipes or styles that I should look into while I wait for my kit to arrive?

 

[BrewerinBR]

from your descriptions I would think you may enjoy English style ales, they are certainly less assertive in the hop area and the ones that are hopped a little more use English hops which are more woodsy and earthly to floral and not so citrus as American hops can be. You may want to look around for in state craft brewer that have English ales. Also consider a brown ale, they are not as roasty as a stout and certainly not as hopped as an IPA. Don't forget to try a Belgian Ale and an American Amber ale. That's a start...

 

[Chadwick]

I agree with BrewerinBR. I'd shoot for English Ales to start off. If you can control temps. I would also recommend some different European Lagers. It seems to me that you don't like hoppy beers and you don't like the roasted malt flavor. That still leaves you with oodles of beers you can give a try. If temp. control isn't something that you can easily achieve, I recommned trying some Saison style ales to see if that is something you may want to make as well. Saison styles can be brewed pretty much without any concern for temps.

 

[TxBigHops]

Don't forget wheat beers. The German version (hefeweizens) are mildly hopped and can have some fruity esters. (citrus and banana are common) American wheat beers are usually a bit hoppier, but still milder than pale ales.

 

[LaconicMind]

Thanks guys, I am in Western New York state btw. I have a nice cool/cold basement I'd guess 50-65F depending on time of year but I'll know more once I do my first brew. I got one of those sticky thermomemters for the fermenter. We have a fireplace upstairs which will probably relegate me to my basement if I want anything close to constant temperatures. All the ideas seem great, hopefully I can find an English Ale tomorrow when I go to the store.

 

[RM-MN]

Yeasts have a preferred temperature range depending on the strain and while they usually make better beer being on the cooler end of that range, too cool and they won't start of maybe start but then go dormant before they finish making the beer for you. You need to know what the temperature is in your basement before you start so go get yourself a thermometer and check. If it is too cold you can create the right temperature for your beer by setting the fermenter in a tub of water and use an aquarium heater to control the temperature of the water which will control the temperature of your fermenting beer. You might need something like an STC-1000 to control the aquarium heater if the control won't go low enough.

STC-1000 on Ebay. http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro....TRC1.A0.H1.Xstc+&_nkw=stc-1000+110v&_sacat=0

 

[unionrdr]

Here's a saison from Heavy Seas you might like to try. Nice little spice on the back;

Or New Belgium's Fat Tire;

An English style bitter or ESB (Extra Special Bitter) would also be something you might like, as they use English hops as described earlier. The Ordinary bitter is the maltier of the two. Here's a link to Northern Brewer's 1 gallon kit pages; http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/brewing/recipe-kits/small-batch-beer-recipe-kits

 

[Brew_G]

Sounds like we have very similar tastes.

I'm new to this, as well, but the great thing about home brewing is that you don't have to stick to a particular style - you can figure out what your likes and dislikes are and then tweak recipes to fit what you like!

I really like Bell's Best Brown and Brooklyn Brown, so I looked up some clone recipes for both and took what I liked from them - then tweaked the hops - to create my own recipe. I also really like Bell's Two Hearted, so I took inspiration from that to make my own pale ale recipe. Just from doing that, I've learned a lot on how to formulate brown and pale ale recipes, and once I feel like I have that knowledge down and have come up with some good ones, I'll branch out into other styles that might suit my tastes.

Definitely keep looking for feedback on HBT, especially if you want to try your hand at your own recipes. I've done it and it's been a real learning experience. Good luck!

 

[riderkb]

I've never tried the Munich extract, but I think Munich malt is the key to a malty beer that is not too sweet.
It would also be a good idea to do a few batches with different brands of extract and no specialty grains. When you find an extract that gives you the malt flavor you like then you can build on that to get the hop and yeast flavors dialed in.

 

[unionrdr]

Munich is good. I use the grain malt version & it tastes like a fine, lightly toasted bread to me. Good stuff. I also like Munton's plain Light DME as well for it's amber/orange color & English-style flavors that taste kind of like caramel biscotti to me.

 

[HB_in_Subic]

I prefer the English style beers and mainly make Irish Red Ale, Dry Stout, Oatmeal Stout, Robust Porter, Texas Red Ale and Amber Bock Ale all using Muntons Premium Gold Dry yeast (an English Yeast with a temperature range of 57F-77F, I ferment at 68F). These are all lightly hopped 1-3 oz of hops depending on the recipe and are more malty without any bitterness.

I also like a Pacific Saison Ale made with Mangrove Jack's Belgian Ale Yeast. This would be good for you in the summer as you can ferment at temps up to 90F.

 

[beergolf]

To figure out what you like, you will have to do a lot of research..

Start drinking lots of different brews. It is a tough job but.......

Here is the list of BJCP styles. Each style has a good description of the brew and a list of good examples of that style. This should help you find beers that you like.

 

[LaconicMind]

So I could only find wheat beer at my local beer store. I ended up buying 312 Urban Wheat Ale by Goose Island and I saw Noble Pils by Sam Adams so I figured I would try that out because it has all the noble hops and I was curious about how they might taste. I must say I was not impressed by the Urban Wheat, very boring. I was pretty happy with Noble Pils though, mainly the hop taste. I kind of wish it was slightly more bitter and "flavorful" overall (I know vague). Nobles Pils is probably tied for my second favorite beer along with PMX. This beer made me crave Raging Bitch (or maybe it was the Arrogant Bastard) which I got ~4 years ago from my aunt for my 21st birthday when I only drank Molson and PBR and was incapable of appreciating microbrews.

 

[LaconicMind]

So I could only find wheat beer at my local beer store. I ended up buying 312 Urban Wheat Ale by Goose Island and I saw Noble Pils by Sam Adams so I figured I would try that out because it has all the noble hops and I was curious about how they might taste. I must say I was not impressed by the Urban Wheat, very boring. I was pretty happy with Noble Pils though, mainly the hop taste. I kind of wish it was slightly more bitter and "flavorful" overall (I know vague). Nobles Pils is probably tied for my second favorite beer along with PMX. This beer made me crave Raging Bitch (or maybe it was the Arrogant Bastard) which I got ~4 years ago from my aunt for my 21st birthday when I only drank Molson and PBR and was incapable of appreciating microbrews.