Hello from SW France

[Hopsacks]

Hi, I'm a long time lurker and have finally decided to take the plunge. I'm from Scotland originally but have been here a good while now. Started with a disastrous extract beer kit experience which ended up like bitter, black tar, yeasty syrup and then started reading about all grain BIAB.

After way too much theory, I gathered what I needed and did my first mash two days ago. It's now farting happily away in the fermenter. It's a small batch, about 7 litres (1.85 gal?), but for now it's more about learning. I'm going to do a write up soon.

I've absorbed a lot from these boards and it helped enormously for my first brew despite a few glitches. May the head be frothy, slightly hoppy and pickle our pie-eyed private parts!

Much merriment, dancing and brewage for all.

 

[ultra_cas]

Bienvenue. Where in SW France? My wife is from SW France - Pau/Jurancon. Anywhere near there?

 

[ncbrewer]

Welcome. Sorry to hear about your bad batch - good luck on this one. One word of caution: All grain isn't normally considered easier than extract.

 

[Hopsacks]

Bienvenue. Where in SW France? My wife is from SW France - Pau/Jurancon. Anywhere near there?

Salut et merci. I'm just up the road, in the sticks not far from Dax. My better half is from here too. Great wine from Jurançon!

 

[Hopsacks]

Welcome. Sorry to hear about your bad batch - good luck on this one. One word of caution: All grain isn't normally considered easier than extract.

Thanks. Yeah, the bad batch was all my own fault. It was a kit I was given as a birthday present and I knew zero about brewing back then. It was also fermented way too low (if it fermented at all!) and I think it got infected too. After that I read so much about brewing for such a long time that I just decided I may as well do all grain to give me a fresh perspective.

You're right, in practice the whole process of this first brew felt like juggling fire, but I learned a lot from it and I think it should be a bit smoother going next time.