How did YOUR first brew go ?

[Jay_ID]

What kind of beer was it ?
How long did it take ?
Was it nice ?
Any problems ?
Etc

 

[zardozap]

My first 5 gallon batch? (I don't count the Mr. Beer kits I made for a month before moving on.)

That would be NB's Caribou Slobber. Took forever to come to a boil (was using stove top), almost forgot to put the specialty grains in a bag (SWMBO saved my hinder on that one), almost boiled over (twice). Took forever to cool in the sink, because I didn't have an immersion chiller yet. Had no trouble when it came to bottling and it turned out great.

 

[ChelisHubby]

Jim Rossi honey pale ale turned out fairly well in spite of my hurrying it. The second time I was lax with sanitation and got a infection.

 

[Teromous]

What kind of beer was it ?

Extract hefeweizen from my LHBS.

How long did it take ?

I don't remember. It was an extract batch on my stove so it didn't take nearly as long as the all grain batches I do now.

Was it nice ?

I enjoyed it, and the people I shared it with also enjoyed it.

Any problems ?

No real problems. I'm pretty sure I had a boil-over. I don't remember the specifics of all of my brew days but I'm pretty sure I had a boil-over on either that first batch or the one after it. I remember that on one of the early batches (might have been the first one) I had liquid yeast as well. I forgot about it and left it in the car while we went out shopping, etc. I was certain the yeast was dead but everything worked out. I also remember how much the water vapor would condensate in my kitchen. I freaked out about it dripping from my microwave back down into my pot, so I would put the lid over half of the pot to block it off from the dripping water.

 

[Jay_ID]

CH

I'm pretty sure that everyone tries to rush their first batch

 

[bondra76]

My first brew was spectacular.

Here's recipe - read through first pages for extract recipe and corrections
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f65/scottish-ale-80-shilling-2nd-place-hbt-comp-141264/

I'm about 8-9 brews in and will probably re-do this one - better this time. It was so damn good.

 

[dryboroughbrewing]

What kind of beer was it ?

Brown Ale from my LHBS

How long did it take ?

I don't remember.

Was it nice ?

It was nice that my wife bought me the kit.... there's probably about 10 bottles of it left sitting in my basement. If that tells you something.

Any problems ?

Again no memory.

 

[WouldBeBrewmaster]

Brown ale from LHBS. All it was was medium crystal, dark LME, Cascade, and one pkg of Munton's ale yeast.

The started kit came with The Complete Joy of Homebrewing which inspired us to use molasses for priming. The beer came out excellent.


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[tommyguner03]

well when i first started to brew i was on a gluten free kick. and well anyway

what kind of beer? some gluten free brown ale

how long? not to sure but to come to a boil took forever since i was on my old stove top

was it nice? for a gluten free ale yes it was

problems? yes.. i fermented to high and it did give some off flavors but i think it helped out with the beer.

 

[ong]

First batch was a coffee porter (I believe a Kona Brewing clone, although a coffee porter is not the world's most distinctive style). Brew day was very simple and easy. I think I doubled the amount of coffee called for, and it was a very coffeeish porter indeed. But tasty enough to really surprise me and get me very hooked.

 

[Jay_ID]

Looks like most peoples first beer turned out nice

 

[DaNewf]

Cooper's Lager that came with my Cooper's DIY set. Used the kit yeast and the kilo of dextrose that came with the kit.

Didn't encounter any problems from start to finish.

The beer I made tasted OK and was strong enough (alcohol-wise) to do the trick.

I didn't like it enough to want to make it again (the lager) but one of my main reasons to start home brewing was to make beers different from common domestic lagers (stouts, dark ale, red ale...)

I considered my first batch a big enough success to continue with the hobby.

 

[GilSwillBasementBrews]

First extract batch was a Mr.beer Hefeweizen. Tasted a lot of banana
Flavor. Everyone enjoyed that tried it
Being an small extract batch I really didn't have any problems. Only one I can think of was trying to dissolve the booster pack ingredients (glad to see coopers did away with that)

First All Grain batch was the SWMBO slayer and no problems and everyone devoured that batch. I think that was one of the fastest kegs (of Homebrew) I ever kicked.


Sent from somewhere to someone

 

[Daphne-weizen]

My first brew was a 1 gallon Baravian Hefeweizen from Craft a Brew extract kit. I read all the instructions obsessively, followed directions to a t and it tasted like.....soap!!!!!!! Not sure what I did wrong. I think I fermented at way too warm temps, I think. Every time I opened the fridge I'd just look at those bottles and shut the door. I was pretty bummed out and didn't attempt to brew again for almost three months. I'm glad I did though. My brews are getting better each time. I'm feeling more confident.

 

[TheCanisDirus]

God i can't remember what was my first... pretty sure it was a partial grain, BIAB/extract stout recipe that ended up damn good but a little boozy as a result of too much boil-off... or some ale that was also a partial but ended up with too much phenol character.

 

[therainmaker]

First beer I did by myself was an all grain Saison. Briess 2 row, flaked wheat, all Citra hops, and 565. Fermented in my garage during the summer to really make the yeast pop. Close to 20 batches later, it's still the best beer I've done. A little sweet, since I was a newbie and Mashed in a bit hot, but still super tasty and regularly scores mid to high 30s in competitions. Can't wait to get a ferm wrap and try it again!

 

[PasbitinusBluinusRibbinus]

I don't remember. We needed more bottles, so me and my roommate each bought a case of beer and drank and we went. I woke up on the couch with caramelized wort coating my entire kitchen... but at least we had bubbles in the airlock!

 

[j1n]

What kind of beer was it ? Dead Ringer IPA kit from NB (All Grain)
How long did it take ? 6 hours
Was it nice ? No
Any problems ? Fermentation was in the low to mid 70s. I get a banana off flavor in it.

This was prob a month ago and i'm on my 3rd batch which was made yesterday and now have a fermentation chamber to control temps.

 

[esteiner16]

Brown Ale
1 month
To answer all of the other questions, I'll just summarize it by saying it tasted like vinegar piss. Gave me something to grow from though and every brew since has been better and better

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[brettg20]

I don't remember my first but I was happy it tasted like beer


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[hunter_le five]

It was drinkable, and it got me and my roommates perfectly drunk.

I was quite proud of it at the time, but looking back at my knowledge of beer and methods back then, I'm sure it was estery, yeasty, cloudy swill. But ignorance is bliss. I know I've come a long way since then.


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[ArizonaGoalie]

What kind of beer was it ?
Honey Wit

How long did it take ?
Typical extract brewing process - 30 minute steep, 60 minute boil, 20 to cool the wort, pitch and then cleanup. Probably just over 3 hours.

Was it nice ?
So nice. The clincher was how much my wife and friends liked it.

Any problems
My airlock filled with krauzen a couple days in and I panicked. Posted to HBT forum and our brothers eased my mind.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

First brew was a True Brew extract with specialty grain kit - Red Ale. I think the lone grain was something like a whopping 4 oz of melanoiden. I got the whole brew setup from my wife for my birthday including the Red Ale kit. Couldn't wait to brew my first batch so I started right in.

I had already started steeping when I realized that I didn't have a big enough brew pot (the setup didn't include one). So I scrambled trying to find something that would hold 2 gal of wort. Ended up with a big enameled oval lobster pot that spanned two burners on the stove.

Amazingly enough, it worked. That beer tasted better than anything I had ever bought at a store. Even my wife agreed. After a few dozen brews under my belt, I can still look back and realize it was a pretty good first brew. Needless to say, I've since bought a brew pot (or two) and retired the lobster pot.

 

[airdog_47]

What kind of beer was it ?
British Bitter

How long did it take ?
It took all day.. With setuping up equipment.. Reading instructions over and over. Cooling.. It felt like a marathon

Was it nice ?
I brewed this beer many times but never felt I perfected it. I left the reciepe alone for 5 years and now re-visiting it.

Any problems
A homebrewer of many years tired it.. He had the hots for my girlfriend (now wife) and picked it apart.. He basically told me I was horrible at it and should sell my gear. Lucky to me I never listened to him.

 

[PAjwPhilly]

My first batch was the Imperial Pale Ale from Sam Calagione's Extreme Brewing book. It was my 2nd batch too.

I did 2 5-gallon batches back to back.... probably like 10 hours, lol.

I thought it was decent. Not nearly as complex to the craft beer I was used to. And I used chlorinated water without knowing better.

Besides being overly anal about sanitation, the recipe being edited poorly*, a boil over on the first batch, snow falling (Dec. 22nd in PA) on the second batch, not enough propane, wind kept blowing out the burner too so you had to stand outside, no idea about fermentation temp control.... it went pretty well. I stressed myself out, but I stressed my girlfriend out even more. I think she avoided brew days for the next few beers.

*The Extreme Brewing book has a huge error on that recipe. It says use "2 teaspoons (28 g) gypsum." Apparently an ounce is 2 teaspoons. Thankfully I got volumetric measurements elsewhere... that would have been a ton of gypsum for 5 gallons.