My First Batch

[michaelob]

My first batch was a irish red ale recipe kit. I had a question on almost every step and this forum was very helpful, thanks alot. I was competely suprized how good it is.i kept it simple using dry yeast and only a single fermenter.Most of my friends and co workers wanted to try it, and got a thumbs up from everyone.Im hooked and was thinking of trying a boston red ale partial mash next.Or maybe a few more recipe kits to try to find my taste. Im not set up for lagers yet. Any suggestions for my next batch?

 

[android]

partial mashes are fun, but doing a few extract batches is always good practice. read up on deathbrewer's stove top partial mash brewing for good info on it. i guess i'd just search around some of the homebrew suppliers websites and find another kit or partial mash that sounds good. there are some great recipes on the site here also.

 

[trailblazer]

dont buy a recipe kit, just find a tried and true recipe on here or another website thats good. or you could get a program and get creative with your own. what kind of beer do you like?

 

[Grizzlybrew]

Keep in mind - partial mashes are a slippery slope, a very fast moving slippery slope. Once you see and smell those fresh grains steeping, it won't be long before you go AG!

I never said it was a bad slope!

Congrats on the brewing so far.

+1 to getting away from the kits. Don't find your taste, create it!

 

[michaelob]

my taste of beer is wide open i like every beer i ever had exept light beer.I love the fact of not buying a kit and making my own.But im so new at this so im not to sure. if i tryed to make the same beer that i just did without buying a kit. would it be cheaper.And how would I go about it? the beer that i just made was a recipe kit from midwest. and im not kidding this was damn good. But it would be so much cooler if I could do it on my own.

 

[android]

well, there are a ton of resources on formulating recipes. if you're trying to create an irish red, i would start by looking at reading the BJCP description of the style, digging into other recipes and then trying to make one of your own that sounds like it fits. but you might want to try some recipes here or in books before starting to make your own. it's not necessary, but it will help you to see how ingredients work together. while it is nice to get away from recipe kits, there's certainly nothing wrong with them. you may be able to do it a little cheaper on your own, but i would guess the price difference would be negligible.