JohnRudolfLewis
Member
Well, technically not the very first brew. I tried a piece of junk kit in a box from costco once. The beer was week and flat. But it did not spoil me from wanting to try again.
My wife purchased a living social coupon for a Beer-Making Class and Kit from the LHBS. Their class schedule did not mesh well with mine, so I exchanged the value of the class for additional equipment. I came home with their starter kit, and a few upgrades, such as an auto-siphon, a spring loaded bottle filler, and a wine thief. When my wife saw the pile of stuff laid out on the living room floor, she shook her head and said to her self what have I started, what was I thinking?
I also purchased the ingredients for a recipe they had in their book, Old Shadow's Oatmeal Stout. They assured me that it was just as easy to brew as any of the recipe kits they also sell. I was concerned about using oats in an extract + specialty grain brew since I've read mixed things about that. They told me that its just there for flavor, and not to worry about it.
The grains smelled very good. I tasted a pinch. Yum. After the proscribed period of time, I removed the straining bag full of grains and set it in a pot. Later I tasted the little bit of additional liquid that had collected. Very nice flavor. This beer is gonna taste so good. The liquid malt extract was also very yummy. The wife stated that she liked the smell in the house, and even my daughter had to agree. She also said it smelled like someone was baking oatmeal cookies.
My OG was 1.052 after correcting for temperature. Just a touch higher than the recipe called for at 1.050. I noticed that after only a few minutes in the sample container, the wort separated into two layers with lots of suspended solids on the bottom.
My son wanted to taste the wort. He liked it.
I just finished cleaning up the kitchen, and am staring at my fermenter while I type this. I know its too soon for any sign of CO2 bubbles yet, but I can't stop watching it.
I'll post updates to this thread on bottling day and upon first tasting.
Thanks to the webmasters for providing such a great resource. I spent hours and hours reading before I started my first brew.
My wife purchased a living social coupon for a Beer-Making Class and Kit from the LHBS. Their class schedule did not mesh well with mine, so I exchanged the value of the class for additional equipment. I came home with their starter kit, and a few upgrades, such as an auto-siphon, a spring loaded bottle filler, and a wine thief. When my wife saw the pile of stuff laid out on the living room floor, she shook her head and said to her self what have I started, what was I thinking?
I also purchased the ingredients for a recipe they had in their book, Old Shadow's Oatmeal Stout. They assured me that it was just as easy to brew as any of the recipe kits they also sell. I was concerned about using oats in an extract + specialty grain brew since I've read mixed things about that. They told me that its just there for flavor, and not to worry about it.
The grains smelled very good. I tasted a pinch. Yum. After the proscribed period of time, I removed the straining bag full of grains and set it in a pot. Later I tasted the little bit of additional liquid that had collected. Very nice flavor. This beer is gonna taste so good. The liquid malt extract was also very yummy. The wife stated that she liked the smell in the house, and even my daughter had to agree. She also said it smelled like someone was baking oatmeal cookies.
My OG was 1.052 after correcting for temperature. Just a touch higher than the recipe called for at 1.050. I noticed that after only a few minutes in the sample container, the wort separated into two layers with lots of suspended solids on the bottom.
My son wanted to taste the wort. He liked it.
I just finished cleaning up the kitchen, and am staring at my fermenter while I type this. I know its too soon for any sign of CO2 bubbles yet, but I can't stop watching it.
I'll post updates to this thread on bottling day and upon first tasting.
Thanks to the webmasters for providing such a great resource. I spent hours and hours reading before I started my first brew.
