My first brew...

[The Pale Horse]

...didn't go as well as I had planned. I read The Joy of Homebrewing and read alot of your threads to get a sense of what I was doing. Went and bought a beginners kit from a place called Adventures in Homebrew locally in michigan (which is extremely helpful if you ever get a chance to visit) and decided to give it a try. Here are some pictures...

Of course I made some pretty stupid mistakes, like make sure not to burn the malt extract and don't let it boil over , but I am planning on giving it another try until I get it right.

 

[Yooper]

Thanks for showing the pictures! So, all you did wrong in your first batch was to scorch a little extract, and have a boil over? You're way ahead of me, then! I'm going to move this over to the photo forum, so other people can see the pictures.

It sounds like a good first batch. What type of beer did you make and what recipe did you use?

 

[The Pale Horse]

Thanks for showing the pictures! So, all you did wrong in your first batch was to scorch a little extract, and have a boil over? You're way ahead of me, then! I'm going to move this over to the photo forum, so other people can see the pictures.

It sounds like a good first batch. What type of beer did you make and what recipe did you use?

haha well thanks, and for the beer, I bought a Weizenbier Brewer's Best kit and basically followed the recipe that was included as well as kept in mind everything that I had read in The Joy of Homebrewing. Plus I figured I am pretty young and will hopefully perfect it over time.

 

[aekdbbop]

ahhh the first batch..


congrats! You made beer! thats all that counts at this point!!!

 

[blacklab]

Dude - you made beer! It's probably not perfect, but before you know it you're going to be making some real nice stuff.

For your next brew, I would recommend moving away from liquid extract(LME on this forum) and brewing with DME(dry malt extract). Another procedure that will make your beer much better is using the 'late extract addition' method(search for this in the Extract section). You can also find all kinds of great recipes and help on this site.

Go Spartans! My mentor in grad school was an instructor in the biz school there.

 

[The Pale Horse]

Thanks guys, I was pretty upset after thinking I screwed up my first batch, but I kind of feel better now, either way, you are right, I made beer!!lol

 

[Logan]

Well judging by your shirt I can see why you made those mistakes! Only kidding.

Congrats on the brew and welcome to the addiction. I recomend brewing more asap - you'll thank me when you drink up all of your first batch.

 

[mullimat]

Now you need to get an autosiphon and a Better Bottle for a secondary to make your kit more "complete". Lol before you know it you will be spending a WHOLE lot more $$ on other stuff (wort chiller, etc.) until you are completely broke like me! And maybe start looking into Partial Mash brewing. I started PM batches on my third ever batch and can't believe i wasn't doing it sooner! It makes better beer imo and is just as easy as extract (just one or two more steps).

 

[The Pale Horse]

Well judging by your shirt I can see why you made those mistakes! Only kidding.

Congrats on the brew and welcome to the addiction. I recomend brewing more asap - you'll thank me when you drink up all of your first batch.

lol I cam surprised you didn't' comment on the riots that went on last weekend, but I am going to be making a new batch this weekend don't worry, I am already addicted

 

[mstev50]

Congrats on the first brew from a fellow Michigan newbie! My son and I started just a couple of months ago and now have 6 batches under our belts. It's very easy to get addicted to this hobby (obsession). If you're anything like me, you'll keep wondering if the temp is right, did I remember to do this or that. That first couple of batches is just like having a newborn baby in the house. I was checking on it constantly!
Welcome and Happy Brewing

 

[The Pale Horse]

Congrats on the first brew from a fellow Michigan newbie! My son and I started just a couple of months ago and now have 6 batches under our belts. It's very easy to get addicted to this hobby (obsession). If you're anything like me, you'll keep wondering if the temp is right, did I remember to do this or that. That first couple of batches is just like having a newborn baby in the house. I was checking on it constantly!
Welcome and Happy Brewing

Thanks, nice to see more and more michigan people in here. As for the newborn, I hope this is the only newborn that I have around the house for a while haha.

FYI I posted this on a msu forum, and one of the guys on there said this...

I am a member of the Red Ledges Brew Club in Grand Ledge. We meet on the second Tuesday of every month at the Red Salamander Home Brew Shop in Grand Ledge. Newbies are always welcome and there are a ton of dudes with a lot of knowledge. Karl is the owner and very knowledgable. Stop in there sometime for any questions and Karl can answer them. He also has all the supplies you could want. Stick with it. It is a great hobby and very rewarding!

then I asked him what time they meet


7:00 pm.
It is actually a great deal. Non-members pay a fee of $2 and you get to drink all the samples that people bring. There are usually at least 15 different beers that people bring. You get a small sample of each. If you do show up, you should bring a small glass for sampling.

So if you can ever make it out, it sounds like fun, I think I will be there tomorrow if I can get away from this school work