My first year home brewing

[BierGut]

Anyone care to share their good, bad and ugly experiences from their first year(s) of home brewing?

1. All the messes that I've made and my wife has forgiven me for making.
2. Aging my stout on oak for 4 mo and loving the results
3. Brewing and sharing with friends and fellow home brewers

Upcoming brews:
Brown Ale, Scotch Ale
Currently drinking:
Amber Ale
Bottled:
Black IPA/Cascadian Dark Ale, Imperial Stout
In the Primary:
Brown Ale

 

[Jcbrown360]

My first year went ok.

1. A boil over on the stove.
2. Many trips to Stienbart for supplies and equipment.
3. Aging apfelwien for 5 months.
4. Enjoying my brews with friends and family

Upcoming Brews
NW style IPA, Rogue Dead Guy clone
In the kegerator
NW style IPA, Apfelwien.

 

[Tapout]

Flooding my garage the night before my very first brew. A little background...

I wanted to see how long it would take to cool down a 5 gallon batch, so the day before my first batch, I boiled a kettle of water, then stuck the immersion chiller in and started it cooling. Now, the thing is, I use the sprinkler system pump, as the ground water is usually cooler than the city water (Florida). To use the spigot, I need to turn off the valve to the sprinklers. The problem was...and has NEVER happened since...that I didn't open the valve back up when I was done. The sprinkler system came on in the middle of the night. What happens to a pressurized system when the fluid has nowhere to go? It bursts a fitting in the garage where the pump is!

I've also managed to NOT inventory my ingredients prior to brewing and didn't realize I was about 1/2 lb shy of DME. Result tasted ok, but was a tad light on ABV.

Just this past weekend, ran out of propane. I knew I was getting low, but pushed it anyway. Fortunately, it was before the boil and my neighbor came to the rescue with his BBQ tank.

Oh, and finally, threw my back out the day before Christmas. I was swapping out the ice bottles in my Cool Brewer bag and noticed one of the old plastic bottles had split, thus emptying 1/2 liter of water into the bag. As I lifted the fermenter out, my back went. I must have lifted wrong even though I use the lift buddy sling. Got the water dried up and the fermenter back in the bag, but spent the next week doddering around like and "old man" (my wife's observation).

AND I WILL CONTINUE TO BREW...BWAHAHAHA!

 

[McSwiggin]

At pitch time my partner grabbed the Irish Ale yeast and put it in our pale ale instead of the stout. Actually turned out really good but we have a new rule : No beer over 7% abv until AFTER we pitch the yeast.

Sent from my DROID4 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[Rockn_M]

I've learned no testing new products while brewing. You can get sidetracked very easily.

 

[firestem4]

Since i started my first mead in December/January I guess this makes it 1 year now. Unfortunately my life has been hectic, and has had me moving two 3 different states in the last 7 months, so I have really been able to do very little.

I've made 2 meads and 2 beers, and have done quite a bit of reading about brewing.

The biggest thing that I have learned is good temperature control. The first mead (my first homebrew) I made, I struggled keeping the temperature constant, and had a big false start with the initial pack of yeast I pitched in to it. (Didn't help this wyeast strain is known for stalling - I took that as a challenge!) With my steam beer, I also had to keep an ideally low temperature. Thankfully I found a small closet space with a very consistent temperature.

Oh! I also learned to never, ever, ever shake a 1 gallon carboy full of mead a few days in to the intial ferment. Aerating is a great idea..but putting a rubber stopper on top of said jug and shaking it vigorously was a huge mistake. I learned how ridiculously much CO2 is trapped inside wort/must, etc

 

[BeerLoverHere]

Lots of minor mistakes, but not too many that made a batch undrinkable. Reading lots of threads on here, google searches, magazines, etc., has helped prevent some mistakes which is great to receive information ahead of time. It's great to do some research and just follow others advice that have already been down that road before doing something.

I learned that:

1. fermentation temps play a HUGE role in the end product
2. always wait and be patient; error on the side of time
3. all-grain is way cheaper in the long run and more self-satisfactory
4. don't bottle carb in a growler (had one big explosion in a closet that sounded like a hand grenade went off)
5. clean and sanitize
6. clean and sanitize

 

[SteveLikesBeer]

1. My first batch did not really boil and tasted really wrong.
2. Be careful with glass (hydrometers and flasks!)
3. Star San is not a deadly chemical no matter how scary the label tries to make it out to be.
4. Just because other people have success fermenting a strain at a high temp doesn't mean you will.
5. Time heals most issues.
6. There are few things as relaxing as the smell of the place post brew day.
7. BIAB is fantastic!
8. If a brew will take longer than normal to mature, get something else brewing to keep your mind away from the first!
9. Getting within style guidelines can be fun, but in the end the most important thing is that the beer is to your liking.