New to Brewing!

[DungeonMaster81]

I'm very Excited to Learn and Grow in my Brewing Adventure I have Recently Started my First Mead and Hard Cider and I really am looking forward to making my first batch of Beer.

 

[DungeonMaster81]

Anyone got a good beginner beer Recipie? I have a 5 gallon Fermenter and 4, 1 gallon fermenters. Im not sure where to start when it comes to making beer but I like Stouts, Porters, & Brown Beers. I'm also up for light crisp Ales as well. There's alot of Info out there I'm looking to get pointed in the right direction.

 

[kartracer2]

Welcome @DungeonMaster81 , Just wondering, what type of recipes are you looking for? By that I mean will you be brewing using "extracts" or "all grain"?. You can also use a combnation of those. You can convert one to the other but it's wise to use a recipe that has been developed for the style of brewing you chose, at least in the beginning. The equipment that you have also determins batch size to a point.
Best of luck & cheers,
Joel B.

 

[DungeonMaster81]

Welcome @DungeonMaster81 , Just wondering, what type of recipes are you looking for? By that I mean will you be brewing using "extracts" or "all grain"?. You can also use a combnation of those. You can convert one to the other but it's wise to use a recipe that has been developed for the style of brewing you chose, at least in the beginning. The equipment that you have also determins batch size to a point.
Best of luck & cheers,
Joel B.

I'd like to do all grain, I do plan on purchasing a 6 gallon stock pot and some brew bags. starting out with very simple equipment but I have my eye on some brew kettles in the future. I plan to bottle and cap everything as i dont have Kegs yet (anouther futur purchase I'm looking into) I'm not opposed to using extracts and I'm always willing to experiment.

 

[kartracer2]

Sounds good. While some will disagree, I feel a new brewer should start with an extract kit or 3. The kits today are pretty good and it's hard to mess that part up. There is lot's of things that affect your beer quality that is important, not just how you make wort. You can make some very drinkable beer with extract and some steeping grains with minimal equipment to start and always build from there.
What ever path you chose, read until your eyes hurt. (LOL) This forum has good people and mostly sound advice, don't be afraid to ask questions. If you have a local home brew store, give them your biz and they too can be very helpful.
As far as bottling goes, I still do as do many others. I use every thing from the 1/2L soda pop bottles, 12oz, 16oz crown cap bottles and 750ml swing tops. The pet bottles are great to check the progressing carb levels with out opening bottles prematurely.
Cheers,
Joel B.

 

[DungeonMaster81]

Sounds good. While some will disagree, I feel a new brewer should start with an extract kit or 3. The kits today are pretty good and it's hard to mess that part up. There is lot's of things that affect your beer quality that is important, not just how you make wort. You can make some very drinkable beer with extract and some steeping grains with minimal equipment to start and always build from there.
What ever path you chose, read until your eyes hurt. (LOL) This forum has good people and mostly sound advice, don't be afraid to ask questions. If you have a local home brew store, give them your biz and they too can be very helpful.
As far as bottling goes, I still do as do many others. I use every thing from the 1/2L soda pop bottles, 12oz, 16oz crown cap bottles and 750ml swing tops. The pet bottles are great to check the progressing carb levels with out opening bottles prematurely.
Cheers,
Joel B.

Thank you so much for Pointing me in the right direction and Advice.

 

[DungeonMaster81]

I Just Ordered the White House Honey Ale 5 Gallon Kit from Northern Brewer and I'm Looking Forward to Brew Day. I also Backsweetened and bottled my first Hard Cider.

 

[wildtower]

I started with all grain kits because in the future I hope to grow and malt our own barley. So if your heart says all grain it's possible to start with that. I've been brewing about half a year, I brew almost weekly in a plastic pail, I have to split my batch between two pots for my mash and boil and so far I haven't had a bad batch , knock on wood. But I'm brewing all grain kits sold online here, and they make them easy enough for beginners like me. The first kit I divided into quarters and brewed a gallon (ish) at a time, and I recommend starting that way. I'm not sure if there's all grain kits available near you, but that worked well for me.

I've been bottling into 1L pet bottles, and only recently splurged on glass bottles and a capper, it's not glamorous but there was cold beer to drink and it goes quickly.

Cheers to brewing your own!

 

[redrocker652002]

I am fairly new to all this as well, and will throw in my two cents worth. I started with a kit from NB and I was glad I did. I would say, start slow, and with extracts and kits. They are premeasured and are easily done on a stove top with a 5 gallon stock pot. Keep everything clean and take your time. Don't be in a rush both during the brewing process or when you go to bottle. I moved to All Grain, and while it is a lot of fun, it is a bit different in my opinion. It takes a bit more time during the process and temps and amounts mean more. Extracts, you bring the water to a temp, drop in your grain bag with the specialty grans, steep then remove and add extract. Bring that to a boil and add hops and other stuff. It is a bit more than that, but you get the idea. I have been thinking of going back to extract for a bit as my last few all grains did not turn out as well as I had hoped. But, we will see. I have been guilty of kegging and bottling too early, and have paid the price. LOL. But, above all, enjoy the process and ask questions. The folks here are great when it comes to sharing info. I am in the San Francisco Bay area, and I have been thinking of reaching out to folks in my area and have a brew day to see what they do and what I need to do, but that is in the future. Anyway, sorry for the long post, rock on!!!!!!

 

[DungeonMaster81]

Thanks for the advice everyone I think starting with Extracts is a good Idea then I'll move into all grains and see which one Is more comerfortable. I'll still be making my meads and ciders. I just finished bottling my best batch of sweet cider it tastes like a fresh picked apple, I used fresh cider from my local orchard.

 

[DungeonMaster81]

My first to Kits From Northen Brewers Have Arrived.

 

[DungeonMaster81]

Brewing / Fermintation area cleaned and orginized. need to make a curtain. nut I'm happy with the current setup.

 

[wsmith1625]

Brewing / Fermintation area cleaned and orginized. need to make a curtain. nut I'm happy with the current setup.

How did your brew day go and which kit did you use?

 

[DungeonMaster81]

How did your brew day go and which kit did you use?

I havn't brewed the kits yet House work has put a delay in brewing. I plan to do the white house honey ale kit first. I'll definatly keep you posted for sure, I did Rack my banana wine last week it's close to 17% ABV, I also checked my Ginger Beer it's at 4.99% ABV, and My first Meade is at 16.5%. Yesterday I made Homemade Ginger Ale using a ginger bug. So while I havn't got to the kits yet I have been Dabbling in my other brews, and I'll keep everyone posted on how things are going.

 

[DungeonMaster81]

Alright last night I brewed the Whitehouse Honey Ale Kit from Northern Brewer and I had a blast below are all the pictures i took of the process and today's fermentation picture. Excellent Kit!

 

[DungeonMaster81]

Woke up to a Blow Out this morning. I carefully cleaned everything with vodka and put everything back together. fermentation is still very active it dosn't look like anything got into it, Should I be worried at all or could it still be okay?

 

[kartracer2]

Should be good. It's creating CO2 and expelling that gas so chances are nothing getting in.
Just a suggestion, I'd use a blow off tube on that set-up. Try to find a hunk of tubing that fits snugly into the neck of your carboy, probably 1" ID x 36". The free end into a jug/jar with sanitizer/vodka covering the open end. After the foam drops like it has in the photo you can go back to a setup like you started with here.
Cheers,
Joel B.

 

[DungeonMaster81]

Should be good. It's creating CO2 and expelling that gas so chances are nothing getting in.
Just a suggestion, I'd use a blow off tube on that set-up. Try to find a hunk of tubing that fits snugly into the neck of your carboy, probably 1" ID x 36". The free end into a jug/jar with sanitizer/vodka covering the open end. After the foam drops like it has in the photo you can go back to a setup like you started with here.
Cheers,
Joel B.

Thanks for to Advice already talked to the wife about picking up Some Tubbing to do Just that.

 

[DungeonMaster81]

Racked Honey Ale into Secondary ABV is 5% tastes good as is probably be even better when carbonated.

 

[DungeonMaster81]

Bottling Day For the Honey Ale Yeah! This Kit was Awesome and tastes so good I will be ordering it again.

 

[bracconiere]

Bottling Day For the Honey Ale Yeah! This Kit was Awesome and tastes so good I will be ordering it again.

right on, what's the pairing choice? juding from the glass, sliders i'm thinking?

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/burger-beer-thread.704273/

 

[DungeonMaster81]

right on, what's the pairing choice? juding from the glass, sliders i'm thinking?

I might pair this with Honey BBQ Rib Sandwitch

 

[DungeonMaster81]

Upgraded Labels

 

[DungeonMaster81]

Honey ale finished

 

[Allen B]

That looks really good. What printer did you use to print those labels? I bought a thermal printer, and unfortunately it only prints in black. I was able to make my labels look a little nicer with colored thermal paper, though.