One Year of Brewing

[cellardoor]

That's my first beer I ever made; a Brewer's Best Irish Stout. It's exactly one year old tonight and I'm enjoying the glass above. (I know beer glass not to style but that's my only glass big enough to hold a whole bomber) SWMBO is asleep and I'm just reflecting about how awesome this past year has been and how much beer knowledge I've gained from here in that time. God I love this hobby.

The beer itself is rather good for a first batch with lots of mistakes. It's not as roasty as I usually like my stouts but has a nice black current aroma and taste to it. I distinctly remember scorching the extract pretty well as I had yet to learn about stopping the flame when adding the extract but I can't taste any harsh burnt flavors associated with that. I've got 4 bottles left from the first batch and am hoping to hang on to them for each of my first 5 year anniversaries.

Here's to a happy year of brewing and many more to come! Prost!

 

[KatoBaggins]

Very cool, and congrats for a good year and many more to come!

Looks like a pretty yummy stout.

 

[carnevoodoo]

Awesome. I just passed my two year mark, and I opened a porter I made from my first batch. I choked down a gulp of it, and then poured the rest out. Tasted like extract, metal, and bad. Seriously horrible. But it was a nice reminder of where I started.

 

[DeathBrewer]

I think that's the perfect glass

Congrats on a year under the belt. Is it making anything hang over the belt?

 

[user 22118]

I just opened my fifth brew (the only one I still have) and it was alright, but honestly I didn't care for it too much. It will most likely not survive the night though in leu of some better beers that have since been brewed.

Congrats on a year down and many more fruitful years to come!

 

[cellardoor]

Congrats on a year under the belt. Is it making anything hang over the belt?

SWMBO made us join a gym this year to get into better shape. Our gym was doing this motivational thing where members could fill out cards labeled 'I exercise so _____'. I filled mine out, 'I exercise so I can drink good beer!' So far it's working, steadily dropping 2lbs a week without any change in beer or food consumption. I guess she is good for something.

 

[Braid]

Would it be wimpy of me to say that you just brought a tear to my eye?

 

[HSM]

"I'm not sure I want give this a name"... brewery.

 

[aaronbeer]

I cant wait to turn one!!!!!!! I hope I can keep a beer of my first batch that long! I kept a 6 pack. I plan on drinking one every few months till a year! Oh and congrats!

 

[KUbrew]

How about posting some of your stats for the first year?

-# of brews (extract, PM, AG)
-When (if) you went to AG
-Bottling or Kegging
-When (if) you started making yeast starters
-How many gadgets you've acquired throughout the year.
-etc

just curious

 

[DeathBrewer]

"I'm not sure I want give this a name"... brewery.

Don't want to get attached??

 

[cellardoor]

How about posting some of your stats for the first year?

Sure I'd love to. Keep in mind I'm also an apartment brewer.

-# of brews (extract, PM, AG) 13 - 6 extract, 4 AG, 3 apfelwein
-When (if) you went to AG Nov. 2008
-Bottling or Kegging still bottling but have 4 cornies and 20lb CO2 tank. I just need to acquire the other stuff on the cheap.
-When (if) you started making yeast starters I've made 3 starters this past year and have 4 different strains in the fridge. I've washed all my liquid strains this far.
-How many gadgets you've acquired throughout the year. Keggle, 5 gal MLT cooler, propane burner, Barley Crusher, 2 5gal & 2 6 gal carboys, scale, immersion chiller, etc. Basically a bare bones 5 gal AG setup that I pieced together for less than $100. Space is real tight in my apartment and I have to drag my full keggle down a flight of stairs for the boil then carry the burning hot keggle back up the stairs for chilling. I mash in the kitchen and boil outdoors then chill in the kitchen. It's a bit much logistically but am hoping to find a way to hook up my IC outdoors so I can do the whole thing outdoors now that the weather is nice.

 

[KUbrew]

One more- How about your favorite batch?

Looks like you've hit it full stride, that's great. I'm jealous, I've definitely got some catching up to do.

I feel your pain about living in an apartment. I just moved out of a one bedroom apartment on the third floor of my apartment complex. Luckily my neighbor was an unemployed man who stayed home all day and smoked pot, so he didn't care what I did. I boiled on my very small deck, which I'm pretty sure is against almost every fire code. I just moved into a house with a back yard to boil in and a basement to keep all my stuff. And the wife was nice enough to let me have my very own beer closet so I can keep my fermentation temps just right, I'm in heaven.

 

[cellardoor]

One more- How about your favorite batch?

My favorite so far is probably Yooper's 60 min IPA clone I made at the end of December. It was the first beer of mine that tasted like a commercial beer. All my previous beers were good and drinkable but had that 'homebrew' taste to them. I figured the difference was going AG and the ability of doing full boils.

 

[cslewisster]

I just gave away my last bottle from my first batch to a professor of mine today. It was a Nut Brown Ale. I used a kit and I think it turned out pretty good.

I'm working on a Barleywine now and just bought a mini-fridge so I can turn it into a keggerator later and for lagering now (till I get the kegging stuff).

Side note: I'm looking for good Lager recipes if anyone has one.

I really love this hobby, I'm about to graduate from college and I'm seriously considering looking into getting a job from a local brewery instead of going into the work force.

 

[Bernie Brewer]

That's a cool idea- saving some from your first brew. Not only is it a nice celebration for your anniversaries, but you can compare how your brews have progressed as the years go by. I never thought of doing that when I started, but I do have some of my first and only mead from about 9 years ago.......

 

[smizak]

It's a bit much logistically but am hoping to find a way to hook up my IC outdoors so I can do the whole thing outdoors now that the weather is nice.

Buy a pond pump. Hook your IC to it and put the pump in a 5 gal. bucket.

I have a couple buckets, so I run out cold water with the buckets to the garage(where I boil) when it starts getting low. I also run the hot output water to my mashtun w/oxyclean in it, as well as another bucket of oxyclean. Waste not want not. In the summer you can toss ice in the bucket and recirculate when you get it mostly cool. Check out this thread
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/recirculating-ice-water-chiller-38235/

Beats carrying that hot kettle, that's dangerous.

 

[GunnerMan]

I did not like my first beer at all come to think of it, was Muntons Irish Stout. Tasted way way way to "earthy." Think Sam Adams Irish red bur worse. I was so proud of it that I gave it to everyone tho, im sure most of the stuff I gave away got dumped...

As of late all my beers seem to have an strong fruity taste, not bad but too much for the styles I am making, I ferment cold so I dunno, but thats the only thing that gives my beer away as homebrew these days.