Rookie recipe suggestions.

[mrchicken]

First time poster with a rookie question.
Home brewed back in college years and years ago and want to get back into it so I consider myself a 1st timer.

Need some help with rookie recipes.
I love true German Wheat beers Like
Julies Echter Hefe
Schniederweiss dunkel
Tucher krystal and dunkel

I also love Chocolatey porters with a gentle mellow flavor high in malt and low in hops.
Had a craft coffee stout a while back that was out of this world. Not too burnt/bitter, malty with just enough bite to bring it all together and a coffee finish.

Not a fan of hoppy beer.

With these flavor profiles in mind, Anybody have a kit beer or recipe recommendation that would be good for a rookie brewer?

Thanks!!

 

[GHBWNY]

Simple hefeweizen:

6 lb. Briess Bavarian wheat DME (65%/35%)
1 oz. Hallertauer hops
WLP380 yeast

Makes a GREAT hefe.

 

[neverfadeaway86]

Partial Mash Recipe / 5 Gallons
if you have a pot big enough boil 5.5 - 6 gallons to minimize boil off loss, if you dont have a pot that large just boil as much as possible and top off to 5 gallons

Dunkelweizen

Mash grains at 156 for 30 minutes

3.3 lb DME Wheat (add in last 20 min of boil)
2 lb White Wheat (mash)
1 lb Cara Crystal Wheat (mash)
2 lb Dark Munich (60L) (mash)

1 oz Hallertau Hops (60 min bittering only)

WLP 351 Bavarian Weizen (gives a nice clove and banana character)

 

[mrchicken]

Those sound awesome. Need to get my new kit in and get started ! THANK YOU !!!

 

[CJ-3]

If I can throw another one at you for a stout.

AHS has a good stout kit that I made a few months back and it didn't last ling (it was a croud pleaser)

It's simply called Chocolate Stout (13E) and is available as all grain, partial mash, or extract.

 

[mrchicken]

You guys are awesome!
My next dilemma. Closest home brew store is 2 hours away. Should I order the ingredients off the internet? If so, what are the top 2-3 suppliers of good quality (fresh) ingredients you would recommend ?

 

[Rockn_M]

I order ingredients all the time off the internets. I order from Homebrewsupply.com and Austinhomebrew.com. They have quality ingredients and quick shipping. But depending on where you live you might want to find someplace a little closer to you.

 

[SkllGent]

My suggestion for first time brewers is a simple Red Ale. The extract kit that I got was from hop goblin. It was simple and taste really good once you are finished.

I did a step by step video on the red ale brew if you are interested in watching it. It starts with unboxing and goes to capping and tasting. Considering how basic I wanted the video, I didn't go into OG or FG or use any instruments that weren't in the original equipment kit that I got years back.

 

[brewcat]

Brown Ale

 

[mrchicken]

Simple hefeweizen:

6 lb. Briess Bavarian wheat DME (65%/35%)
1 oz. Hallertauer hops
WLP380 yeast

Makes a GREAT hefe.

This was my first go ! I used Salsafe Barvarian Hefe dry yeast.

does this sound right Starting Gravity 1.042 Ending gravity 1.012 ?

Smells delicious, hope to get it bottled Tomorrow !

 

[GHBWNY]

This was my first go ! I used Salsafe Barvarian Hefe dry yeast.

does this sound right Starting Gravity 1.042 Ending gravity 1.012 ?

Smells delicious, hope to get it bottled Tomorrow !

Right on!

 

[mrchicken]

Right on!

Thanks! I was worried I screwed the pooch. Got distracted and added water to almost 6 gallons instead of 5. Thought my gravity might have been off too far.

Tasted the beer when bottling. Kinda bland. Definitely had the wheat beer flavor profile but seemed weak. Hope it kicks up a bit after carbonation.


Got my second batch in the fermenter now !

 

[tgolanos]

Tasted the beer when bottling. Kinda bland. Definitely had the wheat beer flavor profile but seemed weak. Hope it kicks up a bit after carbonation.

It will. Carbonation makes a world of difference to a Weizen.

 

[GHBWNY]

Got distracted and added water to almost 6 gallons instead of 5. Tasted the beer when bottling. Kinda bland. Definitely had the wheat beer flavor profile but seemed weak. Hope it kicks up a bit after carbonation.

Did practically the same thing with my Centennial Blonde earlier this year. The ol' brain took a short va-ca and I ended up brewing with 4 gal of ingredients:5 gal of water. OG was 1.040, thus beer is weak/watery, although quite drinkable, if not tasty, in spite of it. Carbed up good, fortunately. So, I ended up with a R-E-A-L-L-Y lite farmhouse ale.

Mistakes like this are going to happen in home brewing. Take them as "learning experiences", knowing they make us better brewers at the end of the day.

 

[mrchicken]

Simple hefeweizen:

6 lb. Briess Bavarian wheat DME (65%/35%)
1 oz. Hallertauer hops
WLP380 yeast

Makes a GREAT hefe.

Thanks again for the recipe. I made it and it is really good. The only complaint I have is that head retention is poor, and the mouthfeel is too clean, I would like to add a little creaminess and complexity.

First sip has a bright almost citrus taste followed with a great banana flavor but the finish just kind of dies off.

What can I add to the above recipe that would add a touch or creaminess and complexity without altering the profile completely ?