Second brew thoughts?

[GibbyGibson]

So I'm planning on picking up more ingredients for my second brew sometime today. I'm curious about what other brewers tend to do. Do you:

A) brew a similar style to you first brew with some slight variations so you can see the taste differences based on ingredients

Or

B) brew a completely different beer of your choosing.


On a side note, I'm thinking about doing option A but I don't know how to make variations to my original recipe without changing the style. My first batch is an English Brown Ale. Here's the recipe. Thoughts on how to slightly modify?

5.5 gallon batch
3.3 lbs muntons dark LME
3.3 lbs muntums amber LME
1 oz challenger (8.9% alpha)
0.5 oz East Kent Golding
8 oz raw cane sugar
1 tsp Irish moss
1tsp yeast nutrient
1 pack Danstar Windsor yeast

Challenger starts 60 minute boil, Amber LME added after 45 minutes, and golding added at flame out.

Thanks for the input.

 

[brettg20]

Brew whatever you feel like brewing. Why not try something new and create a recipe for different styles.

 

[autonomist3k]

you have the ability to brew whatever you want, might as well go for it and brew something interesting.
I've been all over the place since I started.
I brewed these in this order.
raspberry wheat (extract)
orange belgian (extract)
sculpin IPA (extract)
sculpin IPA (all grain)
american amber (all grain)
dry dock urca vanilla porter (all grain)

Next week I'm going to brew a basic all columbus pale ale.

 

[jonmohno]

Well if you have already tried your first brew I would note what you like and dont like about it, if you are going to brew a different version of it. I would start with different hops and yeast in the same recipe to get familar with their character. Maybe even omit the sugar if it gave it a dry finish you didnt like and replace with toasted oats or some carapils or even a little wheat malt/flakes to add body if you need it or want it that way. Also I dont think you really need the yeast nutrient. I like windsor yeast, but you could try so4 or so5 if you wanted or whatever you want to experiment with.

So if you thought the first beer was just ok, then I would probably brew something different. You have a lot of options like clones of your favorate beers or your own recipe ( but I would get familar with ingredients/styles first before making things up yourself-unless your pretty familar with them).

I started out by brewing one style at a time in small batches then moved on to using different hops/yeast/grains and getting familar with them. My advice is stick to tried and true recipes first until you get use to how much of what to use for each beer. I started out pretty simple too with one malt one steeping grain and one hop.

 

[Cyclman]

I brew all over the place, though I like to seasonalize my brewing (darks for winter, lagers for spring, hop bombs in summer).

 

[GibbyGibson]

Thanks for the input everyone. I decided on brewing a similar style but I'm going to steep my own specialty grains to modify flavors. Going to start on Thursday.

 

[Ianflean]

I started with an American Pale, then did an IPA (with Mandarian Bavaria hops - amazing!), then a Cascadian Dark. Bottling an American Amber tomorrow.

I'm English, live in Germany and will take a long time till I make an English style ale.

Might be an overdose in my youth, or an obsession with American hops, but don't just replicate your first brew... try something else

 

[BridgewaterBrewer]

Sounds boring, but I say make something similar with only small changes.
When I first started I tried a lot of different styles right away, which is fun, but you actually learn more by making similar beers to see A) if your technique is good enough to make consistently good beer and B) what differences subtle changes in malt, hops, yeast can make. For example, my first few beers were good, so I thought I had it all figured out but then batch 3 or so turned out horrible and I learned that you can't let fermentation temps get too high. Then a few batches later, I learned that you can't get lazy and slack off on aeration.
Steeping grains is a good next step. Then Minimashing, and finally All Grain. Many people (myself included) think they won't go All Grain but they can't help themselves and within a year or so, they're buying a bigger pot and building a mash tun. I found my flavors were more complex when I went to minimashing.
Lastly, I recommend this lecture from an award winning homebrewer, who talks about the importance of keeping beers simple.

 

[Ianflean]

Sounds boring, but I say make something similar with only small changes.
When I first started I tried a lot of different styles right away, which is fun, but you actually learn more by making similar beers to see A) if your technique is good enough to make consistently good beer and B) what differences subtle changes in malt, hops, yeast can make. For example, my first few beers were good, so I thought I had it all figured out but then batch 3 or so turned out horrible and I learned that you can't let fermentation temps get too high. Then a few batches later, I learned that you can't get lazy and slack off on aeration.
Steeping grains is a good next step. Then Minimashing, and finally All Grain. Many people (myself included) think they won't go All Grain but they can't help themselves and within a year or so, they're buying a bigger pot and building a mash tun. I found my flavors were more complex when I went to minimashing.
Lastly, I recommend this lecture from an award winning homebrewer, who talks about the importance of keeping beers simple. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sSKHzmhrzY

For me, this is the point. It is fun. I can tidy up my technique when i've tried brewing a few different types of beer. Sure i'll **** up at some point, but variety is the spice of life...

 

[BridgewaterBrewer]

I should have said that making a new beer Sounds fun but the fun you have on brew day when you're excited about a new recipe is greatly overshadowed by the disappointment over the next few weeks and months as you wait for a crappy beer to fix itself ( and they often don't). So maybe a compromise approach is to try new recipes until something goes wrong, then go back to a simple tried and true recipe.

 

[GibbyGibson]

Sounds boring, but I say make something similar with only small changes.
When I first started I tried a lot of different styles right away, which is fun, but you actually learn more by making similar beers to see A) if your technique is good enough to make consistently good beer and B) what differences subtle changes in malt, hops, yeast can make. For example, my first few beers were good, so I thought I had it all figured out but then batch 3 or so turned out horrible and I learned that you can't let fermentation temps get too high. Then a few batches later, I learned that you can't get lazy and slack off on aeration.
Steeping grains is a good next step. Then Minimashing, and finally All Grain. Many people (myself included) think they won't go All Grain but they can't help themselves and within a year or so, they're buying a bigger pot and building a mash tun. I found my flavors were more complex when I went to minimashing.
Lastly, I recommend this lecture from an award winning homebrewer, who talks about the importance of keeping beers simple. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sSKHzmhrzY

Thanks for the video. It simplifies the process a bit more so I don't get carried away trialing different additions. I'll take it one step at a time.