Sharing Nostalgia with the Beginners: What Was The First Beer Your Brewed?

[Franktalk]

Fall 1994, just before I got married (for the second time) my bride gave me a homebrewing kit and my choice of ingredients for the first brew. It was an English bitter extract kit (all in one can). Bitter is still my favorite beer style after all these years. By the way, the girl that bought me the kit is still my bride.

 

[BeerAndTele]

Good thread.
In 2001 or 2002, my older brother acquired a fermenter, bottling bucket, capper and a bunch of empty returnables and said, "hey, do you want to try to brew some beer?" ... I said, "sure." I'm pretty sure it was a Brewer's Best kit - Amber Ale I think. I don't recall it being particularly good, but I was hooked a short while later.

 

[leedspointbrew]

I used to make an intermittent habit of going into local breweries, talking with the brewer, making requests for beers I'd like to try. Sometimes the requests were honored; other times not. Eventually I figured it was just easier to try brewing what I wanted, myself. Got a Northern Brewer Block Party Amber kit that turned out pretty well. Due to my equipment sizes, moved to 4 gal BIAB AG shortly thereafter. I'm brewing what I like, and for the most part, it's turning out OK.

 

[jdauria]

Brewed extract for a short time in 90's, could not even tell you what the first was, but when I picked brewing back up in 2010, the first was a Rouge Dead Guy Ale clone partial mash. Nailed the color but beer was just Ok...after 1-2 more batches, I went right to all grain and never looked back.

 

[Broothru]

Oh, I remember quite vividly. It was 1987. My daughter was a High School senior and we were planning a college road-trip to Florida State where she had 2 cousins attending. The trip would coincide with the Thanksgiving break, so we (traveling from Metro DC) would spend the holiday with my sister in Atlanta, and the extended family would gather there.

Now I’d been a wine maker for at least 8~10 years at the time, but had never brewed beer. My LHBS (still in business, BTW) held brew-on-premises classes, so I signed up and within a few weeks had brewed and bottled my first (of MANY, I might add) home brewed beers, an Irish Red Ale.

It was a big hit with all the men, and even a few of the ladies, at the reunion. Appropriately I named it Seminole Wind. Even better, FSU beat rival Florida Gators that weekend. And even better, my daughter eventually graduated Cum Laude and earned her M.A. from Florida State. Even better, met a guy there, and they gave us the most adorable set of twins EVER. And best of all, we now have a place to stay when the Great White North (Maryland) turns cold this time of year,

I blame it all on water, malt, hops and yeast.

Who says beer isn’t great?

 

[BongoYodeler]

Mine was a Nut Brown Ale, a Northern Brewer extract kit. I was super stressed on brew day, never having brewed before. But everything went quite well and I made drinkable beer. So began the journey.

 

[NSMikeD]

Oh, I remember quite vividly. It was 1987. My daughter was a High School senior and we were planning a college road-trip to Florida State where she had 2 cousins attending. The trip would coincide with the Thanksgiving break, so we (traveling from Metro DC) would spend the holiday with my sister in Atlanta, and the extended family would gather there.

Now I’d been a wine maker for at least 8~10 years at the time, but had never brewed beer. My LHBS (still in business, BTW) held brew-on-premises classes, so I signed up and within a few weeks had brewed and bottled my first (of MANY, I might add) home brewed beers, an Irish Red Ale.

It was a big hit with all the men, and even a few of the ladies, at the reunion. Appropriately I named it Seminole Wind. Even better, FSU beat rival Florida Gators that weekend. And even better, my daughter eventually graduated Cum Laude and earned her M.A. from Florida State. Even better, met a guy there, and they gave us the most adorable set of twins EVER. And best of all, we now have a place to stay when the Great White North (Maryland) turns cold this time of year,

I blame it all on water, malt, hops and yeast.

Who says beer isn’t great?

My son went to Tampa where he met his girlfriend. He got a job there with an agricultural company doing accounting and she’s up in Gainesville attending law school which means he’s there every weekend which makes us Gators. He hasn’t broken his mothers side of the family addiction to Bud Light. Although he is getting into red wines so there is hope his tastes will mature. And since they seem to have no desire to move back north,I see sail fin fishing trips in the future.

 

[Chorgey]

Mine was a Northern Brewer Irish Red extract, sometime in early 2015. The 5 gallon brew pot wouldn't come to a boil on a flat electric stove. I used a solution of 1 ounce Saniclean to 1 gallon of water and fermented in a basement too cool for an Ale (~56 degrees).

 

[Broothru]

My son went to Tampa where he met his girlfriend. He got a job there with an agricultural company doing accounting and she’s up in Gainesville attending law school which means he’s there every weekend which makes us Gators. He hasn’t broken his mothers side of the family addiction to Bud Light. Although he is getting into red wines so there is hope his tastes will mature. And since they seem to have no desire to move back north,I see sail fin fishing trips in the future.

Much as the Gators are treated with friendly derision by our side of the family, one of her cousins attending FSU Law became her ‘Big Brother’ there and helped her transition to living so far from home. As life would have it, his daughter now attends Florida. None of them appear ready to leave the state any time soon.

 

[PCABrewing]

July 2020, extract Boont Amber Ale kit from Austin Homebrew. Used an older beginner setup from Northern Brewer acquired from a fella' nearby on craigslist that I've become friends with since and trade brews often.

Is that a clone of the Anderson Valley Boont Amber?

 

[passedpawn]

Much as the Gators are treated with friendly derision by our side of the family, one of her cousins attending FSU Law became her ‘Big Brother’ there and helped her transition to living so far from home. As life would have it, his daughter now attends Florida. None of them appear ready to leave the state any time soon.

Well, of course, because it's awesome! (minus the mosquito's). My youngest boy is both a Gator (graduated from UF) and a Seminole (will be finishing med school FSU in March).

 

[Broothru]

Oh, I know. I’ve had a love/hate relationship with the Sunshine State for more than 50 years. But there’s always been three inconsolable drawbacks to my potential permanent relocation here: June, July and August!

 

[Cameronl]

Early 90s. My wife bought me a "brew-in-a-bag" kit. Not a BIAB system, but a one gallon bladder in a burlap sack with I guess hopped malt extract. Add water and yeast, and hang the bag up for a week or so. I don't remember what it used as an airlock. It was terrible, but piqued my interest. Not long after, a LHBS opened in town and a coworker got interested and pulled me in. Made some terrible extract beers. This was in Las Vegas, and I had nowhere reasonably cool to ferment in. But I had fun, bought Papazian's book, and made a few more batches. Then life kicked in; had kids, moved back east, got my career going, other hobbies and interests got in the way. Luckily there was a great LHBS nearby (just closed this year...). I would brew the occasional batch and started dabbling in kegging then all-grain brewing. Still only once in a rare while.

Then the college I work for started a brewing certificate program a couple of years ago. Basically free tuition for me and that's all she wrote (plus finally at a point in my career where I have a little more disposable income to spend on hobbies). I'm in hot and heavy now. That one gallon bag hanging on the back of door is now a 3-vessel HERMS system, plus fermentation fridge and a keezer keeping me occupied.

 

[Velnerj]

I jumped into this hobby with both feet. My first beer I brewed was an all grain IPA from a recipe I created.

I live in cz so I wanted all the ingredients to be sourced locally. So it was an IPA with Czech hops. It had a few small flaws but generally it was really good. I was instantly hooked. Still have a pic of it:

 

[passedpawn]

I jumped into this hobby with both feet. My first beer I brewed was an all grain IPA from a recipe I created.

I live in cz so I wanted all the ingredients to be sourced locally. So it was an IPA with Czech hops. It had a few small flaws but generally it was really good. I was instantly hooked. Still have a pic of it:View attachment 808266

My first IPA had green bits floating in it, and it was actually yellowish green. You did quite well I'd say.

 

[Yeast Farmer]

Mine was a Brewer's Best cream ale extract kit in 2010. When I poured the first bottle and drank it, it felt like I did magic. I've made much better beer since then, but probably never enjoyed a glass of beer as much as that one.

 

[bellhp]

From my old tally book I kept brew notes in ... this was batch # 1. 4/16/91 .
apparently I had not figured out how to chill my wort and just let it sit overnight ... glad no nasties got in it that would have been the end of this experiment.

 

[jambop]

Mine would be sometime in the early eighties probably 82 and it was a malt extract kit that was ready hopped all you needed to do was add water boil for ten mins and the top up to 23L with cold water and ferment out... very easy to make and to be honest just about as good as I could buy in most of the pubs around me at that time .

 

[bracconiere]

Mine would be sometime in the early eighties probably 82 and it was a malt extract kit that was ready hopped all you needed to do was add water boil for ten mins and the top up to 23L with cold water and ferment out... very easy to make and to be honest just about as good as I could buy in most of the pubs around me at that time .

as far as i know that's the way BMC survived during the 'dry' weather.....

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

What a bunch of dinosaurs. I thought I was going to wow everyone by saying I started in '03. Guess I can forget about that.

My first beer was sort of like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. I took a clone recipe and modified it before even trying it as it was. I added fresh ginger, of all things. It turned out really good, and then I moved on to other beers.

As far as I can recall, I never brewed a real clone. I know I never brewed to a style. I have never used extract. I jumped in headfirst and did whatever I wanted.

 

[bracconiere]

What a bunch of dinosaurs.

is this what you mean?

 

[Broothru]

What a bunch of dinosaurs. I thought I was going to wow everyone by saying I started in '03. Guess I can forget about that.

My first beer was sort of like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. I took a clone recipe and modified it before even trying it as it was. I added fresh ginger, of all things. It turned out really good, and then I moved on to other beers.

As far as I can recall, I never brewed a real clone. I know I never brewed to a style. I have never used extract. I jumped in headfirst and did whatever I wanted.

That was my SECOND home brew. At the time I was doing a lot of coast-to-coast non-stop flights. Nearing the West Coast arriving in San Francisco, we’d begin descent just east of Yosemite, into the setting sun. At the end of the flight I knew there was a SNPA waiting for me at the hotel bar. I named my home brewed version Sierra Sunset. It was pretty good, too.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Welcome to HomeBrewTalk @Clint Yeastwood !

What a bunch of dinosaurs.

As a 'noob' to HomeBrewTalk, feel free to "bite the hand that feeds you".

Collectively, "we've got your back".

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

Tonight I rediscovered my old posts from rec.crafts.brewing. Apparently I used to know a lot.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

That was my SECOND home brew. At the time I was doing a lot of coast-to-coast non-stop flights. Nearing the West Coast arriving in San Francisco, we’d begin descent just east of Yosemite, into the setting sun. At the end of the flight I knew there was a SNPA waiting for me at the hotel bar. I named my home brewed version Sierra Sunset. It was pretty good, too.

I'm afraid to ask what year that was.

I came here hoping to impress all the younguns, but I'm surrounded with people who started when I was still drinking Shirley Temples.

 

[Broothru]

I'm afraid to ask what year that was.

I came here hoping to impress all the younguns, but I'm surrounded with people who started when I was still drinking Shirley Temples.

About the time I was drinking WITH Shirley Temple, when she was a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives .

 

[passedpawn]

Tonight I rediscovered my old posts from rec.crafts.brewing. Apparently I used to know a lot.

Ah usenet. I remember ye well

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

Are the old Usenet guys gone? There was a guy named Denny Conn, and I remember another one named John "Shaggy" Kolesar. And of course, Dan Listermann.

 

[Chorgey]

Are the old Usenet guys gone? There was a guy named Denny Conn, and I remember another one named John "Shaggy" Kolesar. And of course, Dan Listermann.

I believe that you can find Denny in the forums at American Homebrewers Association

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

I believe that you can find Denny in the forums at American Homebrewers Association

Still around? I always said he had a magnificent liver.

Looks like I was wrong about when I started brewing. I found things I wrote about it in '02.