Suggestions for an experienced Mead Brewer trying beer.

[Zachary McConnell]

Hello all. As the title says, I was hoping to get some suggestions on what's a good style of beer to start with. I've been brewing mead for about 5 years now with great success and learned a lot from experimenting.

However, now I'm starting to grow bored of it, and would like some input on what a good beer to start brewing, that I can build upon and experiment with by adding different things. Although I like porters and stouts, none of my friends do, and I don't have the equipment to pull off a lager.

Currently the only yeast I have experience with is Lalvin-EC1118 and DADY, so some suggestions on yeast would be great too. I prefer dried yeast over other forms.

My heating methods are carboy belts, a bottom pad, or room temperature.

Thanks for y'all's time and input.

 

[GaBrewZoo]

I would say try a saison with Danstar Belle Saison yeast. I always add about a pound of honey to mine also. And they taste good with adding things in them. I add cucumbers to mine in the summer, tastes great. And they are okay without temp control.

 

[Zachary McConnell]

Oh wow, that sounds amazing. Is it pretty forgiving if you add other fruits to the wort? I'll start with the honey first, though, since that's my wheelhouse.

 

[Miraculix]

The best thing to start with is a smash. One malt, one hop. I suggest Maris otter as the malt and, depending what you like more, American hops or European ones, cascade or perle as the hop of choice.

You won't get lost in ingredients and will get to know the ingredients you are using. If you go on from there, changing one variable at the time, you will really start to understand what you are doing and what the different factors do to the taste.

And also the result will be really nice. I suggest mangrove jack new world strong ale or liberty ale as the yeast. Easy handling, cheap, does well at room temperature and floccs really well.

Have fun!

 

[Boomer]

@Miraculix beat me to it. I always suggest new folks start with a SMaSH. It’s an easy way to learn a ton about the ingredients and the process without getting too complicated.

Of course, once you’ve done 1-2 of them, experimenting is both easy and a course of natural progression.

In fact, I’ve got a buddy at work who is just getting into making beer and I’m helping out by letting him use my stuff and walking him through it. He would not come off of a stout to start with; but, now that it’s out of the way, he and I are going to start making SMaSH’s in five gallon batches and splitting them into 1 gallon fermenters so he can start experimenting while having a control.

 

[Miraculix]

@Miraculix beat me to it. I always suggest new folks start with a SMaSH. It’s an easy way to learn a ton about the ingredients and the process without getting too complicated.

Of course, once you’ve done 1-2 of them, experimenting is both easy and a course of natural progression.

And it is also pretty hard to really fu*k up a smash. My first beer was a 1gallon pilsener malt smash with citra. That was a really good beer!

 

[Boomer]

In my opinion, it’s very tough to make a bad SMaSH using Citra.

 

[AzOr]

I’m a brewer who has been making mead a long time as well.
I have a hard time not adding a pound or two of honey to most of my beer batches. Most of my beer finishes at 008-010.
Great thing about a SMaSH is you could split batches and experiment.

 

[Zachary McConnell]

I’m a brewer who has been making mead a long time as well.
I have a hard time not adding a pound or two of honey to most of my beer batches. Most of my beer finishes at 008-010.
Great thing about a SMaSH is you could split batches and experiment.

What do you mean by split batches? Do I make my base SMaSH wort and separate into growlers and add different flavors?

Also, is it best to add your honey in while making your wort, or do you wait until the hop schedule is done?

 

[Boomer]

What do you mean by split batches? Do I make my base SMaSH wort and separate into growlers and add different flavors?

Also, is it best to add your honey in while making your wort, or do you wait until the hop schedule is done?

Yes, you make a large batch of wort and then split it into different smaller fermenters to experiment with flavors, yeasts, etc.

I’m no expert; but, I add honey just prior to flameout.

 

[Zachary McConnell]

Thanks for all the info guys/gals. I think I'm gonna start with the smash brew first, but I really want to try that saison as well. Best to just get my feet (and eventually lips) wet first. I've got a homebrew shop here in Austin I'm going to go hit up (Amazon is great, but I'd rather see the ingredients first and gain adequate knowledge in this area).

My dad and I want to open up a brewpub (his idea, not mine, but I'm running with it), and after some research into it, I've got at minimum two years before I can produce. Plenty of time to experiment and nail down some recipes.

 

[Zachary McConnell]

Yes, you make a large batch of wort and then split it into different smaller fermenters to experiment with flavors, yeasts, etc.

I’m no expert; but, I add honey just prior to flameout.

Cool, I appreciate the info. I've got loads of growlers and carboys.

 

[Miraculix]

Cool, I appreciate the info. I've got loads of growlers and carboys.

That question alone is worth a split batch. One batch with the honey added at flame out, one when the wort is cool and one after main fermentation finished.

 

[JKenshi]

I started out in cider then moved to beer. Rather than give you advice, I'll tell you what I did and it's been working well for me so far...

I have very simple tastes in beer... Stout, Ale, maybe something simple and light in the summer. So, to start with beer, I started making the things I knew well and liked a lot. A stout kit to learn the process, then an Irish Ale to refine technique and learn more about ingredients, now a Wit to see if I can produce something my wife will like.

I figure if I don't brew the things I know and like, how am I going to judge whether or not I've done a good job, and if I don't like it, who the hell is going to drink it.

I'm happy with the results so far and I'm starting to branch out into different styles and creating my own recipes.

 

[GaBrewZoo]

My saison is almost a smash beer. 60-70% pilsner malt, 30-40% wheat for the grains. A pound of honey at flameout. 1/2 ounce sorachi ace at 60 minutes. Sorachi gives you a little lemony character that goes great in a saison. Belle Saison yeast, keep at about 65 for two to three days, then let it go. If I want to put something in it, after ten days, just drop it in the carboy, and keg about 4 days after that. If I'm using the cucumbers, I sanitize a knife, peeler and cutting board, peel and cut length wise into eights, and drop them in. You only need about one cucumber for a five gallon batch.

 

[TGFV]

If you guys are looking at a brew pub, a good mead selection could be a selling point as well. Braggots as well for the novelty of it since I doubt many brew pubs have their own house braggot (or mead even).

As for what you like vs what your friends like, do both! Wether you are doing 1 or 5 gal batches you probably have the gear for doing more than one and if you take proper notes you can learn from both.

As well, what type of ales are you and your father thinking about for the pub?