Took me 7 batches, but I didn't give up!

[the75]

FINALLY made a good batch of beer. All I wanted to do was make an IPA that I could truly enjoy drinking, but after making the following mistakes on a few batches, my process kept failing me:
1. Left my kettle lid on throughout the boil.
2. Fermented without any way to control it. 80+ degrees.
3. Allowed my bottles to condition in 90+ degree heat.
4. Leaked garden hose water into my wort.
5. Fermentation was too vigorous, not enough headspace, lost most of my healthy yeast.

BUT! After sticking with it, I decided to make 3 batches in 2 days & they all came out good, with the middle one being a favorite with all my friends. There is still plenty of room for improvement since I created my own recipe & will certainly do some tweaking, but I wanted to share this story in case there are any new brewers out there who invest their time, money, & effort into a few bad batches & think about giving up. I learned that mistakes are OK as long as you can go back & understand where you went wrong to fix them. I'm sure I'll make plenty more, but for now, I'll enjoy having about 14 gallons of good beer ready for me to share & enjoy.

 

[cconrocks]

Congrats. I started brewing the end of August. My first brew I had an experienced brewer help me every step of the way and It went great. 2nd one I was on my own boil over from hell. Third brew I broke my thermometer in the boil. Fourth brew slowed down and everything went reasonably well. Then to brew 9 last week had another friend teach me all grain everything went well.

Next weekend first all grain by myself we will see how it goes.

 

[bigdubz]

Congrats on your success


I'm a new brewer as well and I've been a little snakebit as well. My first batch was done at a BOP / LHBS and it came out nicely. Since then I've done a Amber/Belgian that ended up with a twang at the finish, perhaps from chloromine (sp?) since I hadn't started filtering at that point. Also had no clue about fermentation temps, so I got up to 78 on a belgian yeast, so it was fruity as hell. Friends that like belgians like it, but say the twang makes it tough to drink.

The next batch was my first all grain, edworts HPA. The brew day was fine but I got an infection (in a brand new bucket no less). Damm it was painful to pour that out... after the sick-smelling stuff was in the drain, the rest smelled pretty good.

Welp, I just tasted edworts HPA v2 that I kegged earlier this week and while green, it is very clear and has no real off-flavor. I can taste the goodness underneath, can't wait for it to come out. Also did a pumpkin and some apfelwien for good measure, both are progressing infection and twang free. I've got the fermentation temperature thing down with a swamp cooler arrangement that uses a coleman cooler, so I've over come that newb hurdle.

I've read it hear a ton, but I'll write it again for any other newbs. Stick with it, think about your process and be patient, it will pay off.

Cheers