Tuff decision.

[jakesz28]

I just picked up 2 sacks of 2 row, 15 pounds of speciality grains, and a bunch of hops. I want to brew a triple, a barley wine, bourbon ale, and an ipa

I just don't know which one to lose my all grain virginity on. I need to brew a mild beer before my barley wine. So that the wlp099 yeast has a chance to grow. So is there an average or lower gravity ale you would recommend that I start with. So far all I have brewed is the Midwest higher alcohol extract kits.
I have a 10 gal mash tun and will be doing a 5 gal batch.

 

[Cacaman]

Hmmmm... maybe try brewing a lower gravity beer first, like a pale ale to get used to your equipment and dial in the process. Would hate to see you waste 15 lb of grain on a low gravity beer complaining of efficiency issues

 

[jakesz28]

A pale ale would make since. I want to do one or two lower gravity beers to try and get things worked out. I would hate to be low on the sg with a big grain bill. Plus I need a fresh yeast cake for the barley wine. I want to get that one going to start the clock on aging.

 

[jakesz28]

One response? Where's the love?

 

[afr0byte]

As a heads up...tripels are normally brewed with pilsner malt instead of american 2-row pale malt.

 

[afr0byte]

Out of those choices, though, I'd go with the IPA.

 

[ThreeDogsNE]

I have not used that strain. Sounds like a tough one to get started with. The data sheet http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/strains_wlp099.html notes that malt character dominates at lower gravities. If your first brew is essentially your started, I would stick with something maltier and lightly hopped, where little yeast character is needed, like a brown ale, or maybe a plain American wheat. Hops are generally not used in starters, in part because they may hinder yeast propagation. It's getting warm unusually early here this year, and personally I would brew a lightly hopped wheat beer. Then again, I just did with US-05.

 

[H-ost]

You need a mild brew before your barleywine? Why not make a Mild .

It goes with what 3dogs is saying about a lightly hopped highly malty low gravity brew.