What to brew for my first batch

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wyzazz

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Hi all, I'm a noob when it comes to Home Brew but have been reading quite a lot and am excited to brew my first batch. I am planning on a full boil on a 5gal batch, but am at a loss as to what to brew for my first batch. That being the case I thought I'd ask the experts. ;)

I'm going to start with an Extract Brew (obviously), and am looking for something in an amber beer, more on the malty side than hoppy. Any suggestions? I'm all ears and eager for any advice you all may have for me.

P.S. I'm planning on taking a HomeBrew Class on Oct 17th at my LHBS, I'll make my first batch after that. Thanks for any advice you guys can provide!

P.S.S. Any real issue in doing my Primary/Conditioning in a Corny Keg? Besides the obvious blow off, it seems like a pretty hassle free way to go. I think this may be the best way for me to go since I drink kegged beer already and have most of the setup at home.
 
My first kit was an irish red and this sounds maybe what you are going for. Amber/red color with a nice malt flavor. But not to strong either way.

Have fun at the class! Hopefully you learn a bunch and it makes you spend hours a day reading this site, like most of us :)

I would think an issues with fermenting in a corny would be sealing a lid on there and installing and airlock. Im sure others have done it, but a fermenting bucket is cheap and are easy to work with.

Also, you wouldnt want to ferment it and leave it in the keg. You want to get your beer off the trub (hops and protein particles) once fermentation is done. Unless you really need to secondary, you can just leave it in the primary for a few weeks, then siphon to a keg.
 
+1 on the Red Ale - They are certainly on the more malty side, generally make for good session beers, and are fairly simple to make.

Also, since you are just starting out, you may not be kegging - in which case like Chode said, leave in the primary for a few weeks, then bottle for at least 3
 
Thanks for the advice chode720, that sounds like a nice brew to start with. I was planning on leaving in the primary for 3 weeks, then moving via co2 and a jumper to a freshly sanitized and purged corny to clear for another 2-3 weeks. I've read on these forums where some members removed the poppit from their kegs and installed a blow off tube to use as an airlock. Also, by removing the bottom 3/4 of an inch from my primary's dip tube I should be able to transfer without picking up too much trub. Thoughts?

I really want to minimize the risk of infection, I think transfering without siphoning or opening a bucket to my conditioning then to my serving keg will do that.

Oh, and does anyone have a list of malt extract, yeast, etc... to buy for a nice Red Ale? Thanks again!
 
it is possible to primary in a corny, and you seem to be willing to try. but it really doesn't save you any time, energy and really will not make your beer better or worse. if you want to do it, go ahead, but most people use carboys, ale pails and better bottles for a reason. it is just easy and cheap.

I always recommend Austin Homebrew for kits. They are very good, top notch. Here is their Red Ale selection
 
Man, are you sure you are a noob Wyzazz? Talking about fermenting in corny, jumping beer from one corny to the next, full boils, etc.:ban:

+4 to the Irish Red...save some aggravation and go with a kit....Good luck!
 
Since I don't love Reds - just make something that is simple and not overly complex. Something that will not have to age for a long time (like Reds??).

I would go with a nice amber or brown personally. get your feet wet with a victory!
 
As for the corny, I wouldn't use the same corny for primary, conditioning and serving. At a minimum, use a seperate primary so you don't have all that sediment.

I will often use a corny as a secondary, and to condition, this way, only about the first half pint contains any sediment.

Irish Red or a Heffewizen are popular first brews. The advantage of doing a Heffewizen or Belgian Wit, is that you don't need to worry about temprature control in the summer, they make great flavors fermented in the mid 70's, I wouldn't do an Irish Red unless you at least rig a swamp cooler to keep it arround 65. (which is 1 more thing to have to deal with on your first batch)
 
Thanks for all the advice, I appreciate it more than you all know!

@ broadbill I am a noob, but like I said I've been reading nonstop about brewing for the past few months.

@ Arkador I won't use the same corny for Primary/Secondary/Conditioning/Serving, I plan on transferring from one to the other via a jumper hose and a little CO2. Also, my basement (I've been monitoring it for the last few weeks) stays a constant 68deg and may get even cooler as the temp cools down here in October so I may be OK with the temps. Is it better to ferment/condition at a lower temp? I could ferment/condition in my kegerator and up the temps if needed I suppose.

I'll look for a kit at my LHBS first, and if they don't have one Grape & Granary isn't but 30mins away and I know they have their own kits.
 
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