What to brew next??

[PolishStout]

So my first batch is finishing in primary, on it's third week now. I'm having a little trouble deciding what to brew next.

My first batch was a bock beer from a Munton's extract kit (with a few extra pounds of DME for fun), but I would like to do something a little more involved for my next brew like a partial or full mash.

I'm leaning towards doing one of the following:

- bitters/pale ale
- Scotch Ale
- Cream Ale

Are any of these any harder or easier to brew or mess up brewing thereof?
I'm also kind of curious about brewing something that requires lagering, as we have an old spare refrigerator in the garage that's not being used.

 

[cyclonite]

My first was a nut brown, mostly because it is one of my favorites styles, but it is also forgiving of mistakes ;-). Went down to my LHBS and sampled theirs, told them what I would like different and they put together the ingredients for me. Added some vanilla when bottling for something a bit different, and it came out awesome (though a bit hazy, but as I said it is forgiving because it is fairly dark). So, if you like medium bodied beers, that is an easy one to do. Let me know if you want the recipe, or there are many online. Try a recipe with steeping grains if you didn't with your first batch, allows you to add a whole new dimension without going AG yet. Go to your LHBS if you can, and taste some of the grains to see what you like together!

 

[Skyforger]

Cream ale and bitter are both fairly easy to get decent. Both require basic temperature ranges to get right, and bitters may need a bit more care to ferment all the way out. Probably not, but maybe.

If you have a cool-ish area for fermentation - say, 55-60*F or so - Scottish ale may be the best choice. If not, I would go with one of the other ones. Bitter is a bit more rigorous to get perfect, but cream ale will show errors more clearly (as it's a lighter-flavored beer).

None of those beers require lagering. If you make any belgian style ales ever, they typically benefit from a cold-conditioning period. I personally would stay away from lagers until I could reliably make good ales, and control temperatures decently. Lagers are a bit more technical.