What to do, what to do, what to do....

[The Mad Hatter]

I need some help deciding on what to brew next. So far I have done a Coopers Draught pre hopped extract, a Pale Ale, and a HefeWizien that I used steeping grains in. The Pale Ale was DME and LEM. I do not personally care for porters and stouts. Maybe in time, but they really make my toes curl and my eyes tend to cross. I have drank a few of the Coopers brewa, and they are bitter but pretty good for a first attempt. The PA I have not drank yet except for the hydro samples.

What I want the HBT folks to do is help pick out the next brew. Here are a few things I am thinking about. DunkelWiezen (SP?) How is this? Is it a darker version of a Hefe? I was also thinking an American Wheat. I like wheats so far. I am drinking Blue Moon now, and its pretty good. I was also thinking an IPA, but I have not been able to find one in the stores to sample. Other thoughts have been a cream ale, or blond ale. I would like to keep the bitterness in check so I am not sure where to go from here. I also really want to keep with the steeping grains. So, how bout it. What do you guys think?

 

[k1v1116]

You could always explore Belgian beers there are a lot of lighter less bitter varieties. You could also try sour / lambic beers if your into that. Dunkelweizen is good. If you follow an average recipe it will be dark but if held up to the light really a dark red. The flavor using a traditional yeast should be fairly banana-ish with a chocolate flavor from the malts, at least this is how the ones that ive brewed have turned out. You can take a look at this for different styles you might like. http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/catdex.html

 

[Evan!]

I love dunkelweizens, personally. If you look in my recipe pulldown you can see mine, called "Stunkelweizen". You'll need to delete the wheat and pale malts and replace with enough wheat LME/DME to get to the same OG, but otherwise, it's a great recipe. It's like a hefe but darker and with a bit of roasty, plummy character (which is why I love using Special B).

 

[homebrewer_99]

Irish Ale...

 

[wild]

None of the above.
The brew calendar says:

Belgian White brewed in June to be ready in July/August
Weisse, Berliner brewed in June to be ready in July/August
Weizen brewed in June to be ready in July/August
Lambic brewed in June to be ready in February/March

 

[jmulligan]

...they really make my toes curl and my eyes tend to cross.

Those are my indicators of having a good time! Maybe that's more a girl thing...

+1 for the Dunkelweizen, particularly if you know you like wheats. If you are trying to "keep the bitterness in check" you want to make sure to adjust how you hop an IPA if you brew one. Go for late boil additions or dry-hopping, and go with minimal additions at the start of your boil.

Great start and keep going!

 

[wild]

Aren't Dunkelweizens due in May?

 

[WBC]

A pale ale or cream ale is hard to beat. Try different hops in each to get some change and discover other hops. I know this is not a good time for hops but they can be found if you look.

 

[illin8]

None of the above.
The brew calendar says:

Belgian White brewed in June to be ready in July/August
Weisse, Berliner brewed in June to be ready in July/August
Weizen brewed in June to be ready in July/August
Lambic brewed in June to be ready in February/March

What is this "brew calendar" you speak of?

 

[blacklab]

Anything but cream ale.

 

[The Mad Hatter]

None of the above.
The brew calendar says:

Belgian White brewed in June to be ready in July/August
Weisse, Berliner brewed in June to be ready in July/August
Weizen brewed in June to be ready in July/August
Lambic brewed in June to be ready in February/March

Where did you find the brew calendar? I have not heard of that before.

 

[wild]

I have a copy of it on my flash drive which I didn't bring to work today. I'll see about posting it later this morning.

 

[wild]

Here is the schedules for when to brew by month:

 

[RichBrewer]

I chose the cream ale. A nice lawn mower beer to get you through the warmer months. If you like wheat beers they would be a nice option as well.
Happy brewing!

 

[Kugster]

Don't laugh at me...but do like my Blueberry Wheat...so does swmbo...which allows me to brew more of what I want...and keeps her happy! That's a BIG key!!!

Very interesting...this calander of beer I say!

Blonde Ale could be a good lawn chair frosty adult beverage!!

 

[SC_Ryan]

I would like to keep the bitterness in check QUOTE]

I read this quote after i voted for IPA. If you don't want something too bitter, you don't want an IPA. I would go with the blonde or cream ale. There is a very popular Vanilla Carmel Cream Ale recipe floating around on the boards. It's pretty easy and very tasty.

 

[beerthirty]

IPA definitely, but move the early hops addition to a later addition. I recently tried an IPA that had very little early addition(60 min) and extra dry hopping. I think it was one of the best IPAs I have ever had. I tried to duplicate it but still used too much early addition. but it was still a fine beer.

 

[The Mad Hatter]

The wife says make Kolsch. So thats what the brew of the day will be. My Dunkel will have to wait....