Your First Brew

[Ó Flannagáin]

My first was an Oatmeal Stout/Chocolate Oatmeal Stout. Seems very very very common as a first brew. I wonder why.

 

[Germey]

I think it might have been a California Brown ale, but really, it was some extract, random steeping grains, hops with a cool sounding name, and god knows which Whitelabs yeast.
Came out good enough for the young SWMBO to cede the coat closet to my new hobby, though.

 

[Ryanh1801]

APA here. ..

 

[Ó Flannagáin]

Looks liek a lot of others, what were they? Brown Ales?

 

[user 574]

+1 on the brown ale. some steeping, John Bull LME, hops and dry yeast. Not a very tasty brew but drinkable. My attempt at a newcastle which I really liked back then.

 

[McKBrew]

My first beer was technically that Mr. Beer Starter, kit. My next (and my first real beer) was a porter fermented in the Mr. Beer keg. I drank it way too soon, I wish I still had some of that beer right now.

First five gallon batch was a pale ale.

 

[BrewBrain]

I answered with my first all grain. I don't think any of my extract brews could be considered beer. I drank none of them.

 

[bradsul]

Muntons Best Bitter kit, it was ok but I progressed quickly to partial mashing and I was all-grain within 4 months.

 

[Danny013]

Mild from the LHBS. Extract, steeping grains, different hops and schedules. It came out ok, but I made some mistakes and I learned from them. I still have a few bottles left, it's decent, but I'd rather be drinking my other brews.

Save 'em for a rainy day, I guess. Everyone else says they like 'em (though they could be lying to me, lol), so they can have them when they come over.

 

[Ó Flannagáin]

Muntons Best Bitter kit, it was ok but I progressed quickly to partial mashing and I was all-grain within 4 months.

Yep, after 3 extract batches I was doing all grain. It was just too easy to make the change.

 

[kaptain_karma]

My old roomate's dad started a little hbs and gave us a starter kit. He gave us the ingredients for a honey wheat along with it, so that was my first brew. I did two more extract batches, two partial mashes, then cashed in my tax refund for an all grain setup and have never looked back. Making beer is so awesome.

 

[Bernie Brewer]

Geordi Lager from a kit. Dunno why they called it a lager- it was the generic dry ale yeast that comes in the lid to the can of extract. Tasted ok though, good enough to get me hooked on the brewing process.......

 

[Evets]

Brewers Best English Pale Ale kit. It was good enough to keep me interested.

 

[TheJadedDog]

My first brew was an Irish Red, turned out great.

 

[DeathBrewer]

Black Death Stout kit from Oak Barrel. It was a damn good beer, but i know why they call it black death...don't drink a case over a weekend!

 

[Professor Frink]

I did a brown ale, I clicked under English, but I guess it can be other depending on what type of brown ale.

 

[TUCK]

My first was a bluberry cream ale, didn't use real bluberries.

 

[Beerrific]

Other: 'winter warmer' spice beer

 

[PseudoChef]

Mr. Beer Pale Ale, but I ****ed it up by adding my own hops. I think the IBU:OG ratio was like 30:1.

First 5 gal batch was Northern Brewer's Nut Brown Ale. Really good.

 

[adx]

I did the Copper Ale kit from Midwest. I still have a 6 pack stashed in the closet to see how it ages. I sure would like to drink that sixer right now.

 

[BierMuncher]

My only visit to the UK was 20 years ago and I still remember fondly the fresh drawn pints of bitters at the pubs in Coventry, Stratford and London.

It was a no brainer to try and duplicate that beer.

Even if it was with an extract kit....

 

[sause]

Mine was an all extract Irish Red with pre-hopped extract to boot. It did taste good though.

 

[Capa]

An apa from a kit. Was OK, but truth be told I hated it. Brewed a clone of Sam Smiths Nut Brown after that and was hooked on homebrew from then on.

 

[ScubaSteve]

Brewer's Best Brown Ale. I knew it sucked when the can of extract had a 70's style label on it. This beer was also infected; gushers, the whole nine. Guess I had a pretty steep learning curve.

 

[ohiobrewtus]

My first brew was an amber all extract kit with a 30 min boil, baby!

 

[McCall St. Brewer]

Milwaukee Amber ale. From a kit with extract and steeping grains from my LBHS.

It didn't turn out all that bad. The biggest thing for me was that I was amazed that I had made beer. I remember siphoning it from the carboy into the bottling bucket and saying to SWMBO that "it smells beer. Wow, it is beer!"

I think I saved one bottle from that first batch. I wonder if it would still taste okay now?

 

[david_42]

Brews(u)ck - unnamed, undrinkable beer-in-a-bag. Probably the worst introduction to brewing created.

First real batch was an APA.

 

[e lo]

A hefe. It was great, and in retrospect was probably a great choice for a first, since I had no temp control and the fruity/clovey esters that resulted from my ~74 degree ferm temps fit really well with the style.

 

[dancingbarefoot]

My first brew was a stout, just 'cause it's one of my favorite styles. The homebrew shop clerk tried to get me to do a "girly" brew because women don't like dark beers.

 

[Kieva]

This is easy to remember since they are still in the bottles. A partial extract Cream Ale.