Your first Brew

[slater]

Ok so there are other threads elsewhere in the forums about what you are brewing. But I figured some beginners may not look at other threads outside of the beginners one until they had a specific question about it. So I figured what was everyones first brew? If you just started It would be great to see what you are brewing. And if you a veteran you can join in and say what your first brew was and how long ago it was.

I used the following things in mine

Coopers Real Ale Kit
3lb Briess Weizen DME

This was suggested by my local homebrew store when I asked him some questions and answered some I was asked.

 

[DeathBrewer]

my first was Oak Barrel's Black Death Stout:

http://oakbarrel.com/beermaking/ingredient_kit_blkdeath.shtml

it was a GREAT beer, just don't drink most of it by yourself in a weekends time or you WILL get the black death...no leaving the bathroom for a while after that!

EDIT: lol, i love that they haven't filled in the description...it should read: warning, may cause BM of death!

I don't have the ingredients, unfortunately...

 

[bradsul]

My first 2 batches were Muntons kit&kilo. Just good enough to get me hooked and into some beer while I continued my research and went to partial mashing.

 

[Professor Frink]

Mine was a Brown Ale. Extract recipe, simple, and quite tasty.

 

[rescue brew]

first brew was a standard amber ale

5 lbs amber malt extract (breiss, i think)
1 oz fuggles (boil)
1 oz kent goldings (finish)
wyeast (dont remember)

yummy yummy , still enjoying them

 

[Reno Homebrewer]

My first was a Mr. Beer High Country Canadian Draft. It actually wasn't that bad, and the SWMBO liked it enough to let me get a 5 gal. setup right after that.

 

[Hopleaf]

My first batch was a pumpkin ale from Brewmaster's Bible and it was infected and not good. heh

 

[mrkristofo]

Mine was an extract + steeped grains IPA recipe that I added some extra flavor hops to and dry-hopped.

I was hooked.

 

[JamesKY]

Hmmmm I think my first beer batch was a nut brown ale kit. Fortunately it turned out pretty good and I've been hooked ever since.

 

[s3n8]

Mine is a Brewers Best California IPA kit. Its in secondary right now sitting on some Galena hop pellets given to me by a friend. Wasnt part of the kit, but cant hurt right? Hoping to bottle this weekend a little over 3 weeks since the boil. Hydrometer samples are tasting better all the time

 

[Jumbo82]

My first was a Mr. Beer kit, I think it was a pale ale. I liked it enough to get a 5 gallon set up and make a True Brew Nut Brown Ale. The rest is history.

 

[Bernie Brewer]

Geordi Lager kit that SWMBO got me with the original equipment kit. But my brews have gotten better since then..........

 

[DUCCCC]

It was a Brewer's Best Scotch Ale kit with steeped grains. I'm still drinking it, slowly, but I only made it back in October.

I don't count the Apfelwein I made a couple weeks prior, as that's just too darn easy to do.

 

[Yooper]

I think it was a Beer Machine kit, but I don't remember what kind. My first "real" beer was a Brewer's Best kit, I think the English Brown.

I made wine before beer, and I remember my first wine! Blackberry wine. The second wine was rhubarb wine, and it was fantastic!

 

[Evan!]

I did an extract w/ steeped grains. A pale ale, with some deeelicious homegrown basil. To this day, one of my favorite batches.

And yes, I can say with great pride that, through 58 batches, I've never once used a kit of any kind.

 

[cheezydemon]

Mr Beer. APA. It was not bad after like 2 months in the bottle.

No sooner had I brewed it than I bought a real set-up, 9 lbs of dark DME 2 oz of fuggles and brewed an imperial stout. I primed it with Hershey's Kisses. NO JOKE.

 

[The Pol]

Here is the one that popped my cherry... my first brew ever, AND I designed it myself... tasted great though!

Type: All grain Size: 5.2 gallons
Color: 6 HCU (~5 SRM)
Bitterness: 11 IBU
OG: 1.052 FG: 1.017
Alcohol: 4.5% v/v (3.5% w/w)
Water: Low chlorine municipal water source
Grain:
5.5 lb. Wheat malt
.5 lb. American crystal 20L
4 lb. British pale
Mash: 71% efficiency
2 step mash 30 minutes at 122F and 60 minutes at 153F
Boil: 60 minutes SG 1.043 6.2 gallons
1 tsp Irish moss at 15 minutes
Hops:
.5 oz. Hallertauer (4.25% AA, 45 min.)
.5 oz. Kent Goldings (5% AA, 15 min.)
Yeast: Danstar Nottingham Ale yeast, 11 grams for 5 gallons, rehydrated at 92F degrees for 30 minutes.

At the time I had (2) 5 gallon rubbermaid coolers, the MLT used an inverted 9" colunder as the false bottom. I averaged 74% eff with that silly thing! Now times have changed, the equipment is nicer, but the beer is the same... gadgets, they are just cool to look at!

 

[daryk77]

Pol, Nice jumping right into brewing all grain, did someone show you the ropes or did ya just go head first?

My first brew was the first extract recipe in Papazian's book, "Righteous American Real Ale". It caught my eye since it looked easy and Papazian said it was ready to drink after 14 days, (though better to wait three weeks). Turned out fantastic.

 

[cd2448]

very simple extract kit from the LHBS. not even a steeping grain in site. it was an SNPA style but i made a good number of mistakes and it didn't taste great. did a couple more kits, one with steeping, then went to partial mash. AG probably in the coming spring/summer but i'll be doing extract in the winter for a good while, i think!

 

[riored4v]

My first, which is still in primary right now, is an extract kit w/steeping grains. It's a SNPA clone from Midwest.

 

[Joker]

First brew was an Amber Ale recipe with steeping grains.

Have the recipe at home in my folder I will attempt to remember to add it later.

 

[wildwest450]

A nut brown ale extract, of course that was just a month ago, now im up to 20 gallons. I sure hope it all turns out!:rockin:

 

[The Pol]

Pol, Nice jumping right into brewing all grain, did someone show you the ropes or did ya just go head first?

I didnt know a soul that brewed... I read Papazians book and built my stuff from parts purchased at Lowes and Target... I found this place about 6 months later and been here since. AG is really not as scary as ppl seem to assume.

 

[Beerthoven]

My first brew was an American Pale Ale extract + steeping grains kit. Almost one year ago today.

 

[GloHoppa]

my first official brew was a West Coast Pale Ale from Mr. Beer. My first full 5gal brew is still in secondary but will be bottled this week and it was a midwest homebrew Bass Ale clone.

 

[Fingers]

My first was a mixture of various random fermentables and cool sounding hops from undersupplied brew shops all thrown into a pot and boiled. It came out mouthpuckeringly malty but I drank down every last drop with pride. It was a few months later that I found a real brew shop and started doing things right. My first brew from there was a Brown Ale kit that turned out just fine.

 

[daryk77]

I didnt know a soul that brewed... I read Papazians book and built my stuff from parts purchased at Lowes and Target... I found this place about 6 months later and been here since. AG is really not as scary as ppl seem to assume.

As long as you got the basic gear it is clear sailing. I believe Papazian still uses the same "Zapap" Lauter-Tun he has directions for in Joy of HB, simple and kick ass.

 

[thedailyaustin]

My very first batch (which is sitting in the secondary right now) was:

Munton's Wheat Beer Kit w/ Munton's Malt Extract Wheat

And last night I boiled up:

Brewferm Grand Cru Kit w/ Munton's Malt Extract Extra Light


I haven't tasted any of the Wheat first but I'm starting to get excited about it more every day.

 

[Brewtopia]

Mine was my "Webb's 1991 Christmas Ale"

Brewed 12/02/91
6lbs John Bull Light Malt Extract
3lbs John Bull Amber Malt Extract
1lb Roasted Rye Malt

2oz. Nugget (60 min.)
.5oz. Fuggle (60 min.)
.5 oz. Cascade (10 min.)

1/4 tsp salt

Edme Dry Ale Yeast

I dug the page out of my old brew log

I even saved a bottle (It's empty though, I drank the beer years ago.)

 

[Brentk14]

My first was a muntons wheat kit that I added honey too. It was a decent hef that was quite sweet and had 7.8% alc. It was a sneaky little bastard that would f*** ya up. After that I was hooked though. I make a lot of pales and ambers now but just made my first AG hef a week ago.

 

[cronxitawney]

My first brew was an English Pale Ale extract kit w/steeping grains. It was delicious, but didn't last very long

 

[beerbuddy]

My first was an EZ-Brew kit from my LHBS which was basically a Coopers IPA kit with some added DME and 1 oz of cascade hops. Still tasted better than the BMC stuff and quickly graduated to AG a few batches later.

 

[PseudoChef]

First official was the Mr. Beer Pale Ale. I used wlp1056 and added some centennial of my own, though.

First 5 gallon batch was the Nut Brown extract + steeping grains from Northern Brewer.

Was AG after that.

 

[Junebug]

My first was an American amber ale, an extract kit put together by my local HBS. Brewed it just last may.

 

[AFAJ Brew Guy]

My first brew was a no boil 2 cans of extract ale style pils. Been two weeks in the bottle. It was good, it was that little bug which bit me and got me into this hobby!

 

[BeerNWStyle]

I brewed my first batch on Monday and it’s fermenting away at this very moment. It’s a Scotch Ale extract recipe which I can’t wait to taste!

 

[Geekboy]

Well I just started brewing again after taking several years off. My first brew is an American Amber Ale that my LHBS put together. I just bottled it last night. It was definitely a learning experience. I made a lot of mistakes, but despite that it still tastes great! I just bottled it last night.


I already have my second batch fermenting. It's an Irish Red Ale put together from the same LHBS. Now I have to go out and get more ingredients. I want to brew this weekend.

 

[anti-bud]

my first was an amarillo pale ale extract kit, its in seconday fermentation right now so i have no report on how it turned out. i also have a honey weizen and a high gravity pale ale going that i added 2 extra pounds of plain dme to. yummy, and funny i hope.

 

[Rick_R]

Type: Extract
Date: 11/18/2006
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 2.98 gal
Boil Time: 60 min

Ingredients:

Amount Item Type % or IBU
6 lbs Pale Liquid Extract (8.0 SRM) Extract 82.76 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 13.79 %
4.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 3.45 %
0.50 oz Nugget [13.00 %] (60 min) Hops 16.8 IBU
0.50 oz Williamette [5.50 %] (30 min) Hops 5.5 IBU
0.50 oz Williamette [5.50 %] (15 min) Hops 3.5 IBU

Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.044 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.043 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.012 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.008 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.26 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 4.56 %
Bitterness: 25.8 IBU Calories: 187 cal/pint
Est Color: 18.4 SRM

Not sure what yeast I used; didn't record it I just now notice.

Rick

 

[ThebrewdawG]

Mine was a Mr. Beer pale ale. Had the 5g kit on order before I ever bottled a single brew. "Sometimes you just know"!