First brew after Mr. Beer with new brewing equipment!

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by Jongrill, Mar 25, 2012.

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  1. Jongrill

    Jongrill Initiate (0) Feb 21, 2011 New Jersey

    So after making my first batch of beer ever with a gifted Mr. Beer, I feel like I am into homebrewing enough to take the plunge into a basic brewing system from my local homebrew shop (Love2brew in North Brunswick NJ).

    My only problem is I am having trouble picking out a style of beer I want to make. Most of my friends like fruit beer so I was thinking on doing a blueberry wheat, but I am not sure if that is a hard first brew. I would like to stay away from all and partial grain for a while and stick to the basic stuff.

    Anyone have any input? Is this a hard style to start on?

    Last but certainly not least....anyone have a good/simple blueberry recipe for me?


    Thanks!
    Jon
     
  2. kolschboy

    kolschboy Initiate (0) Sep 18, 2003 North Carolina

    Not saying you should stay away from fruit beers, but how about a basic brown, amber or pale ale? You'll use traditional brewing ingredients only, can play with the hop schedule/type a little bit, and would introduce your friends to something other than fruit beer.
     
  3. goodonezach

    goodonezach Initiate (0) Mar 24, 2011 New York

    you can try different styles that have fruitier notes to them but don't necessarily contain fruit. look into some belgian styles, as i'm sure you can find a kit that's really straightforward but also tastes fruity. then again, fruit beers aren't really my style, so i can't say that a blueberry wheat would be too difficult. i'm sure if you're careful you can pull it off.
     
  4. kjyost

    kjyost Initiate (0) May 4, 2008 Canada (MB)

    I don't see why a blueberry beer won't work for a first batch. It is a simple enough recipe.

    6# Wheat DME
    20 IBUs of a bittering hop @ 60
    Ferment with 1056 / 1272 / 001 / US-05 at ~62F
    OG: 1.050

    After 1 week of primary fermentation add puréed frozen/canned blueberries (personally never done it, so maybe someone wants to make a suggestion here as to the amount per gallon - normally fruit beers are in the 1-3#/gal range).

    Let sit 2 more weeks. Bottle when gravity readings are stable.

    From what I have read blueberries will leave a fairly bitter flavour though as their residual sugar will ferment out, so that could be the tough part to figure out, how to achieve the right balance. And as others suggest above, other beer styles will be more conducive to hiding off flavours, but you should make what you want to drink too.
     
  5. tngolfer

    tngolfer Initiate (0) Feb 16, 2012 Tennessee

    The Brewer's Best kits are easy to follow. You can start with a lesser expensive kit to get the hang of it. The Scottish ale I made was in the low $30s and turned out really well.
     
  6. HerbMeowing

    HerbMeowing Maven (1,295) Nov 10, 2010 Virginia
    Trader

    Blueberry is not considered one of the better fruits to use if you're looking for its flavor contribution.

    BeerSmith has a two-part series on brewing with fruit you may find useful.
    http://www.beersmith.com/blog/2010/04/02/brewing-fruit-beers-at-home-part-1-of-2/
     
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