First Time Brewing, Choosing Beer

I would say do a simple amber ale. First brew you will make will likely not be so good (unless you maybe have brewed with someone before) so make it without investing a lot in a kit. I know my first beer sucked but it helped that it was simple and was relatively easy to pick out the areas that I made mistakes and was able to fix them in future batches. I think simplicity is key in your first 1-3 batches. We will be more than happy to help you through the process here though so any questions you have just ask away there are a lot of people with a wealth of knowledge here on this board.

Also, if you have not yet done so read as many brewing books as you can starting with How to Brew by John Palmer and The Complete Joy of Homebrewing by Charlie Papazian.

 

This was the same exact kit I started with. I took it to a homebrew night at a local bar and no one believed it was the first beer I had ever brewed. The reason I chose it is that I live in Florida and didn't want to invest in anything to control the temperature of my fermentation and I could easily stay in the optimum temperature range for this yeast using only a swamp cooler. This makes a great beer that is still drinking well a year later (I made sure to hold onto a few bottles for sentimental value)

 

I would do an amber or a wheat beer first. Both will be ready fast and are rather hard to mess up.

 

I agree with amber kit or do a brown or nut brown. If your ordering the kit online then it should be fresh. I bought my first couple kits at LHBS and the malt was not fresh but I didn't know better. If you are able to do a full boil that will also help improve your beer. Good luck with your first brew.

 

I think stout can be a forgiving style. I also reccomend that you start your 2nd batch before you begin to drink the 1st one.

 

My first SOLO* beer was an Engish IPA and it came out fantastic**. I have never quite been so happy as when I popped the first bottle and it tasted great.

That being said, the recipe was fairly easy and I followed it closely (except I got a wild hair and dumped 2oz of cascade pellets into the bucket after a week that wasn't on the recipe). I used dry yeast (Nottingham) and pitched it directly. The ABV was moderate (I think it was about 6% or a bit higher, I could calculate it but I'm too lazy). I was careful about sanitation. I wrote up a checklist before I started and edited it several times before I brewed. I highly suggest you use a checklist so you don't forget steps.

If you're planning on using ice to cool your wort you will need a lot of it (like 20lbs). That's why I bought a wort chiller.

My first brewday sucked in that I was nervous and had myself convinced that I had f'd it up somehow or another. However, I didn't mess it up (at least not too bad) and the beer came out great. So please do follow the common advice of RDWHAHB (relax, don't worry, have a homebrew). For your first batch, get some tasty beer, even if it's not homebrew. Don't get too drunk though!

I've rambled. I sometimes do that. Anyway I think you should brew a pale ale, IPA, amber, wheat, blonde ale, or something else that's relatively simple. Extract with specialty grains or just extract. Get a kit that has good instructions and follow them (still make a checklist though).

al

* I brewed one all-grain batch with an experienced brewer first. My first batch was extract with specialty grains, but I learned a lot about the process anyway

**as far as I'm concerned a few friends agreed, and nobody hated it

 

I agree with this. As soon as your primary bucket opens up, brew another batch.

 

I don't mean to be a dick, but I think that's poor advice to give to a beginner. The #1 rule that is not obvious to new homebrewers is fermentation temp control. If you can do that, and follow simple instructions, I don't see why a first beer can't be good (especially when extract brewing).


That said, I would recommend something in the pale ale/ipa range if you like the style. It's just as easy as the amber ales that others suggest, and the added bitterness and flavor profile of the hops will help mask any subtle off flavors from imperfect technique.

 

i did an american pale ale, it was easy, and looks to be turning out great

 

I don't really its bad advice at all. how often will someone new to the hobby screw up their first batch? I'd venture to guess more often then not. Its always good to start out as simple as possible so you can easily pinpoint mistakes made. You never learn better than through your own experience combined with help from others who are more experienced. I'm not saying that the first batch will be garbage i'm simply saying not to set expectations too high. If the beer sucks then its expected or at least not a let down. If its really good then you are ahead of the curve and you beat expectations. There is much more that goes into brewing than one will realize on their first batch regardless of the amount of reading or research they do

 

I did a brown ale. It was alright, a few off flavors but turned out better than some ive had from the shelf. But i'm not a big brown ale person.

I did kits for my first 3 beers brown ale, DIPA, and oatmeal stout. The DIPA was delicious besides the giant amount of sediment in the bottle.
But I would stick with something like everyone is saying, amber, brown, IPA, just do basic ingredients. Dont mix malts, or hops, use a simple yeast and you'll be fine. Who knows it could be great.
Just make sure everything is sanitized, especially after your boil is over. There is no such thing as to clean in this hobby.

 

I often encourage folks to do this so there will be less lag time in having the opportunity to redeem your brew with a new one. If the first one comes out not so great I would hate to see it discourage someone into brewing again. Looking at your process in 2 beers to make corrections is also vey helpful.

 

I would be a little wary of starting out with a dubbel if the OG is in the higher end of the scale, like 1.075 or above. High gravity beers usually require large years starters and thorough aeration of the wort to achieve good results, and many beginners will make the mistake of not making a starter and not aerating. If you feel like you have a handle on those aspects of the brew, the dubbel shouldn't present any other challenges I can think of offhand that you're not going to face with other styles.

I tend to feel like simpler is better the first time around, and I generally advise guys to start with something relatively foolproof like an American wheat. But if you've got your heart set on a dubbel, make a big starter, aerate like hell, and go for it!

 

This process keeps you motivated to keep going. Ive had many friends brew two or three bad batches of beer then just give up homebrewing all together. Keep going no matter what. Pay attention to details, but have fun. Cheers!

 

My vote would be an ale. They are forgiving and, as mentioned previously, they can handle a few imperfections.

Two bits of advice: temperature control and sanitation and it should turn out great.

Good luck and realize you are doing this for fun.

 

I'm slowly working on getting less sediment and clearer beers, but taste wise it hasn't mattered at all so far. My basic brew technique is my focus, trying to ensure that I get good beers. This saturday I'll work on it some more when I brew my blonde ale...

 

I haven't had any my past few beers. I filter it into the carboy. I pour it into big plastic bucket with a spiggot, before i put in the carboy, then filter it through there. Then if I do secondary filter more out. And use the bucket again when I bottle and the sediment will fall to the bottom and not be able to come out the spiggot. I make sure to add enough yeast into the secondary (from the sediment, if its alot of yeast) so it will have enough. And it seems to be working great. If you add a bit of irish moss that will make them less hazy.

 

I have been using Irish moss. Next batch I'm going to strain just before it hits the fermenter, that should kill quite a bit of hops residue. I forgot to do that on a batch and it came out with lots of sediment, but didn't taste bad at all. Appearance will be better next time though!