Starter Home Brew Suggestions

If I were you I'd brew a Mcwheat beer . Single hop single malt is called a SMaSH and should be pretty easy to attempt for your first beer also. The style shouldn't be your first concern unless you're brewing something that has a bunch of added ingredients and procedures, when you're starting out like you're doing, what helps (at least in my case) was just learning and understanding the process to make the beer and getting that straight. Making sure I hit my mash temp, making sure everything is sanitized when the time comes for that, stuff like that. Getting a hang on that part makes whatever beer you choose to brew that much easier. If you're looking for suggestions on styles what kind of beer do you and your wife like to drink?

 

No need to even search. If you go back page after page in this forum there is a similar question to yours. It's been answered many times over. Click "Next>" until your heart is content.

I'd start by reading How to Brew, finding a Homebrew club, and a knowledgable brewer that lives near you b

 

I would recommend that you have a discussion with your LHBS folks about your first batch when you purchase your homebrewing kit. I still remember when I purchased my first homebrew kit 20 years ago and they had 4 recipes that they sold at a discounted price when you bought the kit. I wanted to homebrew an English Bitter Ale and the LHBS person helped me formulate this first batch of Bitter Ale.

Cheers!

 

Pretty difficult to go wrong with a simple Pale Ale, as well. If you don't have temperature control yet, and you like Saisons, they are a pretty forgiving style.

 

Guessing you are doing extract brewing and not all grain? If that is the case I would recommend doing a pale ale or IPA for your first.

 

I'm sure the store can guide you a bit. I did a d-IPA for my first one. The Will Wheaton one on Northern Brewer, extract version.

My advice would be to try to plan out EVERYTHING in advance if possible to make sure you don't forget anything.

Example: most recipes will have you adding hops at different times during the boil. Learn how to calculate AAUs, because most hops will not have the same Alpha Acid % as called for in your recipe. AAU= oz* % as a whole #. So if the recipe calls for 8.25AAUs of Mosaic at 5% AA and your local shop or website has 8% you solve for oz. 8.25=oz*(8) to get the oz your recipe needs.

I just brewed with a friend this weekend. He measures out his hop additions into tupperware and stacks them so the top one is what goes in first. Great system. I was measuring the next one out after I dumped the previous and I missed one of the 30 minute drops and dropped it 15 minutes late. Not a game breaker, but prior planning removes that problem entirely.

I brewed my third batch this weekend, and I've learned HUGE amounts from the first and second I think will greatly aid the third, and I learned a few more things doing this one that I'm sure will help the next one.

I'd also check to see if your stovetop can boil 5 gallons of water on one burner. Mine could not and I had to have the pot straddle two burners. This time I boiled outside on a propane burner. Much more efficient and easier to regulate the temperature.

Expect to make mistakes, usually the results will still be drinkable. I haven't had to dump a batch yet, though I'm sure it's coming at some point. It might not be exactly what you aim for, but it will probably be drinkable, and it's very rewarding to crack your first home brew and take a sip and think "that's not bad at all"

 

All of the above suggestions are good, but I'll add one more to give you something to think about. If you brew a regular porter or stout, those two styles are simple as far as the brewing procedures go (although they are just like all of the recipe suggestions above), but if you make a mistake, the roasty flavor can tend to hide the off flavor that a mistake can cause, thus you have a better chance at a tasty beer.

But whatever style you choose, do your homework ahead of time, create a detailed step-by-stem timeline for brew day and you'll be fine.

 

I second the stout/porter suggestion. Very forgiving. Saisons as well. I think IPAs can be hit or miss, very sensitive to water profile, oxygen exposure and ferm temps, all of which a newbie may not have down pat.

 

I say you should pick a beer style that you really like, and I defiantly would not recommend starting off with a wheat beer. and most recipe kits skimp on specialty grains and hops so I would add a lb of specialty grain and up to an oz of hops depending on the recipe. But before you do anything you need to read How To Brew, you should know just how many ways it can go wrong or you could end up wasting a whole month on a bad batch of beer. Following the process and understanding it are two completely different things so take your time and get prepared.

Here is a link to one of my favorite websites in gives you charts on all the different grain types, yeast strains and hop varieties for each style of beer.
https://byo.com/resources/grains

 

Like scrurvy said, there is plenty of info in the hombrewing forum. Just click back a few times. I think the most difficult problem you might have is temperature control. Unless you have a fermentation chamber, lagers are out of the question for you. Most ale yeast prefer temps in the mid 60's. If they are subjected to warm temps, the yeast will produce chemicals that will make your beer taste bad. What John Snow said was spot on. Some ale yeast are more forgiving with higher temps, and saison beers using their style of yeast accommodate warmer temps like mid to upper 70's. So, if you can manage that, do that. After you brew a batch or two, and you want to keep your hobby, I suggest building a fermentation chamber / keezer. Welcome to your new obsession! And check out this free Ebook How to Brew.

 

Definitely get some Irish moss yeast nutrient and Malto dextrin there not expensive and a little goes a long way. If your doing a stout I would highly recommend adding chocolate malt to the steep its not as bitter or as chalky as what you'll probably get in the kit. And on brew day try to boil as much volume of wort as you can. It'll tremendously improve the body and mouthfeel

 

"Irish moss, yeast nutrient, and malto dextrin". Normally I'm not a stickler for grammar, but OP should know there are 3 different things. IMHO, irish moss is not necessary. Neither are the other things either. Since you are throwing down money on equipment and ingredients, these things should be at the bottom of the list. Maybe consider yeast nutrient though. ... maybe