What was your first homebrew, and how did it go?

DIPA hadn't been invented yet (or perhaps hadn't been reinvented?) when I brewed my first can and kilo kit in the late 1980s. It was a pale ale. Pale ale is a great style for a first brew, but I messed it up royally a quarter century ago.

 

My first brew was one of the amber ale recipes in How To Brew, with the addition of a little more hops. Went well and the beer was drinkable, although poor in comparison to stuff now. It was fun and a great learning process. I wouldn't change a thing. I wasn't going to brew a world class beer from the get go.

 

A cascade pale ale made with extract. Not a kit. Was prepared to drain pour 5 gallons, but it turned out surprisingly good.

 

An IPA. Was a pale ale kit that I supplemented with a little extra malt and hops. Way too much bittering and not enough hop flavors.

 

Pale ale extract kit from Midwest. Tasted of Bandaids and dirty dish soap. I've been chlorine free ever since. I also never used the one step sanitizer ever again. STAR SAN

 

My first brew was a northern brewer brunch stout extract kit. It came out ok but had a slight off flavor that I couldn't figure out. Not sure if it was from fermenting to warm (have since built a temp controller), oxidation when transferring to secondary (no longer using secondary), or too much coffee. After that I brewed NBs chinook ipa extract kit, added some dme to boost the abv and a bunch of extra hops throughout the boil and dry hopping. With the fermentation temp control in place, that one came out very good. Smelled awesome, looked great and was just the right bitterness. I have an oatmeal stout on deck that I'm looking to redeem my stout skills on. I try to take detailed notes throughout the entire process too. It helped me to not make the same mistakes twice.

Also, not sure where in mass you are but there's got to be a homebrew store around you somewhere. If you can't produce enough bottles by the time you irish red is ready for them, might be a good time to familiarize yourself with the lhbs. Either way, enjoy your first brew day!

 

Just cracked open my first ever home brew tonight, a Brewers Best IPA. Only been 8 days since bottling so very under carbed (I expected, hoping it carbs up a lot more over the next two weeks). I was surprised at how good it actually tastes even being as flat as it is.

 

My very first home brew was a Extract Porter Kit, which started my whole obsession. It came out alright. I still have a couple bottles left over from the past couple of years and It just doesn't have much flavor. The color is great but, not much to write home about. My first all-grain beer was a Pumpkin Ale that came out awesome! Been doing all grain every since and haven't looked back.

 

Answered this in a recent thread. Here's a copy and paste, mostly. I believe my first batch occured before How to Brew had been written.

First brew was in August of 1999. EDME Red Ale kit (4 lbs hopped LME) fortified, with John Bull Amber Malt (3.3 lbs LME). Boiled for 1 hour (for no good reason as I added no other hops, but what did I know then?). Fermented with yeast that came with the package. The beer was at least drinkable. My notes say "Not bad after 7 days. Much better after 2 weeks. Fairly sweet. Not bitter. Little head. Carbonation less than expected."

That was my first and last kit beer. After that (next batch in October 1999) I moved on to extract with specialty grains, real hops in the boil, and a brand name yeast. The second batch, a Pale Ale I remember as being quite good. In fact, my notes say, among other things, EXCELLENT!

There have been the good, bad, and ugly beers since, but that second batch had me hooked. Next batch will be #136.

Cheers!

 

My first recipe was a Honey Brown Ale in 2007. It actually turned out pretty good. I still have a bottle of it in my cabinet - not that I'd ever drink it, but hey. Afterwards the next few batches turned out really bad (scorched LME was the culprit).

 

I believe it was an SNPA clone from an extract plus steeping grains kit. It had a distinct green apple flavor, probably because I didn't have any way to control fermentation temperature. I drank it anyway of course.

 

There's one in Salem NH I believe though I've never stopped in. As for temp control, I built an STC-1000 and use a heating pad strapped to the bucket with a tshirt between the two so they're not in direct contact. I tape the probe to the other side of the bucket, cover it with a sweat shirt and stick it some place cool. Kind of ghetto but so far so good. Here's a link to an stc1000 build. http://brewprof.com/weekend-diy-homebrew-project-dual-stage-temperature-controller-stc-1000/ Very easy and very cheap especially when you realize the affect it can have on your finished product.

Cigars and homebrew? Nice!

 

An Amber ale that was lacking in flavour, body, hops, and to top it off, was not amber either

 

Mine was an african amber. It was a birthday gift from friends . I had never brewed before and they gave me the recipe, grain, 1 gal caboy and a few other items. First thing I did was read John Palmers book to figure out what I was supposed to do then went with the brew in a bag method. It went fairly well and the beer turned out ok for a first try.
If I were to do that recipe again, I would use my mash tun instead of the biab method. I have learned alot about all grain brewing since I first started and am still upgrading equipment as I go along. Have fun with it, it a great journey.

 

Brewed my first in December. I was shooting for a munich helles lager, but made the wrong yeast starter (used a Pilsner yeast instead of a Munich Lager Yeast) and ended up with an IPL because I used Citra and Cascade hops.

Overall it turned out tasting great. All my friends and even my wife love it.

the only major issues I had were overall efficiency because I used partial grain and partial extract syrup, and yeast residue at the bottom of the bottle.

I've since brewed a Munich Helles which is ready for bottling in a week or so. I used a much larger grain bill and saaz hops instead to match up the flavor profile with the yeast. I also paid much closer attention to ferm temps and oxygenation after pitch.

I've got to devise some sort of filtration system to get rid of the yeast sediment though.

The next brew day will be the Plinan Legacy extract kit.

Once finances are right and more money is coming in, I'll be going all grain and picking up an immersion wort chiller, and some more higher end boil gear.

 

Beer & Wine Hobby in Woburn, near the junction of I-93 and I-95. That's my LHBS as well. http://beer-wine.com/

 

My first brew was made 3 months ago. It was a brewers best amber kit. I knew nothing and just jumped in. It turned out ok, but not great. It was drinkable. Every batch I make, I learn and improve. You're not going to be making award winning beer out of the gate. Take your time, record as many details of your day as possible, READ EVERYTHING YOU CAN GET YOUR HANDS ON, ask questions, and don't be afraid to share your mistakes.

Edit: Forgot to mention what I'd change. I'll stick with 3 easy improvements.
1) Not buy a boxed pre-made kit. You have no idea how old the ingredients are.
2) Re hydrate the yeast even though the kit instructions say not to.
3) Ferment at lower temps (I'm not saying to build/buy a chamber because that is crazy to say to a beginner), but put the bucket in the coolest part of your house (as long as it is above 60)

 

I just tasted my first home-brew last weekend. I made an American Wheat and I am glad to say I am very happy with the results. It has a nice caramel color and reminds of a mix between a Sam Adams Boston Lager and Goose Island 312. Yesterday I brought a six pack to work and had a tasting at the end of the day and everyone enjoyed it. They were not expecting a home brew to taste as it did. One comment from the owner of the company was " I thought for sure it would be lighter and weaker, this is really good"

I am ready to start my next batch and have decided on a WitBier. What a great hobby to get into.