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Trying to Brew My Own Beer This Fall

F

Funky

Travel Squad
2 Year Member
I got a beginner's brewing kit for my birthday this year, and I'm waiting until the football season starts to brew my first batch. Has anybody done this, and if so, are there any recipes that you would recommend? I'm typically a fan of English style Ales or Pilsners.

Less than 40 to kickoff!
 

I use kits for my preparations. I have had better luck making wine than beer. Your gear must be clean, clean, clean! Those little critters floating around in the air might be good for a loaf of bread, but not for brewing. I keep my brews in a spare bath tub, just in case of an accident.

http://www.beernut.com/zen-cart/
 
Friends of mine brew their own, and I asked them about the process last night over a beer, ironically enough. You might want to start now, and experiment some. That way, when football season arrives, you have good tasting beer that you will want to actually drink. Not to mention the fact that you might find a recipe that you really like, and you have time to make enough for a few people during the course of a 4 hour game.......
 



Funky said:
I got a beginner's brewing kit for my birthday this year, and I'm waiting until the football season starts to brew my first batch. Has anybody done this, and if so, are there any recipes that you would recommend? I'm typically a fan of English style Ales or Pilsners.

Less than 40 to kickoff!
Click to expand...
I use kits as well, that is much easier than making your own Wort and I brew Lagers, Porters and Stouts. Once you try one of those, you will be disappointed when you go back to an Ale.
 
Been brewing for 20+ years. I'll say this and you can tell me to stick it, but.....kits suck. Alot of folks make a couple kit recipes and then quit because of the product. You can fool yourself into thinking you're making good beer with them, but after you've started with partial mashes then all-grain, you will wonder how you tolerated the kit beer. That said, everyone has to learn somewhere and some of the more expensive kits aren't all that bad if matched correctly. I started with mini-mash recipes myself. Shoot me a PM with any question you may have! Good luck and have fun.....!
 
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Funky said:
I got a beginner's brewing kit for my birthday this year, and I'm waiting until the football season starts to brew my first batch. Has anybody done this, and if so, are there any recipes that you would recommend? I'm typically a fan of English style Ales or Pilsners.

Less than 40 to kickoff!
Click to expand...


Pilseners, like all lagers, are much harder to brew because of the fermentation temps. Start with pale ales, or wheat beers to get some practice before you move into any of the crazy stuff.

Like Ackos said, if you can keep your stuff clean you've won half the battle. I personally love using StarSan because it's an incredibly user-friendly no rinse sanitizer and because it's acid based, it can actually improve your fermentation.

I started with all-grain brewing, and I didn't like the recipe kit they gave me, so I browsed a couple websites and developed a pale wheat beer recipe that I'd put against anything I can buy in the store. Just have fun with it and don't get down if you have a bad batch. There's plenty of books and homebrewing websites to help you with any troubleshooting you might need.
 




IMO.....the kits are a great starting point....when you have had success with those a few times...step out side the box and get a Stephen snyder brewermasters bible and really go to town. Are you in Lincoln? I had some friends that I brewed with and we always had a batch brewing at one house....one fermenting at one house and a batch bottled and ready to go. That system was great...until we each had about two kids plus....then it seemed like the brewing stopped and we just met at Lazlos.
 
HZKRFAN said:
IMO.....the kits are a great starting point....when you have had success with those a few times...step out side the box and get a Stephen snyder brewermasters bible and really go to town. Are you in Lincoln? I had some friends that I brewed with and we always had a batch brewing at one house....one fermenting at one house and a batch bottled and ready to go. That system was great...until we each had about two kids plus....then it seemed like the brewing stopped and we just met at Lazlos.
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I live in Omaha, unfortunately. :(

I was planning on brewing in my garage this fall, but now I'm starting to think that the temperature changes might not be an ideal environment. I have an unfinished basements as well (which has some nasty cobwebs). Which location would be better, an attached garage or an unfinished basement?
 
Funky said:
I live in Omaha, unfortunately. :(

I was planning on brewing in my garage this fall, but now I'm starting to think that the temperature changes might not be an ideal environment. I have an unfinished basements as well (which has some nasty cobwebs). Which location would be better, an attached garage or an unfinished basement?
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The basement by far. I assume your basement will have a much more constant temperature which will result in much better tasting beer and healthier yeast (if you're interested in yeast harvesting). I'm sure that a 21st century man, equipped with the technology and wisdom of the modern age, can devise a method to keep the cobwebs off :wave:
 



I'm not going to bash anyone's opinion on here, but I would just say that everyone's tastes are going to be different. All-grain is more involved than using a kit. I have a friend that has been brewing for 20+ years and he does all-grain once or twice a year and then kits the other times. You can get good beer out of a kit.

For me, I'm not willing/able to make the time investment to go all-grain, but I still want to brew my own. A kit is just my speed. I just started, but my first batch turned out great and I couldn't be happier. It's also VERY satisfying drinking a beer that you've made yourself!

As for the Ales vs Lagers/Porters/Stouts, it's all about personal preference. I love a good ale!
 
G33K said:
I'm not going to bash anyone's opinion on here, but I would just say that everyone's tastes are going to be different. All-grain is more involved than using a kit. I have a friend that has been brewing for 20+ years and he does all-grain once or twice a year and then kits the other times. You can get good beer out of a kit.

For me, I'm not willing/able to make the time investment to go all-grain, but I still want to brew my own. A kit is just my speed. I just started, but my first batch turned out great and I couldn't be happier. It's also VERY satisfying drinking a beer that you've made yourself!

As for the Ales vs Lagers/Porters/Stouts, it's all about personal preference. I love a good ale!
Click to expand...

+1

Nothing worse than a stout snob. I consider myself a pretty well rounded beer drinker, and my choices usually have more to do with the weather than a misplaced sense of style. It's all about the quality of the specific beer; nothing is more refreshing than a good cold lager, and nothing is more satisfying than tasty chocolate stout.
 

Only advise I would give is spend the money now a buy a kegging system. Bottling can become a chore. I can go from my secondary to keg to fridge in 10 min
 
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