Beer Forum

ive been studying for a while now and next pay im going to get an extract kit and give brew my first batch. my problem is i don't know what to brew first.

my two favorites are sam adams lager and Yuengling lager, can you guys recommend a first brew kit?

I would recommend a pale ale, they are pretty easy and they are always great summer time drinkin'

Try B3's American Pale Ale II (KIT250) http://morebeer.com/search/102178//3

If you like Hefs a Hefeweizen is an easy and awesome beer to brew.
BUB

My first beer was an Irish Red. I would say, since you are a lager fan, stick with one that will be easy to brew and easy on the pallate. Maybe an Amber or an Irish Red or even a Brown Ale.

Just brew something you like and keep us posted!

A brown ale or something with some roasty grains (steeped) is a good bet too. The roastiness can hide lots of flaws, especially extract twang.

One thing you don't want to try at this point is a lager. Too easy to screw up too many things. Stick with ales until you get the basic beer making processes down.

Like others have said, a somewhat dark beer like a brown ale, porter, etc. are great beers to start with since they hide a lot of newbie mistakes and still taste good. If you want something a little more "lager like" try something like an alt. Ferment it at a relatively low temperature like 62-63°. At this temp it will take something like 2 weeks for fermentation to be complete enough to rack to secondary. If you don't plan to do a secondary, leave it alone for at least another week. During that last week keep it cool down in the 50's or colder if you can. You will get a really nice clean tasting beer this way.

Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company

I'd get a good supply first of whatever the wife, girlfriend, domestic partner, roommate, parents or hamster likes first.

Satisfy the people you're living with, because you're going to be spending your paycheck, taking up a lot of garage space and stealing a lot of kitchen utensils in the near future. The least you can do is brew a stout for the wife.

scphantm wrote:ive been studying for a while now and next pay im going to get an extract kit and give brew my first batch. my problem is i don't know what to brew first.

my two favorites are sam adams lager and Yuengling lager, can you guys recommend a first brew kit?

Sounds like you already know what you like, so you're halfway there. Personally, I would not recommend a lager for your first beer, so that knocks out the Sam Adams. Yeungling makes a nice Porter, however, and it's a pretty easy beer to make first time out. Where I work we sell the Munton's Gold kits for our first time brewer's, and they are pretty fool proof. Comes in a variety of styles, and require nothing but diligence, and some essential hardware (pot to boil in, spoon to stir with, source of heat such as a stove burner, a fermenter, etc) to get you started with your first batch of homebrew. While the directions say not to boil, I feel that you should, at least to sanitize the water, and help precipitate out unwanted bittering proteins found in wort (aka trub) that won't help your beer taste any better, and will help taste if you do boil. If you need anything else, please feel free to PM me or email me or post here where there's lot's of folks with lot's of good ideas to share. Good luck, and hoppy brewing!

Prost!

Michel