My First Brew Ever! ...and a few questions

Yes BrewDemon and Mr. Beer kits are pretty darn easy but sometime you need a little help from the Borg to get you on the right track. Post your questions here!

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gwcr
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Re: My First Brew Ever! ...and a few questions

Post by gwcr »

That's what I'm talkin about! Nice pic! Ready for St. Patty's day and you don't even need green food coloring! :p
Fermenting: Bucket 1 - Fresh Squeezed IPA; Bucket 2 - Empty

Kegged: Keg 1 - Irish Red; Keg 2 - Cream Ale; Keg 3 - Amber Ale; Keg 4 - APA; Keg 5 - Empty; Keg 6 - Empty; Keg 7 - Empty
The reason why the above list is so small Home Theater Build
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Wings_Fan_In_KC
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Re: My First Brew Ever! ...and a few questions

Post by Wings_Fan_In_KC »

Caps82, you're on your way!

I started out with MrBeer straight outta the can and then for my third brew, added hops, my 5th brew added DME and my 6th brew added steeping grains.

Most of what I do is still extract using steeped speciality grains like Crystal 40 or 60 or Caravienna and then adding at least 1.5 pounds of DME to the mix as well as hop boils. I've even done a hop burst a couple times and started doing mini hop stands while the wort is coolig down in the sink/water/ice bath.

I'm still using the S-33 (rehydrating every time) that comes with the HME's but eventually I'm going to start experimenting with yeasts tied to styles. I understand that the various yeasts give you much better overall results than the generic yeasts like S-33 or MrB/Coopers "Downunda".

Brewing is a journey. RDWHAHB.
Last edited by Wings_Fan_In_KC on Thu Feb 06, 2014 8:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I'm A Friggin' Hop Grenade !!
Crazy Dog Brewing
22.50 Gallons Brewed in 2014

Jan 6th: HCCD Mod II
Jan 27th: Diablo IPA Mod
Feb 18th: Pilothouse Pilsner Mod II
Mar 13th: Witty Monk Witbier Mod II
Moved in June disupting my brewing and pipeline
July 19th: OVL Mod II
Late Aug: Bewitched Amber Ale Mod
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Nov: St Pat's Irish Stout/Vanilla Porter Mod
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FedoraDave
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Re: My First Brew Ever! ...and a few questions

Post by FedoraDave »

Nice pic, Caps! You're well on your way.

And Wings is right about different yeast making a difference in your beer. If you want your mind blown, visit White Labs website and check out all the different and very specific strains of yeast they've developed.

All of this stuff can be overwhelming and intimidating at first, but you'll soon find yourself appreciating the subtleties that make a big difference in the final product. Little things like the type of yeast, the fermenting temperature, the conditioning time. Some guys even engineer the composition of their water to best fit a certain style!

But that's the great thing about brewing your own beer. You can get as involved as you want, and there's still more to learn and experience.

Enjoy your first batch, man. And start looking forward to your next one! :fedora:
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Natural 20 Pale Ale -- Bull Terrier Best Bitter -- King Duncan's Porter -- Schöenwald Schwarzbier -- Littlejohn's Ale
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