New Kit For Christmas

[MoreBeerEh]

Hi Guys. I got a True Brew home brewery kit for Christmas and I am overly excited to use it. All I have is the kit with everything I need but the mixture and yeast and stuff. Could you lead me in the right direction as to what I need to buy to get rolling? Also, what is the difference between hopped and unhopped extracts?

Thanks A Lot.

[hemogoblin]

I'm answering because I got my first kit (a True Brew) last Christmas! I am now on my 14th batch (a few made by pals at my house) and went to all-grain brewing 4 batches ago.

I got the True Brew Amber Ale kit. Easiest way to start.

Things I wish I'd known:
1. After the cooled wort is in the fermenter, seal on the lid and shake the sh-t out of it (aerate it) before pitching the yeast.

2. Start your dry yeast in boiled water, warmed to under 90F, fifteen min. before pitching

3. Keep your fermenting bucket below 70F, Above 60F through fermentation (coupla days at most).

Other than that follow the instrux. Sanitize. Rinse well.

Hopped extract is already bitter; you don't need to add so much extra hops. And it can be PRETTY BITTER. I used it only once.

Get Charlie Papazian's Complete Joy Of Homebrewing and dig in. What a great hobby!

[LorenzoJ]

I'd go with John Palmer's "How to Brew" as my first choice on really readable but complete step by step guide from beginner to whole grain. I turn to Pappazian when I think I might have screwed up cause then I really want his "Don't Worry !" attitude to just about everything.

[MoreBeerEh]

That is what I did and here is what I bought. Let me know if I screwed up:

Qty 2 Munton & Fison Ale Yeast
Qty 4 Bullion Pellets 1 oz.
Qty 4 Cascade Pellets 1 oz.
Qty 1 Pale Alexander's Malt 4#
Qty 2 Amber Laaglander DME 1#

[danno]

I'm not much of a recipe formulator, mostly doing prepackaged kits or variations on those types of themes, but that seems like a lot of hops for a medium OG beer... What sort of boil schedule were you planning? I'm mostly wondering about the 4oz of Bullion, I'm assuming those are your bittering hops. The 4oz of Cascade will make for a (great/overwhelming, your choice) hop aroma... I'm assuming you like them bitter...

(Just my $0.02, YMMV, the advice herein is worth exactly what you paid for it, yadda yadda....)

[MoreBeerEh]

Well, I got that from this:

http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter1-1.html

I got the ingredients it called for plus some just in case. What do you think?

[danno]

using John Palmer's recipe guide at the link you provided, plus this hop FAQ (3/4 the way down the page) (http://www.realbeer.com/hops/FAQ.html) from right here at RealBeer, I see that Bullion has an AA range of 8-11%. Since his recipe calls for 12 AAU, you'd want roughly 1 to 1.25 oz of Bullion (bittering hops), not 4. (see how that calculates out?) For finishing hops, the recipe calls for 5 AAU, we see that Cascade has between 4.5 and 8% AA, so you'd want roughly between 5/8 and a little more than 1 oz. Again, 4 seems a bit out of style.

[MoreBeerEh]

How long do hops last? I calculated it and I came out to around the same number, but I bought a bit more since they were cheap and the shipping was nothing so that I could use them for another brew.

[YamahaXS]

I think what Danny is telling you, is that your recipe looks good, EXCEPT that you should not use all those hops. If you do, you will be sorry. :)

Use 1 ounces of the bullion for bittering, and 1 ounce of the Cascade for flavoring.

The left over hops will last a good while, 3 months if you keep them refrigerated and airsealed to prevent oxidation. Freeze them for even longer shelf life.

edit: my post was a bit slow.

[MoreBeerEh]

Ok that sounds good. Thank you guys for the help. I hope it turns out. Anyone done a recipe like this? Does your first brew usually not taste the best?

[YamahaXS]

Originally posted by MoreBeerEh
Ok that sounds good. Thank you guys for the help. I hope it turns out. Anyone done a recipe like this? Does your first brew usually not taste the best?

Thats a solid recipe. You will be very happy with it.

[Wilson]

Originally posted by MoreBeerEh
Ok that sounds good. Thank you guys for the help. I hope it turns out. Anyone done a recipe like this? Does your first brew usually not taste the best?

I was very surprised at how good my first batch was, I screwed up a bit with the fermentation temperature, was super-paranoid about every little thing...and it turned out great.

[toneyc]

I'm with Wilson, my first batch turned out great! It was a dry stout, I'm told its hard to mess those up. But that initial success has given way to madness! Now I brew every-other weekend and wince when I buy commercial beer because it is so expensive. And the beer just keeps getting better! Oh, yeah, I love this hobby.

:)
Toney.

[MoreBeerEh]

Well, I went to the brewery tonight and bought a kit for Downtown Honey Brown, a recipe of theres. I hope it turns out.

[toneyc]

Just remember, if it has honey in it, give it a couple more weeks to lose the harsh twang that honey gives it. So give it 3-4 weeks after bottling instead of the usual 1-2. Aw, man, it'll be great, even after 2 weeks. Also, remember to start your next batch 2 weeks later or you'll run outta beer.

:)
Toney.

[Fast_Eddy]

Originally posted by MoreBeerEh
Well, I went to the brewery tonight and bought a kit for Downtown Honey Brown, a recipe of theres. I hope it turns out.

It will turn out - don't worry - you have to try to screw up beer for the most part. Relax - have a (home)brew.

[MoreBeerEh]

That sounds great man. Yeah, I've got 2 pounds of home grown honey from here in alabama.

[GunNut76]

I started out with an extract amber...somthing like 6 lbs amber DME, a pound of crystal 60, northern brewer for 60 & 45, willamette for 30 & 15 and a pack of windsor. Turned out great. IMHO a honey beer is not the best to start out with.

[MoreBeerEh]

Ok. You say that, now what is the reason?