2nd Brew

[Koikaze]

Hey guys,

I just bottled my first homebrew. It smells like wine... Its heaps estery its gonna be horrible... Oh well my own fault I let it get to hot while fermenting (see my other topic lol).

But now im thinking about my next one. Any recomendations for my 2nd brew? I was thinking maybe a dark ale? any recomendations on ingredients? I'm going to look at ingredients tomorrow.

My first Brew is also a bit cloudy... should i rack my second brew?

- Ben

 

[rich_lamb]

Hey Ben,
don't panic - your first beer may turn out better than you think. Just give it plenty of time in the bottle and a lot of the odd flavours and aromas may tune out. Or it could just be a learning experience! We've all had those.

I see there's been plenty of suggestions on how to cobble up some crude temp control, so you'll have plenty to think about there. You might also go for the simple solution of getting GF's permission to ferment inside in a closet or something.

My advice for now: if you wanna stay in kits while you learn the basics - a perfectly sensible choice as there's plenty of other stuff to learn - buy the really good kits and always replace the yeast. You can add as much complexity as you're comfortable with - play around with steeping some crystal malts or boiling some hops in addition to your kit.

cheers

 

[rich_lamb]

Oh, and as to your question - DON'T RACK TO A SECONDARY. It has few advantages and lots of disadvantages; I learned this the hard way.
If it's clarity you seek, time is your friend. Racking to a secondary will not clarify the beer, so just leave it in the primary for longer (2-3 weeks is typical) and then in the bottle for a while. If it's still cloudy, you have a separate problem to address and we'll be happy to help :icon_cheers: