New to brewing

[Seuss]

Hello all.

My wife got given a cider kit (with no equipment) so I used that as an excuse to brew some beer too. Thought I'd swing by a forum to work out what I should be doing since I've never attempted brewing before. Looks like a lot of new terms to learn.

Anyway, got the mangrove jacks craft series kit which came with "robber's golden ale" started it last night. Brewing it by the instructions so will be interested to how it turns out, hopefully somewhat like tasty beer. Seems a few people think it might be too bitter from what I can find

I'll have a read about here and get some ideas of a couple of simple recipes (with instructions) that I can try next. If anyone has some ideas where some good starting points, recipes and posts are that would be appreciated

Cheers

 

[Brewnicorn]

Good luck Seuss!
Mangrove Jacks make a good kit and by the book they turn out ok.
No mention of the wife’s cider kit in there... haha

 

[El Jefe]

Welcome, Doc!

I can chime in on the MJ ciders. I've been using them for a long time. I absolutely love them and always have a dedicated cider tap. I double them up into 60L fermenters, but with the kit, I imagine that you can only do a single (30L fermenter?).

Depending on your wifes' taste, keep it dry or sweet with the non-fermentable sweetener. As I love it dry, I keep the sweetener out and boost the dextrose and water. Don't be afraid to make a larger batch than the recommended 23L. I would happily stretch a single batch to say, 26L, and up to 30L if you want to add actual fruit or fruit juice. That depends on your fermenter size, though.

They are really versatile kits, and quite complex flavour-wise. In my opinion, they really benefit from longer fermentation (I've gone as long as 5 weeks), cold crashing and multiple racking. The kit yeast is very hardy with a large temperature range and cleans up beautifully clear with keg/bottle conditioning. You just need to be patient.

Welcome to the rabbit hole!

eL

 

[Edd]

Hello mate, I’ve just started out too and hooked already! This place is a fountain of experience and info and a great help. Enjoy and best of luck!