Your First Batch

[_HOME_BREW_WALLACE_]

First kit was a brewiser lager and a KG of dex, with my old man. I wanted to do 1 around the start may (when i noticed homwbrewing kits in Big W), but dad said "its getting too cold to brew, We'll wait till the end of october"......... :icon_vomit: Being new to beer drinking, i thought it was pretty good.

My first solo kit was a Beermakers Bitter and a KG of dex in feb 2009 (no temp control again) continued to improve my kits with maltodextrin, light dried malt and finishing hops. Got temp control, and now been AG brewing for about 15 months. and WILL NEVER look back!

 

[peaky]

My first brew was a coopers kit with 1kg of cane sugar and the yeast from under the lid of the can. I had the fermenter sitting on a heating pad and wrapped up in a blanket to stop the temp dropping below 26 degrees. I firmly believed that if the temp got to below 26 my beer would taste like shit. My beer tasted like shit anyway, no surprise :lol:

 

[TmC]

If i hadn't found this site i would probably be doing the same, i have just started using ice blocks to chill my next one, Pale ale with leftover hops. Varies from 18-22 degrees which i think is pretty good for my garage.

 

[Punkal]

Me and my best mate at school bought a Big W kit and road it home on our bikes i think we were 15 or so...

Fermented with a little over 1kg of sugar in his shed in the middle of summer in direct sunlight....

We thought it turned out ok... It got us drink and it was fun...

My next one was about 3 years ago, i had a long chat with guy at the LHBS so i had a fair idea what to do, a guy i worked with at the time started brewing about the same time, we would share and tell each other what we did and did not do but they stayed the same, than i started doing a little research and found this site and my beers took off i can still remember my mates eyes the first time he had one... I had steeped some grain added 2 teabags of hops and fermented it at 18...

Edit: I also found out why his brews always tasted live Vegemite...

 

[Lecterfan]

I just looked up my old notes. I must say I was pretty happy (back then) with my first 3 or 4 brews. They were all stouts or darks and the consistent problem was high FGs and low carbonation leading to very filling beers, but the taste was not horrendous. I was lucky to have two reasonably experienced homebrewers to teach me the ropes before, during and after I got into homebrewing myself.

My beers became awful when the colour lightened up and then I made exploratory forays into lagers. We've all tasted Morgans kit lager yeast brewed at 24c (just for good measure!)...say no more.

 

[sic_vl]

My First brew was Coopers Larger with 1Kg of their own brewing sugar. Being my first brew i thought it didnt work, air lock wasnt bubbling. After bottling and first sample after a month it was good. But i've learnt off my Dad whos been home brewing for close to 30 years!!

 

[fcmcg]

My First brew was Coopers Larger with 1Kg of their own brewing sugar. Being my first brew i thought it didnt work, air lock wasnt bubbling. After bottling and first sample after a month it was good. But i've learnt off my Dad whos been home brewing for close to 30 years!!

Just out of interest , sic_vl...does your dad still do kits or is he now doing AG ? Does he employ any of the suggested practices found here or does he still do , what he has been doing for the last 30 years ?
Just out of interest....
Cheers
Ferg

 

[stuchambers]

I was first exposed to home brewing about 15 years ago when I was 10, my dad and his mate started brewing. As I was young I can remember it going on but not much of the details. Im pretty sure they were just doing k&k maybe adding the brew booster stuff sold at the brew shop.
When I finished high school and moved away to uni I took his old equipment with me this was 5 years ago. I did maybe one kit a year over the past four years all were drinkable but had that home brew tang to them.
In October 2010 I made a brew it was horrible this was after reading up on what to do from here. Anyway I tried again this time being inspired by this site I bought a pilsner kit and added some saaz hops and it was great. Next brew was and extract chocolate stout then I did one more kit and last weekend it was All Grain BIAB

Cheers Stu

 

[sic_vl]

Just out of interest , sic_vl...does your dad still do kits or is he now doing AG ? Does he employ any of the suggested practices found here or does he still do , what he has been doing for the last 30 years ?
Just out of interest....
Cheers
Ferg

From memory he told me one of the first he did was AG and that was done with his father, didnt turn out too well was sticks to kits. a bit of customising here and there.

for a while he just used regular house hold sugar for brewing, he said it was good. then was introduced to Dextrose etc. and realised how much better it was.


I do notice somethings on this forum that he was been doing for a long time.