First brew! Now what?

I successfully brewed my first batch this weekend (Block Party Amber Ale) and everything seems to be going as expected. The temp is a consistent 70 degrees, and in just a few weeks I’ll have my first batch bottled.

But now what? I love this, and I want to brew something a little more complex, or maybe brew a cider (my wife loves that idea). What are some of your suggestions?

Welcome to the forum.

But now what? I would suggest brewing the same recipe again when just starting out. This will give you the time to work on techniques to find the method to produce the best tasting beer. Once the ale techniques are easy to work with start another style like an IPA if they are one of your go to beers.

Work with your brewing water, pitch rates, and fermentation temperature control for the yeast being used.

Pitch rate and starter calculator, if needed.

Most economical method of fermentation temperature control is a swamp cooler. Basically the fermentor is in a tub of water to negate ambient swings and absorb heat produced by the yeast.

Just an observation. I don’t know which yeast you used for the amber ale, but most ale yeasts are neutral flavor producers when the temperature of the beer in the fermentor is in the mid 60°F range.

NB’s American Amber Ale is one of my favorites.

1 Like

All extract kits are going to be relatively easy to brew, but a good way to add some improvement and a minor bit of complexity would be to do a partial mash out of an extract kit. All it takes is adding some base malt to the steeping grains of a kit and extending the steeping time. Look into BIAB brewing to do it. Once you get comfortable with the process, you can easily branch away from kits and into brewing partial mash recipes that others have made, or learn to create your own.

1 Like

When I started brewing I just did easy kits to get my feet wet and then moved up to the harder kits which basically just means adding more hops, dry hopping and doing yeast starters. You’ll notice the harder the kit the more expensive they are.
If you want to do something different, I’ve started doing Island Mist wine kits. They are super easy, you can use your beer equipment and they taste really good if you like sweet wines. My wife loves the wine, hates the beer. The Apple is awesome.

I’ve been wondering this as well. I’ve actually started brewing my second batch now and it’s slightly more difficult. More hops, more fermentation.
After speaking with a local brewery owner, he told me to do about 5 extract kits and then I should have the hang of it.
I’m nervous and excited and have aspirations of one day having my own brewery.

I would say brew often and go right into all grain if you have the time and space. First because you need to learn the mashing process second if you follow my advice and brew often extract brewing will break the bank

1 Like

Did about 65 brews now. The last 5 mini mash. Getting ready for all grain next year. Did learn lots. And did tweak. Bunch of recipi got my system going. Its time for the next step

GET OUT YOUR WALLET… That’s what you do next. :grin: