I brewed my first batch of beer (all-grain) on October 16, 2009. Here’s how it went…
Recipe:
SECRET!
(This recipe is only secret because I plan to use it for the actual production version for the brewery. I’ll be publishing all my other recipes for those interested.)
Notes:
This was my first day brewing. I based my recipe off the “Awesome Brown Buddy” brown ale recipe found here: http://www.tastybrew.com/newrcp/detail/238
Although I did use most of same grains, I used different proportions of the Belgian Aromatic and Belgian Biscuit grains.
I did use the same type of hops (Goldings), but did 1 oz at 60 mins (instead of 40 mins) and 1 oz at 10 minutes.
Additionally, I used the Wyeast Euro Ale XL (1338) instead of Wyeast Ringwood Ale.
Spent grains, post-sparging
Lessons Learned:
Perhaps it was because I was so nervous about my first brew day, that I made sure to take every step slowly and thus did not encounter any MAJOR issues or problems. The only real problem solved was rigging a suspension using bent hangers for my colander during sparging!
Additionally, it ended up being a VERY small batch (just over 3.5 gallons instead of the expected 5. Due to a minor grain/water miscalculation, I ended up with a smaller than expected boil which of course led to even more boiling off and ending up with 3.5 gallons in the fermenter.
Wort boil, with hop leaf bag
Fermenter
For those new to homebrewing, I have documented the process in photos at: http://public.fotki.com/miriam001/2009/first-brew/
