My First Brew

Today I want to talk about the first beer I made. Not knowing what I was doing I bought my first beer making Kit and my first beer kit. I decided that since I liked New Castle Brown Ale so much, I should try a Brown Ale. John Bull Brown Ale is what I purchased.

After picking out what seemed to be a great beer the owner of my local Home brew supply store told me I would also need either some dry malt extract (DME), dextrose (corn sugar) or a combination of both. I was advised to start with all corn sugar see how I like it and my next batch I could try something else, so I did.

I immediately went home to brew my first brew. I followed the directions included with the John Bull Kit and had my sweet wort in about 30 minutes. I waited 8 days for the fermentation to finish, primed and bottled all 51 twelve ounce bottles and waited 2 more weeks.

Finally after all that waiting I got to try my creation. I popped the top poured a glass of frothy beauty, took a drink and ewwwwwwww I made Cider. Well it was beer but with a very cidery taste. That taste came from all the corn sugar. I did let the rest of the beer set for another week and it did get a little better but not much.

I learned a couple of very important lessons. First was not to give up after my first batch. Second is I should of done a little homework before brewing my first batch. I'm not saying that you should not use corn sugar, but if I would of communicated a little better of what I was after I could of avoided the whole situation.

Till next time

Kyle