I rolled out a goofy batch, my own term, of the LTDH22 Amber Ale in preparation for the Learn To Homebrew on November 5, 2022. I can say without a doubt I learned alot from this brew. As a little background, this was only my second batch of beer I have brewed and my first extract brew.
So what did I learn?
1. Make sure to follow the recipe!
2. Extract does make things a bit easier.
3. Brewing is super fun!
4. You get better the more you practice.
5. Mistakes are ways to grasp the concepts of successful brewing.
Notes on the above
1. When the recipe tells you that the final yield will produce 1 gallon of beer when starting with 2 gallons of water you should get that and all the numbers will work. Don't use a pre boil pot of 3 gallons of water for a final yield of 1 gallon unless you want to spend an extra few hours boiling down your wort.
2. The first time doing an extract can be a bit easier when starting brewing. And spilled DME gets super sticky when even a small amount is spilled on a hard surface when there is a high humidity level the air.
3. The art of brewing has many fine points that can make or break a brew. But, I did enjoy hanging out with my brother-in-law making this beer and shooting the bull on a rainy evening while drinking another brew.
4. Brewing a batch of beer on my own without the assistance of a fellow experienced brewer teaches you alot. I made sure I went through the entire process from beginning to end and grasped a few of the steps that I knew were necessary but didn't really have down.
5. Mistakes made on this brew were small but frustrating and made me look harder at my notes. I was pretty quickly able to see where I made mistakes and how to correct them in the future. For example, the recipe called for 2 gallons of water, and my lack of attention had me starting with 3 gallons of water. My yield was much larger than I expected. Because my OG was significantly lower than I expected as will my FG and Total ABV. It will still make a beer, maybe more of a table beer. After some recalculations I am likely looking at an ABV of 2.48%. Had I followed the recipe exactly, I would have been looking at an expected OG of 1.058.
I am still enjoying everything and can't wait for fermentation to complete in a few weeks in preparation for carbonation and bottling. I will share the final results at that time and may have to make one more attempt at this recipe.