I've been brewing for about a year and a half. I switched over to all grain in December, though I use the brew in a bag method because I'm still in an apartment. That will change once I move to a house in the next couple years.
I've made about a dozen batches of beer (3 AG) and and 2 batches of cider.
My favorite extract beer was was the wheat beer kit from Northern Brewer.
My favorite all grain batch has been:
~5.4 ABV hazy wheat beer. When I bottle the batch sitting in secondary right now, I'm going to try adding blackberry extract. See how that goes.
I've also been (as noted above), messing with cider. My 2 batches have been using the Whole Foods apple juice that comes in the glass bottle. I used a hef yeast for the first one (interesting flavor) and a nottingham in the second. The first came out odd. My uncle loved it, but he was the only one. The second batch I tried to backsweeten so my gf would like it. I ended up putting 2-3 tbs (2, 2.5 and 3) of apple juice concentrate in each bottle. After 3 days the 2.0 tbs was perfect taste, not enough carb. Let it sit longer, 6 days after the 3.0s all exploded. The rest all gushed, so no pasteurizing them to save them. When I finish my experiments with it (a couple more batches) I will likely post my results to homebrewtalk.
I've made about a dozen batches of beer (3 AG) and and 2 batches of cider.
My favorite extract beer was was the wheat beer kit from Northern Brewer.
My favorite all grain batch has been:
Code:
6lb Bel Wheat
4lb Amer. 2 row
1 oz hallertau (@ 60 min)
SA-05 yeast
1/2 cup flour (@ 5 min) <- for haze
~3.5 gal mash @150F
~4.25 gal sparge @168F
(accounts for water loss, as determined empirically. Comes out pretty close)
60 minute boil
Primary 7 days
Secondary 14 days
I bottle, and use corn sugar. This beer got good at ~10 days after bottling (right level of carbonation and flavor)~5.4 ABV hazy wheat beer. When I bottle the batch sitting in secondary right now, I'm going to try adding blackberry extract. See how that goes.
I've also been (as noted above), messing with cider. My 2 batches have been using the Whole Foods apple juice that comes in the glass bottle. I used a hef yeast for the first one (interesting flavor) and a nottingham in the second. The first came out odd. My uncle loved it, but he was the only one. The second batch I tried to backsweeten so my gf would like it. I ended up putting 2-3 tbs (2, 2.5 and 3) of apple juice concentrate in each bottle. After 3 days the 2.0 tbs was perfect taste, not enough carb. Let it sit longer, 6 days after the 3.0s all exploded. The rest all gushed, so no pasteurizing them to save them. When I finish my experiments with it (a couple more batches) I will likely post my results to homebrewtalk.