What Is The Easiest Type Of Beer To Brew? » Get My Easy Guide
As a beginner level homebrewer, it can be quite overwhelming to pick a type of beer to start off with.
In this blog post, I will go over some of the easiest types of beer to brew to help you pick a beer recipe you can complete without any trouble.
What Is the Easiest Type of Beer to Brew? Ale is considered the easiest beer to brew among most homebrewers. When brewing ales it is very easy to make up for any mistakes that may have occurred. Ales are very easy to salvage, which is one of the main reasons why they are considered the easiest type of beer to make.
If you want some information on various types of beer you can easily brew, keep reading this post as I dive into detail about some very easy beer styles you can make!
Read Also: Best Beer Recipe Kits
So, What Is the Easiest Type of Beer to Brew?
Among most homebrewers, it is well-known that ales are probably the easiest beer type to make.
Ales are very forgiving in their brewing process, meaning that even if you make some errors it is quite easy to salvage the beer, whereas other beer types can get completely ruined if you mess up any part of the brewing process.
As a beginner, it can be tempting to get into the more advanced beer types like Imperials or Lagers etc. but you should probably stick to something straightforward, to begin with.
TIP: I would personally recommend that as a beginner you stick to making ales for the first few months.
I would also recommend you stick to ingredient kits using extract since it is a fool-proof way to brew beer at home successfully.
As you get more used to the brewing process and completely stop making errors, you can choose to move on and try out all-grain methods and more advanced beer styles.
5 Easy-to-Brew Beer Types
Below you will find 5 different beer types that are all very easy to make, you may notice right away that the vast majority of these are ales.
The reason for this is quite simply that ales are the easiest style of beer to brew.
American Amber Ale
An American amber ale, or amber ales, in general, is a household favorite among many beer drinkers.
Amber ales generally have less hop-flavor and focus more on the malt flavors of the beer. The amber ales use less acidic hops which results in a hop flavor that isn’t as overpowering as other types of ales and beers in general.
The amber ale has a very specific color.
Beers with an amber color like the American amber ale is due to the use of darker roasted malts along with light malts.
When you use these darker roasted malts it results in a dark amber color when you brew your amber ale.
The amber ale is a very straight-forward beer type to brew with a quite simple process that has no real room for errors.
American Amber Recipe Kit
- Brewer's Best American Amber
- Pale Ale malt combined with medium caramel malt creates a rich, copper color
- Contents: Ingredients, Priming Sugar, Grain Bag(s), Bottle Caps, Brewing Procedures
Last update on 2024-04-24 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
You can check this example of American amber ale on Amazon to get some inspiration.
American Pale Ale
The American Pale Ale is quite similar to the brewing of the amber ale, but is different in terms of the hops used and how they affect this beer.
The grain used can be almost identical, but the pale ale has a far more potent hop flavor to it that makes it quite different in taste compared to the amber ale.
One huge plus of using a heavy hop bill in brewing, is that it can quite easy cover up errors you may have made.
The potent taste coming from the hops can easily mask any odd-flavor that may have occurred if you messed up a little during your brewing.
This is probably the biggest reason why this beer is very suitable for beginners, simply because it is very easy to make up for any mistakes you may have made.
Depending on the pale ale you’re brewing the amount of hops added may differ, and the adding of these mops may also be in various intervals.
Some recipes throw all the hops into the boiling while some adapt a second boil and add more hops to get some unique flavors and aromas to the pale ale.
American Pale Ale Recipe Kit
- Brewer's Best American Pale Ale
- IBUs: 32-36
- Moderately Strong Hop Aroma and Bitterness
Last update on 2024-04-24 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
If you want to buy your own American Pale Ale brewing kit you can check out this link to Amazon.
American Wheat Ale
An American Wheat Ale is actually a beer inspired heavily by the German Hefeweizen beer type.
This style of beer is described to have a light to medium body, a cloudy look and with flavors of citrus, clove and banana.
Its name is due to the high amount of wheat used, between 50 to 70% which really gives it a unique and characteristic flavor and look.
The biggest difference between the German and the American version of this beer is the various types of hops and yeast used.
The American version has a way more notable hop profile and uses American ale yeast while the German version doesn’t focus as much on hops and uses German ale yeast.
Overall a very easy beer to brew, and similar to the pale ale since it uses a big hop bill, making it easy to make a comeback if you make any errors during brewing.
American Wheat Ale Recipe Kit
- Product Type :Mechanical Components
- Package Dimensions :33.78Cm L X17.27Cm W X14.99Cm H
- Country Of Origin :United States
Last update on 2024-04-24 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Find more examples of American Wheat ale here clicking on this link (Amazon link).
American Brown Ale
This type of brown ale comes on both American or English versions, with the key difference being the hop content.
The American brown ale uses a substantial amount of American hops and American yeast, where the English version uses ingredients from various nationalities.
Similar in color to the amber ale, but slightly darker due to the use of dark malt in the brewing process.
Once again we are dealing with a beer that is very easy to brew, and can easily be salvaged if anything goes wrong.
American Brown Ale Recipe Kit
- Product Type :Mechanical Components
- Package Dimensions :33.528Cm L X17.272Cm W X16.256Cm H
- Country Of Origin :United States
Last update on 2024-04-24 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Check more variations of American Brown Ale here.
TIP: Brown ale is often used in cooking, so if you don’t find the taste perfect you may not have to throw it out, since you may find a use for it in your everyday cooking activities.
Porters
The porter is quite similar to the brown ale in terms of its brewing process and is also one of the easily-salvageable beer types to make.
Like the brown ale it comes in an American and an English version where the American version has a heavier hop bill compared to the English one.
Porters use dark malts which is what makes the beer very dark in color but also gives it resilience making it less susceptible to failure.
The flavor as well as the alcohol levels of home made porters also has a natural ability to cover up any off-tastes quite efficiently.
Porters Recipe Kit
- Color: deep brown
- Dark brown in color
- Brewing difficulty: intermediate
Last update on 2024-04-24 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
You can check out Amazon’s variety of porter ingredient kits here.
What Beer Style Should You Pick as a Beginner?
Any of the above beer styles will guarantee you don’t have a difficult time brewing if it is your first time.
As a beginner I would recommend you stick to extract kits as they are far more easy than going all-grain right away.
Find an ale or a porter recipe you like, and hop right into brewing your own beer today!
If you are a beginner and wonder what gear you need to get starter you can read my blog post “What Every Home Brewer Needs” for inspiration.
Related Questions
What is the Hardest Beer to Brew? Lagers are generally considered the hardest type of beer to brew. They require very specific aging times and conditions that makes the room for failure quite large. Other difficult beers to brew are Wood aged beers, Wheat/Oat/Rye beers and Lambic style beers.
Are IPAs Easy to Brew? IPAs aren’t the easiest type of beer to brew, but they are far more easy than the similar Lager style of beer brewing. Like Lagers IPAs use many of the same processes, but without the big risks of failing. They are more forgiving in terms of off-flavors and can be salvaged very easily.
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