WOOT! My loving wife wants to purchase the bare essentials to delve into AG for me at Xmax! She asked me a question i cannot quite answer. " What would you want to brew as your first AG?" Hmmmm… That’s a hard one to answer! So I pose this question to all… What was your very first AG brew… and why? Recipes are ALWAYS welcome of course!
Porter, because it’s awesome. Seriously though, welcome to AG, enjoy it.
oh yeah porter can be a forgiving first batch too, covers over some of those first-time oops
Brew what you like! Its basically the same process. If you really want my opinion I say a nice IPA “because it’s awesome”. To quote jaybeerman.
My first AG beer was a very basic pale ale. It didn’t turn out very well, but fortunately I was hooked by the process and followed that first batch with a porter. By the time my sub-par pale was ready to drink, the porter was also just about done. That porter took second best-of-show in the first competition I ever entered and the hook was set for good. My advice is to brew a style that you really like, and remember that the hardest beers to brew are those with the lightest and most delicate flavors (light lagers, etc). Stick with a beer that has about 5% ABV and a big, bold flavor. Have fun!
My first three AG batches were blonde ales. I had to brew it three times to get it right, it was important because it was for a buddy’s wedding - the same guy whose wedding ceremony I did earlier this month, but not the same girl ;D
The first batch tasted like the garden hose I used to fill the HLT.
The second batch was grainy and astringent, because I oversparged.
The third batch was just right 
Brew whatever style you like, but I recommend a single infusion for your first batch.
My first all grain brew was Mike McDole’s Tasty American IPA. Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale is a favorite of my wife and mine. I figured an award winning clone recipe was a good place to start, because at least then the recipe wasn’t in question and I could reduce any problems with the final product to technique.
Ordinary Bitter for me because it was inexpensive and the time between brewday and drinking was short.
J
Brew the same thing that is your best extract beer. That way you will have something to compare.
You will be wishing you had done it a long time ago 8)
Mine was an American Barleywine. Never was one to start something timidly!
It was awesome, too.
Munich helles. I love the flavor/aroma of Hallertauer hops!
Goldie Locks!
I can’t remember what my first AG was, but I’d go with Tubercle’s advice to be able to make a valid comparison.
I brewed for 3 years with a ZapPap lauter tun and my kettle did double duty as a mash tun. I would mash for an hour, transfer the mash to the ZapPap with a saucepan and then I sparged by pouring water over the mash with the saucepan. Even with this simple and primitive method my AG beers were drastically better than my extract beers.
My first AG beer was an APA. It’s a great recipe to start out with in that it is fairly foolproof…and the recipe is simple.
I can post a good recipe if you would like.
Let us know how you make out. Good Luck!
I remember trying to make a Continental Lager as my first all grain beer. I figured if I could do that I could make anything. First try was Continental Gold from “Winner’s Circle” a book of winning recipes from late 1980’s and early 1990’s NHC. My notes show good efficiency, but perhaps a sour flavor.
I made this three times and then proceeded to IPA’s.
Doesnt matter what you brew the first time. What matters is that you’ve come over to the Dark Side! Welcome My first was a Pacific Northwest style Amber and it was delicious! The malt flavor you get from AG is amazing in comparison to extract. Good luck!
My first all grain was an ESB that did not turn out that well. It was way over-attenuated due to my mash temps being too low. I changed it’s name to Lightning Water ESB and eventually ended up using it as drain cleaner. But my brews improved pretty rapidly as I gradually got my system and process dialed in.
I’d suggest something straightforward so you can concentrate on learning technique. Avoid dark beers so you don’t have to sweat pH issues. Avoid high gravity beers so you don’t have to deal with efficiency issues from high gravity beers. Something along the lines of an APA or blond ale would be good choices.
Blonde ale. I had wanted to try my hand at a Shipyard Export Ale clone, and I think it turned out pretty darn close. What was absolutely amazing to me, after having brewed 30-some batches of extract beer, was the enormous depth of grainy flavors from the base malt that you simply CANNOT GET from extract. I’ve been brewing all-grain ever since. Only looked back once to see if it was possible to make halfway decent beer with extract. Answer? Yes, it is possible to make pretty good beer with extract. But to make really truly EXCEPTIONAL beer, I am a proponent that all-grain, or AT LEAST partial-mash, is undoubtedly the way to go.
That’s a good point, that I forgot about. It helps to know what kind of water you’re dealing with (hopefully from previous EG brews). Don’t forget though that for some of us not “sweating ph issues” means having to brew dark beers. All depends on your water.
My first AG was Blond Ale.
I remember I had a hard time to hit my temp.