75 replies to this topic

[MtnBrewer]

In an earlier post, Mtn said something about disliking the idea of just throwing stuff together to see how it tastes. I think a lot of people do this (and I have no problem with it) and I think it helps for people to know how certain ingredients will impact their beer.

It's not that I dislike it. As you say, it's a good way to learn. But what I see a lot in the Recipe Swap is people will do that and then ask "will that work?" Well, what does "work" mean? When you start to question them on what kind of beer they want to make, you find out that they don't even know. If you're going to toss a bunch of ingredients together that's absolutely fine but treat it as an experiment and learn from it. Don't try to brew a bunch of beers for your best friend's wedding without some idea of what you want to make.

[Humperdink]

they are irritated with your critique of your own beer? wth?

Yeah, I've seen that. Some people want to just enjoy the beer without nitpicking every detail and it annoys them when you do. That's cool. But most brewers are more critical of their own beers than anyone else ever could be. That's how we get better.

I can't help but analyze damn near every beer I drink, it's just in me now, it irritates SWMBO when we eat out sometimes, lolI got some "Wells Bombardier English Ale" yesterday, at the grocery store, and couldn't help but immediately, try to figure out how to duplicate it, or to better it.

Pretty much these exactly.

[MyaCullen]

did the BJCP do something to piss you guys off? I often use it as a starting point if I know nothing about a style - I also will look at designing great beers. I'm not afraid to go outside of it but I don't completely disregard it either.

they make good generalized criteria, but following them as gospel is only for competition brewing IMHO

[Big Nake]

It's not that I dislike it. As you say, it's a good way to learn. But what I see a lot in the Recipe Swap is people will do that and then ask "will that work?" Well, what does "work" mean? When you start to question them on what kind of beer they want to make, you find out that they don't even know. If you're going to toss a bunch of ingredients together that's absolutely fine but treat it as an experiment and learn from it. Don't try to brew a bunch of beers for your best friend's wedding without some idea of what you want to make.

What I think is really fun is having a good enough feel for the ingredients (grains, hops, yeast) that you can drink a beer and make a reasonably close version at home just going by mental notes. I have now done this 4 or 5 times with various beers that were not available in my area and even though I would never say that I made the exact beer, I would say that I made a beer very much in the spirit of the original. The only way to really get to that point is to just brew, brew, brew and understand what the ingredients are doing (this goes for water additions and all of the other stuff too). Occasionally I see a new grain that I haven't used before like... CaraSchputz™... and I feel like I have to try it so I can know what it lends to beer. Cheers.

[MtnBrewer]

I think the first time that happened to me was when I had a SABL a long time ago. I thought to myself, "This is just a pilsner with some crystal malt."

[BlKtRe]

I think the first time that happened to me was when I had a SABL a long time ago. I thought to myself, "This is just a pilsner with some crystal malt."

And award winning sterling hops!

[djinkc]

I think the first time that happened to me was when I had a SABL a long time ago. I thought to myself, "This is just a pilsner with too much crystal malt."

at least IMO

[denny]

Good, now I can just plagiarize .

Hey, it works for me!

[denny]

It's not that I dislike it. As you say, it's a good way to learn. But what I see a lot in the Recipe Swap is people will do that and then ask "will that work?" Well, what does "work" mean? When you start to question them on what kind of beer they want to make, you find out that they don't even know. If you're going to toss a bunch of ingredients together that's absolutely fine but treat it as an experiment and learn from it. Don't try to brew a bunch of beers for your best friend's wedding without some idea of what you want to make.

I very much agree with this. You have to know where you're going in order to know if you've gotten there.

Edited by denny, 11 April 2012 - 05:20 PM.

[MyaCullen]

I very much agree with this. You have to know where you're going in order to know if you've gotten there.

You mean this isn't Pismo Beach?

[Big Nake]

Here's another angle: When I was early in my brewing, I would make my extract beer, bottle it up, etc., wait until it was carbed (like a good 4-6 weeks) and drink. It was good. But there would be times when I would say, "I'm done with homebrew and I have some good commercial beer in the fridge..." and the commercial stuff would be very nice compared to mine. Now, I rarely have commercial stuff in the house and a lot of the stuff I will drink is just fine but I actually prefer my own now.

[positiveContact]

Here's another angle: When I was early in my brewing, I would make my extract beer, bottle it up, etc., wait until it was carbed (like a good 4-6 weeks) and drink. It was good. But there would be times when I would say, "I'm done with homebrew and I have some good commercial beer in the fridge..." and the commercial stuff would be very nice compared to mine. Now, I rarely have commercial stuff in the house and a lot of the stuff I will drink is just fine but I actually prefer my own now.

ken is drinkin' his own koolaid!!

[Big Nake]

I think the first time that happened to me was when I had a SABL a long time ago. I thought to myself, "This is just a pilsner with some crystal malt."

I totally get this but if you were a real SABL-Head, you would want more than that. You would want to know what hop varieties were used and how, you would want to know what lager yeast was used, etc. and you would want to nail it. It occurs to me that all yeasts lend their own unique qualities to beer (ale or lager) and I usually try to start with that. When I recently made a beer that was supposed to be similar to New Glarus Two Women (probably not familiar to many of you... only sold in WI, IIRC) it started with me deep in the Northwoods of Wisconsin walking down to the pier with a bottle of this stuff in my hand. I took a sip and immediately said "2308!". That's pretty ghey but I swear it was the first thing I tasted. Once you're at that point, the rest can fall nicely into place. Cheers Beerheads!

[beach]

I feel as though most of my beers are quite good and some have been extremely good. However, I still struggle with some of my process and therefore consistency. I too get a picture on my palate and then try to reverse engoneer the beer to make it like the picture. I feel like I am getting better at having a feel for what can get me there but, typically pick something out to change on the next batch of that recipe. I don't think any of my own recipes are finished yet. Meaning I find my own flaws that I don't care for. Many times this isn't consistant with the feedback I recieve. I look to style guidlines as a starting point and go from there, if I go outside those guidelines I don't sweat it. I haven't entered a formal comp and have little/no desire to do so. I brew for me.Beach

[Big Nake]

I brew for me.

Now taking orders for t-shirts with that slogan.

[MtnBrewer]

Now taking orders for t-shirts with that slogan.

The best one I ever saw was: "I Brew Beer, Now Take Off Your Panties". I have that bumper sticker on one of my beer fridges.

[thool]

Most of my beer tastes very good to me, and great to my friends. I have absolutely no desire to join a competition because I could care less if some guy thinks my beer doesn't fit a certain category, nor do I have any desire to fine tune my recipe and process to get a certain ribbon or certificate from some guy.

[gnef]

I find that I typically brew well, and am at a point where most of my beers come out nearly where I expect. I am not that particular though. Haha.I try to do a series of beers, mainly to save money on yeast and starters (direct pitch on slurry, or save the slurry for the next batch), and it has definitely helped me with my brewing to follow a single yeast through 5 or more beers.The beer series I choose typically is of styles that I haven't brewed before, so that trying something new also interests me. I also like testing myself to see if I am able to brew a new style well without having had any examples of the style (I bring these to beer club to get critiques). I am about to plan a saison series because it is such a flexible style (or so I've heard), and I am interested to see what kind of range I can brew with it.I really do wish I had a better palate though to be able to distinguish the contributions from each ingredient and process. I don't brew often enough any more to really be able to hone each individual part, but I feel I've gotten to the point where I understand the biology and chemistry of most of the processes.

[bigdaddyale]

Im still disappointed in the beer I brew.I have picked one recipe (MLPA) and will brew it over and over again till I get a perfect beer.Tweaking the water was a giant step forward but I still have a couple of off flavors and bitterness I don't like.I still need to try some of the things I read here. I think my water is always changing so Im going to start using 100% ro and build it up.I have a good set up for fermentation- water bath going through a industrial cooler so I can maintain 62 F fermentation.I had a sanitation problem but figured that out.Not sanitizing under the rubber gasket of the lid on my plastic buckets.I had a bad batch of starsan and my house water was to hard and causing it to cloud up.I also switched to fermenting in corny kegs.

[gnef]

I'm sorry to hear of your troubles! I'm glad that it sounds like you are getting most of that figured out.If you need help creating water profiles, I made an excel spreadsheet a long time ago when I was brewing in Texas and I had to build my water profiles from scratch because I had to use RO water (the well water was unusable, and softened water is also unusable).I actually recommend getting a household RO system if you can, and upgrading the storage tank so that you can pull out 5+ gallons at a time (mine can now do about 8+ gallons at a time if I want, but recharge rate is slow - typical of household RO systems).If you get a household RO system, you can also use the RO water for your starsan, which is what I do, and store it in a keg or a fermenter when making larger batches.Working with your brewing salts will help you understand more about your mash as well. Even though I don't use RO water any more (Atlanta water is much better than Austin water for brewing!), when I have a significant portion of darker malts, I will always buffer with some calcium carbonate or something similar, and I have yet to have any pH issues.Have you had a good example of MLPA? If not, maybe aim for something that you know what the end product should taste like, and that you definitely enjoy. I think this will help you to be able to nail down specifics of anything that you might need to change. Best of luck!