creating a recipe: real differences between malts, grains, hops, yeast?

benjaminjay · 05-11-2009, 04:00 AM

The reoccurring theme i find while browsing hundreds of different peoples recipes online is that the combination of malts, grains, hops and yeast, are rarely ever explained and many times seem like merely a preference amongst so many choices. Is there a comprehensive guide to the majority of choices in these four major categories? Obviously a yeast choice is narrowed down to your desired type of beer, but what about the flavors created by yeast, such as the "banana" flavors Belgian yeasts are famous for. Malts/Grains and Hops are categorized based on beer types too, but I've seen a lot more crossing-over between types than with the yeasts.
If somebody has a resource that would help me to understand more clearly the specific effects of each ingredient on the final recipe, rather than stick to the tried and true mixtures to achieve a specific taste, I would be very grateful ! My goal is to create an Ale that has a Malt body similar to a Dopplebock or Dunkel, and a sweetness/citrus essence similar to a Belgian, but with a medium to high ABV%. My first idea is to do a barley wine style ale, but don't feel like waiting for the bottle condition. Any help would be greatly appreciated !

**944play** · 05-11-2009, 05:07 AM

The BJCP Guidelines have blurbs about the typical ingredients used in each style.
Also, there's this:
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/ingredient-guides-redux-107308/

kenche · 05-11-2009, 06:54 AM

You need to read designing great beers by Ray Daniels.

It goes into great detail regarding recipe formulation. I am pretty sure that this is exactly what you are looking for.

**944play** · 05-11-2009, 08:02 AM

I was going to suggest DGB, but honestly, it reads pretty outdatedly (it doesn't really differentiate between AIPA and EIPA, for example) and doesn't cover a lot of relevant styles (like ANY Belgian). The most I've learned about brewing (to) styles came from The Jamil Show.

Quote:

Originally Posted by benjaminjay

My goal is to create an Ale that has a Malt body similar to a Dopplebock or Dunkel, and a sweetness/citrus essence similar to a Belgian, but with a medium to high ABV%.

That malt character comes from a large portion of Munich, up to 100%.
I don't know what Belgian yeast would deliver citrus, but WLP530/WY3787 is very fruity and pleasant to me. Citrus can come from American hops - like Chinook, Cascade, and Summit - and a few others like New Zealand's Riwaka (kumquat) and Japan's Sorachi Ace (lemon).

It sounds like a bizarre mashup. Heavy German maltiness, flamboyant Belgian yeast character, and brash American hops sounds like a lot going on in one glass. I wonder what Optimator, Pliny, and Westmalle mixed together would taste like?

malkore · 05-11-2009, 10:10 PM

Also the hop shortage over the last 18 months has forced many of us to substitute hops, especially US varieties in place of English/European varieties...which causes some of the recipes to appear generic at times.
Plus there are new hop varieties out that people experimented with, giving rise to new recipes of various styles but using the same hop varieties.

the BJCP guidelines, malt info, hop info, and the books listed above will all help.

However, in a sense you are right that no matter how you choose ingredients, malt + hops + water + yeast = beer

headfullahops · 06-04-2009, 05:20 AM

Most of the ingredients that go into a beer style are determined by where the style originated. German beers have German malt, hops, and yeast, English beers have English malt, hops, and yeast, American beers - well the line is blurring there. Outside of that, what you brew and what you use to brew it is totally personal preference. That's the benefit to being a home brewer!