Wing It

How many of you guys just think of a recipe and make it, possibly using brewing software, hoping for the best? Is there anyway of knowing if a brew will be good before you start, or just go for it and in the end you still get Beer?

He he he.....well......I wing it alot. I've gotten tired of reading recipe after recipe and then thinking to myself....(How many of these freakin recipes are there and what makes one better than the other?)

I've been brewing for a while now and basically just brew to my own tastes. When I want to try a different style or something different than what I've done.....I do consult a few recipes out there to get the general idea and then cater it to my own tastes. It's kind of liberating actually seeing just how easy it is to formulate your own recipes.

You can make it more dry, more sweet, more hopppy, less hoppy, more bitter, less bitter, more alcoholic, less alcoholic...........as long as you're not entering it in a competition where you have to conform to a style guide......sky is the limit.

Homebrewing is all about making what YOU like to drink. (If fact, if you find a brew that you love and all your friends hate.....I'd brew that one alot ) And afterall, like you pointed out..........you always end up with beer......good beer at that.

That is all I do... To date the only recipe that I have made that wasn't my own was Edworts Apfelwein.

Figure out what style or taste you want to go with and use a good brewing program like BrewSmith or iBrewmaster (my favorite) to tweak it. Like BBL_Brewer said, sky is the limit!

I always take someone's recipe I think looks good and then plug it into brewpal and F with it for my style, ingredients I have on hand, extract / partial mash grain bill from all grain, how dry I want the beer etc. I always end up changing something or many things about the recipe and then I try it and see how it is. Best part about the hobby.

The only batch I've made that wasn't a recipe from me was my very first batch and it was from a kit. I always look at other recipes to get and idea of what other's think belong in a style then use software to help me adjust my thoughts on ingredients to get the numbers where I want them. Process is another part.. I have my basic process down pretty standard and try not to vary it without intention. Recipe formulation is really only half of the story. Mash temps/technique, fermentation temps, aeration, etc. etc. all play a huge role in what we make. So unless you're going way outside of a reasonable level of some ingredient you can make good beer with it.

thanks for all the replies everybody, ive been debating making a couple recipes i came up with using brewmate. Ive made 4 kits and made my own wheat ale that turned out okay, im looking to make the wheat ale better but also want to make other beers too. ive done one partial mash, and the rest were extract kits. I would like to do more partial mash, but have no way of crushing/cracking the grains open.

Buy a barley crusher.....it will pay itself off in cost savings rather quickly vs using extract to brew with.

I enjoy winging it, but recently started down a path of brewing to style. My next 80 beers are going to be straight out of brewing classic styles.

I feel like this will make me a better brewer, learning the sometimes minute differences between styles.

o4_srt said:

I enjoy winging it, but recently started down a path of brewing to style. My next 80 beers are going to be straight out of brewing classic styles.

I feel like this will make me a better brewer, learning the sometimes minute differences between styles.

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While I may not stay quite THIS conservative, I like to brew a tried and true recipe from an experienced brewer who has provided brewing and tasting notes to see how well I like it and how close I get to the original. From there I will tweak it based on my personal tastes and what I have on hand.

I truly feel that great brewing is like great art...you have to know the rules and how to follow them in order to know how to break them right

Anyone can throw a bunch of crap in a kettle and call it beer. A brewer crafts his recipes, walking the line between style, personal preference, and experimentation.

TANSTAAFB said:

While I may not stay quite THIS conservative, I like to brew a tried and true recipe from an experienced brewer who has provided brewing and tasting notes to see how well I like it and how close I get to the original. From there I will tweak it based on my personal tastes and what I have on hand.

I truly feel that great brewing is like great art...you have to know the rules and how to follow them in order to know how to break them right

Anyone can throw a bunch of crap in a kettle and call it beer. A brewer crafts his recipes, walking the line between style, personal preference, and experimentation.

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Exactly why I am heading down this path. Plus, I'll have 240+ gallons of beer to drink (I make 3 gallon batches).

I like experimenting. I like trying new things. I'm 26, there are a ton of styles that I have not experienced yet. But I will have once I finish this adventure.

o4_srt said:

Exactly why I am heading down this path. Plus, I'll have 240+ gallons of beer to drink (I make 3 gallon batches).

I like experimenting. I like trying new things. I'm 26, there are a ton of styles that I have not experienced yet. But I will have once I finish this adventure.

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You should start your own thread to keep us updated on this epic adventure in brewing my friend...I'll be the first to subscribe

TANSTAAFB said:

You should start your own thread to keep us updated on this epic adventure in brewing my friend...I'll be the first to subscribe

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Perhaps, it'll take several years, I work full time, attend college full time, and have projects to so on the house during the summer. My brew days are few and far between, but I brew at every available occasion.

Just made the first of 80 this past weekend with one small change: cream ale with kolsch yeast,

I brewed one batch to a recipe, from then on i found it uninteresting to follow a recipe and starting throwing stuff i knew i liked in there.

Now, i make all sorts of fun stuff. My next beer might be a true winner (not in style, because it is its own style) and im really excited to brew it. but i have to wait cuz i have 10 gallons in 2ndary and i dont have room for it to sit around right now... oh well a few more weeks.

o4_srt said:

Perhaps, it'll take several years, I work full time, attend college full time, and have projects to so on the house during the summer. My brew days are few and far between, but I brew at every available occasion.

Just made the first of 80 this past weekend with one small change: cream ale with kolsch yeast,

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Me too man...34, full time work, just finished the undergrad and start the grad in the Fall...

Brew On :rockin:

You should still document the journey

TANSTAAFB said:

Me too man...34, full time work, just finished the undergrad and start the grad in the Fall...

Brew On :rockin:

You should still document the journey

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Just got home from work, took some pictures of the cream ale fermentation, was going to start a thread, but the swmbo is still awake. I'll have to so it tomorrow between class and work.

o4_srt said:

Just got home from work, took some pictures of the cream ale fermentation, was going to start a thread, but the swmbo is still awake. I'll have to so it tomorrow between class and work.

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Take care of the lady man, the beer takes care of itself