Any reason why not to stick to pre-established recipes?

I have this book, Extreme Brewing, and I really am liking the many of the recipes in there, including the not so extreme ones. I see many of you start making your own recipes after like your first or second batch, while I was interested in continuing on with a bunch more of what's in my book. Any real reason that I shouldn't do this? will I be like "less" of a homebrewer?

There's no real reason you shouldn't continue with what's in the book. If it makes you happy, then brew the way you want to!

-Steve

Dave6187 said:

Any real reason that I shouldn't do this? will I be like "less" of a homebrewer?

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No. Drink what you like. Brew what you drink.

At some point you may find yourself saying, "man, I really like this beer, but if it just had 'x', it would be really great". Then you'll start making recipes.

There are so many variations and endless recipe combinations. After a while you will start tweaking and experimenting.

yea, that's pretty much where I was planning on heading. Like "well this beer is great, but lets see what happens if I use these hops instead"

thanks guys

I've always been one to tweak things a little time to time or outright improvise when I cook, whether due to ingredients on hand or just a little experimentation. Brewing to me is no different on that front. Even my first two brews had changes to them if only due to learning that the Mr. Beer recipes weren't up to snuff. Actually I've experimented less since getting a proper setup - there are a lot of established recipes I want to try out. Still, I have some experiments lined up on my plate too, eventually.

But if I didn't want to design my own recipes, and rather kept with established ones? I wouldn't feel lesser at all - I'd still be making my own beer. There are hundreds, even thousands of recipes out there, from expert designers with long experience, and I could spend a lifetime sampling them. The down side of designing your own recipe is knowing that there's one more tried and true beer out there you will never have time to make.

The imperial pale ale is beyond belief.

.... or maybe adding one of these specialty grains instead, or maybe using a different yeast strain instead, or maybe adding honey to bump up the A.B.V. %, or maybe .... ?

I think sticking to proven recipes is great... if you can find a source of proven recipes. I have been very happy with Jamil's recipes and some others I have found. I have brewed to of Edwort's recipes from here on HBT.

Once you get more into your brewing, you will understand the ingredients and your system better and be able to craft your vision of beer. Each recipe is a chance to be an artist.

Warning: Until you have a grasp on everything, make proven recipes. Otherwise you will be more like the starving artist selling art no-one wants.

The only thing that makes a brewer a good brewer, is that they make damn good beer. Sure, the more experience you get....the more you're likely to have particular preferences in recipes (be it creating recipes, altering your favorite recipes, or picking particular recipes to try). As long as you're still learning when you're brewing, you're a "real" brewer! But, well brewing is like cooking. I'd much rather have an excellent meal prepared by someone who was following a world class cook's recipe vs having say some made up Paula Dean recipe.

kinda an OT question: is it possible to bump up the ABV % just by adding some extra sugar/honey/etc

Man I really want to get started on brewing! It's gonna take a lot of self control to wait till it's done fermenting.... It's not like I can RDWHAHB, I have no home brews yet....

Dave6187 said:

kinda an OT question: is it possible to bump up the ABV % just by adding some extra sugar/honey/etc

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Oh no....sounds like you've got the bug Yes, you'll be brewing once a week or so....so that you will always have homebrew at hand! Anyway, yes....sounds like you're already on your way to understanding beer recipes. Corn sugar is a great way to bump up your ABV without adding much flavor. My extra foreign stout recipe that I'm trying now has 1lb of corn sugar in it to raise the ABV (1.073 OG), while still keeping it dry.

Many Belgian recipes bump ABV up with candi sugar. There is a slight off flavor with it....so I find it's most suitable for Belgian or Scottish recipes.

Brewing to extremes still requires talent and discipline.

Find a commercial beer you would die to have on tap 24/7. Find a reliable clone and brew it. Tweak it. Perfect it until it is a very close resemblance to what you would pay $8.00 per six pack for.

Then...you'll be ready to move on to extreme creations. Without a base knowledge and experience of brewing to exacting standards, brewing extreme styles/recipes will be like throwing darts in the dark. You may hit a bulls-eye, but you'll not know why or how to repeat.

Hell, I've been brewing for almost a year - 40 to 45 batches, and I still usually brew proven recipes - I may have adjusted some of them a bit but I still used them as a baseline. It was only two weeks ago that I brewed the first recipe that I primarily came up with myself. Nothing wrong with that, I'm making great beer that I love to drink.

The HBT recipe database is a great resource. I think every full batch I've made was based on a recipe I found here at HBT and I've never been disappointed - and most of them, I've made more than once. I've learned a lot by doing that, and making minor changes to see the differences.

davesrose said:

Oh no....sounds like you've got the bug Yes, you'll be brewing once a week or so....so that you will always have homebrew at hand! Anyway, yes....sounds like you're already on your way to understanding beer recipes. Corn sugar is a great way to bump up your ABV without adding much flavor. My extra foreign stout recipe that I'm trying now has 1lb of corn sugar in it to raise the ABV (1.073 OG), while still keeping it dry.

Many Belgian recipes bump ABV up with candi sugar. There is a slight off flavor with it....so I find it's most suitable for Belgian or Scottish recipes.

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Mmmkay, thanks! A whole bunch of my friends have been telling me to make some sorta beer with an insane ABV, and call it f*ck you ale...

BierMuncher said:

Brewing to extremes still requires talent and discipline.

Find a commercial beer you would die to have on tap 24/7. Find a reliable clone and brew it. Tweak it. Perfect it until it is a very close resemblance to what you would pay $8.00 per six pack for.

Then...you'll be ready to move on to extreme creations. Without a base knowledge and experience of brewing to exacting standards, brewing extreme styles/recipes will be like throwing darts in the dark. You may hit a bulls-eye, but you'll not know why or how to repeat.

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Yea, I've been told that a few times before about the extreme brewing methods. Not all the recipes in this book are "extreme" and I've got a few lined up from the archives here I can't wait to try :fro:

I've yet to make the same batch (exactly) twice. Some brewers really like brewing for style or consistency, I tend to approach it more like an artisanal endeavor - no two are alike . . .

Dave6187 said:

Mmmkay, thanks! A whole bunch of my friends have been telling me to make some sorta beer with an insane ABV, and call it f*ck you ale...

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It's already been made....check out Dogfish 120 clone recipes I think the biggest one I've seen is like 23% ABV.

Personally, I can care less about beers going over 11%....most youtube hits for DogFish 120 I've noticed are not beer reviews: instead, they're people being dared to chug 120. Why spend that much to only chug? Why not chug some really cheap pint of whiskey?

I'd say treat brewing just like you would any other recipe. I know personally I still cook meals based on the same recipe that's been passed down for generations. Sure, I might add an extra clove of garlic or a pinch of another spice, but the inspiration creates the foundation that it's built upon.

Even if you follow a recipe by the book, your own conditions, water, brewing times, hop crop, and everything else will ultimately make it a little different. That isn't good or bad, it just means you're following instructions that are known to make something that falls within a certain category. You're free to expand upon it, and even if you just follow it by the book it doesn't make you any less of a home brewer. That being said, as you evolve through the brewing process you're probably going to start altering recipes even if just slightly, and that will make a big difference in the end product. But just because you based it off an existing recipe doesn't make you any less of a brewer just as adding a few pinches of spice or a different technique to a standard pot roast recipe would make you any less of a cook.

For me as a brewer, when I first started out I was making all kinds of beer just experimenting, making things I liked and just doing whatever.

then later part of my goal to become a good brewer was to be able to correctly recreate other peoples master work , because only after understating style types, and being able to correctly make a style can you truly be ready you create your own masterpieces

It is amazing how much better a brewer you will become in the pursuit of consistency and accuracy.

I'm only seven brews in so far, I done an extract, a partial, an extract with some changes and the rest I found here. For me it was a matter of finding what I like to do and what I like to drink.

There are enough talented brewers here that I could do two batches a week and still not get through them in a year. And I'm not even talking about tweaking them!

Do what I do, raise a glass and enjoy the ride!

BierMuncher said:

Brewing to extremes still requires talent and discipline.

Find a commercial beer you would die to have on tap 24/7. Find a reliable clone and brew it. Tweak it. Perfect it until it is a very close resemblance to what you would pay $8.00 per six pack for.

Then...you'll be ready to move on to extreme creations. Without a base knowledge and experience of brewing to exacting standards, brewing extreme styles/recipes will be like throwing darts in the dark. You may hit a bulls-eye, but you'll not know why or how to repeat.

Click to expand...

+1 I ran off the road too quick and started doing some strange brews and now find myself back to the basics of making quality styles that I like - rather than saying.....hmmmmm...Victory is a cool name for a malt, how 'bout 2 lbs in a brew, or....hmmmmm....how about 0.25 lb of chocolate malt and double hops just to kick up an amber a little (both very drinkable beers btw - mainly because the technique was good; but I doubt I'll make them again). Now, I'm back to my quest to brew the perfect IPA.