Boring Brewer?

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billf2112

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Joined
Oct 25, 2010
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Location
Stowe, Pa
I am starting to feel like a boring brewer. I have very specific beer taste and although I do like to sample other brews, I get this at my brew club meetings.

I have actually gotten into a brewing pattern. Red ale (my fav brew), a stout of some kind, an odd brew (lager, weizen...) Repeat. I am gettibg ready to start this same cycle for the third time. Is this bad? Has anyone else gotten into something like this? I have been brewing smaller (3.5 gallon) batches and maybe I just ran out to fast.

I was just looking at my brewing hit list and thought, didn't I just do this?
 
lots of people do this hobby for lots of reasons - if yours is to make beers you like to have around the house all the time - that's fantastic!

I find myself running out of the stuff I really want to show off and with too much of my random experimental batches. You sound smarter.
 
My to brew list is getting huge. I'm not a beer nerd or snob so I like to try everything I haven't tried before. Which is a lot because I can't see spending tons of money on craft beers. I haven't made a recipe twice yet, even though I'd like to.

Look at your pattern as a good thing. You likely have a few recipes down pat and can make a perfect beer that you love. I can't say this, so far I have wanted to change at least one thing on every batch, and I can't make these changes until I brew them again. God knows when that will be.

Try brewing something festive this time around, that might break that routine of yours. Holiday beer? Pumpkin?
 
My neighbor brews pale ales. Not quite exclusively, but I'd say over 80% of what he brews are pale ales. Yes, he'll try different hops or yeast strains. He likes to always perfect his favorite recipe, but pale ales (bordering on IPA's) are what he likes. And you know what, I always love tasting the subtle differences of the pales that he makes. It's amazing how one style can be done in so many different ways and I know I don't find his brews, or the repition of them, to be boring.

Though I am the polar oppoisite. There are only two recipes that I have ever brewed twice. I love playing with different styles, and ingredients, and just always coming up with something different to be next. Though he has rubbed off a bit on me as I've started thinking about a style or two that I'd really love to master.
 
I am starting to feel like a boring brewer. I have very specific beer taste and although I do like to sample other brews, I get this at my brew club meetings.

I have actually gotten into a brewing pattern. Red ale (my fav brew), a stout of some kind, an odd brew (lager, weizen...) Repeat. I am gettibg ready to start this same cycle for the third time. Is this bad? Has anyone else gotten into something like this? I have been brewing smaller (3.5 gallon) batches and maybe I just ran out to fast.

I was just looking at my brewing hit list and thought, didn't I just do this?

I think its better to nail down a few recipes and work on repeatability than brew every style as fast as you can.
 
I have a similar habit. I brew a recipe a few times with certain changes, until I get it the way I want it. Then it doesn't change and it goes in my "cookbook". I brew my black lager every other brew day because it is my wife's favorite beer. Drinking five gallons of mediocre experimental beer is not fun. I'm looking at your "black pale wheat ale".
 
Ive been told by more seasoned brewers that being able to replicate your own or favorite recipes is good for your skills as a brewer. Repeatability is important. Though I feel a lot of the fun in home brewing is the freedom to make something different every time, my last 3 batches I ordered as a double order so I could brew them all twice.
 
There's a big difference between being boring and bored. If you're happy with what you're making, why worry about whether your brew schedule is exciting to others? OTOH, if you actually feel like you're in a rut, then shakes things up a bit and get outside your comfort zone.

It's only beer; if you don't want to drink an entire batch of some exotic beer you can always take it to your brew club (you mentioned one) for sampling or trades.
 
There is a guy on here who built a brewery that cost more than my car...he mostly brews Moosehead I think...He wanted to be able to brew his favorite beer in large quantities over and over again, the same taste, consistent, etc.

My next-door neighbor brews 80% lagers, mostly pilsners and a marzen each year. He brews a porter and a Kolsch from time to time, maybe a pale ale. He loves lagers.

I love pale ales and IPA's. Something bright that wakes up the pallet. Of course, I like a good warmer in the winter, too...maybe a spiced stout, imperial stout/porter, and I do like a good ESB. I don't really like most lagers, though. Anchor Steam clone was good, but the original I don't like.

Plus if I want friends to consistently drink my beer (sounds odd I'd want that, right?) then I have to brew more "tame" styles. I find that I really like beers with some hops or body, or both. I brew back and forth between stuff my wife/friends would like and stuff I really like. I end up brewing more what I like though and I do try different recipes. I don't know that I'll ever strive hardcore to make a "repeat" beer exactly the same way every time...but then again I haven't found the perfect beer...yet.
 
I am starting to feel like a boring brewer. I have very specific beer taste and although I do like to sample other brews, I get this at my brew club meetings.

I have actually gotten into a brewing pattern. Red ale (my fav brew), a stout of some kind, an odd brew (lager, weizen...) Repeat. I am gettibg ready to start this same cycle for the third time. Is this bad? Has anyone else gotten into something like this? I have been brewing smaller (3.5 gallon) batches and maybe I just ran out to fast.

I was just looking at my brewing hit list and thought, didn't I just do this?

It is OK to have a bunch of standard beers to drink... I mean you went to the trouble to develop these recipes right,,, you have them down and you like them...

I found 5 gallons was to small a batch for my Standards because when they are "right" they go to fast...

...and anyway!!! You are beer lover and brewer.... your tastes will naturally change over time...

I remember my first "Beers from around the world" thingy I joined in 20+ years ago... I hit Bass and drank noting else for a year and a half... (I still love those Burton Ales but I drink Belgians now too.)

SO: How about we ease in to your next GREAT BREWING ADVENTURE and start brewing Seasonals?

I am a fair guy,,, I will even let you pick which ones to brew!
 
they are everywherenow, but I agree with you.

Black IPA, really? black and pale?

I've been thinking about this lately, and my neighbor HATES the label of India Pale Ale being applied to anything that doesn't include mostly british ingredients, including hops.

What then shall we call our hoppy ales? If "India" is to signify "very bitter"...with what can we substitute this word?

"Very Bitter Ale"? VBA?
 
Tell your neighbor it's just a name. Styles evolve. When they evolve so much, you end up with a new style which is why we have designations for American IPAs. Not all ESBs are extremely bitter nor are they necessarily extra special (IMHO of course :p ).
 
I was just thinking about this the other day about myself. I do feel boring (not bored) as a brewer sometimes, but I don't get to brew as often as I'd like due to always being home alone with my 1yr old. I find myself using every opportunity just to keep the house blonde (which happens to be BM's centennial) on tap. When I can, I always try to crank out a half-batch of something fun. As far as the repeatability, I do find that brewing the same thing multiple times gives me a good opportunity to dial in my process. As a new brewer (~10 batches) I am really trying to stick with a few distinct styles and brew them multiple times, only changing small variables each time. I feel like I am really starting to know what the changes are doing to the end product now.
 
http://byo.com/stories/article/indi.../2119-the-other-michael-jackson-black-witbier

Bahahaha. At least the author of the recipe knew what he was was doing with the name and titled it accordingly. "The Other Michael Jackson" LOL, nice.


But you know what ... I guarantee you this style will take off in the next 5 years. Hey I think I figured out what beer you can brew up if you want to cure the "boring" brewing streak.
 
As a new brewer (~10 batches) I am really trying to stick with a few distinct styles and brew them multiple times, only changing small variables each time. I feel like I am really starting to know what the changes are doing to the end product now.

This. I have a few dreams of extreme beers that will be made down the road, but I am much more interested in getting a better feel for the characteristics different hops and grains give a beer. I will then use that information to refine a handful of different recipes that I truly love and keep those around with regularity. I feel like making the same great recipe as repeatably as possible is much more challenging and rewarding than getting lucky 1 out of 3 brews and having it be great. Plus you don't get stuck with bad beer that needs to be drank or tossed.
 
I love pale ales and IPA's. Something bright that wakes up the pallet. Of course, I like a good warmer in the winter, too...maybe a spiced stout, imperial stout/porter, and I do like a good ESB. I don't really like most lagers, though. Anchor Steam clone was good, but the original I don't like.

Plus if I want friends to consistently drink my beer (sounds odd I'd want that, right?) then I have to brew more "tame" styles. I find that I really like beers with some hops or body, or both. I brew back and forth between stuff my wife/friends would like and stuff I really like. I end up brewing more what I like though and I do try different recipes. I don't know that I'll ever strive hardcore to make a "repeat" beer exactly the same way every time...but then again I haven't found the perfect beer...yet.

I have a very similar taste to yours, and am in a fairly similar pattern as you. Until I created my Badfish IPA(recipe posted here on HBT), and that quickly has become a must have beer all the time. Making it almost every other batch now.

I've been thinking about this lately, and my neighbor HATES the label of India Pale Ale being applied to anything that doesn't include mostly british ingredients, including hops.

What then shall we call our hoppy ales? If "India" is to signify "very bitter"...with what can we substitute this word?

"Very Bitter Ale"? VBA?

Sounds like a similar topic I remember from history, since its not really Indian how about Native American Pale Ale:D?

I also like the ring of, Recklessly hopped pale ale
 
I've been thinking about this lately, and my neighbor HATES the label of India Pale Ale being applied to anything that doesn't include mostly british ingredients, including hops.

What then shall we call our hoppy ales? If "India" is to signify "very bitter"...with what can we substitute this word?

"Very Bitter Ale"? VBA?

Change it up on him,,, call them

American IPA
American Pale
American ESB

I think this are all in the style guldes...

And when talking about American Versions of English Beers I think it is pretty well understood that they will be using American Style Hops and be more bitter....

Me? I thnk there needs to be more ESB than IPAs but I am not a hop-head...

OR

If you are brewing different IPAs give them NAMES...

West Coast IPA
Cascade IPA

I have one I just call Citra-Warrior... (bet-cha all can figure that one out)
 
I literally laughed out loud when you said "I'm looking at you...". Black.... pale? Where'd you get the recipe?

It was drinkable, but definitely mediocre. I made up the recipe out of various ingredients I had laying around. It was a hefeweizen kit, some dark malts from a stout recipe i did, cascade hops, and S-05.

I repeat. not delicious.
 
If you are brewing different IPAs give them NAMES...

West Coast IPA
Cascade IPA

I have one I just call Citra-Warrior... (bet-cha all can figure that one out)

I name them, sometimes. My *All Nugget IIPA is "Nugget Empire", for instance. The next one is a hop-bursted, mostly NZ hop IPA called "Fashionably Late".
 
I have a whole set of standards I brew repeatedly:
Columbus Pale Ale
Centennial IPA
American Brown Ale
American Black Ale
English Porter
Oatmeal Stout
Rye Pale Ale
And I experiment ... Dry Stout, Scotch Ale, English Ole Ale, Black Lager, an Amber Steam.... for me brewing is a long term committed relationship so I take my time perfect the experiments I like then move on to another experiment.

I do not consider brewing a perfected recipe repeatedly as boring. I brew more of them than I do experiments
 
I name them, sometimes. My *All Nugget IIPA is "Nugget Empire", for instance. The next one is a hop-bursted, mostly NZ hop IPA called "Fashionably Late".

some one gave me a bunch of Palisades Hops...Never had heard of them...

6 oz from in from 60 to 20
3 oz at 0
3 oz dry hopped...

I figured it was one way to decide it I liked the hop...

I do, though I think it might be better used in conjuction woth a citrisy hop...

Very sweet
 
I am starting to feel like a boring brewer. I have very specific beer taste and although I do like to sample other brews, I get this at my brew club meetings.

I have actually gotten into a brewing pattern. Red ale (my fav brew), a stout of some kind, an odd brew (lager, weizen...) Repeat. I am gettibg ready to start this same cycle for the third time. Is this bad? Has anyone else gotten into something like this? I have been brewing smaller (3.5 gallon) batches and maybe I just ran out to fast.

I was just looking at my brewing hit list and thought, didn't I just do this?

I'm the same way, really. In our house, both of us love hoppy beers so I make 3/4 IPAs/hoppy APAs and about 1/4 of "other".

I almost always have an IPA and an APA on tap, and then mix that up with a stout, lager, porter, an English brown, etc.

I almost never make Belgians or Scottish ales, since I don't drink many of them.

I'm not bored, but maybe it's because I made a lot of different beer styles before settling on my favorites. I make a different IPA or APA most every time, although I have a couple of house favorites.
 
some one gave me a bunch of Palisades Hops...Never had heard of them...

6 oz from in from 60 to 20
3 oz at 0
3 oz dry hopped...

I figured it was one way to decide it I liked the hop...

I do, though I think it might be better used in conjuction woth a citrisy hop...

Very sweet

Very grassy, right? I like nugget because it's floral, not citrusy, but not too earthy or dirt-like. I have some new zealand hops (aforementioned) that I can't wait to brew with this weekend.
 
billf2112 said:
I am starting to feel like a boring brewer. I have very specific beer taste and although I do like to sample other brews, I get this at my brew club meetings.

I have actually gotten into a brewing pattern. Red ale (my fav brew), a stout of some kind, an odd brew (lager, weizen...) Repeat. I am gettibg ready to start this same cycle for the third time. Is this bad? Has anyone else gotten into something like this? I have been brewing smaller (3.5 gallon) batches and maybe I just ran out to fast.

I was just looking at my brewing hit list and thought, didn't I just do this?

I've done the same thing. I've brewed 5 or 6 stouts and my pale ale recipe 3 or 4 times in the last year. I like stouts but I'm starting to get a little tired of them.

It's not bad. We all have styles we like or don't like. I personally don't like most belgians or saisons.

Lately I've been brewing a lot of clone recipes. Try and brew a clone of a beer you already like or find a recipe with ingredients you haven't used before or a beer you want to try but can't get locally. SMaSH recipes are also fun to try and a good way to learn about new ingredients.
 
I'm still an extract kit brewer, this is my 1 year anniversary of home brewing. Have not brewed the same recipe twice, received my 14th kit today, NB's Dead Ringer IPA, every kit feels like an adventure. The only kits that turned out not so great, were my "tweaks", added blackberry juice to a Wheat that fermented at too high a temperature, I now believe the temp was the fail.(tossed it) And a Hefewizen that I probably under pitched with a smack pac. Still drank that one. Everything else has been just really good or great. I'm sure I'll graduate to AG, and probably fall into a groove of favorites, but for now it's all new, exciting, and good beer. All ready see my self leaning IPA, and Porter. And citrus Wheat. And Blonde's. And Amber Ale's. Got to check out some Stouts, Saison's, Strong Belgian's, Lager's, Pilsner's. Ain't got much time, I'm already 65 ;)
 
Its a good way to get to know ingredience. You can make the same style using different types of malt/yeast/hops.So really you could make hundreds of versions of the style and really almost perfect that beer if you want. I find I brew pumpkin beers or IpA's/Pale ales over and over more myself.
 
I know people who only brew and drink IPAs. There's at least one past member who only made one recipe and had been doing it for decades. Many homebrewers have a house beer or two that they always have on hand. Perfectly normal.

At the other end of the spectrum, a member of the Heart of the Valley club has won first places (in BJCP competitions) in every style on the list and is now shooting for a win in every sub-style.

What then shall we call our hoppy ales?

Left Coast Pales
 
I do not feel bad about what I am doing. I got my Red Ales down to almost perfect, my stout flavor wise is perfect (even my wife likes it) just came up shory on body and mouth feel but know what I did wrong and my others are my playful brews. I am going to play with my next stout and make it a pumkin pie stout and have it ready for thanksgiving.
 
I found that my boring factor kicks in when I get in a habit of using the same yeast strain over and over...usually american ale / cal ale is what I default to. It is quite a neutral yeast strain anyway so it tends to get a little meyah after a few brews in a row.

I like to experiment a lot with different hops and malts but I need to expand my yeast selection for sure.
 
Very grassy, right? I like nugget because it's floral, not citrusy, but not too earthy or dirt-like. I have some new zealand hops (aforementioned) that I can't wait to brew with this weekend.

Grassy might have been a good description...

Though I had not thought of that since I don't think of that taste in beer.

I will check tonight when I get home and take it to a club meeting and see if they agree...

DPB
 
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