Mistakes make great beer. Now what?

My very first batch was an oatmeal stout. The reciepie called for gypsum and a 90min mash. I forgot to add the gypsum and I only mashed for 60min. The results were outstanding!

So do I make the same "mistakes" tomorrow when I brew it again? Or do I follow the directions?

I would follow the directions and compare the two finished products.

PIGMAN said:

I would follow the directions and compare the two finished products.

Click to expand...

^^ THIS!

That way you can decide which method you enjoy more, and continue making your brew that way. It's hard to really screw up homebrew. If anything, your beer may have been a few gravity points lower than it was supposed to be. No big deal, really.

My suggestion is to keep a notebook, if you don't already have one. In it write down the steps you took, and also write down the results, and how well you liked them.
This way, over time you can make a recipe many times, and if you change one or two things, you'll have some data/evidence to look over to decide what's best for your taste buds.

--Jimbot

Well, gypsum is a debatable addition anyway. Depending on your water profile, it may have no effect on the brew.

I'm still BIAB, so I've no experience. But here is what Palmer says about time in How to Brew:

"As always, time changes everything; it is the final factor in the mash. Starch conversion may be complete in only 30 minutes, so that during the remainder of a 60 minute mash, the brewer is working the mash conditions to produce the desired profile of wort sugars. Depending on the mash pH, water ratio and temperature, the time required to complete the mash can vary from under 30 minutes to over 90. At a higher temperature, a stiffer mash and a higher pH, the alpha amylase is favored and starch conversion will be complete in 30 minutes or less. Longer times at these conditions will allow the beta amylase time to breakdown more of the longer sugars into shorter ones, resulting in a more fermentable wort, but these alpha-favoring conditions are deactivating the beta; such a mash is self-limiting."