Teach Me Thy Ways

So...

I was at my LHBS and being brand new to all grain I went in and asked for an AG recipe kit for an Oatmeal Stout. The gentleman behind the counter said that they didn't have one off hand.

We looked a recipe for a regular stout, but I lamented my desire for the oatmeal variety.

He proceeded to grab a sheet of paper and modify the stout recipe to be of the oatmeal variety. He changed the hops, malts (of course), and the yeast.

I want to know where do I go to learn the differences between what two different ale yeasts will do. I grabbed British ESB WY1968 and he said that I should use British Ale WY1098, because the former would be a little too sweet.

Where do I go to learn enough that I could make up a recipe to fit a style off of the cuff, or at least with a small amount of research?

I use Brewing Classic Styles and Designing Great Beers to develop recipes from the ground up.
The first AG recipe I created from scratch was an IPA. I decided on an OG and built the rest doing all the math by hand using Designing Great Beers.

Aside from that, it is all about the number of batches under your belt.

http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/homebrew_strains.html

Also for future reference, Jamil Zanisheff and Dr. Chris White have a new yeast book coming out in October. You can pre-order a signed copy at www.thebrewingnetwork.com and go to the store.


Edit: Here's the Wyeast page - http://www.wyeastlab.com/hb_yeaststrain.cfm

stevo155 said:

http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/homebrew_strains.html

Also for future reference, Jamil Zanisheff and Dr. Chris White have a new yeast book coming out in October. You can pre-order a signed copy at www.thebrewingnetwork.com and go to the store.


Edit: Here's the Wyeast page - http://www.wyeastlab.com/hb_yeaststrain.cfm

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So that will be 150 pages about WLP001, right?

In all seriousness though, that will probably be interesting. I do like the whitelab yeast pages since they have a FAQ and user comments...can be good to get a better feel on what a particular yeast will do for your beer.

I wish the wyeast pages had a bit more info or user comments/testimonials. But you can still get the useful attenuation type info.

northernlad said:

Aside from that, it is all about the number of batches under your belt.

Click to expand...

Reading all the important brewing books and these forums, but certainly agree with the above statement as being the really best way to learn by doing.

btw - I've had guys give me recipes in LHBS by scribbling out recipes from memory and they usually turned out awful. I'd rather go with well reviewed recipes from HBT readers.

Have to reiterate the part about making a lot of batches. When you brew with lots of different malts, hops, and adjuncts, you learn what will go well in a batch and what won't. Taste things, smell things, and try to make a variety of beers in different styles. It is fun once you get going! Two books that have a ton of info are John Palmer's How to Brew and Gregory Noonan's New Brewing Lager Beer.


Paul B

Like you I'm still learning but one book, the only one I have so far, that has helped me is Brewing Classic Styles. I like looking at what goes into a recipe for a specific style, what are the grains adding, why specific hops are used and how much then what the yeast is adding. Jamil and Palmer did a great job putting this book together. My next purchase is definitely going to be Designing Great Beers, it looks like it's packed with great info.