Homebrew revelation...ideas appreciated

[storytyme]

Happy weekend everyone. With summer in full swing I have taken advantage of the time and brewed enough to fill my 6 kegs (for the first time) and am looking to brew more. I am now up to 43 batches under my belt and then last night as I was drinking a German style/Hefe wheat kind of creation I realized I don't like that style. I also have a keg of ESB that is good, but I realized I don't really like that either. What do I always go back to? Pale, IPA, etc. I was going to start brewing some lagers, but realized that I am not a big fan of those either. I was talking to a friend and fellow home brewer the other day and he said that his brew time is very limited (like most of us with family/kids) so he is just going to brew what he enjoys......wow, what a simple concept that I never realized until last night. Some of you may be thinking duh!, while others may have been in my shoes at one point. I figured if I have 6 kegs, it better be full of styles that I enjoy, instead of drinking a pint of home-brew because I need to drink it. Right now I have in my keezer an ESB, American Wheat, German Wheat, IPA, Dark Ale and an Imperial Stout. I want to have a rotation going of the styles I want. IPAs (reg, red, black, rye, imperial), Pales, lighter (maybe English bitter or blonde) and strong ale.

So who has come to this revelation in home brewing where you get so caught up in making as many types/styles as you can that you aren't brewing what YOU like?

Part II: I need some great recipes (original or clone) to get me started in regards to Pale and IPA. I did the Zombie Dust clone and it was amazing.....I will probably do that again if I don't hear any better ideas. I am game for most IPA styles as well. Thank you for all the suggestions and reading this babble.

CHEERS!

 

[passedpawn]

Happy weekend everyone. With summer in full swing I have taken advantage of the time and brewed enough to fill my 6 kegs (for the first time) and am looking to brew more. I am now up to 43 batches under my belt and then last night as I was drinking a German style/Hefe wheat kind of creation I realized I don't like that style. I also have a keg of ESB that is good, but I realized I don't really like that either. What do I always go back to? Pale, IPA, etc. I was going to start brewing some lagers, but realized that I am not a big fan of those either. I was talking to a friend and fellow home brewer the other day and he said that his brew time is very limited (like most of us with family/kids) so he is just going to brew what he enjoys......wow, what a simple concept that I never realized until last night. Some of you may be thinking duh!, while others may have been in my shoes at one point. I figured if I have 6 kegs, it better be full of styles that I enjoy, instead of drinking a pint of home-brew because I need to drink it. Right now I have in my keezer an ESB, American Wheat, German Wheat, IPA, Dark Ale and an Imperial Stout. I want to have a rotation going of the styles I want. IPAs (reg, red, black, rye, imperial), Pales, lighter (maybe English bitter or blonde) and strong ale.

So who has come to this revelation in home brewing where you get so caught up in making as many types/styles as you can that you aren't brewing what YOU like?

Part II: I need some great recipes (original or clone) to get me started in regards to Pale and IPA. I did the Zombie Dust clone and it was amazing.....I will probably do that again if I don't hear any better ideas. I am game for most IPA styles as well. Thank you for all the suggestions and reading this babble.

CHEERS!

Most brewers go through that. It's the dating phase.

After some time, you'll settle down with just a few that you really enjoy. That would be the marriage phase ( Mormon marriage I guess ).

Yoopers Pale Ale is pretty good. I've made it a bunch of times. I think it's mostly cascade hops, pale malt, and C20 or C40. I also really like Denny's Rye IPA. You should be able to find that recipe all over the internet, including this forum.

 

[brewtus_]

When I first started brewing, I was in the same boat as you. That was about 25 years ago. Now I'm down to about four tried and true IPA recipes, a porter and a stout. Two to three times a year I might try something experimental (a fruit beer for the wife, an imperial stout, checking out a new type of hop, that kind of thing). Like you said, there really isn't a whole lot of free time with everything else going on in life, so why waste that valuable time brewing things I don't want to drink? Brew what you like, buy a six pack to try new styles and then brew that if you like it. You're right, it's pretty simple!

 

[thCapn]

It never occurred to me to brew something I wouldn't enjoy drinking. I like a very wide variety of styles, though. What I choose to brew depends on my mood a few days before brew day. My keggerator accommodates just three corn cans and a batch can last two months, so it's a subject I consider carefully.

Example: I have a German Schwartzbier lagering and an IIPA in secondary while I have hard cider, root beer, and Saison on tap. The cider and root beer are about finished and I anticipate them emptying just in time to keg the two in fermentation.

Next up is Chamomile Kolsch and then I will probably start working on my Dead Guy clone.

It depends on my mood! LOL


--
th Cap'n in Portland, Oregon

 

[Broham1]

+1 to Denny's Rye IPA
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=84515

Also, the Wookie Jack clone is amazing! https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=333436

And OldSock's session IPA is unreal for a sub-4% beer:
http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2012/01/vienna-malt-session-ipa-recipe.html?m=1

 

[storytyme]

When I first started brewing, I was in the same boat as you. That was about 25 years ago. Now I'm down to about four tried and true IPA recipes, a porter and a stout. Two to three times a year I might try something experimental (a fruit beer for the wife, an imperial stout, checking out a new type of hop, that kind of thing). Like you said, there really isn't a whole lot of free time with everything else going on in life, so why waste that valuable time brewing things I don't want to drink? Brew what you like, buy a six pack to try new styles and then brew that if you like it. You're right, it's pretty simple!

Great advice. I'm actually starting this tomorrow brewing a Yoopers Pale. Cheers

 

[dannypo]

I came to a similar yet very different conclusion a couple years ago. I tend to drink a large variety of styles. From to IPA to English bitter to weißbeir to tripel I love them all. But recently I decided to stop brewing higher abv beers. I rarely want to drink 5 gallons of them and like you said yourself, my brew time is limited.

So lately I've made Vienna lagers, APAs, low abv saisons, bitters etc.

And to answer you question on recipes. Try the Pale 31 recipe from CYBI. Awesome beer.

 

[b-boy]

Yoopers Pale Ale is pretty good. I've made it a bunch of times. I think it's mostly cascade hops, pale malt, and C20 or C40. I also really like Denny's Rye IPA. You should be able to find that recipe all over the internet, including this forum.

You can't go wrong with Yoopers Pale Ale. I've done it a bunch of times. the grain bill is awesome and very versatile. I make this about every other brew session and change up the hops.

Try it with 100% Amarillo in place of the Cascade. Fantastic!

 

[fnord]

I'm 3 1/2 years into this obsession and can sort of relate. I enjoy almost all styles of beer, depending on my mood and silly stuff like weather, but also find I have my favorites. Basically in a year I'll brew 4-5 saisons, 2-3 golden strongs/tripels, 4-5 APAs, 4-5 IPAs, 1 dark strong, 1 dubbel, 1 stout, 1 blonde, 1 amber, 1 hefeweizen, 1 american wheat, 1 pilsner, 1 bock, and 1 english brown that always seems to go wrong and overcarbonate and gush. I can't imagine not having the variety available, but if you are only kegging and not bottling that can be a bit of a limitation. There are very few styles where I would say not a fan rather than I'm a fan in the right situation.

Another problem is I like experimenting with the recipes & styles. Yup, dating phase like passedpawn said. In fact out of somewhere around 100 batches my last 2 brews were the first two times I've rebrewed recipes. One was a session saison that was gone in a flash last summer. The other, well give another +1 to Denny's rye ipa, as I relied heavily on that grain bill for my rye ipa. Aimed for the same IBUs, OG & FG, with a bit of experience to know how 1450 usually attenuates for me, and changed the hops around (get out Mt Hood, get in Cascade & Simcoe)

Another recipe I'd recommend is BierMuncher's Nierra Sevada https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f66/nierra-sevada-session-snpa-clone-27673/. I haven't tried brewing it but I've had another brewer's version and it is damn tasty.

[edit, exact opposite problem from BM, 3 tries to not type Sierra Nevada when I was trying to type Nierra Sevada]

 

[DSorenson]

I have had the opposite experience-

I re-educated my palette by brewing different beer styles and found that I don't brew some of my favorite styles hardly at all (IPA, stout).

I have found a fun attraction to brewing styles (mild, ESB, Roggen) and adjusting the grist and hops to suit my tastes. My tastes tend to usually be what I haven't had in a while, so I get to go through a rotation.

I also derive a satisfaction from using simple grain bills to achieve great results... so it is fun to play with as few variables as possible and see how vastly different the flavors can be from batch to batch...

But I could see how you could come to that revelation!

Edit: maybe this just means I am still dating my homebrew hobby...

When do I get to second base?

 

[Talgrath]

For myself, there are very few styles I don't like, so I brew a lot of different styles, I love experimenting (in fact, it's my favorite part of the hobby); but the nomad thing isn't for everyone. I also brew seasonally, I don't use anything aside from perhaps some water around the carboy to regulate temperature, it means that I'm somewhat at the mercy of nature, but it works out pretty well in Washington.

 

[Yooper]

I tend to brew mostly IPAs and APAs but every third or fourth batch I Brew something "other". I will usually have something like an IPA on tap, a pale ale or American red, and then a stout or a lager or a cream ale.

And, for the IPA and APA that I have on tap, one will be a totally different grain bill then the other. For example, right now I have a pale ale with some Crystal/caramel malt sweetness and IPA that has no crystal malt at all and is dry. Added to that is a cream ale.

I like variety but I want to have something available that I love. I don't love Belgians, or Sours, so I never make them. But I do like oatmeal Stout, porters, all sorts of English ales, all American-style ales, and most German lagers- so I make them, too.

Still the vast majority of what I make are IPAs and hoppy APAs.

 

[JimEb]

I'm currently in the same boat. But, you have to start out doing different styles and you'll find one you eventually settle on.

For me I think my favorite is cream ales...but in the mean time I have a batch of dunkelweizen and porter to choke down before brewing up another batch.

 

[Demus]

I can relate. You're lucky though; with 6 kegs it should be easy to keep a few with your favorites and one or two experimentals. Are all 6 on tap? I only have 4 flowing and have to keep 1 for my wife's oatmeal stout, 1 "crowd pleaser" for friends and family, leaving just 2 for my love of hops and experimentation..


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[Demus]

To help, I've been trying to go small batch (3gal) and bottle my experimentations. This way they don't tie up a keg, and they're easy to give away if they're not to my liking...


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[chipbell36]

An approach I use is to buy a few samples of a type of beer (e.g., Saison) and determine if I like it before brewing it. If I like a particular brand, then look for the clone recipe.


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[storytyme]

An approach I use is to buy a few samples of a type of beer (e.g., Saison) and determine if I like it before brewing it. If I like a particular brand, then look for the clone recipe.


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Great idea. I do use a few kegs for those experiment batches (Apricot Wheat, Watermelon Wheat, etc.)

Having all 6 on tap is also great, although they are picnic taps.....may be time to go with a collar.

 

[Warthaug]

I've been brewing for~17 years and still brew all over the map. I like most styles of beer, and enjoy the challenge of brewing something new. I don't think I've brewed the same recipe twice (at least, deliberately) in the past decade.

Like dsorenson said, the flavor palet of beer is simply to large and wonderful to restrict myself to a few styles. Now that I have a good understanding of what different ingredients add to a beer, I find that I revisit many of the styles I "don't like", but formulate the recipe such that I like it.

Bryan

 

[Hopzilla]

I plan to keep a pale ale on tap all the time. I also like to brew for the season so have a pumpkin beer on tap during the fall for example. This way I came order mass quantities of ingredients and have them on hand when I want to brew. Also improve upon my recipes. I also would like to do a big beer every year to keep the creative juices flowing but I'm not all over the board always brewing something different and might not like and then have 5 gals to drink. I've done that and it's no fun.

 

[kmckiou]

If I counted right I have made 52 batches in 2.5 years. Of those, I count 2 batches that were duplicated once and 1 batch that was duplicated twice. That is a lot of different beers. That said, I have been trying to get more scientific about my beer recipes. I just finished a series of 10 single hop APAs where the only thing I changed was the hop. This confirmed for me the flavor profile of the hops and confirmed my own personal preferences. I am now beginning to combine hops in ways that make sense to me and create a series of IPAs and APAs with 2 hops.

No doubt about it, I am an APA/IPA kind of a guy. Although, recently I have found blondes rather interesting - refreshing even. I really need to build a cold cabinet so I can do some lagers.

Here is what I have been up to http://5kbrewing.com

 

[jekeane]

This is why I want to figure out a small batch system to use for beers that I don't necessarily want a lot of, but want to brew just to try or for my home brew clubs monthly competitions. I can't think of much worse than trying to battle through a 5g batch of rauchbier...

 

[ong]

I had a similar revelation: since I'm the main one who drinks my beer, why not brew only the kind of beers I like drinking the most? But I can't seem to help it. I generally do a batch I know I'll like, and then something goofy/experimental. Sixty batches in and I've never repeated a recipe yet, although I have "templates" I'll go back to repeatedly (e.g., 10 lb 2-row, a lb of crystal, 3-6 oz of hops mainly late or whirlpool).



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[storytyme]

If I counted right I have made 52 batches in 2.5 years. Of those, I count 2 batches that were duplicated once and 1 batch that was duplicated twice. That is a lot of different beers. That said, I have been trying to get more scientific about my beer recipes. I just finished a series of 10 single hop APAs where the only thing I changed was the hop. This confirmed for me the flavor profile of the hops and confirmed my own personal preferences. I am now beginning to combine hops in ways that make sense to me and create a series of IPAs and APAs with 2 hops.

No doubt about it, I am an APA/IPA kind of a guy. Although, recently I have found blondes rather interesting - refreshing even. I really need to build a cold cabinet so I can do some lagers.

Here is what I have been up to http://5kbrewing.com

I love this idea. Do you have more details? Did you keep the amount of hops the same or the IBUs the same? What did you find out in the whole process. I could see myself doing the same thing. I did the Zombie Dust clone with 100% Citra and loved it. Just did a Yoopers Pale with Cascade and am excited to try it. Would love to hear more about what you found out.