Your Beer "Graph"

[birvine]

If you graphed the beer you make (not literally, of course) and the frequency you make specific recipes, what would it look like. Worded another way, do you make the same few brews or are you all over the place depending on how your favourite brewing book falls open any given day or week? I have been wandering all over the map and love it, though I am finding that I will focus more on IPA for a wee bit.

B

 

[whatsleftofyou]

There's only two beers I've ever made multiple times - Two Hearted clone (3 times) and an IPA of my own recipe (twice). Other than that I've never made the exact same recipe twice.

 

[Homebrewtastic]

I've got a few recipes dialed in pretty well that I like to have on hand at different times of year. I might adjust an ingredient or two, but they stay pretty much the same from brew to brew.

Past that it's a lot of experimentation.

This way I always have something drinkable on hand. And if one of my experiments doesn't turn out well I at least I have something decent to drink in the meantime.

 

[Yooper]

I make IPAs 50% of the time, but usually different recipes. I rotate among the big citrus IPAs to the woody/piny/citrus IPAs and back. I have about 3-4 that I make frequently.

Every other batch I make is something different- American amber, APA, cream ale, stout, California common, etc- so I have three different beers on tap all the time, and one is always an IPA.

I've come close to "perfection" on my cream ale, oatmeal stout, hoppy amber, Dead Guy Clone, and California common so I usually make the same recipe or at least almost the same recipe, on those.

Each time I make an APA I make something different- a maltier APA this time, a hoppier one next time.

I like variety but I also like good standard beer styles as well.

 

[jfr1111]

I have found that bitters, and not American Pale Ales, are what really hit the spot for me. Tasty yet low in gravity, so I can grab a beer while cooking and not catch a buzz. Stouts/porters are another favourite of mine, altough I brew them less often. I'm still experimenting with recipes, but have found that less is indeed more when it comes to crystal malt and that I shouldn't be afraid of sugary adjuncts in the beer. I' drinking a beer with 4 oz of Extra Dark Crystal and a pound of sugar in the raw and it WAY more complex/interesting than the grain bill would suggests. The yeast plays a big role in that complexity.

 

[naterzr2]

I try to base my brews on the seasons and temps cause fermentation temps is something I really can't control yet. Basement is low 60's in winter and mid 70's in the summer. Can do lagers though...

Also, I tend to go by color and IBU's for some odd compulsive reason.... If my last batch was a milk stout or porter, my next brew will be a IIPA or Cream Ale, and vice versa. So far, never brewed the same batch twice. Tweaked a few though....

 

[LakewoodBrew]

I have a handful of recipes that I have in the rotation. I'll through an experiment in the mix every once in a while, and sometimes an experimental beer ends up moving into the rotation (generally that means some other beer goes). I treat it like product lines, I'm just wired that way. But that fills a need for me to be able to pull a pint of a favorite any time, and still maintain variety. I usually have no less than three different beers on tap. Those three are from the standards (IIPA, DIPA, Imp. White, American Blonde) the other two taps are for specialty brews, experiments or other beverages.

 

[Mongrel]

Nothing is set in stone yet, but I'm working on nailing down a hoppy amber. Haven't decided a final hop schedule yet, but getting close, and still deciding between English or Irish yeast for it.

My other most brewed is an all grain, slightly more bitter variation on ChshreCat's Brown Biscuit.

Other than those, I'm working on a good pale ale, and a RyePA.

OK, so color wise, those two look almost exactly the same. Two very different beers, but both photographed today in the same glass on opposite sides of the house.

 

[curlyfat]

I'm a little-bit stuck on getting my ability to make solid, go-to standards a priority. I still have the occasional off-beat brew. I spent most of 2010 working on my house Pale Ale, and house Stout because I was still working on the dream of a small package (kegs) brewery. Long story short, I'm back to brewing what I want, rather than what I perceive that others want. I still stick mostly to styles because that gives me something to measure up to.

I still want to "perfect" my pale ale, but I suspect I'll never have the recipe to the point that I brew it the exact same way twice. I've NEVER tasted a beer that I wouldn't want to change at all (albeit very slightly sometimes).

 

[scottland]

My most frequent beer is my pale ale. It's smooth, hoppy, but goes over well with the BMC crowd because it isn't very bitter.

Second would be an IPA I make. Those are the only two I make with any frequency. Other than that, I'm always making different stuff. Milk stout at the moment, English best bitter is next. A lawnmower beer might be after that. It's always something new.