A Question About Recipes

[imsperic]

I put this in the Beginner Forum because, well, I'm a beginner.

In any case, I've been watching Brew Masters, where they profile Dogfish Head. What I've seen Sam do is take a base recipe for a beer, let's say a stout, and add some other ingredients (chicory, among other others), to create the Chicory Stout. He does this often: "We took a brown ale and then added [insert crazy ingredients] and the result is [insert clever name that I wish I thought of]."

So it got me thinking: where does he get the recipe for a base ale that he's going to use in a given brew? How many different variations are there on, let's say, an amber ale? Are there an infinite number of ways (by combining diff. hop and yeast varieties) to make an amber ale? Or are there a limited number of "standard" recipes for amber ale? Do I make sense?

I'm just trying to wrap my mind around how one would go about making one's own recipe, and not feel completely overwhelmed at the potential combinations, but be able to arrive at something unique.

Perhaps I'm overthinking this. Thanks in advance for bearing with my incoherence.

 

[helibrewer]

Well it depends on whether you are a style conformist or not. An Amber Ale does have a specific style definition/expectation.

There are infinite ways you could modify the basic Amber Ale recipe but at some point it would no longer meet the defined style definition of an Amber Ale.

You may not care about that, which is perfectly acceptable unless you plan on having the beer formally judged. The nice thing about making your own beer is that you can do whatever you want. If you like it and it was fun to make it's perfect!

It is a good idea to study the styles, know what base recipe provides that style, then go from there.

RDWHAHB.......

 

[birvine]

The short answer is that the answer is a long one!

If you were to read Designing Great Beers by Daniels you'll see that there are some generalities for each type of beer. Generally a certain base malt, certain specialty malts and certain hops. From there, of course, there is an infinite number of variations - some of which will be balanced and good and some that will not be so good.

In time as you learn what goes and what does not you can tweak things and you can be pleasantly surprised with what you can get.

B

 

[PT Ray]

A lot of beers kind of have a classic recipe. Bavarian wheat is 50% Wheat, 50% Pils. A dry stout is 70% Pale Ale, 20% flaked barley and 10% roasted barley. APA/IPA 85% 2-row, 10% Munich and 5% crystal.

Once you understand the general role of a specific malt you can sub in similar malts that will compliment the original to make yours unique. The percentages will stay fairly consistent among styles, if you cut or increase something too much you usually start treading into another style.

 

[Zen_Brew]

Most beers have a successful base recipe or two that most people start from. You tweak a specialty malt here or there if you want to bump the flavor profile this way or that. In reality, until you get your process and fermentation temperatures very consistent, they will make a larger impact on your final product than the recipe will.

If I am brewing something I've never done before I will look at the book Brewing Classic Styles. Then I will go on line and find some other very popular recipes (often on homebrewtalk) I will lay the common elements down as a base and then tweak from there if I want any specific flavors enhanced or reduced.

 

[H-ost]

In Palmer's "How To Brew" he has a section on recipe formulation.

He breaks a few styles down into a very basic and easy base recipe. I can't remember them ATM but you can find the page on How to Brew - By John Palmer.

 

[imsperic]

Thank you, this is very helpful.

 

[imsperic]

Any other books you'd recommend on beer styles? What's the go-to book for beer styles?

 

[Zen_Brew]

As far as the best modern single guide for recipes, I would think you'd have to say "Brewing Classic Styles" by Jamil Zainasheff. He lays out a recipe for every style in the BJCP style guide. Most of the recipes in the book he has won medals with in competition. He also appears on a series of free podcasts on the brewing network. The Brewing Network.com - Beer radio | The Brewing Network
He goes over these recipes one by one on the podcast titled "The Jamil Show"
Jamil is not the last word in brewing, but he has a vast knowledge of recipes and processes.

 

[squirrelly]

A good way to start making your own recipes is to first find a style you love. I then recommend studying the BJCP style guidelines of that particular style. Each style has specific numbers for each variable that must be within in order to fit within that style. For instance I have made a pale ale that was judged poorly because it was 2 IBUs higher than what the guidelines stated. However, I entered that same beer in an IPA category, at it faired only marginally better because it was said to be on the very low end of the scale for a west coast IPA, and It got knocked down for not being balanced. Once I took that recipe and changed my hoping schedule and hop amounts, it took second place.

Once you understand and know the style guidelines then start putting ingredients down on paper. Most people find it's easiest to use brewing software such as beer smith or pro mash. I use brew pal on the iPhone and the iPad, but more for just double checking the math and ensuring the recipe falls into BJCP guidelines. Once you have a recipe on paper you can consider that your rough draft. As you brew that beer 50-100 times in a row to get consistency licked, you'll find things in the recipe you will wish to change. I brewed my IPA 4 times a week for 3 months before I was 100 percent confidant it would place in competition.

Also start picking up craft brews that fall into the category you are interested in, and note the changes in each brew. You may have 7 different IPAs that taste completely different because they are are IPAs that span the whole category. As you build your Palate to discern the different ingredients you will find that you don't care for certain varieties of hops (for me its simco, as they smell like cat pee) and others you prefer. Also talk to judges about what is appropriate in the style you are making. For instance almost every Scottish wee heavy recipe I found on the net called for peated smoked malt. My beers got hammered in comps because I would use it. After becoming a judge myself, and talking to other veteran judges, I learned peated malt is not appropriate in a Scottish style, and the beer will be knocked down for it. Most judges will score a beer of any category down if they detect any peat.

Lastly start looking into the BJCP program to really learn each style inside and out if the above has still held your interest.

 

[imsperic]

Thanks. With all this information, I have a very good starting point.