all grain brewing help

[Jhubbard9]

Hello all you awesome brew people got some questions! When I am formulating my recipes I use pretty size able amounts of non base grains. For example I use 65% grain bill for my base and than comprise about three other malts like a Cara hell at 15% and etc. Anyway I am reading Dave millers brew guide and he uses his base malts up to like a 90% and only uses ounces on other non base malt types. Am I doing it wrong by adding such high percentages of non base malts or is that normal too??

 

[Tutsbrew]

Hello all you awesome brew people got some questions! When I am formulating my recipes I use pretty size able amounts of non base grains. For example I use 65% grain bill for my base and than comprise about three other malts like a Cara hell at 15% and etc. Anyway I am reading Dave millers brew guide and he uses his base malts up to like a 90% and only uses ounces on other non base malt types. Am I doing it wrong by adding such high percentages of non base malts or is that normal too??

Tho fairly new to brewing myself I'd like to make two points if I may.

First, I'm thinking that if you are trying to brew a specific style then the recipe should help you fit the guidelines.

Second, if you are just brewing a beer cuz ya wanna and just wanna have a beer that might be good and that you could express yourself with then to hell with what anyone else thinks! Isn't that one of the wonderful things about home brewing is that you can brew whatever the heck ya want! As for me, I'm usually around 75 to 85% base grains but that's just how I roll... Just make sure ya have enough low Lovibond grains to help convert those who need some enzymatic help.

Stay tuned tho, J Hubbard, someone who actually knows something may post more info soon!

Brew on!

 

[MindenMan]

Hello all you awesome brew people got some questions! When I am formulating my recipes I use pretty size able amounts of non base grains. For example I use 65% grain bill for my base and than comprise about three other malts like a Cara hell at 15% and etc. Anyway I am reading Dave millers brew guide and he uses his base malts up to like a 90% and only uses ounces on other non base malt types. Am I doing it wrong by adding such high percentages of non base malts or is that normal too??

When you formulate a recipe, do you make it according to the Style you want? Or do you fly by the seat your pants, some might ask. Every once in a while, I need to empty my stored grain, and look for a style that would use up most or all my "leftovers". I have been brewing almost three years, and I still formulate my beers within a given style come brew day. Of course, I am mostly referring to a style I haven't brewed before. All my house beers are my recipes, brewed within a given style, but not necessarily "classic"

 

[oach]

Depends on the beer you are trying to brew. Some beers (or dare I say styles) call for more specialty malts than others. Specialty malts are just that, special. They typically add color, flavor and complexity. Think of them as pseudo spices with 2-row, pils, maris otter or similar being the main course. Depending on what you are cooking up and the strength/profile of the spice you use more or less.

That's how brewing works. Saisons are a style that comes to mind that can be made will using only pilsner malt and a healthy pitch of yeast. A barleywine may be made with base malt as well, just boiled longer to get deeper, richer flavor and colors w/out using caramel malts or similar.

I think it is easiest for a new brewer to seek out award winning recipes (this site has plenty: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f82/) or even clones to get an idea of what others are using to brew quality beers. This will give you an idea of balance. If it still doesn't make sense, as questions specific to a recipe. I think that would be a very helpful pursuit.

Cheers.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

The way I see it, we all receive the benefit of brewing traditions that have been passed to us by our brewing forefathers. They formulated recipies that responded to the locally available ingredients, processes and tax laws. When I formulate a new recipie I will begin with a traditional style recipie to serve as a starting point. However, there's nothing sacred about those recipies. Do what you want, you may start a new tradition!!!

The only time style guidelines become important, IMHO, is if you choose to enter your product into a competition. They judge beers based on style because it's an objective ruler that helps eliminate personal preference. Just because I don't enjoy sweet stout doesn't mean your beer isn't a good example of a sweet stout.

 

[gwapogorilla]

If it tastes good to YOU, then brew it brother. Cheers

 

[myndflyte]

Just make sure you do some research on the specialty grain before bumping up the amount you want to use. Some grains like honey malt will just completely take over your beer if you use too much.

 

[chickypad]

Traditional witbiers are 50% base and 50% adjunct (unmalted wheat), so yes it's certainly possible to have a well formed recipe that doesn't have a huge percentage of base malt. One thing you should keep in mind is diastatic power. If you have a bunch of adjuncts and malts without DP making up the rest of your recipe you will want to make sure the base you choose has plenty. Don't know if you are considering malts like munich or vienna as non-base, they are often used in smaller percentages for additional character and flavor but can be used as base malts as well with enough DP to convert themselves. Also as the above poster pointed out there are limits for certain malts so they don't become overpowering. Most folks would keep the cara/crystal malts to an absolute max of 15% for example, and much less than that for many styles. Same with dark roasted malts, most would use 10-12% max.

 

[guitarguy6]

I personally don't know anyone that uses specialty malt for more than %20 of the grain bill. I'm not saying you shouldn't but as a novice I would say it should be around %10 of the grain bill. Are you using brewtarget or beersmith to help create your recipes?

 

[chickypad]

I personally don't know anyone that uses specialty malt for more than %20 of the grain bill. I'm not saying you shouldn't but as a novice I would say it should be around %10 of the grain bill. Are you using brewtarget or beersmith to help create your recipes?

You have to take into account style though. What if the OP wants to make an amber, brown, porter, or stout? The great majority of those recipes would have more than 10% specialty malts, some a lot more. Software is a great tool for showing the specs and percentages, but it's not necessarily enough to tell you if you have a good recipe. If you plug in a grainbill of 10 lb of C-10 it looks like a perfectly good pale ale according to the specs in Beersmith.

 

[Jhubbard9]

I have used up to 40 percent specialty malts and made greats beers. I was curious to what was the norm though. I dont use any software or anything like that. I use the beer judging guidelines as a reference and my knowledge of grains in generally to figure out what could be used in certain recipes. I am not really a follow the rules guy and dont enter my beers into compitions just quite yet. I would much rather make something my own from than follow a guideline, only problem with that is just like someone said...you would get laughed out of competitions so fast and you couldn't classify your beer in a certain category. I am now making recipes with more base malt just for diastic power and less powerful malt charateristics within the final product. This is especially important for instance in an IPA where too much malt character I.e. specialty malts, overwhelm the hop flavor and aroma.

 

[kaconga]

None of my recipes go more than 20% specialty malts, most fall in the 12-14% range. Some recipes make use of adjuncts in somewhat large amounts. But overall I feel that specialty grains are a less is more situation.