Anyone Know of any Recipe No-No's?

[catdaddy66]

I am a intermediate level brewer that has brewed (on and off) for at least 15 years but mostly used kits purchased from online companies. I have a theoretical knowledge of how to piece together the proper quantities of malt, grains, hops and yeast. I also can accurately read a recipe list and purchase, then prepare the specified ingredients.

I am getting together some ingredients and want to "freelance" a recipe to see how my knowledge pans out in actual beer! I am concerned that I may get a couple of the ingredients that are not good to pair together. I don't even know if that is possible but want to pick the brain of some members on HBT before brewing a nasty and undrinkable concoction because I didn't know not to use cascade with (insert ingredient here).

What has your experience taught you to avoid mixing?? Thanks for the responses...

 

[Beernik]

One man's nasty, undrinkable concoction is another man's delicacy. Considering there are hops that "smell like your cat ate your weed and then pissed in a Christmas tree" and yeasts that yield flavors described as "horse blanket" and "barnyard"... There isn't much that is truly undrinkable.

To paraphrase: Relax. Don't worry. Make a homebrew.

(The hop quote is John Mallett of Bells Brewery.)

 

[boortzie]

Here's a couple of tips I've learned (mostly the hardway).

-I agree with Beernik. A few years ago, I screwed up pretty badly on ferm temps for an IPA and I didn't like the end result. Some friends of mine loved it though.

-When in doubt, KIS. There are not a lot of ways you can go disastrously wrong if you stick with known commodities. When you start adding in funky things like malt vinegar, grains of paradise, chrysanthemum blossoms, etc., that's when things can go off the rails.

-Kind of like wine goes well with food from the region where the grapes were grown, beer ingredients play well together if they are from the same geographic region. While some incredible results can be had by mixing ingredients from all over the world, it's hard to go wrong with geographically-aligned ingredients.

-Finally, don't tell people that the beer is a certain style until you've seen and tasted the finished product. A really poor example of a brown ale could be one hell of a (darker) blonde, but if people expect a brown ale and get dishwater blonde, they'll be less than impressed. Not that this was my exact experience, of course.

 

[mikescooling]

Their is a good book called "Designing Great Beers" and it gives about how much grain type would tast good for each kind of beer. I once make the mestake of using 2 extra pounds of chocolate malt and it was bad, very bad.

 

[Hogarthe]

its not usually two ingredients not working together, its using too much of certain ingredients that ruins the beer. especially the dark roasted malts, or peat smoked malt, some of these are "a little goes a long way" ingredients. if you check out recipes other people have had success with, you can get an idea of how much of these to use, based on how much people are putting in thier beer. not that you can't use more than they did, but you may want to consider the possibility you'll be going overboard with it.

 

[Krovitz]

Grains on the HBT wiki usually have "max in batch" under the info that can be very helpful.

 

[PhelanKA7]

Grains on the HBT wiki usually have "max in batch" under the info that can be very helpful.

That's a good tip.

You may really like biscuits but that doesn't mean you should brew a beer with 50% biscuit malt.

 

[mhot55]

Don't put milk in beer

 

[Braufessor]

Peat smoke malt does not go well with anything.... ever.....

Yeah - watch out for too much of certain specialty malts - special B, roast malts, acidulated malt, crystal 120.

Personally, I really like starting with something out of "Brewing Classic Styles" and then fine tuning a little at a time. I have brewed for 17-18 years. The first 12-14 I would "make up" recipes...... lots of mediocre beer with some occasional successes. The last few years I started building on established recipes and have consistently brewed much better beer.

 

[Ølbart]

I have to disagree on the peat smoked malt. It's a notable ingredient in Nøgne Ø's Sunturnbrew, a deliciously smokey barley wine. They also have a brew called 100% Peated, which they claim is "almost undrinkable". We'll see about that later tonight; I just bought a bottle.

As for Special B, roasted malts, etc., that's certainly true, but keep in mind that it's all about balance -- not only of flavours, but also of mash pH. The best attempts at cloning Arrogant Bastard have been with surprisingly huge amounts of Special B. Roasted malt may turn your mash too sour, but this depends on your water.

 

[Hoser_brewing]

I don't like American oak in British bitters. Gives off a weird vegetal note.

On a broader, more useable level, the above suggestions are all great, especially for specialty malt amounts. I've been constantly amazed at how little of some of them I need in order to hit a taste threshold, and how quickly they can make a beer unbalanced.

I also like taking a reputable clone recipe of a beer I enjoy, think about what I'd like modified in that beer, and see if I can make it happen. Starting from a winner is never a bad strategy.

And don't ferment S-04 above 73, unless you loooooooove fruity esters.

 

[catdaddy66]

Thanks, guys! There is some gold in those suggestions. Keep 'em coming! I will try to learn as much as I can from the brains on this board...

 

[cheezydemon3]

Manatees, though cute, typically impart a manure like aftertaste. No sir, I don't like it.

 

[Ølbart]

I have to disagree on the peat smoked malt. It's a notable ingredient in Nøgne Ø's Sunturnbrew, a deliciously smokey barley wine. They also have a brew called 100% Peated, which they claim is "almost undrinkable". We'll see about that later tonight; I just bought a bottle.

100% Peated is actually drinkable. Well, sippable. If Lagavulin made a light beer (at 8.5% ABV), this would be it. I'll probably (no, certainly) never buy it again, but I'll gladly recommend it to anyone who likes to drink wet camp fire.

This beer is single malt, and a bit too thin, but I really don't think peat smoked malt is to be feared if you give it a sweet, solid malt base -- and you want a solid smoke character, of course. It's not subtle. Oh, and of course this will vary a lot between maltsters. This one is from Thomas Fawcett's.

 

[mjdonnelly68]

Manatees, though cute, typically impart a manure like aftertaste. No sir, I don't like it.

I've found the same thing with alpacas, no matter how long I brine them.

 

[Yooper]

Thanks, guys! There is some gold in those suggestions. Keep 'em coming! I will try to learn as much as I can from the brains on this board...

Well, in general terms, "less is more" for many ingredients in brewing. Sure, there are some times when there are a ton of hops in a beer- but if anything seems weird, then it probably is! Specialty grains, hops, water additions- "less is more" is a good principle unless you're making something unusual like an IIPA or a specialty beer.

Even then, if you see a ton of specialty grains, a ton of simple sugar, water additions that seem different (chalk or even gypsum), or unbalanced hops, that would be a hint that the recipe might be suspect or not a good idea until you check with someone with more experience.

 

[barrooze]

100% Roasted Barley would be a no-no.

 

[cheezydemon3]

No manatees, no alpacas.....what did we decide about zombies?

 

[catdaddy66]

No manatees, no alpacas.....what did we decide about zombies?

I LOVE zombies!!! The undead, not the... well yes, the beer too.

 

[cheezydemon3]

I LOVE zombies!!! The undead, not the... well yes, the beer too.

Me too! but catching the T virus might suck.