Baseline Neutral beer recipe help?

[StillsNMash]

I figured since this is the recipe forum I'd ask here instead of the newbie forum.

I am working on finding a baseline beer recipe to which I would experiment with the different options available. I need a baseline that would allow the individual flavors of yeasts, hops, malts, flavorings and spices to be pronounced enough to taste the different flavors and mix from there.

I'd be making this in one gallon batches as my equipment is setup for that small right now. Once I get some ideas under my belt, I will use this kit as a test bed for different ideas. The final product would be like a white neutral spirit in the liquor world.

Right now, my base recipe is about 6 pounds white sugar with 50 grams red star bakers yeast.

Should I just add DME extra light, light, wheat, golden, bavarian, amber or dark depending on what type of beer I want to make that I would use as a base, then add grains and hops off that base?

What yeasts would impart the least amount of flavor in a brew? I could use the bakers yeast as a baseline and change yeasts as a component.

I purchased the small complete brewing kit from AIB with the Kama Citra ingredients kit and also a Creme Ale kit. I am going to do my first two batches with these tried and true kits first, by the book, so I get an idea of a properly proportioned recipe. Of course this all depends on the operator's performance. I planned to do it this weekend but I had too many priorities that just didn't allow brewing to bubble up to the surface. Perhaps tonight I will do a run.

Hope I am not too far off base, and I've looked online and Encyclopedia Google for references, but what I found wasn't quite what I am looking for.

Thanks for the patience and assistance.

-Stills

 

[rpmbrew]

So I'm hardly an expert homebrewer, but I would say that you are going a bit too far with the concept of a neutral baseline. If you just add bakers yeast to a sugar solution the product won't really be beer. It will probably be not that great to drink either without adding something like lemonade.

If I where you, I would get some safale us-05 yeast and add that to enough light DME and water to make a 1.04 ish OG solution. That is essentially what people use as a yeast starter, and gives a very neutral flavour - mostly you will taste the yeast. Then I'd try adding some hops, then varying the amount and type of malt used etc.

Having said that, I personally wouldn't try and reinvent the wheel. (I certainly didn't). At some point, you will probably want to make a certain style, and you can then just find a classic recipe that is representative of the style to use. I think that gives you a good idea why certain balances of malt, hops and yeast work together - much like learning classic sauce recipes. That gives you a good base to start from.

 

[StillsNMash]

Great reply RPM - that's what I am looking for. I'm not looking to drink the base product per se, but am trying to remove other flavors as much as possible so when I add a particular hop, barley, or yeast, I can get those flavors to learn the differences in several options. For example of one hops imparts a stronger bitter than another, or a yeast works better with these ingredients, etc. I am just looking to find the most basic vanilla list of ingredients that is workable for a "beer" base, even if it wouldn't be called one.

I'm weird and curious in that way. Sure I can get a kit, put it all together and have beer! I can read 'til my eyes bleed to see what everyone else does and has tried, but I can't experience what others experience. The who, what, how and why is where my curiosities and interest lies. I can't get that from someone else's opinion. I am also a "modern marvels" and "how its made" binge watcher.

So you've offered a starting point for me and for that I am grateful RPMBREW. I will start with the safale us-05 which I've seen many others use in their mixes. I'll get some Briess Pale DME. I use RO water that has a ph around 6 and a TDS of about 0019, so there is nothing else in the water I use.

Thanks @rpmbrew and welcome. I hope others chime in as well.

-Stills.

 

[rpmbrew]

What lot's of people do, including me, is brew a SMaSH (single malt and single hop) beer. That allows you to have a very clear idea of what the taste of the constituent parts are, and systematically vary one element in the experimental way you are suggesting.

Essentially you would be taking the process I suggested one step further, by adding a hop in when boiling the DME and water. Of course, when and how much hops you add opens up a whole new set of possibilities. If you had the patience you could do hundreds of different brews using just DME and the same hops, in different quantities and timings, to see how that changes the finished product. But at some point, you will probably want to change things up!

Have fun.

 

[StillsNMash]

Sounds like a winner to me, and that seems the way I will proceed in my adventures. Thanks so much for your input. I have my first brew fermenting as of last night. Did it according to the book, so we shall see how it goes.

One thing I've settled on is that I need to change over to propane instead of 115v AC. It took forever to get the water up to boil. Just not enough power other than the wife's stove and thats off limits for brewing.

I am looking forward to the variations. Thanks again-