BrewEveryday.com Recipe Suggestions

[matthewmurray]

I am putting together the calendar for the Year of Beer - brewing one beer a day for 365 days straight, beginning July 5th, 2014. I know that the more interest and support that I have, the easier it will be for me to stay motivated to make it through the entire year. I will post progress, challenges, and tips on www.breweveryday.com as I go. Thank you to those who have dialogued already!

So far, I have many suggestions for single-ingredient series i.e. a series on different yeast strains where all other variables are kept the same. Or a single hop series. How about Single Hop Saturday for an entire year - I need to find 52 different hop strains. Single malt Mondays?


I have also been asked to test different brewing variables such as mash temps and boil times. How different is a beer mashed at 150 vs 151? or 152? How does Irish Moss really compare to Whirlfloc, or skipping all finings and using cold crashing alone?

I also hope to dial in some great seasonal brews for Oktoberfest, Christmas, St. Patrick's Day, etc. and will plan them in advance for consumption at the proper time. Do you have a great holiday beer recipe?

So - what do you want to see brewed? What would you suggest for a base beer for variations such as a single hop series? What other experiments or comparisons would you do?

 

[hopkincr]

Great idea and better you than me.... Not a critique or being a Debbie downer, but unless your thermometer is calibrated exceptionally well, there isn't going to be a difference between 150 and 151 or 152. There would be some +/- in the readings.


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[mkyl428]

Wow every day? That's awesome, but where do you get the time? At some point won't you pretty much have to bottle every day too? Man that sounds like a huge under taking but i guess you will have a huge variety of Beer!

 

[Calichusetts]

To be honest, I'd skip finings and cold crashing if you are brewing everyday. That will be A LOT of finings over a year. I believe your doing 1 gallon, which I do as well. But there is no need to add to your budget if you don't need it. Chill quickly after the boil and you will be fine. Let is settle after fermentation and you should have clear beer. I've gotten crystal clear beer without any of these methods.

Also, how much fridge space do you have...you might end up cold crashing 4-6 batches at a time. That is A LOT of space.

I will pm tonight with some of my best 1 gallon recipes. Some are complex, so let me know if you have specific grains you want to stick with our hops to use. No need to make extra work beyond brewing 300+ batches. Best of luck!

 

[sfrisby]

Already to watch the show, Matt!

 

[sfrisby]

How about the same stout with different toast levels of oak?

 

[matthewmurray]

How about the same stout with different toast levels of oak?

That sounds like a great idea. I really want to explore different specialty grains in stouts, especially imperial stouts. One of my favorite styles, but the variety and quality of maltiness is outrageous. I'm looking forward I brewing a lot of those. Maybe I should do a stout month?

 

[mkyl428]

What about experimenting with some wild yeast? Maybe brew a batch and don't pitch any yeast and leave it somewhere for wild yeast to take hold... You could also experiment with using yeast from fruit peels

 

[matthewmurray]

What about experimenting with some wild yeast? Maybe brew a batch and don't pitch any yeast and leave it somewhere for wild yeast to take hold... You could also experiment with using yeast from fruit peels

My brain requires a little more consistency and repeatability than wild yeast can offer, but I may try a few.

I was thinking about trying different non-beer yeast. The local baker (who happens to be a Siebel graduate) said I could try his house bread strain.

 

[matthewmurray]

From Yeast, pg. 88: "... And even the square corners of some open fermentors have an effect on the character of the beer. Without a doubt, the same wort fermented in a cylindroconical fermentor would not taste the same."

Sounds like a good experiment. I will put it on the calendar.

 

[matthewmurray]

Already to watch the show, Matt!

Thank you! It is quickly approaching. I am devouring my research and ready to get started!

 

[matthewmurray]

9 days until the Year of Beer begins!

 

[matthewmurray]

Am I missing any good caramel/crystal malts for the the first series?

 

[matthewmurray]

I'm 25 days in the the YoB and will finish the Crystal series this week. Anyone have ideas for future series or experiments?

 

[badlee]

How about the same base with differing simple sugars: white,brown,soft brown,caramel sugar,honey,maple syrup ect.
An easy base of 80% base malt,10crystal and 10% sugar.

 

[matthewmurray]

How about the same base with differing simple sugars: white,brown,soft brown,caramel sugar,honey,maple syrup ect.
An easy base of 80% base malt,10crystal and 10% sugar.

Great suggestion - I've never really used sugars. What OG would you shoot for? I know many homebrewers use sugar in IIPAs.

 

[DesertPunk1981]

What about a beer made of ingredients entirely from a dollar store (except the yeast)? Fruit, sugars, spices, etc... Cheap Beer.....

 

[matthewmurray]

What about a beer made of ingredients entirely from a dollar store (except the yeast)? Fruit, sugars, spices, etc... Cheap Beer.....

That's awesome! Adjuncts, too? Sugar plus oats? I will put some thought into that...

 

[badlee]

I would be shooting for, no I am not joking, 1.038-1.042.
Very quaffable and the contribution from the sugars should shine through.

 

[tagz]

Can you explain the logistics? How on earth are you able to brew everyday?

 

[DesertPunk1981]

How did you get the wife to give you a "kitchen pass" on this project? It sounds awesome, but holidays, birthdays, no vacations?! Hope you're last brew isn't an Alimony Ale is all I'm saying. Cheers!

 

[matthewmurray]

Can you explain the logistics? How on earth are you able to brew everyday?

One gallon each day on my stovetop. All grain, single vessel. Typical brew day:
Leave for work at 5am, get home by 3p. Measure and heat strike water with salts and mill grains. Start mash, throw it in the oven, and live life as normal with my family (four kids, wife, and dog). After 90 minutes (or more if we are busy) start boil. While beer is brewing, bottle the batch from 23 days ago. Finish brew, chill with immersion chiller, transfer to jug and add yeast.

I often pre-measure grains and always hops for the week, sometimes set up the kettle with water the night before. We went on vacation last week and I brewed four days in the condo kitchen. I took everything pre-milled and measured. It was a fun challenge!

 

[eric19312]

Great suggestion - I've never really used sugars. What OG would you shoot for? I know many homebrewers use sugar in IIPAs.

DIPA makes sense but not sure you will be able to tell one from another if they are well hopped.

Why not try different sugars for bottle priming a lighter beer to see if flavor contributions or differences in levels or quality of carbonation are noticeable?

 

[eric19312]

How about an experiment with US-05 at different fermentation conditions. Alter pitching rate and fermentation temp. Use your favorite recipe from the crystal experiment.

Then take the results of the yeast experiment and re-run a weeks worth of beers from the crystal experiment with the optimized yeast protocol. See if the optimized yeast changes your impression of the likableness of the different crystal malts...

When you move into hops use that optimized yeast protocol on a hoppy beer. Then pick the hop you like best and re-run a few of the yeast protocols against that hop addition. See if you still like that yeast strategy back in your crystal and hop optimized beer.

By the end of the year you may find your way to the ultimate APA. And be absolutely sick of the style...

Haha have fun I am looking forward to watching this.

 

[matthewmurray]

Thanks for the suggestions, Eric. My working plan for the entire year is similar to what you have outlined. The biggest difficulty is changing fermentation temperatures since I am holding 10 batches in each fermentation chamber. I do want to play with pitching rates and eventually get back to harvested yeast. I'm using dry now for predictability in the series, but I have successfully top cropped many ale yeasts in the past with good results.

My hope is to come out of the YoB with several recipes that I am really happy with: an APA, two IPAs, an IIPA, and a stout for sure. My tastes lean towards very aggressive American beers, but I will try to nail a few foreign styles as well and maybe come up with a few malt forward beers.

 

[progmac]

i'm really impressed with this. best of luck, i'm pulling for you. lately i've been interested in the effect of staggered nutrient additions in beers prone to sulfur (lagers, a few ale strains like wyeast 3068). you'd really have to be able to control your pitch rate to have meaningful results, which might be tough at the 1 gallon batch size. i've also been wondering about the value of physically stirring once or twice per day until 50% of fermentation is complete. this would apply more to beers that ferment slowly.

 

[rekoob]

Pretty cool. Good luck.

 

[pricelessbrewing]

Hey everyday. I've commented on your facebook posts a few times but I'll reiterate them here.
Trub vs low trub vs No trub.
In the same spirit as the pour vs siphon, maybe do a trub vs. No trub vs siphon to container, cold crash 2 days, then siphon back and bring to pitching temps then pitch yeast. Should minimize trub even further.
Quick chil, vs slow chil, vs no chill.
If you have the ability to do no chill, that would be a nice addition in that mindset.

Saison and belgian yaest series. Either compare different yeast profiles, which will be harder since it'll have different preferred temps.OR Saison yeast with non saison recipes would be interesting, due to the higher fermentation temp. Do 5-10 recipes, then do them again with a saison or belgian yeast. Amber ale, saison amber, porter ale, Cream of three crops with saison!, saison porter. etc.

As with sugar, don't forget belgian candi sugars.

Hydration vs non hydration vs hydrate at wrong temp. Same recipe, pitch dry once, pitch hydrated at recommended temp per manufacturer, then hydrate at 5 degrees lower than suggested temp.

Under pitch, over pitch. Harvested yeast vs new yeast.

 

[matthewmurray]

i'm really impressed with this. best of luck, i'm pulling for you.

Thanks so much! I haven't used any nutrients post boil - can you point me towards some reading on what you are talking about? I have most brew reference books and read a lot on this form.

As for stirring, I will try that with a quick two or three part series one day, especially with a quick flocculating yeast. I used Mangrove Jack's Work Horse on vacation last week and it dropped completely after 36 hours at most! I did agitate them a little when I got home, but I should do a side by side.

 

[matthewmurray]

Hey everyday. I've commented on your facebook posts a few times but I'll reiterate them here.

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I feel that my biggest areas for growth are in yeast choices and handling. I want to try all of what you mentioned. It is difficult as a one gallon brewer, but I think that there are many people who would benefit from some experimentation with different small batch yeast options.