Create your own

[Sanker]

I'm very new in the homebrewing world. I've done two kits (red ale, and a holiday ale) and I'm loving everything about it! I've got a few concoctions for experimental recipes in my head.... my question is.... does every creation fall into a catagory of a specific type of beer? (ex...Stout, Oktoberfest, Hefe etc...)
So I mix a little of this and that and get lucky enough to create an enjoyable beer.... what do I call it?

 

[passedpawn]

You can't really just randomly mix malts and hope to come up with a good beer, let alone a specific style. If you want to create your own recipe, think about what character you are looking for in your next beer, then figure out what malts and hops will achieve that.

Every malt has a different flavor, and might also contribute to other parts of the beer such as mouthfeel and appearance. I like what John Palmer said in his book How To Brew (he said it better in the book, but this is copied from the web). Read that short list and see how they are connected.

To help get your creative juices flowing, here is a rough approximation of the recipes for the common ale styles:
- Pale Ale - base malt plus a half pound of caramel malt,
- Amber Ale - pale ale plus a half pound of dark caramel malt,
- Brown Ale - pale ale plus a half pound of chocolate malt
- Porter - amber ale plus a half pound of chocolate malt,
- Stout - porter plus a half pound of roast barley.
​

 

[Sanker]

Okay, I'm thinking of using an amber malt extract with 1oz. cascade hops, steeping half pound of caramalt and half pound of honey oats, using an undecided amount of sweet orange peel, seeds of paradise, ginger root. ... and dry hopping with 1 oz of citra hops...... in my head I beleive this will either create a decent beer, or give me a few ideas of things not to mix again. Is this a bad idea?

 

[tennesseean_87]

Many will advise you to keep things simple at first. Sounds like a decent amber ale with the extract and hops. Usually mixing late hops (or dry hops) and spice additions will muddle things. I'd do just the bittering if you're set on spices. If you aren't I'd ditch them, or at least start out with very little so that they aren't overpowering.

 

[rorypayne]

When I first started out I would look at 10-20 different recipes of the style I wanted to brew read the tasting notes and then make my own using the information I had gathered. IMHO the most fun part of brewing is the uncertainty of what exactly will come out in the final product. Good luck and have fun.

 

[Sanker]

Thanks for the advice.... I've been reading nonstop...recipes, advice, and recommendations on brewing with all the different ingrediants I could think of. I enjoy the kit brews, but I'm really excited to play and create!

 

[tennesseean_87]

+1 on reading recipes, but stick to proven ones. Some people get on here and post crap that is stupid, and you don't want to take those into account in creating your own. Pick the most popular ones for a style, compare with Jamil podcast, and get it done.

 

[cluckk]

One of the best things you can do is experimentation to see what different ingredients do. Try some very simple recipes to see what each part contributes. For example, if you are able to do a mash, you can try a SMaSH (single malt, single hops). From there you can swap out things and even add other ingredients.

If you are not doing all grain, you might move to that next and learn on some published recipes. All grain gives you much more ability to tweak the end product that extract.

 

[Sanker]

All grain may be a move in the future... as of now I'm still taking everything in and getting my feet wet with all I can. And on a side note.... I know brewing a kit of premeasured ingredients is not too impressive, however I did a red ale (my first brew) and it turned out fantastic! The wifes gonna hate me...as if I wasn't obsessed with all this before!

 

[Sanker]

I've got my holiday ale (kit) ready to bottle and my first experimental recipe in the primary! Ill update once they are ready for consumption!

 

[Sanker]

Got another idea... might be great, might be plain stupid..... not sure yet. Has anyone had "apple pie moonshin"? (Not actual moonshine) Its a delicious nonbeer recipe consisting of apple juice, apple cider, sugar, cinnimon sticks and everclear. I want to make a rendition of this as a beer... maybe a wheat malt extract with apple juice, apple cider and water as the base liquid for the boil. Is this worth trying? Or is that too sugary to work? Any experts with advice?

 

[Scruff_92]

ive been asking myself the same question....seems like such a vast sea of possibilities to be simply filed in under certain styles. does anyone know how i could describe my latest brew? 4kilo pale malt, 500g carabelge, 240g aromatic, 260 biscuit and a handful of black to test the colour. hops included galena and northern brewer and dry hopped with northern brewer and savinjski goldings. aim was to use up what was lying about but im curious to know if it falls into a category. thanks

 

[rorypayne]

Call it what I call my "creations"... Beer!

 

[TrickyDick]

Have fun and keep brewing.

FWIW, too much fresh citrus peel can kill head retention from the essential oils in the peel.

Also, you're forgetting about the most important ingredient: yeast!
You can get a lot of the spicy flavors you're seeking by experimenting with different yeast strains, and fermentation temperatures if you are able to control those. Belgian strains are often noted for lending spicy and a variety of other characteristics to beer.

TD