Does anyone else rarely brew bigger beers?

[DeathBrewer]

lately i've been drinking lighter brews. it all started with my first in-house keg. i finished the ~5 gallons in four days, nearly by myself. i made it into work late the day after it was finished. i decided i needed lighter beers on tap for my personal consumption (i'm working on a house ale)

then it just kinda stuck. almost all my latest brews have been under 6%...plus they ferment faster, and i'm learning more about styles and the flavors that certain ingredients impart.

it's a win-win situation IMO

 

[joejaz]

Hey Joe, if you want your beer on the dry side, which I also like, then you should definitely start mashing. If you want to get dry with all extract, use more attenuative yeast like Nottingham...

Me and my son are putting the equipment together right now. He's working on the mashtun and I'm working on the keggle. The ESB we brewed at Bobby's house was great. I got to check out what yeast I used on some of the receipes. I know I have used Nottingham.

 

[keiths]

Mostly all small beers for me 3.5 - 5%, I have brewed a few bigger one up to 8%
I just like being able to drink all day on the weekends. And with small beers I can.

 

[rabidgerbil]

Go ahead and add me to this thread...
So you are definitely not alone, there appears to be lots of us that like, and mainly brew, smaller beers, and it appears to be mainly for the same reasons.

I know that I don't even pay attention to the alcohol level until it is time to take the readings and make my notes on the batch. I never look at it with the original recipe. I just don't care. I am brewing a recipe because it sounds good to me. I am brewing what I think will taste good.

So far, every single one of these has been in the 4.5 - 5.1 range.

 

[Soulive]

Me and my son are putting the equipment together right now. He's working on the mashtun and I'm working on the keggle. The ESB we brewed at Bobby's house was great. I got to check out what yeast I used on some of the receipes. I know I have used Nottingham.

Yeah the yeast is your best bet at controlling attenuation right now. When you guys start mashing, the possibilities will expand...

 

[Evan!]

Equal-opportunity brewer, I is. I like to have a nice stock of lower-ABV brews augmented by some medium (7-12%) that are nice to finish the night with, and extreme (13-15%) that are fun to age and drink on special occasions or when you feel like a really massive brew. Last night I finished the night with a barleywine, and nothing else would've sufficed.

 

[TheCrane]

Last night I brewed my smallest beer to date (OG:1.039, mild). I have never had so many problems. My usual grain bills are around 10-14 lb for 5 gallons, and I have always had smooth mash and sparge. However, last night's attempt at a mild was seemingly not meant to be. Here's the run down:

1: used Beersmith the determine strike temp/volume. Did this the same way I always do, using the equipment adjust feature. I have always been +/- 1 F. Not last night. Was shooting for 154 F, landed at 148. Frantically, I started heating more water (not prepared). Didn't get to 154 until ~ 30 min in. So much for a full nice full malt character!

2: Stuck sparge! For the first time in 25+ batches, I was stuck. Strange that this happened on my smallest grain bill Had to blow into manifold and re-vorlauf. There was obvious channeling afterward.

3: 30 minutes into boil, ran out of propane.

4: Chilled wort, went to draw hydrometer sample and... Ball valve frozen solid! Last night was below 0 F.

5: Brought full keggle into the house and thawed ball valve with warm water. Began filling carboy and the wort stopped flowing. The hop bag with used for bittering hops had found its way under the siphon tube and plugged it. Luckily the siphon tube is only loosely connected to the plumbing and I was able to shake it loose without opening the keggle and exposing chilled wort.

After all this, I still managed to slightly over shoot target gravity (OG: 1.040).
Should be interesting to taste, though I'm expecting a thin and bland mild due to low mash temps.

Lesson learned: Don't take small beers lightly!!

 

[iamjonsharp]

I aim to brew 75% brews in the 4-7% range, and 25% in the 7-10% range.

It used to be more 50/50, but we just ended up running out of session beers to drink at the house. I always try to make sure there will be an ample supply of session beers in rotation.

 

[Brewtopia]

Most of the beers I make come in at around 5.5% - 7%. I do have a Berliner Weisse at 3.2% and a Belgian Style Strong Ale in the primary with an O.G. of 1.110 The highest abv beer I've brewed was 13%.

 

[Mutilated1]

I brewed a couple of big beers a few months back, well maybe not "big" by some people's standards, but "bigger" than usual for me. In the future I will probably brew big beers even less, I have two main recipes that I really like right now and neither one is a big beer but I'll probably brew them every 2-3 weeks. If I make a big beer it will last longer because I don't really feel like drinking it everyday, and then even if I do - one beer will do it, and then I'll have 2-3 of something else more likely.

 

[jdoiv]

Most of mine are 3.5-5.5 ABV. I may occasionally brew something in the 6-9 ABV range. I brew to consume and just don't need to get druck every night.

 

[jay8s]

I think I maybe in the minority here. I got into brewing to make these big beers. I figure I can wait for something that I can enjoy, why not take some pride in the beer that I make. I can always make something smaller to go out and get wasted on.

just my .2 cents

Jay8s

 

[Fish]

I would love to do a barleywine but I can't keep any place cool in the summer. My brew season is just the cool months so I can't age anything.

 

[bradsul]

I think I maybe in the minority here. I got into brewing to make these big beers. I figure I can wait for something that I can enjoy, why not take some pride in the beer that I make. I can always make something smaller to go out and get wasted on.

I take pride in all my beers. And the smaller beers aren't about getting wasted, quite the opposite in fact. They let you enjoy the flavour even more because you can drink more of them.

 

[Soulive]

I take pride in all my beers. And the smaller beers aren't about getting wasted, quite the opposite in fact. They let you enjoy the flavour even more because you can drink more of them.

+1...something smaller to go out and get wasted on, WTF? No offense to bigger beers, but smaller/balanced beers are not the easiest to brew. I take pride in brewing beers that aren't loaded with hops to cover my flaws. I can respect you brewing bigger beers, but don't act like we brew smaller beers so we can drunk. As Brad said, its quite the opposite...

 

[ohiobrewtus]

I take pride in all my beers. And the smaller beers aren't about getting wasted, quite the opposite in fact. They let you enjoy the flavour even more because you can drink more of them.

Huh... I get the same amount out of a keg regardless of the alcohol content.

 

[discgolfin]

I love Barley Wines and Big triple styles so I do tend to brew them now and again. But the real big ones maybe only a few times a year. I usually do an all grain and the dump DME to make my OG. I did do an all grain Imperial Stout..just to say I did. 22pds of grain later I have one tasty sipping 12% ABV beer. It should be ready some time next winter.

As far as price..it really depends..some bigger all grain beers are not that much more unles it is a IIPA and than the money is in the hops..if you can make it all grain it is but 5 pounds more grain..no big deal. Im interested in doing some tricky mash tecngniques I read about that use first runnings as your sparge ect. This way you can get high gravity with less water..less propane..less grain.. less money.
I will try this some day.

For me it is not about high alcohal and getting drunk..more about real big robust flavors that are good now and again for a sipping beer..Imperial Stouts..IIPA..Tripples..dopple bocks ect..all very complex and yet balanced beers..well once they have aged a bit than they are nicely balanced. Still not always easy beer to make...and only the IIPA is covered by hops.


Jay

 

[sirsloop]

Most of my brews are at least 5% alcohol, a good portion are 7%, and I've make at least a few batches thats 9%+. Well, if you look at my sig... the only thing fermenting now thats under 7% is that rye porter. I don't drink a lot of beer and I enjoy a glass of really complex beer. I love belgians, double IPA's, coffee stout, barleywine, etc. I'm not a big fan of weeheavys but they are alright.

 

[rabidgerbil]

I figure I can wait for something that I can enjoy, why not take some pride in the beer that I make.

Comments like this really burn my ass...
They imply that if you are not making big beers, that you have no reason to take pride in what you brew.

 

[david_42]

I've done two big beers in the last five years. Both of them are sipping barleywines, I can't imagine drinking an entire pint of either. Most of my brews are in the 4-5% range and my summer beers even smaller. I like being able to have a pint with lunch without any impairment.

Making a good small beer is much more of a challenge that a big beer. There's no place to hid, everything has to be carefully balanced. A big beer, you can miss your IBU by 10 points and dry hop the heck out of it. Hopheads will think it's great. Doesn't work with a 4%'r.

 

[ohiobrewtus]

I've done two big beers in the last five years. Both of them are sipping barleywines, I can't imagine drinking an entire pint of either. Most of my brews are in the 4-5% range and my summer beers even smaller. I like being able to have a pint with lunch without any impairment.

Making a good small beer is much more of a challenge that a big beer. There's no place to hid, everything has to be carefully balanced. A big beer, you can miss your IBU by 10 points and dry hop the heck out of it. Hopheads will think it's great. Doesn't work with a 4%'r.

True, but the same could be said for 'big' beers like Scotch Ales and Trappists. Neither of which emphasize hops at all, yet are high in alcohol and have an incredibly more complex palate than any low abv beer that I've ever had.

In my opinion, to say that either is better is extremely short-sided. There is a place for both and if you only brew one then you've certainly convinced yourself that it's the better option of the two, and you're likely missing out on a lot of good beer.

 

[Soulive]

In my opinion, to say that either is better is extremely short-sided. There is a place for both and if you only brew one then you've certainly convinced yourself that it's the better option of the two, and you're likely missing out on a lot of good beer.

That's what I was trying convey. I'm not flaming either side, I just think both should be respected for what they are...

 

[jay8s]

I should clairify. I don't not take pride in the little beers, I just don't have to wait as long. There is a level of patience with all beers, but the bigger ones need more. I hardly every drink more than 4 of my homebrews in a sitting, and when I drink them I take my time and enjoy them. It is like drinking a fine Brandy, or smoking a cigar, they are to be enjoyed, an experience.

In the end I just love my BIG beers.

 

[SRFeldman79]

im not sure where the cut off is, on big versus normal beers, im guessing 6-6.5%...there are three styles, maybe four that i like that could be considered big (weizen bocks, imperial pales, imperial stouts, and some belgians), so in a given year I'd expect 25% of my beers to be bigger...and the rest smaller ones that ill intersperse between the big ones so i always have homebrew to drink.

 

[david_42]

I used to brew big beers almost exclusively. Big complex beers, regardless of style, are easier than small beers.

 

[Funkenjaeger]

For the first 10 months or so of brewing, I always aimed on the high side of gravity to try to get the most 'bang for the buck' because my equipment didn't really allow me to churn out batches fast enough for low-gravity beers to keep up with demand.
Finally, in the last month or two I've gotten to the point where I've got the equipment and time that supply can finally exceed demand... And having a real surplus of beer on tap in the kegerator all the time made me realize pretty quickly how valuable it would be to have some good lower-gravity session beers. I sure love my IPA's and all, but drink a couple pints of that with dinner and it can sure strip away my motivation to get things done afterward!

 

[explosivebeer]

I found that when I first got into beer brewing, bigger was better, and biggest was the best - along with fruits, chocolate, etc., etc.

Has anyone else found that when they first got into HB, their beers were typically bigger?

- GL63

I've been homebrewing for about a year now and am just starting to hit my stride after about 15 batches. I definitely lean toward making the higher ABV, more complex concoctions. Sometimes though, it's easy to forget that those are not session beers! I'm now backing off and making sure I have a better mix of varieties and ABV content so there's a beer on tap for every occasion.

 

[Ooompa Loompa]

I've been brewing for about 6 months now, and until yesterday (when I started a RIS that will probably be 9 or 10%) everything that I had brewed was in the 4-6% range.

 

[Chaos_Being]

I do tend to like the bigger beers, and I definitely have several big beers planned. I'm also planning on a nice wit and hefe, so I guess I want to brew a little of both...