feelings about clone brews?

[urbanmyth]

You might try some different SMaSH brews if you have AG capabilities. Maybe trying out 2.5 gallon batches doing BIAB in your brew kettle. It would give you a good idea what hops give what aromas and what base malts give what mouth feel/malt characteristics and the like.

 

[Grumpybumpy]

You might try some different SMaSH brews if you have AG capabilities. Maybe trying out 2.5 gallon batches doing BIAB in your brew kettle. It would give you a good idea what hops give what aromas and what base malts give what mouth feel/malt characteristics and the like.

Exactly what I was going to suggest. I've neglected the smash and plan on kicking one out this weekend

 

[prrriiide]

Do you think its better to move from clone kits to mini mash then move on to whole grain. Is that the normal process?

Meh. I brewed 3 kits then jumped into 10 gal AG batches. Haven't regretted it a bit.

I do my own recipes. I know what I like & what I don't. I'll probably never brew a lambic, just because I don't really like them so there isn't a chance in hell I'd make a good one.

+1 on the BeerSmith (or some kind of software). Makes recipe formulation a breeze. It also helps to read every pixel you can about hops - types, aromas. flavors, etc. - and yeast. Know how the hops are going to change if you add them late-boil or at the beginning. They will act differently depending on the amount of time you boil (or don't boil) them. Know what the characteristics of different yeast types are. You can really make some interesting brewing choices based on that knowledge.

 

[BrewMU]

There is a distinction between clone and kit. I did one extract kit, haven't really done any clones yet. To be honest, there are only a handful of commercial brews I'd be interested in cloning. If I thought I could duplicate Firestone Walker Union Jack, maybe I'd give it a shot, but I don't think the quality of their beer is strictly based on ingredients - they barrel age, and I can't.
I like to look at a lot of recipes for beers of the type I want to brew, then devise my own recipe, knowing that it is at least reasonably close to recipes that have actually produced beer. I don't see any way around an experimental period, because there is one thing that will be lacking in ANY beer that somebody else invented - tailoring to YOUR taste. I've also read most of those books that are being mentioned. Good luck.

 

[BrewMU]

You might try some different SMaSH brews if you have AG capabilities. Maybe trying out 2.5 gallon batches doing BIAB in your brew kettle. It would give you a good idea what hops give what aromas and what base malts give what mouth feel/malt characteristics and the like.

Definitely. I've been taking a step back from bigger more complicated recipes in order to up my basic malt/hop/yeast/process knowledge. Plus, some of those SMASHs make awesome beer. I've got a Vienna/Hallertau session SMASH
(sessmash?) ale going now.