HuskerBrewer
Member
New to the forum, but been lurking and researching for a while now. I'm pretty new to homebrewing but transitioned to all-grain brewing after a handful of extract batches. My first all-grain was a Saison that I put together after looking at a bunch of different recipes and here's the quick version:
Style: Saison
Volume: 5 gal
Yeast: WLP 565
Grains:
8.5lbs Belgian Pilsner
3lbs Dark Munich
.5lbs Honey malt
.5lbs Golden naked oats
Hops:
.5oz Perle (9.7% AA) @ 60 min
1oz Kent Goldings (7.2% AA) @30 min
1oz Kent Goldings (7.2% AA) @ 15 min
Single infusion mash at 148 F for 60 min
Boiled for 60 minutes and had an OG of 1.054
Chilled to between 70-75 F and directly pitched the yeast (no starter)
Two weeks in primary at 68 F, then racked to secondary and put in a room that varied between 70 F and 80 F for another two weeks(I used a little space heater to keep it on the warmer side). Cold crashed for one day then kegged. Final gravity of 1.008
So here's my issue. The beer seems really great, and everyone who's also tried it seems to really like it as well. It's slightly tart and fruity and seems well balanced between the hops and malt. I've gotten lots of compliments and a few that said they would easily pay money for this in a bar. I'm no tasting expert, but I can't detect any significant flaws or off-flavors (I do realize a Saison is pretty forgiving in that respect). Why am I saying I have an issue? Because I highly doubt that in my first attempt at all-grain brewing that I've mastered the process or crafted an amazing recipe.
So how do you more experienced brewers go about evaluating things and making adjustments? I'm not savvy enough to take a swig and think things like "hmm, needs 1lb Marris Otter, or adjust the hop schedule, or change the mash temp to 152 F". It's pretty overwhelming to think about all the buttons and knobs one can turn to adjust the final product when going all-grain. But I don't necessarily want to brew the same beer over and over while adjusting one thing at a time. I also don't want everything to turn into a game of find-the-flaw-in-this-beer either (sometimes you just want to DRINK a beer, know what I mean?). I guess I'm just looking for advice from more advanced brewers on how they've learned to tweak recipes and evaluate those changes. Thanks!
Style: Saison
Volume: 5 gal
Yeast: WLP 565
Grains:
8.5lbs Belgian Pilsner
3lbs Dark Munich
.5lbs Honey malt
.5lbs Golden naked oats
Hops:
.5oz Perle (9.7% AA) @ 60 min
1oz Kent Goldings (7.2% AA) @30 min
1oz Kent Goldings (7.2% AA) @ 15 min
Single infusion mash at 148 F for 60 min
Boiled for 60 minutes and had an OG of 1.054
Chilled to between 70-75 F and directly pitched the yeast (no starter)
Two weeks in primary at 68 F, then racked to secondary and put in a room that varied between 70 F and 80 F for another two weeks(I used a little space heater to keep it on the warmer side). Cold crashed for one day then kegged. Final gravity of 1.008
So here's my issue. The beer seems really great, and everyone who's also tried it seems to really like it as well. It's slightly tart and fruity and seems well balanced between the hops and malt. I've gotten lots of compliments and a few that said they would easily pay money for this in a bar. I'm no tasting expert, but I can't detect any significant flaws or off-flavors (I do realize a Saison is pretty forgiving in that respect). Why am I saying I have an issue? Because I highly doubt that in my first attempt at all-grain brewing that I've mastered the process or crafted an amazing recipe.
So how do you more experienced brewers go about evaluating things and making adjustments? I'm not savvy enough to take a swig and think things like "hmm, needs 1lb Marris Otter, or adjust the hop schedule, or change the mash temp to 152 F". It's pretty overwhelming to think about all the buttons and knobs one can turn to adjust the final product when going all-grain. But I don't necessarily want to brew the same beer over and over while adjusting one thing at a time. I also don't want everything to turn into a game of find-the-flaw-in-this-beer either (sometimes you just want to DRINK a beer, know what I mean?). I guess I'm just looking for advice from more advanced brewers on how they've learned to tweak recipes and evaluate those changes. Thanks!