So I have been thinking about this a lot lately and really just want to see how other people think/approach it. When I design recipes for beers, I typically pick certain flavors I want to hit and then match it to a style I think would work. Once and awhile I will flip this if I am really in a mood for a specific style. I pick my grains to mimic flavors I want to see in the beer, often times having 5 or more different grains in a recipe each there to either add a flavor or body/head stability. When I look at pro brewers and what their grain bills are, its usually AT MOST 4 grains (unless its some big barleywine or imperial stout). I have tried over and over to nail a NEIPA I like and that thing is loaded with various grains and then a local brewery will put one out and the can says "2-row, oats, dextrine" or something like that and its lightyears better than mine. I just do not get it.
Now I understand logistics of it. It does not make sense for a commercial brewer to have a ton of different grains around to use only a little bit at a time where us homebrewers do have that luxury(?). So what am I missing? Am I over complicating things? I know one of my big problems is being unable to control fermentation temp but I have gotten better at only brewing certain styles and certain season and rarely miss my desired temps by more than a couple degrees (Fahrenheit). I am really trying to nail down technique and I am consistently hitting numbers and often produce beers I like a lot but this grain bill thing has got me second guessing. Any feedback would be appreciated thanks!
Now I understand logistics of it. It does not make sense for a commercial brewer to have a ton of different grains around to use only a little bit at a time where us homebrewers do have that luxury(?). So what am I missing? Am I over complicating things? I know one of my big problems is being unable to control fermentation temp but I have gotten better at only brewing certain styles and certain season and rarely miss my desired temps by more than a couple degrees (Fahrenheit). I am really trying to nail down technique and I am consistently hitting numbers and often produce beers I like a lot but this grain bill thing has got me second guessing. Any feedback would be appreciated thanks!