How long's it been since you tried a new recipe ?

[user 22118]

I hope I'm not getting off topic, but I'm intrigued about this.

I agree that it is good to try different styles of beer, and experiment with yeasts, and there are a butt load of BJCP categorizes, but if you have only tasted the beer you have brewed,do you really know what that style should taste like? It can be hard to track down some of these esoteric styles, but I like to try to find an example or three and then try and brew some thing new.

I've been brewing a while now, and the first few years, I brewed some thing new all the time. But as I started to refine the process, I learned that with the consistence of the process, you'll produce good beer , and you can really taste the difference with subtle changes at some parts of the process, but not so much for other parts.

I guess a good example is the Golden heavy I'm working on right now. By changing the pitching temp by a couple degrees you completely change the ester profile. and this is the same recipe and with re-pitching the yeast.

1st batch: Pitched 68º held for 1 weeks brought up to 80º two week
2nd Batch: Pitched at 74º brought up to 80º and held for three weeks
3rd Batch : pitched at 80º held for three weeks.
4th batch :will repeat second batch.

1st had a moderate ester profile
2nd had a strong profile that I was looking for
3rd had vary little ester profile

And the good thing about re-brewing rapidly, was I had the three beers to compare them too each other.

I like what you say here. It showcases the differences between us all. You seem to be looking at it from a "scientific" standpoint where you are attempting to recreate something consistently. When I brew, I am not letting the brew gods just take over, but I am letting them do their thing. I know that my stout will change a little each time, which might be the reasoning behind using a little different recipe or yeast. I found that I like the flavor or an american stout brewed with an english yeast and mashed at around 155. I did this by changing the recipe to have a lot of Chocolate malt and by finding that I liked a little less attenuated beer, at 1.015-1.018.

Also, since I don't bottle, I never have two of the same beers brewed at two different times available. I drink the keg, rebrew the beer, drink the keg, rebrew the beer....yada yada. In between the two though, I drink another style and so I can't really "remember" what the last version tasted like.

So much to do in so little time :rockin:

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

My problem is that I have yet to attempt to repeat a recipe I liked and I have several that were excellent.

 

[artyusmc]

since i'm new i'm trying different recipses each brew, will start repeating a B3 esb, i really liked. i need another bucket for brew more often.

 

[eschatz]

I brew a new recipe every other beer about. I like to keep a pale ale on tap that is really consistant. It's actually REALLY freakin' good. I'm thinking about posting on here. I have other tried and trues that I rotate out of that spot also. Other than that it's experimentation time almost exclusively.

 

[david_42]

I do agree that brewing the same beer repeatedly is a good way to refine your process, but that was 6-7 years ago for me. Now, I'm confident brewing one-offs, so I do.

 

[Mutilated1]

I like to brew a different style every week, and then usually a different version of that style.

Does that mean you brew two different beers a week ?

Can you really drink that much ? Thats kind of a lot of beer, not that I'm anyone to judge - I drink about 1 batch ( 5 gallons ) every week to 10 days not counting probably 1-2 cases of BMC over the same time period.

If you don't mind me asking, what do you usually have on tap that you repeat ?

 

[Mutilated1]

Also, I probably should have been more clear about this, but to me -- I'm not all that particular about exactly how long a beer gets left in the primary, or how many days it gets left in the secondary -- a lot of that just depends on when the kegs empty, and when I feel like doing it.

What I meant by repeating a recipe is that basically I stick to pretty much the same ingredients, but I might substitute hops or something if I have leftover hops that I want to use up... something like that. One beer I've been brewing a lot of lately is a recipe, that sort of started out as a cross between "Jamil's Special Yellow" and a Classic American Pilsner recipe that I got out of Southern brew news magazine about a year or so ago -- and I've just been modifying it slightly each time I brew it, mainly just bringing the OG down to where its more of a guzzler session-type beer. Basically the same set of ingredients, I've just been cutting back each time so that now I'm hitting around .040 and ending up with something more familiar to a typical beer drinker instead of a beer snob - lol

 

[Bernie Brewer]

My experimenting phase is pretty much over. I have recipes that I like, and brew them seasonally. Every once in awhile I'll get the itch to try a new recipe or style- this past spring I made a light lager that the BMC masses loved. But that was pretty much the only new recipe I did this year.

 

[wscott823]

I'm just curious out of those who have tried different recipes, how many have tried a new category?

 

[bbrim]

I made my first Saison a week and a half ago. I am always tweaking recipes, looking for the perfect beer and working with what I have on hand.

 

[melchermatt]

2 days ago - an English IPA. Then again, I also brewed an APA that I have done several times before.

 

[Kauai_Kahuna]

I am a drug free tweeker, I always mix things up a little just to see if I like the outcome a little more or less. It always comes out to be good beer, I'm just working for those great beers.
That said, when I try a new recipe I try to follow it exactly the first time just to get what the original brewer meant, then I change it.

 

[foxtrot]

I've never brewed the same thing twice. I'm always trying different grains, hops and yeasts to see what I like. Also, since I never adjust my water chemistry, I'm discovering what styles work best for the water out of my tap. For instance, lighter color beers work best for the soft water we have.

 

[HenryHill]

I write something different or completely new every time.

Even if I wanted to brew the same exact thing, my tastes vary and I find I may want to make this version different than the last time by changing something, because I want it to taste different.

I have some consistent styles I like to keep around, but I don't want the exact same beers all the time.

 

[DBbrewing]

I have been brewing since 2006 and have never brewed the same beer twice, I always try a different style.

 

[HawaiianHippie]

I was just kind of wondering how long it had been since you guys have tried a new recipe ?

Just passed the 3 year mark in the history of my beer brewing hobby and its been months since I brewed anything really "new".

Not that I'm complaining, I just know what I like, like what I brew and brew what I like. Basically stick to the same recipes each time at this point.

Funny thing... even when I do try the same recipes, I get differing results. So, I figure, I might as well try something new. Lately I've been into dual-batching, making 2 different beers on the same brew day. I generally do 1 repeat and 1 new each time.

 

[Beer:30]

I would say 10 out of 35 batches or so that I've brewed have been repeats. But even those have had slight modifications based on new techniques I've picked up, or sometimes hop or grain substitutes. There are soooo many new recipes that I just can't wait to try that I keep trying new ones. Life is good.