Learning flavors

[Steve3730]

I'm pretty new to brewing 1 year. And still have trouble really understanding and picking out what ingrident added what to the beer. Mainly talking about grains here. Hops are pretty easy to define. So I was considering a project to help myself figure out some flavors and just want some input on it.

I plan on a single brew day making about 15 mini beers. All would use just light DME as the base malt and and all would use the same yeast made from one big starter than each would get a different specialty grain steeped in it. One question I have is should I not hop it or use a single hop addition which would be the same for all?

Planning on only making 1 bottle of each beer I'll ferment in bombers and rack to 16oz bottles

Any input would help, I'm not really good at reading how something will taste and using it I'm better off experimenting

 

[m00ps]

How are you going to ferment in bombers? with an ass load of tiny stoppers and airliocks?

sounds like an interesting experiment. make sure you get a good crush on each specialty grain to get good extraction. and I'd definitely do a single early hop addition if trying to test grains.

personally, I just like to munch them and between that and the smell, I get an idea of what it'll impart to the beer. I just passed my 1 year mark myself, but I have a pretty good idea about most grains from the 80+ batches under my belt. If you are wondering about one specialty grain in particular, just ask around

 

[Steve3730]

How are you going to ferment in bombers? with an ass load of tiny stoppers and airliocks?

sounds like an interesting experiment. make sure you get a good crush on each specialty grain to get good extraction. and I'd definitely do a single early hop addition if trying to test grains.

personally, I just like to munch them and between that and the smell, I get an idea of what it'll impart to the beer. I just passed my 1 year mark myself, but I have a pretty good idea about most grains from the 80+ batches under my belt. If you are wondering about one specialty grain in particular, just ask around

Ya I have a bunch of airlocks already and stoppers are only around a buck and I have the bombers.

Chewing them doesn't do much for me gives me a little idea but not enough. I've only done about 11 batches in my first year so im still very new

 

[Steve3730]

What would be a good amount to steep? Figure I'd make a 20oz batches. Maybe 1oz of grain?

 

[m00ps]

hmmm....well for a 5gal batch, to test a single grain, i'd probably do 1lb of that grain. It may be pretty strong for something like Black Malt, but that will show you how strong it is so I guess that's the point.

So 1lb / 5gal = ?oz / 20floz
5gal=640floz....1lb=16oz...hocus pocus....carry the 4....
I guess Id try 0.5oz of the crushed specialty grain you are looking to test in 20oz of beer. You may double it if you don;t crush them. Im not familiar with steeping grains and how well that works vs crushing and mashing them

 

[Steve3730]

I'll crush them. I'm going to do 20oz and guess after loss ill yeild a 16oz bottle.

I definitely want the grains to stand out strong.

Priming sugar or carb tabs? Going towards tabs for more control

 

[schokie]

Couldn't you steep just the grains individually? In other words, make a grain tea, cool it, then drink. No DME, yeast, or fermenting required. That would give you a pretty good idea of the flavor.

It might not tell you anything about mouthfeel, head retention, color, etc though.

 

[Steve3730]

Couldn't you steep just the grains individually? In other words, make a grain tea, cool it, then drink. No DME, yeast, or fermenting required. That would give you a pretty good idea of the flavor.

It might not tell you anything about mouthfeel, head retention, color, etc though.

I'd imagine that would give me some idea but not the whole story. Maybe I'll do bith depending on the grain

 

[grathan]

There might be something learned here, but it would mean a lot more in year 3-5 than it would in the first year.

You're not gonna remember exactly how everything tastes. And even if something strikes you as awkward, it may be a completely different story when combined with certain other ingredients.

The tea idea is a good one. Try chewing on specialty grains too. Also Googling clone recipes of any commercial beers you find interesting.