Newbie Question

[CoastalEmpireBrewery]

Hello everyone. I was reading about how people are using 17% percent and 2% that..... How do you know what to use to get the beer you want?? I've always wandered how you match your grains to get the flavor/color you want.. Can anyone give me a rundown on how this works, or how to figure it out on my own? Like if I wanted to make a German Oktoberfest Lager how would I know what to use?

 

[Hammy71]

Brewing software such as Beersmith are wonderful things. Mostly we learn from experience. I would suggest however you think about purchasing a great book that is sorta the Bible of brewing styles and whats in them. "Brewing Classic Styles". My personal copy is dog eared and the cover is falling off. It is in my opinion the best book for recipes to get you started and to build off of. The recipes are a great base for making a beer that is all your own.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0937381926...vptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_4vw9uapb2w_e

 

[RonPopeil]

if you want to brew something specific look up what it is and duplicate it in some way. maybe make a minor change and see what happens.

brewing software will give you the numbers. much easier unless you like to do math.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...J6ukmE_GUxXi4CyJqhwx52A&bvm=bv.58187178,d.eW0

 

[i4ourgot]

Check out the book designing great beers by Ray Daniels. He talks alot more about ratios for grain and which grains to use to create a certain style. There aren't any actual recipes in the book but its provides you with a pretty good guideline so you can make your own recipes.
The 17% part of your question basically tells you how much of each grain you need . For example 17% would need to be Carmel 60L and 2% of your grain would have to be Chocolate malt.

 

[dobe12]

Read books, search for recipes, go to breweries websites and see what they list for ingredients in a certain beer you like. Check out BCJP guidelines for beer styles.

http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/catdex.php

Beersmith also has a pretty good running blog describing beer styles, history, and how to brew it.

 

[CoastalEmpireBrewery]

Thanks