Posting Recipes

[LostDakota]

I have looked over a number of recipes and I have noticed that some of them have been posted by people that either are in the process of brewing or are in secondary. Often these recipes have a last thread of, "How is this brew going?"

I am wondering if it would not be better for the new guys as well as the rest, if we could start the thread off with the success or failure of the beer/cider/wine. Or possibly not post the bill until it is known whether it is a keeper or dumper.

OR....I could just be talking out of my ass.






I've had a few.

 

[DeathBrewer]

see when they were posted and PM the brewer for details (if they're finished and you're curious)

i personally wouldn't put it in the database if it wasn't a good beer

 

[the_bird]

Ideally, you shouldn't post a recipe unless you've brewed it and can wholeheartedly recommend it to a fellow brewer - meaning that you've brewed it, consumed it, and hopefully shared it. The database is a lot more useful if the focus is on quality, not quantity.

 

[LostDakota]

Ideally, you shouldn't post a recipe unless you've brewed it and can wholeheartedly recommend it to a fellow brewer - meaning that you've brewed it, consumed it, and hopefully shared it. The database is a lot more useful if the focus is on quality, not quantity.

This is exactly why I'm saving my Pancake Porter Recipe for next month....or maybe not if it sucks.

 

[Kevin Dean]

I agree. I would pretty much stop using the database if I brew totally craptastic beers out of it.

There's a REASON I don't have any in there. I've not perfected them yet... But it's my next goal.

 

[Bernie Brewer]

Agreed. I have seen recipes on other sites where people posted recipes while brewing, and then the brew got infected. Why post if you're not sure about it?

 

[Yooper]

I think we've posted some "how's this look fellas" in this recipes section, but all recipes in the database (under our avatars) are supposed to be tried and true recipes. At least, mine are! The mediocre ones I'll just keep to myself.

 

[Kaiser]

This seems to be a general problem with recipes on the internet.

Maybe we should request that a picture of the finished beer is posted as well. Though a picture may not tell much about a beer, it is one of the few things that can actually be shared over the net.

Kai

 

[cheezydemon]

I agree, also many styles are empty or lacking. Try finding a marzen(at least there were none when I looked a couple of weeks ago)

Can mods clean it up at all? It is hard to use. Or else there is just not much there. Maybe we should allow links to other sites for recipes? Just a thought.

With all of the experience and knowledge here, we can do better.

 

[TheJadedDog]

I never post a recipe until I have made it more than once and know for sure it is good (hence I don't have very many recipes in the database).

 

[Soulive]

The recipes in my profile link are tested and proven. Any recipes I post in threads with questions are undetermined. I would not post anything in the recipe db if it weren't good...

 

[Dr Vorlauf]

How about a rating system for the recipe? Like www.epicurious.com. On epicurious the recipes are rated with people commenting on how the food came out. If you see a recipe that has got 1,000 rave reviews and 2 bad... well chances are that its solid.

 

[jayhoz]

This seems to be a general problem with recipes on the internet.

Maybe we should request that a picture of the finished beer is posted as well. Though a picture may not tell much about a beer, it is one of the few things that can actually be shared over the net.

Kai

If you required the picture of the beer in the original post it would at least prevent someone from adding a recipe that was sitting in the primary and not yet tasted.

 

[Kaiser]

How about a rating system for the recipe? Like www.epicurious.com. On epicurious the recipes are rated with people commenting on how the food came out. If you see a recipe that has got 1,000 rave reviews and 2 bad... well chances are that its solid.

I don't think that the recipes in the database are actually brewed often eough to seperate the good ones from the bad. I also think that they are more used as starting points for many brewers.

Kai

 

[the_bird]

There was discussion at one point about whether to allow discussion in the database. I would argue for anyone who HAD brewed a recipe that's in the database to make some comments on how it came out.

 

[Glibbidy]

Maybe this should be made a sticky. I agree that only tried and true recipes should be posted in the database. It doesn't make any sense to me that someone would post something they haven't actually brewed.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

I agree whole heartedly. A few weeks ago I saw a few posters with 3 or 4 posts put up a couple recipes that they had not tried and had brewed the day before. I am sorry but that is just clutter. I didn't want to say anything because being a dick about it wouldn't have helped, but I was thinking to myself, who are you kidding, no one cares about your untested noob recipe that is your first all-grain experiment.

Can we put an agreement page up when you enter a recipe into the database? Something like, "I solemnly swear I have brewed this beer to completion at least once, tasted it, shared it with quality critics, and have decided it is a beer that others would be very happy to brew. blah blah blah.... I have read this entire warning and still think this recipe is worth posting.... click here to continue."

That may filter out some of the bad ones, or at least make people think twice about posting garbage.

and for a shameless plug.... I really hope some of you brew a recipe of mine and review it. I only put up recipes that I truly believe are knock you socks off good, so I am excited for someone to confirm my beliefs!

 

[Revvy]

I agree...The recipe/ingredients section (where we are now) should be where we post recipes to get feedback, and advice, and to discuss what we're doing, or where we announce what we're brewing...The Database should be where we post the recipe after we have got it to where we know it works...We should police ourselves, and only "release" the recipe after we've brewed it a couple times.

Of course I also wish posters in the recipe/ingredients section, would follow up on their "experimental" recipe, it would be nice to know how some of them turned out....That's what I did with my brown ale...which consequently is also the first one I've actually "released" to the Database, after brewing several versions of it, as well as having several homebrewers, friends and family all saying it was excellent.

 

[Yooper]

If you see one of those untested, unproven recipes in the database, let one of the moderators know, and we can move it out of there (I think!) and let the OP know why. I haven't seen any, but maybe I'm just not looking in the right places.

 

[ohiobrewtus]

I won't post one until I've consumed it and think that it's worth sharing. I guess I haven't spent enough time browsing the recipe db to notice in-process recipes being posted. Anyone have any examples of such recipes?

 

[KingBrianI]

How about a folder for "Tried and True" recipes? This folder would contain links to only those recipes that have been brewed by a predetermined number of people and has been well recieved. If people leave comments and feedback in the original recipe post after brewing it, which is already occuring to some extent, then the better recipes will recieve more and more recognition. Say after 5 recommendations, a link to the recipe is placed in the "Tried and True" thread by a moderator. This would create at least one uncluttered area with a high density of quality recipes. Just a thought.

 

[The Blow Leprechaun]

I don't know that it should only be for recipes that are perfected, but I do agree that they should at least have been brewed and tasted before being posted.

I posted my ESB because I think it's great, and I intend to rebrew it repeatedly. I did not post my chocolate stout because even though it was good, I'm pretty much throwing the recipe away and starting over next time. It taught me a lot about getting chocolate flavor into beer, but the recipe itself isn't useful for that, the experience of brewing it was.

 

[McKBrew]

I use the recipe section for guidance on many of the beers I brew. I will not brew a recipe unless it's by someone who consistenly gets good comments on their recipes/beers or by people who have a list of a bazillion beers in their signature (In most cases I figure if you are brewing that often, someone must be helping you drink it and it must be good).

I would definatly re-iterate for anyone who has not actually tasted the beer they brewed, please keep your recipe unposted until you know it is good.

 

[homebrewer_99]

I will only post a tried and true recipe...:rockin:

 

[brewt00l]

I don't even bother looking at the recipes in the database anymore unless I know the recipe is a "tried & true" that I have seen commented on elsewhere in the site. There are just too many you come across that have been posted w/o any tasting feedback or posted the day they were brewed.

 

[Chriso]

The recipes in my profile link are tested and proven. Any recipes I post in threads with questions are undetermined. I would not post anything in the recipe db if it weren't good...

Exactly. I think most of us are following this protocol - Only the proven winners make it into the Recipe DB. The rest are in "Critique this please?" threads in the Recipes subforum.

My Pecan 80/- is the only "unproven" one in my drop-down, and that's because I had so many PMs asking for the recipe. Even then, I think the recipe itself is not flawed, but my techniques were. I intend to re-brew it with a couple of minor alterations and see if I can get it up to a "proven" level.

Now if I'm *looking* for a recipe to brew, I go straight to BierMuncher's or EdWort's drop-down.

 

[Revvy]

I don't even bother looking at the recipes in the database anymore unless I know the recipe is a "tried & true" that I have seen commented on elsewhere in the site. There are just too many you come across that have been posted w/o any tasting feedback or posted the day they were brewed.

I was always under the impression that we're not supposed to comment on recipes in the database, and that is another reason for having a database and a recipe discussion section, and those are 2 separate things.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

I was always under the impression that we're not supposed to comment on recipes in the database, and that is another reason for having a database and a recipe discussion section, and those are 2 separate things.

I think we should comment in the database. Not discuss, but comment on how it turned out if you brewed it, and be sure to use the star rating.

 

[brewt00l]

I was always under the impression that we're not supposed to comment on recipes in the database, and that is another reason for having a database and a recipe discussion section, and those are 2 separate things.

I thought the same thing but it makes sense from my pov that the end result should be part of the post. Course, the recipes with pages of replies and feedback are a good indication of their popularity and "success" of the recipe.

 

[Chriso]

UNLESS the brewer has made a seperate post for such discussion, and asked that people refrain from commenting within... (a good example is Orfy's Hobgoblin)......

....then GENERALLY I think that within the recipe should be an acceptable place for on-topic discussion or questions. For example, BM's Cream of 3 Crops has discussion following the recipe, and I thought the points raised helped me to understand the recipe better. (linky)

Course, the recipes with pages of replies and feedback are a good indication of their popularity and "success" of the recipe.

That too. I tend to use # of replies as a measure of coolness of said recipe. I think it's useful info.

 

[Glibbidy]

I am still a firm believer that posting recipes should be left to onlythse thathave been tried ad true by the OP.
I'm disappointed that clone recipes like this one are getting posted without being tested.

I think this stuff should be posted in the recipes/ingredients forum, and not in the recipe database.

 

[blacklab]

I think most of us that have been around for a bit only post recipes that have been brewed and were successful. That's why I try to include a picture of the final product. Obviously the picture does nothing for knowing the taste of the beer, but at least you can get some small idea of how it turned out.

 

[TeleTwanger]

I don't really care about tried and true vs noob recipes. I usually look at them for ideas/guidelines. It would be nice to know the source though like in The Kaiser's Alt recipe his source was a trad German text book and an actual Alt brewery brewer, now that's a source!

I've brewed a tried and true ESB clone right out of Zymurgy that was crap, it had like 2 lbs of crystal and was coyingly sweet and almost undrinkable. So much for tried and true lol. I learned my lesson with that beer.(and how much crystal is potable in a beer ie less than 2 lbs!)

 

[wildwest450]

I would be scared to death to post a recipe that I haven't brewed. Those of us who who are still new to formulating recipes need recipes we can rely on to make a good beer. I recently posted my first recipe, only because it turned out so damn (i've made it twice) good i just had to share.

 

[olllllo]

IMO putting a recipe in the db is like sending your final draft off to be published.
If you anticipate further editing (i.e. actual brewing notes) use the recipe area instead.

By posting the recipe in the database, you are taking ownership of it, meaning you should be able to answer questions about it, recommend substitutions, provide guidance on the mash, etc.

If you don't have answers to these questions then the recipe area is a better use of the forum.

 

[FSR402]

I got burned once by a recipe that ws posted before it was tested.

So I eneded up with 10 gallons of crap beer. I choked down about 7 gallons of if and then just pulled the keg to put something good in that spot. I'll let it sit until I have an open tap or if I need a keg I'll dump it.

 

[KingBrianI]

I got burned once by a recipe that ws posted before it was tested.

So I eneded up with 10 gallons of crap beer. I choked down about 7 gallons of if and then just pulled the keg to put something good in that spot. I'll let it sit until I have an open tap or if I need a keg I'll dump it.

This is why I think we should post both our good, and bad, experiences with the recipes under them. If a recipe sucks, people need to know. The recipe forum is no place to avoid stepping on toes. If the person put a recipe up there that was untested or just plain bad, then we should have a way to watch out for it.

 

[Chriso]

I'm curious to know which one, FSR.

+1 to posting experiences after brewing a recipe out of the DB. I try to do it whenever I borrow a recipe.

 

[Ecnerwal]

Posting recipes either about to be done or in progress is appropriate here, looking for feedback, etc. Also appropriate for I did this, and that happened, and what should I change? stuff that's done, but not great.

Database should only be done and worth sharing.

Of course, you should also filter by personal taste - some will find X amount of ingredient Y too much, others just right, and others not enough. So it's always good to compare to things you actually like, and question things that look out of line.

As an example, TeleTwanger probably would not like my recipes (none in database thus far) with 2-4 lbs of chocolate malt, if he find 2 lbs of crystal unpalatable - on the other hand, 2 lbs of crystal would very likely be OK by me, but I would not even be looking at an ESB in the first place (and it sounds dubious for an ESB, frankly, but might make a good brown ale, IMO).

 

[FSR402]

I'm curious to know which one, FSR.

+1 to posting experiences after brewing a recipe out of the DB. I try to do it whenever I borrow a recipe.

It was this one