What have you done to challenge your brewing?

[JKaranka]

I thought this could be a fun thread.

In most things I've done (outside brewing), I've tended to limit my gear and plans in order to learn things more in depth. This has set quite clear challenges and I've found it to work for most stuff (from art to learning languages). When it comes to brewing, I'm now consciously making everything I do KISS by:

- Limiting my malts to the traditional ones (pale, amber, brown and black) + sugar.
- Not getting too fussed about hops for a year.
- Spending the rest of the year working on only stouts and porters, mainly on grists (country v London, different periods too).

 

[unionrdr]

Started on brewing German beers by trying to nail a PM dampfbier recipe. Still using the same basic equipment I've only added little gadgets to since I started. I've been trying different hop combinations at different times & adding/changing grains & amounts to get various flavor & color profiles.

 

[Talgrath]

I always brew new beers, new types of beers. Never stop trying something new at least once every three months. Always poke and prod your recipes, try to improve them if you can.

 

[2drunk2]

I've only been brewing since June. I feel like I try something new each time.

- I got away from kits, and created a simple recipe on my 3rd batch. I was nervous, but it was great.

- I started using a swamp cooler to control fermentation temps on my 5th batch, and swear by it now.

- I've started doing partial mash brews with up to 7 pounds of grain. The results have been great.

- I've supplied a keg for a party with an original recipe.

 

[drainbamage]

I keep my equipment setup pretty basic, but I try to incorporate some new ingredient or technique with almost every batch. Early on, that was stuff like dry-hopping and attempting lots of new styles, then creating my own recipes. Eventually I worked up to partial mash brewing, and now I like working in experimental ingredients (nothing too off-the-wall, just stuff like tea, chilies, Candi sugar, and other stuff that I hadn't attempted yet). Redoing the same recipe with a small tweak in hop schedule or yeast strain can also give you a good feel for what role those factors play in the finished product.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

how do you improve on perfection? :rockin:

 

[sandyeggoxj]

Consistency and predictability across all styles.

 

[Hello]

Brewed sober. It turned into a beer I had to dump.

 

[Brettomomyces]

Learned how to use a bunch of power tools and a lot of basic wiring and electrical skills to make a Kal clone panel over the past two months.

 

[Ski12568]

Brew 1 bottle of beer

 

[Billy-Klubb]

Brew 1 bottle of beer

I brew beer 1 bottle at a time. one 5 gallon bottle at a time. sometimes I brew one 8-10 gallon can. that's a tall-boy in my house.

 

[wobdee]

Brewing Lagers. I'm concentrating on 3 beers, Bohemian Pils, Oktoberfest, and Munich Dunkel. Schmitz decotion mash with Pils and Munich malts, noble hops and Wyeast 2124.

Usually I'm experimenting with all kinds of different beers and ingredients. Time to fine tune 3 of my favorite styles.

 

[ICWiener]

I brew my favorite styles over and over and over to try and perfect them. I never care about repeating a recipe. I just want the perfect beer every time I brew. Is that so much to ask?

So, a 4 tap set-up means I'm never without a hop-bomb, a cider, and a farmhouse type beer.

It's important to reach outside of the comfort zone every 4th or 5th batch too. Brewing the occasional oddball style (for that 4th tap) keeps me from getting into ruts.

 

[wardens355]

Not opening my chest freezer until the beers are scheduled to be ready...

 

[RM-MN]

Experimented with shorter mash times. Good results with a 20 minute mash, 10 minute mash is still being worked on.
Experimented with no chill brewing. Works great but you have to adjust your hop schedule due to the extended time when the wort is hot. The one minute hop additions don't work out. Dry hopping does.
Tried to find hot side aeration. Dumping boiling wort into a fermenter from 3 feet above it didn't make a difference.
Tried different hops. Still trying as I found some growing on my property where there hasn't been anyone living for more than 80 years but I suspect they were planted for personal use and escaped.
Tried Belle Saison dry yeast. Terrible tasting beer. Oops, good tasting beer 6 months later. I have to try this again.
Washed yeast and stored it for 9 months. Yep, still yeast, still ferments beer.
Made starters. Not sure it was worthwhile compared to just rehydrating dry yeast.
Aged a stout for 2 years. Wow!

 

[unionrdr]

Trying to remember all the fermenting stuff I've done since 43 years ago to put'em in my new book on home brewing. At my age, that's a real challenge! Besides filling a couple hundred pages with it!

 

[ram5ey]

I brew the same pale ale pretty much every other batch. My rule is I can only change one thing when it comes to the recipe or the process. Really helped with repeatability and understanding.

I also brew a style until it turns out right. If I don't think it's correct I go back and try to fix it in the next batch or two.

 

[Hello]

Experimented with shorter mash times. Good results with a 20 minute mash, 10 minute mash is still being worked on.
Experimented with no chill brewing. Works great but you have to adjust your hop schedule due to the extended time when the wort is hot. The one minute hop additions don't work out. Dry hopping does.
Tried to find hot side aeration. Dumping boiling wort into a fermenter from 3 feet above it didn't make a difference.
Tried different hops. Still trying as I found some growing on my property where there hasn't been anyone living for more than 80 years but I suspect they were planted for personal use and escaped.
Tried Belle Saison dry yeast. Terrible tasting beer. Oops, good tasting beer 6 months later. I have to try this again.
Washed yeast and stored it for 9 months. Yep, still yeast, still ferments beer.
Made starters. Not sure it was worthwhile compared to just rehydrating dry yeast.
Aged a stout for 2 years. Wow!

If you have not, you should write something up on the mash times and your results. Maybe submit an article to the front page? I know I am particularly interested in your findings and based on some of your posts, it seems your fairly scientific so I assume it would be a good resource coming from you.

 

[unionrdr]

That is indeed a good idea for an article. I'm behind on an article I said I'd add to my list. forgot to take the damn pics last brew day. Oopsie!

 

[Howhownow]

Biggest challenge from when I started brewing is never doing anything that I don't understand. My first kits had directions that I followed to a 'T', but didn't really understand. Why Secondary? Rehydrate yeast? What difference do 30 vs 60 minute hops have?
Now I am sure to understand not only the effect, but cause to everything I do in my process.
That and learning the basic electrical and workshop skills used to build my gear has been a welcome challenge.

 

[ChemEng]

I just changed up ALL of my brewing equipment all at once... new boil kettle, fly sparge setup, camlocks all around, in line filter and plate heat exchanger, pump, burners... all new. Basically created a bunch of solutions to problems that didn't exist.

Just when I was starting to get a process down, I am starting from the beginning. It is exciting and depressing at the same time. Certainly a challenge.

 

[sandyeggoxj]

I just changed up ALL of my brewing equipment all at once... new boil kettle, fly sparge setup, camlocks all around, in line filter and plate heat exchanger, pump, burners... all new. Basically created a bunch of solutions to problems that didn't exist.

Just when I was starting to get a process down, I am starting from the beginning. It is exciting and depressing at the same time. Certainly a challenge.

I did that earlier this year. 1/2bbl eherms with bcs control. I have a lot of solutions now!!

 

[thefost]

I tend to start things with a big challenge. When I started a year and a half ago, I set the bar at being able to repeatedly make the same recipe with no off flavors, just as well as any big brewery could do. Through tial and error this led me to my electric semi-automated brewery which was a blast to build. I'm pretty close to being satisfied.

Once I have everything down perfect, it will be on to the next challenges, which will be to do experiments to understand every been ingredient, perfectly clone some of my favorite commercial beers, try to make hop extract for better aroma, which will lead me to try to make the perfect IPA. And once I do that... errrr, bjcp judge maybe?

 

[smokinop]

I approach every brew day as a challenge but I have done brews in my 3+ years of brewing that present new challenges. First was getting away from kits although I still do kits occasionally. Brewing different styles that are not my normal "go to" beers such as hefenweizen's & saison's. Also lagering was a new challenge for me. Using different combinations of hops & grains in settings to have a better understanding of ingredients.

 

[FiddlersGreen87]

This was all over the course of May through September. It was an expensive and busy summer.

1) Built a Keggerator - First beer to be kegged in about a week

2) Bought a fermentation chamber - Chest Freezer w/ temp controller

3) Bought stir plate - made first Starter ever for current beer mentioned above. Blown away at the results, feel like an idiot for not doing it for so long.

4) Bought a wort chiller - first time I've ever chilled wort without a ****ty ice bath in a cooler. Used to take 2-3 hours to chill wort down to semi-pitchable temperatures

5) Sent water sample to Ward

6) Built Keggle w/ False bottom

7) Converted a Lautering Tun

8) Brewed first full boil extract American Wheat two weeks ago (mentioned above) in my keggle.
- Tested out adding 1/3 of the extract for the hops @ 60 min and remaining extract at 15-10 min with remaining hop schedule.

9) DOING FIRST ALL GRAIN BREW THIS WEEKEND!

 

[catdaddy66]

I changed to all grain brewing a year ago and have loved the results as I now can control ingredients, mash times, yeast pitching etc for different outcomes. It has certainly made for better beers, so much so that my brother went all grain this past weekend for the first time!

Yeast starters and a swamp cooler for temp control were my best improvements on quality. I hope to have fresh, home grown hops next season!


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[2drunk2]

This weekend's challenge was 3 fold.
1) Stick to the dang recipe. Check.. finally!
2) First all grain 5 gallon batch on the stove with a 5 gallon kettle and an old canning/steaming pot with a false bottom. 80% efficiency achieved.
3) Make a very simple blonde. I wanted a very simple brew to expose any clarity issues or off the flavors that may be hidden in a more complex beer.

I used 70% Vienna and 30% pilsner with 1 ounce of Tettnang at 60 and 1 ounce of Tettnang at 1 minute.

The wort was very clear. The efficiency was great. The fermentation is vigorous at 62 degrees. Now we wait.

 

[progmac]

For now, I'm limiting myself to two malts and preferring just one. It is surprisingly difficult to do in practice.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Harvesting yeast from a commercial beer. Cultured some Sierra Nevada Kellerviess Heffenwiesen yeast. Easy and fun, just bought a single bottle of malta goya, added a couple ounces to the yeast dregs in three bottles, did that twice then added all three to a 1/2 gallon starter wort in a wine jug.

Next up...Long Trail IPA yeast.

While it may help, you don't NEED a stir plate and flask to make yeast. You pay for the six pack and get the yeast as value added. Fun little easy project.

 

[bborren]

After 10 years of brewing I thought I would finally enter a brewing competition to get some feedback.

I entered 2 competitions, one this past spring and one this summer. I never received a scorecard from either one. According to the organizers my entries must have been lost.

I guess I will just have to keep brewing for my friends and myself.


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