AG Brewing to a recipe

[Flan]

Hi all, all the best for the new brewing year. I was just wondering how all you AG brewers choose a recipe, do you find a commercial beer or real ale you like the taste of then see if there’s a recipe to replicate it or do you try a recipe you like the look of or do you make up your own recipes or is it something else. I hope to try AG this year when i can work out how and where to get:
1. A recipe
2. The ingredients
3. A big enough pot for boil up.

 

[Brewnaldo]

Hi all, all the best for the new brewing year. I was just wondering how all you AG brewers choose a recipe, do you find a commercial beer or real ale you like the taste of then see if there’s a recipe to replicate it or do you try a recipe you like the look of or do you make up your own recipes or is it something else. I hope to try AG this year when i can work out how and where to get:
1. A recipe
2. The ingredients
3. A big enough pot for boil up.

Start off by buying Greg Hughes book How to Brew. Then do a mix of all the other things you said too, or shamelessly email breweries/borrow from here.

 

[Rodcx500z]

Hi Flan, i tend to just brew bitters and english pale ale although recently i have brewed a wit bier on the stove top in a 21L pot i bought on amazon, i use brewmate and brewers friend i do a bit of reaserch to get a general feel and then make my own recipe paying attention to the BU:GU ratio, i have a 30L klarstein kettle and do biab, go for it and have fun

 

[MmmBeer]

There are many books out there with recipes in, Brewnaldo mentioned Greg Hughes' book, which has about 100 generic style recipes. If there is a specific commercial beer that you wish to copy, then google clone recipes of that beer, you might get lucky. There are several online suppliers of equipment and ingredients, some are better than others for selection, or prices, or delivery etc. Look at this thread for members recommendations.

Decide on what quantity of beer you want to brew and look for a pot about 30% larger to allow for boil off. A good place to start on the basic process is Have a go at simple AG you can scale it up to suit the size of your equipment.

 

[Richard_H]

I threw myself in at the deep end by trying to create my own recipes and switching to all grain at the same time but my advice would be to keep the first brew very simple, possibly a SMASH (1 grain, 1 hop).

Unless have have a large airtight storage area then try and buy grains that would be used up in your next 3-5 brews. If I order 20kg grain then roughly 15kg will be base malts. Slightly more expensive but you will learn quicker which malts you prefer, Marris Otter, Munich Light, Munich Dark, Pilsner, Vienna, Pale Ale etc will all give you a different taste and that's just the base malts...

Is there a certain type of beer/ale you are trying to create? I like all types but if you only like lighter hoppy ales for example then this will narrow what grains to order and which recipes you should consider. If you have any commercial beers you like then chances are there are many online clones for you to try.

Finally try and get the biggest pot you can, mine is a 25L brew pot with ball valve tap etc but I wish I ordered the 30L version which would still be suitable for stove top. Get Er Brewed are very cheap for grains and a good service, The Malt Miller is more expensive but their range is huge and again great service.

 

[RichardM]

I have books with recipes, I find recipes on forums such as this and sometimes I design my own recipes. It all depends on what mood I'm in and what stocks of malt and hops I have to use up.
As for how and where to get the ingredients and equipment, there are many suppliers online, The Malt Miller and Brew UK are two that I use. The latter is owned by the aforementioned Greg Hughes.

 

[Flan]

I threw myself in at the deep end by trying to create my own recipes and switching to all grain at the same time but my advice would be to keep the first brew very simple, possibly a SMASH (1 grain, 1 hop).

Unless have have a large airtight storage area then try and buy grains that would be used up in your next 3-5 brews. If I order 20kg grain then roughly 15kg will be base malts. Slightly more expensive but you will learn quicker which malts you prefer, Marris Otter, Munich Light, Munich Dark, Pilsner, Vienna, Pale Ale etc will all give you a different taste and that's just the base malts...

Is there a certain type of beer/ale you are trying to create? I like all types but if you only like lighter hoppy ales for example then this will narrow what grains to order and which recipes you should consider. If you have any commercial beers you like then chances are there are many online clones for you to try.

Finally try and get the biggest pot you can, mine is a 25L brew pot with ball valve tap etc but I wish I ordered the 30L version which would still be suitable for stove top. Get Er Brewed are very cheap for grains and a good service, The Malt Miller is more expensive but their range is huge and again great service.

Thanks Richard, in the next week I have a MJ Czech pilsner to do from extract, i plan to boil it up to get a little feel for the process then i plan to try a AG brew, I’m not really a stout or porter drinker and i like the ipa’s and a lager for a bit of freshness, of the commercial beers there’s a Maltsmiths ipa that i do quite like but i basically just want to be able to brew a nice drinkable beer that i can say ‘i brewed that’ and enjoy the whole process from start to finish. I’d rather have a very drinkable 4%-5% beer than a blow your socks off 7%+ strong tasting one.
i only have a 20 litre stock pot for the boil up though thats what I’m concerned about.

 

[MrRook]

Thanks Richard, in the next week I have a MJ Czech pilsner to do from extract, i plan to boil it up to get a little feel for the process.
i only have a 20 litre stock pot for the boil up though thats what I’m concerned about.

Liquid or dry extract? The longer you boil with extract the darker the resulting beer will be.
You can do a partial boil and top up to the amount you want in the fermenter.

 

[Flan]

Liquid or dry extract? The longer you boil with extract the darker the resulting beer will be.
You can do a partial boil and top up to the amount you want in the fermenter.

it’s an MJ kit comes with a dry hop pack, going to use lme instead of sugar but i was reading in charlie papazian book to try a boil up even if it’s a kit lager to get some practice in at boiling up and also it makes a better kit beer. I don’t know if I’m doing right doing it that way or whether to just follow the kit instructions and mix it all in the fv.

 

[GerritT]

Hi Flan, i tend to just brew bitters and english pale ale although recently i have brewed a wit bier on the stove top in a 21L pot i bought on amazon, i use brewmate and brewers friend i do a bit of reaserch to get a general feel and then make my own recipe paying attention to the BU:GU ratio, i have a 30L klarstein kettle and do biab, go for it and have fun

You need books. There's a forum thread here somewhere that is about books, but Greg Hughes is a musthave.

My collection:

Hops

Radical brewing

The compleat meadmaker

The complete joy of homebrewing

Brew it yourself

Homebrew Beer

Vintage Beer

Brew your own british ale (CAMRA)

Designing Great Beers

Brew (James Morton)

Water

Yeast

Malt

Historical Brewing Techniques (Lars Garshol)

 

[AXW123]

I would highly recommend James Morton’s Book - Brew. Lots of pictures (really helps me!), easy, not too much technical stuff and enjoyable to read and I haven’t made a bad beer from it yet. I wouldn’t boil your MJ kit - it’s not intended to be boiled again and it will likely affect the outcome. At its simplest a straightforward SMASH is very easy to make with a big stock pot, a bag and maybe a colander. Just have a go and enjoy!

 

[AXW123]

I would highly recommend James Morton’s Book - Brew. Lots of pictures (really helps me!), easy, not too much technical stuff and enjoyable to read and I haven’t made a bad beer from it yet. I wouldn’t boil your MJ kit - it’s not intended to be boiled again and it will likely affect the outcome. At its simplest a straightforward SMASH is very easy to make with a big stock pot, a bag and maybe a colander. Just have a go and enjoy!

 

[Crappyfish]

Hi all, all the best for the new brewing year. I was just wondering how all you AG brewers choose a recipe, do you find a commercial beer or real ale you like the taste of then see if there’s a recipe to replicate it or do you try a recipe you like the look of or do you make up your own recipes or is it something else. I hope to try AG this year when i can work out how and where to get:
1. A recipe
2. The ingredients
3. A big enough pot for boil up.

I started with AG kits then progressed to books, the post about starting with SMASH beers when your confidence is up is spot on. That's the phase I'm in now after about 2 years and to be honest I've not had a bad brew to date. I belive a good way is to progress is through small steps then try something more complex over a space of time.

 

[GerritT]

I started with AG kits then progressed to books, the post about starting with SMASH beers when your confidence is up is spot on. That's the phase I'm in now after about 2 years and to be honest I've not had a bad brew to date. I belive a good way is to progress is through small steps then try something more complex over a space of time.

Process is key! And SMASH beers learn you about the ingredients a LOT.

 

[Sadfield]

I threw myself in at the deep end by trying to create my own recipes and switching to all grain at the same time but my advice would be to keep the first brew very simple, possibly a SMASH (1 grain, 1 hop).

Similar here, my first brew was a smash, second brew I added another malt and used a different hop and yeast. Like with cooking, it's all about learning what each ingredient offers and how much to use. Experiment and don't be afraid to make mistakes. Again, as with cooking, recipes are a good reference point, but discoving how much chilli is a touch to much for your own tastes is invaluable. The connection in the thought process between a change to a recipe and the end result is important, you just don't get that copying someone else's recipe.

 

[Drunkula]

I would absolutely avoid the book "Designing Great Beers" because it designs exactly zero beers and it only useful if you know how to design beers. It should be retitled "Average of ingredients that go in beers, maybe you can do something with the info because I'm certainly not going to bother."



Brewing on the Ones is a nice little watch. You don't have to start with a smash.

 

[Sadfield]

I would absolutely avoid the book "Designing Great Beers" because it designs exactly zero beers and it only useful if you know how to design beers. It should be retitled "Average of ingredients that go in beers, maybe you can do something with the info because I'm certainly not going to bother."

That's the beauty of it, like an extension of style guidelines, giving a suggested framework for decision making, creativity.

 

[Drunkula]

That's the beauty of it, like an extension of style guidelines, giving a suggested framework for decision making, creativity.

It should have a different name. It's a ........ title and a complete lie.

 

[Redwulf]

1. Start with a SMaSH beer, You'll be suprised how good a beer you can make with 3kg of Maris Otter and 50g of Galaxy or Citra hops (I've got a galaxy SMaSH on now and the family can't get enough of it). Then get a book like Greg Hughes to do more complex recipes.

2. Most of the online homebrew shops do the ingredients you need, for a simple batch of SMaSH beer you'll be looking at £10-15 for some malt, dry yeast and hops depending on the hops. (They seem to vary most in price). You can look at the kits as well.

3. I've been using a peco boiler up to now, its a 33 litre fermenter with a kettle element in it. I'll be changing to an all in one at some point but for the time being its doing the job.

 

[Sadfield]

It should have a different name. It's a ........ title and a complete lie.

It's full title is Designing Great Beers: The Ultimate Guide TO Brewing Classic Styles. It describes classic styles and charts the most commonly used ingredients, the quantities used, how they are often used and to what parameters are typically met using them (OGs, FGs, Ibus, BU:GU, ABVs etc). Pretty accurate title and a very useful book IMO, giving the reader all the tools needed to design great beers. Categorically not to be avoided.