beer recipe design brad smith, phd 1. a spectrum of choices… 2 deliberate - mechanicalartistic
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Beer Recipe DesignBrad Smith, PhD
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A spectrum of choices…
Range of Beer Recipe Design
Deliberate - Mechanical Artistic
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Come up with an idea Research the target style and beer
◦ Determine target color, gravity, bitterness Develop the:
◦ Grain bill◦ Hop varieties and schedule◦ Yeast variety◦ Water profile
Apply Techniques◦ Mash schedule, fermentation, hop techniques, more…
Brew, Judge, and Iterate
Beer Design Process
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I want to brew a….
◦ Robust Porter (Category 12B) for Competition◦ Clone of Bass Ale◦ Something with Smoked Oats◦ Gluten Free Imperial Stout◦ Jalapeño flavored Atomic Hop Bomb
“I don’t know where I’m going, but I am on my way.”- Voltaire
Start with an Inspiration
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What are you trying to accomplish?◦ Style, Clone, Unique beer?
What does each ingredient contribute?◦ Can I do it with fewer ingredients?◦ Is the beer balanced?
How do the techniques contribute?◦ Do they support overall goal?
What’s Unique about my beer?◦ Read Radical Brewing
Artistic End of Things – How it all fits together
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Start with the BJCP style guide (BJCP.org)◦ Provides target OG, color, bitterness, some ingredients and
history Books
◦ Designing Great Beers, Brewing Classic Styles, recipe and style specific books
Research Online (styles and recipes)◦ Google search, BeerSmithRecipes.com, discussion forums, blogs,
style specific articles First Hand Research
◦ Sample commercial and home brewed beer!
Research the Style/Beer
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What ingredients define the style?◦ A Wit requires unmalted wheat◦ Weizen banana/clove flavors come from yeast◦ Dry Irish Stout needs roast barley
What alternatives might I consider?◦ Vary the yeast, grains, hops used◦ What about something really new (aka Radical Brewing)
How does each contribute to my goal?◦ Can I simplify (SMaSH style) rather than dumping everything but
the kitchen sink in?◦ What can I get rid of?
List Potential Ingredients
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Use Software or a spreadsheet◦ Match your equipment
Estimate Original Gravity Color Bitterness ABV (rough)
Compare these to your target style
Time to Do the Math
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I like to work in percentages◦ Base grains first (80% typical)◦ “Key” specialty grains next (5-10%)◦ Remaining grains (body, ABV, etc) (5-10%)
Select grains that match your target◦ Ex: Maris Otter for flavorful English Ale
Understand what each brings to the table◦ SMaSH brewing (and variants) a great way to
understand what each grain does
Grain Bill Considerations
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Bittering Additions◦ Tend to use a single addition, long boil to achieve my target
bitterness (IBU) level◦ I use Bitterness Ratio (IBU:GU ratio) for balance
Aroma Additions◦ Most of the aromatic “hop oils” will boil off within a few minutes◦ I’ve moved towards very late or steeped/whirlpool hops to
maximize aroma and hop oil flavor Dry Hopping
◦ Shorter contact times (24-72 hours)
Hop Considerations
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Select yeast for effect◦ “Styles” for yeast provide a good starting point◦ Go “off style” to achieve a specific effect such as a dry
finish, low attenuation, or complexity added by esters A Starter is Important for Liquid Yeast
◦ A typical liquid pack is 100 Bil cells when produced and degrades about 20%/month
◦ Ideal pitch rate for 5 gal, 1.048 ale: 164 Bil cells◦ Lagers ideal pitch rate is double that of ale
Fermentation Temperature Matters!
Yeast Considerations
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Know your local water source!◦ What is your Residual Alkalinity (How to Brew)?◦ Is your water deficient minerals or is it too hard?
Consider the Mash pH when designing beer◦ Dark grains lower pH – less of a worry◦ Light beers - need buffer or acid to lower pH
Water additions◦ pH buffers or acids – to manage mash pH◦ Overall water profile considerations
Should I target a particular profile for this beer? Do I need to start with bottled water then add minerals?
Water Considerations
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Pick mash temp as needed for beer body:◦ Light body – 148 F◦ Medium body – 152 F◦ Full body – 156 F
A Single Infusion Mash - 98% of the time!◦ Add melanoidin malt to simulate decoction◦ Use flaked or torrified grains when you need to work with unmalted
barley/wheats/oats (no cereal rest) Consider Brew-in-a-bag
◦ Saves an hour due to short sparge and cleanup Prevent Stuck Sparges
◦ Use rice hulls for wheats, oats, etc…
Mash Techniques
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Late Extract Additions◦ Reduces scorching, increases hop utilization
Segregate Dark Grains into Tea◦ Steep dark/harsh grains separate from mash
(Gordon Strong)◦ Reduces perceived bitterness/harshness
Add Honey/Fruit (some sugars) after boil or in secondary◦ Fragile fruit/honey aromas boil off◦ Risk of infection relatively low after primary
fermentation complete
Grain/Extract Techniques
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First Wort Hopping◦ Add hops to pot during sparge (smooth flavor)
Mash Hopping◦ Don’t bother!
Late Hop Additions◦ Very late may be best!
Steep/Whirlpool/Hop Back Additions◦ Great for preserving volatile hop oils◦ Adds small amount of bitterness
Dry Hopping – use pellets just before bottling◦ Trend to shorter contact times – usually 1-3 days◦ Recent research indicates 24 hours may be enough
Hop Techniques
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Pitch two different yeasts ◦ Either together, or separated in time
Add Lacto or Brett in Secondary◦ Sour beers only
Diaceytl Rest - Lagers◦ Raise temp by a few degrees for a day in secondary
Cold Crashing◦ Crash beer to near freezing in secondary◦ Lager or Ale – may require more yeast for bottling
Yeast/Fermentation Techniques
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Is Clarity Important? Ways to improve clarity
◦ Watch protein content of grains◦ Cool wort quickly – Chiller◦ Use Irish Moss/Whirlfloc at end of boil◦ Choose yeast with high flocculation◦ Add a fining agent:
Isinglass, Chillguard, Gelatin, Polyclar◦ Cold store beer after carbonation
Achieving Clarity
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Must be able to Judge your beer!◦ Evaluate external appearance first◦ Capture aroma up front – right after its poured◦ Evaluate color, clarity, head retention◦ Taste the beer- overall impression first
Finish, malt, hops, aroma Obvious flaws
◦ Mouthfeel◦ Overall Impression
The BJCP score sheet is a great guide◦ Provides 17 taste terms (grassy, phenolic, astringent, etc…) used for
evaluating beer Beer Judges are some of the best brewers!
Judging Your Beer
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Diacetyl/Butterscotch◦ Use starter, diacetyl rest for lagers
Astringency/Grainy◦ Oversparging, sparging too hot, excess tannins
Phenolics/Medicinal◦ Chlorine in water, bacteria, oversparging
Dimethyl Sulfide (DMS)/Cabbage/Eggs◦ Bacteria, high moisture malt, covering during boil or insufficient boil
Sour/Acidic flavors◦ Sanitation, Bacteria, excessive acid
Troubleshooting
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Pro brewers perfect their beer◦ Many homebrewers never brew the same twice!
Seriously evaluate the flaws in your beer◦ Adjust grain percentages?◦ Change hop schedule or varieties?◦ Fix or try new techniques?◦ Correct specific flaws?
Brew it Again!
Iterating Your Recipe
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Start with a clear artistic vision Do your homework (research!) Create a list of potential ingredients’
◦ Simplify whenever possible – more is not better! Run the numbers
◦ Grain bill first◦ Then hops, yeast, misc items
Consider which techniques are best◦ Mash, Boil, Fermentation and Aging techniques◦ Body, Clarity, Eliminating flaws
Judge your beer after brewing Correct flaws and iterate!
Summary
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Beer Brewing SoftwareBrad Smith, PhD
Recipe Design◦ Build a recipe by picking ingredients from a set of several hundred
preloaded hops, grains, yeasts, etc…◦ Calculates OG, Color, etc… in real time so you can focus on designing
the beer◦ Print Step-by-step instructions for your recipe
Recipe Manipulation◦ Scale a recipe, adjust bitterness, adjust color, convert from all grain to
extract, change to your equipment Recipe Management
◦ Organize recipes in folders, share them in several formats, record data as you brew
What BeerSmith Does
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BeerSmith 2– Mac, Linux and PCPC Version
Macintosh Version
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iPhone, iPad, and Android
Recipe Design
Color
Ingredients
Style Comparison
Custom Fields
Mash, Fermentation Profiles
Name, Equipment
Choose Ingredients
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Current design is compared against the style guide as you build the recipe◦ OG, Bitterness, Color and ABV displayed◦ Lets you focus on the design of the beer itself
What Makes it Easier?
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Brew Sheet◦ Step by step
instructions for any recipe
Brew Day Timer◦ Mash and boil
timers in desktop and mobile versions
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Brewday Features
Screen clipping taken: 5/16/2013, 3:59 PM
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Desktop and Mobile IntegrationBeerSmithRecipes.
comCloud Recipe
Sharing/Storage
Desktop – Cloud Folder
Mobile – Cloud Folder
Web – Share/Search
Features◦ Brewday Timer (Mash and Boil)◦ Local (offline) recipe editing◦ Cloud folder recipe editing◦ Editable ingredients◦ Equipment, Mash, Fermentation and
Carbonation profiles editable◦ BJCP Style Guide◦ Tools: Hydrometer, Infusion, Attenuation, Mash
Adjust, Refractometer, Carbonation◦ Unit Converters
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BeerSmith Mobile
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Resources◦ BJCP.org – BJCP style guide◦ Books:
Designing Great Beers - Daniels Radical Brewing – Randy Mosher How to Brew – John Palmer Brewing Classic Styles – Zainasheff and Palmer Brew Like a Monk – Stan Hieronymous India Pale Ale – Mitch Steele
BeerSmith References◦ BeerSmith.com◦ BeerSmithRecipes.com◦ Newsletter, blog, podcast
BeerSmith.com/blog
Questions?
References