Beer Recipe Design

Brad Smith, PhD

beersmith@beersmith.com

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A spectrum of choices…

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Deliberate - Mechanical Artistic

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

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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

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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

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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!

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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?

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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

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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 9

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)

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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! 11

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?

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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…

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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!

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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

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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!

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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!

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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?

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