FlapjackAM
Well-Known Member
Hello everyone. It's been awhile. I haven't brewed since my son was born almost a year ago, and now that I'm deployed it will be even longer. Needless to say, I've had a lot of time to think about what I want to do when I get home in a few months. I wanted to run it by you guys because I've had ideas that seemed logical to me before that turned out not to work.
Basically, I'll be doing my first all grain batch, BIAB, and SMaSH. My question: is there a single pale malt, or maybe two for comparison, that I can eventually use as a base for several malty beers like scotch ales, browns, porters, etc. that also has enough flavor to stand on its own, or is that asking too much?
I want to learn the scales before I try to play Hendrix, as it were, so my plan is to use a single base malt as a controlled variable that I can use to dial in my new system, work out the efficiency, mash temperature, volumes, and other calculations and achieve a decent level of consistency. Then I want to rotate different yeasts and hops appropriate to the abovementioned styles until something stands out to me, and finally add the specialty grains and proportions necessary to create the various styles. I want a building block approach so I know how I got to the finished product.
Like I said I've had a lot of time to think and no time to do, so I'm excited to get back into it. It all boils down to 1) Does that ramble sound like a feasible plan, or am I trying to work backwards and 2) having no experience myself, are there any recommendations for a base grain to use as my controlled variable? Any other tips or recommendations are welcome.
Basically, I'll be doing my first all grain batch, BIAB, and SMaSH. My question: is there a single pale malt, or maybe two for comparison, that I can eventually use as a base for several malty beers like scotch ales, browns, porters, etc. that also has enough flavor to stand on its own, or is that asking too much?
I want to learn the scales before I try to play Hendrix, as it were, so my plan is to use a single base malt as a controlled variable that I can use to dial in my new system, work out the efficiency, mash temperature, volumes, and other calculations and achieve a decent level of consistency. Then I want to rotate different yeasts and hops appropriate to the abovementioned styles until something stands out to me, and finally add the specialty grains and proportions necessary to create the various styles. I want a building block approach so I know how I got to the finished product.
Like I said I've had a lot of time to think and no time to do, so I'm excited to get back into it. It all boils down to 1) Does that ramble sound like a feasible plan, or am I trying to work backwards and 2) having no experience myself, are there any recommendations for a base grain to use as my controlled variable? Any other tips or recommendations are welcome.
