Best way to start creating own receipes

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Redpappy

Redpappy

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Here is a silly question. What’s the best way to start creating your own recipes?
I have looked around and found a few sites that have somewhat explained, however I’m still a little lost. I mean I look at the list of grains, hops and yeast.... I mean holy smokes the list seems to go on forever.
I’m looking for any kind of suggestion, such as books, that could maybe help me figure out which way I need to go... I know, I’m asking a lot.
I have pretty much stuck with drinking Budweiser (including bud light) till I started brewing a few months ago. So I’m still trying to figure out my tastes.
I am doing extract right now, ( for at least another year). So I will need to stay with extract Receipes only.
 
It seems like it was yesterday I was asking similar questions. My journey was rough, try as many of the shelf craft beers as possible, hit as many different breweries as possible, do not be afraid of anything, and do not judge any style on a single brewers version. Copy recipes from hbt and other sites of beers you like. And test those....
Like I said a tough task...

I am an engineer so I spent a lot of time doing smash to understand grains and hops, and split batches to see how yeast and temps change flavors. Seeing how individual changes affect a beer, then tweak recipes or create my own with predictable results.

Your path may vary...
 
Bryggeri said:
I spent a lot of time doing smash to understand grains and hops, and split batches to see how yeast and temps change flavors. Seeing how individual changes affect a beer, then tweak recipes or create my own with predictable results.

Your path may vary...
Click to expand...

What this guy said...Reading will really only get you so far because it doesn’t give you that hands on information where you are tasting it. What I also like to do is brew the same recipe multiple times making specific changes until I have it down to what I like.

A perfect example is my American Wheat beer. The first attempt had 50/50 2-Row and Wheat and all cascade hops. Then I changed it to 50/50 Pilsner and Wheat and then again with MO and Wheat. Myself and family and friends liked the MO/Wheat blend the best. Then I started changing the hops...once I found right hop blend I changed the yeast...and after 6 tries finally nailed the recipe to my liking.

Yes it took a lot of time and yes it took a lot of drinking but now I have my go to recipe for the spring and summer and brew it multiple times a year.

Hope this helps!

:mug:
 
Can't beat this horse dead enough lol. Read as much as you can but in all honesty, trial and error is the way to go. Take a recipe on hbt, brew it, then make a change, brew it again and see what happens. This will help teach you. I'm only 11 brews in but I've definitely learned a crap load since June when i statted. I will say Designing Great Beers is a good read. It's a bit outdated but it gives you an idea of TYPICAL ingredients for a lot of styles. You can take those and tweak them and do some experimenting and that'll help you learn as well.

I did a mango ipa not too long ago in which i was trying to clone Sam Adams rebel juiced ipa. They give you the ingredients on the website and they tell you they use mango juice for the mango flavor. I made it and i made some changes to the recipe for the next time i go to make it. Point is, after some experience, you'll brew something, taste it and be able to decide what you want to do differently for the next time
 
Brewing is like cooking. Always follow a recipe until you feel like you know enough to start just throwing stuff together. And then it’s worth consulting guidelines before proceeding. For example, no Italian pasta lacks garlic, and likewise, no good Munich Dunkel lack a substantial amount of Munich malt.
 
Brew a lot of pre-existing recipes for a couple of styles you really enjoy. Pay attention to what ingredients are really the focus of the recipes. Play around with the ingredients you use most, try to figure out what they contribute to the final product.

Brew, brew, then brew some more. SMaSH beers are great ways to see what basic (not simple, but foundational) ingredients are like (I really like a good all munich malt lager with a 60 minute addition of hallertau). I've heard that Two Malt and Two Hops beers are also helpful, and that makes sense to me. Document everything, even the freezer cleaner beers where you just clear out your ingredients inventory.

I personally don't bother building my own recipes. Beer has been around so long, and so much has been done with it, and so many good recipes have been developed, I don't see much reason to do more than make existing recipes and tweak them a bit depending on what kind of ingredients I can get.
 
I would start by drinking more craft beer or just beer in general, in order to find out what you like in terms of beer styles, bitterness, aromas, flavours, colour, ABV, mouthfeel, etc. This however can take years, or at least for me it did, so your mileage and experience may vary greatly. We are all different and unique after all, with tastes that follow.

Once you have a general / better defined idea of what you like, try to find the recipes for the beers you like or at least similar beers. Then, find and read as much information as you can ( forum threads, experience shared by home brewers and others, manufacturer website ) about the ingredients used in those beers.

Go in depth: learn about differences between base malts and specialty malts, how they look, taste, how much to use, the effect on the final beer, yeast - liquid / dry - differences between an ale yeast and a lager yeast, between belgian strains and the rest in terms of esters, phenols and direct flavours in the beer, temperature in regards to mash, fermentation, dry hopping, etc.

Learn about all hops! Drink single hop beers ( relative experience? ) and use those hops in your own creations.

And there are of course many other aspects you may consider, like water treatment and its importance in brewing, pH, fermentation schedule, things like when and how to know your beer is done and ready for kegging/bottling, etc.

But most importantly, you must try out recipes and brew lots of beer. There are so many proven recipes around which you can brew, so if creating and brewing your own recipes is not your thing, then you will still make beer, following the already existent recipes, trialed and proven by so many. I would however recommend, to get a better understanding of what you want, creating a few recipes of your own for different styles, and see where that leads. There is a great possibility some beers will not turn out good, but also the possibility of surprising yourself.
 
SMASH is a good way to explore base malts, yeast and hops. I also liked a NHC conference presentation by drew beechum called "brewing in the ones" Here's a link to the youtube video hosted by northern brewer.

https://www.northernbrewer.com/connect/2012/07/drew-beechums-brewing-on-the-ones/

There are quite a few conference presentations available on recipe design. I think drew did a SMASH talk a few years ago also. $38 bucks gets you a year of AHA membership, discounts, digital back issues of zymurgy and past NHC conference presentations. AHA often has a free book to send you when you signup or renew.
 
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If you are a beginner doing extract, your best bet is to stay with established recipes until you have more experience. Brewing is supposed to be a fun hobby, its no fun to pour out a crappy experimental beer. (I've done it many times).
It IS fun and rewarding to brew an established recipe and have the beer come out to be something you like and are proud to share with others.
Once you get into using grain, and find out what styles you like, take existing recipes and start changing one thing at a time, different hops, different malts.
You'll need to start buying grain in bulk and get your own mill, so you can really play with the ingredients.
Listen to all available brewing podcasts and get a collection of books.
The brewing network Can You Brew it Series shows how to deconstruct a beer and they discuss the ways to get the various flavors.
There are also lots of youtube videos on various aspects of brewing.
Eventually, you'll figure it out or maybe you'll decide to keep it simple and go with existing recipes.
Books to start with:
How to Brew by John Palmer (free version available on line)
Brooklyn Brew Shop Beer brewing Book has 1 gallon recipes in all kinds of styles that can be expanded, a great beginner's book.
Radical Brewing by Randy Mosher
Brewing Classic Styles by Jamil Zainasheff
Designing Great beers by Ray Daniels, (Somewhat out of date) here's a review:

http://beersmith.com/blog/2008/03/12/designing-great-beers-by-ray-daniels-a-book-review/
 
Redpappy said:
Here is a silly question. What’s the best way to start creating your own recipes?
I have looked around and found a few sites that have somewhat explained, however I’m still a little lost. I mean I look at the list of grains, hops and yeast.... I mean holy smokes the list seems to go on forever.
I’m looking for any kind of suggestion, such as books, that could maybe help me figure out which way I need to go... I know, I’m asking a lot.
I have pretty much stuck with drinking Budweiser (including bud light) till I started brewing a few months ago. So I’m still trying to figure out my tastes.
I am doing extract right now, ( for at least another year). So I will need to stay with extract Receipes only.
Click to expand...

Why for another whole year? Do you have that many extract kits already purchased? All grain doesn't have to be any more complex than extract. If you have a pot, can heat water to a predicted temperature, and can purchase the grains you can do all grain brewing via BIAB. It takes a pot big enough to hold the water and grains, requires a way to heat up the full volume of water, and does better if the grain is milled finer than most LHBS will do but doesn't require that. I started with my 5 gallon pot I used for extract, bought a paint strainer bag from the big box store, and started making all grain 1/2 size batches in that. I still do that most of the time.

One of the easiest ways to get started with designing recipes is to look at successful recipes. Analyze them, why this grain works and why not that. What hop and how much to get the bitterness and flavor. Try brewing them as written, then make ONE change to see how that affects the beer. Try again with a different change until you have a feel for what works for you. You can make the best recipe ever but if YOU don't like it then you wasted that recipe even if it were judged best in competition.

There are a ton of recipes to choose from right here on HomeBrewTalk. Take a peek:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/#homebrewtalk-com-recipe-database.54
 
Thanks for all the feed back, I do appreciate it, and it is all helpful. To me it is just a hobby that I have just started and am enjoying immensely.
 
RM-MN said:
Why for another whole year? Do you have that many extract kits already purchased? All grain doesn't have to be any more complex than extract. If you have a pot, can heat water to a predicted temperature, and can purchase the grains you can do all grain brewing via BIAB. It takes a pot big enough to hold the water and grains, requires a way to heat up the full volume of water, and does better if the grain is milled finer than most LHBS will do but doesn't require that. I started with my 5 gallon pot I used for extract, bought a paint strainer bag from the big box store, and started making all grain 1/2 size batches in that. I still do that most of the time.
Click to expand...

I have just started the process of building my new home. So I am trying to keep my equipment to the bare basics as best as I can. I hate moving stuff. I am trying to figure out all I can with the stuff I have in hopes that I will have a more understanding and will be able to design my setup just once, ie BIAB, electric, gas... When you do half batches, do you use a smaller fermenter or is the 6 1/2 gallon size ( my fermenter) still doable.
 
Redpappy said:
I have just started the process of building my new home. So I am trying to keep my equipment to the bare basics as best as I can. I hate moving stuff. I am trying to figure out all I can with the stuff I have in hopes that I will have a more understanding and will be able to design my setup just once, ie BIAB, electric, gas... When you do half batches, do you use a smaller fermenter or is the 6 1/2 gallon size ( my fermenter) still doable.
Click to expand...

With my BIAB half size batches I kept using the 5 gallon pot I had used for extract with the only additions a paint strainer bag and a cheap mill (the closest LHBS that has a mill is 130 miles). The same fermenter does fine with half batches as full, perhaps better since I never worry about a blowoff. The paint strainers were cheap, less than $4 for a pair. Te mill was a bit more but still cheap. This is the one I bought. http://www.discounttommy.com/p-189-...er-for-wheat-grains-or-use-as-a-nut-mill.aspx
 
It helps to be an obsessive learner. When I got into homebrewing, I spent easity 20 hour or more a week reading. I read about the process, the equipment, the recipes, etc. I've been drinking craft beer since the 80's, so I've got a pretty solid foundation with respect to styles and knowing what I like.

My first all grain batch was my own recipe. It arose from reading a bunch of recipes for the style along with a bunch of reading and posting questions about how to achieve certain things for the style. I then took what I'd learned from all of that, started playing with Brewer's Friend and, voila!, my first recipe and beer was the result. I've taken the same approach with several styles now and gotten enormously positive feedback from friends. family, and judges.

There's little substitute for beer tasting experience, and I think the SMaSH approach to learning about what the various ingredients bring to the table is valuable, but it's also extremely time consuming. I wasn't going to put years of brewing into getting to my first real recipe (a SMaSH isn't really a recipe, IMHO it's an experiment you can drink). As an engineer with a strong science background I fully understand the value of changing one variable, measuring the results and drawing conclusions, but the sheer magnitude of things that can be changed, along with a nearly infinite spectrum of options for each variable, you could spend a lifetime and not try everything. Think hops...you can change what hops, how much, when you add them, how you blend them and how they interact with various base malt recipes.

Good luck and have fun. Brewing should be fun, challenging, and rewarding.
 
It's a good question. I still never really make up a recipe from scratch. Understanding/tasting different grains is harder for me than hops. At the very least I look at a recipe to get proportions if I'm not just copying the recipe. Don't overlook small batches too. It can be fun and easier to experiment with one gallon jugs. Easier to store too while fermenting.
 
With smaller batches I would think you would need more equipment, (smaller fermenters)wouldn’t you?. Right now I have a 5 gal kettle, 2 -6.5 gal fermenter pail, a bottling pail.
 
I ferment 2.5g batches in 6.5g buckets quite a bit. If you want smaller buckets, Lowe's has 5g food grade buckets for about $10. I split batch all the time and end up needing a lot of buckets.
 
One of the recent articles here on HBT was “Building A Balanced Recipe”. I thought it was a great article on recipe building. I look for some inspiration. I had never heard of a Biere De Guard, so I look online to see what it is. Read the BJCP style description, which will note important hops and grains to use in a beer, look at what other peoples recipes look like and then create your own recipe to make it your own and to fit who you are. Tweek your recipes using the online color IBU and OG/FG calculators.
 
Redpappy said:
With smaller batches I would think you would need more equipment, (smaller fermenters)wouldn’t you?. Right now I have a 5 gal kettle, 2 -6.5 gal fermenter pail, a bottling pail.
Click to expand...
I really like the 1 gallon glass jugs. They're cheap. Quick and easy to brew 1 gallon batches for side by side comparisons before scaling up to a full batch. I'd rather waste 1 gallon worth of ingredients in a test rather than 5 gallons worth.
 
Well, I think a good book is Designing Great Beers, by Ray Daniels. Though it's heavy in BJCP evaluated beers, and how to design to these styles, it's loaded with a lot else. Got me going years ago moving off following another's recipes, to making my own.

I think SMaSH is an awesome way to come to know the attributes of single materials. It's limitation is, in my opinion, that beer is a synthesis of many things, and individual components in isolation change significantly in combination. The analogy with cooking is, I think, apt here.

As a chef, I know, I was driven by sort of broad sweeps of sensual and poetic inspiration. Not trying to sound goofy, but a walk through a barren-late autumn woods would bring me to a venison plate that worked - I'd translated this broad but powerful sensual-poetic experience to a plate, by breaking down things like mouthfeel, balance of acid and sugars, creating a microcosm of those woods, the feel of them, on the plate as a whole.

So before moving to materials in brewing, I'd get some ideas going. I'd want what I call more of a "fresh fields" character, a bit more dry, nutty rusticity, in the ESB named after my great-grandfather in law (Edgar). So I looked at some flaked barley, some biscuit malt, touch of Munich 8 replacing some of the crystal 80. It worked OK, but I've since moved on.

My point is, at least one suggestion I'd have is go on your own voice, your own sensory suggestions first, knowing you can't just obliterate the spine of what a given beer with its long history is, as greenoblatt says above. You follow those broad strokes in, and you'll have no problem starting to find ingredients and proportions to satisfy that sensory or poetic urge.

Just a thought.
 
Step 1) Go into your ingredient cabinet.
Step 2) Grab all of your available ingredients.
Step 3) Use normal mashing/boiling/fermentation/packaging procedures

Viola! You have created your own recipe.
 
brandonlovesbeer said:
Step 1) Go into your ingredient cabinet.
Step 2) Grab all of your available ingredients.
Step 3) Use normal mashing/boiling/fermentation/packaging procedures

Viola! You have created your own recipe.
Click to expand...

That's one way. The only beer I entered into competition, "Seven Suns Strong Scotch Ale," won second in the Midwest Regional AHA's. It was slated to go on to the nationals but my in-laws downed it all, lol.

My great secret? I had 7 malts left in my larder.
 
I would pick up different styles of craft beers and find one I liked enough that I knew I could drink a ton of it. Then I started searching for a clone recipe online and brew it. Normally people cloning will try to get it as close to the commercial example as possible, but I use it simply as a launching pad. Change the grain percentages, substitute hops, try a different yeast. After a few brewdays I have a new beer that’s nowhere close to the commercial example, but tailored to my liking.

Here’s a good video about recipes. It’s cooking and not brewing but the concept still applies.

 
Well.....I can see that the best avenue is experimentation, trial and error. So I’m now thinking that I must kill 2 birds with one stone. I have been looking into moving to all grain, but as stated I didn’t want to buy any more equipment at this time, as well as i don’t really want to do experiments on 5 gal. Batches. That would just make me cry .So I figured I will need to take r4dyce advise and go for 1 gallon. I see on NB they have a 1 1/2 gallon carboy for 13.00 bucks. So now I’m researng on how to do it on my stove with the equipment that I have. Which seems doable. So now I must ask another question... I’ve only done the 5 gal extract batches, so how do I figure out the yeast amount? I have always gotten a package (dry) that I pitched with my 5 gal kits. Would i still use the same amount on 1 gal or do I need to reduce it.
 
My first two batches were 1 gallon. For me it just wasn’t quite enough to really get to know the beer I made, so I bought another carboy and make two gallon batches. If you look at the yeast calculators you’ll find that the amount of cells in an 11g satchel of yeast is generally not quite enough for a five gallon batch. It is just about right for 2 or 2 1/2 gallns and probably a bit too much for one gallon, depending on what you are making.
 
Redpappy said:
Well.....I can see that the best avenue is experimentation, trial and error. So I’m now thinking that I must kill 2 birds with one stone. I have been looking into moving to all grain, but as stated I didn’t want to buy any more equipment at this time, as well as i don’t really want to do experiments on 5 gal. Batches. That would just make me cry .So I figured I will need to take r4dyce advise and go for 1 gallon. I see on NB they have a 1 1/2 gallon carboy for 13.00 bucks. So now I’m researng on how to do it on my stove with the equipment that I have. Which seems doable. So now I must ask another question... I’ve only done the 5 gal extract batches, so how do I figure out the yeast amount? I have always gotten a package (dry) that I pitched with my 5 gal kits. Would i still use the same amount on 1 gal or do I need to reduce it.
Click to expand...

Generally speaking I eyeball about a half pack of dry yeast for a one gallon batch. This is probably even more than necessary. Within reason, over pitching is less troublesome than under pitching.

One more thought on the glass jugs, that price actually seems a little high. Might be able to get them cheaper at a local store it even like a home goods store. Your grocery store might have gallon glass jugs of apple juice or wine. Also might be worth checking your Lowe's/home Depot for smaller food grade buckets you could use as a fermenter. Emphasis on Food Grade, and make sure they have corresponding lids. You can then just drill a hole for an airlock. Lots of options!
 
Honestly, in my opinion, there is very little point in "creating" your own recipe. Recipe's are a dime a dozen. Writing recipes from scratch and jumping from one to the other is really not going to get you to where you want to go on a consistent basis. Also, depending on the style - there really might not even be an "original" way to create your own recipe. For instance - if you want to brew a czech pilsner..... well, there really isn't much room for "creating" without just screwing up your pilsner.

If you want to get to the point where you can learn to alter recipes in a way that you can be confident in the outcome - it is a gradual process. First, just brew "tried and true" recipes in styles you like. There is no point in taking a stab in the dark when there are plenty of great recipes available to start with. Second - really, really get your processes and procedures dialed in - Sanitation, water, fermentation temps, transfer procedures, etc. Third, make sure you can repeat beers - if you can't brew the same beer, the same way multiple times - you will always be rolling the dice with whatever you brew. Finally - start to tweak the recipes in different ways to see if you can improve on them, transition them to something that is more to your personal tastes, etc. Limit your changes from one batch to the next so that you can really understand what your choices are adding or subtracting.

Personally, I choose one or two styles at a time and just brew them over and over (while mixing in other styles for variety.) By brewing the same beer 10-20-30 times over the course of a couple years - you can really dial it in to your own tastes. Then, move on to the next style to experiment with.

**** Oh - brewing classic styles makes a great starting point (extract and all grain) for a classic recipe in every style. Plus, the recipe section on here. The American Homebrewers Association is another good starting point for recipes.
 
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swampbrewcrew said:
I would pick up different styles of craft beers and find one I liked enough that I knew I could drink a ton of it. Then I started searching for a clone recipe online and brew it. Normally people cloning will try to get it as close to the commercial example as possible, but I use it simply as a launching pad. Change the grain percentages, substitute hops, try a different yeast. After a few brewdays I have a new beer that’s nowhere close to the commercial example, but tailored to my liking.

Here’s a good video about recipes. It’s cooking and not brewing but the concept still applies.

Click to expand...


I think this is excellent advice. Looking back on my post I think I wasn't helpful because it didn't give anything to do, and was more about an impression of how I used to proceed which is very likely amorphous and irrelevant.

Personally I don't think there's probably a better way than to work on one thing, over and over, till you master it; then you've learned how to master a lot more. And I think swamp has given a perfect way in.

And swamp, my mom bought me La Technique when I was a kid; she really supported my desire to master French cooking. It was his book I worked, cover to cover, over and over again. I'm pretty moved you posted the video. He gave me my start. I love the man and have since then, 40ish years ago now.
 
I have to admit, I am loving this forume. One may ask why? Reason being, I get the views of others, and ther experience and their advice. With all the advice and opinions I am able to pick the roughts that suits my needs and run with it, but it also gives me options on which way to go. I really don’t ask questions because there is always, well almost, ways to find the answer to your question. I ask questions to get multiple answers to figure out which will suite my needs from experience people, to save me some time and aggravation.

I have read and seen many systems, the ones that I have seen work for some but not others! As well as how they brew. I know there are many ways to brew beer and any ways to perfect it. I like to have options, and if I am able to get assistance from people that have experience the better i will be. I have stated that i have done axtract, but others have put their input in AG/BIAB. in which has helped me termindu, and I thank everyone for their input.
 
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