Working Out A Brew Plan

[6tri6ple6]

hey all,

I've been brewing all grain now for about six months and have been making some really nice beers. Im at a loss though as to what sort of beers to make as i enjoy all styles or enjoy discovering new styles. I have never really planned my brewing in the past, just brewed what ive felt like at the time. Usually kit and kilo and the odd extract with grains but I want to try to make the best of the seasons and brew accordingly. Ive have just been brewing in my laundry with reasonable temp control only during the cooler months but i have just aquired a brew fridge which i want to utilise that as well.

I am unsure on where to start with my planning. What do you guys do and how do you plan for the coming months? Which beers go better with the different seasons?

Any help would be appreciated



Cheers

Richard

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

I brewed, when bottling about 2 months ahead. With the kegs, it's now about 2 weeks ahead :lol: - honestly, it depends on when your chosen brew will be estimated ready for consumption; or if you want x variety by x date, work back from there and brew accordingly.

As for varieties:

Summer (Qld Summer):

Any basic lager
Light English Bitter (4% or so)
Weissbier
Witbier
APA that isn't too high in body (so balance out a lower body with hops) - my APA tend to be the same ingredients wise, I just adjust body and the corresponding bitterness from hopping.
Any other lawnmower beer:

Spring & Autumn (Qld - see summer, they are pretty much the same after October and up to May):

Winter:

Bock,
Stout/Porter/Dark Ale
Dunkelweiss
APA adjusted to higher body
High alcohol belgian beers.
AAA

My advice - get a hold of the AABC/BJCP guidelines PDF. It's not exhaustive (as many members have noted - no AAA!), but you'll get an idea of what styles are out there, and generally the description will give you an idea of whether it's suited for warmer or colder weather.

Goomba

PS: other thing - your ability to control temp will have a bearing. If you have none in summer and live in a climate like mine, you'll be restricted to brewing Saisons for 4 or 5 months..

 

[thylacine]

hey all,

I've been brewing all grain now for about six months and have been making some really nice beers. Im at a loss though as to what sort of beers to make as i enjoy all styles or enjoy discovering new styles. I have never really planned my brewing in the past, just brewed what ive felt like at the time. Usually kit and kilo and the odd extract with grains but I want to try to make the best of the seasons and brew accordingly. Ive have just been brewing in my laundry with reasonable temp control only during the cooler months but i have just aquired a brew fridge which i want to utilise that as well.

I am unsure on where to start with my planning. What do you guys do and how do you plan for the coming months? Which beers go better with the different seasons?

Any help would be appreciated


'Beer Periodic Table' http://grub.gunaxin.com/periodic-table-of-beer-styles/39444

BJCP Style Guidelines http://www.bjcp.org/stylecenter.php




Cheers

Richard

 

[Bribie G]

A plan is to make a list of the beers you really like and choose three or maybe four styles and just rotate them and build up stocks so you always have some of each available. Do you bottle or keg? If bottling then you can be more flexible.

I try to have four on the go with 3 on tap at any one time:

The three house styles are:

A UK best bitter
An International Style Lager
An American style golden ale or APA

Plus
A "one off" such as an Irish Red, a Vienna Lager, a Dortmunder etc, could be anything that I've decided to have a crack at.

To get an idea of styles and how to make them, I'd recommend "Brewing Classic Styles" - very reasonably priced at the Book Depository.
Then get yourself some software to plan and record your brews, a good one being BrewMate, or buy Beersmith2 for about $27

 

[mxd]

for me doing the BJCP training I got to try lots of styles to get an understanding of what I do and don't like, then I brewed each style I liked.

I also try to think about the season and length of maturation, so start doing some summer beers now or some BIG winter beers.

Another way to help with your brewing and decisions is to check the competitions that are coming up and brew a style for the comp, if it's a small comp it might just be English beers.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

What BribieG said.

This is why I need an extra keg or two. between a house beer and an experiment, I'm consigned to drinking a keg quicker than another, because I need to put something in it before the 2nd keg runs out.

Having said that, it's not a bad problem given my current APA and the Roggenwei are both really good quality beers. But I want to brew another low abv bitter, and I just can't.

Bottles do offer better flexibility, because if you have 90-100 bottles, you can drink 30 out of anything on hand, rebrew and bottle and add another style on, whilst not running out of the other stuff.

 

[petesbrew]

What BribieG said.

This is why I need an extra keg or two. between a house beer and an experiment, I'm consigned to drinking a keg quicker than another, because I need to put something in it before the 2nd keg runs out.

Having said that, it's not a bad problem given my current APA and the Roggenwei are both really good quality beers. But I want to brew another low abv bitter, and I just can't.

Bottles do offer better flexibility, because if you have 90-100 bottles, you can drink 30 out of anything on hand, rebrew and bottle and add another style on, whilst not running out of the other stuff.

Most of my beers are experiments, but I'm trying to get a few standard/normal beers down for easy drinking as well.
I'm in the same boat as Goomba, the thought of brewing a low alc beer is there, but I keep getting high efficiency brewdays and a 5% beer turns into 7.5% on bottling. Quality over quantity right?
A Summer ale with lots of Nelson Sauvin is perfect for warm days & nights by the bbq. And so is a big, belgian ale for celebrating christmas.

It's your fermenter, so totally your call, dude.

 

[hoppinmad]

Brewing Classic Styles has been a great resource for me when deciding what to brew. Every now and then I will browse through the different styles and recipes and look for one that appeals to me and when i next have some spare time I will brew it. Most of the time I will have the ingredients so it can be a spur of the moment thing, but for some styles that require a special strain of yeast or specialty malt (eg. Belgians) I don't have I will order a couple of weeks in advance. Also, the recipe data base on AHB has some great recipes which you can look through until you find one that sounds like something you would enjoy. Eventually you will have the confidence to mix and match recipes and ingredients based on what you have on hand.

I don't tend to brew based on seasons... but that is just a personal preference I suppose

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Most of my beers are experiments, but I'm trying to get a few standard/normal beers down for easy drinking as well.
I'm in the same boat as Goomba, the thought of brewing a low alc beer is there, but I keep getting high efficiency brewdays and a 5% beer turns into 7.5% on bottling. Quality over quantity right?
A Summer ale with lots of Nelson Sauvin is perfect for warm days & nights by the bbq. And so is a big, belgian ale for celebrating christmas.

It's your fermenter, so totally your call, dude.

@petesbrew, my last low abv 3.5% beer was pretty good, I finished it about 2 weeks ago and it was well received by euro-swiggers.

Recipe was:

5kg TF FM Perle Malt
.1kg Crystal malt (just for a touch of blush)

Willamette at 60min for 20 IBU, 20min for the other 10 IBU.

The key is to mash high (70 degrees) and use Windsor Yeast (low attenuation). OG was 1.046, FG 1.020. Given the higher than "style" IBU, it balanced out nicely and the beer didn't taste thick or cloying at all.

You'll gain up to .5% on bottling (which I didn't for the kegging), but you'll still be a lower, full flavoured beer.

Like I said, Euro-swiggers drank it quite willingly.

Goomba

 

[hsb]

I just go with 4 different beers - a pale one, a brown one and a black one! Then free range experimentation with the 4th. I've slowly narrowed down what I like for pale (APA) brown (ESB) and black (Sweet, Oatmeal or Dry Stouts)
For me, the 4th tends to be beers I'm less familiar with - both to make and to drink.

I found I got carried away at first trying to make every style of beer under the sun, many of which I'd never even drunk before, which made for chaotic results/stocks.

It does become a bit of a stock management process, trying to rotate things so you always have variety on tap/bottle, and can take a little while to fall into a rhythm.

Being a 'No Chill' cube person helps a lot, can just move cubes up the order to suit..

I agree about the seasons, I drink whatever, whenever, don't tend to worry about matching style to weather.

 

[petesbrew]

@petesbrew, my last low abv 3.5% beer was pretty good, I finished it about 2 weeks ago and it was well received by euro-swiggers.

Recipe was:

5kg TF FM Perle Malt
.1kg Crystal malt (just for a touch of blush)

Willamette at 60min for 20 IBU, 20min for the other 10 IBU.

The key is to mash high (70 degrees) and use Windsor Yeast (low attenuation). OG was 1.046, FG 1.020. Given the higher than "style" IBU, it balanced out nicely and the beer didn't taste thick or cloying at all.

You'll gain up to .5% on bottling (which I didn't for the kegging), but you'll still be a lower, full flavoured beer.

Like I said, Euro-swiggers drank it quite willingly.

Goomba

Cheers dude. Looks good. Got the ingredients so it's saved to file

 

[argon]

I brew whatever i feel like at any given time... which usually changes all the time. I swing wildy from hoppy to malty, big beers to small, dark to pales.

Brewing for occasions is good too. Oktoberfest Lagers, brew club comps, state championships, the odd special occasion.

If i don't have room in the keg fridge i just let the cube sit until whenever i feel like it... i DO NOT bottle.

Also pick a strain of yeast and try and keep it going for a while, that will usually limit your range for a few brews.

 

[stux]

If you have a second "cold-storage" fridge you can always take kegs off tap, and pop them in cold-storage for later

For example, my Porter... will probably get taken off tap soon... its getting too warm for it

I have 12 kegs, including 4 9.5L kegs, so I also decant a keg which is less than half full into the 9.5L sometimes.

The 'spare' kegs tend to get broken out when a party makes a serious dent on my supply, so I always have multiple beers on tap...

Sometimes the extended aging turns a ho-hum batch into god's own

 

[[email protected]]

If you have none in summer and live in a climate like mine, you'll be restricted to brewing Saisons for 4 or 5 months..

+1 to Saisons for hot climates. You can brew at 25 to 30C temperatures with the Wyeast 3724 and they are dry and thirst quenching. They also have the flexibility of being able to be brewed as low gravity 3-4% and upto super Saisons.

 

[6tri6ple6]

Thanks for all your replies.
I am currently have 4 kegs and I have 3 taps on my keg fridge and I'm bottling as well but not very often.
I guess I'm still yet to establish some "house ales" so I've just been trying to find which styles I really like.
I bought brewing classic styles a while ago and it is a really good book. I refer to it often when I'm "trying" to design recipes.

Stux - that's not a bad idea. Im a manager at a hotel so I guess I wouldn't mind if I pinched a corner of the keg room

 

[MarkBastard]

I tend to make 4 beers with a bit of variety. For example my current lot is:

Keg 1: Porter
Keg 2: ESB
Fermenter 1: APA
Fermenter 2: Black IPA
Next in line: Dubbel

However I often tend to drink the one I like the most at any one time, which is kind of stupid, but I'd probably be better off having 3 IPA's and one Dark beer (Stout/Porter) on tap at any one time because then I'd actually have a decent chance of drinking them more evenly!

Maybe an American IPA, an English IPA, and an American 2IPA haha.

 

[hsb]

I force myself to drink them all in rough balance! ie; I try and finish up the pale tap (APA/Weizen etc.) when I've got the next one coming through.
I try not to drink myself dry of any style, at least until one's in production to replace it.
More ridiculous than just making your favourite style on 3-4 taps!

I'm currently forcing myself through the last 15L of not very nice Orange Witbier, all whilst gazing fondly at the full keg of ESB.

I should just turf the Wit, or leave it in a darkened corner and drink the good stuff 8)