If you’ve read other parts of this site you probably know that I’ve been brewing beer pretty intently for over a year and a half. I’ve brewed several all-grain batches and my beer is tasting better than ever, but I’ve realized something recently: I’ve been doing it wrong.
No, not technically wrong, like letting the beer ferment in a room that’s too hot or forgetting to add hops while boiling or anything like that, but wrong nonetheless. The problem: I’ve been brewing inside the box.
I imagine many homebrewers probably learn the same way I did, first buying boxed ingredient kits that replicate a particular style, like “English Pale Ale,” then maybe mimicking other commercial beers through so-called “clone” recipes. But some of my experiences over the past few months have led me to believe that I am going about things the wrong way, or at the very least I missed a turn somewhere. Through my work as a writer and a photographer I see myself as a rather creative individual, yet none of that creativity is carrying over to my brewing. I’ve been following recipes down to the hundredths of ounces with no room for variation, and the bottom line is that this regimented approach has limited me as a brewer.
My first inkling of my stunted growth came in February of this year when I was invited to brew with my friend Ozzy Nelson. Granted, Ozzy has been brewing longer than me, but he was creating a recipe on the fly that day and it really opened my eyes to how structured I was by contrast. Not to say structure is a bad thing, but when you’re trying to be creative it can be limiting.
“When I talk to homebrewers, I keep telling [them] the same thing over and over again,” Boulevard Brewing’s Steven Pauwels told Basic Brewing Radio in March 2007. “You guys are lucky. You’ve got a small system. You can do whatever you want. Stop trying to copy my beer.”
Next, I was tuning into the podcasts for the Iron Brewer competition, the brainchild of homebrewer Peter Kennedy that pits up to six brewers against one other in a quest to brew a batch of beer that highlights three specified—and often incongruous—ingredients. Like Ozzy, some of these competitors had been homebrewing for years longer than I had, but some hadn’t. Some were relatively new to the hobby but they still had a deft understanding of ingredients and how they impacted one another and the beer as a whole. During a Skype tasting session, they each capably explained why they chose one yeast over another, or how they chose a certain elective ingredient to highlight the flavor of another.
Frankly, it was quite discouraging. I realized at that point that most of my reading, research, and brewed batches had been geared toward repeating something that had already been done. And that’s fine; there’s a place for that. There’s a reason that painters or musicians study the classic works in school and learn about the elements that make them masterpieces. And it probably didn’t help that my first several batches turn out poorly. I’m sure I made a conscious effort to follow the recipes even closer the next time to try to get a good batch of beer. But in hindsight, the lack of understanding is evident.
The final straw came about an hour ago when I was listening to a Basic Brewing Radio podcast from March 15, 2007. (Note: I’ve mentioned Basic Brewing before but if you are a homebrewer and you haven’t checked out the vast library of weekly episodes that date back to 2005, you are missing out. These audio programs contain an amazing wealth of knowledge, usually straight from the source—maltsters, yeast suppliers, etc.) This particular podcast featured an interview with Steven Pauwels, head brewer for Boulevard Brewing Company in Kansas City, Mo.
During a discussion of the ongoing debate about brewing to established beer styles versus brewing artistically, Pauwels said, “I think right now we’re at the point where styles are just limiting the capabilities of a brewer. When I talk to homebrewers, I keep telling [them] the same thing over and over again. You guys are lucky. You’ve got a small system. You can do whatever you want. Stop trying to copy my beer. Because it doesn’t make any sense.”
So starting today, it’s time for the next phase of my brewing education. I’m going off script. I’m going to start experimenting. I’m leaving the clone books behind. My question to homebrewers out there is, “How?” How do you learn to “wing it” without wasting a lot of ingredients? How did you make the migration from brewing recipes you got from a friend or the Web to creating your own recipes from scratch? I have Ray Daniels’ wisdom-filled book Designing Great Beers
Related posts:
Brewing more creatively came very naturally to me. I wanted to start brewing because I wanted beers that I couldn’t find in the store. So, after boring batch #1, I started experimenting with #2.
I just started putting things together that I thought would be yummy. Just try stuff!
Posted by Amie | 16. Dec, 2010, 4:53 PMThanks for the comment and encouragement, Amie. I’m probably making this harder than it should be (as with just about everything else I do). I need to learn to just dive in feet first.
Posted by Doug Brumley | 16. Dec, 2010, 5:03 PMWow Doug, I appreciate the shout out to Iron brewer and to be honest I brewed clones and kits for many years just as you and many others are. I’ve also been brewing for over 14 yrs so there is also a lot of experience.
I still remember the day that changed my brewing philosophy. It wasn’t like it was for Amie or you listening to Basic Brewing (totally awesome programming). I went to my local homebrew store with a great recipe in hand that I had brewed before (a clone) and they didn’t have most of the grains or hops I needed. After getting pissed off and cursing the POS store, I had to use all that untapped knowledge I had some how accumulated and formulate my recipe with other ingredients. Wouldn’t ya know it, my beer was frigging fantastic. I’ve since brewed about 20 variations on that IPA recipe.
With that said, don’t beat yourself up about brewing clones and kits, there is a reason why they are sold, they tend to be good. you can learn a lot about the ingredients and how they work by brewing these as you are starting. The other thing you can do is use them for base recipes and modify or change them up.
keep brewing and I hope to see you in Season two of Iron Brewer!
Posted by Peter at Simply Beer | 16. Dec, 2010, 11:55 PMThanks Peter. I appreciate the comments and encouragement. I do understand the role that kits and found recipes play, but I just feel as if I should be farther down the road. I need to experience/create some of your defining homebrew store moments. I’m going to be pushing myself more to see if I can make that happen. Iron Brewer Season 2 will definitely be part of that!
Posted by Doug Brumley | 17. Dec, 2010, 6:22 PMI think the same paragraph in which you mention being discouraged contains reasons for optimism. Designing Great Beers is a truly excellent book, but without having brewed the kits and clones you have, there is no frame of reference, it’s all just theory. Combine it with your experience, add your creativity and you have a solid foundation on which to explore as many flavor combinations as you can imagine, along with a razor for trimming obvious duds. As I transitioned into whipping up my own recipes, reading descriptions of the various ingredients wherever they were available, diving into brewing texts and drinking beers with known ingredients (thanks, Rogue) all allowed me to refine my mental database of flavor elements and their likely origins. Now, I walk into the grain room with a target taste as vivid in my mind as if it was coating my tongue and a good sense of the tools I can use to create it. I may only rarely achieve a direct hit, but I usually wind up with something close. I very much enjoy the blog; keep it up!
Posted by Lance | 17. Dec, 2010, 3:20 PMThanks for the kind words about the site and the tips for absorbing ingredient info at every turn. I yearn for the day when I have that target taste nailed down before I hit the store. I’m heading that way (hopefully). Thanks again.
Posted by Doug Brumley | 17. Dec, 2010, 6:25 PM