1

Beer Recipe DesignBrad Smith, PhD

2

A spectrum of choices…

Range of Beer Recipe Design

Deliberate - Mechanical Artistic

3

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

Beer Design Process

4

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

Start with an Inspiration

5

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

Artistic End of Things – How it all fits together

6

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!

Research the Style/Beer

7

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?

List Potential Ingredients

8

Use Software or a spreadsheet◦ Match your equipment

Estimate Original Gravity Color Bitterness ABV (rough)

Compare these to your target style

Time to Do the Math

9

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

Grain Bill Considerations

10

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)

Hop Considerations

11

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!

Yeast Considerations

12

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?

Water Considerations

13

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…

Mash Techniques

14

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

Grain/Extract Techniques

15

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

Hop Techniques

16

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

Yeast/Fermentation Techniques

17

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

Achieving Clarity

18

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!

Judging Your Beer

19

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

Troubleshooting

20

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!

Iterating Your Recipe

21

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!

Summary

22

Beer Brewing SoftwareBrad Smith, PhD

Recipe Design◦ Build a recipe by picking ingredients from a set of several hundred

preloaded hops, grains, yeasts, etc…◦ Calculates OG, Color, etc… in real time so you can focus on designing

the beer◦ Print Step-by-step instructions for your recipe

Recipe Manipulation◦ Scale a recipe, adjust bitterness, adjust color, convert from all grain to

extract, change to your equipment Recipe Management

◦ Organize recipes in folders, share them in several formats, record data as you brew

What BeerSmith Does

23

BeerSmith 2– Mac, Linux and PCPC Version

Macintosh Version

24

iPhone, iPad, and Android

Recipe Design

Color

Ingredients

Style Comparison

Custom Fields

Mash, Fermentation Profiles

Name, Equipment

Choose Ingredients

25

Current design is compared against the style guide as you build the recipe◦ OG, Bitterness, Color and ABV displayed◦ Lets you focus on the design of the beer itself

What Makes it Easier?

26

Brew Sheet◦ Step by step

instructions for any recipe

Brew Day Timer◦ Mash and boil

timers in desktop and mobile versions

27

Brewday Features

 Screen clipping taken: 5/16/2013, 3:59 PM

  

28

Desktop and Mobile IntegrationBeerSmithRecipes.

comCloud Recipe

Sharing/Storage

Desktop – Cloud Folder

Mobile – Cloud Folder

Web – Share/Search

Features◦ Brewday Timer (Mash and Boil)◦ Local (offline) recipe editing◦ Cloud folder recipe editing◦ Editable ingredients◦ Equipment, Mash, Fermentation and

Carbonation profiles editable◦ BJCP Style Guide◦ Tools: Hydrometer, Infusion, Attenuation, Mash

Adjust, Refractometer, Carbonation◦ Unit Converters

29

BeerSmith Mobile

30

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?

References