Which are the easier/harder beers to brew?

Get advice on making beer from raw ingredients (malt, hops, water and yeast)
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Hogarth
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Which are the easier/harder beers to brew?

Post by Hogarth » Fri May 20, 2016 10:02 pm

If I were giving advice to a first-time all-grain brewer, I'd say: go for a big, hoppy 5% IPA, and it'll taste as good as anything in the pub.

Meanwhile, for years I've been trying to brew a session beer along the lines of Adnams Southwold or Harveys Best, and I haven't even got close. Made some nice beers along the way, but nobody could mistake them for the real thing.

Which makes me wonder if some styles of beer are simply easier to get right, such as Porters, IPAs, APAs, and anything else with a big taste; while some are harder, such as lager and 4% bitters. With big beers, you can just pile on the malt and hops and it usually tastes fine. With smaller beers, there's less room to hide the flaws, and any imbalance of malt and hops becomes immediately obviously.

Does anyone else find this? Or is it just my preference for lighter beers that makes me notice their flaws more?

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keith1664
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Re: Which are the easier/harder beers to brew?

Post by keith1664 » Fri May 20, 2016 10:12 pm

I think you're bang on, I've never managed to make an Ordinary Bitter or a Lager I'm 100% happy with. Hoppy or Roasty is usually a safe bet.
I do make a fine Weisse but that's down to the choice of yeast and temperature control, the grain bill is standard and simple.
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Re: Which are the easier/harder beers to brew?

Post by Kyle_T » Sat May 21, 2016 7:22 am

Hogarth wrote:If I were giving advice to a first-time all-grain brewer, I'd say: go for a big, hoppy 5% IPA, and it'll taste as good as anything in the pub.

Meanwhile, for years I've been trying to brew a session beer along the lines of Adnams Southwold or Harveys Best, and I haven't even got close. Made some nice beers along the way, but nobody could mistake them for the real thing.

Which makes me wonder if some styles of beer are simply easier to get right, such as Porters, IPAs, APAs, and anything else with a big taste; while some are harder, such as lager and 4% bitters. With big beers, you can just pile on the malt and hops and it usually tastes fine. With smaller beers, there's less room to hide the flaws, and any imbalance of malt and hops becomes immediately obviously.

Does anyone else find this? Or is it just my preference for lighter beers that makes me notice their flaws more?
I don't agree, even with big beers like Porter and Stout, it can still be very difficult to get the balance of flavour right to make an exceptional dark beer, sure you can throw lots of malt in but all you will get it a chewy, harsh, astringent unbalanced mess.
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daf

Re: Which are the easier/harder beers to brew?

Post by daf » Sat May 21, 2016 7:32 am

Easiest
- IPA - hops mask a multitude of sins
- saison - leave it alone that's it, no silly adjuncts

Toughest
- pilsner - any off-flavours come out fighting
- English bitter/pale ale - the balance requires craft

daf

Re: Which are the easier/harder beers to brew?

Post by daf » Sat May 21, 2016 7:32 am

keith1664 wrote:I think you're bang on, I've never managed to make an Ordinary Bitter or a Lager I'm 100% happy with. Hoppy or Roasty is usually a safe bet.
I do make a fine Weisse but that's down to the choice of yeast and temperature control, the grain bill is standard and simple.
Agree 100%

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Re: Which are the easier/harder beers to brew?

Post by IPA » Sat May 21, 2016 8:42 am

The hardest ones are are those that require conditioning for twelve months =D> I have failed every time.
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Re: Which are the easier/harder beers to brew?

Post by Dads_Ale » Sat May 21, 2016 3:44 pm

Definitely bitters, very difficult to get a good balance.

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Jim
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Re: Which are the easier/harder beers to brew?

Post by Jim » Sat May 21, 2016 4:24 pm

I've always found it easier to make an impressive 5% or so beer than something nearer 4%.

I reckon the sweetness of the extra alcohol helps to balance out the effects of slightly thin or over-attenuated beer, which is a common fault in many of the weaker beers I've made in the past.

Hoppy beers I've not found so easy - they can still be thin and therefore unbalanced and too bitter (for my taste).
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Re: Which are the easier/harder beers to brew?

Post by McMullan » Sat May 21, 2016 4:35 pm

IPA has a very good point, IME :|

Jim, that's an interesting thought. Most of my brews come in around 5%. Definitely a sweet spot, for me.

Every other brew of mine lately is a 5ish % Mild, for some reason :lol:

techtone

Re: Which are the easier/harder beers to brew?

Post by techtone » Sat May 21, 2016 8:45 pm

My quick and easy AG of choice is a Guinness clone. 1 kg flaked, 500g roasted, pale malt to whatever abv you want, and about 30g of any bittering hop at start of boil. You don't even have to worry too much about it clearing. (with being a dark beer)

Best of all, it's often more expensive at the pub but one of the cheapest to make!

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Re: Which are the easier/harder beers to brew?

Post by WalesAles » Sat May 21, 2016 10:13 pm

Do you include Beer / Cider Hybrid in this post?
Just made one in 70mins.
20Lts
Bloody Lovely Mun! :D

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Re: Which are the easier/harder beers to brew?

Post by dbg400 » Sat May 21, 2016 10:30 pm

techtone wrote:My quick and easy AG of choice is a Guinness clone. 1 kg flaked, 500g roasted, pale malt to whatever abv you want, and about 30g of any bittering hop at start of boil. You don't even have to worry too much about it clearing. (with being a dark beer)

Best of all, it's often more expensive at the pub but one of the cheapest to make!
Agreed. I did my third one of these (AG #5, #10 & #18) - same 1kg flaked + 500g roasted + pale malt - a fortnight ago, bottled yesterday. Easy to do and one I like to have available.

Piscator

Re: Which are the easier/harder beers to brew?

Post by Piscator » Sun May 22, 2016 10:59 am

Hogarth wrote:With smaller beers, there's less room to hide the flaws, and any imbalance of malt and hops becomes immediately obviously.

Does anyone else find this? Or is it just my preference for lighter beers that makes me notice their flaws more?
For the last 12 months or so I have been working on lower abv pale ales pretty much exclusively.
What I have found is that you can afford to use adjuncts at higher levels than you might think to help with mouthfeel and body. Torrefied wheat is great for this and flaked maize contributes a nice residual sweetness.
A little invert syrup brings a nice toffee backnote as well.
I now favour a single hop addition at the start of the boil using a traditional type of "woody" English hop like Progress, WGV, Fuggles etc - forget big late hopping or lobbing lots of "flame out" hops into a style like this, it is out of keeping and unbalances the beer. It's been amazing to find how much hop flavour shines through from single additions in a 3.5% ABV brew at levels around 20 - 25 IBU.

Sorting alkalinity makes a massive difference (both mash and sparge) - I have also found that adjusting sulphate:chloride to around a 1:1 ratio emphasises BOTH hops and malt far more than the oft quoted 2:1.
Taking care with sparge temperature and duration to avoid astringency is also important with the smalller grain bills.

My "house" beer has become a version of McMullens AK from Grahams book - it's much more complex than the grain bill and hop schedule would lead you to expect.

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IPA
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Re: Which are the easier/harder beers to brew?

Post by IPA » Sun May 22, 2016 11:16 am

[quote]My "house" beer has become a version of McMullens AK from Grahams book - it's much more complex than the grain bill and hop schedule would lead you to expect/quote]

I have just picked this one out for a regular low ABV house beer.
"You're not drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on." Dean Martin

1. Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, thoroughly used, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming... "f*ck, what a trip

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Re: Which are the easier/harder beers to brew?

Post by McMullan » Sun May 22, 2016 1:01 pm

If a lower ABV is desired, why not dilute the wort and include some extra of some additions?

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