formulate a beer recipe

[mr.c]

just wandering How do you formulate a beer recipe?

[UserDeleted]

Understand the Beer style you are emulating, and the flavours for that style, Understand how each of the ingredients contributes to the flavours. And using a set of fairly well established formulae you can calculate the amounts of each ingredient required.

Wheeler has the formulae in his book along with a method of using them.

If you really want to get into it then Noonan's New brewing Lager beer has a set of Manual worksheets that lead you thorough the process (as does the 7 Barrel Brewery Handbook). Ray Daniel Designing great beers is pretty good fo each beer style.

[mr.c]

ok thankyou UserDeleted i have just ordered "Ray Daniel Designing great beers"

[Chiltern Brewer]

I also have a copy of "Designing Great Beers" and it's a great read, but to be honest I usually formulate my ale brews very simply. I decide on the percentage by weight proportions of the grains/sugars, and assuming 75% efficiency and 23 litre batch I use the following rough guide:

Total Weight / OG
4 - 4.5Kg / ~1040
5Kg / ~1045
5.5Kg / ~1050
6Kg / ~1055

Sure, I then calculate what it will actually produce when I've selected the weights of each ingredient, and I choose hop rates accordingly.

I just find this a good way to rough out a recipe without getting out my calculator/computer. Another quick rule of thumb is that for an all grain brew the ABV will be approximately the OG minus 1000 divided by 10, e.g. 1045 OG = 4.5 ABV. Obviously adding sugars will produce more alcohol and a drier beer. Brewing is an art and a science IMO

The "Real Ale Almanac" by Roger Protz is also great for inspiration. Daniels makes a lot of reference to this in the British sections of his book.

[PieOPah]

A great place to visit is Beertools. There is a Recipe Generator here which I use quite a lot.

You select your style, boil/batch size and ingredients. It will then formulate a recipe for you. When I use this, I do tweak the quantities. Definitely worth checking out....

[mysterio]

ok thankyou UserDeleted i have just ordered "Ray Daniel Designing great beers"

This book is essential if you ask me. Brewing software (there are plenty out there, I use Beersmith) also help, but don't use it as a crutch and use your own experience. Above all make sure you sample different examples of the beer style you're trying to brew.

[bitter_dave]

In addition to Ray Daniels' book, which is excellent, the Real Ale Almanac is worth picking up if you see it cheaply. You can get an idea of what proportions of different grains are used in some commmercial beers, and what hop combinations have been used in the past.