The Brewing Process: What Do I Want?

I'm going to delve a little deeper into homebrewing for a bunch of posts on this blog, and, in particular, my process of homebrewing from beginning to end.  This is going to involve some technical posts about the science of brewing, some philosophical posts about the art of brewing, and probably some posts about the stupidity of brewing.  These are all things I think about, sometimes in depth and sometimes very superficially, when I go through my brewing process.


So without further ado, Part One of The Brewing Process.


What kind of beer do I want?

At a bar, this is an easy question to answer.  (The answer is Surly Furious.)

However, in the context of brewing, that is not as trivial of a question as it may appear.

The question gets even more important if you are brewing commercially and having to take market saturation, differentiation, and seasonal consumer tastes into account.  (Ever try and sell a hefeweizen in late fall?)  However, this is a focus on homebrewing best practices with a particular emphasis on my process, so I will skip all that professional stuff other than to say it's really hard to figure out what to brew as a pro.  So props to them.

There are a few things you need to remember when deciding what to brew:  personal preference, volumes, and time.  Obviously the most important thing is personal preference.  If you don't like roasty beers, don't brew a roasty beer.  That is the beauty of being a homebrewer; you get to brew what YOU want, not what anyone else wants.

Think about what you have had recently at your local pub, or brought home from the liquor store.  Think about what traits you liked from those beers, and what you wanted more of.  Think about what you didn't get from those beers you had.  At this stage in my brewing process, I deliberately avoid thinking in terms of styles, and think instead of flavors and priorities.  Styles can come later when you are designing your recipe.  I come up with a few adjectives for what I want my beer to be, and roll them around in my head for a while.  For a little help with this, I sometimes take a peek at the BJCP checklist for judging homebrew.  Be warned though.  There are some adjectives that you do NOT want in your beer.  Thankfully, most of those are labeled Flaws on the sheet, but just be careful. 

Next is volume.  Remember, you are brewing 5 (10, or 20) gallons of the stuff.  That smoked beer you had a pint of at the local pub might be awesome, but do you really see yourself drinking 40 pints of the stuff? 

Finally, there is time.  The 13% ABV mega beer you are thinking about will take at least 6 months to mellow to the point where you can drink it.  And a normal beer still takes a few weeks to ferment, then time to clear and carbonate.  So if you have a taste for a big dark sipping beer to keep you warm in the cold winter but it will be March before you get a chance to brew it, it may be a good idea just to buy a 6 pack of a commercial example of that and brew something you are more likely to drink when the weather gets warmer by the time the beer is done.  Also, don't forget that it takes time to go through all 5 gallons of the beer.

Once you have an idea of what you want, it is time to put it on paper and start making a recipe.  Stay tuned for part two!

Cheers. Na zdrowie. Gun bae.