Recipe... instructions?

[Brewer #421870]

Hi all -
I've done two kits from Northern Brewer, and both came with instructions.
However, I'd like to brew "from scratch" and am looking through the recipes here, but unless I'm missing them somewhere, I'm not seeing instructions.

Any tips?

TIA

 

[Donoroto]

Yes, the recipes generally are not instructions.

The process is about the same, no matter the beer (some do differ, but not usually). So those instructions with your kits will work almost with any other beer.

But this is not always ideal.

A book named "How to Brew" by John Palmer is highly recommended. Your library might have a copy, it is also widely available.

 

[Brewer #421870]

Yes, the recipes generally are not instructions.

The process is about the same, no matter the beer (some do differ, but not usually). So those instructions with your kits will work almost with any other beer.

But this is not always ideal.

A book named "How to Brew" by John Palmer is highly recommended. Your library might have a copy, it is also widely available.

Thanks - thought so. Well, I wouldn't call them recipes, then - ingredient lists, yes. The catch is that I've only done American Wheats... but plan to try out other more complex stuff for which I don't have instructions yet.

I'll check out the book!

 

[Minbari]

Hi all -
I've done two kits from Northern Brewer, and both came with instructions.
However, I'd like to brew "from scratch" and am looking through the recipes here, but unless I'm missing them somewhere, I'm not seeing instructions.

Any tips?

TIA

If you are ready to scratch recipes, you don't need instructions

 

[Donoroto]

Thanks - thought so. Well, I wouldn't call them recipes, then - ingredient lists, yes.

Think of pasta: do you need instructions on how to cook it - other than time? Same with beer. The process is almost universally the same, and those small differences are indeed noted in the recipe.

So yes, more than ingredient lists, but not full instructions.

 

[Brewer #421870]

Think of pasta: do you need instructions on how to cook it - other than time? Same with beer. The process is almost universally the same, and those small differences are indeed noted in the recipe.

So yes, more than ingredient lists, but not full instructions.

Think of pasta: do you need instructions on how to cook it - other than time?

Thanks - Well... cooking pasta is like chilling beer.

Making pasta from scratch is like making beer from scratch, so, flour and type, amounts, eggs, salt, pepper, etc... yes, I'd need instructions for that. In the case of beer (no pun intended) I'd definitely benefit from timing & temperatures. For example, when the 2nd hops addition happens.

Also, since I'm looking at more complex recipes, I'd rather start with established & tested values for variables, rather than guessing.

 

[Zambi]

If you are ready to scratch recipes, you don't need instructions

Nicely put...

But ..
I have only ever brewed all grain. My first one was a "made up" kit by the brew shop.
I may still have those instructions somewhere.
Thing is: most people adjust the recipes to the equipment they got. I brew roughly 10 litre batches, so first I do is look at the recipe and if it is for 19 ltr (5 gallon) I halve it.
Then look at a brewing program like BF and make the program fit my equipment.

Long story, I actually only use ratios of the "recipe".

Tell us what equipment you have and what beer you would like to make and all of us together will get you a "recipe" for your set up/conditions etc

 

[Craigerrr]

A recipe is truly just an ingredients list, the instructions are dependent on what you are brewing with.
What equipment do you have to brew with?
Are you thinking of getting into all grain brewing? Brew in a Bag (BIAB)? Partial mash?
Do you have a local homebrew shop?

 

[BarbarianBrewer]

I started with Northern Brewer kits (extract then all-grain). When I started brewing other brewer's recipes, I referred to the NB kit instructions. When you come across a new ingredient, process, or term, just post the recipe and the question and we'll help you out.

 

[Ward Chillington]

Additionally to what was mentioned above, instructions are just like the rest of home brewing. It's DIY!

It's DIY for a good reason too! Simply put, there are many ways to get to the end product.

Like Craigerrr said, what are you working with? Your method will help define your processes. We all have tweaked our processes around the basics, make the wort, add the hops, cool the wort, pitch the yeast, ferment, bottle or keg, condition, then drink! All the steps in between have additional processes but there really is no one set of universal, one size fits all "instructions".

Unless you are using an All in One like a Bruzilla or a GrainFather, it's up to you. If you don't have a good LHBS where they have a boot camp or are part of "The Big Brew", I suggest watching a lot of You Tube and take notes. The learning is DIY too! Check out the BrewDay sheets on the site here, they are under the Tools tab. There's a check list you can download that can get you started as a high leve step by step outline..there's an All Grain and a BiB list a I recall.

You've got a good start already, you are asking questions and you are on a site where other brewers are willing to help!

 

[Brewer #421870]

Additionally to what was mentioned above, instructions are just like the rest of home brewing. It's DIY!

It's DIY for a good reason too! Simply put, there are many ways to get to the end product.

Like Craigerrr said, what are you working with? Your method will help define your processes. We all have tweaked our processes around the basics, make the wort, add the hops, cool the wort, pitch the yeast, ferment, bottle or keg, condition, then drink! All the steps in between have additional processes but there really is no one set of universal, one size fits all "instructions".

Unless you are using an All in One like a Bruzilla or a GrainFather, it's up to you. If you don't have a good LHBS where they have a boot camp or are part of "The Big Brew", I suggest watching a lot of You Tube and take notes. The learning is DIY too! Check out the BrewDay sheets on the site here, they are under the Tools tab. There's a check list you can download that can get you started as a high leve step by step outline..there's an All Grain and a BiB list a I recall.

You've got a good start already, you are asking questions and you are on a site where other brewers are willing to help!

Thanks for the info!

Eventually, I'd love to experiment with an All in Onoe. For now, It's just the basic stuff.

Though the steps are generally the same, I imagine people typically tweak times, amounts, etc. based on their results - so, while an initial boil may be 1 hour... what happens at 45 minutes? 1 hour 15 minutes? 5 hours?

I'd like to make sure that whatever software I use allows me to put whatever notes I'd like in place so that I can easily refer back to it, make changes, and record results... hopefully good ones.

 

[Craigerrr]

Boil times are sometimes recipe dependent.

A West Coast IPA would typically get a 60 minute boil, with multiple hop additions.
You get different things from hops depending on when they are added.
hops at start of boil give you almost exclusively bitterness, mid boil you will get a mix of bitterness, flavor, and maybe some aroma.
At the end of the boil, you will get mostly aroma and flavor, but some bitterness depending on how long you let it stand before cooling.
Then there are hop stand or whirlpool additions which bring flavor and aroma to the beer, and some bitterness depending on the temperature.
The lower the whirlpool temperature the less bitterness you will get.

I recently brewed a Wee Heavy (8.7%), this was boiled for 120 minutes.

Tomorrow I am brewing a Hazy (NEIPA), this gets a 30 minute boil, there are no hop additions during the boil.
One large whirlpool addition and an even larger dry hop addition near the end of fermentation.

As you are a beginning brewer I would recommend that you keep it simple in the beginning.
Pick a beer that you like, and find a good recipe for it (we can help with that), then brew, learn, repeat, until it is turning out how you want it.
I would also not recommend jumping into an equipment purchase until you know that this hobby is for you.
One thing you will find if you are hooked is that you can never have enough brewing gear!

Cheers!

 

[Ward Chillington]

Yeah. Stick to a basic recipe and learn. I brewed the same brown ale for a year, about 7 or 8 batches later things were making sense. Is 10 minutes more on the boil going to make a difference? Not one you'll taste!

 

[Donoroto]

Boil has two (major) purposes: activate hops and lose water. Hops go from adding aromas to adding bitterness over the course of time. Most say it happens in an hour, many think half hour does it. So hops added at start of a 60-minute boil will be your bittering hops, while those added with 10 minutes left add mostly aromas. Use good hops for aroma, lesser hops for bittering (bitter is bitter. Aromas are wildly different).

Also, my equipment boils off 5 quarts in an hour. Yours will likely differ.