Improving The Quality Of Your Beer ---------------------------------- Laure Pomianowski I was asked by several homebrewers how the recipe for the Atom Mashers IPA made at Santa Fe Brewing Company was developed, particularly how I calculated the amount and types of grain to use, the amount of bittering hops and the color. With this in mind and hopefully without being dogmatic, I'd like to share some discoveries that dramatically improved the quality and consistency of my beer. #1 Follow the KISS principle (Keep It Simple Stupid!) and get the basics down. By basics I mean knowing the proper sanitation, yeast behavior, and how to safely brew and bottle a simple all-malt extract beer without destroying your kitchen or your relationship with your spouse. Use all malt, finishing hops and a liquid yeast culture. (Wyeast products are wonderful.) #2 When ready, progress to all-grain brewing. If you desire more control over your wort and want to explore beer style of the world, all-grain brewing is the only option. Don't feel pressured by "beer jocks" to rush into all-grain or try even try it at all if you are satisfied with your malt extract beers. We all know some all grain brewers who make worse beers than most extract brewers. But remember, there's nothing mystical about all-grain brewing and if I can do it (without spending lots of money too) then so can you! #3 Recipe development requires knowledge of style and a few basic equations. The most helpful information on improving my beer was the 1991 Zymurgy special issue on traditional beer styles and the article called "Simple Math and Your Homebrew" by Jim Hilton in the Spring 1992 issue. In the Beer Styles issue, every beer style has commercial examples, original gravity, alcohol content, international bittering units (IBUs) and color. Most of the articles are accurate and well written with pointers on grains, hops, mashing, yeast, water treatment, and fermenting. Hilton's article explains how to calculate amount of grain needed for the desired original gravity, the color contribution of different malts and the IBUs produced by the hops for the volume of wort. I have since read a more thorough explanation of hop bittering in HopTech's catalog (free by calling 1-800-dry-hops) Here are the equations: (OSG - 1) x gallons yield 1 lb grain = --------------------------- extraction rating - 1 Extraction ratings vary for everyone but a good average is 1.025 SG for 1 lb grain for 1 gallon. --- utilization x 28.4 \ IBUs = --------------------- / Alpha Acid x Ounces gallon yield x 37.8 --- i i i=1,n Here, the summation term means multiply the alpha acid percent of the first type of hops times the number of ounces of the first type of hops. Multiply the alpha acids times ounces for the second type of hops, the third type of hops, etc. and then add them all together. Utilization varies with how long you boil the hops. Utilization is about 0.25 for 60 minutes and about 0.10 for 30 min. --- 1 \ Color = --------------- / Malt x Color gallons of beer --- i i i=1,n Your friendly neighborhood homebrew supplier should be able to tell you the color of a given type of malt to use in this formula. Another equation I find useful is for diluting or concentrating wort from SG1 to SG2 is: SG1 x Vol1 SG_water x Vol_water ---------------- + -------------------- = SG2 Vol1 + Vol_water Vol1 + Vol_water or Vol1 x (SG2 - SG1) Vol_water = -------------------- 1 - SG2 This is useful for diluting an IPA into a Pale Ale or if you must concentrate your wort to fit in a small pot for boiling/immersion chilling but then want to dilute it to the proper gravity either prior to or after fermentation. #4 Practice makes perfect and variety builds experience. With time and particle you'll encounter all kinds of problems you may have been fortunate enough to avoid in the beginning. Like a yeast culture gone bad or an old plastic hose that should be replaced because it cannot be properly sanitized. You may have to dump some beer but you'll be wiser next time. And as you try new beer styles you'll better understand the people and cultures of the world. Trying mew techniques (such as decoction mashing or lagering) will make executing you old favorite PA recipe a breeze. #5 Finally teach someone what you know. Aside from practice, nothing will improve your brewing skills more than showing someone else how its done. You'll come face to face with bat habits and answering questions from the obvious to the absurd will make you smarter.