Do you have a brewing pattern ...

This may be more a question for newer brewers --- I'm approaching my 1yr mark on brewing coming in September. And certainly a big part of my focus is still tweaking my 4 base recipes (2 ambers, a porter, and a blonde) and nailing my brewing process. But I also want to experiment with other brews to try new things and expand my experience.

So I currently alternate my batches -- I will brew the next tweak of one of my 4 base recipes ... then my next batch will be of a new recipe I've found that looks interesting. I can keep working to get my 4 favorites perfectly tweaked (and my process) but also get to try some new stuff.

This could be a totally wacky way to approach a hobby -- maybe too regimented -- but as a life long student of science (spent a few years in oceanography - then 16yrs doing electrical design) I can be overly methodical at times.

So how do you brew ?

I had the same idea.  I got derailed a little by projects and a little family expansion.

The other thing I did was a list.  I brew with seasons because the ambient temp in my old limestone basement is a big part of my scheme.  Lagers when cold, etc. I have also had a goal almost every time. New style, then ag, the 10 gallon. Etc.

My pattern has become a rotation of new styles I've not brewed before, and then returning to things I like personally and wanted to improve.  I've tried an ESB three times now and not gotten it right, so it remains on the "keep trying" list. 

I've been trying to develop a patter myself.  I have three taps on my kegarator so I try to have one tap dedicated to a dark beer (brown ale, porter or stout) one tap dedicated to an amberish/copper beer (APA, IPA, Bitter, Amber) and one dedicated to a lighter paler beer (wit, hefe, kolsch, blonde ale etc.).  Of course soon after I developed this pattern I found myself with an IPA, an APA and a bitter so it didn't really work out all that well.  I need to figure out a way to keep the rotation working properly. 

Right now I have an American Brown an Amber and a summer ale recipe from Mosher's Book.  I have no idea what style it is but it fits the blonde description

I have a few standards that I keep available which are similar to Wildrover (Dark, Brown, IPA, and an entry beer which is usually the SWMBO's hef in a bottle). I use these ( http://www.beverageworld.com/content/view/5742/151/) keg strips that tell me when I'm getting low on the standards. You just stick them to a keg and it will tell you the temp and the volume left in the keg. When I get down to about 1/3 keg(or an 18 pack of bottles), I know I need to brew another batch.

As far as trying new beer styles, Not always. I sometimes get new ideas for old recipes and I want to try those and see how they compare. For the most part when I do try something new, I choose a style that sounds interesting. Research the style and then go try some beer's that fit that style (When available). If I like it, I try to replicate it. My last one was Scotch Ale. I have enjoyed that style allot. The first one I made was in January 08, and I have brewed it on 4 different occasions. Each one getting better than the last (Except for "maybe" this last one, only time will tell).

I found 9 cornies on Craig's list for $10 each so I have plenty of keg's for conditioning beer and keeping a good rotation going. My kegerator has 3 taps also, so if am tired of something, I pull it out and try something else.

Cheers
Preston

Preston, I'm totally getting those strips! I hate running out when I'm not paying attention sometimes