{"id":9707,"date":"2021-09-08T15:26:17","date_gmt":"2021-09-08T19:26:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beersmith.com\/blog\/?p=9707"},"modified":"2021-09-08T15:45:20","modified_gmt":"2021-09-08T19:45:20","slug":"principles-of-good-beer-recipe-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beersmith.com\/blog\/2021\/09\/08\/principles-of-good-beer-recipe-design\/","title":{"rendered":"Principles of Good Beer Recipe Design"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"float: right; margin-left: 10px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share\" class=\"twitter-share-button\" data-via=\"beersmith\" data-count=\"vertical\" data-url=\"https:\/\/beersmith.com\/blog\/2021\/09\/08\/principles-of-good-beer-recipe-design\/\">Tweet<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/beersmith.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Beer-hops-web.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/beersmith.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Beer-hops-web.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4560\" width=\"290\" height=\"435\" srcset=\"https:\/\/beersmith.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Beer-hops-web.jpg 299w, https:\/\/beersmith.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Beer-hops-web-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 290px) 100vw, 290px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div> <p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Today I focus on some of the principles of good beer recipe design, and how they can help improve your beer. As many of you know I&#8217;ve been doing presentations and classes on the topic of beer recipe design for some time now, and thought it best to summarize some of the key elements below:<\/p> <ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Focused Goal &#8211; <\/strong>You should have a focused goal for your recipe that can be expressed in a single line, which could be as simple as &#8220;A light bodied pale American lager&#8221; or as complex as an &#8220;Atomic jalepeno flavored hop bomb&#8221;. Write down the goal before you start, so you can focus your efforts on achieving it.<\/li><li><strong>Simplicity &#8211; <\/strong>A great beer recipe should use the ingredients needed to achieve the flavor profile desired and no more. Every ingredient should have a purpose, and anything extraneous to your goal should be eliminated. For example, almost all beer styles can be made with no more than a base malt and 1-2 specialty malts.<\/li><li> <strong>Ingredients Selected for Flavor and Aroma &#8211; <\/strong>Some people fall into the trap of using the &#8220;latest&#8221; hot hop or &#8220;chocolate&#8221; malt to give beer a chocolate flavor (hint: chocolate malt tastes nothing like chocolate). Like a good baker, you need to be very familiar with the flavors and aromas that come from various malts, hops and yeast so you can combine them properly. <a href=\"https:\/\/beersmith.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/24\/smash-brewing-single-malt-and-single-hop-beers\/\">SMASH brewing<\/a> is a great way to learn more about individual components.<\/li><li><strong>Balance &#8211; <\/strong>The finished beer flavors and aroma should be balanced along several dimensions &#8211; whether it is the hop-malt balance, aroma balance, gravity-alcohol balance, etc&#8230; This does not mean every beer is at the same point in the scale. For example an IPA would be decidedly on the hoppy side in terms of hop-malt balance. However, it should not be a hop bomb that is too bitter to enjoy, it should still have a balanced hoppy bitterness and aroma that is smooth and drinkable.<\/li><li><strong>Techniques that Support Your Beer- <\/strong>I look at brewing techniques the same way I look at tools in a toolbox. Everything from adjusting mash temperatures, mash pH, hop boil times, whirlpool hopping, water profiles, dry hop schedules, fermentation profiles and temperatures &#8211; these are all tools you can use to tweak the final results. For example adjusting mash temperature will change the fermentability of the wort and can lead to a full or light bodied beer. Knowing which techniques give which result can help you decide when to apply them depending on specific beer you are brewing.<\/li><li><strong>Be an Expert Beer Judge &#8211; <\/strong>Its not surprising that many of the best beer judges are also the best brewers. You don&#8217;t have to become a certified judge, but you should practice judging every beer you sample, even casually. You want to train your brain, nose and taste buds to identify great flavor combinations, flaws, off-flavors and ingredients so you can judge and improve your own beers.<\/li><li><strong>Perfect Your Beer via Iteration &#8211; <\/strong>While variety in brewing is great, you can really only perfect a recipe by brewing it again and making small adjustments to see the results. So if you have a favorite style or brand, try brewing it, judge it and then adjust it to make it better.<\/li><\/ul> <p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"> Thanks for joining me on the <a href=\"https:\/\/beersmith.com\/blog\">BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog<\/a>. Be sure to sign up for <a href=\"https:\/\/beersmith.com\/blog\/subscribe\">my newsletter<\/a> or my <a href=\"https:\/\/beersmith.com\/blog\/category\/podcast\/\">podcast <\/a>(also on <a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/beersmith-home-brewing\/id398500515?mt=2\">itunes<\/a>\u2026and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/mrbeersmith\">youtube<\/a> for more great tips on homebrewing. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tweet Today I focus on some of the principles of good beer recipe design, and how they can help improve 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