The savant brewing genius whose every batch and experiment turns out perfectly is a myth. Real brewers know just how hard it is to nail down a recipe, either to learn a new style, sweep a competition, clone a commercial favorite, or just hit the right balance for our own palates. This is the first of two articles about upping your brewing game. Here, we’ll cover adjusting your recipe and process to transform a decent beer in your arsenal into a solid 10. In the next article, we’ll take it to the next level, where you can reproduce that beer and prove it’s not a fluke.
The idea is to fine tune a recipe following a cycle of brew, assess, plan, and brew again. Process management calls this process “continual improvement,” and it works just as well for brewers as for industry. It requires an analytical mindset, but the discipline pays off twofold: In addition to improving the specific recipe, you build experience with ingredients and process that will make you an all-around better brewer.
Step 1: Brew
If you don’t already have an initial recipe, your starting point can come from a trusted book or fellow brewer, one of the great recipes from this website, or you can just make up one based on your knowledge of the target beer you want to make. Don’t get hung up on trying to get too close right out of the gate. The key is to take a shot and then, during the assessment stage, figure out what worked and what needs to change. Even if you’re starting with one of your own recipes, it’s worthwhile to go ahead and brew it as usual, so you can taste it with a fresh, attentive palate.