Homebrew Recipe Database?

It's a nice idea in theory, but would ultimately be too much trouble to monitor in order to be of any use. If it's not monitored, it becomes hopville. *cringe*

The last thing I want to see is someone's double imperial chocolate cherry mango stout recipe the day after they ask how to make a starter.

 

I think I better solution for what the OP wants would be a sticky thread where people share tested recipes from prominent homebrewers, clones from the the pros, etc. Then whoever is running the show can categorize the recipes posted and hotlink to the recipe in the first post of the thread.

 

As a parallel to this I often wonder if Drew Beechum has even brewed half the recipes he writes up for BA magazine. Or does his "street cred" allow for him to just create a recipe and not brew it for the mag?

On point to the thread:
I think the desire to use and look for an internet based recipe resource fades proportionately with the number of batches one has under their belt. It seems to me that brewing your own recipes becomes the norm for brewers that all brewing each batch to hone their craft vs. make another batch to drink.

 

IIRC, he has addressed this question in his column, and said that he does brew them before publishing.

 

Even his Four Loko clone? Heaven help me what I'd do with 5 gallons of that swill.

 

He is very creative and prolific in his brewing. He had made about 6 or 8 unique saisons for the NHC in 2011.

Edit - those were all good.

 

Is there really a difference between a prominent homebrewer and the pros? I've brewed three batches and I feel comfortable saying that my beers taste as good as some of the stuff I can get off the shelf. I'm so far from a "prominent homebrewer" but I'd imagine their beers are just as good as anything you can buy and probably much, much better in most cases. This isn't the PGA Tour or NFL where a prominent amateur or semi pro player couldn't shine along side the world's best. Just my .02.

 

I agree with jokelahoma. Too many of the recipes in databases I've seen online conform to the description above, and thus are absolutely useless. And it's not like you're going suddenly be able to brew an award-winning version of this or that style simply by finding somebody else's award-winning recipe online, anyway.

My approach to recipe formulation: brew a version from Brewing Classic Styles. Read up on the style in Designing Great Beers. Tweak the original recipe based on my personal tastes and goals and brew again. Repeat.

 

Only thing I'd add is for people looking to make an existing, successful recipe, why not just go buy a kit from a reputable manufacturer like Northern Brewer or Midwest? If they're shit, then there's most likely feedback on the site about it. Probably still better than some random dudes "Holy Shit I just Cloned Hopslam" recipe with 5 lbs of Honey Malt and 7 lbs of mashed honey.

 

I don't remember seeing that. It is my hope that he does in fact brew, and hopefully rebrew, those recipes. Otherwise its just creativity on paper and maybe an interesting story to go along with it. I'd have to go back and look through recent issues to see if I can see where he said that.

 

I love the idea, as other mention here its all about the recipe reliability, brewing method and brewing equipment.
I like how my homebrew store put up there's recipes especially the mashing scheduled frame, let you adjust and think how to work out with your equipment. example for California Common :
mashing scheduled
150F for 60-90Min
170F for 10Min

FYI : Mashing / Time/Temperature
"at 158F mash complete in 20 Min"
"at 150F mash complete in 45 - 60 Min"
"at 145F mash complete in 90 - 120 Min"

Highest fermentable @ 149F
Highest extract @ 149 - 155F
Highest dextrinous @ 150 - 158F

 

Didn't say it in the magazine. Said it somewhere here on the site. If I haven't brewed a recipe, I'll usually warn readers in the column or recipe. Although it is harder now that column has a stricter word limit. I also typically won't mention if the recipe is a basic tweak on something I've brewed.

Which brings us to the Four Loko clone article - I've brewed the base malt liquor several times, but I've never done the full thing mostly because yeah...

There was a line cut from the end of that column that said "Better yet, skip all that shit and enjoy a great malt liquor". Unfortunately, that line was key to reversing the apparent intention of the article which really was about rescuing the idea of a strong American lager from the terrible things done to it.

Hope that helps clarify things for you!

 

I personally don't want a recipe database. HBT covers that better. BA is better at fielding questions and getting great, quick feedback from all levels of brewers. I find this place easier to navigate because it's all in one forum. That sounds counter-intuitive, but it isn't. I find at HBT there are so many threads, and often so long. Otherwise, I would stay there. I come to BA for the homebrewing and the international forums. Here it's more collegial, friendlier because we're all mashed up together. Experts, newbies, conservative and radical brewers; thus, there's more chance someone will comment.

About the topic of making one's own recipes.

When I lived in the USA, I simply found a recipe in a book or internet, went to my LHBS and basta, they gave me everything in the recipe and, now it seems boring. I moved to Germany 4 years ago and now live here permanently, a land bereft of LHBS, so I must order all my supplies/ingredients online, which also means I have more stuff in my cellar than I can brew with at one time. It also means I am flexible now in creating my recipes with over 10 different malts and hops on hand.

But, what really got me going was discovering the BrewSmith computer program. At first, I just typed in recipes I had found, then started substituting out of necessity, by which I mean there are some ingredients I can't find here. That forced me to read up on the flavor profile, online and in BrewSmith, of the hops, malts and yeast, and start to play around with them, so I began to imagine what one or the other might taste like. Now, I think... ok, I want to brew a Stout, IPA, oatmeal based beer, etc, and I have a feel for what each ingredient might taste like. This has taken a few years. I might look up a base recipe online, in BYO or some of the old books I have, then radically change them, add or subtract malts, change up the hops, try it with a different yeast. I had to do this out of necessity, yet I'm so happy I've gone this route.

In short, a database would simply duplicate what's already out there. Also, there's a search function here. I've used it to find specific recipes and discussions on them. It's awefuly useful.

 

The problem with recipe databases is everyone uploads theirs, or ones they're intending to do and never come back and say how it turned out. My best resource for recipes is my collection of all the Sept/Oct Zymmurgy magazines with the published recipes for the NHC winners... they've been vetted by 3 rounds of high level judging.

Looking for a recipe for style X? Look through those magazines, find all winners in category X, open up BCS to the relevant page and you'll have 2-3 really great starting points.

 

Those are also on line at the AHA site.

 

Namely.. here:

http://wiki.homebrewersassociation.org/AHA-National-Homebrew-Competition-Winners-Circle

 

I think there are enough recipes on the web. Read about brewing, pod casts, etc, and learn what you want to try next.