Brewing Theory - What does each ingredient do?

[MR2Jay77]

Morning guys, I'd like to pick your brains if I may. Making my first ale from scratch has raised a few questions in my head. I realise that a lot of this is probably stuff that is bread and butter to you guys but this was literally the very first one I have done and I quite enjoyed the process :thumb:

What I did is found a recipe online and adapted it to suit what I had in the cupboard so to speak. I then took advice from you guys regarding the method to fine tune things before crashing on and actually brewing the thing yesterday. That said, I like to experiment with things and want to fully understand the theory behind this.

OK, first off - malts.

From what I understand, it is the malts that give the beer it's colour and imparts the sugars to the wort to enable fermentation. Do the malts impart anything to the flavour? I have seen that there are many types (chocolate, pale, black, crystal....the list goes on) and I wondered if these malts effected the flavours at all or do they simply provide food for the yeast and these different types change the overall finish and colour of the beer?

Secondly - hops

This is an area that is going to require a LOT of experimentation. Is the job of the hops ONLY to impart flavour to the wort? Do they add anything else to the party? I'm happy that you can blend different hops to create a full flavour and I have found a "flavour table" to help identify flavours that I think would work together, what I don't quite understand are these percentage numbers. Are they a way of identifying how strong the flavour from that particular hop is? For example, you would need a lot less of a say 9% hop than a 4% hop to produce the same strength of the flavour it contains? I know that doesn't read well but I'm not sure how else to describe it....

Thirdly - yeast

I bought a yeast I though sounded like it was the right one for the job but what I don't quite understand is why there are different types. Call me a plank but I thought yeast was yeast. I've never quite understood the finer points of the selection etc.

I'm not even going to start on trying to understand different grains etc just yet, start with the basics

Sorry for the long post - I would love to understand the theory behind this as I feel it could really start to experiment and bring flavours together if I knew what each process and ingredient was acheiving.

Cheers :

 

[TheRedDarren]

Great question mate.
Firstly well done on your first brew.
I'm sure it'll turn out lovely!

Malts provide the soul of the beer.
They impart many flavours, you can read the descriptions of the flavours they contribute online - try online sellers like The Malt Miller to get good descriptions.
Flavours include; bread, cookie, biscuit, nutty, roast coffee, chocolate, caramel, toffee... The list goes on and on.
Malts also contribute to colour as you said and the fermentability of the wort.
If you mash high you catalyse more complex sugar that the yeast can't eat. Mash low for a higher abv and a drier beer.

Hops.
Hops contribute to the bitterness of the beer to balance out residual sweetness. They also add a preservative effect as they contain anti bacterial benefits.
The % of a hop refers to its alpha acid content, which is a measure of its ability to impart bitterness. A high alpha hop will make a beer more bitter that a low alpha hop. Or in other words, you can use less of a high alpha hop to achieve the same bitterness levels.
The % can also reflect how much flavour they can impart but this is where it gets a little more in depth as there are several different essential oils that account for this. There are many good books on this subject, well worth reading up on.

There are many posts on here about combos, addition timings and techniques, just have a search and you'll uncover loads of info.


Yeast is a huge part of the beer and well worth getting to know how it works.
Yeast governs attenuation; residual sweetness and abv, flavours from esters; can be good or bad, whether the beer is malt or hop focused or more balanced.
Certain styles require certain yeast to complete the flavour profile, think Belgian ales, lambics or pilsners - all of which have particular characteristics derived from the yeast.
In my opinion, yeast (or fermentation) is the most important bit to get right when making really good beer. This area is definitely worth getting clued up on.

Each subject is pretty in depth and
does have many books written on it, seek a few out and you'll learn loads.
Check the library section for recommendations.

Above all, keep posting questions, there's no shortage of good advice to be had on this board.

Hope that helps!

 

[MR2Jay77]

Fantastic! Great answer my friend, really helps paint a picture for me on how I can create a particular flavour combination I want. Understanding how they work is half the battle....

Not sure what you mean by mash high and low though?

OK, so I am going to take my recipe that I made at the weekend and try and translate that into a style of flavour. Correct me if I am WAY off the mark.

Crystal Malt grain - steeped for 30 minutes at 65degrees C - This should impart a caramel flavour to the ale
Light Spraymalt DME - This will give a mild malt flavouring to the ale
Cascade hops - Quite a spicy, citrus flavour

I also used Muntons Premium Gold Ale Yeast as it said "ale" and that's what I was aiming for. :lol:

 

[Hoppyland]

Sounds like a book on basic brewing might help a lot.
You could try:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Camra-Gui...394341?hash=item4642fa0d25:g:2awAAOSw3ydV2WnS

which wouldn't break the bank at £2.80! OK it's an old book, but still full of good info.
Otherwise, How to Brew by John Palmer. There's an on-line synopsis at:
http://howtobrew.com/book/introduction

Plenty of good info on here, of course. Check out Clibit's simple AG, the FAQs and recipes.

 

[MR2Jay77]

Sounds like a book on basic brewing might help a lot.
You could try:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Camra-Gui...394341?hash=item4642fa0d25:g:2awAAOSw3ydV2WnS

Just bought thanks :thumb:

Like a lot of things, there are a lot of books on the matter but I find that knowing which ones are the good ones also helps :thumb:

I'm not going to have another one on for a while now, I need to get this one to completion but it would be great to have a better understanding for the next batch

 

[geetee]

Great answer from RedDarren! the Greg Hughes still has the basics of brewing without being over the top scientific.

You asked about mashing high and low so here's a brief outline of what it offers you
There are two enzymes contained in the malt that break the starches down into smaller fermentable sugars and these have different optimal temperatures. The mash temperature is a compromise between these two.

By mashing low - between 63 - 65°C - you will convert the starch into more fermentable short chain sugars that will give you a thinner, drier beer.

Mashing higher , say 66 - 68°C gives more long chain unfermentable sugars that add body,more mouthfeel and a thicker beer.

Outside of these temperatures your enzymes are denatured and do not operate hence the range of mash temperatures between 63- 68 usually..When you sparge using water at 78°C this will effectively kills off enzyme activity

This gives you a great tool to decide what style of beer you want and set you mash temperature accordingly
So for a clean dry summer ale you might mash at 63°C and for a more meaty IPA or porter you would mash high at 68°C.
There is a lot of science behind it but for mashing that's all you need to know to get your preferred beer

 

[MR2Jay77]

Thanks, that makes sense to me :thumb:

Lower the temp, the less complex the sugar, the higher the alcohol content and the drier the beer?

So the one I have made where I mash Crystal Malt Grain at 66 degrees C should be a happy medium between the 2?

Starting to get a handle on this now :thumb:

 

[geetee]

Thanks, that makes sense to me :thumb:

Lower the temp, the less complex the sugar, the higher the alcohol content and the drier the beer?

So the one I have made where I mash Crystal Malt Grain at 66 degrees C should be a happy medium between the 2?

Starting to get a handle on this now :thumb:

That should be OK however when you decide on your ingredients you also have a target gravity so you achieve the ABV that you want. If mashing higher the recipe will account for the fermentable and unfermentable sugars and the gravity/alcohol should not change from your target.

Most of this is done in the software if you use it however I calculate my recipes manually and by knowing that mashing at 68 will only give me 78% fermentable sugar the recipe then adjusts the amount of grain used to acheive the target. For mashing at 63°C I will get 83% fermentables and will need less grain for the same ABV.

 

[Richie_asg1]

I find it amazing that people have been brewing for centuries by just leaving a bag of grain outside till it sprouted then roasting it till dry, then boiling it up from cold to boiling then leaving it in an open oak barrel till stopped foaming. and that was about as complicated as it got.

By bringing the grain up to a boil it would go through the temperature ranges naturally on a low fire, and produce a reasonable beer almost by default.

Obviously we now have the technology to understand exactly what temperature ranges are best and how to produce the best result we want with greater efficiency, but the basic process followed for centuries is still there.

Thanks for the book recommendation. I've bought one as well. :thumb:

I suppose the way different breweries heated their mash affected the flavour, as the design of the vats and heating method would produce different time & temperature profiles. Thus they were pretty stuck with what they produced.

 

[MR2Jay77]

OK, so last night I did a load of reading and I think I am starting to get my head round this. Please correct me if I'm wrong with anything I'm saying here, I am learning after all......

Malts - These impart sugars and colour to the beer and give the wort it's base flavour. The amount a recipe calls for is determined by the target initial SG to produce the alcohol strength you require. Mashing the grain can produce very different results dependant on temperature as the warmer it gets, the more complex the sugars converted from the starch. The flip side is that although this will make a weaker beer, this will also impart some sweetness to it as well so the overall flavour can be tweaked by simply a few degrees difference in the mash.

Hops - These are almost the seasoning for a beer with the added advantage that they help to keep the beer clean. They effectively come in 2 forms, bittering hops and aromatic hops. These help to develop the secondary flavours in the beer, also giving it that nose hit. The higher the acid percentage, the better that particular hop is at imparting bitterness to the beer. Obviously hops are a very complex thing as the oils in each variety differ widely giving a wide spectrum of flavours that can build the flavour. A good beer will take a few different types and use them together the paint a complex complete taste. That said, I can imagine it's very easy to get this part as wrong as you can get it right.

So based on this knowledge, I have attempted to create a recipe for an IPA. I think I am on the right path but equally, I might be completely barking up the wrong tree....

Katie's Gold (Katie is my daughter)
Target original gravity - 1.054
Estimated ABV - 5.3%
Batch amount - 5 litres

Malts
Caramel Crystal Malt (60l) - 60g (45 minute mash @ 65°C)
Dark Spray Malt - 300g
Light Spray Malt - 400g

Hops
Cascade (9%) - 10g (30min boil)
Brewers Gold (8%) - 5g (15min boil)
Fuggles (4.5%) - 5g (5min boil)
Cascade (9%) - 5g (20min flameout)

Secondary

Saaz (4%) - 5g Dry hop (14 days)

Any comments?

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

 

[Covrich]

I know I banged this drum a few times but yeast is often treated as a second thought but "can" be one of the most significant elements.. It can contribute up to 90% of the beers flavour.. There will be however many occasions where you want the yeast flavours subdued allowing other flavours to come to the fore.

I always see the yeast as something that sulptures shapes and profiles your wort..

 

[TheRedDarren]

OK, so last night I did a load of reading and I think I am starting to get my head round this. Please correct me if I'm wrong with anything I'm saying here, I am learning after all......

Malts - These impart sugars and colour to the beer and give the wort it's base flavour. The amount a recipe calls for is determined by the target initial SG to produce the alcohol strength you require. Mashing the grain can produce very different results dependant on temperature as the warmer it gets, the more complex the sugars converted from the starch. The flip side is that although this will make a weaker beer, this will also impart some sweetness to it as well so the overall flavour can be tweaked by simply a few degrees difference in the mash.

Hops - These are almost the seasoning for a beer with the added advantage that they help to keep the beer clean. They effectively come in 2 forms, bittering hops and aromatic hops. These help to develop the secondary flavours in the beer, also giving it that nose hit. The higher the acid percentage, the better that particular hop is at imparting bitterness to the beer. Obviously hops are a very complex thing as the oils in each variety differ widely giving a wide spectrum of flavours that can build the flavour. A good beer will take a few different types and use them together the paint a complex complete taste. That said, I can imagine it's very easy to get this part as wrong as you can get it right.

So based on this knowledge, I have attempted to create a recipe for an IPA. I think I am on the right path but equally, I might be completely barking up the wrong tree....

Katie's Gold (Katie is my daughter)
Target original gravity - 1.054
Estimated ABV - 5.3%
Batch amount - 5 litres

Malts
Caramel Crystal Malt (60l) - 60g (45 minute mash @ 65°C)
Dark Spray Malt - 300g
Light Spray Malt - 400g

Hops
Cascade (9%) - 10g (30min boil)
Brewers Gold (8%) - 5g (15min boil)
Fuggles (4.5%) - 5g (5min boil)
Cascade (9%) - 5g (20min flameout)

Secondary

Saaz (4%) - 5g Dry hop (14 days)

Any comments?

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

Spot on mate! Spot on.

I've never made a beer from anything but grain so I can't help you with that grain bill as you're using dme, but if I were making that I'd use roughly 4kg of Maris Otter and roughly 300g of crystal (I'm in a hotel room so trying guess the gb as I don't have my software).
It's important not to use too much crystal as it can really dominate flavour - I used about 15% at a high mash temp (68*) once and I could'nt drink the resulting beer! - so keep it under 10%, more likely 3/7% ish.

Hop additions look good, but again if I could tweak them I'd make the buttering addition at 60 mins, the flavour additions (or middle additions) at 12-3 mins and the aroma at 3 to flameout.
My current hop schedule looks like this - 60mins (bittering), then 10, 5 and 3 minutes (flavour additions need at least three minutes to isomerise) then a big addition at flameout or 0 mins, cool quickly to 80 degrees and hold at 80 for 30 minutes.
Flameout or steeping addition adds a big fresh aroma.

Typically an IPA would be mashed fairly low (65* and lower) to create the alcohol and clean malt base for the hops to shine but the are a few exceptions to this rule.

Id recommend the book series Malt, Hops, Yeast and Water. Invaluable!

 

[Simonh82]

It looks like a good recipe. You've got quite a lot of dark malt extract for a pale ale and this could give it quite a strong malty flavour which isn't typical for an IPA. You might be making more of an American amber ale. You could easily use all light malt extract plus the steeping grains.

I would also consider swapping the times for the cascade and brewers gold hop additions. Brewers gold is traditionally a bittering variety and cascade is traditionally an aroma variety. In addition, I heard recently that cascade has very poor storage stability, meaning that it loses 50% of its bittering potential over 6 months at room temperature. Unless it is fresh 2015 harvested hops that you know have been stored below zero, I would suggest using the brewers gold for bittering and the cascade later in the boil for flavour and aroma.

Saying that, don't write off brewers gold only as a bittering variety. I had a pint of Brewers Gold from Crouch Vale brewery recently and it was beautiful. This is a single hop ale which uses loads of brewers gold for both bitterness and flavour/aroma. It was fantastically fruity and delicious.

 

[Brew_DD2]

All good. The only thing I'd say is that there is a slight difference between mashing and steeping. With extract brewing, you are steeping specialty grains to get some of those complex unfermentable sugars as well as colour. A mash is when you are using a base malt and hold it at a particular temperature to allow for enzymatic conversion of starches to a variety of fermentable and unfermentable sugars.

I'd recommend Greg Hughes' book as it goes through all this stiff at a good level of detail without being daunting (Palmer is great but very scientific) and has loads of recipes of each style. Beautifully put together as well.

My current favourite book is Randy Mosher's Mastering Homebrew.

 

[MR2Jay77]

Ok, as this Greg Hughes book keeps coming up, I have put my hand in my pocket and bought a copy

Glad I'm starting to get a handle on this, I might take the advice and switch the Brewers Gold with the Cascade in my recipe. I have a single hop (Cascade) on the go at the moment and it smells awesome. The cascade I have seems to be a higher Alpha value than most I've seen (9%).

It looks like I have a good mix of grain and DME going on with the Grain counting for about 8%. If this is what seems to be a good rule of thumb, I'll work with that :thumb:

Feels good to be starting to get a handle on things. Once I understand what is going on, I can get creative

 

[MR2Jay77]

OK, Made a few tweaks to the recipe

http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/346477/katie-s-gold

 

[Brew_DD2]

Looks like nice mid-atlantic IPA. You won't regret getting the Greg Hughes book.

May I suggest calling your single-hop one CasKatie? :lol:

EDIT: I wouldn't worry about the mash part on Brewersfriend just yet as you're not currently mashing grain, but steeping. I also think that 30 minutes steep will be more than sufficient.

 

[Brew_DD2]

What's made you decide on the Saaz dry hop? 14 days seems like a very long time for a dry hop. Also one of your cascade additions is listed as mash?

 

[MR2Jay77]

I wasn't sure how to put a flame out in the recipe Hence the note at the bottom.

I thought that using the Saaz as a dry hop might impart a subtle, herbal note the beer without imparting any more bitterness.

It sounded like the flavours it might let go could help with the finished flavour.... Call it gut feeling if you like


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[Brew_DD2]

For flame out hops, just pop it under whirlpool. In terms of dry hopping, everyone is different but I usually go for 4/5 days, once primary fermentation is complete. Any longer and it can get a bit grassy tasting.

I'm interested to hear how this one turns out.