Greg Hughes Home Brew Beer book: what shall I brew?

[jceg316]

I got this for my birthday, what are your favourite recipes from this? What shall I brew first? I pretty much like all beers, can brew most beers as well.

 

[matt76]

It's a great book, I got it last Christmas - I've done a few brews from it, some more faithfully to the recipe then others...

The brown porter may well be the best beer I've brewed so far, tastes amazing but you have to give it at least a month to carb and condition. May well brew this again soon.

The Belgian Witbier is good, and ready to drink in a few weeks.

The Czech Pilsner is good, I brewed or in the dead of winter as I have no temp control.

I have the Cornish Tim Miner's Ale conditioning at the moment, though I used different hops for that to use up some leftovers.

Ooh, almost forgot, I also have the Baltic Porter conditioning for winter!

I think you could almost pick one at random, seems hard to go wrong - Have fun!

 

[GerritT]

The Pilsner is indeed good, I did ales mostly, especially the single hop ales, to improve my process. Which worked.

 

[DavidHatton]

I've brewed the Dortmunder export (during winter) and the ESB which is a staple in my house now, brew it every month. fermenting with empire ale yeast, also brewed the munich dunkel, but that is months away from being ready. but the ESB and the Dortmunder are both great, the pils was better than the canned Holsten pils.

 

[F00b4r]

I got this for my birthday, what are your favourite recipes from this? What shall I brew first? I pretty much like all beers, can brew most beers as well.

Did you get the new version? It only came out two weeks ago but has quite a lot of new content that others might not have seen yet?

 

[jceg316]

If I do a pilsner I get to do a few things: I have some WLP Budejovice yeast I want to use so can sub whatever the yeast in the book is for this, and I want to try the Brulosophy quick lager method.

Did you get the new version? It only came out two weeks ago but has quite a lot of new content that others might not have seen yet?

Yes I did, however not sure what's new and what isn't as I've not seen the older version.

 

[Guybrush Threepwood]

The American IPA or the Oatmeal Stout. Both fantastic and brewed them several times each .

 

[Oneflewover]

The American rye beer. One of the best beers I've made. Actually, must do it again sometime

 

[MyQul]

I've done the smoked porter and that was lovely

 

[jceg316]

I've started keeping a list of beers I want to make so I can use up certain ingredients, or I want to make that style etc, the ones I have written down but don't have a recipe yet I will take from the book. So over the next few months I will make:

Bohemian pilsner - will use the Budejovice yeast and maybe some home grown saaz
Black lager - will sub out the suggested yeast for WLP old Bavarian lager yeast which I have to hand
Weissbier - I have some WLP Bavarian Weizen yeast I need to use instead.
I also have WLP Belgian Golden Ale yeast so will do one of the Belgian ales.
I think I'll take an ale which isn't reliant on the yeast for flavour and brew it with voss or hornindal yeasts instead. @MyQul I was looking at the smoked porter as it does look good! @Guybrush Threepwood I do also like an oatmeal stout! Did you use porridge oats to make yours? It's actually one of my favourite styles and would love to have one on the go at all times.

 

[MyQul]

I've started keeping a list of beers I want to make so I can use up certain ingredients, or I want to make that style etc, the ones I have written down but don't have a recipe yet I will take from the book. So over the next few months I will make:

Bohemian pilsner - will use the Budejovice yeast and maybe some home grown saaz
Black lager - will sub out the suggested yeast for WLP old Bavarian lager yeast which I have to hand
Weissbier - I have some WLP Bavarian Weizen yeast I need to use instead.
I also have WLP Belgian Golden Ale yeast so will do one of the Belgian ales.
I think I'll take an ale which isn't reliant on the yeast for flavour and brew it with voss or hornindal yeasts instead. @MyQul I was looking at the smoked porter as it does look good! @Guybrush Threepwood I do also like an oatmeal stout! Did you use porridge oats to make yours? It's actually one of my favourite styles and would love to have one on the go at all times.

I rewed it with S04 but you just as easily use a kviek strain

 

[Leon103]

Anyone know what is new in the new book?

 

[Guybrush Threepwood]

I've started keeping a list of beers I want to make so I can use up certain ingredients, or I want to make that style etc, the ones I have written down but don't have a recipe yet I will take from the book. So over the next few months I will make:

Bohemian pilsner - will use the Budejovice yeast and maybe some home grown saaz
Black lager - will sub out the suggested yeast for WLP old Bavarian lager yeast which I have to hand
Weissbier - I have some WLP Bavarian Weizen yeast I need to use instead.
I also have WLP Belgian Golden Ale yeast so will do one of the Belgian ales.
I think I'll take an ale which isn't reliant on the yeast for flavour and brew it with voss or hornindal yeasts instead. @MyQul I was looking at the smoked porter as it does look good! @Guybrush Threepwood I do also like an oatmeal stout! Did you use porridge oats to make yours? It's actually one of my favourite styles and would love to have one on the go at all times.

I'm sure it was regular porridge oats. I entered the ingredients on Get Er Brewed's recipe builder and selected just Oats, I'm sure. Also used US-05 for the yeast as I prefer dried to liquid. Would thoroughly advise using Greg Hughes book and GEB recipe builder. No waste and storage not an issue

 

[MickDundee]

I’ve done the American Wheat(twice), Kolsch (3 times), Mexican Cerveza, Saison (although I changed the hops), Hefeweizen and Belgian Pale. All turned out great.

 

[jceg316]

Someone else gave me a very generous GEB voucher so I will be getting any needed ingredients from there. I think I'll make the Belgian Tripel with my golden ale yeast, still undecided on the first stout I should make.

 

[JonBrew]

Anyone know what is new in the new book?

From the amazon description :

Updated to include new techniques (such as kettle souring), and new recipes (such as Brett IPA and Peach and green tea kettle sour), you'll have all the information you need to brew your perfect beer.

The image of the recipe contents page seems to show a good few new recipes including a milkshake ipa... *vomits*

 

[IainM]

There are some good recipes in there. All seem very middle-of-the-road, but that isn't a bad thing for some styles. I've done the summer ale, English IPA and mild, and my favourite was the mild. Guys at the local brew club have done quite a few more, of which I really liked the Patersbier and the raspberry wit, both of which also won local comps.

 

[jceg316]

There are some good recipes in there. All seem very middle-of-the-road, but that isn't a bad thing for some styles. I've done the summer ale, English IPA and mild, and my favourite was the mild. Guys at the local brew club have done quite a few more, of which I really liked the Patersbier and the raspberry wit, both of which also won local comps.

When it comes to beer middle of the road does have a time and place. I remember making a milk chocolate mint stout which was nice, but after a couple in a row they get a bit much and I just wanted something tasty and sessionable. I was stuck with 60 bottles of these . It was a hit with others so I gave quite a lot away.

 

[matt76]

When it comes to beer middle of the road does have a time and place. I remember making a milk chocolate mint stout which was nice, but after a couple in a row they get a bit much and I just wanted something tasty and sessionable. I was stuck with 60 bottles of these . It was a hit with others so I gave quite a lot away.

I think you're bang-on there mate - there are lots of really exciting beers around these days, different styles, playing with the rules, unusual combinations etc....

But there's still a lot to be said for keeping it simple and going back to basics - I've done a few bitters now, plus the GH Brown Porter I did earlier this year is superb - and not a mango, lychee or kumquat in sight!

 

[PhilBrew]

Hi jceg316

I made the Harvest Pale Ale around this time last year, it turned out OK ... very much like Doom Bar actually, which TBH isn't one of my favourite beers, but others seem to like it a lot ... and if that's your kind of thing you might want to consider it.

Anyone know what is new in the new book?

From the amazon description :

Updated to include new techniques (such as kettle souring), and new recipes (such as Brett IPA and Peach and green tea kettle sour), you'll have all the information you need to brew your perfect beer.

... let's hope they didn't forget to mention a period of warm conditioning, after packaging and priming but before cooler conditioning, in the updates (like they did in the first edition) ... not so much of a problem for experienced brewers who are just looking for (another) recipe book, but that omission caused a LOT of traffic on the forums from new brewers when the book first came out ... and a fair bit of flat beer

Cheers, PhilB