HomeRecipe FormulationEquipmentGreat Beer |
I prefer my recipies to be simpler than what most home brewers seem
to prefer. I see a lot of recipies with five or more kinds of
malt, and many with additional ingredients such as flavoring
adjuncts or tricks. Bleh!
What I don't often see is much variety or interest in hop selection, and it's rare for me to see recipes with more than two varieties of hop, and usually it's one (high-alpha) for bittering and another for finishing. Close your eyes and imagine a typical American-style homebrew hop profile: Centennial or Chinook for bittering, Cascades for finish. Substitute Columbus in some cases. Not to say that a simple hop schedule can't be interesting, but only if you think about it. Example, according to reports Pilsner Urquell is pilsner malt and Saaz. Period. What makes the beer a world classic, other than having invented the style, is the skill of the maltsters, the fresh excellent quality hops and of course the brewers. Selection of malts is key to getting the most out of a simple recipe. For instance, you can make good beer from an unexciting base malt like Klages 2-row if you formulate carefully, but if your base malt is going to be out front and naked, you'd better pick something more interesting. Hop schedules also benefit from careful thought. I've seen recipies that show the brewer isn't thinking about the whole hop profile. One of may favorite examples of wierd hopping actually comes from a commerical beer, Michelob Pale Ale. It's pale, yes, it may be and ale, but it's certainly not a "pale ale" by style, because it's a mouthful of Saaz and some German hop varieties (actually all U.S.-grown versions of said varities). It's a bizarre experience to taste. |