Recipe Formulation
By Louis A. Carannante
Introduction
There are at least several ways I know to obtain a recipe for your brew. The tried and true method consists of asking the folk's down at defalco's to give you the ingredients for a batch. There are various books of recipes for sale. You can try copying winning recipes published in "Zymurgy" or our own "Brewsletter Urquell"; however, nothing gives me more pleasure than developing my own recipe. Only then can I truly consider the beer my own.
This presentation is designed to help you formulate your own recipes. Although the brewing methods you employ will greatly effect the outcome of your beer, we will concentrate on how to choose the types and amounts of ingredients required for a specific style of beer.
The ingredients we will cover include water, malt, hops, yeast, and adjuncts. I find nothing sacred about the Reinheitsgebot. Sugar, treacle, and many other things can be wonderful when added to the proper beer. Each one of these items deserves more discussion than I have provided; however, I have included a list of reference material for those of you interested in pursuing the matter.
The methods employed within are my own, and I am happy to state that I have enjoyed some success with them. I did not "develop" or "discover" any of these methods myself. The information came from many people I spoke with, and many articles I have read. I simply kept the methods I liked, and discarded the rest. I suggest that you do the same.
Should you want to try my method, I propose that you start by brewing your favorite style. By consuming mass quantities of this liquid you have become an expert in the variations in its flavor profile, and should be able to tailor the recipe to your own particular taste.
Good luck, and good brewing.
Calculating Specific Gravity
1. Rule of thumb:
INGREDIENT SPECIFIC GRAVITY FOR ONE GALLON
1.0 LBS OF GRAIN 1.025 ( USE 25 )
1.0 LBS OF EXTRACT 1.036 ( USE 36 )
1.0 LBS OF DRY MALT EXTRACT 1.040 ( USE 40 )
1.0 LBS OF SUGAR 1.040 ( USE 40 )
2. Calculating the oriqinal specific gravity:
A five gallon batch of trappist ale containing two cans of extract, one pound of grain, one pound of dried malt extract, and one pound of brown sugar would have the following original specific gravity:
Extract: (2 cans) x (4 lbs/can) x (36 points/lbs) = 288 points
Grain: (1 lbs) x (25 points/lbs) = 25 points
Dry Malt Extract: (1 lbs) x (40 points/lbs) = 40 points
Sugar: (1 lbs) x (40-points/lbs) = 40 points
Total points = 393 points
Total points 393 points
Original gravity = ------------------- = ------------ = 78.9 points
Number of Gallons 5 gallons
Therefore, the trappist ale had a starting gravity of 78.9 points or 1.079, a tripple !!!
Developing A Hopping Schedule
1. Hop Utilization:
Besides acting as a preservative, hops provide bitterness, flavor, and aroma to beer. The amount of bitterness that can be extracted from a given amount of a certain type of hops can be described as hop utilization. Many factors effect the efficiency of hop utilization such as boiling time, the "freshness" or form of the hop product (pellets, loose hops, isomerized extract), the gravity of the wort, and the pH of the wort. In general, hops that are boiled from 45 to 60 minutes will provide only bitterness, while hops that are boiled from 20 to 40 minutes will provide flavor and some bitterness. Hops that are boiled less than 5 minutes will provide only aroma. For this reason, hops are normally added at several stages during the boil. This is known as a "hopping schedule".
2. Methods of calculating bitterness:
There are several methods of determining bitterness available to the home brewer. Perhaps the method most commonly used is HBU's or Homebrew Bittering Units. HBU s are calculated by multiplying the number of ounces of hops by the alpha acid of the variety used (e.g. 2 oz Northern Brewer x 7.2% alpha acid = 14.4 HBU's). This method is based on a five gallon batch and does not take into account any of the above mentioned factors which effect the hop utilization rate. There is also a modified HBU method which considers boil time. The American Homebrewers Association publishes ranges of HBU's for different styles of beer. However, when trying to emulate a specific brand of beer, it is next to impossible to determine how many HBU's it contains.
Commercial brewers tend to express bitterness in International Bittering Units or IBU's. This method computes a measure of bitterness per unit volume. It is relatively easy to find out the exact amount of IBU's for a given beer. It is the best method I have found, for those of us without access to a laboratory, to determine the bitterness of the beer.
3. Computing International Bittering Units.
(Weight in ounces) x (%alpha acid) x (K)
IBU's = ----------------------------------------------
7.25
Where K = Constant for boil time
Boil Time Constant
--------------------------------------
45 min. to 60 min. K = 28 to 30
20 min. to 40 min. K = 8 to 12
O min. to 10 min. K = 0 to 5
The ranges shown for the value K allow the homebrewer to take into consideration the factors that effect the hop utilization rate. For example, if you are using very fresh hops for your 30 minute addition and have the optimum pH for your wort, use the higher value of 12 for K. If the quality of your hops is suspect and your pH is a little high, use the lower value of 8. If you are unsure of how to pick your K number, use the median value of 10 and you will still be in the ballpark.
The total bitterness is equal to the sum of the bitterness calculated for each hop addition.
(Total IBU's = IBU's for 60 min. + IBU's for 30 min. + IBU's for 2 min.).
4. Example calculation.
Reference beer is an American Pale Ale with 32 IBU's
Use: Bullion (%alpha acid = 9.2), Cascades (%alpha acid = 6.2)
(3/4 oz Bullion) x (9.2 %alpha acid) x (29)
60 min addition: IBU's = ------------------------------------------- = 27.60
7.25
(1/2 oz Cascades) x (6.2 %alpha acid) x (10)
30 min addition: IBU's = ------------------------------------------- = 4.28
7.25
(1/2 oz Cascades) x (9.2 %alpha acid) x (1)
5 min addition: IBU's = ------------------------------------------- = 0.43
7.25
Total IBU's = 32.31
Example No. 1
American Pale Ale - 5 Gallon Batch - Extract Beer
The reference beer is Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. From Fred Eckhardt's "The Essentials of Beer Styles", we find that the beer has a original gravity of 1.057, 32 IBU's, and a color of 6 SRM (copper). Eckhardt states that pale ales are traditionally brewed from 2-row pale malt and crystal malt, and that it are frequently dry hopped. Michael Jackson's "Pocket Guide to Beer" tells us that Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is brewed with Cascades and uses it own top fermenting yeast. Further reading tells us that pale ales are traditionally brewed with hard water. Based on this information we will use the following ingredients:
Bulk Malt Extract
Crystal Malt (Medium)(for color, body, and head retention)
Cascades loose hops (%alpha acid = 6.2)
Wyeast 1056 (Chico ale yeast)
Burton Water Salts
1. Calculate the amount of malt.
Extract: (7.5 lbs) x (36 points/lbs) = 270.0 points
Grain: (0.5 lbs) x (25 points/lbs) = 12.5 points
Total points = 282.5 points
282.5 points
Original gravity = -------------- = 56.5 points = 1.057
5 gallons
2. Determine the hopping schedule.
(1 oz Cascades) x (6.2 %alpha acid) x (29)
60 min. addition: ------------------------------------------- = 24.80 IBU's
7.25
(3/4 oz Cascades) x (6.2 %alpha acid) x (10)
30 min. addition: ------------------------------------------- = 6.41 IBU's
7.25
(1 oz Cascades) x (6.2 %alpha acid) x (1)
0 min. addition: ------------------------------------------- = 9.86 IBU's
7.25
Total = 32.07 IBU's
Dry hop with 1 oz Cascades per carboy.
3. Completed recipe.
7.5 lbs Bulk Malt Extract (light, unhopped)
0.5 lbs Crystal Malt (Medium)
1.0 oz Cascades loose hops (boil 60 min.)
3/4 oz Cascades loose hops (boil 30 min.)
1.0 oz Cascades loose hops (boil O min.)
1 pkg Burton Water Salts
1 tbsp Irish Moss
1 pkg Wyeast 1056 (Chico ale yeast)
Example No. 2
Dunkel Weizen - 5 Gallon Batch - All Grain Beer
The reference beer is Ayinger Ur-Weizen. In Fred Eckhardt's "The Essentials of Beer Styles", we find that the beer has a original gravity of 1.057, 32 IBU's, and a color of 4.5 SRM. Michael Jackson's "The New World Guide to Beer" states that wheat beer must consist of at least 50 percent malted wheat, and that brews of sixty percent are very common. Eric Warner wrote in "Zymurgy" that the yeast used for fermentation is critical in creating the flavor profile of Weiss beer, and that wheat beer is brewed with soft to medium hard water. Since I was unable to discover the specific variety of hops used in Ayinger Ur-Weizen, I have chosen to use traditional Bavarian hops. However, I will use 6-row malted barley instead of 2-row Bavarian in order to provide extra husk to help prevent a stuck runoff during lautering. Based on this information we will use the following ingredients:
Bavarian Wheat Malt
6-Row Malted Barley
Crystal Malt (Dark) (for color, body, and head retention)
German Hallertauer compressed hops (%alpha acid = 5.2)
German Tettnanger compressed hops (%alpha acid = 4.5)
Wyeast 3056 (Bavarian wheat yeast)
1. Calculate the amount of malt.
Target gravity = 1.052 = 52 points
Total points = (52 points) x (5 gallons) = 260 points
260 points
Total amount of grain = --------------- = 10.4 lbs
25 points/lbs
60% Malted Wheat = (10.4 lbs) x (.60) = 6.24 lbs
Use 0.5 lbs Bavarian Dark Crystal
6-Row Malted Barley = (10.4 lbs) - (6.24 lbs + 0.5 lbs) = 4.16 lbs
Use 4 oz Chocolate Malt for color
2. Determine the hopping schedule.
(1/2 oz Hallertauer) x (5.2 %alpha acid) x (29)
60 min. addition: ------------------------------------------------ = 10.40 IBU's
7.25
(1/2 oz Tettnanger) x (4.5 %alpha acid) x (10)
30 min. addition: ------------------------------------------------ = 6.41 IBU's
7.25
Total = 16.81 IBU's
Since this style of beer is very low in hop character, we will not add any hops at the end of the boil.
3. Completed recipe.
6.25 lbs Bavarian Wheat
4.25 lbs 6-Row Malted Barley
0.5 lbs Bavarian Crystal Malt (dark)
4 oz Chocolate Malt
1/2 oz German Hallertauer compressed hops (boil 60 min.)
1/2 oz German Tettnanger compressed hops (boil 30 min.)
1 tbsp Irish Moss
1 pkg Wyeast 3056 (Bavarian wheat yeast)
