Improve Beer Quality And Consistency

It may sound obvious, but doing your homework ahead of time is crucial to ensure your beer brewing gets off to a good start. Brewing recipe design is a perfect blend of art and science. While some brewers use scientific methods to try to match grain ratios, specific gravity, color, and bitterness, this is only part of the brewing process. The other part is understanding the flavor profiles of each ingredient and how these flavors interact in complex ways to determine the quality of the finished beer. You need to master both the art and science of brewing to create the best beer possible.

Researching brewing recipes is another great way to develop a brew. You can search for examples of your desired style in books, magazines, websites, or online recipe databases. These days, the challenge of developing a new recipe isn't a lack of recipe data, but rather sifting through the vast sea of available recipes. You can select recipes similar to your target style and analyze each one:

• What base grains are used for each type of brew?

• What specialty malts are used?

• What ratios are used for each type of brew?

• What hop and yeast varieties did you choose?

Consistency in the Brewing Process

Brewing consistency is crucial, especially when you're trying to improve upon a previous brewing recipe. Keep careful records of each brewing session, measure simple data like volume, specific gravity, and temperature, and compare batches of the same recipe. Once you have a reliable initial brewing recipe, the next step is to start brewing. The goal isn't to perfect the recipe the first time, but rather to apply your best brewing techniques, analyze the results, and make improvements if the beer doesn't meet your expectations.

Large commercial breweries have quality control departments that monitor every aspect of the brewing process, looking for subtle variations that could affect the beer's composition, process, or final product. Naturally, these large breweries prioritize testing with pilot beer equipment before large-scale brewing to minimize risk.

Consistent Ingredients

A consistent brewing process starts with consistent ingredients. For homebrewers, this is a great starting point for buying a fork. Commercial brewers test their beer ingredients and record:

• Are the grains fresh?

• Were the grains crushed?

• Do the grains smell and taste as expected?

• Do the hops have any off-flavors?

• Are the hops discolored or damp?

• What type of yeast is used?

Judging and Identifying Flaws

Even experienced professional brewers rely on sensory evaluation, or "tasting," to assess beer quality. Developing critical skills in judging and testing beer is essential if you want to elevate your beer to the next level. The best brewers are often also the best beer connoisseurs, so developing the ability to identify off-flavors is crucial.

There are two main types of beer flaws. The first is "imbalance," which refers to a beer with a disharmony in flavor, carbonation, color, or other aspects. This can usually be addressed through recipe changes or other methods. The second is "aroma," which refers to the typical aromas listed on the BJCP scoring scale. You should be familiar with these terms, as they are used to identify specific flavors and flaws in beer competitions.

Unbalanced Beer

Beer imbalance occurs when something in the recipe or process causes the beer to feel "off." For example, you might be expecting a light ale, but the beer is too dark. Your Grand IPA might have over-fermented and is now closer to a double IPA. You might have a beautifully balanced beer flavor, but the beer tastes flat and lacks carbonation. The beauty of this type of imbalance is that it's easy to correct.

Identifying and correcting flavor imbalances is a bit more complex. Obvious flaws like a beer that's too bitter or malty are easy to correct, but issues like incorrect malt selection, excessive use of specialty malts, or using the wrong hops or yeast strains can be more difficult to pinpoint. While a beer may taste flat or completely off, pinpointing the offending component can be challenging. This is why, as mentioned earlier, understanding each component is crucial.

Correcting Your Beer and Brewing It Again

Being able to brew, measure, track, and taste beer is important, but only if you can identify the root cause of off-flavors or imbalances and correct the recipe or process to brew it again.