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Homebrew Recipes

Posted on September 5, 2019 4:25 pm by Nina Marshall
Topic Replies Views Last post
Sticky: OFFICIAL MAC & JACK’S AFRICAN AMBER CLONE by bruguru
 0 11,960 March 05, 2010 4:57pm by bruguru
Mack and Jacks African Amber clone by bruguru  ( 1 2 3 … 30 )
 439 71,897 January 28, 2016 3:17pm by Hogarthe
Is anyone still around? by deafcone
 5 937 October 21, 2015 8:45am by Brewski
An RIS from Bear Hole Brewing by thirsty
 7 2,048 July 26, 2015 11:02am by ruralbrew
Mango Habanero ale by Hogarthe
 2 2,937 April 05, 2015 10:05am by Hogarthe
Red Ale… help? by Hogarthe
 10 2,005 May 29, 2014 4:38pm by Hogarthe
wheat ipa by Hogarthe  ( 1 2 )
 19 2,354 April 25, 2014 4:40pm by Hogarthe
Pickle beer… by Hogarthe  ( 1 2 )
 25 3,285 March 25, 2014 11:42am by Brewski
Fahrenheit Summer Ale – Extract by sewer_urchen  ( 1 2 )
 29 31,236 March 04, 2014 7:52pm by sewer_urchen
Flavored Porter by Brewski
 3 1,902 January 20, 2014 10:26am by Brewski
Dubbel Stoopid, a Belgian Christmas delight by thirsty
 5 1,476 January 17, 2014 10:13am by thirsty
Bourbon Barrel Stout (extract w/ specialty grains) by sewer_urchen
 0 2,628 January 06, 2014 7:29am by sewer_urchen
Irish Red by brewchez  ( 1 2 3 4 )
 46 4,759 November 30, 2013 8:17pm by thirsty
Wet Hop IPA Extract w/ Grains Recipe by Bear Einstein
 8 1,517 September 06, 2013 8:44pm by bruguru
Chocolate Chile ??? by Brewski
 14 1,462 July 24, 2013 12:37pm by Brewski
1 gallon stout recipe by Hogarthe
 6 1,664 June 19, 2013 4:42pm by Hogarthe
esters in my beer help by 417cowboy
 3 1,314 June 15, 2013 3:46pm by sewer_urchen
here we go again… by Hogarthe  ( 1 2 )
 17 2,518 June 06, 2013 5:28pm by Hogarthe
Honey Rye by Erock
 13 1,604 February 06, 2013 6:51am by brewchez
Lambic ? by Melvin48
 8 1,458 January 25, 2013 7:02pm by Melvin48
Butternut Brown – Squash not Pumpkin by Brewski
 9 1,804 December 27, 2012 6:34pm by ruralbrew
BKB COMMUNITY BREW/FALL…. NEWCASTLE BROWN ALE CLONE BREWLOG by dartgod  ( 1 2 )
 19 8,035 December 27, 2012 3:44pm by Hogarthe
Community Milk Stout by dmofot  ( 1 2 3 4 )
 55 17,233 December 27, 2012 2:19pm by Brewski
Black/Brown Saison recipe by Mortician607
 3 3,236 October 18, 2012 5:31pm by brewchez
Abbey Road 8, a Belgian Dubbel from Bear Hole Brewing by thirsty
 2 1,587 September 22, 2012 1:09pm by thirsty
Whiskey Barrel Stout by sewer_urchen
 8 2,114 September 19, 2012 5:48pm by sewer_urchen
Mountain Dew Beer by Hogarthe  ( 1 2 3 4 )
 51 6,791 September 13, 2012 2:21pm by ruralbrew
Gonna Try A Lambic by brewskinewbski  ( 1 2 3 )
 30 10,250 September 09, 2012 2:04pm by ruralbrew
Any good Oktoberfest Recipe’s by sewer_urchen
 1 1,817 August 23, 2012 5:53am by ruralbrew
Old ale hops question by Irondavy
 1 1,892 August 12, 2012 8:32am by ruralbrew
First Lager by e_mott09  ( 1 2 )
 16 3,485 March 15, 2012 12:33pm by e_mott09
4CIPA by andrew jensen
 2 1,999 March 06, 2012 11:35am by andrew jensen
ELYSIAN PUBS IMMORTAL IPA by bruguru
 2 2,444 February 27, 2012 9:51am by Mmm_Beer
Coca/pepper porter? by 417cowboy
 8 2,150 February 23, 2012 5:21pm by 417cowboy
Irish Red by Brewski
 3 2,486 February 13, 2012 3:07pm by Brewski
Chai Latte Stout? by Mmm_Beer
 13 2,683 February 12, 2012 8:19pm by MadScientistMike
Advice for a spiced Imperial Stout. by e_mott09  ( 1 2 )
 28 4,720 February 12, 2012 3:38pm by e_mott09
How About a uhh, <insert season> BrewinKB Community Brew? by GuyNMT  ( 1 2 3 … 5 )
 64 8,020 February 05, 2012 8:06am by ruralbrew
Looking for Octoberfest beer!! by gregah85
 7 2,145 January 30, 2012 1:06pm by e_mott09
Steam beer/California Common by MadScientistMike
 7 2,682 January 27, 2012 12:31am by MadScientistMike
Home brewing is a pastime that a growing number of people enjoy. There is a great sense of satisfaction that goes along with the process, and knowing that you have made something by yourself that you can share with others or enjoy on a lazy weekend afternoon on your back porch. But how many recipes do you have to make that come out well? Have you been looking for a great place to find more recipes to expand your brew line, or just to sample new tastes?

Searching the internet can be overwhelming, and what if you have questions or need more information? There is no one to ask so you are pretty much on your own. That is until now. There is now an excellent source of home brew recipes, published by real people, who can provide real answers. The Home Brew Recipes Forum found on BrewingKB.com is loaded with recipes, tips, and tricks, and provides brews that you simply will not find anywhere else. Best of all, you can contact the person who posted the recipe with any questions you may have or for more information, you can post your own information, or even just read through the options to see what others are brewing.

BrewingKB.com is free to join, and easy to use. Once you become a member, you can personalize the type of information that interests you, or you can browse through the entire site to see what is new and hot in the world of home brewing. You can also start your own forum threads to request recipes, ask for advice, or just talk to others about the hobby.

While visiting and browsing through the forum, BrewingKB.com welcomes you to spend some time exploring the other areas of the site. You will enjoy a variety of information found in articles, blogs, and even a resource section for everything home brew related. All users are welcome to submit their own content, which helps keep the site fresh, new, and personal. With all of this terrific material, it should come as no surprise that BrewingKB.com is quickly becoming one of the most popular sites related to the hobby on the internet.



Choosing the Right Grains for Your Beer

Posted on September 5, 2019 4:18 pm by Nina Marshall

With an embarrassingly large variety of grains available to the homebrewer these days, it can be difficult to make choices among them.  There is so much to consider. For instance, a small amount of dark crystal malt will result in the same color as a larger amount of lighter crystal malt, but the flavor and aroma will not be the same.  It is necessary to have some understanding of the malting process, and to develop familiarity with the different types of malts to make choices that will result in the beer ending up the way you want it to.

The Malting Process

A discussion of the malting process could easily consume all of the space intended for this article.  To stay focused, we will cover it as concisely as possible.  The grain (typically barley, but others such as wheat or rye are also used) is steeped and germinated.  The process of germination unleashes the stored energy of the seed by converting starches to soluble starches and sugars by developing diastatic enzymes.  The germination process is halted by removing most of the moisture by kiln drying, leaving the food energy and enzymes intact.  The ratio of the length of the acrospire (sprout) to the length of the kernel corresponds to the degree of modification.  Once the sprout is the same length as the kernel itself, the grain is said to be completely modified.

Many different types of malts are produced at malt houses using various kiln temperatures and kiln times and further roasting.

General Malt Types

Base malts are starchy and need to be converted to fermentable sugars by performing a mash.  Mashing is (in simplified terms) combining the milled grain with water, and maintaining the temperature where the enzymes are active until the starches are converted to sugars.  These malts are pale in color, and provide the bulk (or all) of the fermentable sugar in a recipe.  There are some higher kilned malts such as Vienna and Munich that also provide color, flavor and aroma.  These are considered to be base malts as well, and can be used in up to 100% of the grist.

Malts other than base malts are commonly called specialty grains.  These are where most of the color, flavor, and malt aroma comes from.  They are already converted, and can be used in a malt extract based recipe by simply steeping them without being concerned about any enzymatic activity.  These malts are the crystal/caramel malts and roasted malts such as Chocolate malt, Black Malt (sometimes called Black Patent), and Roasted Barley.

Potential Extract

When formulating a recipe, flavor, aroma and color contributions are the primary things to consider when making up a grain bill.  To hit your intended original gravity, it is also important to know the potential extract of each of the grain types.  You will not extract the full potential, as no brewery is 100% efficient.  The actual extract is your efficiency multiplied by the grains potential.

Malt Type

Potential Extract
Black Malt

1.025
Roasted Barley

1.025
Chocolate Malt

1.034
Flaked Grains

1.032 – 1.036
Caramel Malts

1.033 – 1.035
Base Malts

1.035 – 1.038

The potential extract is expressed in terms of specific gravity contribution of 1lb of grain/gallon of water.

Specific Malt Types

Below is a table of common grains, their descriptions and common usages, their approximated color, appropriate beer styles, and common commercial examples of these grains.

Grain Type Description/Usage Color ° Lovibond Appropriate Beer Styles Commercial Examples
Acidulated/Sauer Malt Pale malt that has been treated with lactic acid.  Used in small quantities to lower pH in mash.  Also used to impart a tart flavor.

1.5 – 2.0

 Stouts, Wheat Beers, Lambics Weyermann Acidulated
Aromatic Malt High kilned malt.  Adds color, malty flavors and aromas.

25

 Bocks, Brown Ales, Munich Dunkel, any beer where malty flavor and aroma is desired Weyermann Melanoidin Dingemans Aromatic
Briess Aromatic
Biscuit Malt A lightly roasted malt. Imparts a biscuity flavor and aroma, and a light brown color.

25

 IPA, Amber Ales, Brown Ales Briess Victory Malt Dingemans Biscuit Malt
Black (Patent) Malt Kilned at a very high temperature. Used in small quantities for a red color.  In larger quantites imparts a dry-burnt bitterness.

470 – 560

 Stouts, Porters, Red Ales, Brown Ales, Porters, Scotch Ales, Dark Lagers Muntons Black Malt
Briess Black Malt
Brown Malt A roasted malt, darker than biscuit, lighter than chocolate.  Imparts a dry biscuity flavor, and a light brown color.

60 – 70

 Brown Ales, Porters, Dark Belgians, Old Ale Crisp Brown Malt
Cara Munich A medium colored crystal malt.  Imparts a copper color, caramel sweetness and aroma.

40 – 65

 Any beer where a medium caramel character is desired Weyermann Cara Munich I Weyermann Cara Munich II Briess Cara Munich
Cara Vienna A light colored crystal malt.  Imparts a golden color, caramel sweetness and aroma.

27 – 35

 Any beer where a light caramel character is desired Dingemans Caravienne Briess Cara Vienne
Caramel Wheat Caramel malt produced from wheat.  Imparts caramel character, improves head retention.  One to experiment with.

38 – 53

 Dunkelweizen, Weizenbock Weyermann Caramel Wheat
Chocolate Malt Kilned at a high temperature to a chocolate color.  Imparts a nutty toasted aroma and flavor, and a chocolate color.

400 – 475

 Stouts, Porters, Brown Ales Muntons Chocolate Malt Briess Chocolate Malt
Chocolate Rye Malt Kilned at a high temperature to a chocolate color.  Imparts a nutty spicy aroma and flavor, and a chocolate color with rye character.

190 – 300

 Dunkelroggen, Secret ingredient in your special recipe Weyermann Chocolate Rye Malt
Chocolate Wheat Malt Kilned at a high temperature to a chocolate color.  Imparts a nutty toasted aroma and flavor, and a chocolate color with wheat character.

375 – 450

 Dunkelweizen Weyermann Chocolate Wheat Malt
Coffee Malt Kilned at a high temperature to a coffee color.  Imparts a coffee-like character and color

130 – 170

 Stouts, Porters, Brown Ales Simpsons Coffee Malt
Crystal/Caramel Malt Crystal malts come in a wide range of color. The lightest are mostly dextrinous, imparting mostly body and mouthfeel.  Moving up the color range imparts more caramel character and darker colors.  At the dark end, flavors and aromas take on a raisiny note.

10 -120

 Any beer to add body or color,and/or nutty, toffee, caramel character Weyermann Cara Hell Dingemans Cara Pils Weyermann Cara Red
Briess Crystal 10 – 120 Muntons Crystal 60
Dextrin Malt Kilned at a higher temperature than Pale Malt.  Mostly dextrinous.  Contributes body and improves head retention.

1.7 – 10

 Any beer where additional body and head retention is desired Weyermann Cara Foam Dingemans Cara Pils
Flaked Barley Unmalted barley processed through hot rollers.  Imparts grainy flavor, improves head retention.

1.0 – 2.0

 Bitters, Milds, Porters, Stouts Briess Flaked Barley
Flaked Maize Processed through hot rollers.  Imparts subtle corn flavor, source of fermentable sugar when used with enough base malt to convert.

1.0 – 2.0

 Cream Ale, American Style Lagers, Bitters Briess Flaked Maize
Flaked Oats Processed through hot rollers.  Adds body, smoothness and creamy head.

1.0 – 2.0

 Stouts, Wits Briess Flaked Oats
Flaked Rye Processed through hot rollers.  Imparts a crisp spicy character.

1.0 – 2.0

 Rye Pale Ales, Roggenbier Briess Flaked Rye
Flaked Wheat Processed through hot rollers.  Imparts a tart grainy character, hazy appearance.

1.0 – 2.0

 Wheat beers Briess Flaked Red Wheat
Golden Promise Malt Pale malt produced from Scottish winter barley.  The preferred base malt for Scottish Ales.

3

 Scottish Ales Simpsons Golden Promise
Honey Malt Kilned to produce a malt that imparts a sweet honey-like character.

18 – 20

 Any beer where a honey-like character is desired Gambrinus Honey Malt
Maris Otter Malt Base malt produced from winter barley. Imparts a rich malt flavor and aroma.

2.0 – 3.0

 English Ales, Scottish Ales Crisp Maris Otter
Muntons Maris Otter
Mild Ale Malt Lightly toasted base malt.  Imparts a nutty character.

3

 Mild Ale, Brown Ales Muntons Mild Ale Malt
Munich Malt A high-kilned malt.  Imparts malty aromas, flavors, and light copper color.

7.0 – 10

 Oktoberfest, Dark Lager, Porters, Scottish Ales, any beer where maltiness is desired Weyermann Munich I Weyermann Munich II  Durst Turbo Munich
Pale 2-Row Malt Base malt suitable for all beer styles.  Provides fermentable sugars, light malt color flavor and aroma.

1.8 – 2.0

 All beer styles Briess 2-Row Brewers Malt
Pale 6-Row Malt Base malt with higher enzymatic power than 2-row.  Used in American styles with higher percentage of adjuct grains.

1.8 – 2.0

 American Style Lagers, Cream Ale Briess 6-Row Brewers Malt
Pale Ale Malt Base malt with slightly darker color. Provides fermentable sugars, light malt color flavor and aroma.

2.0 – 2.5

 Pale Ales, All but the very lightest of beer styles Briess Pale Ale Malt
Muntons Pale Ale Malt Weyermann Pale Ale Malt
Peated Malt Pale malt smoked with peat.  Used to produce Scotch Whiskey.  Imparts a unique peat flavor and aroma.

3

 Scottish Ales Simpsons Peated Malt
Pilsener Malt The lightest of the base malts.  Provides fermentable sugars, light malt color flavor and aroma.

1

 Pilsener, All beer styles Weyermann Pilsener
Roasted Barley Unmalted barley roasted to a very dark color.

470 – 560

 Stout, Red Ales Muntons Roasted Barley
Rye Malt Base malt for all rye beers.  Imparts a spicy flavor and aroma.

2.8 – 4.3

 Rye Pale Ales, Roggenbier Weyermann Rye Malt
Smoked Malt Pale malt that has been smoked with a hardwood.  Imparts a smokey flavor and aroma.

2

 Rauchbiers, Smoked Porters Weyermann Smoked Malt
Special B Malt The darkest of the caramel malts.  Imparts a pruney/raisiny character and deep garnet color.

140

 Belgian Dubbel, Russian Imperial Stout Dingemans Special B
Toasted Malt Pale malt that has been toasted.  Similar to biscuit malt but different.

50

 Brown Ales, Porters, Dark Belgians, Old Ale Briess Special Roast
Vienna Malt High kilned base malt malt.  Not as dark as Munich. Adds color, malty flavors and aromas.

3

 Vienna Lagers, Munich Lagers Weyermann Vienna
Durst Turbo Vienna
Wheat Malt Base malt produced from wheat.  Used as base for all wheat beer styles. Imparts a grainy tart character.

1.0 – 2.0

 All Wheat Beers, Small amounts in English Pale Ales and Kolsch Weyermann Wheat Malt

Get to Know Your Malts

Studying the malt types, comparing and contrasting the characteristics is a good start.  Having an idea of how they are made, how they look, and and how they smell is a good next step.  It may sound funny, but chewing the malt when selecting grains for your beer is important.  Take a few grains and munch on them.  This will help you have a sense about them and will be useful when choosing among them.  Finally, you have to brew with them.  Start with a base-line recipe and explore by adding various specialty grains taking your recipe in whatever direction you would like.

Change one thing at a time between each batch so that you can have a good idea of how the change affected the beer.  Keep good records of your brewing so that you know what you did.

With so many flavors, aromas, and even textures to play with, the exploration can last a lifetime.



Home Brewing Forums

Posted on September 5, 2019 4:06 pm by Nina Marshall

General Brewing

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Homebrewing

Discuss your brewing techniques, brewing styles, and any tips you might have. Use our community to ask about these things as well.

 2,685 23,499 Help tweaking recipe
January 22, 2016 8:18am

Bottling

Tips and tricks to finding a home for your beer.

 239 2,022 Avvinatore rinser/sanitizer
October 30, 2013 1:16pm

Equipment

Show off your equipment, share tips on maintaining and sanitizing.

 538 4,491 Boston area Co2 refills?
April 02, 2015 9:10am

Terms

Common home brewing terms and jargon for the new home brewer.

 173 291 Wet Hop
August 04, 2011 1:26pm

Recipes

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Homebrew Recipes

Share your recipes and comment on other’s recipes that you try.

 576 5,693 Mack and Jacks African Amber clone
January 28, 2016 3:17pm

Beer Related Recipes

Do you have a good recipe that uses beer (or wine)? Know of any good marinade’s? Let us know about them here.

 36 268 Wake up this subject
February 22, 2013 4:10pm

Alternative Brewing

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Brewing Cider

Techniques for brewing cider. Tips, tricks, questions, they all go here.

 186 983 just made a batch…
January 30, 2015 9:08am

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The art of distilling wine. Discuss tricks to the trade, your successes (or failures), and the joy of distilling wine.

 122 520 how many wine makers on here?
May 24, 2013 6:16pm

Mead

A wine made from fermented honey and water. Discuss brewing this favorite of the Romans and Greeks.

 137 712 Mead Taste? is it all awefull?
July 20, 2013 7:29pm

Home Brewing Community

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The Pub

A place to discuss things not about brewing, beer, wine, etc. This is a place to get to know our other members outside of our shared enjoyment of home brewing.

 344 2,915 The what’s up thread.
February 22, 2016 4:37am

Beer / Wine Talk

Talk about your favorite beers and wines (and meads and ciders, etc) with other beer and wine lovers.

 66 557 sour beers
October 28, 2014 8:24am

Brew Market

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Whether its equipment or ingredients, if you need to get rid of some of your brewing stuff, do it here.

 44 193 VentMatic Faucets are available again!
July 26, 2013 5:12pm

Buying Brewing Stuff

Why pay regular price when you can request what you need from our brewing community?

 29 193 Buying Used Brewing Stuff
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Are you a true, brew, fan? Do you enjoy cracking a cold beer, sitting back, and taking in all the unique flavors, textures, and nuances that come with every sip? Do you even make your own home brews, or desire to do so? If you have answered yes to any of these questions, you will love the brewingkb.com website. Here you can read informative content related to the home brew process, learn tips and tricks from expert brew masters, find valuable resources for materials, equipment, books, and the like, and even collect delicious recipes to try at home.

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Brewingkb.com home brewing forums strives to be as user friendly as possible and encourages all visitors to contribute their own comments, blog posts, and articles as often as they want. All you have to do to be featured is contact the site, and submit your material. This helps keep the site new, friendly, personal, and interesting. Log on now to take part, or just become a little more familiar with the home brewing world.




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