If You Like This Beer Style, Try Brewing That Beer Style
When you first start brewing, the sheer volume of beer styles out there in the world can be part of the allure. So many options, so many variations, so much history and regional flavor . . . where to begin? Well, inevitably we start with something we love but can’t get anymore (an early brewing inspiration for me was the discontinuation of bottle sales of Double Diamond Burton Ale, a beer I’ve still never cloned to my satisfaction), or we start with something that we think will be generous to our novice-brewing faults (or at least what someone at the local homebrew store recommends). Before long, though, we develop our own preferences, identify beers that brew well on our systems or with our water, and we start brewing regular beers for holidays, events, and seasons: In short, if we’re not careful we become painfully boring and predictable. This piece is all about looking at what you love to brew and finding new beers to brew that share their DNA.
You see, it’s easy to do what you’ve always done, with minor, incremental changes. It’s even something I’ve recommended on a number of occasions: Brew the same recipe multiple times, to better know how changes in your process or recipes affect your finished beer. The danger, though, is that you end up in a brewing rut, making the same few beers over and over again.
So if I’m not saying to brew the same old beers, then what’s the answer? It’s this: Brew outside of your comfort zone, but do so within styles that have a high probability of delivering something related to what you already like! Consider brewing a regional variation of a favorite beer (what would a German IPA taste like?). Consider sticking with a region you love, but finding an obscure style from the same neighborhood. Go for a heightened sense of beer-reality (beerality?) and brew the same style but with an atypical outsized component (8% ABV Berliner weisse, maybe).Push yourself, but push yourself in a direction you probably want to go anyway. Just don’t be repetitive. Many have worked and sacrificed and encouraged so that we can today brew with professional-quality ingredients, with extensive knowledge of ancient and modern beer styles and methods, and revive extinct beer styles even as we invent new ones. Don’t waste all that with just another IPA.
What follows are four “If you like this, then try this” propositions. I’ve included tried and true recipes for each to give you a jumping off point, and I hope you’ll be inspired to find other comparable beers to try for yourselves. Enjoy!
If you love dry stout . . .
. . . try brewing an English mild!
If nothing else, you’ll avoid having to repeatedly explain to your friends that even though a beer is dark and roasty it doesn’t mean it’s high in alcohol. But the best thing about brewing a mild is that you get to dial up pretty much all of your favorite malt flavors, in whatever ratio you’d like, in a session-strength beer – and all you need to do is back out the black barley and sub in a bunch of fun character malts. You can still have a touch of roast in there (if you want), but you also get biscuit, toffee, nut, molasses, toast, plum, raisin . . . you get the picture. This recipe recently won a gold medal at the 2015 Malt Madness competition, hosted by the Lehigh Valley Homebrewers in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Grantham Mild
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.036 FG = 1.009
IBU = 22 SRM = 20 ABV = 3.5%
Ingredients
5.8 lbs. (2.6 kg) Maris Otter pale malt
0.5 lbs. (0.23 kg) crystal malt (60 °L)
6 oz. (0.17 kg) crystal malt (80 °L)
6 oz. (0.17 kg) crystal malt (120 °L)
3 oz. (85 g) chocolate rye malt (250 °L)
3 oz. (85 g) chocolate malt (450 °L)
5 AAU East Kent Goldings hops (60 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 5% alpha acids)
Wyeast Labs 1028 (London Ale) or White Labs WLP013 (London Ale) yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Mill the grains and mix with 2.3 gallons (8.8 L) of 160 °F (71 °C) strike water to reach a mash temperature of 148 °F (64 °C). Hold this temperature for 60 minutes. Vorlauf until your runnings are clear and lauter. Sparge the grains with 4.9 gallons (18.5 L) water and top up as necessary to obtain 6 gallons (23 L) of wort. Boil for 60 minutes, adding hops according to the ingredient list. After the boil, turn off heat and chill the wort to slightly below fermentation temperature, about 65 °F (18 °C). Aerate the wort with pure oxygen or filtered air and pitch the yeast.
Ferment at 66 °F (19 °C) for seven days. Raise to 72 °F (22 °C) for seven more days. Once the beer reaches terminal gravity, bottle or keg the beer and carbonate to approximately 2.5 volumes. You may want to cold-crash the beer prior to packaging at 35 °F (2 °C) for 48 hours to improve clarity.
Grantham Mild
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.037 FG = 1.010
IBU = 22 SRM = 20 ABV = 3.5%
Ingredients
4.2 lbs. (1.9 kg) Maris Otter liquid malt extract
0.5 lbs. (0.23 kg) crystal malt (60 °L)
6 oz. (0.17 kg) crystal malt (80 °L)
6 oz. (0.17 kg) crystal malt (120 °L)
3 oz. (85 g) chocolate rye malt (250 °L)
3 oz. (85 g) chocolate malt (450 °L)
5 AAU East Kent Goldings hops (60 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 5% alpha acids)
Wyeast Labs 1028 (London Ale) or White Labs WLP013 (London Ale) yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Bring 5.6 gallons (21.2 L) of water to 162 °F (72 °C) and hold there, and steep milled specialty grains in grain bags for 15 minutes. Remove the grain bags, and let drain fully. Add liquid extract while stirring, and stir until completely dissolved. Bring the wort to a boil. Boil for 60 minutes, adding hops according to the ingredient list. After the boil, turn off heat and chill the wort to slightly below fermentation temperature, about 65 °F (18 °C). Aerate the wort with pure oxygen or filtered air and pitch yeast.
Ferment at 66 °F (19 °C) for seven days. Raise to 72 °F (22 °C) for seven more days. Once the beer reaches terminal gravity, bottle or keg the beer and carbonate to approximately 2.5 volumes. You may want to cold-crash the beer prior to packaging at 35 °F (2 °C) for 48 hours to improve clarity.
Tips for Success:
Don’t be afraid of the low mash temperature here. The presence of so many crystal malts will add plenty of body and character to your beer, and a highly fermentable wort will mean that the beer keeps its “drinkable” status. If you find this one too darkly malty for your taste you can go one or two steps lighter on the crystals’ Lovibonds (20 or 40 for the Crystal 60, 60 for the 80, etc.), maybe add in some interesting light character malts (Victory®, biscuit) and swap in some pale chocolate or dehusked malts for the chocolate malts to keep it from going too malty/roasty. And if you have access to them, definitely make use of British crystal malts (light, medium, dark). The Lovibond numbers won’t match exactly, but that’s fine — it might just be in my head, but I find the beer tastes a bit more authentic when you use native ingredients.
If you love Oktoberfest . . .
. . . try brewing a Bière de Garde!
Bière de Garde shares a lot of DNA with Oktoberfests. Both are traditionally brewed in the spring, are malt-accentuated and lagered beers, and enjoy a period of aging. But Bière de Garde is the pondering aged philosopher to Oktoberfest’s youthful and joyful fool — it is a higher-ABV beer, it often enjoys a longer aging period, and although this beer is lagered it generally uses an ale yeast that adds some light esterification and more-complex aromatics. In addition, it’s a remarkably flexible beer that can be brewed as a pale, amber, or brown, depending on your preferences, pairings, or the season of service. The recipe below aims right down the middle in terms of the style and its color/flavor options, and is a gold-medal-winning amber Bière de Garde (at the 2012 BUZZ Off, hosted by the BUZZ Homebrew Club in West Chester, Pennsylvania).
Summer Cellar BdG
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.073 FG = 1.011
IBU = 29 SRM = 12 ABV = 8.5%
Ingredients
6 lbs. (2.7 kg) Munich malt (9 °L)
6 lbs. (2.7 kg) German Pilsner malt
1.2 lbs. (0.54 kg) Caravienne® malt (20 °L)
1.2 lbs. (0.54 kg) cane (beet) sugar
1 oz. (28 g) black patent malt (500 °L)
9 AAU Fuggles hops (60 min.) (2 oz./57 g at 4.5% alpha acids)
Wyeast 2565 (Kölsch) yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Mill the grains and mix with 3.8 gallons (14.4 L) of 162 °F (72 °C) strike water to reach a mash temperature of 150 °F (66 °C). Hold this temperature for 60 minutes. Vorlauf until your runnings are clear and lauter. Sparge the grains with 3.9 gallons (14.8 L) water and top up as necessary to obtain 6 gallons (23 L) of wort. Before boiling, add and stir-in cane sugar until dissolved. Boil for 60 minutes, adding hops according to the ingredient list. After the boil, turn off heat and chill the wort to near fermentation temperature, about 65 °F (18 °C). Aerate the wort with pure oxygen or filtered air and pitch the yeast.
Ferment at 60 °F (16 °C) for seven days. Raise to 68 °F (20 °C) for seven more days. Once the beer reaches terminal gravity, bottle or keg the beer and carbonate to approximately 2.5 volumes. You may want to cold-crash the beer prior to packaging at 35 °F (2 °C) for 48 hours to improve clarity. Lager for at least six weeks, and up to six months at near-freezing (32 °F/0 °C) temperatures before serving.
Summer Cellar BdG
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.073 FG = 1.011
IBU = 29 SRM = 12 ABV = 8.5%
Ingredients
4 lbs. (1.8 kg) Pilsner liquid malt extract
4 lbs. (1.8 kg) Munich liquid malt extract
1.2 lbs. (0.54 kg) Caravienne® malt (20 °L)
1.2 lbs. (0.54 kg) cane (beet) sugar
1 oz. (28 g) black patent malt (500 °L)
9 AAU Fuggles hops (60 min.) (2 oz./57 g at 4.5% alpha acids)
Wyeast 2565 (Kölsch) yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
If you can source Weyermann Munich liquid malt extract, then split the total extract 50/50 as per the ingredients list. If Briess is the only available liquid malt extract, then use the Briess Munich liquid malt extract as 100% of the total extract.
Bring 5.6 gallons (21.2 L) of water to approximately 162 °F (72 °C) and hold there steeping the milled specialty grains in grain bags for 15 minutes. Remove the grain bags, and let drain fully. Add liquid extract while stirring, and stir until completely dissolved. Before boiling, add and stir-in cane sugar until dissolved. Boil for 60 minutes, adding hops according to the ingredient list. After the boil, chill the wort to near fermentation temperature, about 65 °F (18 °C). Aerate the wort with pure oxygen or filtered air and pitch the yeast. Follow the remainder of the all-grain recipe.
Tips for Success:
The right fermentation temperature and the right yeast strain are essential here. A warm fermentation runs the risk of making a “hot” beer, which this is most definitely not, despite the relatively high ABV! Cooler-fermenting but well-attenuating strains (I recommend the Kolsch, but several Scottish strains or the German Ale strain work well, too) will allow a complete fermentation with minimal hot alcohols and put an upper-limit on the esters produced, letting the malts really shine through. Wyeast 3725 (Bière de Garde) and White Labs WLP072 (French Ale) are limited edition releases that are also fitting. The other key component to this beer is age: its name literally means “beer that has been stored (lagered).” Brew it, and then forget it for a while. I’ve opened (and entered in competition) bottles of this beer that are more than a year old.
If you love saison . . .
. . . try brewing an American wheat/rye beer!
If you’re like me, you’re a little hesitant about picking up a Saison these days — they can be a little too much compared to the delicate, subtle beers that personify the style. Of the top ten rated beers on two separate beer review websites, more than half had ABVs over 8%, (the average on both lists of the top 100 was 8.2%!), and a great many have big flavor profiles to match. If you want to get back to the roots of Saison and try something a little less ordinary, why not an American wheat beer? I’m not talking about a boring slug of wheat and a sprinkle of American hops fermented with some neutral yeast strain — the American wheats I’ve been tasting at competitions lately take the best of American pale ale, add some nice low-Lovibond character maltiness and wheat, and back off the IBUs so you can actually appreciate the flavors. This one was a silver medal winner at the Philly Homebrew Cup.
Not-Quite-Amber Waves of Grain
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.044 FG = 1.012
IBU = 25 SRM = 4 ABV = 4.2%
Ingredients
4 lbs. (1.8 kg) Maris Otter pale malt
4 lbs. (1.8 kg) wheat malt
1 lb. (0.45 kg) Victory® malt
4.5 AAU Liberty hops (60 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 4.5% alpha acids)
9.2 AAU Amarillo® hops (5 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 9.2% alpha acids)
Wyeast 1007 (German Ale) or White Labs WLP029 (German Ale/Kölsch) yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Mill the grains and mix with 3.2 gallons (12 L) of 164 °F (73 °C) strike water to reach a mash temperature of 152 °F (67 °C). Hold this temperature for 60 minutes. Vorlauf until your runnings are clear and lauter. Sparge the grains with 4.6 gallons (17.4 L) water and top up as necessary to obtain 6 gallons (23 L) of wort. Boil for 60 minutes, adding hops according to the schedule.
After the boil, turn off heat and chill the wort to slightly below fermentation temperature, about 65 °F (18 °C). Aerate the wort with pure oxygen or filtered air and pitch the yeast.
Ferment at 68 °F (20 °C) for seven days. Raise to 70 °F (21 °C) for seven more days. Once the beer reaches terminal gravity, bottle or keg the beer and carbonate to approximately 2.5 volumes. You may want to cold-crash the beer prior to packaging at 35 °F (2 °C) for 48 hours to improve clarity.
Not-Quite-Amber Waves of Grain
(5 gallons/19 L, partial mash)
OG = 1.044 FG = 1.012
IBU = 25 SRM = 4 ABV = 4.2%
Ingredients
1.2 lbs. (0.54 kg) extra light dried malt extract
3.3 lbs. (1.5 kg) wheat liquid malt extract
1 lb. (0.45 kg) Maris Otter pale malt
1 lb. (0.45 kg) Victory® malt
4.5 AAU Liberty hops (60 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 4.5% alpha acids)
9.2 AAU Amarillo® hops (5 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 9.2% alpha acids)
Wyeast 1007 (German Ale) or White Labs WLP029 (German Ale/Kölsch) yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Bring 1 gallon (3.8 L) of water to approximately 152 °F (67 °C) and hold there, and steep milled grains in grain bags for 45 minutes. Remove the grain bags, and wash with 1 gallon (3.8 L) hot water. Top off to 5.6 gallons (21.2 L) of wort. Add liquid and dried malt extract while stirring, and stir until completely dissolved. Boil for 60 minutes, adding hops according to the ingredient list.
After the boil, turn off heat and chill the wort to slightly below fermentation temperature, about 65 °F (18 °C). Aerate the wort with pure oxygen or filtered air and pitch the yeast.
Ferment at 68 °F (20 °C) for seven days. Raise to 70 °F (21 °C) for seven more days. Once the beer reaches terminal gravity, bottle or keg the beer and carbonate to approximately 2.5 volumes. You may want to cold-crash the beer prior to packaging at 35 °F (2 °C) for 48 hours to improve clarity.
Tips for Success:
To be frank, this is an easy beer to get right! The only real issue may be for all-grain brewers with fussy mashing equipment: I’ve never had a stuck sparge situation here, but if you do, a pound of rice hulls should do the trick. You can sub in your favorite aroma hops for the five-minute addition (or whirlpool addition, if that’s your thing), but I’d recommend that you not overdo it.
The hops should add to the aroma, not overwhelm it. A pleasant grainy nose is a key part of the enjoyment level for this beer. I like the Wyeast 1007 (German Ale) yeast here because it adds a nice berry ester as a backing note in the flavor, but feel free to experiment with a favorite yeast for your own.
If you love Belgian dubbel . . .
. . . try brewing a weizenbock!
This one is for those of you who go to those make-your-own frozen yogurt places and add every topping they have — weizenbock marries a wide range of deep flavors and is among the more-complex beers ever brewed, and it does it all while not relying on crazy amounts of hops, super-high alcohols, or challenging production processes (I’m looking at you, eisbock). You’ll get bread, clove, banana, toast, cocoa, dark fruit, vanilla, Sherry, and more. This recipe was generously provided by Jeremy Myers, Co-Owner and Head Brewer at Neshaminy Creek Brewing Company in Croydon, Pennsylvania.
Neshaminy Creek Brewing Co.’s Neshaminator Wheat Bock clone
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.078 FG = 1.017
IBU = 21 SRM = 22 ABV = 8.5%
Ingredients
5.5 lbs. (2.5 kg) 2-row pale malt
4 lbs. (1.8 kg) dark Munich malt (10 °L)
4 lbs. (1.8 kg) red wheat malt
1 lb. (0.45 kg) caramel Pils/dextrine malt
0.75 lb. (0.34 kg) crystal malt (60 °L)
0.5 lb. (0.23 kg) chocolate malt (350 °L)
0.25 lb. (0.12 kg) crystal malt (80 °L)
0.5 lb. (0.23 kg) orange blossom honey (60 min.)
5.6 AAU Hallertau hops (45 min.) (1.25 oz./35 g at 4.5% alpha acids)
3.4 AAU Tettnang hops (15 min.) (0.75 oz./21 g at 4.5% alpha acids)
White Labs WLP300 (Hefeweizen Ale) or Wyeast 3068 (Weihenstephan Weizen) yeast
1 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step”
Mill the grains and mix with 4.8 gallons (18.1 L) of 168 °F (75 °C) strike water to reach a mash temperature of 156 °F (69 °C). Hold this temperature for 60 minutes. Vorlauf until your runnings are clear and lauter. Sparge the grains with 3.3 gallons (12.5 L) water, add honey and stir until dissolved, and top up as necessary to obtain 6 gallons (23L) of wort. Boil for 75 minutes, adding hops according to the ingredient list. After the boil, turn off heat and chill the wort to about 63 °F (17 °C). Aerate the wort with pure oxygen or filtered air and pitch yeast.
Ferment at 63 °F (17 °C) for 3 days. Raise to 68 °F (20 °C) for seven more days, or until you reach terminal gravity. Once the beer reaches terminal gravity, increase to 70 °F (21 °C) and hold for three days for the diacetyl rest, and then bottle or keg the beer and carbonate to approximately 3 volumes. You may want to cold-crash the beer prior to packaging to 35 °F (2 °C) for 48 hours to improve clarity.
Neshaminy Creek Brewing Co.’s Neshaminator Wheat Bock clone
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.078 FG = 1.017
IBU = 21 SRM = 22 ABV = 8.5%
Ingredients
2 lbs. (0.91 kg) extra light dried malt extract
3.3 lbs. (1.5 kg) Munich liquid malt extract
3.3 lbs. (1.5 kg) wheat liquid malt extract
8 oz. (0.23 kg) caramel Pils/dextrine malt
0.75 lb. (0.34 kg) crystal malt (60 °L)
0.5 lb. (0.23 kg) chocolate malt (350 °L)
0.25 lb. (0.12 kg) crystal malt (80 °L)
0.5 lb. (0.23 kg) orange blossom honey (60 min.)
5.6 AAU Hallertau hops (45 min.) (1.25 oz./35 g at 4.5% alpha acids)
3.4 AAU Tettnang hops (15 min.) (0.75 oz./21 g at 4.5% alpha acids)
White Labs WLP300 (Hefeweizen Ale) or Wyeast 3068 (Weihenstephan Weizen) yeast
1 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Bring 5.3 gallons (20.1 L) of water to approximately 162 °F (72 °C) and hold there, and steep milled specialty grains in grain bags for 15 minutes. Remove the grain bags and let drain fully. Add liquid malt extract and honey off-heat while stirring, and stir until completely dissolved. Top up as necessary to obtain 6 gallons (23 L) of wort. Boil for 75 minutes, adding your hops according to the ingredient list.
Follow the remainder of the all-grain recipe.
Tips for Success:
There’s a lot going onin this recipe, but let me say this: Just go with it. Complex recipes usually require more than the usual amount of tinkering to work well with your system, but I brewed this one exactly as it is and it nailed the comparison to the original beer.
