Anyone ever think that it would be good to pick maybe three brews that you have done and liked, and just focus on brewing them over and over, making adjustments each time to really perfect those 3 brews? I am considering that. I love my chocolate stout, amber ale, and rye ale. I was thinking of just doing those 3 over and over again to see if I can really lock in on getting them consistently perfect, and maybe making small changes until I think that I can’t make them any better. Or is this just wasting my time and making the hobby less enjoyable? Thoughts?
Depends on what you really want to do, I suppose. I am constantly doing a pale ale. I think everyone should have a pale ale in their pocket to pull out at any time. I always tweak something, though. I think I’ve narrowed down my grain bill pretty well, just tweak hopping schedules and varieties now. I also do a few porters every year, just because its one of my favorite styles, and I think I’m getting better at it. It’s funny, the closer I get to good on a beer, the more obsessively I brew it over and over again. Something I’m not great at, I don’t bother brewing often, if that makes sense.
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Usually I’ll pick 1 maybe 2 brews to focus on, but those are usually my favorites that I like to have around a lot. I have 4 taps at home so by doing that then I can play with new beers on the other taps. My friends always love trying something new so this system works for me.
I usually go by what I like or want to drink and not so much by focusing. Focusing is good if you plan to enter competitions or brew professionally. Otherwise have fun!
I do a Dry Irish Stout every year. I like to do something new after reading a description about a beer.
I will do 2-3 different every year.
I have done that and believe thats why some breweries have a GREAT couple of styles as house standards… Do git one close or nailed, and then you can brew 3 months later and have it handy. So thats why 10 gallons to me becomes a major factor, one be served and the other, cold aging… haven’t quite got a cream ale down, so thats what I’m working on before attempting the english strong… Sneezles61
Samuel smiths stingo is delightful 
My “house ale” has been a Belgian style ale so I kind of work on that. Basically about the same recipe with 2 row, pilsner, sugar and almost always Wyeast 1388 Belgian strong ale yeast. Can’t say I have perfected it by any means but not much get thrown out. 
Other than that it’s usually a Stout, Scottish ale or some kind of English ale. I keep a “brew log” on paper, yes one of these days it will be a database, and note after its done and gone, OK, good, great or don’t brew this again.
I do 20 gallons most of the time but seasonal beers or something I’m not sure I will like I might do only 5. Brew extract kits once in a while too.
Don’t know why you think it would be a waste of time. I think that’s what most do once they start making their own recipes. Practice makes perfect
Yep. My RYe IPA recipe went thrgh 10-12 test brews tweaking one thing at a time. Then 3-5 more doing exactly the same thing to be sure it was repeatable. IMO, the best way to hone your skill as a brewer is tp brew the same recipes over and over.
I don’t make the same three beers over and over again, but I do tend to make simple variations of the same 3 or 4 beers. I usually switch between an IPA, a farmhouse/saison, and a long or short aged sour. Actually the farmhouse and sour are kind of the same thing. But 90% the same beer each time, maybe a different hop or yeast, or sub some other malt in the grist.
I really like to keep it kind of simple and enjoy the differences between batches, although they’re mostly pretty similar. Can’t say I ever have tried to reproduce a beer exactly. Viva la difference!
me allways make sure got at least a ipa imperial going with this i sort of add more dme .the other ones i do stick to the brewing plan . got to make sure got three beers fernenting and three ready to drink
It’s all what you prefer to do.
I have weight and medication issues so I only drink 4 or 5 beers most weeks. As a result, I only brew a few 5-gal batches a year.
I’m always on the lookout for a recipe that I like better than what I’ve brewed in the past. Recently I found a clone of Buffalo Sweat on the internet. Brewed it and like it and will probably tinker with it in future recipies.
I’m always brewing in the spectrum from brown ales to stouts. A friend recently gave me a recipe for a brown ale without lactose I also really like the taste of.
I’ll be brewing those two over and over again to try to tweak them to my taste and system.
Yeah, that’s definitely where my brewing is lately. For me it’s brown ale, oatmeal stout, and special bitter all brewed with wyeast London ale III. I never made any progress on the 50 recipes I did before. I brewed 50 decent beer some of which where the same style but probably brewed a year a apart and changed 9 things. Drinking my oatmeal stout 1.4 and I think I’ll rebrew it exactly which is a first. Gotta say it’s the first beer I’m really proud of.
