[quote=“PupThePup”]Has nothing to do with whether or not you make your own recipes.
The question is are you purposefully effecting the outcome of your beer. (Not affecting but effecting).[/quote]
Sorry to have misunderstood, but your question still doesn’t make sense to me. Aren’t we all “purposefully effecting” our beer? Once you understand the variables in making beer, how far you want to drill down into the details is a choice that has an effect. I am not trying to start an argument, but your question still seems to imply that an “on purpose” brewer is superior to a “default” brewer. I come to this forum to learn and share not to see how I measure up. In the end we are all hopefully making beer to please ourselves first.
Wow, not my intention. Sorry. :oops:
On reread I can see how my post could have come off as pompous, and that was not my intent. I am so far down on the learning curve you wouldn’t believe it.
I’m really interested in this thread because its not about what makes a good beer, it’s about good brewers. I’d love to hear more about what makes great brewers think they’re great; it will help me think about what to focus on for myself.[/quote]
No need to apologize. I didn’t read your message as pompous. My reaction was to the OP.
I am very scientific/analytic by nature, but I still have a strong creative drive. For me the science comes first (understanding how the pieces fit together), followed by the creative side (fitting those pieces together in such a way so I can get an interesting/enjoyable end result). The way my brain works I can never really separate the “art” side on it’s own from the “science” side (although the science side is perfectly capable of flying solo).
Basically, I try to do all the creative stuff in advance (recipe design, planning to try a tweak in my procedure, etc.). Brew day is no different than following a kit, I have my recipe and procedure all planned out and I’m just following the steps. I’m not the type to throw in an extra addition of hops or something like that on the fly.
I feel like newbies who brew with extract might be in the “default” crowd although I would call it something like “brewing by the numbers”. As in, #1 Do This, #2, Do that, etc. I think this is a good thing for beginners because they need to understand the various processes and ideas of brewing and they can’t really do a ton of things to influence the beer anyway if they’re brewing with extracts (there’s a debate in there somewhere but stay with me). For a good part of my brewing, I was like that and I just did things because I was following a list of things to do. But my all-grain brewing along with my look into water (and things like getting more familiar with pH practices, watching fermentation temperatures closer, etc.) has me manipulating things much more now than ever. As BD said, I design a recipe and look at the entire picture (grains, hops, yeast, water composition, mash temps, etc) and plot out the batch ahead of time and then just follow my notes on brewday. If I detect something I don’t care for, I know how to adjust for it and I probably couldn’t say that 5 years ago. I’m making the best beer of my life and it’s from paying attention to the little things. Cheers.
[quote=“CliffordBrewing”]I started as an on purpose brewer, and as I honed my technique I slowly became a default brewer. I think I learned the “range of adequacy” when I was purposeful, and now I default within that range. I still measure hops, grain, and water, but I’m not very precise about minutes or additions, and don’t measure pH or anything along the way. I haven’t kept notes in a very long time.
This is sort of the way I learned to cook and grill. When I first started cooking as a kid I would carefully measure teaspoons and tablespoons, but now I pretty much know how much of what tastes good. When I first started grilling, I had grill thermometers and probe thermometers at the ready, but now I know what appropriately cooked meat looks and feels like.[/quote]
This describes my technique. Looks like I’m winging it but really I mostly have control to the extent I care to.
Nice description Cliff!
[quote=“Jeff4Amnesty”][quote=“PupThePup”]Has nothing to do with whether or not you make your own recipes.
The question is are you purposefully effecting the outcome of your beer. (Not affecting but effecting).[/quote]
Sorry to have misunderstood, but your question still doesn’t make sense to me. Aren’t we all “purposefully effecting” our beer? Once you understand the variables in making beer, how far you want to drill down into the details is a choice that has an effect. I am not trying to start an argument, but your question still seems to imply that an “on purpose” brewer is superior to a “default” brewer. I come to this forum to learn and share not to see how I measure up. In the end we are all hopefully making beer to please ourselves first.[/quote]
If at any time during your last couple brews you said to yourself ‘hope this works!’ then you may still have a touch of ‘default’ in your blood and are in no way, shape or form equal to the superior ‘on purpose’ brewer. :roll:
:cheers:
[quote=“Jeff4Amnesty”][quote=“PupThePup”]Has nothing to do with whether or not you make your own recipes.
The question is are you purposefully effecting the outcome of your beer. (Not affecting but effecting).[/quote]
Sorry to have misunderstood, but your question still doesn’t make sense to me. Aren’t we all “purposefully effecting” our beer? Once you understand the variables in making beer, how far you want to drill down into the details is a choice that has an effect. I am not trying to start an argument, but your question still seems to imply that an “on purpose” brewer is superior to a “default” brewer. I come to this forum to learn and share not to see how I measure up. In the end we are all hopefully making beer to please ourselves first.[/quote]
I think there are homebrewers who get ingredients, put them together and make beer and then enjoy that end product without putting a lot of thought or effort into what they’re making and way on the other side of that spectrum there are people who put much more effort into it. I’m not sure if that was the OP’s thinking but there’s no question that there are different types of brewers. I don’t necessarily agree with the “on purpose” or “default” labeling but I think I understand his question.
I try to make the same beer every time. same ingredients same technique same everything. there are about four beers that i know I likew and those are the ones I brew. So you could say I am brewing on purpose. I nevr just throw some stuff together and see what I get.
[quote=“Ken Lenard”]
I think there are homebrewers who get ingredients, put them together and make beer and then enjoy that end product without putting a lot of thought or effort into what they’re making…[/quote]
That’s close to what I do. I know what grains I like and what % of the grain bill is appropriate. I buy bulk grains, always have hops on hand, and wash yeast, so I always have the ability to brew something when I have a few hours of time. Like I said earlier, I used to be very purposeful and planned down to the slightest detail. By now I know what I like and how to make it without any planning, so my brew day involves grabbing various grains and hops and getting to work. I’ll check gravity after the brew just to check my efficiency for the grains that I used, but I don’t bother to calculate out expected OG before the brew begins.
[quote=“PupThePup”]If at any time during your last couple brews you said to yourself ‘hope this works!’ then you may still have a touch of ‘default’ in your blood and are in no way, shape or form equal to the superior ‘on purpose’ brewer. :roll: [/quote]I know this is probably tongue-in-cheek, but it sounds awefully like the statement that “AG is superior to extract”, as if simply brewing “on purpose” will produce a better product than one made by “default”. I’ve tasted a lot of pretty terrible “on purpose” beer and would rather drink a beer made by someone who can follow directions and a recipe any day.
I would rather drink a purposefully made recipe any day too! 
:cheers:
For me it depends on what I am brewing and if I have ever brewed it before. A recipe or style that I have never attempted gets the follow the instructions mode. This way there is a baseline to compare it to in the future. In other words if I change it next time I can see how it compares to the original.
Then there are times when I head to my LHBS with no idea what the brew will be and make something up. No unusual ingredients but no plan either. It is fun to just see how it will come out. I have done some pretty good ones that I never wrote down. Can’t reproduce it but who cares. There will be another good one. With the exception of some creations with weird ingredients there weren’t many that were undrinkable and let’s face it, better than budmilcoors. One weird ingredient that was drain cleaner that comes to mind was one with spruce in it. Pine Sol beer.
