Article - The Brewer's Dilemma

By Rod Patterson

Rod Patterson

THE BREWERS DILEMMA - IS IT BREWING TECHNIQUES, RECIPE FORMULATION, EQUIPMENT OR SOMETHING ELSE!!

I think it’s an appropriate time to share with some frustrated brewers on what they may want to consider if they are struggling to see some positive improvements in their own brewing. I’ve recently been having consistent success with my own brewing and thought it would be worthwhile sharing a few things that will help other brewers in their quest to continuously improve the quality of their own beers. 

I believe 100% that both brewing equipment and recipe formulation are way over-rated by too many brewers. Most of my best award winning beers were brewed using the most basic, rudimentary equipment, using plastic fermenters, a mash tun made from an esky with a copper manifold and a brass tap sealed with food grade sealant, a boiler made from an old keg and a trub removal technique that was dependant solely on whirlpooling and then the old practice of settling for a short time in the boiler that was covered with a towel pegged to the top of the cooling coil.

On judging day these beers stand out firstly because there were clean and without typical fermentation faults or faults with the brewing process, such as inappropriate fruitiness, sulphur, DMS, diacetyl, phenolics, oxidation, medicinal character, harshness or astringency. Some of these faults may arise from the use of cheap, badly stored ingredients, but by and large they result from sloppy brewing practices. Unfortunately, this means that these same beers brewed at home would also stand out against a great number of commercially brewed beers in Australia also, which proves that many commercial breweries have their own problems to deal with.

Its only when you have mastered the ability to brew clean beer that you should start bothering about the secondary issue of recipe formulation, which will allow the brewer to develop the right balance of the styles malt and hop profile, in both aroma and flavour, the malt/hop bittering balance, appearance, mouthfeel and any yeast derived character relevant to the style. To my mind, by far the only things that should matter to any brewer is utmost care during all of the brewing processes, obsessive sanitation methods and utmost attention to detail, supported by lots of careful reading and absorbing of the classic brewing texts from around the world and most importantly, seriously learning from each batch of your own made beer. And the best recommendation of all is NEVER TAKE A SINGLE SHORT CUT. My own initial brew day lasts for about 11 hours and that’s without any decoction mashing. When I was asked to submit my recipe for last months winning Altbier, I had to delve into and select words from my exhaustive notes that I have for each of my brews. Like all my brews, I had to filter through thousands of words and figures for this Altbier, covering the pre-planning stage, actual brew day and fermentation stages, as well as yeast culturing and the development of each batch of beer as it conditions in the keg or bottle. Without this level of detail, I wouldn’t be able to learn from or improve on each brew and I definitely wouldn’t be able to replicate a brew that turned out great. Being a non scientist, always respect the science, but never underestimate art in the craft of brewing. 

I reckon it would be hard to brew a great beer if you don’t really know what the particular beer style should taste, smell, look and feel like in the mouth. So, if you want to brew better beers, always carefully enjoy any new home or commercially brewed beer whilst reading the beer judging guidelines of that style, whether they be Vicbrew or better still, the more extensive BJCP (Beer Judging Certificate Program) guidelines. And always think about what characteristics are missing or lacking and what you would do differently if it was your own beer. And never dismiss a beer style. Each and every beer style has grown and survived against a world of other suggested beer styles simply because the best examples are a superb balance of what beer can be. So, if it’s a new style you’re trying, buy only the best (translates usually as the most expensive) and try and finish at the very least 2 glasses before you decide its not for you. And don’t give up on it. Some beers that I loved 2 years ago I find undrinkable now and vice versa. I’m constantly buying different beers from around the world and I’m always surprised at just how good the great examples are of nearly all of the styles that are brewed and how my own palette has evolved to fully appreciate nearly every single one of them. And its only when you try to brew to a style that you really start learning about brewing, what it can be and you gradually start to learn bit by bit what you need to improve upon to possibly reach that lofty standard of the very best beers on offer from breweries around the world.  

All brewers of quality beers that have also tried winemaking say that beer is infinitely more complex and difficult to make than wine, especially red wine which is very forgiving of sloppy techniques and practices. The reasons for wines forgiving nature are partly explained by wines higher alcohol content, lower PH levels, natural acidity and tannin levels. It’s a strange oddity to me that the ignorant masses still largely regard wine in such lofty heights of cultural refinement, whilst beer is seen as just plain old beer. So brewers of beer whose big focus is on recipe formulation and just saving some money by not having to buy commercial beer and hoping to churn out a quaffable beer in the shortest time are in for a lifetime of frustrating brewing experiences. Unless all of these things are taken seriously and mastered by brewers, then changes in recipe formulation and equipment are simply a waste of time.