Creating a Beer Recipe

So, you already know how to brew, huh? You've been doing one or more of the following for a while now: extract kits, mini-mash kits, and/ or all-grain, and now you want to start coming up with your own recipe. You're chomping at the bit to have a beer that you can say, "Yep, this is totally, completely, and beyond any shadow of a doubt 100 percent my own recipe! My own beer!" You're done with the cookie cutter pale ale kit that everyone else at your homebrew club has made. Then hop to it son and create your own.

Determine the Style

Porter, wheat, fruit, mild, tripel, specialty? There are so many styles to choose from. The first beer that I could call all my own was an IPA. I brewed it because I hadn't made one before, and I knew that I liked commercial versions. Aim for a style that is familiar so that your taste buds have a reference point.

Appropriate Beer Profile

For a list of some of the most common beer styles and their appropriate characteristics, go to BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program). It will help you to ensure that you'll end up in the correct style ballpark.

Look for a Commercial Example as a Guide

If you want to brew a pale ale there's probably not a better commercial representation of the style than Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale. Samuel Smith makes the best blueprint for an oatmeal stout. Also, most brewing companies post on their website the grains, hops, IBUs, OG & FG, and ABV for their beer. Use these as a compass in addition to the BJCP style guidelines.

Recipe Formulation

Now that you know the style and have a general idea of ingredients, it's time to formulate an actual recipe. For a good guide for grain and hop amounts, consult Charlie Papazian's The Complete Joy of Homebrewing. There are quite a few companies out there that offer brewing software. BeerSmith is probably the most popular amongst homebrewers. It allows you to save your recipes to your computer and print them out for easy viewing on brew day. I personally use one of the many freebies - Beer Calculus. Whichever program you choose to use, it's much easier than estimating it all by hand (which I did for the first few beers that I made). Although you plug 'n' chug numbers and ingredients into a program, no matter how sophisticated, it's still just an estimate.

Plan Your Brew Day

Start a homebrewing journal. It should have everything in it that you plan to do on brew day, and also any expected outcomes or goals like "Brew beer" or "Testing new propane burner." It helps to write down a timeline of your brewing day beginning with the time you setup and ending with the time you're through cleaning - sometimes I'll just rinse everything on brew day and then come back the next day to clean and sanitize. If you're doing a big beer you might have to begin a yeast starter a few days in advance. Also, make sure that you have all the equipment necessary to brew and that it is in working order.

Go to the Brew Store

Go to your local hbs (homebrew supply) and pick up your ingredients. Make sure to tell your hbs what you plan to brew; they might have a few suggestions or mention a method, ingredient, or piece of equipment that you may have overlooked or forgotten.

Just Brew It

Try to follow your plan as much as possible, but be sure to note in your journal any changes or adjustments in method, timing, amounts, etc.

Review It

Once your beer is ready to consume, sit down with the commercial example and your homebrew and do a side by side comparison. You might find that you prefer yours over the big boys. Note any changes, if any, that you would like to make to your homebrew. And if the mood so tickles you, take a bottle of your homebrew to your next club meeting to stimulate the palates of experienced homebrewers. If you still want more feedback, ask you local hbs if it is alright if you bring a bottle to the store for them critique.


Just remember, have fun while you're doing it - drink some suds. All work and no fun makes for a crabby brewer, and yeasts can't do their job properly in such a hostile work environment.

Cheers!