As much as I enjoy brewing, I would have to admit I really like the research and developing new ideas. It may be an idea that comes up, or testing that others have done before me. Either way quite a few evenings end up being spent on my computer.
This in turn ends up as an idea in my master brewing excel sheet, or as the start of a new beer in the brewersfriend app on my phone.
Generally it takes a few adjustments before I actually try to brew the beer, and sometimes I am able to create a recipe from the inspiration, but I do tend to let ideas simmer for some time, making adjustments here and there.
And there is a lot to consider. There are loads of malts, even more hops, and yeast, all that have their own book on my bookshelf. Then there is the brewing process with mash temperatures, Hop timings, and the addition of finings, and finally fermentation temperatures.
Then you have water profiles, and salt additions, oxygen, nutrition for yeast, starters and yeast calculations... oh and now with the acquisition of a grain mill, this also comes into consideration..
So what started out as a simple in the kitchen hobby spiralled into something a lot more complicated.
But this is probably what makes brewing beer an actual craft, and not an insignificant amount of science. (i do love science).. (and chemistry as well)
The boost in confidence from creating a homegrown, from scratch beer of my own creation, that actually meets or even surpasses expectations is a wonderful thing. Add to that 20 or so litres of great beer, and you really have a winning recipe.
The in between is finding the time to put an idea to the test.. I have yet to create the "perfect beer" first time around. (if there is a perfect beer at all) There is always something to improve..
The holy grail of brewing is to replicate a beer, and this is why I have a lot of respect for commercial breweries. Ok, so I may not think their beers are exciting at all, but I do respect the ability to recreate that beer on a large scale over time.
My latest project has been the quintessential English Bitter. Along with NEIPA, and IPA, they rank as my favorite beers. (I could add belgian blonde ales to this list as well) I have created, and brewed my fist batch, added notes, and gone back to reveiw my notes after drinking the majority of beer from that fist batch.
The verdict was "good, but not great".. A new question presents itself.. Change a lot or do small steps. Experience on "Lilys Voodoo Potion" showed me that small steps is far more effective than big changes
That would be a whole new beer after all, so it goes in the "new idea" category
So for the next batch it will be a simple change to the mashing temperature then..
Damn that in between phase..