National Homebrew Club Ireland

Brewing Discussions => Best Recipes => Topic started by: DEMPSEY on May 14, 2019, 03:29:19 PM

Title: Dialling back a recipe
Post by: DEMPSEY on May 14, 2019, 03:29:19 PM
When dialling back a recipe of 7.2% abv  to brew it at day 4.7%abv, would yis just scale all the malt additions back keeping the same % each of the grist or would yis lower the base malts instead?
Title: Re: Dialling back a recipe
Post by: mick02 on May 14, 2019, 08:25:34 PM
Quote from: DEMPSEY on May 14, 2019, 03:29:19 PM
When dialling back a recipe of 7.2% abv  to brew it at day 4.7%abv, would yis just scale all the malt additions back keeping the same % each of the grist or would yis lower the base malts instead?
If you lower the base malts then you're going to mess up the balance of the beer surely? If I was dialling back a recipe I'd try to keep the same percentage of grist.
Title: Re: Dialling back a recipe
Post by: DEMPSEY on May 14, 2019, 08:44:17 PM
What about small special additions of malts that when reduced lose the real value they add to a beer.
Title: Re: Dialling back a recipe
Post by: mick02 on May 14, 2019, 09:15:31 PM
Quote from: DEMPSEY on May 14, 2019, 08:44:17 PM
What about small special additions of malts that when reduced lose the real value they add to a beer.
Hmmm, I hear ya. I guess it's better off to taste the original and see what malts are bringing what character to the beer and try eyeball it from there. If you're dropping a beer from over 7% to 4.7% you're going to lose some of that character anyway. 
Title: Re: Dialling back a recipe
Post by: Tom on May 14, 2019, 10:45:04 PM
I haven't a baldies, but I'd instinctively brew by percentages. If you have 6kg of pale plus 8% crystal, if you halve the pale, the crystal goes way past ten percent. Ugh.

You could brew two beers, one with full complement of character malts, and one with just pale, to the same abv, and blend? *Ducks to avoid thrown glasses and mash paddles*