Recipe similarity in competition

[gmac]

@bluesman

@gmac

So what you’re all telling me is that you CAN taste the love.
Thanks.

I think you should put that phrase in your sig…

I’m more likely to put:
Graham’s Bitter:  You can really taste the hate.

[mtnrockhopper (Jimmy K)]

@gmac

I’m more likely to put:
Graham’s Bitter:  You can really taste the hate.

My coworker always tell me…

Beer should be bitter - like divorce.

[bluesman]

@gmac

@bluesman

@gmac

So what you’re all telling me is that you CAN taste the love.
Thanks.

I think you should put that phrase in your sig…

I’m more likely to put:
Graham’s Bitter:  You can really taste the hate.

That’ll work just fine. 

[gmac]

@bluesman

@gmac

@bluesman

@gmac

So what you’re all telling me is that you CAN taste the love.
Thanks.

I think you should put that phrase in your sig…

I’m more likely to put:
Graham’s Bitter:  You can really taste the hate.

That’ll work just fine. 

Advice taken.

[bluesman]

@gmac

@bluesman

@gmac

@bluesman

@gmac

So what you’re all telling me is that you CAN taste the love.
Thanks.

I think you should put that phrase in your sig…

I’m more likely to put:
Graham’s Bitter:  You can really taste the hate.

That’ll work just fine. 

Advice taken.

That’s awesome!

[markaberrant]

@denny

IMO, recipe counts for maybe 10%, at most 20%, of the finished beer.  Ingredient choice and quality and brewing techniques are a much bigger factor.

I keep hounding our club members that recipes DO NOT really matter as long as they are in the ballpark.  You need a rock solid foundation that starts with cleaning/sanitation, then yeast/fermentation management, and then quality ingredients and consistent brew day/packaging processes.  Once all of these are in place, start working on perfecting your recipes.

[hopfenundmalz]

@markaberrant

@denny

IMO, recipe counts for maybe 10%, at most 20%, of the finished beer.  Ingredient choice and quality and brewing techniques are a much bigger factor.

I keep hounding our club members that recipes DO NOT really matter as long as they are in the ballpark.  You need a rock solid foundation that starts with cleaning/sanitation, then yeast/fermentation management, and then quality ingredients and consistent brew day/packaging processes.  Once all of these are in place, start working on perfecting your recipes.

All good advice.  Good fermentation, maturation, and packaging are overlooked by many homebrewers. You can lose a bunch of points in a comp due to poor packaging process.

Got to tour Bells production facility a few years back.  John Mallet stressed that packaging was extremely important. “Why brew a great beer then mess it up with poor packing processes?” to paraphase what he said.

[system]

@morticaixavier

@gmac

So what you’re all telling me is that you CAN taste the love.
Thanks.

+1,000,000,000,000!!!

I have a theory (hypothesis actually) that I will probably never be able to test. It goes like this

take a recipe (beer or food) work it out so that you can pretty much duplicate it every time and take any and all notes needed so that another person could also duplicate it.

now program a computer/robot to accomplish exactly the same thing, following all the same steps exactly.

place the computer head to head with a human brewer who really cares about the final product. compare the products. My hypothesis is that there will be a (subjected, sensory) difference between the two products.

i.e. I think you would be able to taste the love.  ;D

Or the inconsistency  :)  Love is nothing but mistakes.

I mean, happy valentines day!  Please don’t tell my girlfriend I said that. ;D

[markaberrant]

@hopfenundmalz

All good advice.  Good fermentation, maturation, and packaging are overlooked by many homebrewers. You can lose a bunch of points in a comp due to poor packaging process.

Got to tour Bells production facility a few years back.  John Mallet stressed that packaging was extremely important. “Why brew a great beer then mess it up with poor packing processes?” to paraphase what he said.

Yup, I just gave a presentation a few weeks ago on aging and cellaring homebrew.  Spent the first half discussing the importance of brewing a clean beer in the first place (it should taste good as soon as fermentation is done), and then ensuring you package it properly (as you say, nothing worse than screwing up a great beer during this stage).

[hopfenundmalz]

@markaberrant

@hopfenundmalz

All good advice.  Good fermentation, maturation, and packaging are overlooked by many homebrewers. You can lose a bunch of points in a comp due to poor packaging process.

Got to tour Bells production facility a few years back.  John Mallet stressed that packaging was extremely important. “Why brew a great beer then mess it up with poor packing processes?” to paraphase what he said.

Yup, I just gave a presentation a few weeks ago on aging and cellaring homebrew.  Spent the first half discussing the importance of brewing a clean beer in the first place (it should taste good as soon as fermentation is done), and then ensuring you package it properly (as you say, nothing worse than screwing up a great beer during this stage).

I now know that I have screwed up some excellent beers with poor packaging.  One can learn from their mistakes.

[gmac]

So what’s the best options for packaging?  I’m using a tube at lower pressure on a picnic tap and filling to the top, removing the tube and capping.  There isn’t always foam up to the mouth of the bottle.  I know there should be but I don’t want to create a bunch of foam either and end up short filled. 
I don’t have a beer gun, I’ve debated it.  Is it really worth it?

[euge]

They talk about it (beer gun) a bit in this show: http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/794

I’m not convinced it is necessary but others swear by this piece of equipment.

[thomasbarnes]

@hopfenundmalz

Our club did an activity that really reinforced this, at least to me.  Ingredients were bought in bulk and weighed out at a club meeting to make a beer.  The variables were the water, and the brewers equipement and technique.  The beers were then judged.  Would you think that there was almost a 20 point high from low to high?  There was.  Same recipe, ingredients were the same.

A few years ago, our HB club did the same thing, with just about the same results. Recipe is just a starting place, technique and ingredients count for a lot more.