What happens when you find yourself with time to brew, but without a specific recipe (either formulated or borrowed) for the upcoming brewday? This is just the situation in which I find myself now. I've just finished a series of British-inspired beers--in fact, I've brewed 4 of the last 5 weekends--and I lack the specific ingredients needed to brew the next recipe on my agenda. I also lack the desire necessary to make the not insignificant trek to the nearest homebrew supply store or pay (and wait for) shipping rates at my favorite online vendor. Does this mean I can't brew? Of course not! I've been buying malt in large enough quantities to have leftovers after brewing a particular recipe, so I have plenty of malt. I simply lack direction. Could I go the simple route and brew a super hoppy pale ale? Sure, but that's not very fermentive. So what's a homebrewer to do? Improvise.
Awhile ago, I brewed a really nice ryePA. I borrowed it from a homebrewtalk.com thread and was quite satisfied with it. Recently, on a whim, I bought 5 lbs. of rye malt without any specific purpose other than I like rye malt in beers. I've not brewed with it for many brews, but there was a time when just about every recipe included some rye. So why not brew that recipe again? No reason not to, except that the recipe I used included several different kinds of malt, several of which I don't have. Does this mean I can't brew a really nice, hoppy rye PA? Of course not! I means I can't brew THAT really nice, hoppy ryePA. But every homebrewer knows no recipe, even the same recipe, ever comes out exactly the same each time it's brewed. There is room for variations on a theme. Some variations are natural (as mentioned), but some are planned, and meet the ingredients on-hand or the desire of the homebrewer.
Last year's AHA Conference (which I, unfortunately, did not attend) disseminated a wealth of information about the hobby, including the following talk by Drew Beechum, AHA governing committee and Maltose Falcons member, on the concept of SMASH beers (single malt and single hop) and how to maintain simplicity in your recipes without sacrificing all of the nuance of those more complex malt bills. Here's a link to the video. I highly recommend. Anyway, what Drew proposes is a more Zen approach to brewing in which one allows themselves one base malt, one or two hops, one caramel malt, one roasted malt, one adjunct, one sugar, one spice, etc. You get the idea. This approach leaves room for inspiration and creativity without relegating one's grist to more spartan rations. There is certainly nothing wrong with SMASH beers. But sometimes they can be a little lacking in their appeal, especially after the aroma and flavor hops become less forward (if such beers last that long).
I may not hold to Drew's philosophy entirely, but it is certainly my inspiration for this week's brew: Simplicity is Happiness is Simplicity RyePA. Below are both recipes. Notice the changes. Enjoy!
RyePA (complex grist; 8 different malts):
7# US pale malt 51.4%
2 # Rye malt 14.7%
1.5# Flaked rye 11%
1# Caramunich malt 7.3%
.5# Caramel 120 malt 3.7%
.25# Carapils 1.8%
.25# Munich malt (9 SRM) 1.8%
.13# Special B malt 1.0%
some rice hulls
RyePA (less complex grist; 4 malts):
7.5# Maris Otter 67.4%
3.25# Rye Malt 29.2%
.25# Special B malt 2.2%
.13# Carafa III 1.2%
Hops:
.75 oz. Simcoe (13.2%) FWH 60 min.
.25 oz. Citra (14.1%) 15 min.
.25 oz. Simcoe (13.2%) 15 min.
1 oz. Citra (14.1%) flameout-whirlpool 20 min.
1 oz. Simcoe (13.2%) flameout-whirpool 20 min.
.5 oz. Citra (14.1%) Dry hop-7 days
.5 oz. Simco (13.2%) Dry hop-7 days
Yeast:
a neutral ale yeast (or your choice)
Procedures:
Mash @ 152F for 60 minutes. Boil 60 minutes. Whirlpool 20-30 minutes before cooling.
Feel free to tailor this recipe to your own equipment and process. Some have even open-fermented this one. Be Fermentive!
