[HighVoltageMan!]

The best adjunct I was able to find is Minute Rice.

What's your process with the Minute Rice?

Just add it to the mash. It's pre gelatinized so you don't need to do a cereal mash.

Exactly. I tried making a flour out of it and adding it to the mash hoping to increase mash efficiency, but all it did was create a stuck mash. I add the grain and then add the rice to the top of the grain bed and let it rip. I have a RIMS system, but you could just mix it into the mash and it would be fine.

EDIT: It has the same PPG as flaked rice.

[hopfenundmalz]

Rauchbier, getting closer.

Yeah, that would have to be mine too.  Granted, there are still a lot of styles I've never tried to brew yet...

My most recent rauchbier was really nice after 6 months (after having been disappointed with it in the earlier bottles), but I struggle to get that perfect balance of flavors.  I think a lot of it for me is the variation in the smokiness of the rauchmalts themselves.  I think I am brewing another rauchbier next week, as a matter of fact.

You need to smoke your own grain for freshness.

[jeffy]

I make a good smoked beer, but not a traditional Rauchbier because I have trouble getting the substyle perfect. My secret is to cold smoke my own malt and use it fresh.
On the other hand my German Wheats are almost always too banana forward.
One beer I would really like to have on hand is a Belgian Pale Ale, but I can't quite make it right.

[ynotbrusum]

It is interesting to hear the styles that folks are pursuing. Like Brew Bama, I have been making classic styles that are much lighter than the style guidelines contemplate or styles that are smaller in ABV - for example, a German Lichtbier version of any number of other styles, keeping the ABV below 4.2 - often in the 3's.  I call the project "Chasing the Unicorn".  It has really been a fun and rewarding process, because the lighter beer styles can be quite flavorful and even  medium light to medium bodied when intentional about both ingredient and process.  A few medals along the way have made the quest worthwhile, too.  Not every style adapts well to the Lichtbier orientation, but most seem fine to me.

[hopfenundmalz]

My latest Rauchbier, along the lines of Spezial's. I like it a lot, it needs to be a touch drier in the finish.

Sent from my SM-A716V using Tapatalk

[braufessor]

I make pretty wicked dark beers, including porter, stout, altbier, schwarzbier, etc.

Regarding my perfect porter, what I've discovered about that style in particular is NOT to keep it simple.  I use 10 to 12 different malts in my porters.  I learned this from a Best of Show winner.  It really makes for not a "muddled" flavor but complexity and deliciousness.  Toss in anything and everything you can think of, in tiny amounts of a couple ounces each.  That's a great porter, IMO.

I would agree with this actually.  I have made some pretty mean porters, browns and Dark Mild's.  I have tried the KISS version of these and they have never been as good as the ones where I end up with 8-12 things in the grainbill...... 2 row and/or golden promise bases. US and British chocolates.  Couple caramel malts, brown malt, pale chocolate, flaked oats, flaked barley, etc.

I have been pretty happy with my dortmunder and mild, even though I still play around with them quite a bit.

Still chasing..... the perfect German Pilsner.  Something like Victory Prima Pils and Urban Chestnut Stammtisch.  I get fairly close, but still kind of the holy grail for me to get one that I can consistently turn out every time.

[KellerBrauer]

For me it’s been the Hefeweizen.  I have tried everything under the sun to get those classic banana notes and I achieved it once and cannot duplicate it.  I’ve tried under-pitching, fermenting warm, lower temperature rests, etc and the results are mediocre at best.

Yeast selection is important, and don't treat them too nice.  Underpitch and never make a starter.  Ferment warm.  If you haven't yet, try WLP300, WLP380, or Wyeast 3068.  I also hear good results from Lallemand Munich Classic, I have not tried that one yet but the others will definitely produce banana when treated as I stated.

Great suggestions Dave, thank you.  I have used WLP 300.  I have also used Wyeast 3068 extensively.  In fact, this is the yeast that gave me the greatest success -- once! 

But i have always made a starter.  I think i will forgo the starter on my next batch.  ". . . don't treat them nice"  Interesting perspective!  Thanks again!

[HopDen]

Current goal is a low ABV British/Ordinary Bitter 3.2-3.7% Trying to zero in on the "tricks" to have that elusive full body mouthfeel on a otherwise flimsy palate.
Prior to that I was and still am obsessed with Czech Lager. I am very close but short of what I feel is the perfect beer style of all styles.

[fredthecat]

i wrote a few replies earlier and atempted to post it, but apparently it failed lol. so, quickly this time:

I'm pretty happy with my tripel. It's so simple it's hard to screw up.

i've had success with dry, pale higher gravity belgians in the past. i should make one sometime soon, they are great.

Current goal is a low ABV British/Ordinary Bitter 3.2-3.7% Trying to zero in on the "tricks" to have that elusive full body mouthfeel on a otherwise flimsy palate.
Prior to that I was and still am obsessed with Czech Lager. I am very close but short of what I feel is the perfect beer style of all styles.

i know a lot of people try to make low alcohol beers using various techniques, just my two cents from an experience recently and some before: dont try to force a high final gravity for "body" and dont force it to fit the mold of "british". i made a vienna lager recently that i mashed overnight since i was trying it lately, the final gravity was 1.005, and i thought "oh crap its going to be so thin and watery". i carbed it to about 2.4, just vienna malt and about 1% a mix of some dark malts i had on hand. it has an absolutely killer body and the vienna malt gives it a great, strong flavour. it was a shocker, especially since ive had some beers end up with much higher than expected FG over the last year that did NOT translate to a thick body.

so im thinking consider a yeast that produces body-building compounds, aim for good solid attenuation in a quality fermentation and this also keeps the original gravity down and therefore total calories even further down. no need to add crystal malts, specific malts to force some higher than 1.010 FG.

tl;dr: im really finding a thick body's biggest contributor is the yeast, while various types of body are influenced by specialty grains or different grain types ie. oats, flaked grains, wheat rye etc.

Still chasing..... the perfect German Pilsner.  Something like Victory Prima Pils and Urban Chestnut Stammtisch.  I get fairly close, but still kind of the holy grail for me to get one that I can consistently turn out every time.

we don't get those great US craft pilsners anymore up here but i had victory prima pils i think just as i was starting to homebrew and it blew me away. people need to remember you can use the US style/philosophy to brew amazing pale lagers with excellent noble hop flavours aka a pilsner that i would obviously pick over most famous german pils brands.

You need to smoke your own grain for freshness.

definitely. im waiting to smoke my own before i make a smoke beer.

The Low O2 guys say they have Helles figured out.  The secret ingredient could be sauergut. You might try that.

My current goal is a good full body, full flavor, low ABV beer.  The beer I am drinking now is pretty close to what I am looking for. I seem to be getting closer with my recent process changes.

oh my god that link lol. those guys...
i really like the faux academia font they use to make it seem like it has authority.

Are we only allowed to list one?   

English Porter - Maybe I don't know what I'm shooting for, but try as I may, I can't seem to nail that soft, malty, caramel/chocolate flavor that I think is necessary.  Recent attempts at Porters have given me what I would call 1) a really nice Brown Ale and 2) a rather mediocre Stout.  My next go will be based on David Heath's "London Porter", simply because he sounds so believable.

I think a better question would be, "How many styles have you absolutely mastered?"  Umm...

i had a really long reply to this one in my previous reply that got deleted.. so very quickly megary. i made a pattinson style porter a few months ago that has aged really well and had some amazing points but had a few issues too.

i already redid the recipe for a 2.0 attempt and it would go basically:
-a cali yeast bry97 likely
-~1.054 OG
-~30IBU EKG
-very roughly 80% UK Pale, 8% Brown malt, 5% crystal 60, 5% chocolate 2% Black malt

it should end up without a chokingly high FG from excessive brown malt like the one i made before but still have that powerful brown flavour along with the twangy dark chocolate notes i get from the chocolate malt here (i think its a UK maltster cant remember) and 2% black malt for colour and that general black roast taste

[Megary]

i wrote a few replies earlier and atempted to post it, but apparently it failed lol. so, quickly this time:

I'm pretty happy with my tripel. It's so simple it's hard to screw up.

i've had success with dry, pale higher gravity belgians in the past. i should make one sometime soon, they are great.

Current goal is a low ABV British/Ordinary Bitter 3.2-3.7% Trying to zero in on the "tricks" to have that elusive full body mouthfeel on a otherwise flimsy palate.
Prior to that I was and still am obsessed with Czech Lager. I am very close but short of what I feel is the perfect beer style of all styles.

i know a lot of people try to make low alcohol beers using various techniques, just my two cents from an experience recently and some before: dont try to force a high final gravity for "body" and dont force it to fit the mold of "british". i made a vienna lager recently that i mashed overnight since i was trying it lately, the final gravity was 1.005, and i thought "oh crap its going to be so thin and watery". i carbed it to about 2.4, just vienna malt and about 1% a mix of some dark malts i had on hand. it has an absolutely killer body and the vienna malt gives it a great, strong flavour. it was a shocker, especially since ive had some beers end up with much higher than expected FG over the last year that did NOT translate to a thick body.

so im thinking consider a yeast that produces body-building compounds, aim for good solid attenuation in a quality fermentation and this also keeps the original gravity down and therefore total calories even further down. no need to add crystal malts, specific malts to force some higher than 1.010 FG.

tl;dr: im really finding a thick body's biggest contributor is the yeast, while various types of body are influenced by specialty grains or different grain types ie. oats, flaked grains, wheat rye etc.

Still chasing..... the perfect German Pilsner.  Something like Victory Prima Pils and Urban Chestnut Stammtisch.  I get fairly close, but still kind of the holy grail for me to get one that I can consistently turn out every time.

we don't get those great US craft pilsners anymore up here but i had victory prima pils i think just as i was starting to homebrew and it blew me away. people need to remember you can use the US style/philosophy to brew amazing pale lagers with excellent noble hop flavours aka a pilsner that i would obviously pick over most famous german pils brands.

You need to smoke your own grain for freshness.

definitely. im waiting to smoke my own before i make a smoke beer.

The Low O2 guys say they have Helles figured out.  The secret ingredient could be sauergut. You might try that.

My current goal is a good full body, full flavor, low ABV beer.  The beer I am drinking now is pretty close to what I am looking for. I seem to be getting closer with my recent process changes.

oh my god that link lol. those guys...
i really like the faux academia font they use to make it seem like it has authority.

Are we only allowed to list one?   

English Porter - Maybe I don't know what I'm shooting for, but try as I may, I can't seem to nail that soft, malty, caramel/chocolate flavor that I think is necessary.  Recent attempts at Porters have given me what I would call 1) a really nice Brown Ale and 2) a rather mediocre Stout.  My next go will be based on David Heath's "London Porter", simply because he sounds so believable.

I think a better question would be, "How many styles have you absolutely mastered?"  Umm...

i had a really long reply to this one in my previous reply that got deleted.. so very quickly megary. i made a pattinson style porter a few months ago that has aged really well and had some amazing points but had a few issues too.

i already redid the recipe for a 2.0 attempt and it would go basically:
-a cali yeast bry97 likely
-~1.054 OG
-~30IBU EKG
-very roughly 80% UK Pale, 8% Brown malt, 5% crystal 60, 5% chocolate 2% Black malt

it should end up without a chokingly high FG from excessive brown malt like the one i made before but still have that powerful brown flavour along with the twangy dark chocolate notes i get from the chocolate malt here (i think its a UK maltster cant remember) and 2% black malt for colour and that general black roast taste

Appreciate the suggestions, from you and Dave.
Not to sidetrack here, but I’ll be brewing another Porter in a few weeks and maybe I’ll get a  recipe thread going when the time comes.

[fredthecat]

Appreciate the suggestions, from you and Dave.
Not to sidetrack here, but I’ll be brewing another Porter in a few weeks and maybe I’ll get a  recipe thread going when the time comes.

let me know,  as a percentage of my total brews (not total brews!!) i think i have brewed more high roast level >30 SRM beers than many others here.
what kind of porter do you intend? i think as a label it can span a wider range of every descriptor than maybe any other beer style

[erockrph]

Current goal is a low ABV British/Ordinary Bitter 3.2-3.7% Trying to zero in on the "tricks" to have that elusive full body mouthfeel on a otherwise flimsy palate.

This is one I've been working on for a while. I'm usually brewing Mild/Brown Ale/Bitter in the low 4% range, but sometimes a bit smaller. The watery mouthfeel thing is hit or miss for me in that gravity/ABV range, and I can't necessarily predict it based on recipe/gravity alone. It's just one of those things that, when I find a beer to be too thin for my liking, then I degas the keg and come back a few days later to recheck.

I did have a bit of an epiphany over the weekend. I tried a Mild on tap at a brewery while I was grabbing a quick lunch, and it was remarkably similar to the Mild I have on tap - right down to the thin mouthfeel/overcarbonation. I also noticed a bit of a flabby/bland/insipid character that I've noticed in my own low gravity beers. This led me to the thought that there may less of a pH drop during fermentation in these beers. A lower finishing pH would certainly add some brighness to the finish and may help boost the mouthfeel as well. I'm thinking of a late boil acid addition in my next Mild/Bitter to see if this improves the beer.

[Village Taphouse]

Someday I want to make the perfect German helles.  My lagers turn out pretty good, but there is something special about imported German lagers that seems almost impossible to achieve.  If I could figure this out sometime before I die, I will die a very happy man.

This is probably my dream beer too.  If I'm out somewhere and see a helles on the menu (even a domestic one), I usually order it.  I make helles here a lot.  The style (for me) is the ultimate drinking pleasure because it can be smooth, rich, satisfying and one of those beers that just go down so easily.  It seems like a simple beer but getting it just right is not easy.  It's supposed to be produced simply (not a lot of ingredients in the recipe) and be malty and crisp at the same time.  The versions I had in Germany were fantastic.  I generally don't care for a lot of the sauergut character that you might taste in some of the examples and I feel like the beers I had in Germany did not have a lot of it.  The next beer I make will be a helles and I'm doing some new things on this one... 88% pilsner malt, 10% Munich light, 1% Copper Malt (that grain bill is already too busy but let's move on), Edelweiss hops to about 20 IBUs at the start of the boil and then ¼ ounce at flameout.  2124 on the yeast.  I'm also going to slightly lower my chloride level to see if that helps with crispness in the finish. 

[erockrph]

My own personal chase from pretty much when I started brewing is my ideal IPA. My white whale is a beer that is saturated with hop flavor and aroma, without the vegetal/tannic harsh bitterness that typically comes along with the quantities of hops needed to hit this flavor level. This is paired with a moderate, snappy bitterness.

I was at this from before hazy/NEIPA was a widespread phenomenon. Even the best hazys miss the mark for me, to be honest. They are generally too soft in the bitterness, and don't invite the next sip the way a West Coast IPA might. And they pretty much all have too much harsh vegetal character for my liking. I'm shooting for something like white grapefruit juice - bracing and flavorful, but NEIPAs are more like you juiced an overripe pineapple with leaves and skin included - flavorful, but unbalanced and grassy.

I've come close over the years, but when I brew a great one I immediately look for things that I could make better. Cryo hops were definitely a game changer, but I still feel like I'm not quite there yet. I have to admit, I'm not really in a mode where I am brewing small iterations of the same recipe to dial it in. I burn out on brewing when I do that too much. There's a lot of new hops and hop products out there. I always keep an IPA on tap, and maybe 2/3 of the time I'm trying out something new. But at least a couple of times a year I swing for the fences, and I'm getting closer each time.

[HopDen]

Current goal is a low ABV British/Ordinary Bitter 3.2-3.7% Trying to zero in on the "tricks" to have that elusive full body mouthfeel on a otherwise flimsy palate.

This is one I've been working on for a while. I'm usually brewing Mild/Brown Ale/Bitter in the low 4% range, but sometimes a bit smaller. The watery mouthfeel thing is hit or miss for me in that gravity/ABV range, and I can't necessarily predict it based on recipe/gravity alone. It's just one of those things that, when I find a beer to be too thin for my liking, then I degas the keg and come back a few days later to recheck.

I did have a bit of an epiphany over the weekend. I tried a Mild on tap at a brewery while I was grabbing a quick lunch, and it was remarkably similar to the Mild I have on tap - right down to the thin mouthfeel/overcarbonation. I also noticed a bit of a flabby/bland/insipid character that I've noticed in my own low gravity beers. This led me to the thought that there may less of a pH drop during fermentation in these beers. A lower finishing pH would certainly add some brighness to the finish and may help boost the mouthfeel as well. I'm thinking of a late boil acid addition in my next Mild/Bitter to see if this improves the beer.

That's a great idea. I will be kegging today/tmrrw so will def check the pH, which I never think to do. Please share your findings!!