Yeast Strains Used in Brewing Classic Styles

Below is the fourth and final Ingredients Chart in the series that visually compares the amount of ingredients (base malt, specialty grains & sugars, hops, and yeast strains) used in the recipes of Jamil's veritable book "Brewing Classic Styles" (BCS).  As mentioned in the first Ingredients Chart posting, this project came about as I tried to identify the most frequently used brewing ingredients in order to stock my brewing inventory accordingly.

If a brewer were to brew all 80+ recipes in BCS, it would take 1,197 lbs of grains and sugars, 207 ounces (~13 lbs) of hops, and 88 vials of yeast.  Looking specifically at the yeast usage, the chart below illustrates the top 15 yeast strains out of 29 strains mentioned in the book.  Its not a surprise that California Ale yeast (WLP001) was the most used yeast by far.  Called for in a quarter of all the recipes, this workhorse yeast is full of utility.  Cal Ale is the yeast strain I try to harvest the most after a batch of beer is finished, as there are so many uses for it in subsequent brews.

In addition to the above chart, several other charts were generated for other BCS ingredients.  The links for each chart are updated as they are published.

• Base Malts Used in "Brewing Classic Styles"
• Top 20 Specialty Malts / Sugars Used in "Brewing Classic Styles"
• Hops Used in "Brewing Classic Styles"
• Top 15 Yeast Strains Used in "Brewing Classic Styles"

This project is a bit open-ended, so please let us know what you think or if there are other ways in which this data can be useful to a fellow homebrewer.

Slainte!

-JW


"This is grain, which any fool can eat, but for which the Lord intended a more divine means of consumption ... Beer!"
-Friar Tuck

Poll: What Book To Recommend to Homebrewers?

Like all our prior poll posts, this post takes a moment to memorialize the results we received on the most recent blog poll.  The readers' responses to the question "What book would you recommend most to a fellow homebrewer?" are presented below.

Total Votes: 37

The poll question was specifically setup not to ask what book you would give to a "new" brewer, as we felt that question has been overdone.  However, because we did not specify this explicitly, the results indicate that most readers took the question in that light - what would you recommend to someone starting out in the hobby.  "How to Brew" by John Palmer has become the go-to book for folks entering the hobby and one that just about everyone has in their collection.  Even advanced brewers refer back to it from time to time, so the fact that it was the clear winner is no surprise.

So assuming the "fellow" homebrewer already has Palmer's book - what next would you recommend?  My vote, hands down, was for "Brewing Classic Styles" by Zainasheff.  To me, it is a must-have for any brewer as a recipe book reference.  I've spoken of it multiple times on this blog (including a number of visual charts generated from it) and the recipe book is the most page-worn reference in my brewing library.  With an award winning recipe for every style, its typically the first place I start when exploring a new style. 

If you favorite brewing book is not listed above, leave us a comment and let us know the title.  And if you are reading this, our next blog poll is up and awaiting your participation.

Slainte!

-JW


"Everybody has to believe in something ... I believe I'll have another drink."
-W.C. Fields

Hops Used In Brewing Classic Styles

Below is the third Ingredients Chart in the series that visually compares the amount of ingredients (base malt, specialty grains and sugards, hops, and yeast strains) used in the recipes of Jamil's veritable book "Brewing Classic Styles" (BCS).  As mentioned in the first Ingredients Chart posting, this project came about as I tried to identify the most frequently used brewing ingredients in order to stock my brewing inventory accordingly.

If a brewer were to brew all 80+ recipes in BCS, it would take 1,197 lbs of grain and sugars, 207 ounces (~13 lbs) of hops, and 88 vials of yeast.  Looking at the hops usage, the chart below illustrates the 22 different hop varieties called out by the book.  Kent Goldings and the noble Hallertau reign supreme.  This is directly driven by the fact that these are Jamil's generic go-to hops for English and German beers respectively (for instance, all the American light lagers use Hallertau exclusively).  Substitutions can certainly be made if a related hop happens to be in your freezer, but the chart below describes what was called out specifically in the book.

In addition to the above chart, several other charts were generated for other BCS ingredients.  The links for each chart will be updated as they are published.

• Base Malts Used in "Brewing Classic Styles"
• Top 20 Speciality Malts / Sugars Used in "Brewing Classic Styles"
• Hops Used in "Brewing Classic Styles"
• Top 15 Yeast Strains Used in "Brewing Classic Styles"

This project is a bit open-ended, so please let us know what you think or if there are other ways in which this data can be useful to fellow homebrewers.

Slainte!

-JW

"Beer is an improvement on water itself."

-Grant Johnson

Specialty Grains/Sugars Used In Brewing Classic Styles

Below is the second Ingredients Chart in the series that visually compares the amount of ingredients (base malt, specialty grains and sugars, hops, and yeast strains) used in recipes of Jamil's veritable book "Brewing Classic Styles" (BCS).  As mentioned in the first Ingredient Chart posting, this project came about as I tried to identify the most frequently used brewing ingredients in order to stock my brewing inventory accordingly.

If a brewer were to brew all 80+ recipes in BCS, it would take 1,197 lbs of grains and sugars, 207 ounces (~13 lbs) of hops, and 88 vials of yeast. With regards to specialty grains and sugars, the chart below illustrates the top 20 grains/sugars that are used in highest quantity.  It became immediately apparent the importance of keeping Crystal 40 on hand, as it is used in 27 different recipes (keeping Crystal 80 and 120 may also not be a bad idea either).  Flaked wheat, on the other hand, is the only top ingredient that is a little deceiving.  It is ranked 5th on the list, but it is only called for in Witbiers and Lambics (5 lbs each), which minimizes the neccessity to stock it (unless those are your favorite styles).

In addition to the above chart, several other charts were generated for other BCS ingredients.  The links for each chart will be updated as they are published.

• Base Malts Used in "Brewing Classic Styles"
• Top 20 Specialty Malts / Sugars Used in "Brewing Classic Styles"
• Hops Used in "Brewing Classic Styles"
• Top 15 Yeast Strains Used in "Brewing Classic Styles"

This project is a bit open-ended, so please let me know what you think or if there are other ways in which this data can be useful to fellow homebrewers.

Slainte!

-JW


"He was a wise man who invented beer."
-Plato

Base Malts Used in "Brewing Classic Styles"

At some point, I decided to build a series of spreadsheets where I could enter my current grain/hops/yeast inventory and the document would output which recipes in Jamil's "Brewing Classic Styles" (BCS) book that I could brew. It is a fun little tool and is useful for assessing the 'what to brew?' question if I wake up one morning with an itch to get something in a fermentor.  BCS is a marvelous resource for learning unfamiliar styles or to be used as a "style-barometer'.  If you do not have a copy of BCS, please don't ask me for the spreadsheet.  Go buy the book - its the best book in both Tom and my collections.

To make the recipe/inventory spreadsheet work, I loaded in all the ingredients for each BCS recipe to act as a look-up table.  In doing so, I kept finding myself look at which ingredients were used most often throughout the 80+ recipes in the book.  As I started analyzing them, I noticed that the use of certain malts or hops was more predominate than others.  By examining this, I was able to uncover several holes in my personal inventory where I did not have some of these popular ingredients.  Eventually, I found the information useful/interesting enough that the light bulb went off to share some of this information on the blog.   

If a brewer were to brew all 80+ recipes in BCS, it would take 1,197 lbs of grains and sugars, 207 ounces (~13 lbs) of hops, and 88 vials of yeast.  With regards to base malt, the chart below illustrates which types of base malt are used in highest quantity.  After putting this bar chart together, I almost immediately made a note to pick up some Maris Otter malt as my inventory is currently void of English Pale Malt

In addition to the above chart, several other charts were generated for other BCS Ingredient.  The links for each chart will be updated as they are published.

• Base Malts Used in "Brewing Classic Styles"
• Top 20 Specialty Malts / Sugars Used in "Brewing Classic Styles"
• Hops Used in "Brewing Classic Styles"
• Top 15 Yeast Strains Used in "Brewing Classic Styles"

This project is a bit open-ended, so please let me know what you think or if there are other ways in which this data can be useful to fellow homebrewers.

Slainte!

-JW

"The best way to die is to sit under a tree, eat lots of bologna and salami, drink a case of beer, then blow up."

-Art Donovan