RFP – Danish Dark Rye Beer Initial Tasting

I’ve never considered myself to be a very good "technical" beer judge. I can pick out flaws and what my taste buds “like” and “dislike”, but drilling the perception down into the building blocks of what makes a good beer versus a mediocre beer is a skill I have yet to refine. So when it comes time for me to critically evaluate a beer, I’m often inclined to use a “crowd-sourcing” approach and feed it to a lot of other beer aficionados.. This was never more true when it came time to evaluate my Dark Side of Denmark rye beer that was brewed for our Recipe Formulation Project (RFP).

While my beer was originally brewed back in February, it was not until almost two months later that I finally got the beer into a keg and ready for serving. Luckily, that was right around the time that Tom came up to Rhode Island for a visit, so I was not going to miss out on the opportunity.  Only the base beer was available at this time, so the initial tasting was limited just limited to that.

The RFP beer presented with a great ruby brown appearance with a spicy, malty nose to it. The flavor, however, was not enjoyable. While the beer starts off with a fresh pumpernickel sweetness to it, the favor drops off in the mid-palate leaving the beer somewhat lackluster or empty. As the beer finishes out, a spicy finish arised from the rye malt that lasts into the aftertaste which I found unpleasant. The pro's of the bee good appearance and initial flavor. The con's: weak in the middle and the residual spiciness at the end.

Flash forward another two months after the beer has been sitting cold in the keg with time to mature (i.e. I had forgotten about the beer and only recently realized that I need do the dosing). With some luck, a club meeting for my local homebrewing club (RIFT) was almost upon me and it would be another opportunity to collect some valuable feedback from several other experienced palates. For this tasting, I was finally able to get a cardamom extract (purchased from here) on hand. I prepared three beers to evaluate: the base beer, a medium dosed beer (6 drops in 12 oz), and a heavy dosed beer (12 drops in 12 oz). All the bottles were capped, kept cold, and toted off with me to the club meeting.

The base beer had improved considerably since the initial tasting with Tom. The residual spicy flavor that had turned me off had mellowed out considerably. Additionally, while the mid-palate flavor was still a little lacking, because the flavors had time to meld together, it was less noticeable as when the beer was still “green”.

The cardamom flavoring was very enlightening. The savory flavor of the cardamom meshed well with the beers flavors without clashing. It was the intensity of the dosing that got the most comments - the extract was certainly potent, which was apparent once the medium-dosed (i.e. 6 drops) beer was opened. While not overbearing, I was asked if I could edge the cardamom flavor back a bit in the medium-dosed beer. The balance was in need of some tweaking. The heavy dosed beer (i.e. 12 drops) was just that – heavy with cardamom. The strength of the extract made the beer more like a cardamom drink flavored with beer as opposed to the other way around. A few tasters enjoyed this (and later admitted that they were big fans of cardamom), but it was in the wrong direction of what a spiced beer should be in my opinion (i.e. a solid beer with a hint or tease of the spice). The experiment was a great learning experience.

At the end of the tasting flight, I tallied up the suggestions on how I might be able to modify the recipe to improve beer. Below are a few bullet points with the most relevant / useful suggestions that I may consider using when I plan the rebrew.

• The existing beer would do better with a dosing in the 3-5 drop range per 12 oz
• The base beer needed a bit more maltiness to hold up to the cardamom flavoring as well as to support the mid-palate.
• A boost in the gravity and the resulting alcohol presence may help balance the cardamom
• Tone down the rye flavor a bit in the base beer so it is not so strong.

I’ll plan on rebrewing this beer sometime in the future and report back on whether the changes improved or detracted from the beer concept.  Otherwise, I hope the readers find this project to be interesting and potentially educational.

Slainte!

-JW


“"I drink when I have occasion, and sometimes when I have no occasion"
-Miguel de Cervantes

Recipe Formulation Project - Reference Guide
Project Introduction, Ingredient Pool, and Kick Off
Tom's Recipe: Beer Concept Initial Recipe and Brewing Initial Tasting Revision and Rebrew Follow-up Tasting	Jeff's Recipe: Beer Concept Initial Recipe and Brewing Initial Tasting Revision and Rebrew Follow-up Tasting

RFP - Jeff's Initial Recipe and Brewing

I realize that it has been over a year since we initially announced our Recipe Formulation Project (RFP) and while there was a lot of energy around it, the chatter died off after Tom completed his first beer for the project.  While I had every intention of brewing my beer, 2011 did me in with very few brew days, which caused my contribution to the project to get procrastinated.... seriously procrastinated.  However, with a new head of steam for brewing in 2012, I got back on the horse, compiled my recipe, and brewed the beer this past weekend.

As a quick synopsis, the RFP idea was a way for Tom and I to explore new ingredients that were outside our comfort zones.  Each of of us selected three randomly generated ingredients and had to brew a beer with two of the three.  For my beer, I was allotted rye malt, cardamom, and extra special malt (see the Beer Concept post for all the details).  My ingredients took me down the path of Danish dark rye bread, which was the inspiration for the recipe below.

The final recipe that was brewed is very similar to what was discussed in the beer's concept phase.  However, I did make a few modifications that should be noted:

• Rice hulls were added because of all the rye and oats in the recipe.
• Cardamom was kept out of the boil as I decided I'll add it at bottling/kegging.  I'll be using a a manner akin to the method Tom described, which will give me the ability to dial in the cardamom flavor and potency.
• The late addition of centenial hops was increased but pushed closer to flame out.
• WLP001 was used as the yeast in lieu of the English or lager strains I initially contemplated.  This yeast would be easy and have a clean character that would allow the other ingredients to take center stage.

Other than a slow sparging process and letting the wort get too cold during chilling (~45 F) which slowed the initial yeast activity, the brew day was a success.  In about 2-3 weeks, the beer should be ready for cardamom dosing.  I should be able to do a side by side with the spiced and non-spiced version to really understand how the spicing is complementing the end result.

Dark Side of Denmark Rye
Style: Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer

Recipe Specifications
---------------------
Batch Size: 6.00 gal
Boil Size: 7.0 gal
Measured OG: 1.046
Measured FG: 1.011
Estimated SRM: 17.5
Estimated IBU: 24.8 (Rager)
ABV: 4.6%
Brewhouse Efficiency: 73%
Boil Time: 60 Min

Grain / Extract / Sugar
----------------------
5.50 lb GlobalMalt Light Munich Malt (53.66%)
1.56 lb Weyerman Rye Malt (15.22%)
1.50 lb Rahr US 2-Row Malt (14.63%)
0.56 lb Flaked Oats (5.46%)
0.50 lb Crisp Crystal 45 Malt (4.88%)
0.38 lb Chocolate Rye Malt (3.71%)
0.25 lb Rice Hulls (2.44%)

Hops
-------
0.70 oz Sterling (6.0% alpha) at 60 minutes
0.80 oz Centennial (8.4% alpha) at 20 minutes

Extras
-------
40 drops of Foam Control in the boil


Yeast
------
1 vial of WLP001 (Cal Ale yeast) in a 1000 ml starter

Mash Schedule
---------------
60 min at 151 F

Notes
------
Brewed on 2/3/2012 by JW

Whirlfloc was left out of the brew by accident as I found out I had no more tablets when it came time to add it.

Aeration was accomplished via an aquarium pump and diffusion stone, run for 30 minutes.

Yeast was pitched into cold wort (45 F) and allowed to ramp up to the targetted 67 F fermentation temperature.  The low initial temperature caused a delay in the first signs of fermentation activity.

Cadamom, one of the required ingredients, will be added after fermentation at the type of packaging.

Feb 19, 2012 - All signs of fermentation activity have completed.  Dropped the temperature of the beer to 40 F to cold crash  prior to kegging.

March 25, 2012 - After being lazy with this beer and letting it sit in cold temp for 5 weeks, I finally got around to kegging it.  When I was pulling the carboy out, the carboy was under negative pressure (from when the beer got cold I guess) as the blow-off tube had sealed itself.  In my attempt to relieve the pressure in the better bottle carboy, the blow-off tube unsealed itself and sucked 1-2 cups of star san into the beer :(  The beer was kegged and put under Co2 gas to carbonate.

* * *

Slainte!

-JW


"Beer is the Danish national drink, and the Danish nation weakness is another beer"
-Clementine Paddleford

Recipe Formulation Project - Reference Guide
Project Introduction, Ingredient Pool, and Kick Off
Tom's Recipe: Beer Concept Initial Recipe and Brewing Initial Tasting Revision and Rebrew Follow-up Tasting	Jeff's Recipe: Beer Concept Initial Recipe and Brewing Initial Tasting Revision and Rebrew Follow-up Tasting

RFP - Spring In Your Step Initial Tasting

When Jeff and I started the Recipe Formulation Project (RFP) at the start of the year, one of the objectives was to brew the recipe at least twice.  We felt that only by committing to brew with new ingredients, and adjusting the recipe based on our tasting evaluation, could we begin to understand how professional brewers "tweak" and work with their recipes.  With that in mind, a couple trusted palates and I gathered at my house to evaluate my Spring in Your Step RFP beer.

Our general perception of the Spring in Your Step beer was that it fit with the beer concept, which was that the drinker was wishing Spring would come soon.  The beer displayed some citrus character that highlighted one of the theme ingredients.  It also featured a bit of sourness, which increased the refreshing perception of the beer.  This characteristic was complemented by the beer's dry finish and a hint of spiciness.

However, the tasters came away impression that the beer was stuck between "worlds."  While the beer had a hint of sourness, it was not truly sour.  While the beer had a hint of citrus, it lacked a distinctive citrus character.  The beer also seemed too bitter for its body and flavor base, in a way that pushed it towards an American pale ale character.  These different hints of flavors seemed to leave the taster with a muddled perspective, one that made the taster wish the beer would move in one of the three directions.  Add to that impression that the beer lacked any distinctive character from the other theme ingredient, honey malt, and it was obvious that some recipe re-tooling was in order.

After these flavor perceptions, I think the best direction to push the recipe would be toward sour citrus.  I love the flavors of a crisp margarita, especially in the Spring time.  The sour citrus character is refreshing and delightful.  Thus, I think I will retool the recipe to use more acidulated malt and provide more citrus character.  I have a feeling that the bitterness in the beer came from pith on the fruit rinds, so I plan on trying to reduce the pith next time.  As for the honey malt, I do not feel it added much to the finished beer.  So, I plan to reduce its percentage in the next batch's grist to encourage a crisp flavor finish.

Hopefully, the RFP experiment has been of interest to the Lug Wrench reader.  Stay tuned for the next version of Spring in Your Step.

Cheers,

TW

Recipe Formulation Project - Reference Guide
Project Introduction, Ingredient Pool, and Kick Off
Tom's Recipe: Beer Concept Initial Recipe and Brewing Initial Tasting Revision and Rebrew Follow-up Tasting	Jeff's Recipe: Beer Concept Initial Recipe and Brewing Initial Tasting Revision and Rebrew Follow-up Tasting

RFP - Tom's Initial Recipe and Brewing

In January, Jeff and I kicked-off our Recipe Formulation Project (RFP).  The core idea behind the project was to propel Lug Wrench into the recipe design and formulation world, a place where neither of of us had yet to venture.  I drew and decided to use two ingredients from our random list - honey malt and orange peel.  From these ingredients, I developed a beer concept called Spring in Your Step.  This concept was further refined into the recipe that can be found at the bottom of this post.

Spring in Your Step was brewed at the end of January.  The brew day was largely successful and I hit the majority of the target brew numbers (original gravity was only 0.02 specific gravity points low).  With all of the wheat in the mash, I elected to include rice hulls to prevent a stuck sparge.  A good rule of thumb is to use 0.5 pounds of rice hulls per 5 gallon batch if the recipe includes more than 25 percent wheat malt.  The only other notable issue dealt with the orange peel used in the recipe.  I forgot to purchase fresh oranges at the store before brew day and ended up using the peel of four tangerines that were slightly past their prime.  The peels were thinner than normal and did not have as much bright citrus aromatic oils as would be ideal, but the fruit was still good.

Spring in Your Step fermented normally at standard ale temperatures (68 F).  Even after crash cooling, settling, and the user of gelatin clarifier, the beer was cloudy.  With all of the wheat in the recipe, this is not completely unexpected.  However, it is possible that the suspended yeast and proteins played a role in the flavors in the beer early in its aging cycle, but more on that in a future post.

Here is a reference chart to keep track of the posts in the RFP project.  The Spring in Your Step recipe follows at the end of the post.

Recipe Formulation Project - Reference Guide
Project Introduction, Ingredient Pool, and Kick Off
Tom's Recipe: Beer Concept Initial Recipe and Brewing Initial Tasting Revision and Rebrew Follow-up Tasting	Jeff's Recipe: Beer Concept Initial Recipe and Brewing Initial Tasting Revision and Rebrew Follow-up Tasting

Cheers,

TW

----------------

Spring in Your Step
Style: American Wheat or Rye Beer

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 6.00 gal    
Boil Size: 7.95 gal
Estimated OG: 1.045 SG
Estimated Color: 5.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 27.2 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Grain/Extract/Sugar
------------
0.50 lb Rice Hulls
5.00 lb White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM)
2.75 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
0.50 lb Honey Malt (25.0 SRM)
0.50 lb Munich 10L (Briess) (10.0 SRM)
0.50 lb Wheat - White Malt (Briess) (2.3 SRM)
0.25 lb Acid Malt (3.0 SRM)

Hops
------------
0.50 oz Magnum [12.30 %]  (60 min)
0.25 oz Sarachi Ace [12.50 %]  (10 min)
0.25 oz Sarachi Ace [12.50 %]  (1 min)

Extras
------------
1.0 Tab Whirlfloc at 15 minutes
32 drops of Foam Control in the boil

Yeast
------------                    
11 grams - Safale US05 (Fermentis #US05), Dry Yeast

Mash Schedule
------------
60 min at 152.0 F

RFP - Jeff's Concept - Danish Dark Rye Bread

I have to admit that I am pretty excited to see how our Recipe Formulation Project is progressing.  The feedback we've recieved so far from readers has been very rewarding and inspirational - let's hope the results will live up to the hype.

So what did I want to do with my beer and the three ingredients I pulled for the project?  Based on the ingredients, something just clicked and I automatically started to think of Danish or Scandinavian breads.  Perhaps it was my mother-in-law lamenting about her lost Danish cookbook or something else, but the ingredients I had were perfect for taking my beer down this path.  The concept, which is described below, quickly began running with on its own feet.

To recap, my allotted ingredients that were randomly selected are:

• Extra Special Malt
• Rye Malt
• Cardamom

Danish Dark Rye Bread

Concept: To make a very drinkable beer reminiscent of Scandinavian dark rye or pumpernickel bread. I’d like to get a luscious character with notes of rye, sweet dark chocolate and coffee, but give it enough of a residual sweet impression to remind someone of a freshly bakes loaf of pumpernickel. Many of the Danish or Swedish recipes for sweet breads also combine the use of cardamom. As such, I’m going to fold that into the mix to give it a little complexity and depth. Cardamom is supposed to have a savory, aromatic flavor with notes of citrus which I think will help brighten up the dark bread character slightly. As I started to go down this path, my third ingredient (Extra Special Malt) got more and more isolated from the idea – I just don’t want that burnt sugar or raison/prune character, so it eventually got dropped.

When all is said and done, I want to beer to be sessionable and a bit more on the dry side to promote drinkability. Part of this has to do with the practical aspects of this project. Given I’ll end up with 5 gallons of the beer and I know I’ll rebrew it for another 5 gallons, I want to make sure that it’s something I can rip through pretty quick. I am a fan of The Bruery’s Rugbrod beer (Danish Rye Beer that Tom and I have enjoyed together), but at 8+% with considerable body, it’s nothing something I could turn the keg over quickly on.

Here’s a rough draft of the recipe and why I pulled in the ingredients I did:

Ingredient	Rough Amount	Reason
Munich Malt	55%	I want to get that underlying bready, malty character that I get in Munich Dunkels, so I went with Munich as the 'base' malt per se.
Rye Malt	16%	Required ingredient.  This will add the spicy, dry, rye character to complement the bready theme.  Everything I have read said to keep it between 10-20%.
US 2-Row Malt	13%	With Munich being the base malt, I am concerned about the diastatic power of the mash.  So to bump it up, I'll add 1-2 lbs of 2-row to bolster the enzymes.
Crystal 40 Malt	6%	Chosen to add a bit of toffee/molassas sweetness to help balance some of the roast and dark malts.
Flaked Oats	6%	Added to improve the body and add a luscious character.
Chocolate Rye Malt	4%	Partially added to bump up the color, but also to add a subtle roast / coffee flavor.  Given this is a Rye beer, I wanted to use this instead of normal chocolate malt.  Recommended amounts: 1-5%
Cardamom	? (1 tsp?)	Required ingredients.  I'm hoping the flavor contributions will add a contrast and lighten up the dark bread character from the rest of the ingredients.  The amount to add, however, is a mystery.  I've read it can be pretty powerful, so I would rather start small and slowly increase it.

For hops, I want to keep the bitterness low (20-25 IBU) mostly from a 60 minute addition of Perle, Magnum, or Williamette. Also, to work off the savory/citrus character of the cardamom, I’ll probably add a small addition of Centennial at 15 min just to give it a little complementing character – to diversity the complexity.

As for yeast, I’m still going back and forth. Originally I was going to do this as a lager to make it clean and focus on the malt/spices (perhaps the Danish lager yeast from Wyeast). However, I’m not sure if it is worth the lagering effort with all the other flavor components. Alternatively, I’m thinking about using a well attenuating English ale yeast and ferment it cold (65F) to keep the ester production down. If I did both of these yeast side by side, I’m under the assumption that I might not get too much difference, in which case the ale yeast will just be an easier step.

As I continue to put the recipe together, I would love to hear if anyone has any thoughts or suggests for the beer - drop us a comment or shoot me an email. 

Slainte!

-JW


"From man's sweat and God's love, beer came into the world."
-Arnoldus

Recipe Formulation Project - Reference Guide
Project Introduction, Ingredient Pool, and Kick Off
Tom's Recipe: Beer Concept Initial Recipe and Brewing Initial Tasting Revision and Rebrew Follow-up Tasting	Jeff's Recipe: Beer Concept Initial Recipe and Brewing Initial Tasting Revision and Rebrew Follow-up Tasting

RFP - Tom's Beer Concept - Spring in Your Step

As outlined in our kick-off post, Jeff and I are embarking on a Recipe Formulation Project (RFP).  This project should be a rewarding and enjoyable way to explore original recipe design.  The first step in this process is to conceptualize the recipe.  By developing the beer recipe from a firm inspiration, the brewer is more likely to succeed in creating something that has definition and, at a minimum, develops a nice back story for the beer.

My concept is that I miss Spring.  It has be cold down here in Virginia, colder than is seasonable on many days this winter.  While Virginia have not gotten as much snow as last year, there has been a lot of freezing rain.  My mind is looking forward to warmer weather, green plants, and all the good things of Spring.  The ingredients I drew inspired me to create a beer that will pull the drinker in this direction.

As a reminder, my randomly selected ingredients are:

• 7.   Honey Malt
• 13. Orange Peel
• 19. Fruit Puree/Juice 

The beer will likely be have a substantial wheat base, as many wheat beers can be light and refreshing.  Adding some light Munich malt to this base will help give a little malt complexity, but too much of this character could give the beer a bready character reminiscent of English ales.  The honey malt should add a light sweetness to the beer, which reinforces the Spring concept.  However, too much honey malt could make the beer cloying and less drinkable.  Fresh orange peel will reinforce both the honey sweetness and lend a refreshing character to the beer.  The addition of tartness or acidity can also reinforce a fresh flavor, so the recipe will likely use a small amount of acidulated malt.  The third ingredient, fruit puree or juice had some initial traction in the concept, but faded as ideas solidified around the honey malt and orange peel.

Given the Spring concept, and the fact that this beer will be brewed more than once, I want the beer to be sessionable.  This should translate in to a rough alcohol concentration around 4% ABV.

Ingredient	Rough Amount	Reason
Wheat Malt	55%	Light malt that can support the other Spring-inspired ingredients
Domestic 2-Row	28%	Contribute to the original gravity of the beer and provide diastatic power, but not create flavors that hide the wheat
Raw Wheat	5%	Provide some additional flavor complexity to the malted wheat
Munich Malt	5%	Add malt complexity, but used in an amount that does not push the beer into an English bready character
Honey Malt	5%	Contributes a light sweetness to the beer that will compliment the wheat and Munich
Acidulated Malt	~2%	Provide a slight tart flavor to reinforce a overall fresh taste
Fresh Orange Peel	A few oranges	Provide light citrus character to the beer to supplement the other Spring flavors

To support the easy-drinking nature of the recipe, the recipe will have a relatively low bitterness (~ 20 - 25 IBU), with small amounts of late hopping to reinforce a citrus or floral character.  The recipe will likely use a clean American ale yeast that stays out of the way of the other light Spring flavors, rather than a more flavor-forward German weizen or Belgian yeast strain.

I am looking forward to seeing how this concept becomes an actual recipe as the project moves forward.  I am also interested in seeing what Jeff comes up with.

Cheers,

TW

Recipe Formulation Project - Reference Guide
Project Introduction, Ingredient Pool, and Kick Off
Tom's Recipe: Beer Concept Initial Recipe and Brewing Initial Tasting Revision and Rebrew Follow-up Tasting	Jeff's Recipe: Beer Concept Initial Recipe and Brewing Initial Tasting Revision and Rebrew Follow-up Tasting

Recipe Formulation Project (RFP) – Concept and Kick Off

How many people know what really goes into their favorite beer?  What contributes the flavors in that harmonize with our taste buds and make a particular beer stand out from the rest?  The simple answer is the ingredients.  But in reality, it is the combination of all the ingredients and how they work together that make amiable flavors pop.  Being able to identifying these combinations and embody the flavors in beer is what separates good brewers from great brewers.

After some discussions with Tom, the two of us though it would be rewarding and enjoyable to setup a project to explore flavor combinations and recipe formulation.  By walking through the steps of building a recipe – conceptualization, initial brewing attempt, tasting and revising, rebrewing, etc – it would serve as a great tool to refine our own perception of beer and what ingredients contribute to what flavors.  Additionally, it presents another facet of brewing that the two of us could explore together through this blog – a core goal we established from the very beginning.  Furthermore, if through this exploration we can generate information or inspiration for anyone who reads through our ramblings, it would be a welcomed bonus.

As a place to jump off from and to make sure we don’t retreat to ‘brewing’ comfort zones, we decided to force our hands a little and incorporate some randomly assigned brewing ingredients.  This would accomplish two things: first, it would help provide direction for a recipe’s conceptualization.  Second, it forces either of us to expand the stable of ingredients we have familiarity and comfort with.  So after more discussion, the decision was made to move forward and we established the following guidelines for how the project would operate.

Recipe Formulation Project Ground Rules

1. Each participant is allotted three random ingredients from the list below.  Two of the three ingredients have to be used somewhere in the brewing recipe (i.e. one may be dropped).  Other ingredients may be used at the discretion of the participant. 
2. Each participant has to commit to brewing the recipe at least twice, which allows for sensory analysis and revision of the recipe.
3. Each participant must get feedback from other individuals (including other participants) when evaluating a particular iteration of the beer. 
4. Each participant must be willing to write about each step of the experience (both the good and the bad) as a means of disseminating the information to anyone else who is interested.

For the pool of random ingredients that Tom and I were going to pull from, we decided to limit to pool to 20 items.  Each item was considered both obtainable, in that they could easily be mail ordered if needed, but also it would not be an everyday brewing ingredients.  Compiling the initial list of ingredients generated over 30 items.  However, we implemented a veto option – if either of us did not want to brew with a particular ingredient, it was scratched from the list.  Through this, the collection of ingredients was whittled down to the following 20 items.

Pool of Brewing Ingredients (randomly select 3; may drop one)

1. Smoked Malt
2. Extra Special Malt
3. Rye Malt
4. Oat Malt
5. Flaked Oats
6. Flaked Rye
7. Honey Malt
8. Acidulated Malt
9. Caramel Wheat
10. Chocolate Rye Malt
11. Belgian Candi Sugar
12. Brown Sugar
13. Orange Peel
14. Cinnamon
15. Cardamom
16. Coco Nibs
17. Coriander
18. Oak Chips / Cubes
19. Fruit Puree / Juice
20. Coffee / Espresso

After pulling numbers randomly from a mug, Tom and I had our individual list of mandatory ingredients.  To be honest, the selection process worked out better than I had envisioned.  The combinations we each received were not clashing in any way.  Instead, each combination provided a muse and a direction we could explore.  However, where the combination pointed us too and how we took it are topics for future posts.

Assignment of Brewing Ingredients
Tom's Selections: 7. Honey Malt 13. Orange Peel 19. Fruit Puree / Juice	Jeff's Selections: 2. Extra Special Malt 3. Rye Malt 15. Cardamom

As this project progresses and the positives and negatives are reported back, it is our desire to present the information in an easily references format.  To keep things consistent and easy to navigate, we will use the same reference footer with links at the bottom of each post for the project.  In the beginning, when the links are disabled, the footer will act as an outline of what is to come.  As more and more components are posted and we are able to provide links between components, the footer will act as a navigation tool to assist getting at the information of interest.

Recipe Formulation Project - Reference Guide
Project Introduction, Ingredient Pool, and Kick Off
Tom's Recipe: Beer Concept Initial Recipe and Brewing Initial Tasting Revision and Rebrew Follow-up Tasting	Jeff's Recipe: Beer Concept Initial Recipe and Brewing Initial Tasting Revision and Rebrew Follow-up Tasting

The more interactive we can make this project, the more I believe we are going to get out of it. Tom and I are already planning to ship samples of each iteration to one another for ‘virtual’ tastings together (over the phone) to discuss what we have and how to refine it for the next brewing.

That being said, I'll throw the gauntlet out there and state in any if anyone else who reads this blog has the desire to participate, please do so. Just follow the guidelines above, randomly select your ingredients, and let us know how the recipe progresses.  You can even use a random ingredients generator a reader wrote for us - thanks Josh!  We'd love to keep tabs on anyone's thoughts, questions, or suggestions for the recipes, beers, concepts, or the project as a whole. So please do not hesitate to voice your thoughts either here as a comment or by shooting us an email. Input from those following this blog is one of the most rewarding features we get.

Slainte!

-JW

"Anyone can drink beer, but it takes intelligence to enjoy beer."
-Stephen Beaumont