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We have two options for the upcoming stout and chili night.
Option 1: Malt school - Pick 6 different base/specialty malts and make beer styles that accentuate that malts flavor(example munich malt we could do a 100% munich malt Munich Dunkel). We would learn about the history of malts and beer, various malting/roasting techniques, and the flavors they produce in beer. Could also partner with and promote our new grain provider in Muntons!
Option 2: Additives school - More and more people are adding in food/flavors in to their beers but many are reticent to get started because they don't know exactly what to do and their is a lot of conflicting information out there. Discuss and learn secret tips and tricks to adding in food additives in to your beer. We would brew 6 beers all with a culinary inspiration in mind and teach others how to add a little extra spice to their brewing.
I'd prefer stouts as it's such a big style. Oatmeal, sweet, dry, RIS, blah blah.
I do like the additives idea .. but I think in order to get the concept of how different additives can change a flavor profile, the same base beer should be used.
I’m all for additives as well. Just keep in mind that so many beers for this night already have additives. It would be nice to highlight how the additives were added to the beer. That way you can see if you like how it was used or maybe it will help you to understand a different way to use it.
Well my $.02 is not to worry about the "same base beer" - I'd expect most additives (cocoa, chili, fruit and ... peanut butter?) all are pretty strong flavors. Some go better with either strong stout base (chili/cocoa?) others with lighter Irish dry stout base (fruits)?
But I'll go with the flo.
Looks like we have a pretty clear winner here. I'll do some research today and tomorrow on if there are any experiments or crafty ways to run with the additives idea. I was leaning towards going all base stout recipe, since it is stout and chili night, but having a nice change of pace on the keezer might be nice too if everyone is brewing stouts elsewhere. I'll discuss with the hosts and we'll come up with the biggest bestest greatest idea.
My two cents: It might be a good idea to tailor the base beer to the additives, that will not only illustrate the diversity of additives and beer, but will also give us some more style choices at the party.
Agree with Jeff. The number 1 objective should be making good beer, not necessarily trying to isolate a particular flavor.