Choosing the Style

The very first thing you need to do when formulating your own recipe is to determine what kind of beer you want to brew. Do you want an ale or a lager? Do you want a light beer or a dark beer? Do you want a malty beer or a hoppy beer? The reason this is the first step is because all other decisions about what specialty grains, malt, hops, yeast and adjuncts to use will be heavily dependent upon the style of beer you want to brew. A "style" of beer is nothing more than a name for a group of beers that possess similar characteristics. To review all of the beer styles identified by the Association of Brewers and their characteristics, see the Beer Style Guidelines page.