How long does it take to settle on a recipe for commercial production?
That depends on how familiar I am with the particular beer style. Have I ever made anything like this before? Sometimes I simply sit down and write the recipe in about an hour. Other times I research by reading various books (including Daniels and Mosher – home brewers have a great understanding of flavor because they try so many different recipe combinations). I sometimes talk to other brewers – I have a network of talented friends that help me. I also have a bbl Pilot Brewery for testing. In rare cases it might take me as long as six months to figure out a new beer. How much trial and error went into the recipe? Most times I make a new beer without any test batches but sometimes it takes a while. It took six years of test brewing to come up with Belgian Red. However, I have invested heavily into Quality Control and Research so that we are constantly testing and probing in order to make our beers better and better. It is a constant process. I am never happy and always look for ways to
