10 Award-Winning Home Brew Recipes (2024)

Brewer: Phil Clarke Jr.
Style: Scottish wee-heavy
Competition results: Won first place in the strong ales category in the Knickerbocker Battle of the Brews (2001)

Extract recipe, 5-gallon batch size
Original gravity: 1.120
Final gravity: 1.030
Bitterness: 32 IBU
Alcohol by volume: 9.5 percent

15 pounds light dry malt extract
16 ounces 55-degree Lovibond crystal malt
4 ounces chocolate malt
4 ounces peat-smoked malt
2.25 ounces black malt
1 ounce Northern Brewer hops (10 percent AA), 60 minutes

Steep the grains in 1 gallon of 150-degree F water for 30 minutes. Sparge with 1 gallon of 150 F water. Add 1 gallon water and bring to boil. Remove from heat and the Dry Malt Extract. Bring to boil, stirring regularly. Add 1 ounce Northern Brewer hop pellets.

Boil for 60 minutes, stirring regularly. Remove from heat and cool. Add to fermenting bucket/carboy and top off to 5 gallons with cold water.

Fermentation: Aerate well and pitch two activator packs of Wyeast 1728 Scottish ale yeast. Aerate again 12 hours later. Let ferment at 60 F for two weeks. Let it sit at 60 F four more weeks. Prime with 1/2 cup of honey, dissolved in 1 cup of warm water.

Bottle and sample after six weeks.

Judges' notes: "Ridiculously over the top and too big for style. More please!"

Brewer: Phil Clarke Jr.
Style: Extra special bitter
Competition results: Placed second in a combined category of English pale ales, German wheat and rye ales, and sour ales at the 2006 Knickerbocker Battle of the Brews

All-grain recipe, 5-gallon batch size
Original gravity: 1.052
Final gravity: 1.013
Bitterness: 44 IBU
Alcohol by volume: 5.1 percent

7.75 pounds British two-row pale malt
.45 pounds Carahell malt
.68 pounds Victory malt
.45 pounds flaked barley
.83 pounds 40-degree Lovibond caramel malt
1 ounce Northern Brewer hops (4.8 percent AA), 60 minutes
1 ounce Fuggle hops (4.8 percent AA), 10 minutes
1 ounce Fuggle hops (4.8 percent AA), 1 minute

Mash the grain (cracked) in 16 quarts of water at 150 degrees F for 60 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon gypsum to water. Sparge until wort reaches a gravity of 1.010 (about 6.5 to 7 gallons). Boil wort, stirring occasionally, until batch reaches a volume of 5.75 gallons. Add 1 ounce of Northern Brewer hop pellets and boil for 60 minutes, adding 1 ounce of Fuggle hops with 10 minutes left in the boil, and another with 1 minute left in the boil. Remove from heat and cool to 70 F.

Fermentation: Aerate well and pitch one activator pack of Wyeast 1084 Irish ale yeast. Let ferment at 70 F for one week. Rack to secondary and let sit at 70 F two more weeks. Prime with 7/8 cup of honey, dissolved in 1 cup of warm water. Bottle. Sample after six weeks.

Judges' notes: Strong malty backbone makes this beer stand out.

Brewers: Ray Girard and Lee Jacobson
Style: American pale ale
Competition results: First place in the American ale category at the 2010 Hudson Valley Homebrew Competition

All-grain recipe, 6-gallon batch size
Original gravity: 1.053
Final gravity: 1.013
Bitterness: 40 IBU
Alcohol by volume: 5.3 percent

9 pounds American two-row malt
1 pound wheat malt
1 pound crystal 40L malt
1 pound Munich malt
0.5 pound Victory malt

1 ounce Columbus hops (14 percent AA), 20 minutes
.5 ounces Amarillo hops (8.5 percent AA), 10 minutes
.5 ounces Centennial hops (10 percent AA), 10 minutes
1 ounce Columbus hops (14 percent AA), 5 minutes
1 ounce Centennial hops, 0 minutes (meaning add this at the same time the flame under the boiling wort is turned off)
1 ounce Amarillo hops, 0 minutes

Mash at 152 degrees F. Boil 60 minutes

Fermentation: Ferment at 68 F with Wyeast 1056. Let it drop clear, because the beer will be harsh until it does, as a lot of resins bind the yeast. Carbonate to 2.5 volumes. Drink while fresh.

Brewer's notes: This scored something ridiculous like 45 points (out of 50). It has a lot of hop flavor without a lot of bitterness; it balances big hop flavor with big maltiness. No traditional bittering hops, all hop-bursted (large amounts of hops added late in the boil). It's probably more aggressive than a classic example, but very drinkable (if you like hops).

Brewers: Jacques Alcabes and Mathias Willner
Style: Rye saison with brettanomyces
Competition results: Third place in the Belgian specialty ale category of Homebrew Alley 6 (2012)

Partial-mash recipe, 5-gallon batch size
Original gravity: 1.065
Final gravity: 1.015
Bitterness: 31.5 IBU
Alcohol by volume: 6.7 percent

3 pounds rye malt
2.5 pounds Belgian pilsner malt
1 pound brown Belgian candi sugar
0.5 pounds CaraWheat Malt
3.5 pounds extra-light dry malt extract
0.75 ounces Chinook hops (14.1 percent AA), 50 minutes
1 ounce East Kent Golding hops (5.7 percent AA), 15 minutes
.5 ounces Chinook hops (14.1 percent AA), 2 minutes

2 vials of White Labs WLP565 Belgian Saison I Ale
1 vial of White Labs WLP650 Brettanomyces Bruxellensis
2 packs (WLP565) in primary fermentation but no yeast starter. Rocked carboy. Yeast nutrientand whirlfloc tablet for last 10 minutes of the boil.
1 pack of WLP650 in secondary

Mash grains for 60 minutes at 150 degree F, and boil wort for 90 minutes.

Fermentation: Pitch two vials of White Labs WLP565 yeast, rock the fermenter to aerate, and ferment for 3 weeks before racking to secondary and adding Brettanomyces and 2 ounces of oak that have been soaking in rye whiskey for about a week. (Also dump in the rye.) Allow eight weeks for secondary fermentation before kegging or bottling.

Brewer's notes: The idea was to try to get something spicy and funky, as if you had licked the side of a horse stable for some reason, but it turned out to be cleaner than expected. The yeasts worked well together, and with the rye and oak no single flavor was too overpowering. Adding the brettanomyces after primary fermentation limited the funk to a more modest level. To me, this type of experimental beer is about two things. One, starting with a unique idea and an interesting flavor profile to develop. And two, balance—many of my beers that start as odd experiments come out way too strong in one aspect or another; I don't really know any formula for this, though it's some combination of experience and luck.

Brewer: Zack Kinney
Style: American IPA with habañero
Competition results: First place in the spice, herb, or vegetable beer category of Hudson Valley Homebrewers 22nd Annual Competition (2012)

All-grain recipe, 5.25-gallon batch size
Original gravity: 1.068
Final gravity: 1.010
Bitterness: 82.3 IBU
Alcohol by volume: 7.7 percent

11 pounds Briess two-row malt
1 pound Briess White Wheat
1 pound Munich malt
1 pound Vienna malt
11 ounces Gambrinus Honey Malt
5 ounces Crystal 20L
.5 ounces Warrior hop pellets (17.2 percent AA)—first wort, 60-plus minutes
1 ounce Centennial hop pellets (8.7 percent AA), 60 minutes
.5 ounces Warrior hop pellets (17.2 percent AA), 15 minutes
1 ounce Citra Hop pellets (13.4 percent AA), 5 minutes
1 ounce Warrior hop pellets (17.2 percent AA), 5 minutes
1 ounce Citra Hop pellets (13.4 percent AA), flameout
1 ounce Citra Hop pellets—dry-hop, seven days
1 ounce Cascade hop pellets—dry-hop, seven days
1 habañero chili pepper (Roast pepper for approximately 3 minutes over an open flame, just enough to get a bit of char on the outer skin. Then cut in half and soak in 46 ounces of vodka for 48 hours to sterilize. Add entire chili to secondary for seven days and reserve the vodka to blend back into the finished beer.)
3 vials of WLP001 California Ale

Mash for 60 minutes at 151 degrees F and mash out for 10 minutes at 168 F. Boil for 60 minutes. When yeasting, use a rocked carboy for about 5 minutes to oxygenate. Add 3 vials of yeast (no starter).

Fermentation: Primary fermentation for three weeks at 68 F. Cold-crash for two days. Rack to secondary and dry-hop/dry-habañero with 1 ounce Citra, 1 ounce Cascade, and 1 habañero chili pepper (pith, seeds, and all) for seven days. Cold-crash again for two days; rack to keg and force-carbonate.

Water profile: NYC tap water and added 2 teaspoons gypsum (calcium sulfate) to mash.

Brewer's notes: I've brewed this recipe a few times (another version of this recipe placed first in the same category at the 6th Annual New England Regional Homebrew Competition) and am still tweaking certain elements of the base IPA, but the overall concept seems to be working: a solid malt backbone plus firm bitterness plus fresh American citrus/tropical hops plus habañero chili pepper flavor/heat. Dry hopping with the habañero didn't quite give me enough flavor or heat, which is why I added a measured amount of the infused vodka as well. However, it's important to taste the beer after secondary and while adding the vodka to make sure you don't overdo the heat. This beer goes great with BBQ or Mexican food.

Judges' notes: "Great American IPA with a good hops-to-pepper balance; very good beer; great heat on pepper; can only drink a snifter at a time!!" "This is an awesome beer! Solid IPA backbone with the American hops, and the added unique citrus quality is beautiful. The balanced chili addition is exceptional. Please send me some!"

Brewers: Jonathan Moxey and Jason Rodriguez
Beer Style: Berliner weisse
Competition results: First place in the sour ales category of Homebrew Alley 6 (2012)

All-grain recipe, 5.5-gallon batch size
Original gravity: 1.035
Final gravity: 1.005
Bitterness: 5 IBU
Alcohol by volume: 4 percent

3.5 pounds German pilsner malt
3.5 pounds German white-wheat malt
0.5 pounds rice hulls
0.75 ounce whole-leaf Hallertauer hops (6.5 percent AA), added during decoction
1 pack rehydrated US-05 dry yeast and 2 packs of Lactobacillus (I used Wyeast 5335)

Mash at 149 degrees F for 45 minutes. Pull 3.5-quart decoction (thickest part of the mash) and bring to boil with hops for 15 minutes. Add back to mash, recirculate, and sparge. Then move directly to carboy.

Yeast-pitching procedure: Pitched the yeast and the lactobacillus at the same time. I probably added 60 seconds of pure O₂.

Fermentation: I fermented in the mid-70s F. No temp control, just ambient apartment temp.

Brewer's notes: I adapted this recipe from the "no-boil method" Kristen England describes in Stan Hieronymus's Brewing with Wheat. Without a boil to sanitize the wort, I took the added precaution of sanitizing my mash tun before doughing in. Our goal was to create a refreshing, low-alcohol "lemonade" for summer, and we wanted to minimize any chance of outside critters contaminating the brew. I checked the fermentation after a week and it was near terminal gravity and clean. It took about 1-1/2 months for it to develop an assertive level of sourness. We bottled at four volumes with corn sugar.

Brewer: Keith Koval
Style: Hefeweizen
Competition results: First place in the German wheat and rye beer/weizen category of Homebrew Alley 6 (2012)

All-grain recipe, 5-gallon batch size
Original gravity: 1.046
Final gravity: 1.010
Bitterness: 13 IBU
Alcohol by volume: 4.8 percent

5 pounds German pilsner
5 pounds wheat malt
.25 ounces Hallertuaer Mittelfrüh hops pellets (3 percent AA), 90 minutes
.75 ounces Hallertuaer Mittelfrüh hops pellet (3 percent AA), 60 minutes
WLP380 Hefeweizen IV ale yeast

Use distilled water with 1 g CaCl per gallon in the mash and add 1 g CaCl per gallon of sparge water directly to the boil. Mash for 10 minutes at 113 degrees F, 10 minutes at 122 F, 60 minutes at 149 F, and 10 minutes at 168 F. Boil for 90 minutes.

Fermentation: Make 1 liter of starter wort and aerate it on a stir plate. Add oxygen in-line as the wort was transferred from the chiller to the carboy. Pitch yeast at 58 F. Allow fermentation to rise to 62 F for the first three days. Raise temperature to 65 F for four more days. Then raise to 68 F to clean up any off flavors. Drop temperature to 34 F for three days to crash yeast, proteins, and tannins. Keg and carbonate to 4 volumes CO₂.

Brewer's notes: This is a very simple recipe that relies on fermentation-derived flavors and proper mouth feel to achieve the best result. The step mash procedure I used was developed via trial and error over a number of batches. The ferulic acid rest increases the clove character of the beer, while the protein and the low saccharification-rest temp creates a highly fermentable wort with a creamy mouthfeel. Carbonating to 3.5 to 4 volumes is necessary for this beer to be true to style and enhances the mouthfeel and refreshing nature of the beer.

Brewer: Jason Rodriguez
Style: Imperial bière de garde
Competition results: First place in the Belgian and French ale category of Homebrew Alley 6 (2012)

All-grain recipe, 5.5-gallon batch size
Original gravity: 1.074
Final gravity: 1.003
Bitterness: 20.1 IBU (Tinseth)
Alcohol by volume: 9.3 percent

7 pounds German Pilsner
3 pounds rye malt (4,7 SRM)
1 pound flaked barley
1 pound Biscuit malt (23 SRM)
1 pound Munich malt (10 SRM)
8.0 ounces of Carabrown (55 SRM)
2 pounds of table sugar, added at end of boil
0.5 pound rice hulls
1.0 ounce First Gold hops (7.5 percent AA), 60 minutes
Bière de Garde (Wyeast 3725)

Mash for 60 minutes at 148 degrees F, 30 minutes at 158 F, and mash out at 168 F. Boil for 90 minutes.

Make four 1-liter starters (stir plate) from one WYeast pack. The total cell count: 600 billion. Wort was oxygenated with pure O₂ for 2 minutes before pitching. I fermented for one month in primary at ambient temperature. I let the beer free-rise, and temperature peaked at 76 F by day three of fermentation. Most activity was done by the end of one week. Racked to keg and lagered for four months before sampling. Carbonated to 2.8 volumes of CO₂.

Brewer's notes: I think this yeast strain was the dominating force behind the beer, as the beer superattenuated. I likely pitched more cells than normal. The result was an extremely dry beer completely masked by lots of fruity esters. Rumor has it that this strain of yeast (Wyeast 3725) is the Fantome strain.

Brewer: Kyler Serfass
Style: Belgian wit
Competition results: Best of show at the Brewer's East End Revival (BEER) 15th Annual Brew-off Homebrew Competition (2012)

All-grain recipe, 6-gallon batch size
Original gravity: 1.051
Final gravity: 1.011
Bitterness: 19.2 IBU

4.5 pounds Belgian pils
4.5 pounds pale wheat malt
1 pound Golden Naked Oats
1 pound flaked wheat
.5 pounds rice hulls
12 grams Crystal hops (3.5 percent AA)—added during boil, boiled 60 minutes
15.0 grams Hallertauer Tradition hops (6.5 percent AA)—added during boil, boiled 60 minutes
12 grams Czech Saaz hops (4 percent AA)—added during boil, boiled 30 minutes
14.2 grams coriander, crushed—added dry to secondary fermenter
3.0 ounces citrus zest—added during boil, boiled 10 minutes
1.0 liter Starter WYeast 3944 Belgian Wit
NYC tap water, added 1 gram gypsum and 1.5 gram CaCl to the boil. Mash pH was 5.56 at room temperature.

Mash at 154 degrees F for 60 minutes and boil for 90 minutes.

Fermentation: Make a 1-liter starter the night before on a stir plate. Use a wine degassing rod attached to a cordless drill for 30 seconds to draw in oxygen (in the current setup I use pure O₂.) Ferment the beer at 64 F for about two weeks, raising the temperature toward the end of fermentation.

Brewer's notes: I believe the key to this recipe is using fresh citrus zest. I used a mixture of grapefruit, lemon, and navel and Valencia orange zest. Also, get the freshest green coriander you can get—it's important. I also completely forgot to add the coriander to the boil, so I made a "tincture" by boiling the coriander for 10 minutes in about 4 ounces of water and added it to the serving keg. I also think that the Golden Naked Oats are much more flavorful than flaked or raw wheat, and I sub them in all recipes calling for flaked wheat. The beer peaked at about 5 weeks after brewing, when all the flavors came together and seemed balanced.

Brewer: Fritz Fernow
Style: American IPA
Competition results: First place in the India pale ale category of the first round of the 2012 National Homebrew Competition

All-grain recipe, 6-gallon batch size
Original gravity: 1.062
Final gravity: 1.012
Bitterness: About 80 IBU
Alcohol by volume:: 6.7 percent

12 pounds two-row malt
1 pounds Simpsons Caramalt
8 ounces Carapils
4 ounces Red Wheat
.5 ounces Citra hops (11 percent AA), first wort hop
.5 ounces Magnum hops (14 percent AA), 60 minutes
.75 ounces Chinook hops (12 percent AA), 60 minutes
.5 ounces Centennial hops (10.5 percent AA), 20 minutes
1 ounce Citra hops (11 percent AA), 10 minutes
1 ounce Columbus hops (15 percent AA), 5 minutes
2 ounces Amarillo hops (7.5 percent AA), 1 minute
1 ounce Amarillo hops, 1 ounce Centennial Hops, .5 ounce Simco Hops—primary dry hop
1 ounce Citra hops—secondary dry hop
Whirlfloc and 1 teaspoon Wyeast nutrient, 10 minutes.
White Labs 001 California Ale Yeast

Mash for 60 minutes at 152 degrees F. Add the first-wort Citra hops addition to the boil kettle before the boil begins and begin heating the wort as soon as an inch or so of wort is collected in the kettle, continuing to run off the rest of the mash until full volume is reached.

Fermentation and dry-hopping procedure: Make a 1600-milliliter starter created 24 hours in advance of brew day. Pitch yeast at 66 degrees F and maintain. Aerate with pure O₂ for 45 seconds. Begin the dry hop after three to four days of fermentation. Add the primary dry-hop addition to the fermentation vessel and let rest for a week. When fermentation stops, do a dactyl rest by raising temperatures three to four degrees for two days. Transfer the beer off the dry hops and into a new vessel one full week after they were added. In this secondary vessel add ounce of Citra and let rest for once week before kegging or bottling.

Brewer's notes: For dry hopping and aroma hops you need to be fearless—the more the merrier. I like to ferment IPAs in a bucket as opposed to my standard carboy for ease of dry hopping. The first round of dry hopping gets 2.5 ounces of hops. I do this by boiling a hop bag and 3 ounces of marbles for 10 minutes to sanitize them, and then add the 2.5 ounces of hops—take the lid of the bucket and toss them in. In the morning I will give the carboy a slight back-and-forth rock for about 15 seconds to get the hops mixed into the beer well. I will repeat at night when I get home from work.

Batch size: The amount of beer present by the end of your batch.

Original gravity: The amount of sugars present in the wort before the yeast is pitched.

Final gravity: The amount of residual sugars present in the beer after fermentation.

Bitterness: Measured in International Bittering Units (IBU). The higher the number, the more bitterness you can expect.

Color: The Standard Reference Measurement (SRM) reflects degrees Lovibond, which range from 3.5 for a pilsner shade to more than 25 for a nearly opaque stout.

Hops: Different hop strains provide different flavors and impart varying levels of bitterness. The percentage listed indicates the bitterness level for that strain. The number of minutes listed in the recipe indicates how long each addition should be boiled. Thus, a 60-minute hop addition should be added at the beginning of the boil, and a 5-minute hop addition should be added 5 minutes before the flame is turned off and cooling has begun. Dry hop additions get added after fermentation has been completed.

Learn your boil-off rate: Boil a fixed amount of water as a test to find out how much water your system loses to evaporation during a boil (it can vary from brewer to brewer, with variables such as kettle size and burner output). This will tell you how much wort you need in order to reach your targeted batch size. For instance, if you fill your kettle with 4 gallons of water, boil it for a half-hour, and find that you're left with 3.5 gallons of water, then you know that you're boiling away a half-gallon every 30 minutes.

Adjusting the gravity of a beer: If your gravity readings are off from your targets, you can add dry malt extract to raise the gravity or add water to lower the gravity. Just make sure that dry malt extract adjustments are added at the beginning of the boil.

Adjusting the bitterness of a beer: The bitterness levels (alpha acids, or percentage AA) of hops vary from crop to crop, but you can make some quick adjustments to ensure that your bitterness remains consistent. Just plug the numbers into a brewing software program or free online tool such as Beer Calculus to figure out the amount of hops to add to a beer to hit a recipe's targeted bitterness level. Also note: Home brewers write their recipes in a fairly standard format in which hop boil times refer to the minutes left in the boil when hops are added. So, a 60-minute hop addition is boiled for 60 minutes after the hop addition.

Yeast quantities: Pitching the proper amount of yeast is important for any recipe. We highly recommend using Mr. Malty's Pitching Rate Calculator to determine how much yeast you'll need for any beer recipe. The calculator is a free online tool and is also available as a paid iPhone app.

How to brew: Before attempting these recipes you should have a basic understanding about how to home-brew. Refer here for Popular Mechanics primers on making extract beer and here for a primer on all-grain recipes.