You know when you see an ad for a new piece of homebrew equipment and then you spend the next couple of days trying to justify a good excuse to buy it? For me, that happens just about every time I pick up a homebrew mag or do some on-line window shopping. Lately, I’ve been spending (too much) time looking at a way to up my fermenter game. I’m tired of the weight and fragility of glass carboys. Plus I’ve had my share of bad luck with plastic carboys. And then there’s the trusty bucket. Say what you will, but the 6-gallon plastic bucket is still a great buy. But upping my game means … [Read more...]
Denali Single Hop IPA: Cloudy With A Chance Of Juicy
Brewing IPAs and Pale Ales are pretty much my go-to when homebrewing. I can keep the ABV in check and most of my beer drinking friends are on board drinking them. However, getting the chance to highlight one hop might be fun for me, but can prove to be a bit challenging for others. Often times a single hop beer just doesn’t give you that complete tasting beer. A common response is, “Tastes good, but seems like it’s missing something”. So when it comes to brewing single hop beers, I normally choose an American Wheat as the base beer style. I like the extra body the beer gets from the yeast … [Read more...]
Craft Malting is Ready for Prime Time. Here’s What You Should Know.
It was bound to happen. We have new & experimental hop varieties, small yeast suppliers, and now -- craft maltsters. I’ve been seeing the words like “craft malting” and “micro malting” and “floor malting” before, but what do they mean? And what do they mean to homebrewers? I recently read about Admiral Maltings in Northern California that is starting to get a craft malt house in full production. What’s really interesting about Admiral is that they also are going to build a brewpub to better highlight the grains that they are malting. I reached out to the crew over at … [Read more...]
Amoretti Fruit Flavoring: A Taste Test
It seems every tap list these days includes some type of fruited beer. IPAs, Blondes, Belgians, and who knows what’s next? As a homebrewer, I’ve brewed my share of fruit themed beers. Peach Saison, Strawberry Porter, Mango Blonde and Cherry Stout. The one thing in common with all those beers is I used fresh or frozen whole fruit. But what about infusions, extracts, and purees? Homebrewers have the luxury of brewing small batches where adding fresh fruit is pretty easy. Whether you're hitting up the local farmers market and picking up a few pounds of seasonal fruit or picking up a bag of … [Read more...]
Kill The Flame! An American Stout
Homebrewing is about inspiration. It's not hard to find great beer anymore, so I need be challenged. Building the recipe can be just as much fun as the brew day itself. This beer name, Kill the Flame, came to me on a drive home a few month back. I just heard the new CD from Leonard Cohen, and the song "You Want It Darker" struck me as both an ominous and beautiful. The line in the song "we kill the flame" has stayed with me. On a sad note, we lost Mr Cohen on 11/7/16, only a few short weeks from the release of his last album. Using the song as my muse, I wanted a dark beer … [Read more...]
The Corny Keg Has Some New Competition
Two things that make homebrewing fun for me: trying out new equipment and figuring out ways to save time without sacrificing quality. … [Read more...]
Brewing A Beer Style You’ve Never Tasted – Kentucky Common
How do you build a recipe for a beer style you’ve never tasted? How do you do you know it tastes right? I decided to brew a Kentucky Common, a historic style that was recently added to the BJCP guidelines. I didn’t pick this style because my friends don't know what it should taste like so if it sucked, I could easily blame it on bad historic records. No, I picked this style because it had elements of homebrewing that I never tried before. 6-Row Barley Corn Grits A Cereal Mash Where to start? The new BJCP guidelines provided a quick historical review of the Kentucky … [Read more...]
Review of Mastering Homebrew by Randy Mosher
Do we really need another book about homebrewing? I’ve picked up a bunch of homebrewing books over the past few years. Many are filled with nothing but regurgitated information that you can find anywhere or too style/ingredient specific to be used as a general homebrewing reference. Also, it's hard to beat some of the tried and true classics like The Complete Joy of Homebrewing by Charlie Papazian or How to Brew by John Palmer. The truth is, there is so much online information about brewing that I can get some really solid information about specific techniques or ingredients with just … [Read more...]
Barrel Tips from the Pros at Firestone Walker Barrelworks
Welcome to part two of my conversation with Jeffers Richardson and Jim Crooks of Firestone-Walker Barrelworks (Read Part 1 here). In this post we discuss picking the right barrel and how to prepare it for use. As you will read, the barrel is just as important (and maybe more) as the wort or beer going into it. … [Read more...]
Firestone Walker – Barrelworks Q & A: The Origins
As a long time homebrewer, I sometimes think this whole brewing thing is pretty easy. That's until you run into guys as passionate and knowledgable as Firestone Walker's Jeffers Richardson, Barrelmeister & Barrelworks Director and Jim Crooks (AKA Sour Jim) Master Blender. It's truly humbling talking beer with these guys. They are knowledgable, without a doubt, but also more than willing to share it. … [Read more...]
Ask the Experts: What’s the Most Overlooked Item in Beer Recipe Development?
When planning your next homebrew, have you ever thought: If I could just ask a professional this question, I would nail my next batch? While some are lucky enough to have a pro to ask questions to, others rely on what they can find: the internet, books and other homebrewers. While these provide great and accurate information, you sometimes just don't get the inside scoop. So I reached out to a few of my favorite brewers and asked them one question: "What is the one most over-looked item (or thing) when developing a recipe?" I think you might be surprised by how some of the most … [Read more...]
Return of the White Falcon
A few years back I got to try GumballHead from Three Floyds via beer trade. Back then (and even now) American Wheat is not beer style beer you find a lot of in Southern California. … [Read more...]
How to Make Plum Wine
Are you looking to try your hand at an alternative fermentation? How about a fruit wine...and I'm not talking grapes. I'm going to show you how to make plum wine. Yes, I know it's a little early in the season to be picking plums, but it's a great time to start planning your future "brews". Plums start to hit the stores in May, so you have a little time to start your planning and researching. Last August I did my first plum wine and I wish it did it a little earlier in the season as the plums in my area were not as flavorful that late in the season and the choices in varieties … [Read more...]
Barrel Fermented French Saison
When you get the chance to use a whiskey barrel in your homebrewing adventures, you really need to make the most if it. … [Read more...]
Dry Hopping Bud Light to Test New Varieties
I have always felt that the descriptions of hops often don't match my expectations of what I should get in the final beer. Some of that has to do with the amount hops, freshness, the recipe, but I also think one person's description may differ greatly from another's. A while back, I saw a post from Anchor Brewing about adding hops to a packaged light lager in order to obtain a profile of a new hop. What a great idea! I have done off flavor tasting in a similar manner, but never thought about doing it with hops. … [Read more...]