Mr. Wizard
Get The Scoop On Dip Hopping
Digital and Plus Members OnlyPerhaps the most interesting things about dip hopping are the amount of data about the technique along with its relatively low-profile presence in the weird world of brewing hype. Before jumping into process details, let’s check out a timeline of how this method got started and introduced to US craft brewers.In 2012, brewers from Japan’s
The Importance Of A Diacetyl Rest
Digital and Plus Members OnlyDiacetyl rests or colloquially known as d-rests, whether brewing lagers or ales, are good insurance policies to help ward off diacetyl. Many recipes focus on wort production and provide little in the way of specific guidance when it comes to fermentation and aging. This is especially true when it comes to nuanced methods like addressing
Munich Malts Explained
Digital and Plus Members OnlyThe differences among specialty malts is confusing for a number of reasons, including how the same description, such as Munich or crystal, is used for a wide range of malts. And some maltsters use creative names, for example a German-sounding word or a word with an oddly placed umlaut, to suggest a malt type. Let’s
The Importance of Removing Trub
Digital and Plus Members OnlyWhirlpooling is one popular technique that helps separate the wort from the break material formed during boil and chilling. Photo by Charles A. Parker/Images Plus The range of methods used by brewers to produce beer certainly is not lacking of variety. There are commercial brewers of great, hoppy beers who accept high wort losses when
The Necessity For Sanitizing Everything Post-Chilling
Digital and Plus Members OnlyThis question is timely; the last time I brewed I was daydreaming about the necessity of sanitizing everything that touches beer after wort cooling because the use of sanitizers is relatively new in the history of beer. Sure, there was a lot of sour and spoiled beer before the introduction of modern hygienic practice, but
Homebrewer’s Uses for a Spare Fridge
Digital and Plus Members OnlyGlad to see you following one of the most important homebrewing rules of thumb; accept anything for free that can be used to further your pursuit of great beer! For what it’s worth, here are a few questions to consider when these great opportunities arise. If it doesn’t work, how much to repair? How much
Using a Corny Keg For Chilling & Primary Fermentation
Digital and Plus Members OnlyThere are a few possible problems with this plan, but none are insurmountable. What you are describing is something akin to coolships that were ubiquitously used by lager and ale brewers before better types of coolers were used. Even after the development of modern wort cooling using plate coolers, some lager brewers continue to use
Beer Clarification Advice
Digital and Plus Members OnlyMy preference of clarification method is based more on process constraints than any true affinity for a particular method. Gravity plus time, finings plus time, filtration, centrifugation, and combinations of these can all be used to produce clear beer. From a commercial perspective, I prefer methods that are fast and effective while consuming as little
Calibrating a pH Meter With Distilled Water
FREEOn paper, using distilled water as a pH 7.0 makes sense because the ionization constant is 1 x 10-14 and the concentration of hydrogen ions is 1 x 10-7 molar at 77
Troubleshooting A Smoky Off-Flavor
Digital and Plus Members OnlyI like to troubleshoot off-flavors by thinking through the brewing process as a way of brainstorming. Plugging these thoughts into a visual aid like a fishbone diagram really helps to identify possible causes of the problem in question. Figure 1 illustrates the possible causes of smoky beer aroma that I can think of. I will
Do Corn and Rice Adjuncts “Dry Out” Beer?
Digital and Plus Members OnlyDryness is a perception when used as a sensory term and as an analytical/numerical thing when used to describe fermentation. When wort is “fermented to dryness,” all fermentable sugars have been fermented by the yeast strain being used. Because of differences among yeast strains some yeasts can ferment sugars that others cannot, and some strains
Clues To Identifying An Infection
FREEIdentifying beer spoilage by visual observation can be a challenge, but the photo of your brew does look suspect. If I were to wager a bet, my money would be on Acetobacter