Mr. Wizard
Using Sprouted Grains in Brewing
Digital and Plus Members OnlySprouted tricale grain. Photo courtesy of Epiphany Craft Malt Sprouted grains have been used for thousands of years for cooking and brewing, with malt being the ultimate sprouted grain product. The history of food and cooking is largely comprised of stories of trial and error, and the consumption of sprouted grains naturally began without people
Carbonating in Kegs or Growler
Digital and Plus Members OnlyHomebrew draft systems provide users a level of safety in the form of pressure relief valves. Photo by Christian Lavender This is a great question and one I always like answering. Beer can be conditioned, a.k.a. naturally carbonated, by capturing carbon dioxide produced by yeast in a conditioning tank, bottle, can, or keg. The most
The Effects Of Cold-Water Extraction
Digital and Plus Members OnlyHomebrewers are always pushing the envelope for cool ideas and this one is certainly doable. Let’s start with a quick review of what happens in a cold mash. When milled grains, be they unmalted or malted, are mixed with ambient water, soluble carbohydrates, proteins, and enzymes are brought into solution. Although malt certificates of analyses
An Unexpected Drop in Gravity
Digital and Plus Members OnlyI want to begin with a true confession about how I write this column. Using no special system, I select questions for discussion from those that are sent into BYO. The best questions are those with enough wiggle room to find some fun rabbit holes and angles. And most of the questions I select are
Ways to Brew Low-Alcohol and Non-Alcohol Beers
FREEBefore jumping into a review of some of the methods used to produce no- and low-alcohol beers, so-called NABLABs where NABs (non-alcohol beers) contain less than 0.5% ABV and LABs (low-alcohol beers)
A Dive Into Honey Malt
Digital and Plus Members OnlyThe rule of thumb when brewing with extracts is to steep crystal, caramel, and roasted specialty malts, and to mash specialty malts that contain starch. When crystal and caramel* malts are made, the malt starch is largely converted to fermentable sugars and dextrin in a step called stewing; this is basically mashing within the grain
Balancing A Draft System
Digital and Plus Members OnlyFor starters, thanks for the great link. Mike Soltys, PhD. is the brains behind the hose length calculator you referenced and he has taken a fluid dynamics approach to beer line calculations using the Bernoulli, Darcy Weisbach, and Swamee-Jain equations to develop his very cool tool! Pouring beer on draft and determining the ideal line
The Importance Of Fermentation Temperatures
Digital and Plus Members OnlyFermentation temperature definitely affects beer flavor and fermentation rate, however some yeast strains are more influenced by temperature than others. I will come back to this in a moment. Brewers who have a spot at home with a relatively constant temperature should consider making this their norm. My basement stays right at 64 °F (18
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