Mr. Wizard
Always Question Your Instruments: I
My column usually lacks a theme within a single issue and my answers tend to be long, but this short answer is going to contribute to a theme in this issue about
Brewing Water Tweaks
Grain bill, grist ratio (mash thickness), and salt additions all affect mash pH. I am not going to address specific how-to details related to the EZ Water Calculator in this answer, but
The Subtleties of Beer Gas
Years ago I was talking to a crusty dude named Larry who worked for a local beer distributor about the dirty draft beer tricks that can be played by competing distributors. Larry
Talking Oxidation and Hop Fade
Follow-up to previous answer: I answered a question from Scot in Chicago, Illinois that was published in the November 2019 edition of BYO. His question was about hop fade and why some
Curing Sparging Woes
The likely culprit to this problem, assuming that you have been using the same basic recipe over the last 7–8 years, is beta-glucan from the flaked oats. I am betting on this
A Deep Dive Into The Dynamics of Glycol Chillers
Your question brings up several interesting points that could be expanded into deep dives into topics that most homebrewers would not find very useful, so I will avoid spending too much time
Combating Chloramine
As far as chloramine removal goes, your “belt and suspenders” method is more than capable of removing chloramines from water. Just to very briefly hit this topic, carbon filtration is a great
Post-Souring Gravity
Thanks for the interesting question, Duncan. The product you are using as your source of bacteria lists Lactobacillus plantarum as the only bacterial ingredient in this beverage. Lactobacillus plantarum is a facultative
Fermenting Lemon Juice
It seems that people, past and present, have accidentally or intentionally fermented just about everything. The easy way to categorize alcoholic beverages is by raw material; beer is made from grains, wine
Priming When Kegging
This is a popular topic and we have run many variations on this basic question in past issues of BYO. I believe that there are some reasons to keg condition and will
Multi-Batch Brewing
The answer is yes! This is a great way to produce more beer volume from a brewhouse of a fixed size and is commonly used by commercial brewers around the globe. The
The Details of Step-Mashing
Let’s start out with two quick answers to your questions. Heating time is definitely an important part of the mash and it most certainly should be counted. In fact, control over the
