Mr. Wizard
Outdoor refrigeration
The refrigeration cycle is pretty nifty and its development began in the late 1700s. The earliest use of commercial refrigeration occurred sometime in the mid 1800s by, you guessed it, breweries. The
Ramping Up to a Boil
n a very general sense the time required to bring wort to a boil can cause problems when the time is too long. Holding hot wort for extended time periods leads to
Adding Extract to Make Big Beers
I love this idea for a number of reasons. The first reason is that many malt extracts seem to be less fermentable than the preference of my palate. If you open a
Mash pH Importance
Mash pH is extremely important. Enzyme activity is a function of pH and all enzymes are only active in a relatively narrow range around their optimum pH. In the case of mashing,
Over-Oxygenation of Wort
I have been writing this column for nearly 18 years and I think I have been writing about the importance of wort aeration for nearly the same time period. While oxygen is
Batch Sparging Temperatures
This question is a bit more about semantics than any real issues with sparge temperature, in my view of things. Bear with me while I explain how commercial brewers normally mash out
Chill Haze
I am one of those brewers who believe in sticking to the fundamentals of brewing and then bringing in special tools and brewing aids only after knowing that the fundamentals are being
Hop Oils
I consider my knowledge on this topic typical for the average craft brewer and will answer your question from my perspective and comment on some of the topics brewers and hop researchers
How many batches does it take to make good beer?
Wow, this is really the million dollar question. I don’t think there is any magic number of brews that are required before a brewer successfully brews the first batch of good beer.
Mash Hopping
Thanks for the good question, Keith. I have always thought that the notion of adding hops early in the process, either as mash additions or pre-boil additions to the kettle, in an
Airlock Blowout
In the commercial world of brewing, one of the biggest fears is a fermentation that is slow to start or one that lacks vigor when it does come to life. These traits
Barrel Sanitation
Barrel aging is really a fun thing to do because it brings flavors and aromas to beer that are simply unachievable using other methods. New barrels can be used to introduce vanilla
