Mr. Wizard
Stepping Up Your Starter
The Benefactor of Brewing steps up starters.
How do commercial breweries lager so quickly?
Commercial brewers determine the length of their lagering period by defining what they want to accomplish during lagering. Most of the changes that occur during lagering do not require two months or
Why does my beer taste like Anbesol?
Mmm, Anbesol beer! Two of the keys to problem solving in brewing are having a good palate and having the ability to describe what you are detecting with your senses. Anbesol is
American Beers and Prohibition
American beers, pre and post-Prohibition. The Wiz knows…
Is removing hops and trub from your fermenter necessary?
If you don’t mind the “junk” floating in your beer and you don’t reuse your yeast, then hop and trub removal are probably not necessary. For that matter, you probably don’t have
Wort Volume
This question really has more to do with sparging than it does with the volume of wort to boil. An all-grain brew begins with the mashing process. During mashing, starch is converted
Storing kegs warm
Bottle- and keg-conditioned ales must go through several key steps before they can be refrigerated and enjoyed. The first step is to estimate the volume of beer and to add an appropriate
Making Brown Malt
Yes, you can make your own brown malt by roasting pale malt in the oven. You can also make chocolate malt and black patent malt by the same process. The difficulty in
How long will my beer stay fresh in a keg?
Dear Mr. Wizard: I am thinking of kicking the bottle habit and kegging my beer instead. My biggest concern is storage temperature and how long my beer will stay good in a
What’s the best way to check the temperature of a mash?
The best way to check mash temperature is with a calibrated-dial or alcohol-filled thermometer. The easiest way to calibrate a thermometer is by filling a glass with ice cubes and then filling the glass with water. In
Pantyhose hop holder
Pantyhose are truly a multi-function item! Dryer filters, hair nets, and hop bags can all be made from leftover pantyhose. Since you have this endless supply of recycled pantyhose, maybe you should
How fast can an all-grain batch be ready to drink
So you wanna know just how fast you can be sippin’ your suds after brewing and you’re afraid that your friends will be afraid of your beer if you tell them that
