December 2018
Project
The Trap Door Keezer
Tap towers can be a design challenge for home draft system builders. Enter the trap-door lid design, allowing access to the keezer without having to move the tower.
Article
Hop Shelf Life, Keg-Conditioning Beer and Planning a Nano’s Cellar
A reader is interested to know about the ageability of well stored hops and whether buying last year’s, discounted hops may be a sound investment. Also learn about what makes recently brewed beer, green beer and a nano’s cellar plans.
Article
Iced Warsaw Porter
A reader from Poland tells the tale of getting inspired to ice his Warsaw Baltic porter during one particularly cold winter stretch.
Article
Improve Quality and Consistency
To brew great beer you need to start with a good recipe, know how to evaluate your beers, and then understand the cause and effect of each ingredient and technique so you can improve the beer the next time you go to brew it.
Article
The Role of pH in Brewing
pH plays a role in every step of the brewing process — from the time you mash in, all the way through to the final beer that fills the glass. Take a closer look at pH throughout the brewing process.
Article
Home Malting
Malting barley at home may sound like a lot of work, but it’s actually pretty easy and doesn’t require much equipment you don’t already own. Once you have the malting process down, you may want to even grow your own barley. Jon Stika walks readers through the steps.
Article
For Whom the Bell’s Pours
From modest homebrews to one of the most iconic craft breweries in North America, Bell’s has grown tremendously while staying true to its roots over the last three decades. Learn about the history, beers, and brewing techniques from Bell’s. Plus: 5 Bell’s clone recipes.
Recipe
Bell’s Brewery’s Quinannan Falls clone
Quinannan Falls is a dry-hopped India pale lager that possesses a crisp, dry bitterness you would expect from a German Pilsner, but the use of highly aromatic Simcoe® hops from the Pacific Northwest evoke the fragrant pine forests that inspired this summer seasonal beer from Bell’s.
Recipe
Bell’s Brewery’s Hopslam Ale clone
Starting with six different hop varieties added to the brew kettle and culminating with a massive dry hop addition of Simcoe® hops, Bell’s Hopslam Ale possesses the most complex hopping schedule in the Bell’s repertoire.
Recipe
Bell’s Brewery’s Amber Ale clone
The beer that helped build Bell’s, Amber Ale features both toasted and sweet caramel notes, balanced with herbal and citrus hop aromas. Capped by a clean bitterness, it’s incredibly versatile with food, but very tasty on its own.
Recipe
Bell’s Brewery’s Oberon clone
Oberon is a wheat ale fermented with Bell’s Brewery’s signature house ale yeast, mixing a spicy hop character with mildly fruity aromas, often causing many to assume there is an addition of fruit or spices. The addition of wheat malt lends a smooth mouthfeel, making it a classic summer beer. Oberon is one of Bell’s best-selling beers, even though it’s only available from March-August each year.
Recipe
Bell’s Brewery’s Two Hearted Ale clone
Two Hearted Ale is one of the defining American-style India pale ales. This beer is bursting with aromas ranging from pine resins to grapefruit notes from the use of 100% Centennial hops.
Article
Brut IPA
Brut IPA is the latest beer style to explode onto the craft beer scene. Learn about the bone dry IPA from a homebrewer and three pros, including the brewer who developed the hot new style. Plus: 4 brut IPA recipes.
Recipe
MoreBeer! Juicy Brut
A brut IPA from MoreBeer!
Recipe
Social Kitchen and Brewery’s Puttin On the Spritz clone
A brut IPA from Social Kitchen and Brewery, the brewery who invented the dry IPA style.
Recipe
Danville Brewing Co.’s Brutus clone
A brut IPA from Danville Brewing Co.
Recipe
Barebottle Brewing Co.’s Mt. Brutus clone
A brut IPA from Barebottle Brewing Co.
Article
Girl Power
Homebrewing — and brewing in general — has long been an activity dominated by men. But that is slowly starting to change as initiatives from clubs and homebrew shop owners are beginning to bring some balance to a hobby that should be enjoyed by all.
Article
Recipe Design Ethos
Homebrewers and craft brewers often have slightly different goals when it comes to recipe design. But craft brewers have been taking cues from homebrewers on ways to improve, so too should homebrewers take cues from craft brewers.
Recipe
Sapwood Cellars’ Ziparillo clone
Sapwood Cellars’ Ziparillo clone (10 bbl/12 hL, commercial-size) OG = 1.048 FG = 1.016 IBU = 14 SRM = 5 ABV = 4.2% This hoppy wheat beer was designed to introduce hop-averse
Article
Bottle Carbonation and Conditioning
Nothing in life is as uncomfortable as getting something right and then blowing it at the end. Losing at the finish line after running a great race. Dropping a piece of pizza
Recipe
Gordon Strong’s Oatmeal Stout
My version is a bigger version of English examples, so I will use English ingredients where I can.
Article
Oatmeal Stout: A beer once considered a health food
Oatmeal stout may no longer be touted as a healthy beverage, but it can still be a very tasty one. Explore the history, sensory profile, and how to create your own rendition.
Mr. Wizard
Planning a Nano’s Cellar
The method of fermentation described above works with fermenters over a fairly wide range of sizes, mainly depending on the shape of the fermenter. The dissipation of heat from the fermenter into
Mr. Wizard
Keg-Conditioning Beer
Anthony, the short answer to your question is that it depends on when the beer was filled into your keg. In order to answer this question, a bit of background is required,
Mr. Wizard
Hop Shelf Life
This is a great question and brings up several things that need to be considered because hops do age when stored, and using hops that are past their prime for brewing is
Article
Spicing Up Beer: Tips From the Pros
Spiced beer can be a thing of beauty when done well; but brewers need judicious additions and well-married flavors. We sit down with two professional brewers who know what it takes to make a concept beer turn into reality.
Recipe
Long Trail Brewing Co.’s Long Trail Ale clone
Long Trail Ale, which has won multiple awards at GABF, is considered an altbier with several unique twists to it.
Article
Long Trail Brewing Company: Replicator
Dear Replicator, When I moved from Vermont to California back in 2005, the one beer that I missed right away was Long Trail Ale. It’s a beer that has never been available
Article
Extract Yourself From All-Grain
The popularity of all-grain brewing has surged in recent years. In this column I’m going to step outside the norm for Beginner’s Block and talk more to the advanced brewers about simplifying
Recipe
Warszawski Porter Lodowy (Warsaw Baltic Porter)
Here is a recipe for the base beer of Warsaw Baltic Porter from a recipe from the now shut-down Royal Warsaw Brewery, one of the original brewers of the Baltic Porter. The author went on to ice (lodowy) half of the fermented beer to make it a Warszawski Porter Lodowy.
