Date: July-August 2014
Fading Hop Character
Digital and Plus Members OnlyI think the most difficult thing about trying to troubleshoot brewing problems in my column is not being able to taste the beers that I am being asked about. I sometimes flash to hearing car owners attempt to describe the sounds their cars make to Click and Clack on Car Talk. I just happen to
Bottle Bombs
Digital and Plus Members OnlyBottle bombs are really scary because glass shrapnel can cause severe injuries. The first question that always comes to my mind when hearing about this problem is “how old is your glass?” Some brewers re-use bottles over and over again and eventually the bottles begin to fatigue and fail. Breweries using returnable glass bottles have
Wicked Weed Brewing Co.’s Reticent Saison clone
Digital and Plus Members OnlyWicked Weed may be best known for its sour and hop-forward beers, but they also brew a wide variety of saisons. Reticent has a complex malt bill to build lots of character underneath the yeast-driven aroma.
Homebrewing in Nicaragua
Digital and Plus Members OnlyHow can a person justify spending a dollar for a can of beer they don’t even like? I can’t. And here starts my search for brewing on a budget in a developing country. I am living in Nicaragua, regretting every penny spent on the national beers. I do the math. Here, a six-pack runs
Fruit Beer Brewing Techniques
Digital and Plus Members OnlyI drank my first fruit beer around 1980. It was a Belgian kriek (that is cherry flavored), which I came across in South Africa. The fruit flavor was somewhat muted, but the sour edge of the beer made it quite refreshing on what was a very hot day. I must confess that I have been
Put Taps on your Truck
Digital and Plus Members OnlyThere’s nothing quite like pulling into your campsite and pouring a nice cold draft homebrew before you’ve even pitched your tent. It certainly helps foster domestic tranquility and makes you the envy of your fellow campers. In fact the only downside I’ve found is that it can be hard to get any camp setup done
SMaSH Brewing: Single Malt & Single Hop
Digital and Plus Members OnlyMost homebrewers begin their brewing hobby using beer kits designed by other brewers. These kits give a brewer a chance to get his or her feet wet, try some new beer styles and learn the basics, but eventually eyes turn to designing recipes of his or her own. My own first foray into recipe design
2014 Homebrew Label Contest Winners
Digital and Plus Members OnlyHomebrew labels came from every region of the United States. They came from all over Canada. And they even came from far away lands including Argentina, Norway, and Poland. Some were made to commemorate weddings, anniversaries, graduations, and births; others to remember fallen soldiers, lost family members, and pets; and, of course, others were just
Brewing Sahti: An Ancient Finnish Farmhouse Beer
Digital and Plus Members OnlySahti is an ancient Finnish farmhouse beer that is still brewed much the same way as it was hundreds of years ago. Assured written evidence about sahti goes back only to the 18th century when the value of Finnish folklore was recognized, but from the way it is brewed it is obvious that the tradition
Specialty IPAs
Digital and Plus Members Onlyby the numbers OG, FG, SRM, IBU, ABV will vary. The BJCP is currently considering three strength categories: Session:3.0–5.0 ABV Standard:5.0–7.5% ABV Double:7.5–9.5% ABV When I started brewing, there was only one style category for India pale ale. Just a single category, no subcategories. Several years later, people had begun talking about the differences between
Rehydrating Dry Yeast, Bottle Bombs & Fading Hops: Mr. Wizard
Digital and Plus Members OnlyQBeing new to homebrewing, I am reading as many books and magazines as I can, reviewing sites like byo.com and poring over the message boards. The rehydrate/don’t rehydrate dried yeast debate has got me confused. So far I’ve only used SafAle US-05 and pitched it dry in the wort for both of my batches. The
Pushing Style Limits: Tips from Pros
Digital and Plus Members OnlyThe craft beer industry is constantly evolving. brewers are always on the lookout for new, unique ingredients, ways to pump up IBUs and ABVs, and peering beyond tradition for other stylistic boundaries that can be pushed. Brewer: John Maier, Rogue Ales in Newport, OR Any style is open to interpretation — if you vary a