July-August 2024
Recipe
Blonde Bloke British Golden Ale
This Golden Ale recipe uses two specialty malts that will add body and mouthfeel to what otherwise might be a fairly straightforward beer. The subtle complexity of the dextrin and caramelized oats make this a summery beer without being boring.
Recipe
20/30 Vision Helles Bock
This Helles Bock recipe showcases the bold and dynamic flavors from lighter malts. The four specialty malts all contribute to the beer in their own way providing a broad range of flavors and aromas including biscuity, bready, malty, and toffee notes.
Recipe
Turning Point Brew Co.’s Nightcall clone
The bitterness of this Yorkshire bitter is below the minimum for a best bitter under the BJCP Style Guide. Bitterness is still present with the lower ABV beer, but the star of the show is the malt character. A healthy addition of melanoidin malt gives the beer the classic biscuit flavor Yorkshire bitters are known for, with more caramel character being added with the brown and crystal malts. The late addition of the East Kent Golding hops add floral notes with a hint of fruit character from the Archer addition. As my Grandad would have said: “A proper pint.”
Recipe
Marble Beers’ Manchester Bitter clone
You can see the focus on the distinctive color with the use of the extra pale malt, giving wiggle room to build some malt flavor with crystal and Munich malts. The ABV is the mid-range of a best bitter, but just tips over the maximum IBUs. What you’re left with is a light and refreshing but incredibly bitter beer.
Recipe
Smocadh (Bamberg-style rauchbier)
This rauchbier recipe is courtesy of my brewing partner, Fernando López Angulo. The smoked malt adds a smoky complexity without overpowering the other flavors. While Fernando uses a smoke gun and a variety of tinctures and oils to dial in his smoke profile, this recipe is a good starting point. If you are new to brewing smoked beer, experimentation may be needed to dial in the smoke level for your particular palate. Due to the large percentage of smoked malt, this recipe does not translate well to extract-based brewing.
Recipe
Aussie-Style DIPA
This dip-hopped double IPA is one of the most unusual flavor profiles I have ever made. The dip hop mix produces flavors very much like white wine.
Recipe
River’s Edge Brewing Co.’s Indubious Belgian-style Dubbel clone
Indubious, which won a silver medal at the 2015 Great American Beer Festival, is a Belgian-style dubbel brewed with caramel and aromatic malt, and boosted with caramelized candi sugar to hit an ABV of 8.1%.
Recipe
Gordon Strong’s Braggot
A braggot with an English barleywine base beer with about half the fermentables coming from wildflower honey.
Project
Retractable CO2 Lines
Tired of hauling kegs to your CO2 tank? A homebrewer shares his solution of housing a CO2 tank above his homebrewery and installing retractable CO2 lines that can reach anywhere he needs gas.
Mr. Wizard
Protein rests when brewing with wheat
This is a great question, Richard. The short answer is no, you do not need to do a protein rest when brewing with more than 25% wheat. However, many brewers want to
Mr. Wizard
Freeze-drying yeast
Freeze-drying, or lyophilization, has been used for drying bacteria and yeast for nearly 100 years. The process begins by freezing, followed by subjecting the sample to a vacuum. The low pressure results
Mr. Wizard
Simplifying homebrewing
This is a fun question that probably has more than a few people questioning my wisdom over the use of glass carboys. Just to be clear, I keep mine in a crate
Article
Unlocking the Causes of Haze
Researchers at Omega Yeast have recently discovered a number of factors that contribute to hazy beer. Whether you want a stable haze in New England IPAs or a crystal clear Kölsch, it will help to learn how yeast, dry hopping, and hop selection play a role in both.
Article
The Lighter Side of Specialty Malt
Specialty malts provide many key aspects to your beer such as flavor, aroma, color, body, mouthfeel, sweetness, acidity, and head retention. Take a closer look at the specialty malts available to homebrewers that fall below 30 Lovibond.
Article
The Bitter Truth
British bitter is broken into three distinct styles in the Beer Judge Certification Program style guide, largely based on strength. However, there are other variations of bitter that don’t fit any of these categories. Get to better know the Yorkshire and Manchester bitters and then give brewing one — or both — a try.
Article
Get the Most from Kveik Yeast
Kveik yeast is unlike any other species of brewing yeast. It ferments clean at hot temperatures even if underpitched, and it can easily be dried at home with no noticeable impact. An author with about 50 kveik-
fermented batches under his belt shares how to get the most from these yeasts, including advice on propagating, harvesting, drying, and reusing kveik.
Article
River’s Edge Brewing Co.
The Replicator learns the story behind, and secrets to brewing, an award-winning Belgian-style dubbel from River’s Edge Brewing Co. in Milford, Michigan.
Article
Reusing Yeast
Three pros share advice on harvesting, storing, and repitching yeast generation after generation.
Article
Protein Rests, Freeze-Drying Yeast, & Simplifying Homebrewing
Is a protein rest necessary when brewing with a high percentage of wheat? The answer depends on the goals of the brewer, so understanding what this rest does, and doesn’t do, is important. The Wizard also discusses freeze-drying yeast and ways to make the homebrewing hobby simpler.
Article
Braggot
Braggot is a unique beverage that is part mead and part beer. Different from honey beer as a larger percent of its fermentables come from honey, yet braggots can be made with a base beer style in mind. Learn more about what braggot is and three different approaches to making one.
Article
Sulfur Dioxide in Brewing
Sulfur dioxide is capable of scrubbing oxygen from beer, leading to better protection against negative effects aging can have on beer. But it isn’t a silver bullet and must be carefully understood.
Article
Homebrewing in the Netherlands
The Dutch homebrewing club De Roerstock’s 40th anniversary falls on the same year it gets to host the prestigious Open Dutch Championship, a national competition that brings together homebrewers from across the Netherlands.
Article
2024 Beer Education
Looking to advance your brewing knowledge? Check out some of the beer education programs to start your journey down the path to a higher education in beer brewing or the business of beer.
