Date: May-June 2016
Feeling the Craftfluenza?
FREEVisiting the grocery cooler used to be so easy. Reach in and grab a six pack of Long Trail and be off, glad to have my hands on some tasty fresh ale
Selecting Yeast for Beginners
Digital and Plus Members OnlyAs the saying goes, “brewers make wort, yeast make beer.” So, it is important — whether developing a new recipe or ordering a kit already assembled by a retailer — to put some careful thought into selecting the yeast that will make the beer you envision. The yeast is responsible for much of a beer’s
Brasserie Saint James: The Wit Album
Digital and Plus Members OnlyThis Reno, Nevada brewery’s witbier is a cloudy pale yellow and features spicy, fruity, citrus aromas.
Candi Sugars & Syrups
Digital and Plus Members OnlyCaramelization is overstated in both brewing and cooking because it requires exceptionally high temperatures. The far more common non-enzymatic browning process is the Maillard reaction. Despite the names, caramel candies made with dairy and caramel malts are primarily flavored and colored by Maillard reaction products formed by the complex interactions of reducing sugars and amino
Fining Homebrew
Digital and Plus Members Only“Finings” is brewer speak for flocculants that are used in brewing to clarify suspensions of solids in a liquid, such as trub in wort and yeast in beer. Such solids remain suspended because they are small so that they can settle only very slowly, and because they usually carry the same charge and so repel
Cultivate Your Own House Yeast
Digital and Plus Members OnlyFor thousands of years yeast have been used to make bread, wine, and beer. In fact, modern day archaeologists have found ceramic pots in the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs containing dried yeast and beer residue suggesting it was a widely consumed beverage. Yeast are microscopic single cell organisms well suited to extreme conditions and able
Brew In A Bag Mash Efficiency
Digital and Plus Members OnlyNew and experienced all-grain brewers moving to Brew-In-A-Bag (BIAB) techniques often have concerns about how it will affect their mash. BIAB traditionally uses a full volume mash, which means the ratio of water to grain is much higher than a traditional mash. Will BIAB brewing require more grains due to a lower efficiency? Will it
Small Batch BIAB Experimenting
Digital and Plus Members OnlySome homebrewers love to brew a recipe until it’s perfected, making it their go-to batch. Others never brew the same thing twice. I write a lot of recipes, some of which can be found on those recipe cards in this very magazine. Although most of my equipment is best suited to brew 5 gallons (19
Brew In A Bag Best Practices
Digital and Plus Members OnlyYou’ve heard by now that Brew-In-A-Bag (BIAB) is an easy way to start all-grain brewing — and it’s true! But that doesn’t mean, however, that it doesn’t require some attention to detail. Most importantly, when doing a BIAB you need to be careful with heat. Here we will explore the best practices for maintaining your
10 Newer Hop Varieties & Recipes
Digital and Plus Members OnlyCheck out ten newer hop varieties that are now available to homebrewers. Plus, try brewing four hoppy homebrew recipes with the newer releases. You may have noticed some new hop names on your craft beer labels these days, such as Azacca®, Eureka!, Pekko™, and Wakatu. Like Ferris Bueller once said, “Life moves pretty fast. If
Belgian Single
Digital and Plus Members Onlyby the numbers OG: 1.044-1.054 FG:1.004-1.010 SRM:3-5 IBU:25-45 ABV:4.8-6.0% Trappist monasteries are rightfully known for their excellent beers. Brewed with devotion and service in mind, these beers are used to generate money to sustain religious operations. Most people know about the stronger, frequently exported products such as Westmalle Tripel, Chimay Grande Réserve (blue), and Orval.
Sparge Water & Yeast Viability: Mr. Wizard
Digital and Plus Members OnlyQ So much fuss has been made about mashing in grains with the correct ratio of water to grains for the initial mash. So if I’m doing a batch sparge, can I just dump the remainder of my needed sparge water into my mash tun all at once? Is there a certain water-to-grain ratio needed