Date: September 2000
5 Beers Through The Years
Digital and Plus Members OnlyWhich styles have been on the rise since 1995? We wanted to know, so we checked the entry archives for the Great American Beer Festival, held every fall in Denver. Last year, 400 microbreweries entered 1,700 beers in 54 categories, from Bohemian pilsner to Imperial stout. What better way to measure a beer’s status than
Belgian Wit
Digital and Plus Members OnlyBelgian wit had all but disappeared when Pierre Celis began his brewing career in the 1950s. Celis is credited for reviving the style in Belgium during his stint at the Hoegaarden brewery; then he moved to Texas, launched his own Belgian brewery and kick-started the style in the United States.
Dortmunder (German Export)
Digital and Plus Members OnlyA pale lager named after the city it originated in.
“Cara” malts?
Digital and Plus Members OnlyCaramel, cara or crystal malts are synonymous terms describing a large family of malts that are made by changing the kilning process. All malts are kiln-dried to arrest germination. To make caramel malts, the maltster adds a key step, known as “stewing” or saccharification, before drying. The “stewing” step heats moist, unkilned malt (or re-hydrated
Improving all-grain yields
FREEBefore you head to a psychic to have your charts done or make any deals you might later regret, here are a few things you should consider. Low yields can be tracked
Overcarbonated kegs
Digital and Plus Members OnlyI prefer to package beer in kegs for several reasons. Besides being convenient, perhaps the best thing about a keg is that it’s very easy to change the carbonation level in a beer. In your case, you either added too much priming sugar or went overboard with your carbon dioxide pressure during the carbonation step.
Step-by-Step Guide to Your First Fresh Grape Wine
Digital and Plus Members OnlyBasic Winemaking Equipment Here’s everything you need to make your first one-gallon batch of wine from fresh grapes. You can find this equipment at any well-stocked homebrewing or home winemaking supply store. Large nylon straining bag (boil bag) Food-grade pail with lid (2 to 4 gallons) Cheesecloth Hydrometer Thermometer Acid titration kit Clear, flexible half-inch
How to Make a Sour Mash
Digital and Plus Members OnlyAs any all-grain brewer knows, a mash is a mixture of hot water and grain. A “sour mash” is a mash that has acid-producing bacteria in it. Most people associate the term with whiskey from the southern United States. But the technique can also be used in homebrewing. A brewer can make a small sour
Dortmunder
Digital and Plus Members OnlyDortmunder, sometimes called Dort but more often known as “export,” is a golden German lager. Export originated in Dortmund, an industrial city in the north of Germany. In medieval times, this local style was exported widely throughout the Westphalia region and across the border in the Netherlands, which is how it got the “export” nickname.
Alaskan Brewing Co’s Alaskan Amber clone
Digital and Plus Members OnlyThis beer was first brewed commercially by Douglas City Brewing in the late 1800s and later by Geoff Larson, who in 1986 founded his Alaskan Brewing Company. His amber has won a slew of awards since then, including several Great American Beer Festival medals and a first-place finish at the 1996 World Beer Championships.
Alaskan Amber is an altbier, more in the Münster tradition than the Düsseldorfer (in other words, it’s sweeter, richer, less bitter and less dry).
Harvesting Yeast: Tips from the Pros
Digital and Plus Members OnlyScoop it out, toss it in, make better beer
Five Tips from the Rogue
Digital and Plus Members OnlyJohn Maier, the award-winning brewer at Rogue in Oregon, is legendary for big beers in big bottles. And he’s still a homebrewer at heart. Here are his top tips for excellent ales.