Topic: All Grain Brewing
Curing Sparging Woes
Digital and Plus Members OnlyThe likely culprit to this problem, assuming that you have been using the same basic recipe over the last 7–8 years, is beta-glucan from the flaked oats. I am betting on this ingredient because the problem you describe is typical for how high-molecular weight beta-glucan gums associated with certain grains, most notably unmalted oats, rye,
The Details of Step-Mashing
Digital and Plus Members OnlyLet’s start out with two quick answers to your questions. Heating time is definitely an important part of the mash and it most certainly should be counted. In fact, control over the heating rate is often overlooked as a tool in the brewer’s arsenal of methods to wrangle the enzymatic changes that occur during mashing.
The Decoction Mash
Digital and Plus Members OnlyDecoction mashing has both a mystic and feared quality to it. Purists imagine achieving perfection in the ultimate Bavarian or Bohemian lager. The more pragmatic of us fear the time-intensive triple decoction with its grueling brew day and extended mess. Like most things, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Decoction mashing is not done
Build This Brewstand
Digital and Plus Members OnlyI’ve often praised homebrewing as one of the few great hobbies that combines the technical specificity of science and the spontaneous creativity of art. As a structural engineer having personally experienced the allure of homebrewing, I’ve also noticed the specific draw that brewing often has on the technical-minded individual. After all, modern brewing is an
The Perfect Crush
FREEMy summer crush began in the warmest months of 2017, shortly after quitting my corporate job to work full-time for MoreBeer! I know, most love stories don’t start with a change of
The Little Things: What Separates the Best from the Rest
Digital and Plus Members OnlyWhat’s your secret?” It’s a question we get asked all the time and even more often since winning the National Homebrew Competition’s Ninkasi Award in 2017. But even before that, when we were consistently medaling at our local homebrew competitions in Texas, people would insist there must be some secret knowledge or ingredient we possess
Grain Husks Explained
FREEHere at Brew Your Own magazine, we field a lot of questions that revolve around the husks of brewing grains. Grain husks serve a very specific purpose for many all-grain brewers and
LOX-less Malts: Their impact on staling and head retention
Digital and Plus Members OnlyHave you heard about LOX-less (or LOX-null) malts? Neither had we . . . lucky for us, columnist Colin Kaminski breaks down the details of this relatively new line of malts.
The Role of pH in Brewing
Digital and Plus Members OnlypH 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.
Troubleshooting The “Reverse Step-Mash”
Digital and Plus Members OnlyThe old alpha and beta amylase temperature conundrum! It does indeed seem that the temperature optima for these two enzymes is reversed for the purpose of mashing. Beta amylase produces maltose by “biting” off maltose molecules from the non-reducing end of starch molecules. In the case of amylose, there is one reducing end and one
BIAB: Tips From the Pros
FREEBrew-in-a-bag (BIAB) continues to grow in popularity around the world. Learn from two brewers well versed in maximizing the BIAB experience.
Brewing an All-Grain Beer
Digital and Plus Members OnlyIn the previous chapters, we made our beers using malt extract for some or all of the fermentable sugars. In this chapter, we’ll brew a beer in which the fermentables come entirely from malted barley or other malted grains. This is called all-grain or full-mash brewing. We’ll perform a single-infusion mash, the simplest kind of