Writer: Ashton Lewis
Storing yeast starters
Reusing yeast is certainly one of those things that makes sense from a cost-savings perspective. Indeed, brewers have been harvesting yeast crops at the end of fermentation, temporarily storing the yeast and
Making Specialty Grains
The Wiz lavishly answers questions from two frugal homebrewers on saving your brewers yeast and making your own specialty grains.
Eliminating chill haze
Chill haze is the product of protein and polyphenol (tannin) interactions in beer and occur when beer is chilled, hence the name chill haze. There are various methods aimed at chill haze
Quick Fermentations
To answer this question I will assume that you do not have a chilly root cellar where you are fermenting lagers, and that most, if not all, of your homebrews are ales.
Should I Condition a Weizenbock?
I brewed a weizenbock with an OG of 1.070 and transferred it into secondary conditioning where it has been ever since at room temperature. I plan to keg it soon, but I was wondering, should I cold condition it first
Starch Conversion
If you achieve less than 100% of a brewer’s possible yield, are there not unconverted starches present in the beer that will cause a haze? Or are all the remaining starches insoluble?
Reverse Osmosis Water
The Wiz dives right into a question on water treatment and discusses lager conditioning.
Lagering Length
I think this question probably will generate two very different answers depending upon who you ask. In this case you asked me and will get my take on it. Let’s back up
Plate Chillers
This is a good question in that there is not a single answer. The company that puts bread on my table manufactures plate heat exchangers, among many other things stainless, and
Brewing with Belgian Candi Sugar?
Candy syrup or candy sugar (usually named “candi” sugar) is a fancy name for beet sugar that has been caramelized into syrup with a dark color and rich flavor. The flavor of candi sugar
Blending Yeast Strains
I know that my conservative brewing advice probably irritates many readers and I am likely going to irritate you with my answer, so please take no offense. So let me re-state your
Brewing Light Lagers
Brewing light lagers that have very subtle flavors atop a stark white canvas is difficult. Little flaws in the recipe balance and off-flavors easily masked by bigger beers stick out like a
