Writer: Ashton Lewis
Choosing Specialty Malts
The Wiz gives his two cents on malt madness and helps a brewer whose ales have been beyond the pale.
Can oats in homebrew lower my cholestrol?
I’ve been writing this column for 12 years now and am always surprised by the creativity of homebrewers, especially when it comes to redefining the daily role of beer in one’s
Upping IBU’S
Is good hop utilization getting you down? Take some advice from the Wiz. Plus: Enzymes can be a great tool in brewing – how do you stop them?
How do you tame wild yeasts?
Most brewers have heard horror stories about wild yeast and certain bacteria, like Lactobacillus and Pediococcus, setting up camp in a brewery and contaminating everything in sight. I think these stories originated
Reduce the amount of phenolics in a beer?
You are correct that a yeast strain is the most common cause of phenolic aromas in beer. The classic clovey, phenolic producing yeasts are those used for German-style hefeweizens. These yeasts convert
Irish Red Ales vs Oktoberfest
I wish I could travel to a different place in time when beer styles were truly tied to geographical regions, a time before globalization of brewing techniques and brewing ingredients. Based on
The Dark Secrets of Stout
To brew a great stout, you need to know your dark grains. From roasted barley and roasted malt to chocolate and Carafa malts, how to get the right flavor in your roasty brew. Plus: Guinness and Murphy’s stouts cloned.
Add citrus flavor to beer
Your description reminds me of something in between a malternative and the classic beach side invention of a cold brew garnished with a wedge of lime. I must confess I too like
Steeping vs mashing
Mashing and steeping are very similar processes at first glance. Both involve soaking crushed grains in hot water. However, if you look more closely, there are some sharp contrasts between the two
Yeast off-flavors and clarifying beer?
One of the best ways for homebrewers to clarify beer is to simply move the carboy to a refrigerator and hold it cold (38° F is ideal)for at least a week. Chilling
Brew a German Helles with an All-Grain, Step-Mash
Raising the mash temperature, understanding exzymes and the iodine test. Plus: what’s going on in the mash and the protein-rest debate.
Accounting for evaporation loss during an aggressive boil?
Recipes printed in BYO give the “original gravity” of the wort. This number refers to the specific gravity of the wort prior to fermentation-in other words, after the boil. Wort gravity increases
