Writer: Michael Tonsmeire
Fermentations Apart: Selecting different yeast for different jobs
Digital and Plus Members OnlyBrewers often add adjuncts right into the main batch of beer before or during fermentation with the hopes that the characteristics of the beer will play nicely with the additive. But Michael Tonsmeire explains that fermenting the two separately may sometimes be your best approach.
Tonsmeire’s Acorn Oud Bruin
Digital and Plus Members OnlyI brewed a beer with compatible flavors for the acorns: A rye sour somewhere between English old ale and Flemish oud bruin.
Brewing Table Beer: The challenges of making a 3% ABV beer
FREETable beers (beers under 3% ABV) present challenges that are not often a problem in stronger beers. Delve into the world of table beers and what it takes to brew a low-ABV beer worth having a spot on your tap list (or dinner table).
Sour Sans Bacteria – Brewing with lactic acid-producing yeast
Digital and Plus Members OnlyNew strains of yeast are being released in dizzying array thanks to yeast wranglers. Discover some of the benefits and pitfalls of these new strains being offered.
Perpetuum Sour
Digital and Plus Members OnlyAuthor Michael Tonsmeire provides a recipe he utilizes for his home solera method to produce funky beers.
Perennial Artisan Ales’ Anniversaria clone
Digital and Plus Members OnlySt. Louis, Missouri-based Perennial Artisan Ales’ anniversary ale, Anniversaria, is blended via solera. Their goal isn’t to release the same beer each year, but as brewer Jonathan Moxey put it, “create a thread that will run through each year’s release.”
Hop Extracts – Advanced Brewing
FREEThese hop extracts roughly fall into two categories, those primarily intended to add bitterness and those where aromatics are the goal.
Nitro Stonefruit Sour
Digital and Plus Members OnlyThe vanilla helps to make a more sherbet-like balance. You can add lactose to taste at packaging if you want more sweetness. The hop extract increases head retention, improving the perceived creaminess of the body and appearance of the beer. Lowering the pH before souring reduces protein breakdown by the bacteria, improving body and head retention.
Petit Saison
Digital and Plus Members OnlyThe inspiration for this beer was a play on De Baets’ remarks that traditional saisons were low gravity and heavily hopped. When it was still brewed with the Rodenbach strain, De Ranke’s XX Bitter was a rough approximation of a traditional saison, but with its cleaner character today you’ll have to brew your own for a taste of history. This recipe makes for a refreshing summer beer with the gravity dialed down and aromatics pushed to the fore.
Brewing With Wine Yeast
FREEWine yeast ferments wort differently when compared to brewer’s yeast, but that doesn’t mean brewers can’t use them. Michael Tonsmeire offers some tips and ideas for their use.
IBUs: Modern Beers with Old Formulas – Advanced Brewing
Digital and Plus Members OnlyWhile these approximations are reliable enough for classic hopping techniques and amounts, hopping has evolved to be more varied and aggressive.
The Cult of American Saison
Digital and Plus Members OnlyMany American brewers are embracing a style of beer that is fast becoming a relic in its native country — saison. This farmhouse ale can be interpreted in many ways, almost like a blank canvas for the brewer. Get seasoned saison advice from pro brewers.