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This week we discuss how to brew the perfect Lager with Erik Schmid from The Brewmeister homebrew shop.  Erik tells us how to overcome some of the challenges with Lager including refrigeration, yeast selection, ingredients, aging and dealing with off-flavors. Download the MP3 File – Right Click and “Save As” to download this mp3 file [...]

Blonde Ale Recipes and Beer Style

by Brad Smith on March 21, 2013 · 2 comments

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Blonde Ale is a light, slightly malty beer popularized by the American craft beer movement.  This week we take a look at the history of Blonde ale, how to brew it at home and some recipes. History of Blonde Ales It is difficult to trace the precise origin of the term “Blonde Ale”, but it [...]

Beer Faucet/Tap Selection and Kegging

by Brad Smith on March 12, 2013 · 1 comment

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This week we take a look a beer taps (faucets) and the key roll they play in a good keg system for your home brewed beer.  Selecting the right faucet is a critical decision when designing a kegging system.  You might want to refer to my earlier articles on kegging home brewed beer and determining [...]

Bière de Garde Recipes and Beer Brewing

by Brad Smith on February 28, 2013 · 1 comment

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Bière de Garde or “beer for keeping” is a French pale ale traditionally brewed in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region.  It is a strong pale ale, cellar aged for an extended period before consumption.  This week, I take a look at the history of this style and how to brew it at home. History Bière de Garde [...]

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This week I discuss how to design a beer recipe with Denny Conn.  Denny shares some of his tips on creating a home brewing recipe from scratch including imagining the beer, selecting ingredients, applying techniques and iterating to perfect the beer. Download the MP3 File – Right Click and “Save As” to download this mp3 [...]

Multi vs Single Step Mashing for Home Brewing

by Brad Smith on February 8, 2013 · 2 comments

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Multi-step mashes used to be the standard for making beer, but increasingly home brewers and pro brewers have moved to brewing exclusively with a single step mash.  The single step mash has many advantages including time, cost savings, simplicity and consistency. The Single Step Infusion Mash Most newcomers to all grain and partial mash brewing [...]

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This week I interview Jacob McKean and Michael Tonsmeire who are involved in a cross country beer collaboration to build a new brewery in San Diego called Modern Times.  We walk through some of the challenges in going from home brewer to pro brewer! Download the MP3 File – Right Click and “Save As” to download [...]

Late Hop Additions and Hop Oils in Beer Brewing

by Brad Smith on January 21, 2013 · 11 comments

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A trend in modern brewing is the greater use of late steeped hop additions for many styles.  These include steeped hop additions, whirlpool hops, use of a hop-back and even dry hopping.  Surprisingly, most of these late additions are not done to increase bitterness, but instead to exploit hop oils which play a significant role [...]

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This week we discuss eco-friendly home brewing with Amelia Loftus.  Amelia is an writer on ecologically friendly brewing and also a founding member of Seven Bridges Cooperative, a brewing supply shop that specializes in organic ingredients. Download the MP3 File – Right Click and “Save As” to download this mp3 file [Audio clip: view full [...]

BeerSmith Cloud

Happy New Year!  I recently expanded our Beer Recipe Cloud at BeerSmithRecipes.com by moving to a new server and I’m now offering 50% more storage for all users, including free accounts as well as discounts on all member accounts. I launched BeerSmithRecipes.com last May, and a little over half a year it has grown to [...]