hops

Grassy Off Flavors in Home Brewed Beer

by Brad Smith on September 23, 2016 · 5 comments

Grassy off flavors in beer can ruin an otherwise excellent brew. This week we take a look at the cause of grassy flavors in beer and what you can do about it! Grassy Flavors and Aroma Grassy flavors include vegetal, plant-like, hay, fresh leaves or aromas reminiscent of fresh cut grass. These flavors tend to […]

Whirlpool and No Chill Hop Features in BeerSmith 2.3

by Brad Smith on September 15, 2016 · 11 comments

One of the many features introduced in BeerSmith 2.3 is improved handling for whirlpool/hop stand handling as well as support for the “no chill” brewing method. These features give home brewers more flexibility than ever for handling whirlpool hops and extended chill periods for your wort. Today we’re going to look at some of the […]

Storing and Preserving Your Beer Ingredients

by Brad Smith on June 16, 2016 · 0 comments

Fresh ingredients are important for brewing great beer, but if you buy brewing ingredients in bulk you can also save money. So this week we take a look at how to store and preserve your hops, grains, yeast and malt extract for brewing great beer. When I first started brewing I bought one kit at […]

Stan Hieronymus, the author of “For the Love of Hops” joins me this week to discuss recent trends in hop varieties, hop techniques and brewing better beer with hops. Subscribe on iTunes to Audio version or Video version or on Google Play Download the MP3 File – Right Click and Save As to download this […]

Using Fresh Wet Hops in Home Brewed Beer

by Brad Smith on March 22, 2016 · 7 comments

Wet hops are hops that are freshly harvested and have not yet been dried or processed. These can be used for home brewing beer, but you need to make some adjustments to your recipe and expectations when using wet hops. Wet Hops Some time ago I wrote an article on the growing hops in the […]

I’m happy to announce a series of new add-ons for BeerSmith Desktop. The new add-ons feature over 170 new yeasts, 32 hop varieties and 48 Misc items plus updates for Avangard, Bairds, Muntons and Rahr malts. Thanks largely to the efforts of fellow brewer Brian Young, we now have most of the latest hops, yeast […]

Hops and Dogs – A Lethal Combination

by Brad Smith on September 24, 2015 · 8 comments

Hops and spent hops are poisonous to dogs. Last week I received another heartbreaking note from an owner who had lost their dog after it consumed some spent hops left in a compost pile. Over the years I’ve received several of these notes, so I thought I would put together a short article to raise […]

Hop Tea and Sampling Your Beer Brewing Hops

by Brad Smith on July 21, 2015 · 3 comments

Brewers often ask me which hop varieties to use for their home brewed beer recipes? The short answer is to use the variety that fits the style of beer you are brewing and also the one you enjoy the most! The longer answer is that you need to sample your hops – and using a […]

Stan Hieronymus, brewing author and most recent winner of the AHA Governing Committee award, joins me this week to discuss hops and emerging beer styles. Stan is the author of “For the Love of Hops”, “Brew Like a Monk” and also “Brewing with Wheat”. Subscribe on iTunes to Audio version or Video version Download the […]

Denny Conn joins me this week to discuss a number of experiments he has made on evaluating and improving your beer. Specifically he addresses decoction mashing, first wort hopping and biases in evaluating your beer. Subscribe on iTunes to Audio version or Video version Download the MP3 File – Right Click and Save As to […]

Mitch Steele, the Brewmaster at Stone Brewing Co joins me this week to discuss trends in IPAs. India Pale Ale has exploded the last few years, and is now one of the fastest growing styles in Craft Brewing. Mitch Steele at Stone is leading the trend. Subscribe on iTunes to Audio version or Video version […]

This is the fourth and final part of my four part series on improving beer clarity. In the previous sections we discussed how to measure clarity, causes of poor clarity, proteins and tannins and how to control and improve beer clarity in the mash and the boil. Today we’re going to discuss fermentation finings and […]

This is the third part of my four part series on improving beer clarity. In the previous sections we discussed how to measure clarity, causes of poor clarity, proteins and tannins and how to control and improve beer clarity through ingredient selection. Today we’re going to discuss both techniques you can use to improve clarity […]

This is the first part of my detailed series on beer clarity and finings, and is based on a presentation I did for this year’s National Homebrew Conference on the same subject. In this first part, I’m going to cover what beer clarity is, how its defined and measured and the potential causes of haze […]

Author Stan Hieronymus joins me this week for an interview recorded on the expo floor of the National Homebrewing Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Stan shares his experiences with homebrewers and craft brewing from a variety of nations including Belgium, Brazil, Argentina, Poland and more. We also discuss beer styles, techniques and ingredients. Download the […]