Michael Tonsmeire, the Mad Fermentationist, joins me this week to talk about embracing homebrewing and shares many of the advantages that home brewers enjoy versus professional beer brewers.
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Topics in This Week’s Episode (52:39)
- Today on the show Michael Tonsmeire, the author of the book “American Sour Beers” (Amazon affiliate link), and author of the “Mad Fermentationist” blog at TheMadFermentationist.com. Michael has been on the show four times before, most recently in episode #95 discussing Home Brewing Secrets.
- We discuss some of the new projects Michael has been working on
- Michael introduces the concept behind his presentation – embracing things that home brewers can do that are not feasible or in some cases even allowed for professional brewers
- He starts with the idea of blending wine and spirits with beer – either in the keg or mixing beer with other drinks when you drink them
- We discuss how breweries can’t easily blend wine/mead into their beers making things like Braggot
- Michael walks us through how you can concentrate your beer to get a higher alcohol content by freezing it and removing the ice (as is done with an Eisbock)
- We discuss alternatives to hops including a variety of traditional spices
- Michael explains why you should “embrace inefficiency” – in that homebrewers often are not as efficient as pro systems but can also use that to their advantage
- We talk about going outside the BJCP style guidelines to try new ideas in brewing that may not be popular or cost effective
- Michael explains why home brewers can create beers that really would not be commercially feasible for pro brewers
- He closes with the one area he believes home brewers can really learn from the pros – and that is specialization in one area of brewing
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- Thank you to our sponsor Craft Beer and Brewing Magazine who is still offering a 15% discount with your subscription or other items when you use the new offer code beersmith2015 when you purchase.
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- Also check out BeerSmith, BeerSmith Mobile software and the new DVDs John Palmer and I filmed – How to Brew with Malt Extract and How to Brew All Grain are available now. You can subscribe to the BeerSmith newsletter for free to get some great articles on home brewing.
Thanks to Michael Tonsmeire for appearing on the show and also to you for listening!
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