Malt Extract Beer Brewing
Brewing with malt extract (liquid or dry) is the starting point for every new brewer. This week we take a look at how to optimize your beer by understanding malt extract and the brewing process.
Homebrewing
General Homebrewing Topics
The Beer Gun and Counter Pressure Fillers: Bottling Beer
Counter pressure bottle fillers and the Blichmann Beer Gun make short work of bottling directly from the keg. These systems let you keg your home brewed beer while still maintaining the flexibility to bottle when needed for competitions as well as share a bottle of your homebrew with friends.
Yeast Washing: Reusing your Yeast
Washing yeast to reuse it in another batch of beer is a great technique to have in your home brewing arsenal. Yeast washing is a simple process used to separate the live yeast from the underlying trub (hops and spent grains) left at the bottom of your fermenter when making beer.
An Interview with Dan Listermann (of Phil’s fame)
This week we feature a short interview with Dan Listermann of Listermann Manufacturing. You may not instantly recognize Dan’s name, but most home brewers have seen Listermann’s line of products including his innovative “Phil’s” line including Phil’s Phalse Bottom, Phil’s Lauter Tun and Phil’s Sparger.
5 Ways to Improve your All Grain Beer Efficiency
All grain brewers can be obsessive about the efficiency of their brewing system. This week we will look at 5 methods you can use to improve your overall brewhouse efficiency to get the most out of your all grain brewing session.
Enhancing Beer Head Retention for Home Brewers
An important characteristic in homebrewed beers is the ability of the beer to retain a nice foamy head for a long period of time. Commercial brewers go to great lengths to improve head retention by a variety of additives. However homebrewers also have access to ingredients and additives that can help your foam last until the last drop…
Beer Yeast, Fermentation, and Home Brewing
Today we look at home brewing beer yeast, fermentation, and how it affects the flavor and character of finished beer. Yeast is one of the most important ingredients in home brewing, but also one of the least understood.
Converting All Grain Recipes to Malt Extract
Convert your all grain beer recipes to extract (or back). This week we examine how to convert an all grain home brewing recipe into one that uses extract including the delicate process of balancing color and bitterness in the final beer.
Home Brewing Social Sites: Beer and Web 2.0
A look at four web 2.0 social sites for home brewers. These sites help you cut through the mass of web clutter and get fresh home brewing content on a regular basis. By participating in these sites, you can also help other brewers focus on better brewing news, stories and articles.
Dry Hopping: Enhanced Hops Aroma
Dry hopping is a great way to enhance the hoppy aroma of your home brewed beer. Real hopheads will tell you that in addition to boil and late hop additions, dry hopping is a preferred technique for preserving a burst of delicate hop aroma for IPAs and other hoppy beers.
Bottling Beer: 10 Tips for Home Brewers
Ten beer bottling tips for your next batch of home brewed beer. Bottling can be a time consuming and messy process. This week we look at some ideas to make your bottling session less painful and more productive.
Wheat Beer Recipes: Weizen and Weisse Styles
Wheat beer, Hefe-Weizen, and Weisse recipes have become very popular homebrew and craft beer styles here in the United States. Today, we’ll look at the history of wheat beer, how to brew a wheat beer and a sampling of wheat beer recipes including both Bavarian Weissebier and Berliner Weisse.
Soft Pretzels: A Recipe for Bavarian Pretzels
Enjoy soft pretzels at home with your homebrewed beer! Today we present a recipe for making large soft German beer pretzels from the comfort of your kitchen.
Beer Color: Understanding SRM, Lovibond and EBC
Beer spans an endless array of colors. The deep black color and white foam of an Irish Stout, deep copper of a Pale Ale and cloudy light color of a Bavarian Wheat are all within the rainbow we call beer. Today we’ll look at beer color, SRM, EBC, Lovibond, how its measured, color limitations, and how to estimate the color of a beer recipe.
Brewing Hops: 10 Tips for Surviving the Hops Shortage
Ten hop-saving tips for surviving the ongoing hop crisis. With brewing hops in short supply, everyone is looking for ways to use less hops. This week’s article includes a collection of home brewing tips to conserve and preserve your precious hops supply and save you money in the process.
Calculating Hop Bitterness: How much Hops to Use?
A look at beer bitterness for home brewers, estimating International Bitterness Units (IBUs) and balancing your beer recipe. How much beer hops is enough? With the hop crisis in full swing, it is important to understand the quantity of hops you need to properly balance your home brewed beer…
Brewing Hops Storage: Preserving Precious Hops
Today we’re going to look at the best way to store and preserve your beer brewing hops and also some of the effects of hop aging. With hop prices pushing $5 US per ounce and the hops crisis likely to get worse before it gets better, caring for your precious hops supply is more important than ever…
Growing Hops in the Garden: How to Grow Beer Hops
With the ongoing hop crisis, brewers are turning to growing hops for beer in the garden. Learn how to grow your own hops at home from rhizomes to create your own perennial hop supply. Part 1 of our 5 part series on the hop crisis.
