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Brewing Fruited Sours
By Ricky Alexander

By Ricky Alexander It was the mid-90s in the Midwest. Patterned colorful shirts and baggy jeans were all the rage. The cool kids all cut thumbs holes in the cuffs of their thermal undershirts. OJ Simpson was on trial in the court of law and Bill Clinton was on trial in the court of public...

Alsatian Pilsner
By Jack Horzempa

By Jack Horzempa Prologue – “Well, how did I get here?” The above quote is a nod to lyrics from a Talking Heads song.   I became aware of the Alsatian Pilsner substyle by reading about a few US craft breweries making beers they branded as...

LEAN Brewing
By Sergio Bencivenga

By Sergio Bencivenga LEAN manufacturing and how it helped reignite my passion for brewing.   As with most homebrewers, I began my homebrew journey with an extract kit. Little did I realize just how simple and straight forward that process was. I could typically wrap...

The Historic Role of Women in Brewing
By John Montet

By John Montet Humans have been brewing alcoholic beverages for well over 9,000 years. For nearly all that time, women have dominated the practice.   Ancient Times   Beer dates back to at least 3,800 years ago. It was first mentioned in The Hymn to Ninkasi, a poem...

Altamont Beer Works | Make Beer Clear Again
By MoreBeer!

We had an awesome time visting Altamont Beer Works in Livermore, California to brew a collab a beer called More Clear and More Beer. We sat with owner and founder Steve and talked about the story behind their super popular Maui Waui IPA, the reason they have never brewed a hazy IPA, and even...

Chasing the Dream (Commercial Brewing)
By Mike Prejna

By Mike Prejna I love beer. Love, love, love it. And if you’re reading this, you probably love beer too.     My Story I have to admit I didn’t really love it at the very beginning. My first beer that was all mine, not just a sip of my dad’s,...

Thiol Precursors - Creating fruity hop flavors without hops!
By Nick McLawhorn

By Nick Mclawhorn, Nordeast Brewers Alliance Big fruit flavors from hops are extremely popular - but what if you could intensify that fruit forwardness without large doses of hops with vegetal matter, bitterness, or adding extra gravity points from fruit?   One way to approach...

Tips and Techniques to Take Your Brewing to the Next Level
By Onur Çaka

By Onur Çaka Homebrewing is an art, and like any art, it can always be refined. Trends are shaping the industry. The industry is shaping the way you brew, your garage or basement art gallery follows through.   Let's also be honest, aren't we all in pursuit...

The 5 Reasons To Consider 1-Gallon Brewing
By Thomas Guzowski

By Thomas Guzowski   A commercial brewer can produce hundreds or even thousands of gallons of beer for a single recipe, a massive difference in scale when you consider many homebrewers are whipping up 5-gallon batches at a time. But since I started this hobby, I’ve kept to...

What is a Centrifuge and how it makes clear beer.
By Aditya Vichare

By Aditya Vichare Some beer enthusiasts will say a beer with greater clarity that has been through proper filtration will taste better. How one filters beer has been a topic of debate for quite a long time, but one thing has remained clear (no pun intended), less additives have a...

3 Tips to Brewing New England IPA
By Nick Lesogor

By Nick Lesogor (@Exit12Homebrew on X & Instagram, Exit 12 Brewery on Facebook) I remember when I had my first New England style beer. It was from a new brewery in Boston called Trillium Brewing Company. For those of you hip to the game, Trillium is one of the breweries in the...

To Fad or not to Fad? That is the question.
By Will Burgan

By Will Burgan   Anyone who has homebrewed or worked most jobs has experienced the “flavor of the week” phenomenon. In my other career of “Higher Education” this is pronounced, and I am sure it affects many industries. The craft beer and brewing industry is...

Interested in Brewing Sour Beers? SAVE TIME with CellarScience® ACID
By MoreBeer!

  CellarScience® Acid presents an ideal solution for brewing unique and distinctive sour beers without the worry of cross-contamination. Sour beers, with a rich history dating back centuries, were initially characterized by naturally occurring bacteria lending them a distinct...

Czech it out: Czech Dark Lager
By Jack Horzempa

By Jack Horzempa History of Czech Brewing The geopolitical history of central Europe has been long and storied. For example, the nation of Germany was only started in 1871, making the United States older than Germany. Similarly, the nation of the Czech Republic was only started in 1993...

Recipe Formulation for a Balanced Beer
By Jack Horzempa

By Jack Horzempa Introduction In my recent article about Witbier I mentioned the word “balance” many times since achieving balance is very important for this specific beer style. But how does one achieve proper balance for a given beer? A balanced beer is one...

How Many Hops Are Too Many?
By Thom Cannell

By Thom Cannell When is too much, too many, or not enough? When it comes to hops, the number of varieties and quantity, this question absolutely applies. For several years many, if not most homebrew recipes have called for an amazing variety of hops, with many IPA recipes calling for four,...

Yeast Allergies
By Evan Knezic

By Evan Knezic Warning: We recommend you consult your physician and other medical professionals if you have a yeast allergy. The article below was submitted to us as one homebrewers' tips that helped them. This is not medical advice, and any information contained should be taken...

Homebrewer's Guide to Municipal Water Testing
By Robert Holland

By Robert Holland As a homebrewer, I’m sure you have come across many comments, articles and even books talking about the importance of using high quality water for brewing the best beer you can at home. The adage I have always heard is “if the water tastes good, it will make...

How to Choose a Brewhouse | Traditional Brewhouses vs Steam Brewhouses vs Oil Brewhouses
By MoreBeer!

15 Year Brewing Veteran and MB Tanks R&D Designer Colin Kaminski walks us through the factors to consider when choosing a brewhouse for your brewery. The presentation culminates with a look at the new MB 3 Vessel Oil Heated Brewhouse. This unique system functions through heated...

Sierra Nevada's Ken Grossman on the State of the Beer Industry: "The Drinker Has Changed..."
By MoreBeer!

In a full length interview with Ken Grossman, the Founder of Sierra Nevada shares his thoughts on the recent closing of Anchor Brewing, the current state of the beer industry, NA beer and changes in consumer preferences, and a history of craft beer. Watch the Video or Listen to the...

Sierra Nevada Founder Ken Grossman on the Closing of Anchor Brewing
By MoreBeer!

In this excerpt from our upcoming interview with Ken Grossman, we ask the Founder of Sierra Nevada about his thoughts on the recent closing of Anchor Brewing, and the current state of the beer industry. Watch the Video! ⭐️ Subscribe to MoreBeer! on YouTube...

Notes on the Home Production of Authentic Bavarian-Style Weissbiers
By George Brooks

By George Brooks The Mash Let’s first address 2 bones of contention regarding process and production of Bavarian-style wheat beers such as Hefeweizen, Dunkelweizen and Weizenbock: whether the presumed fuss & bother of performing a decoction mash as described by Eric Warner in...

The Lazy Homebrewer
By Lee Cox

By Lee Cox I used to think I was a procrastinator. Turns out I'm just lazy.   Lazy and homebrewing aren't usually mentioned together. Homebrewing is work...a LOT of work. But it's fun and rewarding, as all of us who have been bitten by the bug know. ...

The Ultimate Guide to Witbier
By Jack Horzempa

By Jack Horzempa Were Belgian brewers among the first “craft” brewers? First you might ask what does craft brewing mean? I took a crack at defining the ‘modern’ era of craft brewing in this article:  ...

Sustainable Brew Day
By Felix Andres Rivas

By Felix Andres Rivas What does a ‘sustainable’ brew day mean?  For the homebrewer this means efficient use of time, minimizes waste, and conserves resources on brew day. A broad definition of sustainable means using a resource in a way that will not exhaust or...

Modifications & Tricks to Increase Efficiency of Anvil Foundry
By Jim Mulkern

By Jim Mulkern The Problem: Let me set the scene for you. The day has finally come. That eight percent double IPA kit you have been waiting for has finally arrived after weeks of waiting. You meticulously build your water profile, select the perfect yeast, and break out your bright and...

Brewing a Best Bitter
By Tim Chandler

By Tim Chandler The pursuit of a Best Bitter got me into brewing beers at home. I was fascinated with cask ales when I visited England. Watching and hearing pints in a pub get pulled was a completely new experience. The clean biscuity aroma just slid down the pallet. The low...

Cask Ale: At Home, Not Just Abroad
By Ryan Reddinger

By Ryan Reddinger   There is nothing like sitting in a pub drinking a pint of well-made and tended cask ale, it is a truly magnificent beer experience. Cask ale is the traditional English way of serving ale – but don’t give in to the classic tropes calling it...

Diving into the World of Homebrewing
By Samson Eaton

By Samson Eaton   Many say they want to enter the homebrewing world until they realize the learning curve of the process or the anxiety of choosing what equipment to purchase first. This article simplifies hours of research on what equipment to buy by giving you all the hacks to...

Brewing for Competitions
By Samuel Persichilli

By Samuel Persichilli     I’ve always considered brewing for competitions almost entirely separate from “normal” brewing. I usually have a system for iterating and improving beers that I primarily brew for myself or to share with friends, but...

A Belgian Quadrupel Ale Recipe First Date Quad
By MoreBeer!

A special episode dedicated to our video director Joe! We brewed a beer for his wedding, in honor of he and his wife's first date, by brewing a Belgian Quad! We discuss how we attempted to clone the world renowned St. Bernardus Abt. 12 belgian ale, go over some of the brew day, Vito's...

How to Brew a Reconstruction of the Original Michelob Beer
By Jack Horzempa

By Jack Horzempa Why brew an old-time beer? I wrote an article discussing the benefits of homebrewing vs. buying beer: https://www.morebeer.com/articles/Why_Homebrew_Beer One of the reasons within that article was we get to homebrew beers that are not commonly produced. And...

Closed Transfer Kegging
By Aaron Deboer

By Aaron Deboer If you are like me, you are always looking for ways to make better beer by using new yeast strains, new hops, better equipment, and better processes and procedures. In this article, we will cover a process that can help kegged beer fresher for longer. It may also inspire...

Going Pro
By Rich Michaels

By Rich Michaels After thirty years in the beer industry I am often asked about how to take the next steps towards becoming a professional brewer.  The industry continues to change and has become more competitive as the market has grown.  Here are some thoughts...  ...

The Process of Opening a Brewery with Side Gate Brewery
By MoreBeer!

On this episode of The Mash Up, Vito visits Side Gate Brewery in Concord, CA to talk to owners Paul and Kevin about the journey of opening their brewery. The conversation starts with their decision and inspiration to start Sidegate, then moves into creating a business plan and securing funding...

How to Use The Anton Paar EasyDens
By MoreBeer!

Anton Paar is a leading producer of analytical testing equipment for commercial breweries. Borrowing some technology from their high end machines, the EasyDens digital gravity/alcohol tester is designed for savvy homebrewers and small commercial breweries.  Watch the Video!...

Brewing a Dortmunder Lager | Dortmunder Beer Recipe!
By MoreBeer!

This was our second year brewing a Dortmunder for the National Homebrew Competition, using a recipe created by Mike "Tasty" McDole. The recipe was given to us by Tasty's son Lee, and we're excited to walk you through this year's brew and offer up the recipe below. If...

Homebrewing in the Military
By John Schaffer

By John Schaffer Homebrewing in the military has grown in popularity and has become even more accessible in the last 10 years. I know a few veterans that started out as homebrewers while in the military and now own a successful brewery. Some of the reasons they started brewing is that it...

Bread and Beer: A Common Past and an Intriguing Future
By Tobin Bottman

By Tobin Bottman The production of bread and beer share many commonalities, as both rely upon water, grain and yeast, and have an ancient heritage, as evidenced in archaeological discoveries. This article documents the similarities between beer and bread, and what one delicious fermented...

History of Beer in America
By Michael Carver

By Michael Carver Today we think of beer as a luxury item. Something to enjoy during our leisure times and beverage known and imbibed for its intoxicating properties. This was not always true. In fact, beer was once considered the most health drink to give to children and vital to...

Mexican Lagers
By John Fortunato

By John Fortunato   Ever since the 19th century, German immigrants residing in Mexico, and to a lesser extent, Swiss natives, brought then-modern brewing techniques to the northernmost Central American nation. Though Spaniards were the first to brew in Mexico, the lack of...

The Right Tools for the Trade
By Jack Horzempa

By Jack Horzempa Preface: Whether to brew via Extract (and specialty grains), Partial Mash or All Grain is a tradeoff.   There is an old saying: “There is more than one way to skin a cat” or in other words, there is more than one way to achieve an aim. In this...

How to Use a pH Meter for Beer Brewing
By MoreBeer!

Learning how to properly use a pH meter to check the pH of your strike water, will allow you to hit your targeted mash pH, resulting in better beer. Measuring your pH on brew day and keeping logs of your pH will help you become a better brewer. In this video, Vito explains why the pH matters...

Three Major Considerations before Going Pro
By Garrett Dean

By Garrett Dean Let’s Go Pro! You are a homebrewer who is considering turning professional. After all, who wouldn’t want to run their own brewery? What does it take to turn a hobby, albeit the best and most fun one of all, into a career? In my experience, there are...

Efficiency
By Mike Blaesser

By Mike Blaesser When it comes to efficiency, only one number matters We brewers are an obsessive lot. We worry about everything.   My pH is too high or too low. I fermented too hot or too cold. I dry-hopped too long/too short. I’m sure I’ve ruined my beer....

Brewing with Lactose
By Ryan Bailey

By Ryan Bailey Once upon a time, it was commonly accepted that beer consisted of four major ingredients: barley, hops, water, and yeast.  As a matter of fact, the Germans, for a variety of reasons, enacted the now-famous “purity laws” based on the use of only these...

Weiss Beer
By Jacob Wachtel

By Jacob Wachtel   Literally translated as "White Beer", the Weiss Beer (Weißbier) has a long, rich history within Germany. Hailing from the Bavarian region, and possibly Bohemia before that, this style of beer has become synonymous with a wheat dominant grain...

Brewing a GOLD MEDAL Winning AMERICAN LAGER with Epidemic Ales
By MoreBeer!

On this episode of The Mash Up, Vito visits Epidemic Ales in Concord, CA to talk to owner Erin and head brewer Shawn about their GABF Gold Medal winning American Lager, Lager at World's End, which is now available at MoreBeer! as a recipe kit!    We talk about the history...

Brewing Suds with Buds
By Ricky Alexander

By Ricky Alexander Ok, you got a nice homebrew kit from your Ma for your birthday, because your mother is just THE best and loves supporting all of your hobbies/habits. You stumbled through a couple of extract kits, got hooked, and decided to move to brew-in-a-bag (BIAB). You’ve...

Extracting Lessons from the Boil
By Jason Wells

By Jason Wells Homebrewing is a rewarding hobby and a tremendous community to be a part of. Nearly 20 years ago, it started for me with a simple Christmas gift from my wonderfully understanding wife. After years of listening to me talk about the incredible beers I sampled during my...

Intro to Bavarian Beers
By A. Dustin Gunter

By A. Dustin Gunter A Maß is the typical serving glass for a Munich Helles and Dunkel   When hiking through a pristine forest, you come to a clearing. Your immediate view is of a small village with pastel-colored buildings amongst the rolling bucolic countryside. In...

The Highs and Lows of Micro-Batch Brewing
By Derek Fleming

By Derek Fleming Most homebrewers refer to any process smaller than about five gallons as “small-batch brewing.” The label isn’t necessarily inaccurate, but it misses the point somewhat. Homebrewers doing batches of five gallons or more at a time typically want to...

A Belgian Golden Strong with Homegrown Persimmons!
By Brian D. Wood

By Brian D. Wood The first thing coming across my mind as we planted yet another fruit tree (can one have too many?) was, what can I do with a persimmon? Frankly, both my wife and I had never grown any persimmons before and never even tasted a persimmon prior to my good neighbor...

The Benefits of Homebrewing over Buying Beer
By Jack Horzempa

By Jack Horzempa There is a myriad of good reasons to homebrew your own beers and below are some of them. Click each reason to learn More! and watch the video to learn how to brew beer in 6 minutes! Top 5 Reasons to Homebrew! #1. It can Save you Money! #2. You can...

Decoction Mashing – Is it Worth the Effort?
By Chris Pfeiffer

By Chris Pfeiffer   Do you love malt-forward, European lager styles?  Do you enjoy exploring historical brewing methods and techniques? If so, then you have likely thought about decoction mashing.  You may be wondering if it is worth the effort. Below, we’ll...

Fermenting Under Pressure on the Cheap and Saving the Planet!
By Evan Knezic

By Evan Knezic     I originally started home brewing because honestly it was cheaper than buying good beer and I was broke. So, I figured out how to make or copy most things. Things have come a long way since then and I’m not broke now, but I still like to save...

To Can, or Not to Can
By Ryan Hansen

By Ryan Hansen from Big Pop Brewing     Canning home brew is a great topic that has been on a lot of brewer’s minds. The ability and practice to can our home brews seems to either be the peak of packaging, or an expense in time and gear that isn’t...

Learning from Your Mistakes
By Dan Biggins

By Dan Biggins     What is the worst thing that ever happened while you were brewing?  Most of us have had a disaster at some point that could have legitimately involved the fire department, or maybe the police had the wrong person in the house found out. For...

Bock
By Dustyn Cormier

By Dustyn Cormier We’re here to talk about beer history again. One could say that we’re going bock to the past. I wouldn’t say it, because it’s a bad pun, but I guess someone could say it if they wanted to. There are several different styles of bock beer, but most...

Amylase Enzymes
By Dustyn Cormier

By Dustyn Cormier Today we are going to dive into some chemistry! *Waits 10 seconds…* Now, for the 8 of you that are still reading, we are going to be talking specifically about enzymes. *Waits another 10 seconds…* For the 3 of you that stayed and decided that you are in for...

State of the Beer Industry with 5 California Breweries | The Mash Up Holiday Special
By MoreBeer!

It's a Holiday Special on The Mash Up! We got all of the breweries together that Vito visited in 2022 year to discuss all things beer and homebrewing, and end on a conversation about the State of the Beer Industry and what's next in 2023. Thanks to Melissa from The Good Hop for hosting...

Fermenting with Sous Vide
By Thom Cannell

By Thom Cannell   Finally, an easy method for delivering optimum fermentation temperature to a yeast that loves 90 °F temperatures. As a benefit, you can create great meals with this method, as well!       The journey began after reading a...

History of the Classic Mai Tai Cocktail! | With Video Recipe
By MoreBeer!

On this bonus episode of The Mash Up, Vito sits down with Danville Brewing head brewer Matt Sager in his backyard to discuss the history of the classic 1944 Mai Tai! Matt and Vito discuss the history of the recipe, the process of creating the different types of rum and ingredients in the...

Why You Should Go to a Homebrew Festival | With Video!
By MoreBeer!

Watch as we take you to our local homebrew festival, Northern California Homebrewers Festival! Vito talks about his experience at the 2022 festival, and makes the case for why you should attend your local festival!! Watch the Video!   Hey everyone, Vito...

Cold IPA
By Patrick Boyles

By Patrick Boyles   Prost! Salud! Cheers!   My name is Patrick Chase Boyles. I live in Winston Salem, NC and have been engrossed with craft beer and the beer culture since 2010 and have been home brewing since 2015!   Today we are going to talk about...

Top 5 Reasons to Brew Beer in Small Batches
By Dan Jablow

By Dan Jablow     Like many other homebrewers, when I first started brewing beer about four years ago, I began by brewing in single-gallon batches. Also like other homebrewers, after gaining a level of proficiency that I felt good about, I eventually scaled up my...

How to Make a Beer Yeast Starter | With Video!
By MoreBeer!

Making a yeast starter is one of the easiest ways you can increase the quality of your homebrew. And if you have your yeast shipped to you, it's going to arrive to you warm, even if you had it shipped with an ice pack! The best way to not only ensure the viability of your yeast but to...

Italian Pilsners
By John Fortunato

By John Fortunato     Do you crave a delicately balanced soft-toned brew to go with light Italian food dishes such as pizza, pasta and shellfish? Then what better way to quench a thirst after chowing delicious Mediterranean cuisine than with a floury baked breaded...

Dortmunder Export Lager
By Dustyn Cormier

By Dustyn Cormier   Hello, friends and well-wishers! My name is Dustyn Cormier. I live in a small town in the Hudson Valley in New York and I have been an avid and award-winning homebrewer for about 15 years. By day I’m an assistant principal at a middle school...

Kveik - A Gift from Our Nordic Cousins
By Steve Harbottle

By Steve Harbottle     When the average person hears about something “hot and fast” coming from Norway, I suspect their first inclination isn’t to think about beer but rather some new Nordic supermodel or downhill skier. For those of us in the...

Solera aging a Beer
By Evan Knezic

By Evan Knezic Why in the world would you want to use a technique on your beer that’s hundreds-of-years-old and traditionally for sherry? Maybe you’re feeling adventurous and want to make a multilayered complex funky stout or a sour beer; you’ll be amazed at...

Spunding: the good, the bad, and the bubbly
By Ryan Hansen from Big Pop Brewing

By Ryan Hansen from Big Pop Brewing Process and purpose of spunding: The age-old tradition of spunding has been making a comeback. In short, spunding is the process of trapping the naturally occurring cO2 that is created during fermentation inside the fermenter so that it absorbs...

Top 5 tips for using Kveik!
By Logan Prasser

By Logan Prasser   So, you’re ready to brew your first batch of beer with Kveik yeast, but you don’t want a stalled fermentation, end up with DMS, acetaldehyde, or some other off flavor you’ve seen in the past…. Well, here’s my top 5 tips...

Vienna Lagers
By John Fortunato

By John Fortunato     Once amongst the most popular beer styles in Austria and Germany, Vienna lagers fell out of favor after World War I. Occasionally nebulous in nature, coppery clear Vienna lagers may not demand the regional nor national admiration trendy...

Upgrading to a BrewZilla!
By Erik Wilke

By Erik Wilke     Moving to a BrewZilla (previously named Robobrew) as a first major upgrade from working on the stovetop in a BIAB setup was the best decision my girlfriend and I have made! For new brewers out there who have a kit or a kettle, it makes a world...

A case for less Hops and More! nuance
By Jim Showers

By Jim Showers     As the story goes, when they needed to get beer from England to India, the only way to keep it from spoiling was to add extra hops, and thus the IPA or India Pale Ale was born. Whether or not that’s true or just a convenient story, I...

How to Craft 3 New England IPA’s at Once!
By Andrew Sanford

By Andrew Sanford   Several years ago my son and I took a tour on the Portland Maine brew bus, stopping at several breweries and sampling their wares.    One juicy, delicious IPA stood out – Bissel Brothers Substance.   It was our first experience of...

Brewing with Brettanomyces (Brett)
By Jack Horzempa

By Jack Horzempa The two types of yeast most associated with brewing beer is Saccharomyces Cerevisiae (ale yeast species) and Saccharomyces Pastorianus (lager yeast species) but there is another type of yeast sometimes used in brewing beer: Brettanomyces (which is often referred...

Introduction To Mashing
By John Brady

By John Brady     Quick Links What happens in the Mash Why we mill Grain Performing an Iodine Test Lautering & Sparging   Enjoy homebrewing and thinking of taking it to the next level by going with an all grain mash? ...

Brewing West Coast IPAs with Wondrous Brewing
By MoreBeer!

On this episode of The Mash Up, Vito visits Wynn Whisenhunt at Wondrous Brewing to talk about their flagship West Coast IPA Creek Park.  Watch the video or listen to the podcast!   .iframe-container{ position: relative; width: 100%; max-height: 65vh;...

How You Brew Anything is How You Brew Everything!
By Charles Schafer

By Charles Schafer You might tell yourself things like “I’ll just throw this in instead, it’s basically the same thing, right?” or “Oops, forgot to clean that.  Well, it looks good enough.  It should be fine.” But in my experience...

Closed Transfer Kegging - How To Avoid Oxidized Beer!
By Brian Bojko

By Brian Bojko Oxygen plays a dual role in beer brewing, it can be your best friend when you need to oxygenate your wort post-boil for healthy yeast growth, or it can be your worst enemy after fermentation, leading to cardboard tasting beers with low hop character. The key to keeping...

Brewing with Cocoa Nibs
By Eugene J. Arlotta

By Eugene J. Arlotta   Introduction Chocolate has been around for possibly 5,000 years. The Aztecs made a non-sweetened drink using cocoa beans. Today, brewers like to get a chocolate flavor in their beer by adding cocoa nibs. It’s grown in the fruit from the...

Fruit Beer & Flavor
By Vito Delucchi

By Vito Delucchi Fruiting Beer My first memory of tasting a fruited beer was back in the late 90’s; it was Pyramid Brewing Co.’s Apricot Ale and I am not ashamed to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed it! The aroma and taste that the apricot brought to that wheat beer was...

Solera Method
By Brett Higham

By Brett Higham Vires in Numeris Historically speaking the Solera method is most commonly associated with Sherry production in the Jerez region of Spain. It refers to blending of liquids from young to old in order to obtain a product more complex than its age would otherwise...

Fixing Under-Carbonated Bottle Conditioned Beer
By Jack Horzempa

By Jack Horzempa When bottling homebrewed beer via the bottle conditioning process there are two main issues which can result in bottles that are under-carbonated: insufficient amount of priming sugar or tired yeast which was unable to complete the bottle conditioning process. This article...

Beer Freshness
By Jack Horzempa

Fresh is Best! Throughout the long history of brewing, beginning in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and China, beer was brewed to be consumed quickly after fermentation was complete. The Ancient Egyptians would consume their beer from the fermentation vessel using long reeds as straws....

Crafting Beer
By Vito Delucchi

By Vito Delucchi Quick Links Section 1: What Is Craft Beer Section 2: Crafting Your Own Beer Section 3: Enjoying & Sharing Craft Beer   Introduction If you’re reading this, it’s safe to say you probably like beer; so much so that you even...

Saison Beer
By Jack Horzempa

By Jack Horzempa Tis the Season I took four years of French in high school (which was many years ago) and since I never use French the best I can do today is remember and pronounce some words. For some reason one of those French words is saison which translates to season. Why...

Let’s Brew Ginger Beer!
By Joshua Rosenthal

By Joshua Rosenthal There are multiple ways in making ginger beer: fermentation with beer/champagne yeast, simple syrup with ginger, or you can make it the old fashion way. This recipe will not be using any soda carb mechanism; we're going to make it the old fashion way,...

Hop Creep
By Tim Murray

  Let’s Get Creepy! A homebrewer’s guide to understanding and managing hop creep By Tim Murray   This beer has diacetyl.  These four words, to any homebrewer, are a dagger.  They conjure up insecurities and feelings of failure. Imagine...

Making A Yeast Starter
By MoreBeer!

How To Make An 1000ml Yeast Starter Making a yeast starter is one of the easiest ways you can increase the quality of your homebrew. In this article we will cover how to make an 1L yeast starter using canned wort and also DME (Dried Malt Extract) as well go over some Yeast Wrangling Notes;...

What is Craft Beer?
By Jack Horzempa

By Jack Horzempa   What isn’t craft beer? For some folks this is an easier question to answer. For them, non-craft are the type of beers that the vast majority of beer consumers worldwide drink: “Fizzy yellow beer” as Greg Koch would describe...

Bottling Homebrew
By Tim Murray

By Tim Murray Have you ever just stared at a full carboy of finished beer and thought, what now? It seems like a silly question.  Drink it would be the obvious answer.  But how?  Bottle it?  Keg it?  Pop a straw in the top and start sucking?  For many,...

Fermenting Beer
By Jack Horzempa

By Jack Horzempa History of yeast In the Reinheitsgebot (German beer purity law) of 1516 there were three ingredients listed in brewing beer: barley (malt), hops and water. As any brewer today knows there is one ingredient missing from that list: yeast. Yeast...

Keg Sizes
By Joshua Rosenthal

By Joshua Rosenthal   Ready to start Kegging?   Sounds like you are ready to begin kegging your beer, but may not have an idea of which keg to use. Well you have come to the right article! We are going to cover the different types of kegs and couplers needed. Not...

Gluten Free Brewing
By Cale Baldwin

By Cale Baldwin   Gluten Free Beer As time passes it becomes harder and harder to remember a time when the term “gluten free” wasn’t embedded into my brain.  I loved drinking tasty microbrews stuffed full of hops, malty scotch ales and German...

A beer drinker’s tale of visiting the Czech Republic
By Jack Horzempa

Prologue In the early summer of 2019 my wife (Kathleen) suggested we take a trip to Europe. I immediately yelled out: Prague! I have wanted to visit Prague for well over a decade. For its beautiful scenery but mostly because of beer! I have been homebrewing for over 25 years and I...

Sahti - A Remnant of Finland’s Rustic Past
By Ilkka Sysilä (Brewing Techniques)

Article Updated by Ilkka Sysilä (Brewing Techniques)     Though modern brewers have taken some liberties with modern brewing materials, this anachronistic style is still being brewed by sahti masters as it was 400 years ago: in wooden vessels with a...

Pilsen Beer
By Jack Horzempa

The Family of Pilsners By Jack Horzempa A topic that I have often read on Internet beer discussion forums is: what type of Pilsner is Brand X from Brewery Y and what is really the difference between the different types of Pilsners? This article will address this topic...

Beer Brats!
By Joshua Rosenthal

By Joshua Rosenthal Beer Brats History and Recipes Every New Year’s Day and Super Bowl Sunday, my father would always put together a menu for us and for our neighbors to enjoy, as we would watch the bowl games on New Years and the final NFL game on Super Bowl Sunday....

Sour Beer
By Vito Delucchi

By Vito Delucchi     Looking to learn More! about Sour Beers and make one yourself? In this article our own award winning home & commercial brewmaster Vito talks about what sour beer is, the differences between mixed fermentation and kettle sours. He also shares...

Beyond Extract: What A Homebrewer Needs To Go From Extract To All Grain
By Tim Murray

By Tim Murray   When I was 30 years old, I brewed my first batch of beer.  I had thought about brewing beer many times before, but this was my first time actually firing up the kettle. I was excited. I eagerly watched the combination of extract and water on the stove, and...

Beer Flavor Stability
By Tuur Mertens

 Download complete article, Flavor stability in home brewing! By Tuur Mertens Tuur Mertens a doctoral student from the Technical University of Berlin has been conducting research on improving beer flavor stability by removal of transition metals. He wanted to give...

The Largest List of Brewing Hops
By MoreBeer!

Brewing Hops For Beer MoreBeer! has compiled one of the largest known lists of brewing hops online, with over 170 varietal hop descriptions.   Check out our selection of pellet and whole cone hops, hop concetrates, and hop rhizomes!   Admiral Hops This...

Refractometer
By MoreBeer!

Introduction to Refractometers Homebrewing is one of the greatest hobbies of all time, and anybody who takes it seriously knows that having the right equipment is imperative. You need all of the ingredients to make your brew, but you also need the tools to put it all together. Of...

Pulque
By MoreBeer!

How To Make Pulque at Home   Pulque is a traditional fermented beverage native to Mexico made with the sap of the agave plant. This brew has more in common with beer than agave-based spirits such as mezcal or tequila. Learn more about the origins of this drink and how to brew...

Dry Hopping
By Tim Murray

Creating Hop Aroma In Your Beer By Tim Murray Quicklinks: 8 Dry Hopping Tips To say brewers love hops might be an understatement.  Hops have been used in nearly every part of the brewing process because they give you (the brewer) the means to be creative. Want more...

Making A Sourdough Starter
By Jordan Reed

Alternative Fermentations: Sourdough Starter By Jordan Reed Bread. Warm, crusty, crackly on the outside. Tender and chewy on the inside, with a grainy-sweet, toasty aroma that makes you grin from ear to ear and causes your eyes to roll up to heaven from whence the loaf came! The flavor...

Understanding Malt Analysis Sheets
By Greg Noonan

How to Become Fluent in Malt Analysis Sheet Interpretation by Greg Noonan No two batches of malt are alike. The only sure way to predict their effect on your brew is to ask for and know how to read malt analysis sheets.   You are a serious grain brewer. Whether you brew...

A Comparison of North American Two-Row and Six-Row Malting Barley
By Paul Schwarz and Richard Horsley

Malt Focus: Comparing 2-Row & 6-Row Malted Barley by Paul Schwarz and Richard Horsley Ever since its introduction to North America in the 17th century, barley has taken on a life of its own. Both two-row and six-row North American malted barley are rather different from their...

Introduction to Glycol
By MoreBeer!

  Glycol Systems and Crafting the Perfect Beer Brewing beer from scratch is an art form. It lets you showcase your attention to detail as well as your creativity, especially when considering your preferred method. Any good brewer knows that you need complete temperature...

Crushin' It - Homebrew Grain Mill Gap Settings
By Vito Delucchi

by Vito Delucchi     Milling Grain at Home - In Summary Grain is an agricultural product, and it’s size and friability can vary each year depending on the yearly harvest, and the maltster. To better familiarize yourself with all...

American Wheat Beers
By Roger Bergen (Brewing Techniques)

By Roger Bergen (Brewing Techniques)     Summertime is prime time for wheat beers, which have traditionally been associated with Weissbier of Berlin and Hefeweizen of Bavaria. American wheat beers, however, are finding a place of distinction on the...

Thinking about Beer Recipe Formulation
By Darryl Richman (Brewing Techniques)

By Darryl Richman (Brewing Techniques)     Trials, errors, and creative thinking led to an award-winning dopplebock.      Brewing the doppelbock that led the bock category at the 1990 American Homebrewers...

Hung Fermentations, Water Analysis Tables, and Eggs in Beer
By David Miller (Brewing Techniques)

Q and A with David Miller (Brewing Techniques)     The BrewingTechniques troubleshooter helps one brewer solve a case of fermentations that just didn’t want to get going, answers another perplexed brewer’s questions about his local utility’s water...

Reinheitsgebot and the Fifth Ingredient
By Martin Schiller and Jim Busch (Brewing Techniques)

By Martin Schiller and Jim Busch (Brewing Techniques)     Invisible predators of sweet wort, bacteria are the brewer’s nemesis. Some survive the boil and compete with yeast in the fermentor, imparting offensive aromas and off-flavors. The key to winning the war...

Belgian Malts: Some Practical Observations
By George J. Fix (Brewing Techniques)

By George J. Fix (Brewing Techniques)     Belgian malts offer qualities and performance profiles that differ markedly from their North American and British counterparts. This report on the results from experimental test brews based on Belgian malts reveals their...

Factors Affecting Hop Production, Hop Quality, and Brewer Preference
By Alfred Haunold and Gail B Nickerson (Brewing Techniques)

By Alfred Haunold and Gail B. Nickerson (Brewing Techniques)     Declining yields of traditional noble aroma hops and the demands of modern production methods are leading hop producers to seek new varieties that retain the qualities of these popular hops while...

Blending and the Art of Salvage
By Chris Studach (Brewing Techniques)

By Chris Studach (Brewing Techniques)     What to do with that unfortunate mistake of a recipe? Design another beer that is out of balance in an opposite and complementary way.      It invariably happens, even to the best of us....

Oktoberfest Alternatives
By Roger Bergen (Brewing Techniques)

By Roger Bergen (Brewing Techniques)     As summer turns to fall, many brewers start to plan their Oktoberfest brewing. This installment of “Brewing in Styles” looks at the materials and techniques used for brewing traditional and modern Märzen beers...

Beer Malts
By MoreBeer!

The Basics of Beer Malts Homebrewers have many malt choices. Brewing recipes for different styles of beer give us a good understanding of certain malts and how they taste together. You can also experiment by combining one or more types of base malt with specialty and adjunct grains in...

Cultured Dregs, Challenging Infections, and Home-Kilning Malt
By David Miller (Brewing Techniques)

Q and A with David Miller (Brewing Techniques)     Cultured Dregs, Challenging Infections, and Home-Kilning Malt    One brewer’s efforts at fermenting with cultured Oberdorfer Weizen yeast yielded a beer that tasted nothing like the original....

Simple Laboratory Methods for Microbrewers
By Frank Commanday (Brewing Techniques)

By Frank Commanday (Brewing Techniques)     Quick Results for Quality Assurance The time normally associated with microbiological testing causes many brewers to view such work as tedious drudgery. A couple of relatively easy methods can make light work and...

The Low-Down on Copper Pennies, Exposing Beer to Air, and more.
By Dave Miller (Brewing Techniques)

Q and A with The Troubleshooter Dave Miller (Brewing Techniques)     Racking and Wort Aeration   Question: Two questions: First, my brewing buddies and I disagree about racking. They rack several times during fermentation to clarify their...

Diacetyl: Formation, Reduction, and Control
By George J. Fix (Brewing Techniques)

By George J. Fix (Brewing Techniques)     Diacetyl — the compound responsible for buttery or butterscotch flavors that sometimes arise in beer — can be controlled if you understand the mechanisms that contribute to its production. This...

Porters: Then and Now
By Roger Bergen (Brewing Techniques)

By Roger Bergen     Porter is a notoriously obscure and enigmatic style. Its current revival in Britain and America invites us to shed some light on its 19th and 20th century origins with the aid of period sources.     ...

Turning an Old Refrigerator Into A Fermentation Chamber
By Kieran O'Connor (Brewing Techniques)

By Kieran O'Connor (Brewing Techniques)     Accurate control of fermentation temperature is closer at hand than you might think.      You happen to be at your in-laws, nosing around their basement for some...

Great Commercial Beer from Malt Extract
By Donald R. Outterson (Brewing Techniques)

By Donald R. Outterson   Extract brewing, the stepchild of the brewing family, can produce top-quality brewpub and microbrewery beers. The key is understanding the properties of malt extracts and working with them.    ...

A Stout Companion
By Ron Bergen (Brewing Techniques)

By Ron Bergen     The art of brewing this most extreme beer style is revealed by both old brewing texts and a discussion of the many worldwide variations on a dark and bitter theme.        In the...

Rice as an Adjunct, Hot-Side aeration, Sparge-Water pH and more
By Dave Miller (Brewing Techniques)

Q and A with The Troubleshooter Dave Miller (Brewing Techniques)     Rice as an Adjunct   Question: I did three brews using cooked rice added to my standard all-malt “house” pilsner. I cooked 3 lb of rice in a 4-gal pot with...

Hot Trub: Formation and Removal
By By Ron Barchet (Brewing Techniques)

By Rob Barchet     Hot trub, the protein precipitate formed during the boil, can impede fermentation and produce undesirable qualities in the finished beer. Simple, effective methods allow professional and home brewers to remove this unwanted by-product. ...

Brewers' Wish List for Brewery Equipment
By Rosannah Hayden (Brewing Techniques)

By Rosannah Hayden     The holiday season typically finds home brewers and microbrewers preparing their favorite seasonal specialty beers and, as winter waxes on, reflecting on the past year’s brewing successes and failures. Brewers’ wish lists for...

How Kveik Became the Hottest Strain of Beer Yeast
By Joe Smahl

By Joe Smahl Ancient Norwegian yeast cultures known as "kveik" have been used to produce Farmhouse beer in the Nordic land for generations, and are now being cultivated and produced in America in liquid yeast form. These isolated strains are taking the brewing world by...

Shaking up the Beer World - The Milkshake IPA

  Style Overview   Impression: An addition of lactose to a New England IPA amplifies all of the characteristics that originally set the haze craze in motion, creating a beer with an even juicier appearance, and a smooth and soft body that is the perfect backdrop...

California Steaming
By Roger Bergen (Brewing Techniques)

By Roger Bergen       The uniquely American hybrid that launched the microbrewery revolution has always been poorly understood. Made by using a lager yeast … at ale temperatures … in odd fermentors … it must be from San Francisco! ...

The Bushwick Pilsners: A Look at Hoppier Days
By Ben Jankowski (Brewing Techniques)

By Ben Jankowski (Brewing Techniques)         Though few remember it today, the Bushwick section of Brooklyn was one of America’s leading brewing centers through the 1950s and into the 1970s. Its pilsners were unique for more reasons than just...

Parti-Gyle Brewing
By Randy Mosher (Brewing Techniques)

By Randy Mosher (Brewing Techniques)       An ancient practice born of technological limitations offers vast possibilities for variety and flexibility in modern home and commercial brewing. A reminder that a lack of resources can often lead to...

IPA - The Origin of India Pale Ale, Part II
By Thom Tomlinson (Brewing Techniques)

By Thom Tomlinson (Brewing Techniques)   The previous installment, IPA and Empire, reviewed the invention of India Pale Ale and its early development as a style. In this issue, we discuss the resurgence of interest in traditional India Pale Ales, both in the United States and...

IPA - The Origin of India Pale Ales, Part I
By Thom Tomlinson (Brewing Techniques)

By Thom Tomlinson (Brewing Techniques)     In this first of two articles on India Pale Ale, Thom Tomlinson presents the history of the style’s invention and early development in 18th century Britain. In the next issue, Tomlinson reviews the evolution of...

Simple Detection of Wild Yeast and Yeast Stability
By Rodney L. Morris (Brewing Techniques)

By Rodney L. Morris (Brewing Techniques)     Giant yeast colony analysis is a sensitive method for differentiating various brewing yeast strains and can be used to identify those that are genetically unstable and have a tendency to mutate. Mutations in the...

Yeast Culturing Practices for Small-Scale Brewers
By Karl King (Brewing Techniques)

By Karl King (Brewing Techniques)   High-quality yeast cultures and culturing kits are available, but how do you use them? Here’s an overview of one successful method for culturing and maintaining your very own yeast bank at home, highlighting many of the components...

Explorations in Pre-Prohibition American Lagers
By George J. Fix (Brewing Techniques)

By George J. Fix (Brewing Techniques)       This article is a sampling of recipes from the Pre-Prohibition era. It's relevant today as the Pre-Prohibition Style is now officially recognized as a BJCP Historical Beer style. Much of the...

My First Homebrew!
By Joe Smahl

By Joe Smahl Extract Brewing in 12 Easy Steps   Fill kettle with water, add steeping grains in mesh bag, and turn your burner to high. Steep grains for 30 minutes then lift out and let drain. Bring water to a boil. Once boiling, turn off burner, add...

There and Back Again, A Brut IPA Tale!
By Vito Delucchi

By Vito Delucchi     A Brewer’s Journey Through Several Brew Days, Enzymes, and Cities.     Brut IPA Style Overview   This hybrid IPA is the brainchild of Kim Sturdavant of Social Kitchen and Brewery in San Francisco,...

So it Gose! A History of Gose Beers

The "New" Style That Started in Germany Over 1,000 Years Ago     Style Overview Pronounced “go-suh,” this ancient German beer survived against the Reinheitsgebot Purity Law of 1516, despite featuring more ingredients than what the law...

Brewing Lambic at Home
By Jim Liddil and Martin Lodahl (Brewing Techniques)

By Jim Liddil and Martin Lodahl (Brewing Techniques)     Practical Strategies for Brewing Lambic at Home Part I —Wort Preparation Lambic represents an irresistible challenge to many beer aficionados’ most deeply ingrained beliefs about brewing....

Closed-System Home Brewing
By Bennett Dawson (Brewing Techniques)

by Bennett Dawson (Brewing Techniques)      A problem with airborne contaminants led to the development of this completely closed system, in which wort and beer never contact nonsanitized environments, even ambient air.     When...

Direct Injection of Steam for Mash Temperature Control
By Kelly E. Jones (Brewing Techniques)

by Kelly E. Jones (Brewing Techniques)     A simple, inexpensive, easily fabricated steam heat system can provide precise temperature control for mashing.     I first learned about using steam for mash temperature control from...

Brewing in Styles: Witbier - Belgian White
By Martin Lodahl (Brewing Techniques)

The Belgian Wit style offers a richly complex beer that is appealing in any season. by Martin Lodahl (Brewing Techniques)  HOT STUFF As the North American beer consumer has grown in sophistication, it is only natural that the Belgian styles have become hot items. The...

Bottling Beer

Bottling Beer and Choosing the Right Bottle   You’ve successfully brewed a batch of your favorite beer. You’ve waited patiently and anxiously as your wort progressed, watching bubbles come and go. You’ve tested the specific gravity 2-3 days apart, and...

Different Beer Glasses

    Exploring Different Types of Beer Glasses   If you don’t use the correct beer glass for your chosen beverage, you’ll miss out on the overall experience. The beer glass you choose for your pour will determine the density and creaminess of...

Brewing in Styles: Old, Strong, and Stock Ales
By Martin Lodahl & Roger Bergen (Brewing Techniques)

by Martin Lodahl & Roger Bergen (Brewing Techniques)     As autumn approaches, a brewer’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of strong, fruity, and flavorful ales.      Truly Big, Truly Old   A century ago,...

A Practical Guide to Yeast Management
By by Fal Allen (Brewing Techniques)

by  Fal Allen (Brewing Techniques)     As a small-scale brewer, you probably have other things than expensive lab equipment at the top of your expenditure list. You would probably rather buy another clean-in-place (CIP) pump or an additional fermentor....

Brewing in Styles: Belgian Trappists & the Abbey Ale
By Martin Lodahl & Roger Bergen (Brewing Techniques)

by Martin Lodahl & Roger Bergen (Brewing Techniques) Behind Abbey Walls     One of the first beers to really astound me was Chimay “rouge,” now usually seen in the United States as Chimay Première. It was at a formal beer tasting,...

Home Brewing an Ancient Beer
By Ed Hitchcock (Brewing Techniques)

Kitchen Anthropology Intrigued by Anchor Brewing’s reproduction of an ancient beer according to the Sumarian Hymn to Ninkasi, one home brewer set out to reproduce his own interpretation of an even earlier beer. by Ed Hitchcock (Brewing Techniques) As both a paleontologist and...

Archaeological Parameters for the Beginnings of Beer
By THOMAS W. KAVANAGH, PH.D. (Brewing Techniques)

The origin of Beer and Brewing  Although of great interest to the brewing community, the question of the origin of beer and brewing has received sporadic attention from academic investigators. Home brewer, anthropologist, and museum curator Thomas Kavanagh outlines and evaluates...

A Turn-of-the Century British Account of Selected 19th Century Belgian Brewing Methods
By Randy Mosher (Brewing Techniques)

Current interest in low-gravity beers brings new relevance to some of the unorthodox practices of 19th century Belgian brewing. By Randy Mosher (Brewing Techniques) I recently ran across a couple of papers in some old copies of the Journal of the Institute of Brewing, the venerable...

How To Make A Yeast Starter

Making A Yeast Starter     You can put together the best homebrew recipe in the world, but if your yeast aren’t happy, you’re not going to be happy with the results. The microscopic fungi that turn sugary wort into delicious beer need a healthy, happy...

Wild Yeast Detection and Remediation
By Fal Allen (Brewing Techniques)

by Fal Allen (Brewing Techniques)     The basic principles behind the detection of infections by considering unwelcome wild yeasts   Like bacteria, wild yeast can infect your beer and cause off flavors. Wild yeast can be defined as any yeast not...

Brewing in Styles: Altbier
By Martin Lodahl

by Martin Lodahl (Brewing Techniques)     Reddish brown, bitter and malty, Altbier was for many years Düsseldorf’s secret link to brewing’s past. Luckily for us, it’s a secret no more.     OBERGÄRIGER Lagerbier...

Crystal Clear 100% Wheat Beer? You Bet!
By Roger Jones

Brew a bright, barleyless, 100% wheat beer! by Roger Jones (Brewing Techniques) If you are like many home brewers, you don’t like to be told you can’t do something. If you have a taste for wheat beer, you have probably been frustrated that you couldn’t brew an...

How To Choose A Fermenter

And Some Helpful Fermentation Tips       When it comes to the home brewing process, each step is a critical building-block in developing your brew’s desired flavor, aroma, mouthfeel, and level of clarity. However, no other step has the same impact on...

What's In A Beer?

  A beer is more than what is in the cup. It is an experience with friends, a cool down after a long day at work, a moment to relax, and if you make it yourself it is a slow pour of cold success. To understand how to make beer it is important to start with the basics. There are...

Popular Craft Beer Styles - A List of Types of Beer
By MoreBeer!

A Guide To Craft Beer Styles     Brewers and drinkers enjoy more variety in their beer options today than at any point in history. The Beer Judge Certification Program recognizes over a hundred distinct styles, many of them mere umbrellas for a wide range of...

For Those About To Bock and Doppelbock!
By Darryl Richman

by Darryl Richman and Martin Lodahl (Brewing Techniques)     Big, bold, and malty, yet amazingly subtle, Bocks and Doppelbocks are excellent reasons to look forward to spring.     The historical record concerning the...

Miscellaneous Quality Control Procedures, from Low-Tech to High
By Fal Allen and Jason Parker

The Microbrewery Laboratory Manual by Fal Allen and Jason Parker (Brewing Techniques) Many microbreweries are moving to a capacity that no longer qualifies them as microbrewers (whatever the current qualification of microbrewery may be). They have become regional breweries. At that...

The Road to an American Brown Ale
By Pete Slosberg

A learner’s beer? A bottled beer? A British style? An American style? All of those and more. by Pete Slosberg and Martin Lodahl column editor (Brewing Techniques) My first homebrew in 1979 was a brown ale. When I started Pete’s Brewing Company in...

Forced-Kettle Ventilation and Its Benefits
By Micah Millspaw

by Micah Millspaw (Brewing Techniques)     A simple equipment modification led to reduced boilovers, more consistent wort volume reduction, and increased hop utilization.    This description of the method — which is equally applicable in...

A Simple Key to the Mastery of Efficient Lautering
By John J. Palmer and Paul Prozinski

by John J. Palmer and Paul Prozinski (Brewing Techniques) Fluid Dynamics     Understanding how the fluids in your mash tun move through the grain bed during sparging can help you maximize your extraction efficiency.     Extraction...

Reviving the Classic American Pilsner
By Jeff Renner

by Jeff Renner (Brewing Techniques)   A Shamefully Neglected Style     Modern American lagers bear little resemblance to their forebears, which were full-flavored beers with deep, rich characters. Experimentation with the classic style...

Aeration Basics
By Don Put

by Don Put (Brewing Techniques) Early-Stage Aeration Is the Key to Robust Fermentations     Definition of terms: Beginning brewers sometimes get a bit confused by this subject because they’ve been told not to introduce air into the finished beer,...

Preparing Wort & Yeast for Fermentation
By Jim Busch

by Jim Busch (Brewing Techniques) Processes and techniques for healthy, fast, clean fermentations     Brewers make wort; yeast make beer. To make a great beer takes a well-composed wort, proper wort handling, and optimal yeast preparation — some...

Brewing Comes Full Circle in America
By Kieran O’Connor

From Craft Brewing and Back Again by Kieran O’Connor (Brewing Techniques - 1996) This is a three-part article about the growth of craft brewing in America. The first part covers the earliest prominence of beer in the colonies, local breweries, pasteurization, taxation,...

The Role of Genealogy in Hop Substitutions
By Don Van Valkenburg

A Question of Pedigree When your favorite hop is nowhere to be found, check out other members of the family to find a suitable alternative. Ever feel slightly overwhelmed when searching for the right hop for your next brew? To home brewers, reading the labels in the hop section of the...

The Science of Beer Color
By Ray Daniels

Beer Color Demystified The Nature of Light Light is a type of radiant energy — a class that includes everything from radio waves to X-rays. These energies follow a wave model of behavior; they oscillate uniformly about a central line that indicates the direction of travel for the...

Cask Conditioning Ales at Home
By Jim Busch (Brewing Techniques)

By Jim Busch (Brewing Techniques) You Don’t Have to be British to Produce Great Real Ale.     This article covers some of the concepts and techniques involved in brewing, conditioning, and serving cask-conditioned ales, also known as real ales. Although...

Shedding Light on the Bavarian Dunkel Style
By Jay S. Hersh

by Jay S. Hersh (Brewing Techniques) Bavaria’s Dark Secret     Revered from London and Paris to St. Petersburg and Scandinavia, the Bavarian dark style defined the essence of beer during the 18th and 19th centuries. A recent tour of traditional Dunkel...

A Look at Ethics in Beer Judging
By Alan Moen

Beer competition judges must rise to the challenge of fairness and integrity. To the serious home brewer, spring means more than budding trees and blooming flowers. It also represents the blossoming of scores of regional and national beer competitions, such as the first round of the AHA...

The Elements of Bottling
By Don Put

By Don Put     A close-up look at the bottling process shows how to turn that flat beer in the fermentor into a lively, finely conditioned drink.     Click here to browse our extensive selection of beer bottles!  ...

The Beers of Christmas!
By Ben Jankowski

The brewing of holiday beers is a long-standing tradition. It provides an opportunity for limitless creativity by the addition of a variety of spices, herbs, fruits, and adjuncts. Use your imagination! By Ben Jankowski The last month on the calendar brings the winter solstice, and with...

Weizen - An Old Style Finds New Life
By John W. Ostrom

Crisp, spicy, and refreshing, Bavarian-style wheat beers are once again as valued as they were in days of old. In the early days of German brewing, wheat beers were one of the most popular drinks available. Dr. Jacobus Theodorus Tabernämontanus in 1613 offered some observations on...

Brewing Water Primer
By Colin Kaminski

By Colin Kaminski Introduction To The Topic Of Brewing Water   Water makes up most of a beer. While it has long been known that water effects the flavor of beer dramatically many brewers have left this important ingredient out of their studies about beer and recipes. Water...

Homebrew Calculators
By MoreBeer!

Quick & Easy To Use Web Based Brewing Calculation Tools!   Wondering how much dried malt extract you will need for that yeast starter? Or maybe how many IBUs that 13% alpha acid hop will contribute when added to your boil? Don't worry we got your covered with our FREE...

Why Use a Pro Brite Tank?
By MoreBeer!

Pro Brite Tanks Help Clarify and Free up Unitanks     Some of our customers going pro have asked why they should use a brite tank as opposed to just buying more Uni Tanks (Conical Fermenters). While situations and brewing styles vary we did our best to answer some of...

A Look At Brewing Beer In A Bag (BIAB)
By Vito Delucchi

By Vito Delucchi with Contribution from Adam Wyss     Brew in a Bag Made Simple Equipment: A Kettle (Large enough to handle full volume of liquor and grain) A Bag (Large/Strong enough to handle amount of soaked grain needed) Heat...

Tips on Tasting Beer
By Scott Bickham (Brewing Techniques)

Tips on Tasting Originally Published by Scott Bickham in Brewing Techniques (Volume 5, Number 6) Here are some points to keep in mind if you are getting set to do any kind of serious beer tasting. Baby your taste buds. Palate preparation is all too often neglected in beer...

Simple Ways To Beating Homebrew Haze
By Don Put (Brewing Techniques)

By Don Put (Brewing Techniques)     Simple Low-Tech Methods for Beating Homebrew Haze   In an ideal world, our home-brewed beer should remain clear, develop a nice, stable head, and have a consistent flavor profile. In the real world, it takes a few...

Unique Ways to Dispense Your Homebrew
By Brewing Techniques

by Pat Babcock     Homebrew Dispense Round-Up With a little effort, you can dispense your kegged beer in professional style. Seven handy home brewers share their ingenious systems for dispensing beer at home.   A Dorm Fridge and Cabinet as a Jockey...

The Pursuit Of Hoppiness Part I
By Don Put

The Pursuit of Hoppiness— Part I: From Farm to Market to Brewery, Hops Lead a Fascinating, Delicate Life Originially Published By Don Put (Brewing Techniques, Volume 4, Number 2) As an ingredient that plays such a major role in the taste and character of your beer, hops...

The Pursuit Of Hoppiness Part II
By Don Put

The Pursuit of Hoppiness— Part II: The Care and Feeding of Hops in the Brewhouse Originially Published By Don Put (Brewing Techniques, Volume 4, Number 3) The practical application of hops in home brewing requires a basic understanding of how they add bitterness, flavor, and...

High Gravity Brewing
By Victor Buckwold (Brewing Techniques)

By Victor E. Buckwold (Brewing Techniques)     Brewing beer with a high ABV can be intimidating. This article aims to offer up some easy-to-follow guidlines and procedures that can be utilized while brewing high gravity beer to reduce some of the intimidation. ...

Grow Hops in Your Backyard
By Stephanie Montell (Brewing Techniques)

By Stephanie Montell   From Planting to Harvest and the Hazards in Between   Growing hops at home is easy if you know the tricks of the trade. But you better hurry - as spring turns to summer the prime time for establishing new starts is quickly passing....

Setting Up A Homebrew Laboratory
By Louis K. Bonham (Brewing Techniques)

By Louis K. Bonham     How to Set up a Small Brewing Laboratory This article inaugurates a new column dedicated to the experimental spirit of specialty brewing. Overseen by the self-described mad scientist of brewing himself, Louis Bonham, The Experimental Brewer...

Dissolved Oxygen: How Much Is In Your Wort?
By Dennis Davison (Brewing Techniques)

By Dennis Davison (Brewing Techniques)     Most brewers recognize the importance of infusing wort with good quantities of dissolved oxygen, but how much dissolved oxygen does your method actually achieve? A prominent home brewer reviews the various...

Why A MoreBeer! Conical Fermenter

    Since we released the first stainless conical fermenters for sale to home brewers, we have seen a few come on the market that try to match the quality and functionality of ours. Below, you’ll find a few reasons why a stainless conical from MoreBeer! is the...

Building And Using Coolers As Mash Tuns
By John Palmer (Brewing Techniques)

By John Palmer (Brewing Techniques)     A “Cooler” Way to Ease into All-Grain Brewing   The transition from extract to all-grain brewing doesn’t have to be complicated. Here’s how you can convert a common picnic cooler into an...

The Magic of Munich Malt
By Jim Busch (Brewing Techniques)

By Jim Busch (Brewing Techniques)     Munich malts hold a special place in the brewer’s repertoire of raw materials. Offering both color and flavor benefits typically associated with specialty malts plus diastatic power for starch conversion, this malt can...

Determining the Sugar Contribution of Fruit in Beer
By Gary Spedding (Brewing Techniques)

By Gary Spedding (Brewing Techniques Magazine)   Your fruit adds more than just flavor to your beer.   I recently learned a valuable lesson about brewing with fruit. I found that the original gravity of a cherry wheat beer I had made was much higher than I had...

Hop Oils - Flavors & Aromas
By Glenn Tinseth (Brewing Techniques)

By Glenn Tinseth (Brewing Techniques)     The Essential Oil of Hops: Aroma and Flavor in Hops and Beer   The quest for elusive hop character in beer has led researchers and brewers to break fertile ground in the discovery and control of the...

Hop Storage
By Mark Garetz (Brewing Techniques)

By Mark Garetz (Brewing Techniques)     How to Get — and Keep — Your Hops’ Optimum Value   Most brewers are familiar with the fragile nature of hops — they loose their bittering qualities over time, and their essential oils...

The Equipment Needed to Move to All-Grain
By George Deo Piro

By George De Piro (Brewing Techniques)     All Grain Brewing Equipment - Do the Mash!   You don’t necessarily need to start from scratch to brew good beer, but those who do appreciate the satisfaction of guiding their beer from grain to glass. Part...

Fermenting the Worts of Summertime Brews
By Robert McIlvaine, Jr. - Brewing Techniques

It’s hot this time of year — too hot for healthy fermentation. But summer’s heat also increases the thirst, inspiring brewers throughout the ages to find easy, sometimes ingenious solutions to the need for summertime cooling of worts. This review spans the range of low to...

Preventing Corrosion In The Brewery
By John Palmer (Brewing Techniques)

By John J. Palmer (Brewing Techniques) Corrosion in the Brewery: How to Get the Upper Hand     Behind the heft of your brewery’s structure and the shine of the equipment lurks a menace that can ruin your beer and your financial investment. Understanding...

Brewing With The BeerBug
By Chris Graham

Written by Chris Graham   Last week Olin and I decided to brew one of our favorite recipes, "Malty Brown" and test it out with WLP200 (Best of Both Worlds).   We also decided to use The BeerBug to monitor the fermentation.   The BeerBug and Setup I...

Using Adjuncts in Beer
By Delano DuGarm (Brewing Techniques)

By Delano DuGarm (Brewing Techniques)     Outcast Ingredients Take Their Place in Quality Beers   Grain adjuncts share a bad reputation among specialty brewers, most of whom associate adjuncts with the sweet, under-hopped, light lagers produced by major...

Focus On Beer Flavor
By Scott Bickham (Brewing Techniques)

by Scott Bickham - (Brewing Techniques)   The Four Basic Tastes     The first stop on the Beer Flavor Wheel takes us to the four basic tastes: bitter, salty, sweet, and sour. We will identify their sources, provide commercial examples, and offer tips on...

Removing & Preventing Beer Stone Buildup
By Steve Parkes (Brewing Techniques)

By Steve Parkes (Brewing Techniques)     Tackling a Classic Brewers’ Nemesis   Beerstone is an aggravating problem in a brewery because it is a stubborn blend of organic and inorganic compounds. Most brewers agree that the best practice is to avoid...

Discover the Joys of Kegging
By Kirk R. Fleming (Brewing Techniques)

by Kirk R. Fleming (Brewing Techniques)     Discover the Joys of Kegging - Set up a Simple Home Draft System   The benefits of convenience and control far outweigh the cost of setting up a home draft system. This article shows how easy it can be to...

Controlling Beer Oxidation
By George J. Fix (Brewing Techniques)

By George J. Fix (Brewing Techniques)     Control Beer Oxidation from Kettle to Bottle   The effects of the introduction of oxygen to wort or beer on flavor stability have been widely debated over the years, and the subject has been the target of much...

How to Master Hop Character
By Jim Busch (Brewing Techniques)

By Jim Busch (Brewing Techniques)     Exploring Hop Flavors and Aromas for More Targeted Recipe Formulation   Each hop variety has its own trademark flavor and aroma. A simple set of experiments can open the door to personal mastery of each...

A Guide to Brewing Water Treatment
By Marc Sedam (Brewing Techniques)

By Marc Sedam (Brewing Techniques)     Brewing Water Profiles Water is a deceptively understated and underrated force in the making of any beer. Hugely variable throughout the world, it is abundant with minerals and organic compounds that have the ability to...

Sources and Impact of Sulfites in Beer
By Scott Bickham (Brewing Techniques)

By Scott Bickham (Brewing Techniques)     Sulfur compounds are at the root of off-flavors as diverse as skunk, rubber, and vegetables, but they can also serve as antioxidants. This column focuses on the sources and control of sulfur flavors in beer.  ...

Souping up Your Home Brewing Setup
By George De Piro (Brewing Techniques)

by George De Piro (Brewing Techniques)   In the last issue we showed you how simple it can be to assemble an all-grain brewery. Just in time to add to your Christmas wish list, this article discusses the reasons why you might want to upgrade your equipment and some of the...

Constructing a Backyard Half-Barrel Brewery
By Paul Zocco (Brewing Techniques)

by Paul Zocco (Brewing Techniques)     Any brewer who’s outgrown his or her conventional 5-gallon brewery knows how easily the heart inclines toward a mightier, more efficient setup. Enter the half-barrel brewery: All the best in dedicated home brewing and...

Opening Your Own Brewpub
By Mark Diebolt (Brewing Techniques)

By Mark Diebolt (Brewing Techniques)     Owning a brewery is every homebrewer's dream. Turning that dream into a profitable reality takes serious planning. A Brewpub Feasibility Study Is the First Step to Liquid Gold.     So, you're...

The Biochemistry of Yeast - Aerobic Fermentation
By Tracy Aquilla (Brewing Techniques)

By Tracy Aquilla (Brewing Techniques)     Debunking the Myth of Yeast Respiration and Putting Oxygen in Its Proper Place   Through it flies in the face of popular wisdom, yeast does not go through a respiration phase in the early stages of fermentation....

Understanding pH and It's Application in Small-Scale Brewing
By A.J. deLange

by A.J. deLange     Understanding pH and Its Application in Small-Scale Brewing—   Part I: Fundamentals and Relevance to Brewhouse Procedures     The question of pH often arises in brewing circles — what is it, why is...

Pliny the Elder is #1!
By Matt Monroe (MoreBeer!) and Jill Redding (Zymurgy)

Once Again, Pliny the Elder is Voted #1...

Analyzing Malt Flavor
By Scott Bickham (Brewing Techniques)

By Scott Bickham (Brewing Techniques)     Most people can accurately describe a beer as “malty,” but beer analysts often go a step further to identify a beer as worty, husky, or having grassy notes. The differences can be subtle and not necessarily...

Removing Chloramines From Water - Chloramines Removal
By A.J. deLange (Brewing Techniques)

By A.J. deLange (Brewing Techniques)     As chloramination replaces chlorination of drinking water in a growing member of water districts, brewers who feel it’s a problem can no longer rely on standing boiling, or aeration to remove it. Campden tablets offer...

Mastering Hop Character
By Jim Busch (Brewing Techniques)

by Jim Busch (Brewing Techniques)     Exploring Hop Flavors and Aromas for More Targeted Recipe Formulation   Each hop variety has its own trademark flavor and aroma. A simple set of experiments can open the door to personal mastery of each...

Kettle Reactions - The Science of The Boil
By Jim Busch (Brewing Techniques)

By Jim Busch (Brewing Techniques)     Stepping up to Advanced Techniques   The chemical and physical processes — known collectively as kettle reactions — that are at work in boiling wort are important contributors to beer quality. A basic...

Cream Ale - An American Classic
By Ben Jankowski (Brewing Techniques)

By Ben Jankowski (Brewing Techniques)     Cream Ale — An American Classic Is it a lager? Is it an ale? Its pedigree may not be pure, but cream ale has satisfied American drinkers for nearly a century.     Not many beer...

The Blichmann BeerGun & Using Quick Disconnects
By Tommy Morris

Gas Quick Disconnect for Beer Guns   Instructions and Imagery by Tommy Morris   I recently built a gas quick disconnect (QD) for my new Blichmann Beer Gun. The beer gun accessory kit comes with a QD for the...

Using Steeping Grains Effectively
By John Palmer (Brewing Techniques)

By John Palmer     A Beginner’s Guide to Using Grain in Extract Recipes   The benefits of specialty malts — enhanced flavor, intriguing colors, and overall complexity — are available to extract brewers through a simple procedure added...

Proper Beer Handling: From Fermentor to Glass
By Mikoli Weaver (Brewing Techniques)

From Fermentor to Glass: Handling, Dispensing, and Serving Beer Originally Published in Brewing Techniques Volume 7, Issue 2 by Mikoli Weaver What happens to your beer between the fermentor and the glass can make or break your reputation as a brewer. Bottling brewers have their own...

Brewing With Herbs and Spices
By Jim Busch (Brewing Techniques)

By Jim Busch (Brewing Techniques)     Spice up Your Brewing with Ancient Ingredients   Adherents to the Reinheitsgebot rules about barley, hops, yeast, and water as the only permissible ingredients in beer could take some lessons from more ancient...

Growing Your Own Hops
By MoreBeer! Team

    MoreBeer!'s Primer on Growing Hops that we send out with every rhizome. Also consider reading the Growing Hops article that appeared in a past issue of Brewing Techniques Magazine.      Wondering how to grow your own hops? ...

Brewing Strong Beer
By Jim Busch (Brewing Techniques)

By Jim Busch (Brewing Techniques)     Some Tricks to Successfully Brewing Strong Beers   Brewing ales and lagers with a high alcohol content can be difficult for the uninitiated. Dealing with the complexities inherent to these beers calls for rethinking...

Preparing Yeast Starters for Healthy Fermentations
By George De Piro (Brewing Techniques)

By George De Piro (Brewing Techniques)   Give Your Yeast a Boost     Yeast abuse is the most common cause of mediocre homebrew. Many off-flavors and fermentation problems are the result of improper yeast handling. Learning the techniques of yeast...

Berliner Weisse - From Past to Present
By Florean Kuplent (Brewing Techniques)

by Florian Kuplent Berliner Weiβbier     Once brewed in over 700 Berlin breweries, the beer that Napoleon called “the Champagne of the North” is sadly now on the endangered species list     Berliner Weisse, a light, sour...

Barley Wine - The Revival of the Tradition of Big Beers
By Fal Allen and Dick Cantwell (Brewing Techniques)

by Fal Allen and Dick Cantwell (Brewing Techniques)       The brewer’s answer to brandy or pinot noir, barleywine is a strong (8–14%), malt-rich ale aged to complexity and oftentimes sipped with the same respect awarded to rare wines. Brewing a...

Industry Leaders Using a MoreBeer! BrewSculpture
By Matt M

Below is a list of some of the commercial breweries and industry leaders that use a MoreBeer! BrewSculpure for various purposes. Heretic Brewing Company was founded by Jamil Zainasheff, one of the homebrew greats.  Jamil has had his sculpture for a number...

The Frugal Brewer’s Guide to an Advanced Home Brewery
By Randy Mosher (Brewing Techniques)

by Randy Mosher (Brewing Techniques)     You too can piece together your own automated 15-gallon brewery from junkyard parts and scrap metal.     For more than five years now, I’ve been working toward my goal of constructing a fully...

Conditioning: Fermentation's Grand Finale
By John Palmer (Brewing Techniques)

By John Palmer (Brewing Techniques)     Primary fermentation takes center stage in the drama of transforming wort into fine beer. Unfortunately, when brewers shut down the show before the beer conditions, they miss out on the big finish.    ...

Preparing for the BJCP Certification Exam
By Scott Bickham (Brewing Techniques)

North America’s only recognized judge certification program provides a structure for mastering the essentials of beer judging and an exam that recognizes accomplishment in expert beer evaluation. Master the Essentials of Beer Evaluation- How to Prepare for and Pass the Beer Judge...

American Porters
By Ben Jankowski (Brewing Techniques)

by Ben Jankowski (Brewing Techniques)   American Porters- Marching to Revolutionary Drummers     From their earliest days in colonial experience, American porters have evolved separately from their British ancestor and today stand in a class...

Welding and Brazing Stainless Steel
By John Palmer (Brewing Techniques)

By John Palmer     There are a variety of options for brewers looking to weld stainless steels. This articles offers some in-depth details about the welding and brazing options for breweries both large and small.    ...

Brewing Lager Beer
By Jim Busch (Brewing Techniques)

By Jim Busch (Brewing Techniques)     Part I: An Overview of the Lager Beer Brewing Process Patience is required to master the complex process of lagering, but U.S. home brewers are embracing the technology to brew lagers every bit as clean and delicate as those...

Lactobacillus Beer - Brewing With Lactic Acid Bacteria
By Dr. Brian A. Nummer

By Dr. Brian A. Nummer     Usually considered an unwanted infectious pest in the brewhouse, lactic acid bacteria can be harnessed as an exquisite ingredient for selected beer styles.      Since the days of Pasteur, lactic acid bacteria...

Brewing With Smoked Malts
By Martin Lodahl and Tim Dawson (Brewing Techniques)

By Martin Lodahl and Tim Dawson (Brewing Techniques)     Smoky Beer Smoky flavors in beer, once a by-product of malting technology, live on in specialty products brewed using both traditional and modern methods.     Smoke billows...

Techniques and Technologies for Clarifying Homebrew
By Jim Busch (Brewing Techniques)

By Jim Busch (Brewing Techniques) When Beer Must Be Clear     Clear beer is primarily achieved by removing yeast and minimizing the production of haze-producing compounds during the brew session. When these preventive measures can’t do the job, filtration...

Kettle Reactions
By Jim Busch (Brewing Techniques)

By Jim Busch (Brewing Techniques)     An Introduction to Better Beer   Wort boiling and knowledgeable handling of hot wort are important to the production of high-quality beer. The physical and chemical processes at work during the boil are...

How to Lauter for the Highest Extract Efficiency
By Jim Busch (Brewing Techniques)

By Jim Busch (Brewing Techniques)     In this installment of “Stepping Up,” we investigate the process of lautering and review some of the common situations that can cause lautering problems. Lautering is a fairly simple process, but also a very...

Mashing Made Easy
By Jack Schmidling (Brewing Techniques)

Mashing Made Easy The easy mashing system makes light work of all-grain brewing. by Jack Schmidling   Mashing and sparging in picnic coolers and plastic buckets of one form or another have become so universal that the method discussed in this article might seem like...

A Primer on Stainless Steel Welding
By Jeff Donaghue (Brewing Techniques)

by Jeff Donaghue (Brewing Techniques) A Primer on Welding Stainless Steel     I am not a welder, nor am I a metallurgist or a machinist. Unlike 65% of the home brewers I know, I am neither an engineer nor a computer geek. I can change the oil and filter on my...

Hop Utilization
By Dave Miller (in Brewing Techniques)

By Dave Miller (Brewing Techniques)     Question: Hops and IBUs: In figuring your IBUs, does batch size make a difference (say 10-gaI versus 10-bbl)? The formula I use is from the Zymurgy hops special issue: IBU = (%U x %A x Wgr) / VL x (1 GA) x 1000 where U...

Keg Carbonation
By Dave Miller (in Brewing Techniques)

By Dave Miller (Brewing Techniques)     Keg Carbonation Q: I have a 5-gal Cornelius keg that I use for my homebrew. However, I have never been completely satisfied that I’ve achieved the correct amount of carbonation. Usually the brew is a little flat....

Stainless Steel 101
By Micah Millspaw (Brewing Techniques)

By Micah Millspaw The Care and Feeding of Stainless Steel     The unique properties of stainless steel make it a material of choice among knowledgeable brewers. This primer on stainless steel reviews its composition and properties, discusses methods of cleaning...

Beer Color Demystified
By Ray Daniels (Brewing Techniques)

by Ray Daniels (Brewing Techniques) The articles featured in this section are sourced from Brewing Techniques Magazine. The content has been added without editing for authenticity and integrity. Part I: How to Measure Beer Color in the Home and Microbrewery    ...

Brewing With Fruit
By Randy Mosher and Martin Lodahl (Brewing Techniques)

by Randy Mosher and Martin Lodahl (Brewing Techniques)     When adding fruit to a beer, the brewer must make sure the beer will work with the character of the fruit. In home brewing competitions, judges like to be able to detect “a beer in there...

Brewing With Rye
By Rosannah Hayden (in Brewing Techniques

By Rosannah Hayden       An ancient grain is making a new name for itself in the small-scale brewing scene.     Necessity is not always the mother of invention. This is especially true in the world of brewing, where the spirit of...

Modifying Sanke Kegs For Use as Brewing Kettles
By Martin P. Manning (Brewing Techniques)

by Martin P. Manning (Brewing Techniques)     Modifying Half-Barrel Kegs for Use as Brewing Vessels A well-modified half-barrel keg should be easy to make, easy to use and care for, and avoid the common pitfalls encountered in many designs. This article presents...

Water Treatment
By Karl King (Brewing Techniques)

By Karl Kin (Brewing Techniques)     Water Treatment: Philosophy, Approach, and Calculations   The chemical calculations for water treatment can be intimidating to those who are not professional chemists. A spreadsheet and a simple approach demystify the...

Mashing With a Protein Rest
By Dave Miller (Brewing Techniques)

Question: I have two questions for which I can’t get good answers from local homebrew supply stores. I am a new full-mash brewer. I have been using highly modified two-row pale malt with 10% adjuncts. When mashing on cooler days, I find it hard to keep a steady mash temperature in my...

Methods of Sanitization and Sterilization
By Maribeth Raines (Brewing Techniques)

By Maribeth Raines (Brewing Techniques)       Boiling in water and soaking in chlorine bleach may be insufficient safeguards against infectious bacteria and fungi. Some simple laboratory methods are easily adapted for use by small-scale brewers.  ...

Sanitizing Counterflow Wort Chillers
By Dave Miller (Brewing Techniques)

By Dave Miller (Brewing Techniques)      Click here to browse our top-selling counterflow wort chillers!   Question: Some time back you discussed the proper care and cleaning of counterflow wort chillers. I followed your recommended procedure...

Step Mashing Q+A with Dave Miller
By Dave Miller (Brewing Techniques)

  Question: I am confused. I am a beginning all-grain home brewer and have learned a lot from friends at a local homebrew shop. One thing they all agree on is that single-infusion mashing is the way to go. Most of the books I have, particularly yours and Papazian’s, use...

Understanding pH of Beer and Mash pH
By Dave Miller (Brewing Techniques)

By Dave Miller (Brewing Techniques) Checking pH of Beer         Have any feedback on this article? We want to hear from you! Click here, to contact us with any feedback. Did you enjoy reading this article?...

Lambic: Belgium's Unique Treasure
By Martin Lodahl (Brewing Techniques)

by Martin Lodahl (Brewing Techniques)       Lambic: Belgium’s Unique Treasure   But is it really beer?” The first taste of a lambic is almost always a surprise — sometimes even shocking — especially to those whose concept...

The Life of a Yeast Cell
By Dan Put (Brewing Techniques)

By Dan Put (Brewing Techniques) The Secret Reproductive Life of Yeast     To better understand the importance of wort aeration, let’s look at what happens to yeast in the early stages of fermentation.     Aerobic stage: Lag phase....

Dextrin Malt - Carapils and Maltodextrin
By Dave Miller (Brewing Techniques)

By Dave Miller (Brewing Techniques)     Dextrin Malt Q: Is it correct to assume that all extract from dextrin malt is in the form of dextrins and therefore not fermentable? If dextrin malt is mashed with other malt, will the enzymes in the other malt convert the...

Water Hardness
By Dave Miller (Brewing Techniques)

by Dave Miller (Brewing Techniques)     Question: After seeing references in various beer publications and books on water analysis, I decided to contact my local officials and get a copy of the breakdown for our local water supply. The contents of the report indicate...

Mashing 101 For The First Time All-Grain Brewer
By Jim Busch (Brewing Techniques)

By Jim Busch (Brewing Techniques)     Mashing Basics for the First-Time All-Grain Home Brewer   There is no reason for mashing to be a difficult, scary task. First-time all-grain brewers can easily produce outstanding beers, provided they master a few...

Lowest Recorded North American Brew
By Olin Schultz

In 1998 Regan Dillon and Olin Schultz of Beer, Beer & More Beer along with Mike Rose and Mike Cullen set the world record for brewing beer at the highest elevation when they fired up an all-grain Pale Ale on the top of Mt. Whitney at 14,491 feet of elevation. In late April 2005, in...

Climbing North America's Highest Peak to Brew a New Record!
By Olin Schultz

  Some people who are on the 'outside' of the hobby think that home brewers are obsessive. Of course they are right. Take for example the Tribe home brewing club out of Colorado. Last year they set the World record for brewing at the highest altitude when they brewed an...

One Beer, Two Batches!
By Dave Miller (Brewing Techniques)

High-Gravity Brewing Q: Is it advisable to brew a strong 5-gallon wort, divide it into two batches and add an equal amount of water to each batch, to get two new 5-gallon batches, each containing half of the original wort? For example, could I brew 5 gallons of 1.080 wort, divide it into...

Why not dry hop at pitching time?
By Al Korzonas (in Brewing Techniques)

  Three reasons. First, if you use the blowoff method, either the hops will clog the blowoff tube or the kraeusen will pump hops out of the fermentor and into the blowoff vessel, which will give your blowoff a nice hop nose but which won’t do your beer any good. Second,...

Calibrating Bimetallic Thermometers
By Olin Schultz

We recently heard a story where a commercial brewery was not obtaining the final gravities they were expecting. After fingers were pointed at equipment manufacturers and at yeast suppliers the end result was the gauge thermometer they were using in their Mashtun was 5 degrees off. Whoops. This...

HomeBrew Off Flavors and How to Avoid
By MoreBeer! Team

These are some of the many common off-flavors that can occur when brewing beer at home. Along with a description of these common flavors, we go over how some of the possible causes, as well as precautions that should be taken to avoid having them show up in your beer.   ...

Build Your Own Refrigerator Kegerator
By Olin Schultz

  With a little work you can easily make your own kegerator out of a used refrigerator.     Equipment List Click on the following to order from these pieces from MoreBeer.Com 1) 5lb CO2 Tank (D1050) 2) Dual Gauge Regulator (D1060) 3) 3’ Gas Line...

An Overview of All Grain Brewing
By MoreBeer! Team

Why Brew All-Grain?  The Ultimate Control - You can use any malted grain and control factors such as body (viscosity), color and head retention. Freshest Flavor — You can't get fresher flavor than taking malted barley, milling it, and immediately making beer. Save...

Beermosa
By Olin Schultz

Sure,  you've had a Mimosa, but have you ever had a Beermosa?? Well neither had the MoreBeer! crew until the 2011 National Homebrewers Conference in San Diego.  It was Saturday morning, the morning after the MoreBeer! sponsored Club Night, and everyone was a little worse for the...

Choosing the Right Beer Kit
By MoreBeer! Team

The MoreBeer!™ mission is to provide reliable equipment and quality ingredients to make the brewing experience successfuland satisfying. We’ll get you the tools to start brewing the way we wish we had started. We offer five levels of Personal Brewery Beer Kits™ ranging from...

Three Benefits of Kegging Your Beer
By The Morebeer Team

When you start using kegs in your brewery at home  there are a lot of tricks and conveniences kegs offer: Lagering & Conditioning: Kegging allows you to lager beer for long periods of time which allows your beer to age and naturally clarify....

Popular HomeBrew Tips and FAQ's on Yeast & Hops
By The MoreBeer! Team

The following article is a colleciton of some of our more popular Tips and FAQ's about Hops and Yeast Brewing Hops Homebrew Tips and FAQ's What Are Hops? Hops are the delicate female flower of the Humulus Lupulus plant, or hop vine. Considered the spice of beer, hops...

Making Lagers - Q&A with Jonathan Plise
By The MoreBeer! Team

The former California HomeBrewer of the Year and MoreBeer! employee answer a few questions about making Lagers at Home! Jonathan won the prestigous California HomeBrewer of the Year in 2008 after winning the most points in select California homebrewing competitions. Not only is it a...

Oak's Balancing Act
By Jason Petros

by Jason Petros (Originally appeared in Zymurgy May/June 2008) Oak has been used in brewing for many years, but recently it has seen a resurgence of interest due to its large flavor impact on both wine and beer. In the past, the oak flavors gained from storage in wood were...

Using an Ice Bath to Control Fermentation Temperatures
By Jonthan Plise

    Jonathan Plise managed our Concord, CA showroom for approximately 9 years. During that time one of the most common questions was “What can I do to keep fermentation temperatures cool without having to buy a refrigerator or your temperature controlled...

Brewing Terminology
By Jonathan Plise

A quick reference guide for the Homebrewer By: Jonathan Plise   Ale: A top-fermenting yeast strain that is fermented at warmer temperatures ranging from 55-85F depending on the strain. Ale fermentations are generally shorter than lager fermentations, ranging from...

Fresh Malt Extract = Great Beer!
By The MoreBeer! Team

While there are many important factors that go into successful beer making at home, using fresh malt extract is very close to the top of the list.We go to great lengths to make sure our malt extract is the freshest in the industry.  First, we limit our selection to ensure that what...

A Survey of Brewing Software
By Andrew Perron (Brewing Techniques)

Updated 06/10/21 The article below originally appeared in Brewing Techniques Magazine, so some of the information may be outdated. Our current favorite brewing software to use is BeerSmith. A lot of us also have recently started using BrewFather as well. Check out our useful Free...

Instructions for How to Use a Hydrometer
By Jim Martella and Paul Gatza (Brewing Techniques)

by Jim Martella and Paul Gatza (Brewing Techniques)  How to Get the Most out of Your Measuring Instruments     Whether you’re a professional brewer with a snazzy brewhouse or a home brewer with a rag-tag system, you depend greatly on temperature...

Advanced Mashing Techniques
By Jim Busch (Brewing Techniques)

By Jim Busch (Brewing Techniques)     Mashing 102 — Advanced Material   In a way, mashing is the natural progression of malting. Both act to take a raw ingredient (barley or malt) and through enzymatic processes reduce the material into sugars that...

Understanding Beer as Business
By Alan Moen (Brewing Techniques)

by Alan Moen (Brewing Techniques)   The Clash of Commerce and Culture     The demands of commerce and the traditions of culture raise fundamental questions about our attitudes toward this enigmatic elixir.     Most of us who...

Is the Beer You Drink in “Tap” Shape?
By Alan Moen (Brewing Techniques)

By Alan Moen (Brewing Techniques)     Producers, sellers, and consumers alike must work to maintain great beer.     One of the great myths of our consumer society is that good packaging in itself guarantees a good product. Although the...

Reflections of a U.S. Beer Judge at the GBBF
By John R. Calen (Brewing Techniques)

By John R. Calen (Brewing Techniques - Vol. 6, No.5) A New York Yankee in CAMRA’s Court A UK-trained beer judge from the United States recalls last year’s Great British Beer Festival as being both more formal and more sociable than beer competitions on this side of the...

Fear of Phenols
By Steve Alexander (Brewing Techniques)

by Steve Alexander (Brewing Techniques)       A Guide to Coping with Brewing’s Most Contrary Chemicals   The dreaded precursors to chill haze and contributors of off-flavors and astringency, common phenols also play many beneficial...

An Introduction to Sensory Analysis
By Scott Bickham (Brewing Techniques)

by Scott Bickham (Brewing Techniques)     Focus on Flavor   This first installment of “Focus on Flavor” introduces the complex world of beer flavor and how brewing methods create and influence it — for good or for ill. In each...

Snob or Connoisseur? It’s a Matter of Taste
By Alan Moen (Brewing Techniques

Snob or Connoisseur? It’s a Matter of Taste by Alan Moen (Brewing Techniques - Vol. 6, No.4) Learning to appreciate beer is not a “booring” experience. One day as I was tending the towering hop vines in my backyard, a neighbor stopped by to ask me a...

Beer from the Wood
By Jason Dunson-Todd (Brewing Techniques)

by Jason Dunson-Todd (Brewing Techniques) From Ancient Past to Present, Oak Remains a Perennial Source of Special Character     The use of wood, particularly oak, was commonplace in brewing until the 20th century. Though wood is still widely used for the...

Bread: A Natural Companion to the Brewer’s Art
By Dr. Adam Rich (Brewing Techniques)

There can be more than great beer at the end of a day’s play with agriculture’s primal elements. by Dr. Adam Rich (Brewing Techniques - Vol. 4, No.6) Brewers can make bread like only brewers can — unique in their use of grains, liquids, and yeasts. Specialty...

The Dirt on Brewery Cleaning
By Greg Foss (Brewing Techniques)

by Greg Foss (Brewing Techniques)     A Review of Procedures and Chemicals   Understanding the processes and chemicals involved in the all-important work of cleaning and sanitizing your brewery can help make your routine more efficient and...

Protecting Your Brewery’s Intellectual Property
By Scott Garrison (Brewing Techniques)

by Scott Garrison (Brewing Techniques)     You have insurance on your car and on your brewery equipment — why not on the fruits of your labor? If you create recipes, invent gadgets, or come up with a great name for your beer or brewery, protecting your rights...

Home Brewing Handicaps
By Alan Moen (Brewing Techniques)

Home Brewing Handicaps by Alan Moen (Brewing Techniques - Vol. 7, No.2) Are you putting limits on your own brewing? Examine your processes and see if you can’t perform a little physical therapy on your beer. This year, “Christmas break” had a little more...

Brewing In Styles...American IPA
By David Brockington & Martin Lodahl (Brewing Techniques)

The Evolution and Contemporary Brewing of American IPA by David Brockington & Martin Lodahl (Brewing Techniques - Vol. 4, No.5) Never a shy style, India pale ale has elbowed its way into the consciousness of North American beer enthusiasts while evolving into a unique...

A New Look at Brewing and Ecology
By Alan Moen (Brewing Techniques)

St. Francis Meets St. Louis by Alan Moen (Brewing Techniques - Vol. 5, No.2) A progressive business venture seeks to make “waste-free” brewing a reality. A painting hanging in the The Frick Collection in New York City stopped me in my tracks the first...

Brewing Success in Long Island’s Wine Country
By Alan Talman (Brewing Techniques)

Brewing Success in Long Island’s Wine Country by Alan Talman (Brewing Techniques - Vol. 7, No.2) Supported by savvy restaurateurs, a brewer creates unusual beers that are making beer lovers out of wine drinkers in Long Island’s tony Hamptons. In New York City,...

A Special Collection of Perennial Questions and Their Practical Answers
By Dave Miller (Brewing Techniques)

Troubleshooting wisdom from Dave Miller by Dave Miller (Brewing Techniques - Vol. 5, No.6)  Water— the main ingredient Q Is there anything wrong with using RO water? A Using a reverse-osmosis filter to remove all minerals from your brewing water...

The Troubled Renaissance of British Craft Brewing
By Peter Haydon (Brewing Techniques)

By Peter Haydon (Brewing Techniques - Vol. 6, No.5)     An observer of the UK microbrewing scene explains microbrewers’ battle to place their beers before the British public.     Whenever I try to explain the British brewing industry, I...

Brooklyn Brewery - Reviving a Rich New York Brewing History
By Alan Talman (Brewing Techniques)

Brooklyn Brewery - Reviving a Rich New York Brewing History by Alan Talman (Brewing Techniques - Vol. 6, No.2) Brewing in the high-rent environment of the Big Apple was all but dead when Brooklyn Brewery set up shop. Now this 20,500 bbl/year experiment in historical nostalgia...

Building a Compact Three-Tier Brewery
By Jeffrey Pugh (Brewing Techniques)

By Jeffrey Pugh (Brewing Techniques)     This home brewery has a small footprint, gives you a great deal of control over mash temperature, and makes brewing convenient.     I have been a home brewer since 1992 and enjoy combining my technical...

Cask Conditioned Brewing
By Steve Parkes

By Steve Parkes (Brewing Techniques)     Modern Approaches to Cask-Conditioned Brewing - Lessons from Britain   When the Campaign for Real Ale resuscitated the market for cask-conditioned ales in the United Kingdom, many brewers had to make significant...

How Common Judging Errors Creep into Organized Beer Evaluations
By Edward W. Wolfe (Brewing Techniques)

Even experienced beer judges make mistakes. by Edward W. Wolfe (Brewing Techniques - Vol. 4, No.2) I consider myself lucky to have a profession that helps me develop my skills as a beer judge. I’m not a microbiologist, and I don’t work in the food industry. I create...

North American 2 Row vs 6 Row Malting Barley
By Paul Schwarz and Richard Horsley (Brewing Techniques)

by Paul Schwarz and Richard Horsley (Brewing Techniques)     Ever since its introduction to North America in the 17th century, barley has taken on a life of its own.   Both two-row and six-row North American malted barley are rather different from...

Decoction - A Review of a Traditional Technique
By Spencer W. Thomas (Brewing Techniques)

by Spencer W. Thomas (Brewing Techniques)     An authentic decoction mash may well have no replacement, hut these experiments show that using a pressure cooker can give excellent results with far less work.     Decoction brewing is...

Designing Beers Like the Pros
By Jim Busch (Brewing Techniques)

Key Concepts in Recipe Formulation by Jim Busch (Brewing Techniques - Vol. 5, No.2) Recipe formulation is a creative exercise that puts all of your skills to the test while opening new avenues of freedom. Whether you brew with extract or all-grain, there’s nothing like...

Homemade Grain Milling Systems
By Rob Brown (Brewing Techniques)

By Rob Brown (Brewing Techniques)   Roller Mill Roundup   A good crush is a critical first step toward optimum extraction and efficient lautering in all-grain brewing. Do-it-yourselfers can build their own mills for home use, with excellent results.  ...

An All-Electric Half-Barrel Brewery
By Terry Trentman (Brewing Techniques)

by Terry Trentman (Brewing Techniques)     Electric water heater elements can provide abundant power for brewing when propane or natural gas isn’t an option.     Ten years ago, I was living in Utah and becoming desperate to find a real...

Flavors from Esters and Alcohols
By Scott Bickham (Brewing Techniques)

by Scott Bickham (Brewing Techniques)     The relative levels of esters and alcohols are critical to a beer’s balance. Though sometimes difficult for brewers to control, the formation of these compounds can be affected by close monitoring of fermentation...

Fatty Flavors and Diacetyl
By by Scott Bickham (Brewing Techniques)

by Scott Bickham (Brewing Techniques) Fatty Flavors and Diacetyl - Should Your Beer Be Fat-Free?     The flavors attributed to diacetyl and fatty acids are encouraged in some styles and may be undetectable to trained tasters even when in excess. Yet...

The Great HBD Palexperiment
By John Varady (Brewing Techniques)

By John Varady (Brewing Techniques)   Home Brewers in Pursuit of Recipe Replication     More than 45 home brewers from coast to coast, introduced to each other through the internet, devised a homebrew version of the 1997 Oregon Pale Ale Experiment to...

The HBD Palexperiment Results - Lab Analysis (Part I)
By Louis K. Bonham (Brewing Techniques)

The HBD Palexperiment Results - Lab Analysis (Part I) by Louis K. Bonham (Brewing Techniques - Vol. 7, No.1) Last year’s unprecedented HBD Palexperiment resulted in a large volume of data that will undoubtedly contribute significantly to the existing body of brewing...

Count on Your HEMACYTOMETER For Consistent Pitching Rates
By David Sohigian (Brewing Techniques)

by David Sohigian (Brewing Techniques)       Variations in pitching rate can drastically alter your beer’s character. Assessing cell counts and viability on a regular basis takes just a few minutes out of your day and will pay off in consistent...

Home Brewers Must Keep Their Hobby Alive
By Alan Moen (Brewing Techniques)

Home Brewers Must Keep Their Hobby Alive by Alan Moen (Brewing Techniques - Vol. 6, No.2) As the craft beer movement mushrooms, are its home brewing roots in danger of shrinking? Not long ago, I attended a meeting of my old homebrew club. In years past, these gatherings had always...

Hoppy and Maturation Flavors in a Nutshell
By Scott Bickhamb (Brewing Technique)

By Scott Bickhamb (Brewing Techniques)     The resinous, nutty, green, and grassy flavors in Class 2 of the Beer Flavor Wheel typically arise either from hop products or from the precursors of staling compounds. The flavors are positively regarded in many styles....

Hops in America
By Gerard W. Ch. Lemmens (Brewing Techniques

A 20-Year Overview by Ing. Gerard W. Ch. Lemmens (Brewing Techniques - Vol. 4, No.6) A review of hop varieties currently grown in the United States shows a competitive, diverse, and growing U.S. hops industry. Because of extensive favorable growing conditions, the United...

Easy Calibration of Floating Glass Hydrometers
By Brain Dixon (Brewing Techniques)

by Brain Dixon (Brewing Techniques)     Even if you don’t have access to high-end instrumentation, you can use standard solutions to calibrate your hydrometer and make your specific gravity readings more accurate.     If...

Inside Orval - Sancity Meets Modern Times in an Evolving World Classic
By Christian Thomas DeBenedetti (Brewing Techniques)

Inside Orval - Sancity Meets Modern Times in an Evolving World Classic by Christian Thomas DeBenedetti  (Brewing Techniques - Vol. 6, No.3) Orval’s renowned ale is the product of an authentic Trappist monastery deeply imbued with grace and antiquity. Yet as...

Brewnomics: Brewing Beer is Cheaper Than Buying it
By Olin Schultz

    What is Brewnomics?   It's simple: Brewing beer is cheaper than buying it.  https://www.morebeer.com/category/home-brewing-kits.html#Brewnomics

Tips On Purchasing And Caring For Kegs
By Jason Parker (Brewing Techniques)

by Jason Parker (Brewing Techniques)     Don’t take your kegs for granted — here are some tips on purchasing and caring for the all-important vessels being used to transport and serve your precious beer.   Perhaps you’re a brewpub...

A Visit to the Court of Germany’s Kölschbier
By Forrest Williams and Martin Lodahl (Brewing Techniques)

The Queen of Köln— A Visit to the Court of Germany’s Kölschbier by Forrest Williams One style alone is served in the Köln region of Germany’s western edge — a gentle reminder that a beer can rule with a light touch. “You can’t...

Simple Lab Tests to Ensure Top-Quality Beer
By Louis K. Bonham (Brewing Techniques)

by Louis K. Bonham (Brewing Techniques)     Easy quality control tests let you identify the source of off-flavors and screen for bacterial infection at very little cost. They’re so easy, there’s no reason every brewer can’t do them.  ...

Belgian’s Magical Beers and People Revive One Man’s Love of Brewing
By Hubert Smith (Brewing Techniques)

Redemption of a Beer Lover by Hubert Smith (Brewing Techniques - Vol. 5, No.5)  The small bar has just opened on a Sunday afternoon and only three of us are in it: the dark-haired woman of about 30 who poured our beer, my wife, and me. We all stare out the front windows at a...

How to Gain Maximum Control over Wort Chilling Operations
By A.J. deLange (Brewing Techniques)

by A.J. deLange (Brewing Techniques) Approaches to Measuring Counterflow Chiller Performance and Getting Predictable Results     Simple equations and graphs can help you accurately estimate chill times and water consumption in counterflow chiller operations....

Brewing in Styles: Mild Ale
By David Sutula (Brewing Techniques)

by David Sutula (Brewing Techniques)  Mild Ale — Back from the Brink of Extinction?     Mild ale endures as one of the most elusive styles of beer in the world. Ubiquitous in the history of British brewing yet rarely present in the...

Techniques and Technologies for Minimizing Air in Bottled Beers
By Phil Markowski (Brewing Techniques)

by Phil Markowski (Brewing Techniques)   To Air Is Human   Oxygen in the headspace of a bottled beer can alter its flavor and compromise its shelf life. Whether you are in a position to buy a new bottling line with all the bells and whistles or must make due with...

New Zealand Hops - The Fruits of a Pure Ecology
By Ben Jankowski (Brewing Techniques)

New Zealand Hops - The Fruits of a Pure Ecology by Ben Jankowski (Brewing Techniques - Vol. 6, No.3) Sheltered from the diseases common to Northern Hemisphere hopyards, the fields of New Zealand support a carefully nurtured family of hops raised on a “clean,...

An Investigation into the Purity of Noble Hop Lineage
By Andrew Walsh (Brewing Techniques)

The Mark of Nobility An Investigation into the Purity of Noble Hop Lineage by Andrew Walsh (Brewing Techniques - Vol. 6, No.2) Precise methods of hop analysis have made it possible for experts to take a fresh, hard look at the lineage of today’s noble varieties. Their...

No-Sparge Brewing
By Louis K. Bonhamb (Brewing Techniques)

by Louis K. Bonhamb (Brewing Techniques)     No-Sparge Brewing - An Old Technique Revisited   Will skipping the sparge step create beers with superior flavor? A home brewer’s experiment sets out to determine whether objective differences...

Questioning Order in the Court of Beer Judging
By Edward W.Wolfe and Carol Liguori Wolfe (Brewing Techniques)

A Study on the Effect of Presentation Order in Beer Competitions By Edward W.Wolfe and Carol Liguori Wolfe (Brewing Techniques - Vol. 5, No.2) Anyone who’s entered a homebrew or microbrew competition wonders about the many variables that can affect beer scores. Two brewers...

The HBD Palexperiment - Lab Analysis (Part II)
By Louis K. Bonham (Brewing Techniques)

The HBD Palexperiment - Lab Analysis (Part II) by Louis K. Bonham (Brewing Techniques - Vol. 7, No.2) Louis Bonham concludes his two-part series analyzing the HBD Palexperiment beers. This time: final gravity, pH, CO2 and headspace air, and alcohol content. In the previous...

The History and Brewing Methods of Pilsner Urquell
By Peter A. Ensminger (Brewing Techniques

By Peter A. Ensminger (Brewing Techniques)     Divining the Source of the World’s Most Imitated Beer   It sometimes happens that history and fortune intersect at precisely the right time and place. Pilsner Urquell emerged from a small Bohemian...

Preparing for Brew Day
By John Palmer (Brewing Techniques)

by John Palmer (Brewing Techniques)   Tips for Preparing and Organizing Your Brewing Sessions     Pulling together all the details that go into a brew session can seem a daunting task to the novice brewer. Here are some tips on how to make brew...

Priming Bottled Beer for Consistency and Reproducibility
By Dave Draper and Mark Hibberd (Brewing Techniques)

The Prime Directive by Dave Draper and Mark Hibberd (Brewing Techniques - Vol. 4, No.4) Carbonation level is one of the most readily identifiable features of any beer. A simple method enables home brewers to bottle with the same control over carbonation as those who keg. Put a...

A Question of Style
By Alan Moen (Brewing Techniques)

The Search for Ales beyond the Pale By Alan Moen (Brewing Techniques - Vol. 5, No.4) Style guidelines define the playing field of creativity. Brewers, like all artists, must recognize that innovation is meaningless outside of the bounds of tradition. As he passed me the...

Tools for Recipe Conversion
By Brian Dixon (Brewing Techniques)

by Brian Dixon (Brewing Techniques) All-Grain to Extract, Extract to All-Grain     With a few simple conversion tools, you can brew any recipe you encounter, whether extract or all-grain.     At one time or another every brewer faces...

The Reinheitsgebot - One Country’s Interpretation of Quality Beer
By Stephen R. Holle and Manfred Schaumberger (Brewing Techniques)

by Stephen R. Holle and Manfred Schaumberger (Brewing Techniques) The Reinheitsgebot - One Country’s Interpretation of Quality Beer     This 500-year-old edict still governs brewing in Germany, and brewers everywhere feel its influence. The...

When Fermentation Rears Its Dirty Head
By Al Korzonas (Brewing Techniques)

Testing the Positions for and against Removing Kräusen during Fermentation by Al Korzonas (Brewing Techniques - Vol. 4, No.3) One inquisitive brewer designed an experiment to determine the effect of removing or not removing the dirty head during the early stages of...

RIMS versus Decoction
By Louis Bonham and Andy Thomas (Brewing Techniques)

by Louis Bonham and Andy Thomas (Brewing Techniques)     The Great Texas Mash-Off Two brewers put their favorite mashing techniques to the test in a friendly showdown between new-fangled technology and Old World tradition.    ...

Shepherd Neame - Three Centuries of Tradition
By Robert S.Wallace (Brewing Techniques)

Shepherd Neame - Three Centuries of Tradition by Robert S.Wallace (Brewing Techniques - Vol. 6, No.6) This year, Britain’s oldest continuously operating, brewery celebrates its tercentenary, establishing a milestone in British brewing history. When a brewer thinks of Kent in...

Staving off the Staling Compounds
By Scott Bickham ​ (Brewing Techniques)

Staving off the Staling Compounds by Scott Bickham ​ (Brewing Techniques - Vol. 6, No.2) No beer lives forever. Like chemical clockwork, staling compounds begin winding your beers down toward an unsavory end from the moment you call your work done. This installment studies their...

Step Mash for Customized Worts Part I
By Jim Busch (Brewing Techniques)

Using Enzymes to Break down Glucans and Proteins By Jim Busch (Brewing Techniques - Vol. 5, No.3) Enzymes are the catalysts that convert malt proteins, starches, and carbohydrates into fermentable wort. Step mashing offers the brewer tremendous flexibility in creating worts...

Step Mash for Customized Worts Part II
By Jim Busch (Brewing Techniques)

The Starch-Busting Amylases By Jim Busch (Brewing Techniques - Vol. 5, No.4) This installment of Home Brewery Advancement completes a two-part exploration of step mashing. Part I described the low-temperature enzymes (glucanases and proteolytic enzymes) and their role in...

A Simple, Practical Method for Long-Term Storage of Yeast
By Michael D. Graham (Brewing Techniques)

by Michael D. Graham (Brewing Techniques) Long-Term Storage of Yeast     The long-term storage of yeast outside of a well-equipped laboratory is usually thought to be too difficult to manage on your own, but with a bit of preparation and a few basic...

Some Thoughts on Basic Brewing
By Alan Moen (Brewing Techniques)

By Alan Moen (Brewing Techniques - Vol. 6, No.5)     The quest for quality and consistency begins with bière ordinaire.     A home brewer friend of mine once told me a story about a restaurateur from Louisiana and his method of...

A Business Traveler’s Guide to Home Brewing
By Jeff Stephens (Brewing Techniques)

A busy travel schedule is no reason to leave brewing behind.  by Jeff Stephens (Brewing Techniques - Vol. 4, No.5) With a little planning and careful consideration of your options, you can continue to turn out high-quality batches while on the road. While packing for a...

How to Get Two Beers from the Effort of One
By John Palmer (Brewing Techniques)

Tricks for the Busy Brewer by John Palmer (Brewing Techniques - Vol. 5, No.2) A simple method enables any home brewer to make two beers as distinct as pale ale and Doppelbock in one brewing session. Like many of us with interests and responsibilities outside of our...

A Toast to the Universality of Beer
By Alan Moen (Brewing Techniques)

A Toast to the Universality of Beer by Alan Moen (Brewing Techniques - Vol. 6, No.3) In the language of beer, native speakers aren’t the only ones with something to say. St. Patrick’s Day, for those of us living outside Ireland, is always a great time to haul out the...

The Visible Brewery
By Alan Moen (Brewing Techniques)

Overexposed and Overrated? by Alan Moen (Brewing Techniques - Vol. 4, No.5) Despite the popularity of “brewers under glass” among brewpub owners and designers, the trend of putting the inner workings of a brewery in front of the consumers table is due for...

The Warm Lager Method
By Mickie Willis (Brewing Techniques)

by Dr. Mickie Willis (Brewing Techniques) How to Brew Lager Beer at Room Temperature     With the help of insights gained from acoustical theory, one brewer discovered a simple method of brewing crisp, clean lagers at room temperature.  ...

West Coast Amber - Father Of The Red IPA?
By Mikoli Weaver (Brewing Techniques)

In Support of West Coast Amber by Mikoli Weaver (Brewing Techniques - Vol. 4, No.3) Both reason and experience support the codification of West Coast Amber as a distinct style. Staff Commentary by Vito Delucchi This article was written in June...

Wheat Beer Recipe Myths
By Todd Steele (Brewing Techniques)

by Todd Steele (Brewing Techniques)     Shredding Wheat Beer Myths   With the abundance of specialty wheat malts and the availability of natural lautering aids, brewing with 100% wheat grists is not only possible, it is easy, and it is opening...