Home Brew
Recipes: Unemployment Ale
I’m unemployed, so I wanted to brew a beer that is bitter, bitter enough to erase the sting of being laid off. So I used two high Alpha Acid hops for this brew: Columbus and Summit. This is the first time I’ve ever used Summit for aroma, and I don’t think this is a common [...]
Just a Porter
Posting has been sparse the last few weeks, I apologize. I finally brewed again on Sunday. My big brother was in town and wanted see what brewing was all about so we decided to dedicate the morning to brewing up a porter. I know, I know. It’s out of season. But it takes about 8 [...]
Good (Beer) Eats
What do I know really. If his method turns out great beer, that’s all that matters. Two things I’d point out. First, his boil appeared to last only 15 minutes. This may be enough to sanitize the wort, but I don’t think it’s enough to fully bitter the beer. I usually boil for 60 minutes [...]
Saving a Yeast Starter
So here’s my situation. I was planning on brewing a bavarian lager this weekend. I ordered the grain, the yeast, everything. On Friday I started to come down with a cold, but thinking that wouldn’t prevent me from brewing, I made the starter anyway. My starter is now 36 hours old and definitely ready to [...]
Spontaneous Pale
So I brewed my first batch with the Partial Mash method I discovered at BYO. I had ordered the grain for the Strauss in the Haus Vienna Lager, what would have been my first lager as it happens. But I hadn’t planned on it taking so long for my chest freezer to be delivered. It [...]
The Ultimate Home Brew Calculator
I’m a home brewer, not an engineer. Seriously, my background is in philosophy and social science, not chemistry. So usually when I find brewing applications online, I’m overwhelmed by the technicalness (I don’t think that’s even a word). I once downloaded StrangeBrew, which is a really useful little program, but I quickly realized it far [...]
Partial Mash Method
I brew in my condo. While I’d love to be cooking with a 55,000 BTU Hurricane burner, I’d probably end up killing myself or burning my building down … or both. I’m beginning to be bored by pure extract brewing, though, and am searching for good partial mash methods that will allow me to make [...]
