One thing I was very surprised to learn as a newbie homebrewer is that most beers are made up of very plain (and similar) base malts. Your base malts are going to be Pilsner American 2 row American 6 row Various pale ale malts Vienna Munich For example, a Belgian Saison can use 90{a60bef903c54612bed20edb95d22500dcc3da56ac2b90be5eb4391998d03cdd5} pale ale malt, while an American IPA can use the exact same pale ale malt, albeit in probably smaller percentages to account for the style. But ... continue reading...
Yeast In Your Homebrew: What It All Means
One of the most important components of any alcohol, including beer, is the use of yeast. Yeast is the key component of the fermentation reaction and is essentially what takes beer from being a mixture of ingredients and makes it alcohol. It might seem surprising, but yeast is a living organism that is classified as a fungi. Yeasts are single-celled organisms that reproduce through a process of budding. Within beer making alone, there are many different strains of yeast used, often based on the ... continue reading...
How to Grow Hops at Home: A Primer
With the continued increase in interest of homebrewing it is no wonder that more people are getting involved in growing their own hops. For a homebrewer, this is a relatively easy step towards sustainable homebrewing, and it gets you just one step closer to your beer. Cultivation of the humulus plant is relatively easy, and compared to growing and malting your own barley, it's not even in the same ballpark! Even for extract brewers, this can be a fun way to put a personal touch on your own ... continue reading...
Lager Versus Ale Fermentation For The Homebrewer
One of the first decisions that a brewer must make about any given batch of beer is whether they are creating a batch of ale or lager. Most beginner brewers are going to opt for an ale because the process is a lot simpler, you need less equipment, and the styles of beer often allow more elbow room for mistakes. However, many of us novice brewers have not been exposed to a lot of craft beer styles, so we might not be familiar with too many kinds of ales. I was convinced I brewed my first beer ... continue reading...
Stout Tasting #1: Samuel Smith’s, Rogue, Belhaven, Shipyard
A recent trip to my local Bevmo gave me some real insight into what people are drinking in the Central Valley - it's certainly NOT stouts. I could barely find enough stouts to actually create a tasting session. I probably would have preferred to do a an individual session for sweet stouts, dry stouts, American stouts, and English stouts. Nope. Not this time. I picked up one of every style of stout they had in the store (with the exception of Guinness). The total was 4 beers. (2 pints, 1 bomber, ... continue reading...