My flashlight. This isn’t something we think of as a brew house tool, but I can’t say how often in a brew day I’ll need to randomly retrieve old Flashy for one reason or another. If this was a Western, … Continue reading

I recently took what some might consider to be a step backwards in my brewing. I put away my mash tun and my large(ish) kettle and I brewed a batch of extract beer. When I first started brewing, “all-grain” seemed … Continue reading

No rinse? Sanitizer? Cleanser? What’s the difference? Stop the insanity! There has to be an easier way, right? Well you’re in luck because below is a quick reference guide to confusingly named cleansers and sanitizers.

Yeast! It’s wonderful, and now it’s available in dry form, liquid, and paperback. The new book version by Chris White (of White Labs) and Jamil Zainasheff (of homebrewing) is out now. I recently gave it a read and was very … Continue reading

Much of home brewing is waiting: we wait for the mash, wait for the boil, wait for wort to chill, and so on. So I frequently find myself filling those periods of waiting in a brewday with various diversions. I’m … Continue reading

I was glad to put my hands on a copy of Patrick O’Neill’s Cellarmanship. It’s distributed by CAMRA. I’ve been trying to get a copy for some time but it’s been difficult to find any where in the US for … Continue reading

…was also the first beer I ever made. A terrible first batch of beer can be pretty discouraging, and I almost didn’t give it a second try. Thankfully, by the time of my second batch, I had just moved mere … Continue reading

You say it’s January and I’m dressed for summer? I frequently find myself drinking beer styles out of season. Oh, the scandal. Perhaps we homebrewers prefer to break with preconceived notions.

In honor of this year’s shark week: I bring you the first (and probably the last) in ways to extreme-ify your brewing®: Isinglass. That’s right, isinglass is made from the swim bladders of fish. What’s a swim bladder? Well according … Continue reading

Biscuit malt, come on down! It’s your turn to be smashed, steeped, and then drunk! Let’s look at biscuit malt today. This is a favorite of mine. I have met people who hate biscuit malt, people who love biscuit malt, … Continue reading