https://beer.thegremlyn.com/category/brewing/ Recent content in Brewing on Gremlyn's Beer Blog Hugo en-US Thu, 14 Feb 2019 11:47:07 +0000 https://beer.thegremlyn.com/2019/02/14/vote-for-me-for-the-aha-governing-committee/ Thu, 14 Feb 2019 11:40:26 +0000 https://beer.thegremlyn.com/2019/02/14/vote-for-me-for-the-aha-governing-committee/ This year I decided to run for the American Homebrewers Association Governing Committee. I’ve been a home brewer for just shy of a decade. It’s been such an important part of my life for so long that I want to contribute back in a big way. I can’t think of a better way to get … https://beer.thegremlyn.com/2018/07/10/rehabbing-old-barrel/ Tue, 10 Jul 2018 11:00:49 +0000 https://beer.thegremlyn.com/2018/07/10/rehabbing-old-barrel/ I was recently given an old five gallon barrel that had sat empty for about 5 years. Increasing my barrel collection by 50% seemed prudent, even if had to work for it. The process took me longer than I intended, but mostly because life got in the way, if you’re on top of things this … https://beer.thegremlyn.com/2018/04/26/new-brewer-stovetop-brew-in-a-bag-starter-kit/ Thu, 26 Apr 2018 10:00:59 +0000 https://beer.thegremlyn.com/2018/04/26/new-brewer-stovetop-brew-in-a-bag-starter-kit/ The home brew starter system I put together. For a while now my dad has told that after he retires he would like to try brewing beer again. His retirement is finally upon him, so I figured a good way – a very me way – to welcome him into his post-work life would be … https://beer.thegremlyn.com/2018/04/19/copper-malt-biere-de-garde-brewola-recap/ Thu, 19 Apr 2018 12:00:09 +0000 https://beer.thegremlyn.com/2018/04/19/copper-malt-biere-de-garde-brewola-recap/ At the 2017 HomeBrew Con in Minneapolis, I was wandering the exhibition hall on the last day with a few friends and one of the Briess representatives looked at my badge and saw I was part of the AABG . Every year Briess brings some grain to give away, and presumably they brought more than … https://beer.thegremlyn.com/2017/05/22/bioprospecting-notes-aabg-educational-session/ Mon, 22 May 2017 17:30:08 +0000 https://beer.thegremlyn.com/2017/05/22/bioprospecting-notes-aabg-educational-session/ I volunteered to give a talk on bioprospecting (aka wild yeast capture) to my home brew club, the AABG , before our May monthly meeting. This post is a recap of the material I covered in that talk, supplemented with links to sources I pulled from and/or more information on specific topics if you want … https://beer.thegremlyn.com/2017/03/08/burton-bitter-new-recipe-old-recipe/ Wed, 08 Mar 2017 11:00:24 +0000 https://beer.thegremlyn.com/2017/03/08/burton-bitter-new-recipe-old-recipe/ If you’ve looked around my blog or talked to me, at some point you’ve surely heard about my Burton Ale . I’ve brewed this two years in a row, and will definitely make it a third this year. Last yeast I changed the recipe slightly and am happy with those changes so it’ll remain the … https://beer.thegremlyn.com/2017/02/23/bioprospecting-capturing-microbes-fermenting-beer/ Thu, 23 Feb 2017 11:00:15 +0000 https://beer.thegremlyn.com/2017/02/23/bioprospecting-capturing-microbes-fermenting-beer/ The idea of wild yeast capture , sometimes known by the much cooler name bioprospecting, for making beer has interested me for a long time. I have started down this path a couple of times, with my first attempt successfully capturing a yeast from a blend of Michigan grown apples pressed into cider. This was … https://beer.thegremlyn.com/2017/02/20/bottling-wrangling-sour-beers/ Mon, 20 Feb 2017 12:00:55 +0000 https://beer.thegremlyn.com/2017/02/20/bottling-wrangling-sour-beers/ About a year ago I decided that I would bottle my sour beers instead of kegging them. I figured I would want to have a variety of sours available to drink at any given time and kegging would mean I’d have to constantly rotate them in and out based on what I want to drink … https://beer.thegremlyn.com/2017/02/16/ye-olde-vineale-post-ratfest-update/ Thu, 16 Feb 2017 10:00:30 +0000 https://beer.thegremlyn.com/2017/02/16/ye-olde-vineale-post-ratfest-update/ In my previous post , I talked about making a beer for Arbor Brewing Company’s competition, RatFest. Well the day have come and gone, the beer was served, and sadly we did not win any awards for it, but that’s OK! The festival itself was a great time with many good and plenty of interesting … https://beer.thegremlyn.com/2016/11/17/old-vineale-brewed-rat-fest-2017/ Thu, 17 Nov 2016 12:00:48 +0000 https://beer.thegremlyn.com/2016/11/17/old-vineale-brewed-rat-fest-2017/ Here I am looking busy. For the post-event update, click here . On November 13th I participated in brew session at Arbor Brewing Company ‘s Ypsilanti location to make a beer for a semi-regular event/competition called Rat Fest. The goal is to come up with something off the wall, yet enjoyable, and you brew enough … https://beer.thegremlyn.com/2016/08/04/modern-west-country-white-ale-wheat-beer/ Thu, 04 Aug 2016 12:00:33 +0000 https://beer.thegremlyn.com/2016/08/04/modern-west-country-white-ale-wheat-beer/ It’s time to make a wheat beer, something I’ve not done outside of my Dunkeweizen. This beer will be brewed for a club competition involving honey, and is modeled on an old English style, West Country, or Devon, White Ale. https://beer.thegremlyn.com/2016/04/28/two-brews-homebrewcon-2016/ Thu, 28 Apr 2016 10:30:51 +0000 https://beer.thegremlyn.com/2016/04/28/two-brews-homebrewcon-2016/ I’m ramping up the brewing schedule prior to HomebrewCon. I’m bringing at least two beers to serve on club night, and generally need to refill my almost depleted pipeline of brews. https://beer.thegremlyn.com/2016/04/26/misstep-road-sourville-part-1/ Tue, 26 Apr 2016 10:30:09 +0000 https://beer.thegremlyn.com/2016/04/26/misstep-road-sourville-part-1/ After waiting a year for my first sour beer, I have run into some trouble, mainly that my beer is not at all sour! This post enumerates the problems, and a follow up post will detail the possible fixes. https://beer.thegremlyn.com/2016/04/20/burton-ale-advancing-to-nhc-final-round-2016/ Wed, 20 Apr 2016 13:51:16 +0000 https://beer.thegremlyn.com/2016/04/20/burton-ale-advancing-to-nhc-final-round-2016/ My first year entering the National Homebrew Competition went well with my Burton Ale advancing after taking second place in Category 22, Strong Ale. https://beer.thegremlyn.com/2016/03/28/solera-project-beginning-batch-one/ Mon, 28 Mar 2016 11:00:07 +0000 https://beer.thegremlyn.com/2016/03/28/solera-project-beginning-batch-one/ My Solera project is finally up and running with Batch #1 brewed and fermenting. This post tells how it went and details the future of the project. https://beer.thegremlyn.com/2015/11/19/my-first-hoppy-beer-and-golden-naked-oats/ Thu, 19 Nov 2015 08:00:52 +0000 https://beer.thegremlyn.com/2015/11/19/my-first-hoppy-beer-and-golden-naked-oats/ It may come as a surprise that as I have been brewing since 2009 and lived most of that time in San Diego, but I have never made a hoppy beer * . Living in San Diego, I had access to plethora of amazing IPAs, all as fresh as could be, so why would I … https://beer.thegremlyn.com/2015/11/13/cider-and-cyser-making-2015/ Fri, 13 Nov 2015 09:15:38 +0000 https://beer.thegremlyn.com/2015/11/13/cider-and-cyser-making-2015/ For the second year in a row I was fortunate to be able to attend the AABG private apple pressing at the Grainger’s Orchard . I was a little more conservative with how much cider I brought home this year (8 gal vs 15 last year). I had originally signed up to bring home 6 … https://beer.thegremlyn.com/2015/07/30/starting-a-solera-sour-project/ Thu, 30 Jul 2015 08:00:28 +0000 https://beer.thegremlyn.com/2015/07/30/starting-a-solera-sour-project/ Since pitching my sour culture into a lambic for the first time and yielding good, albeit early, results I have begun to think about my long terms plans for making sour beer. I also started to consider how I might keep my culture going without allowing it to succumb to selective pressures that might reduce … https://beer.thegremlyn.com/2015/06/26/an-adventure-into-the-wild-and-sour/ Fri, 26 Jun 2015 11:46:13 +0000 https://beer.thegremlyn.com/2015/06/26/an-adventure-into-the-wild-and-sour/ After I restarted home brewing last year, I decided I wanted to start experimenting with things a little more. Up until then I had focused more on the process and getting good, basic recipes figured out for house staples like my Mild or my Special Bitter , and I still do mainly make these staples, … https://beer.thegremlyn.com/2015/06/17/my-take-on-a-burton-ale/ Wed, 17 Jun 2015 08:00:01 +0000 https://beer.thegremlyn.com/2015/06/17/my-take-on-a-burton-ale/ A few months ago I came across an old English style of beer, the Burton Ale, that seems to be all but forgotten these days, excepting a few blogs, such as Martyn Cornell’s Zythophile and a 2011 article in Zymugry (co-written by the Martyn Cornell and the late Antony Hayes). While details are scarce about …