Solera Project – The Beginning, Batch #1
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.
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 need to make my … [Read more…]
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 gals with the … [Read more…]
PSA: Sterile vs Sanitary – they are NOT the same
Many home brewers use sterile and sanitary interchangeably, when there are in fact very different terms. I briefly explain the difference between them in this post.
I am now a Certified Beer Server!
I finally sat down this week to take the test to become a Certified Beer Server, and passed with flying colours. This is merely a fairly small step towards my goal of becoming a Cicerone and BJCP certified judge, but it is still the necessary first step! So I’ll throw myself a tiny, little party for being able to … [Read more…]
Irrational Dislike of Breweries or Beers Based on Labels or Names
Do you ever have a feeling that you know is entirely baseless, but you can seem to shake it? Worse yet, you don’t even know why your bias exists? I have this problem, and very specifically with certain beer labels. While shopping for beer, if I see a label with a human or humanoid face or figure on … [Read more…]
Dank as an IPA Descriptor
Am I the only person that feels like ‘dank’ is not a valid term to describe an IPA? Unless I misunderstand the origin, it comes to us from pot culture, where I guess dank is a good thing. I’m not sure how it could ever be a good thing because all it does for me is … [Read more…]
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 … [Read more…]
My Fermentation Chamber Build, Circa 2011
This post is a historical account of my fermentation chamber build from 2011, and includes recent updates. Details of this build are scattered around the web, and now they have been brought together in one place. About a year after I started brewing, I decided it was time to take the next step in making good … [Read more…]
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, but why not start … [Read more…]