Author: K. Florian Klemp
-
Home Brewing -
Home BrewingBrewing Sour
January 14, 2015 - K. Florian Klemp We have become rather smitten with sours in recent years, an affair that shows no sign of waning. The venerable examples are more attractive than ever, and brewers are embracing them passionately. This, in turn, has piqued great interest from homebrewers, who now have at hand the necessary design and ingredients. Brewing sours by traditional... View Article -
Stylistically SpeakingThe Elegant Doppelbock
December 16, 2014 - K. Florian Klemp Traditional beer styles are often closely identified by cities, regions, strength or particular moment of invention. Doppelbock (double bock) can claim all of those. Its roots lie in the North German city of Einbeck, but is now synonymous with Bavaria. More specifically, the prototype is a monastic creation, designed for sustenance during Lenten deprivation. The... View Article -
Stylistically SpeakingScottish Ale
November 16, 2014 - K. Florian Klemp The catchall term “Scottish ale” is used for a group of modestly hopped, malty and sociable brews. Somewhat generic, it often leads to rather limited expectations. But the clan of authentic Scottish ale being made today is actually quite diverse, the progeny of the brews that survived the relative famine of the 1960s and came... View Article -
Home BrewingSimply Wild: Homebrewing With Brettanomyces
November 4, 2014 - K. Florian Klemp There is no denying the popularity of the new wave of “wild” brews. These cutting-edge, contemporary versions are variously inspired by the aged sour, earthy and musty brews of Belgium and Germany and old stock ales of Britain. European brewers use both anachronistic and more modern techniques today to get that natural, primitive personality, but... View Article -
RecipesPerk Up Your Homebrew: Brewing with Coffee
November 1, 2014 - K. Florian Klemp Coffee and beer are generally relegated to different parts of the day. In the end, both serve a similar purpose, enhancing the mood and purpose of the moment, sip by sip. They even share comparable paths in recent years, from mundane indulgence to culinary feature. Coffee and beer, uncannily similar in many ways, have become... View Article -
Stylistically SpeakingThe Near-Perfect Belgian Dubbel
August 20, 2014 - K. Florian Klemp Belgian brews were once considered mysterious and idiosyncratic, but have become mainstream and far from unusual. Now, it is more the sentiment of tradition that makes them so engaging. Belgian brewers are famous for wild and woolly lambics and sours, rustic farmhouse and wheat brews and spicy, savory abbey and monastic beers. Monastic brews made... View Article -
Stylistically Speaking
Brown Ale
August 15, 2014 - K. Florian Klemp Brown ale may never command the attention of IPA or Imperial stout, but neither is it in any danger of fading away. American brewers have ensured a steady number among their more celebrated brews. In Britain, where brown ale is an uncommon find, quite the opposite is true, having declined severely since the 1960s after... View Article -
Book ReviewsHomebrew Beyond the Basics: All-Grain Brewing and Other Next Steps
July 1, 2014 - K. Florian Klemp Homebrewing is no different from any other hobby. It is undertaken out of curiosity, as a means of self-expression or perhaps even as the foundation for a career. Nearly all of us start from the same place: rudimentary brewing involving extract, specialty grains, a hop addition or two and dried yeast. At some point, though,... View Article