I have a conflicted view of beer styles. As historical artifacts, beer styles are endlessly fascinating to study. They generally represent confluences—and compromises—of technology, agriculture, cuisine and geology that make the most of what a region has to offer. This means that existing styles are usually quite wonderful to drink, and I’m all for that.
When you get done mowing the lush green lawn that coats the cloud tops all over heaven, of course you’re going to need a beer to drink. And one would think that in that ultimate luxury skybox, a cool, golden, refreshing saison would have to be within easy reach. I know the song says heaven... View Article
Makes 5 gallons at 1060, 38 IBU 5 pounds European pilsner malt 2.5 pounds Munich malt 1 pound malted wheat 1 pound piloncillo (or other partially refined sugar) 1 ounces Northern Brewer hops, 1 hour 1.5 ounces Saaz hops, 30 minutes 2 ounces Kent Goldings hops, 5 minutes 2/3 ounce of Indian coriander. 5 minutes... View Article
If you love the ubiquity of the crisp, refreshing pale lager, never more than a pop-top’s distance away from Springfield or the Serengeti, you can thank the brewers of Pilsen, who, in 1842, created what would go on to become the world’s most popular beer style. If, on the other hand, you hate the tongue-numbing... View Article
5 gallons @ 1048 (figured at 80 percent of lab/HWE extract) 45 IBU 9 pounds Czech or other European pilsner malt (see note below) Thick mash (1.25 quart water per pound) First rest at 122 degrees F for 30 minutes. Immediately remove thick 1/3 of mash and slowly (30 minutes) raise to boiling, then boil... View Article
So, you’ve been brewing for a while. Like most brewers, you’ve started with kits or extract batches, and have lately been adding a pound or two of specialty malt. The beers are tasting pretty swell—at least your entertaining, deadbeat pals are sucking them down like there’s no tomorrow. Life is good, mostly.
These days, anybody with a dumper of malt and an overabundance of fresh hops can make a lip-smackingly tasty beer. In typically American form—big, brash, blustery—homebrewers and craft brewers alike have piled malt upon hops upon malt, creating a breed of beer that relies on brute force for its appeal. Delightful, maybe, but such beers... View Article
Lest you think I was going to leave you without a recipe, here’s the official commemorative beer of next year’s conference, which is, at the time of this writing, slumbering in a bourbon barrel in the cellar of an unnamed Chicago-area brewpub. You can brew it yourself, or you can show up at next year’s... View Article
Inevitably, it seems, what is good and what is fun can be most accurately represented by those little cartoon angels and devils that perch on our shoulders and whisper conflicting suggestions into our befuddled ears. Who would have guessed that the simple—or complicated, as deep-enders like myself practice it—act of homebrewing could join together good... View Article
