Articles
Stepping up to Advanced Techniques
Jim Busch on…
The chemical and physical processes — known collectively as kettle reactions — that are at work in boiling wort are important contributors to beer quality. A basic understanding of kettle reactions will take you a long...
05/23/2013
Cream Ale — An American Classic
Originally Published by Ben Jankowski - Brewing Techniques Volume 7, Issue 3
Is it a lager? Is it an ale? Its pedigree may not be pure, but cream ale has satisfied American drinkers for nearly a century.
Not many beer connoisseurs would care to...
05/16/2013
Gas Quick Disconnect for Beer Guns
Written and Imagery by Tommy Morris
I recently built a gas quick disconnect (QD) for my new Blichmann Beer Gun. The beer gun accessory kit comes with a QD for the liquid...
05/09/2013
Do the Mash!
The Equipment Needed to Move to All-Grain
Originally Pubslished by George De Piro in Brewing Techniques Magazine - Volume 6, Issue 5
You don’t necessarily need to start from scratch to brew good beer, but those who do appreciate the satisfaction of guiding their...
04/25/2013
A Beginner’s Guide to Using Grain in Extract Recipes
Originally Written by John Palmer and published in Brewing Techniques Magazine, Volume 4 Issue 5.
The benefits of specialty malts — enhanced flavor, intriguing colors, and overall complexity — are available to...
04/18/2013
From Fermentor to Glass:
Handling, Dispensing, and Serving Beer
Originally Published in Brewing Techniques Volume 7, Issue 2 by Mikoli Weaver
What happens to your beer between the fermentor and the glass can make or break your reputation as a brewer. Bottling brewers have their own...
04/12/2013
Man Does Not Live by Hops Alone -
Spice up Your Brewing with Ancient Ingredients
Adherents to the Reinheitsgebot rules about barley, hops, yeast, and water as the only permissible ingredients in beer could take some lessons from more ancient history to liven up their tried-and-true...
04/04/2013
GROWING HOPS
Basic Requirements: Plenty of space. Since healthy hop plants can grow up to 1 ft in a day, space is definitely an element to consider before planting a hop yard.
Site selection. The ideal hop yard must have direct sunlight, easy access to water, and plenty of room for...
04/02/2013
MoreBeer!'s Primer on Growing Hops that we send out with every rhizome. Also consider reading the Growing Hops article that appeared in a past issue of Brewing Techniques Magazine.
Wondering how to grow your own hops? Growing your own hops at home is easy, fun,...
04/02/2013
Growing Hops in the Backyard:
From Planting to Harvest and the Hazards in Between
By Stephanie Montell
Photos by Ulrich Gampert
Republished from BrewingTechniques' May/June 1994.
Growing hops at home is easy if you know the tricks of the trade. But you better...
04/02/2013
A Matter of Immense Gravity
Some Tricks to Successfully Brewing Strong Beers
By Jim Busch (Originally published in Brewing Techniques Magazine - Volume 4, Issue 2)
Brewing ales and lagers with a high alcohol content can be difficult for the uninitiated. Dealing with the...
03/14/2013
Your fruit adds more than just flavor to your beer.
Written by Gary Spedding (Originally Published in Brewing Techniques Magazine - Volume 7, Issue 2)
I recently learned a valuable lesson about brewing with fruit. I found that the original gravity of a cherry wheat beer I had made was...
03/08/2013
Give Your Yeast a Boost
by George De Piro from an article that orginally appeared in Brewing Techniques Magazine
Yeast abuse is the most common cause of mediocre homebrew. Many off-flavors and fermentation problems are the result of improper yeast handling. Learning the techniques of...
02/28/2013
From Dreams to Reality
A Brewpub Feasibility Study Is the First Step to Liquid Gold
by Mark A. Diebolt
Please Note - This article came from the Vol. 6, Issue 2 Brewing Tehcniques magazine, which was published in April of 1998. While a lot of the content is still...
02/14/2013
Berliner Weiβbier
by Florian Kuplent
Once brewed in over 700 Berlin breweries, the beer that Napoleon called “the Champagne of the North” is sadly now on the endangered species lis
Berliner Weisse, a light, sour wheat beer originally produced only in the vicinity...
02/07/2013
Barleywine - The Revival of the Tradition of Big Beers
written by Fal Allen and Dick Cantwell (Brewing Techniques)
written by Fal Allen and Dick Cantwell (Brewing Techniques)
Barleywine — The Revival of the Tradition of Big Beers
by Fal Allen and Dick Cantwell (Brewing Techniques)
The brewer’s answer to brandy or pinot noir, barleywine is a strong (8–14%), malt-rich ale aged to complexity and oftentimes sipped with the same respect awarded...
12/07/2012
Below is a list of some of the commercial breweries and industry leaders that use a MoreBeer! BrewSculpure for various purposes.
Heretic Brewing Company was founded by Jamil Zainasheff, one of the homebrew greats. Jamil has had his sculpture for a number...
12/03/2012
Conditioning-
Fermentation’s Grand Finale
Primary fermentation takes center stage in the drama of transforming wort into fine beer. Unfortunately, when brewers shut down the show before the beer conditions, they miss out on the big finish.
As important as...
07/27/2012
Practical Strategies for Brewing Lambic at Home
Part I —Wort Preparation
Lambic represents an irresistible challenge to many beer aficionados’ most deeply ingrained beliefs about brewing. With the advent of commercially available wild yeast and bacteria cultures, home and...
07/27/2012
North America’s only recognized judge certification program provides a structure for mastering the essentials of beer judging and an exam that recognizes accomplishment in expert beer evaluation.
Master the Essentials of Beer Evaluation-
How to Prepare for and Pass the Beer Judge...
07/27/2012
The Buckapound Brewery-
The Frugal Brewer’s Guide to an Advanced Home Brewery
story and pictures by Randy Mosher
You too can piece together your own automated 15-gallon brewery from junkyard parts and scrap metal.
For more than five years now, I’ve been...
07/27/2012
Discover the Joys of Kegging -
Set up a Simple Home Draft System
by Kirk R. Fleming
The benefits of convenience and control far outweigh the cost of setting up a home draft system. This article shows how easy it can be to keg at home.
Sooner or later you’ll...
07/26/2012
How to Master Hop Character -
Exploring Hop Flavors and Aromas for More Targeted Recipe Formulation
Each hop variety has its own trademark flavor and aroma. A simple set of experiments can open the door to personal mastery of each variety’s peculiar character.
This...
07/26/2012
American Porters-
Marching to Revolutionary Drummers
Martin Lodahl,
column editor
From their earliest days in colonial experience, American porters have evolved separately from their British ancestor and today stand in a class — or two or three — of their own....
07/26/2012
When Beer Must Be Clear—
Techniques and Technologies for Clarifying Homebrew
Clear beer is primarily achieved by removing yeast and minimizing the production of haze-producing compounds during the brew session. When these preventive measures can’t do the job, filtration...
07/25/2012
Mashing Made Easy
The easy mashing system makes light work of all-grain brewing.
by Jack Schmidling
Mashing and sparging in picnic coolers and plastic buckets of one form or another have become so universal that the method discussed in this article might seem like...
07/25/2012
A Primer on Welding Stainless Steel
by Jeff Donaghue
I am not a welder, nor am I a metallurgist or a machinist. Unlike 65% of the home brewers I know, I am neither an engineer nor a computer geek. I can change the oil and filter on my truck and the spark plug on my mower,...
07/25/2012
Brazing and Welding 304l Stainless Steel
Last issue, one brewer presented a brief overview of options for welding stainless steels. This issue follows up with some nitty-gritty details about welding and brazing options for breweries large and small.
By John Palmer
Many materials...
07/25/2012
Lautering for Highest Extract Efficiency
In this installment of “Stepping Up,” I we investigate the process of lautering and review some of the common situations that can cause lautering problems. Lautering is a fairly simple process, but also a very important one. No matter...
07/25/2012
Kettle Reactions—
An Introduction to Better Beer
Wort boiling and knowledgeable handling of hot wort are important to the production of high-quality beer. The physical and chemical processes at work during the boil are collectively referred to as kettle reactions. Many novice...
07/25/2012
Brewing with Lactic Acid Bacteria
by Dr. Brian A. Nummer
Usually considered an unwanted infectious pest in the brewhouse, lactic acid bacteria can be harnessed as an exquisite ingredient for selected beer styles.
Since the days of Pasteur, lactic acid bacteria have been...
07/25/2012
Stepping up to Lager Brewing—
Part I: An Overview of the Brewing Process
Patience is required to master the complex process of producing high-quality lager, but U.S. home brewers are embracing the technology to brew lagers every bit as clean and delicate as those of Europe....
07/25/2012
Smoky Beer-
Brewing with Smoked Malts
Smoky flavors in beer, once a by-product of malting technology, live on in specialty products brewed using both traditional and modern methods.
Smoke billows skyward from a gas grill in your backyard. What’s cooking: steak,...
07/25/2012
Hop Utilization
Q: Hops and IBUs: In figuring your IBUs, does batch size make a difference (say 10-gaI versus 10-bbl)? The formula I use is from the Zymurgy hops special issue (1):
IBU = (%U x %A x Wgr) / VL x (1 GA) x 1000
where U = utilization, A = α-acid content, Wgr =...
07/20/2012
KEG CARBONATION
Q: I have a 5-gal Cornelius keg that I use for my homebrew. However, I have never been completely satisfied that I’ve achieved the correct amount of carbonation. Usually the brew is a little flat. What methods would you suggest for carbonating beer in a keg? I’m...
07/18/2012
India Pale Ale, Part I:
IPA and Empire — Necessity and Enterprise Give Birth to a Style
ROOTS IN EMPIRE AND ADVENTURE
India Pale Ale — the name stirs up images of tall ships and faraway places. A beer with such a name should have a bold and stirring character, and India...
07/16/2012
The Care and Feeding of Stainless Steel
The unique properties of stainless steel make it a material of choice among knowledgeable brewers. This primer on stainless steel reviews its composition and properties, discusses methods of cleaning and sanitization, and provides important tips for...
07/16/2012
Methods of Sanitization and Sterilization
Boiling in water and soaking in chlorine bleach may be insufficient safeguards against infectious bacteria and fungi. Some simple laboratory methods are easily adapted for use by small-scale brewers.
By Maribeth Raines
Home brewers, both...
07/15/2012
Brewing with Rye
An ancient grain is making a new name for itself in the small-scale brewing scene.
By Rosannah Hayden
Necessity is not always the mother of invention. This is especially true in the world of brewing, where the spirit of inquiry and the pursuit of new and different...
07/15/2012
Water Treatment: Philosophy, Approach, and Calculations
The chemical calculations for water treatment can be intimidating to those who are not professional chemists. A spreadsheet and a simple approach demystify the process.
By Karl Kin
We often take water for granted, but its...
07/15/2012
Modifying Half-Barrel Kegs for Use as Brewing Vessels
A well-modified half-barrel keg should be easy to make, easy to use and care for, and avoid the common pitfalls encountered in many designs. This article presents step-by-step instructions for making a system that has proven successful...
07/15/2012
MASHING AND PROTEIN REST
Q: I have two questions for which I can’t get good answers from local homebrew supply stores.
I am a new full-mash brewer. I have been using highly modified two-row pale malt with 10% adjuncts. When mashing on cooler days, I find it hard to keep a steady...
07/15/2012
STEP MASHING
Q: I am confused. I am a beginning all-grain home brewer and have learned a lot from friends at a local homebrew shop. One thing they all agree on is that single-infusion mashing is the way to go. Most of the books I have, particularly yours and Papazian’s, use mostly...
07/15/2012
Beer Color Demystified—
Part I: How to Measure Beer Color in the Home and Microbrewery
Beer color represents a great void in the beer literature — little has been published on the topic, and few understand its theoretical or practical aspects. This article launches a...
07/15/2012
Sanitizing Counterflow Wort Chillers
Q: Some time back you discussed the proper care and cleaning of counterflow wort chillers (1). I followed your recommended procedure — which included a hot caustic flush, a water flush, and then filling with iodophor until next use — but in...
07/15/2012
Brewing with Fruit
When adding fruit to a beer, the brewer must make sure the beer will work with the character of the fruit. In home brewing competitions, judges like to be able to detect “a beer in there somewhere,” but drinkers of commercial fruit beers make no such demand....
07/15/2012
Checking pH
Q: When should we check pH (mash, boil, fermentation, bottling?), and what values should we aim for?
DM: The most critical stage for measuring pH is the mash, especially during starch conversion. The malt enzymes α- and β-amylase require a slightly acid pH to do...
07/13/2012
The Secret Reproductive Life of Yeast
To better understand the importance of wort aeration, let’s look at what happens to yeast in the early stages of fermentation.
Aerobic stage: Lag phase. Once the yeast have been pitched into a new environment — your freshly brewed and...
07/13/2012
Lambic: Belgium’s Unique Treasure
But is it really beer?” The first taste of a lambic is almost always a surprise — sometimes even shocking — especially to those whose concept of beer is defined by North American industrial lagers. Where’s the malt? And the...
07/13/2012
WATER HARDNESS
Q: After seeing references in various beer publications and books on water analysis, I decided to contact my local officials and get a copy of the breakdown for our local water supply. The contents of the report indicate that carbonates are <1 ppm and that bicarbonates...
07/10/2012
DEXTRIN MALT
Q: Is it correct to assume that all extract from dextrin malt is in the form of dextrins and therefore not fermentable? If dextrin malt is mashed with other malt, will the enzymes in the other malt convert the dextrins to fermentable sugars? How much dextrin (when added to a...
07/10/2012
Mashing Basics for the First-Time All-Grain Home Brewer
There is no reason for mashing to be a difficult, scary task. First-time all-grain brewers can easily produce outstanding beers, provided they master a few basics and try not to overcomplicate the process. This article...
07/08/2012
In 1998 Regan Dillon and Olin Schultz of Beer, Beer & More Beer along with Mike Rose and Mike Cullen set the world record for brewing beer at the highest elevation when they fired up an all-grain Pale Ale on the top of Mt. Whitney at 14,491 feet of elevation. In late April 2005, in...
06/15/2012
Some people who are on the 'outside' of the hobby think that home brewers are obsessive. Of course they are right. Take for example the Tribe home brewing club out of Colorado. Last year they set the World record for brewing at the highest altitude when they brewed an...
06/15/2012
Three reasons. First, if you use the blowoff method, either the hops will clog the blowoff tube or the kraeusen will pump hops out of the fermentor and into the blowoff vessel, which will give your blowoff a nice hop nose but which won’t do your beer any good. Second, when carbon dioxide...
06/01/2012
High-Gravity Brewing
Q: Is it advisable to brew a strong 5-gallon wort, divide it into two batches and add an equal amount of water to each batch, to get two new 5-gallon batches, each containing half of the original wort? For example, could I brew 5 gallons of 1.080 wort, divide it into...
06/01/2012
We recently heard a story where a commercial brewery was not obtaining the final gravities they were expecting. After fingers were pointed at equipment manufacturers and at yeast suppliers the end result was the gauge thermometer they were using in their Mashtun was 5 degrees off. Whoops. This...
02/15/2012
Acetaldehyde
Tastes/Smells Like:
Green apples, rotten-apples, freshly cut pumpkin
Possible Causes:
Acetaldehyde is a naturally occurring chemical produced by yeast during fermentation.
It is usually converted into Ethanol alcohol, although this process may take longer in
beers...
06/15/2011
With a little work you can easily make your own kegerator out of a used refrigerator.
Equipment List
Click on the following to order from these pieces from MoreBeer.Com
1) 5lb CO2 Tank (D1050)
2) Dual Gauge Regulator (D1060)
3) 3’ Gas Line (D1704)
4) Sanke...
06/11/2011
Why Brew All-Grain?
The Ultimate Control - You can use any malted grain and control factors such as body (viscosity),
color and head retention.
Freshest Flavor — You can't get fresher flavor than taking malted barley, milling it, and immediately making beer.
Save...
06/01/2011
Sure, you've had a Mimosa, but have you ever had a Beermosa?? Well neither had the MoreBeer! crew until the 2011 National Homebrewers Conference in San Diego. It was Saturday morning, the morning after the MoreBeer! sponsored Club Night, and everyone was a little worse for the...
01/31/2011
The MoreBeer!™ mission is to provide reliable equipment and quality ingredients to make the brewing experience successfuland satisfying. We’ll get you the tools to start brewing the way we wish we had started. We offer five levels of Personal Brewery Beer Kits™ ranging from...
01/01/2010
This is a simple guide to properly and effectively cleaning, sanitizing, filling, carbonating and serving homebrew beer using Corny kegs. The advantages to kegging are many, but they can be summarized in a few key points: Kegged beer is ready to drink faster than bottled beer because you will...
06/15/2009
When you start using kegs in your brewery at home there are a lot of tricks and conveniences kegs offer:
Lagering & Conditioning:
Kegging allows you to lager beer for long periods of time which allows your beer to age and naturally clarify....
02/15/2009
The following article is a colleciton of some of our more popular Tips and FAQ's about Hops and Yeast
Brewing Hops Homebrew Tips and FAQ's
What Are Hops?
Hops are the delicate female flower of the Humulus Lupulus plant, or hop vine. Considered the spice of beer, hops...
01/30/2009
The former California HomeBrewer of the Year and MoreBeer! employee answer a few questions about making Lagers at Home!
Jonathan won the prestigous California HomeBrewer of the Year in 2008 after winning the most points in select California homebrewing competitions. Not only is it a...
08/10/2008
This Article by Jason Petros
Originally appeared in Zymurgy May/June 2008
Oak has been used in brewing for many years, but recently it has seen a resurgence of interest due to its large flavor impact on both wine and beer. In the past, the oak flavors gained from storage in...
06/10/2008
Jonathan Plise managed our Concord, CA showroom for approximately 9 years. During that time one of the most common questions was “What can I do to keep fermentation temperatures cool without having to buy a refrigerator or your temperature controlled conical.” One method,...
06/01/2008
A quick reference guide for the Homebrewer
By: Jonathan Plise
Ale: A top-fermenting yeast strain that is fermented at warmer temperatures ranging from 55-85F depending on the strain. Ale fermentations are generally shorter than lager fermentations, ranging from...
04/01/2008
While there are many important factors that go into successful beer making at home, using fresh malt extract is very close to the top of the list.We go to great lengths to make sure our malt extract is the freshest in the industry. First, we limit our selection to ensure that what...
03/01/2007
MASHING 102 — ADVANCED MATERIAL
The above is a simple overview of mashing and might be sufficient to guide the novice masher through a basic mash. I want to cover some concepts here that help to explain further the process of mashing.
In a way, mashing is the natural progression...
What is Brewnomics?
It's Simple: Brewing Beer is cheaper than buying it.
As the cost of ingredients has risen, the price of the average six pack is nearing $9.00. While that is still a bargain compared to lifes other pleasures, and we encourage you to support your local...
A Visit to the Court of Germany’s Kölschbier
written by Forrest Williams and Martin Lodahl (Brewing Techniques)
written by Forrest Williams and Martin Lodahl (Brewing Techniques)
The Queen of Köln—
A Visit to the Court of Germany’s Kölschbier
by Forrest Williams
One style alone is served in the Köln region of Germany’s western edge — a gentle reminder that a beer can rule with a light touch.
“You can’t...
Introduction
Please read these instructions in their entirety before
using your new MoreFlavor! Float Switch
Congratulations, and thanks for your purchase of your MoreFlavor! Float Switch. Float Switches are a great tool for customizing and automating your home brewery or...
The Different MoreBeer! BrewSculpture Options
MoreBeer! offers a number of different BrewSculptures, with a number of different options. This page will help you determine the differences between these brewing systems, and will hopefully help you pickout the...