Matt Chrispen | Accidentalis Brewery. Overly serious home brewer sharing long-form articles on beer, mead, and gear. Passionate about historical and modern techniques and systems. Documenting the ongoing journey to mastering craft from my garage.
Product Review
YAHBB: Yet another Homebrewing Book (TM). Yes, they keep coming along and I am one of the addicts that absolutely love books of all kinds. I have a large bookshelf, the kind with the glass doors that protect the books from dust and stuff, and now have two full rows
judging
It is inevitable. After a major competition, someone posts a horribly written score sheet to social media, and drama ensues; defensive lines are formed, names called. In my years of competing, the quality of score sheet feedback has been random. When reading paired sheets side-by-side, you can often tell who
competition
Between March 8 and 11, a herd of mead makers (and a few bee-keepers), converged on the beautiful and scenic Omni Interlocken Hotel in Broomfield, Colorado in celebration of mead. This year, the weather was gorgeous, hanging in the 50's - 60's, with clear views of
Brewer's Notes
Leaning forward from my last post about lessons learned, I am putting a plan together to help me hit a stretch goal of consistency. While this may seem obvious, I am pretty serious about eliminating "possibly" problematic issues, and striking highly consistent and predictable brewing. So here are
Brewer's Notes
I firmly believe we learn from history, even our own. While it may seem pedantic, I learn through doing and, most often, making mistakes. So here's my top 6 things I learned in this past year. Consider it confessional and cathartic. 1. It takes a while to recover
Brewer's Notes
Meet Ricardo About a year and a half ago, I met this energetic dude with a strong Southern (that is Argentinian) accent, that was coming back to Austin after spending a few years in Munich. Ricardo engaged the Zealots, looking to get back involved. Even while shipping beers over from
Brew-Magic
My last article sparked some questions about my Brew Magic Mods. Below, you will find the two most requested, and parts list. Warning: If your Brew Magic V350MS is still under warranty, I do not recommend making substantial changes to the kettles. Most of the parts may be purchased at
Brew-Magic
Discussions of brewing with low oxygen have returned to the home brewing world with some controversy. I will be using LO2 as a short cut to describe what has been termed LoDO or low oxygen brewing. If you follow this blog, you are aware that I have been exploring low
Product Review
Let me introduce you to Chris Colby, the author of the book, "Home Brew Recipe Bible" (2016, Page Street Publishing). For many experienced brewers, you might know him as the former editor of BYO and WineMaker Magazine. For many new to the hobby, hopefully, you have found his
Honey
Racking and finishing your mead can be complicated, but is simple if you can put together a plan. In Mead, Part 2, I laid out a simple mead recipe and gave instructions and recommendations for making and fermenting your must. Let's recap. * Hopefully, you have had the chance
Bru'n Water Tutorial
Martin Brungard’s Bru’n Water spreadsheet (BWS) is a modelling tool for managing your brewing water. Below, we walk through the FREE version of the spreadsheet with specific examples, reviewing options. For a modest donation, you will receive the advanced spreadsheet and details are later in this walkthrough. The
Brewer's Notes
Low oxygen brewing has been largely dismissed as a quality issue for home brewing. The term "Hot Side Aeration" or HSA was once considered a serious home brewing problem when George Fix described beer stability issues in Principles of Brewing Science: A Study of Serious Brewing Issues. Since,