Brewer's Notes
It's time to get a little nerdy about Malt. We are going to run through and compare Blacklands Malt White Horn® Pilsener to Briess® Pilsen Malt, and hopefully learn a little bit about choosing quality products. Malt Analysis sheets are useful tools in a brewery toolkit for making
Brewer's Notes
In the last post, Building a Recipe: Saison, I went through some of my thought processes and research in building a new recipe. Something I didn't cover was the source for a recipe, and that varies greatly. A great place to start is Brewing Classic Styles, Zymurgy or
Process
I am on a saison kick… maybe more like a saison obsession - they taste like summ and it has been cold this winter. I thought I might do some “rambling” and exploration here about saisons and water profiles, since there seems to be some confusion relative to what is traditionally
Brew-Magic
Remember somewhere I posted that I liked shiny things? I do, very much, but I also like being lazy and letting PBW and Sani-Clean do most of the work for me. I have spent a lot of afternoons at the local brewery drooling as they did a simple CIP
Brew-Magic
Pumping can be either the most glorious or most heinous activity on a RIMS system. Lot's of things can go wrong, but it is so convenient and wonderful when it all goes right. The Brew Magic™ system is extremely well made, but the pumping system brings all of
Brewer's Notes
Returning briefly to water, I thought a nod toward a simple approach that yields good results is to take a direct look at AJ deLange's A Brewing Water Chemistry Primer on homebrewtalk.com. This makes fairly straightforward recommendations with a few "exceptions" that I will paraphrase
Brewer's Notes
I realize most people would consider calibration something you would do with a measurement device. Something that I have been striving for as a brewer is the ability to repeat a recipe, and then make simple/small changes to refine or improve it's characteristics. We should all realize
Brewer's Notes
Palmer and Kaminsky, as well as AJ deLange and Martin Brungard, have lately laid out arguments that largely debunk the sulfate/chloride ratio as only effective within a certain range of amounts of ions. This makes sense, as concentration (ppm) of a given mineral drives to a flavor threshold, and
Measurement
There has been a flurry of interest in brewing water management for the homebrewer, largely coinciding with the release of the book "Water - A Comprehensive Guide for Brewers" by Palmer and Kaminsky. And as a book, targeted toward professional brewers enters the collective conscious of homebrewers, questions come
Brewer's Notes
Sometimes simplicity is best, although I have a knack for mucking up something pretty simple. It is just how my brain works. I brewed this a couple of months ago, and it sat on primary for about 6 weeks, and another 8 weeks or so in a bright tank, all
Brewer's Notes
Did you see that one coming? I am trying to put these in some order of importance, and while most times you would think about calibrating equipment, some of the most important equipment you already have. Our senses are incredibly sensitive tools if used properly, and particularly so when trained
Measurement
From a procedural perspective, the single most important brewing issue is temperature. Temperature dictates the accuracy of most of the brewing specific measurements. It drives specific enzyme and protease activity in the mash. Heat is required to boil, and most importantly, specific temperatures for fermentation are necessary to avoid off