RECIPES, TECHNIQUES AND TASTING NOTES
About a year ago I brewed a batch of my wife’s favorite beer – “La Jefa” Weizen – a traditional Bavarian hefeweizen. I typically brew 3 – 5 gallon batches, but I wanted a little extra wort to “play around” with. After reading through several recipes that a few of my favorite sour beer breweries …
We threw an awesome engagement / Oktoberfest party in 2018 and had this beer on tap – along with our Party Pilsner and our Märzen. This recipe is a classic 50/50 two row and wheat malt recipe. I fermented “warm” – at room temperature (75ºF) with WLP300 and took off the airlock for most of …
There’s a ton of hype surrounding the “New England IPA” style, and I decided to try my hand at brewing one with CRYO hops (something else I have no experience with). Now that I think of it – this is my first IPA…period. The breweries in my area haven’t really gotten into the style. I’m …
Session beers are a big part of my homebrewing repertoire. While the Kölsch is a simple recipe it can be very difficult to brew. Like any “light yellow” beer, there is nowhere to hide flaws. A clean fermentation is critical in order to avoidn ester production. My number one goal for my brewing currently is …
It’s that time of year…spiced beer season! I’ve been seeing a lot of cereal beers lately. Count Chocula Stouts, Corn Flake Cream Ales, Fruity Pebble IPAs. I figured I would try something in line with the breakfast food theme that seems to be trending currently. I remember hearing that 21st Amendment did a Pop …
A Primer on Oktoberfest Fall is just around the corner and it’s time to start thinking about that fall beer that we all love. Well, actually, by the time this article posts we should already be drinking that fall beer that we all love. We’re talking Oktoberfest. Before the 2015 BJCP Style Guidelines were released, …
The Cream Ale has turned into quite an obsession of mine, as you can probably tell. This is my third time brewing a Cream Ale in three months. And it’s also the third iteration of my recipe. I first learned about the Cream Ale while listening to The Brew Files; an offshoot of the Experimental Brewing podcast. Drew …
Summer 2017 is coming to an end and so shall my summer beer styles. Since the last Berliner Weisse was such a hit amongst my household, I decided to brew another 5 gallon batch o the same style. My first Berliner Weisse was kettle soured by keeping it outside in the hot Houston sun …
I first discovered the Cream Ale style at Houston’s 8th Wonder Brewery in early 2016. The brewery was hopping that day; so busy in fact that they had ran out of every of their beers except for their Dome Faux’m Pre Prohibition Cream Ale and their Vietnamese Coffee Porter. It was quite the warm …
After reading Michael Tonsmeire’s excerpt about soleras in Home Brew All Stars, I decided to start a solera of my own. Since I don’t currently have a any barrels in my possession, I guess you could call my current program a “pseudo-psolera”. My Honey Wheat Farmhouse Saison had been aging for about 6 …