So the infamous WLP644, the "brett" / "sacch" strain that had everyone confused for a while. Fortunately, as with most things, some thoughtful science cleared it up. Thanks to Omega Yeast for doing some much needed sequencing on this strain to disabuse everyone of the notion that this was a Brettanomyces species, it is in … Continue reading Recipe #42: Wakatu Saison with WLP644 “Trois” (Batch #2015.03)
Forward This post is about brewing history, specifically German brewing history and how my ancestry touches the edge of this history. I've been writing a post about the 500th anniversary of Reinheitsgebot 1516, and I hope that will be up in a month or so but this post isn't about that. This is just a … Continue reading Beer Pendatry #4: Beer is in my blood
Forward This post represents yet another direction I want to push this blog...into the huge world of yeast and bacterial species you probably have never heard of. I think everyone that is serious about homebrewing eventually comes across a non-Saccharomyces species of yeast but 99% of the time, we are talking about Brettanomyces and now even … Continue reading Off Beat Yeasts #1: Kluyveromyces lactis
The overall goal of this blog is to be a dumping ground for all the things I love about fermentation focusing on beer specifically but touching on all I can think of about fermentation. I am branching out slightly of late doing some sourdough, fermented vegetables, and playing with new yeast strains (Saccharomyces paradoxus to … Continue reading Off Beat Yeasts (and Bacteria)
Hello blog readers, I want to apologize for taking the past 6 months off of this blog and thank everyone that continues to link to this blog even though it hasn't been updated in that time. So, my second son was born about 9 months ago and life exploded. He's the best thing that's ever … Continue reading I’m still here, thanks for asking
A few months back a friend of mine, Mike (you may know him as the mad fermentationist), asked if I wanted to assist him in writing an article for Brew Your Own magazine (BYO) about homebrewing with Lactobacillus (here is the table of contents for that issue). After going back and forth a few times, we … Continue reading Beer Microbiology – Lactobacillus pH experiment
Been falling behind on the blog lately but things have been....busy. But two posts in two day? For real? I'm now a double dad, two sons. Being a dad is one of if not the most important aspect of my personality. They will always take priority and that is unfortunate for this blog and my … Continue reading Experimental Hop Series #9: Jarrylo Saison (Recipe #39, Batch #2015.09)
I'm very excited about this beer for a few reasons. First, this is my first lager (properly done), and second, I get to utilize a new piece of equipment, my brew jacket. I am a lager FIEND. I love love love lagers and this is starting off a hopefully continuous line of lagers stretching off … Continue reading Recipe #38: Bavarian Helles: “Helles Other People” (Batch #2015.08)
In the ever increasing trend to treat beer more like wine, there are now dozens of suggestions online for beer / food pairings. There are some serious and useful (don't get me wrong, I like the food pairing stuff) graphics from places like craftbeer.com to help with this. As far as I can tell, the way to … Continue reading Beer Pedantry #3: Beer Flavor Pairings (science based rant)
I'm going to get this out of the way. I grew up in Phoenix, Arizona. Got my Ph.D. in Gainesville, FL. When I took my job in the DC metro area, I was under the impression that the winters here were mild. Maybe I'm just a warm weather wimp but the windchill hit -28 F … Continue reading Experimental Hop Series #8: ADHA 527 Saison (Recipe #37, Batch #2015.06)
A Ph.D. in Beer - A Study of Beer and Fermentation Science 