I love recycling. I try to reuse everything I can, keep re-purposing materials over and over again until they are gone. My conversion of a used bourbon barrel into a meat smoker is an example of this compulsion. This post is about where some (not all) of my spent grain goes from all the batches … Continue reading DIY: Spent Grain Flour
I don't do beer tastings, mostly because my tasting group dissolved, but also I sort of outgrew the desire to drink the craziest, hardest to get whales ever. It really is just beer. It was fun while it lasted, I just don't have the time or energy (or money) to keep it up. Good for … Continue reading Beer Pedantry #2: Trappist Breweries and Beer
If I'm being honest, and I should be, I was so disappointed with how the Chinook and Cascade Engligh IPA turned out (even though my tasting panels showed it was a fine beer) that I completely ditched that recipe rather than tweak it into something I think is good. I hated that beer. Sometimes completely … Continue reading Recipe #23: Chinook Rye Belgo IPA (Batch #2014.18)
I thought I would throw in a quick post about something I've been working on that I've decided to add to this blog. There are a few hundred people that seem to look at this blog and follow it, so before I made a change I thought I would warn people. This blog serves a … Continue reading Introduction to Food Fermentation
I've been brewing with other people in the DC area a lot lately. I forgot how much fun it could be brewing with another person. It is great to get back into it. A few years ago, my friend Mike Thorpe came over to observe a brew day. He was excited to get into brewing … Continue reading Recipe #24: “Flowerfield” Saison — Collaboration Brew Day in Chicago (Batch #2014.11)
It comes up in my blog from time to time but I am a scientist. I have a Ph.D. in molecular biology and currently work at a national lab outside of Washington D.C. I don't do A LOT of chemistry with my beer...I measure gravities and pH sometimes....but I'd like to do more analysis. Part … Continue reading Beer Chemistry #1: Measuring IBUs in Beer
Sorry about the delay in posts, I try to post weekly but there's been a lot going on. This means that I've had less time to write and so my backlog is building up. Hopefully I can power through a few posts in September and get back on schedule. Still dialing this Galaxy saison in. This … Continue reading Recipe #22: Galaxy Saison with Blaugies Yeast #2 (Batch #2014.17)
What is a brown saison? What is a Belgian brown ale? I don't know. Sort of like the Black IPA episode of a year back, when you do something odd like add a bunch of dry hopping to your porter recipe, what should you call it? There is a popular brewery around here called "Right … Continue reading Recipe #21: Brown Saison with Cascade Hops (Batch #2014.16)
Ever weed your garden and then decide to make a beer? This is my second attempt at a dandelion beer using flowers picked out of my yard. The first was last year using my blend of saison yeasts and Brettanomyces species...it was a big hit but the dandelion character was rather subtle. I added about 2.5 … Continue reading Recipe #20: Dandelion Saison (Batch #2014.10)
When I started this blog almost a year ago, I had a few goals in mind. First, I needed a place to keep all my homebrew content. I am not the best at note taking so I thought if I started a blog it would make me more honest, and I would have a resource to … Continue reading 2014 Hop Harvest at Stillpoint Farms (Grain-to-glass collection #2)
A Ph.D. in Beer - A Study of Beer and Fermentation Science 