Notes on a Brewday: Saison Regalitarian

Distressing over the fact that most of my beers are either Belgian-inspired or IPAs, I decided to purchase a sack of Castle Pilsner malt. I should declare an aside here - this is currently my favorite malt, in part because it makes a great base for any pale Belgian-style recipe, and in part because it always yields perfect runoff at the proper crush - no vorlaufing needed.

Staycation with Jeremy

My vacation went like this: 2 beer festivals, 6 breweries, 1 distillery, 1 brew day, and a ton of grilling n' chilling.

Pretty fly for a Weiss guy

... or "Everything I needed to know about open fermentation I learned from NB Milwaukee."

Brewing Rigs I Have Known

Have you ever stopped to track, or at least consider, how your brewing rig has changed over time? And what it means for your beer? What it says about your relationship to homebrewing?

2010 Hop Crop Report (for my backyard)

First-year Horizon rhizome has sent up a single bine and is now competing adequately with spousal peony bush.

The Great Hop Harvest 2010

At NB Milwaukee, we've got hops on the mind.

The Importance of Being Hydrated

A trivial blog for serious brewers.

Top 5 Ways to Improve your Wine Kit

Winemakers, free your minds from the smothering bonds of the kit box!

Wine kits may seem like a confined sort of brewing because all the instructions are laid out for you. When it comes down to it though, the kits are just a box full of good ingredients, and its up to you to determine how to make the wine. Here are five ways that you can let your creative juices flow. Above all, have fun!

Beer and Your Body: The Beer Goggle Effect

Back in 2002, Bausch & Lomb funded research conducted by the Faculty of Life Sciences at The University of Manchester that determined a method to measure the effects of "beer goggles". They made a mathematical equation to do this:


An = number of units of alcohol consumed
S = smokiness of the room (graded from 0-10, where 0 clear air; 10 extremely smoky)
L = luminance of 'person of interest' (candelas per square metre; typically 1 pitch black; 150 as seen in normal room lighting)
Vo = Snellen visual acuity (6/6 normal; 6/12 just meets driving standard)
d = distance from 'person of interest' (metres; 0.5 to 3 metres)

Gasto Non Grata roll call

Some of the Northern Brewer crew were on hand for the most recent Gastro Non Grata show. GNG, is a local event that combines great local chefs, adult beverages, and rock and roll. During the show, we brewed a batch of beer as a demo. If you can brew beer next to a stage at a show, you can brew beer pretty much anywhere.

Be Cool

Ladies & gentlemen brewers...

This is your mail order captain speaking. Northern Brewer has a brief announcement concerning today's flight through our yeast section.