Flavor through a prism

When it comes to the chemistry of flavor, our foods and drinks are much more connected than you'd think. Any experienced beer taster can pick out the banana notes in some Belgian beers and hefeweizens. What about when a beer reminds you of chocolate, grapefruit, or toasted bread? Well, sometimes that's because it actually is that. When you strip a complicated flavor down to its prominent elements, you'll find that many of them are identical to those found in other foods.

A Guide to Cleaners and Sanitizers

No rinse? Sanitizer? Cleanser? What's the difference?

Stop the insanity! There has to be an easier way, right? Well you're in luck because below is a quick reference guide to confusingly named cleansers and sanitizers.

Beer and Your Body: The Alcohol Hangover

"I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day." ~Frank Sinatra

The purpose of a hangover is to drive a railroad spike into your brain so that you don't wake up thinking everything you did last night was OK.

What now? Beyond the Starter Kit

So you recently acquired a Northern Brewer Beer Starter Kit and now you're a homebrewer. Welcome to the big show!

Yeast (the book)

Yeast! It's wonderful, and now it's available in dry form, liquid, and paperback. The new book version by Chris White (of White Labs) and Jamil Zainasheff (of homebrewing) is out now. I recently gave it a read and was very pleased.

Beer Engine vs. CO2: Dry-hopped Death Match

The same, and yet not the same.

"Beer engines: cool as hell, but what do I get for $450? Tangibles, I mean. What does it do for my beer?"

A worthy question! Let's try the exact same beer dispensed with CO2 and "on cask" side by side and drink critically!

NB MKE is 7 Dog Years old!

It was a Saturday in November and about 3,614 degrees warm at Northern Brewer Milwaukee...

Product Review: Cellarmanship

I was glad to put my hands on a copy of Patrick O'Neill's Cellarmanship. It's distributed by CAMRA. I've been trying to get a copy for some time but it's been difficult to find any where in the US for some reason. Until now! NB now has them in stock.

Invigorate your boil

As a lazy homebrewer, I take a few shortcuts when brewing at home. One of these shortcuts is brewing on an otherwise entirely unsuitable, flat glass electric stove.

Ingredient Showcase: Biscuit Malt

Biscuit malt, come on down! It's your turn to be smashed, steeped, and then drunk!

Let's look at biscuit malt today. This is a favorite of mine. I have met people who hate biscuit malt, people who love biscuit malt, and people who use it to the point of excess. Perhaps the latter tend to create the former. With moderation, it does add a unique component to a recipe.

Study Debunks The 'Beer Goggles' Myth?

It has been brought to my attention that the "Beer Goggles Effect" may be a myth.

The Importance of Being Hydrated

A trivial blog for serious brewers.

Double drop fermentation

So I've been reading some books about British pub beers and, in particular, the vaunted British Bitter. Needless to say, I was inspired to recreate the technique of the Brakspear brewery, which produces some of the finest brews in the UK. They use an interesting technique known as the double-drop fermentation and claim it produces unique flavors, especially in their Bitter.

Beer and Your Body: Introduction

Beer contains alcohol. When you consume beer, then your body contains alcohol. Alcohol is a poison but the human body has some mad skillz at protecting itself from most of alcohol's super dangerous effects. Other than alcohol, beer has some things in it that are super good for you.

Yeast and aerating your wort

Perhaps the easiest way to improve the quality of your homebrewed beer is to do as much as you can to ensure that your yeast is both healthy and happy. Happy yeast is happy beer - or at least a happy beer drinker.

How to Make Invert Sugar

Ever feel like your brewhouse could use more science nerdery? Try making invert sugar!

Experiment: Shipping beer and hop profiles

Could it be that homebrewers have the advantage over pro brewers when it comes to keeping hop flavor in your beer?

Brew-Mentors

In Greek mythology, when Odysseus went to fight in the Trojan War, he entrusted the care of his son, Telemachus, to Mentor. Mentor served as Telemachus's teacher and guide.

My mentor in brewing was my college friend Adam. He taught me how to brew, passing along all his knowledge of brewing techniques.

Who mentored you?

Jeremy's Favorite 1,892,700,000,000

1,892,700,000,000 cells is the maximum number of yeast cells ever produced in a 5 gallon fermentation. This is a magnificent number.

Grain Malts Demystified

Golden Promise ... pale malt? Two row? What's the difference?

School's in: