BeerSmith Home Brewing

BeerSmith Memorial Day Sale (and Mobile)

Brad Smith and Friends — Thu, 23 May 2013 15:22:34 +0000

BeerSmith Desktop on Sale for $19.95!

To celebrate Memorial Day I’m offering BeerSmith desktop 2.1 for $19.95 (28% off) until Tuesday the 28th of May (sale closes at Midnight Eastern time). This is the lowest price we offer for BeerSmith, so now is a great time to pick up a copy for you or your friends. Get it here!

BeerSmith Mobile Also on Sale, and Android Lite Upgrade Available

The BeerSmith Mobile sale continues for iPhone/iPad, Android and Kindle Fire. The BeerSmith Mobile app is on sale for $7.99 until the end of June (a 20% discount from the $9.99 regular price).

Also I released the BeerSmith Lite in-app upgrade option for Android that lets Android users upgrade their BeerSmith Lite app in place to the full BeerSmith mobile functionality. So if you have BeerSmith Lite for Android and have not yet bought BeerSmith Mobile, just download the latest update of Lite from the app store and use the Upgrade button to upgrade your Lite functionality for $4.

The iPhone/iPad Lite in-app upgrade is in the works as well and I hope to release it through the Apple store in a few weeks.

BeerSmithRecipes.com Membership Discounts

BeerSmithRecipes.com has expanded dramatically over the last year to over 25,000 members and 83,000 recipes. We have an ongoing sale on BeerSmithRecipes.com subscriptions for those who want additional storage as well as cloud archiving. You can upgrade your account at a discount here.

Thank you for your continued support and also thanks to all those who have served!

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The Evolution of Home Brew

Brad Smith and Friends — Tue, 21 May 2013 03:13:44 +0000

This week I have a guest post by Jake Metzler, who spends his free time writing songs, brewing beer, and drinking his creations. He’s still perfecting the practice of doing all three at once. He also has a growing collection of brewing supplies and writes with Midwest brewing supplies.

Some people argue that beer may be older than bread. After all, both use yeast. One cooks and one ferments. Fermentation could very well have been possible before fire had been utilized in cooking. Others claim that beer came from bread that had sat out too long and began to ferment.

Whichever came first, it is true that beer has been around for a while. Ancient Sumerians worshipped Ninkasi, patron goddess of brewing. Czech legend has the god of hospitality, Radegast, inventing beer. The Finnish creation myth dedicates more attention to the creation of beer than that of humanity.

Like many things, beer brewing has a rather cyclical nature. Home Brewing has experienced highs and lows in terms of popularity. Alcohol was made domestically in ancient Egypt. Wine and beer have long been common and even sacred beverages, wine being used in religious ceremonies for over 7,000 years. In fact, despite taboos, alcohol has been associated with religion for centuries. Many monasteries have brewing facilities; Martin Luther’s wife brewed beer in the bathtub.

In ancient Sumer, throughout Europe, and in the colonial United States, it was common for women to do the brewing. After all, they did the cooking, so it made sense that they’d tend the beverages as well. It is often joked (and it is true) that in some places, beer is cheaper than water. During colonial times, beer was also safer than water, as it had been boiled and could not contain all the pathogens that water did.

Prohibition caused many Americans in the 1920s to start brewing their own alcohol. Cans of malt syrup would be sold with “warnings” not to boil in water with hops and then add yeast (instructions for making beer). When prohibition ended, the making of wine at home was legalized, but beer was overlooked in that act and home brewing of beer was not federally legalized until 1979. Since states can regulate their own alcohol laws, home brewing has been slow to be legalized in all 50 states. Both Alabama and Mississippi are working on laws to legalize home brewing, which would mean that all states allow brewing to some extent. Individual states have their own laws on brewing limits, where the beverage can be consumed, and whether or not it can be sold.

In 2010, it was discovered that Oregon’s law did not allow for home brewed alcoholic beverages to be consumed outside the home. This meant that the home brew competitions that had been at state fairs for over 20 years had to stop. Home brewer’s clubs were limited in what they could serve at meetings. With an onslaught of media attention, legislators quickly addressed the issue and by March 2011, the law was changed, and state fair competitions reinstated.

Regardless of legality, brewing has been a popular hobby throughout the history of society, and will most likely continue to grow. In modern America, craft brews are gaining popularity. Most of these brews started off as home brews and became commercial down the road.

There are many reasons people choose to brew. Some like the activity. Others find it cost-efficient. The “green” movement has increased the number of people who grow their own food. This also leads to more people producing their own beverages, including alcohol.

Brewing at home allows you to regulate the calories, alcohol content, and ingredients in your brew. People with allergies and diet restrictions might find it more convenient to make their own alcohol rather than hunt for wheat-less beer or low-calorie wine.

Home brewing also allows for flavor adjustment and experimentation that store-bought products just can’t supply. Even the white-house has now joined the home brewing trend. Though this is the first beer brewed in the white house (that we know of), some of the founding fathers were known for their homemade brews, namely George Washington and Thomas Jerfferson.

Nowadays, brewing your own beer seems to be all the rage. All over the country, hipsters, rednecks, artisans, pretty much a human from any walk of life can be a successful brewer if they put heart and effort into the practice.

Do you know your state’s laws on home brewing? How do you feel about federal regulation of alcohol production, consumption, and trade? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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Malting Barley for Beer with Andrea Stanley – BeerSmith Podcast #59

Brad Smith and Friends — Thu, 09 May 2013 20:25:49 +0000

This week my guest is Andrea Stanley from Valley Malting. She shares with us some of the challenges in going from home brewer to creating one of the first small malt houses East of the Mississippi, as well as shares with us how you might grow and malt your own barley at home.

Download the MP3 File – Right Click and “Save As” to download this mp3 file

Topics in This Week’s Episode (50:39)

Andrea Stanley joins me this week. Andrea and her husband Christian are home brewers who started one of the first small malthouses East of the Mississippi. They run a local malt house in Hadley, Mass called Valley Malt.
We discuss how her family moved from home brewing to running a small malt house in Western Massachusetts.
Andrea shares some advice on growing your own barley in small plots at home, including which grows best
We then move on to the malting process and she shares her thoughts on how you can best malt your barley at home
We discuss roasting and toasting malts including which systems work best for creating a variety of specialty malt
Andrea talks about how darker roasted grains are created
She shares her thoughts on malted vs unmalted bases for roast grains
We talk about gluten free beer brewing and what options are available for those who are gluten-intolerant
Andrea tells us a little about some of the unique grains she malts for local brewers
She shares a bit about her company – Valley Malt
We discuss the small malt house movement here in the US – how a handful of people are trying to bring back the local malt house

Thanks to Andrea Stanley for appearing on the show and also to you for listening!

Thoughts on the Podcast?

Leave me a comment below or visit our discussion forum to leave a comment in the podcast section there.

Subscribe to the Podcast

Great News! We’ve been featured in the New and Notable podcasts on iTunes.

If you are not using iTunes, you can subscribe using this feed:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/BeersmithcomHomeBrewingBlog

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the blog and my newsletter (use the links in the sidebar) – to get free weekly articles on home brewing.

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BeerSmith Mobile Now Available for iPhone/iPad (and Android/Kindle Fire)

Brad Smith and Friends — Tue, 07 May 2013 11:38:54 +0000

Beer Recipe Design on the Go?

I’m pleased to announce the release of BeerSmith Mobile for iPhone and iPad. BeerSmith Mobile brings full recipe design and editing to your iPhone or iPad, and joins last week’s versions released for Android and Kindle Fire.

BeerSmith mobile includes seamless recipe integration via the BeerSmithRecipes.com cloud site so you can drop a recipe in your cloud folder on your desktop, and edit it from your phone or tablet on the go!

BeerSmith Mobile Overview

Watch this video of BeerSmith Mobile in action!

More BeerSmith Mobile Videos Here!

BeerSmith mobile gives you the ability to fully edit recipes, equipment profiles, mash profiles, ingredients as well as a full brewday recipe timer.

Want to Learn More? – Visit the BeerSmith Mobile features page here

Pricing and Availability

BeerSmith Mobile is available at a sale price of $7.99 (20% off) until the end of June. After that the price will be raised to its normal level of $9.99. It is available now for iPhone, iPad, Android phones and tablets and the Kindle Fire.

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BeerSmith Mobile App Released for Android and Kindle Fire

Brad Smith and Friends — Wed, 01 May 2013 17:11:14 +0000

Brewing Recipes On The Go?

Have you ever wanted to toy with your favorite beer recipes on the road? I’ve spent the better part of the last two years making that dream a reality. First I created the BeerSmithRecipes.com recipe cloud site, which now hosts over 68,000 beer recipes and followed with my BeerSmith Lite app. Now I’m pleased to announce the release of of BeerSmith Mobile which brings recipe editing to your phone or tablet.

BeerSmith Mobile – Full Recipe Editing

BeerSmith mobile brings you full recipe editing. You can add new ingredients, alter your mash schedule and run the brewday timer all from your phone or mobile device. It also has the ability to create new recipes on your mobile device. You can watch the overview video here or additional video tutorials here.

More BeerSmith Mobile Videos Here!

Cloud Access to Your Desktop Data

BeerSmith Mobile is integrated with the BeerSmithRecipes.com recipe sharing site, so you can easily transfer your recipes to your cloud folder from your desktop and open them on your phone for editing. You can also edit recipes in your cloud folder on your mobile device, making it easy to manage your recipes on the go.

Your profile data (equipment, mash profiles, fermentation profiles) can be saved from your cloud recipes to your mobile device to make it easy to get started using your equipment setup or favorite mash schedule. Ingredients can also be viewed and saved from any recipe so its easy to add ingredients from your favorite recipe to your mobile ingredient database.

Recipe Editing, Scaling, Adjustment Functions

Click on the edit button to open any recipe for editing. BeerSmith mobile shows the color of the beer as well as a style guide comparison that are updated as you edit. You can easily add new ingredients from the pre-loaded list of ingredients at the click of a button. The full BJCP style guide is also included for building new recipes.

I’ve also included functions to change the original gravity, bitterness or color levels easily just like you can on the desktop version. BeerSmith mobile even includes the scale recipe command which can scale a recipe to match a different set of equipment all in one step.

Editable Recipe Profiles and Ingredients

You can save recipe profiles or ingredients from any recipe including those you have transferred from your desktop and fully edit them in BeerSmith mobile. Just view the recipe (don’t edit) and view the item you want to add, then save that item. You can also fully edit any of these profiles or ingredients. This lets you adjust your equipment losses, edit a mash profile or add a new ingredient on the fly.

The following items are fully editable:

Recipes
Equipment Profiles
Mash Profiles
Fermentation Profiles
Age profiles
Carbonation Profiles
Hops
Grains
Yeasts
Water Profiles
Misc Ingredients

Brewday Timer with Session Data Entry

BeerSmith mobile includes the full brew day timer for both mash and boil phases, so you can drop a recipe into your cloud folder on your desktop, walk to the garage and start the timer from your mobile device. Alarms are played as you reach new steps such as mash step changes or boil ingredient additions.

BeerSmith mobile also includes an area for entry of session data and editable notes, so you can record critical volumes, gravities or notes as you brew and have them stored in your recipe for future reference.

Brewing Tools and Unit Converters

The BeerSmith app also includes a suite of 7 handy brewing tools for common functions like determining alcohol content, converting a refractometer reading or adjusting your mash temperature. I added unit converters for volume, weights, temperature, and OG to perform those functions.

Hydrometer Adjustment
Infusion Step Tool
Alcohol and Attenuation Tool
Mash Adjust Tool
Weight to Volume Tool
Refractometer Tool
Carbonation Tool
Temperature, Gravity, Weight, Volume, Pressure unit converters

Pricing and Release Date

The Android and Kindle versions are available now, and I will release the iPhone/iPad version as soon as it is approved in the app store. I’m planning to offer it for a limited introductory price of $7.99. BeerSmith mobile will initially be offered as a separate application in the Google Play, Apple and Kindle app stores until the end of June. After that the price will rise to $9.99.

Upgrades from BeerSmith Lite

I am actively looking at the various “in-app” purchase options as well and hope to offer an “in-app” purchase upgrade for users of “BeerSmith Lite” to upgrade to BeerSmith Mobile in place, but expect it will be several weeks after the launch before I can complete and test these options. In this case, the in-app purchase will let you add the full mobile functionality to your existing BeerSmith Lite for the difference in purchase price.

Where to Learn More?

Updates and the launch announcement for the iPhone will be sent to my newsletter list – so join it today!

Get it Today!

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Hops and Beer Bitterness with Dr Charlie Bamforth – BeerSmith Podcast #58

Brad Smith and Friends — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 18:24:00 +0000

This week I invite Dr Charles Bamforth to talk with us about beer bitterness, isomerization, alpha acids and hops in your home brewed beer. Dr Bamforth is a Professor of Brewing Science at the University of California at Davis, and author of numerous books.

Download the MP3 File – Right Click and “Save As” to download this mp3 file

Topics in This Week’s Episode (48:45)

Dr Charlie Bamforth is this week’s guest. Dr Bamforth is a Professor of Brewing Science at the University of California at Davis, and author of many books including Beer is Proof that God Loves Us, Beer: Tap into the Art and Science of Brewing, and Scientific Principles of Malting and Brewing (Amazon affiliate links).
We start with a general discussion of “bitterness substances” and their role in beer.
Charlie talks about how alpha acid shapes hop bitterness – both for high alpha and low alpha hops
I ask Dr Bamforth to talk about the isomerization process that takes place in the boil
We discuss the different types of iso-alpha acids
IBUs are only one measure of hop flavor – we talk about why IBUs don’t tell the whole story when it comes to hop flavors
Charlie explains “essential oils” and why it is important to use very late hop additions to preserve these oils
We talk about how hops both preserve and also play a role in the skunky flavor we get when beer is exposed to light
Charlie walks us through head retention and how hops play a critical role in foam (also discussed in podcast 23)
We talk about gushing and some potential causes
Charlie shares his thoughts on applying this knowledge to home brewing
He also shares his final thought on potential health effects from hops
Dr Bamforth is developing a new series of books mentioned in the show available from the American Society of Brewing Chemists

Thanks to Charlie Bamforth for appearing on the show and also to you for listening!

Thoughts on the Podcast?

Leave me a comment below or visit our discussion forum to leave a comment in the podcast section there.

Subscribe to the Podcast

Great News! We’ve been featured in the New and Notable podcasts on iTunes.

If you are not using iTunes, you can subscribe using this feed:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/BeersmithcomHomeBrewingBlog

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the blog and my newsletter (use the links in the sidebar) – to get free weekly articles on home brewing.

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BeerSmith Mobile Brewing App – Preview for iPhone, iPad, Android and Kindle

Brad Smith and Friends — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 16:47:04 +0000

Brewing Recipes On The Go?

Have you ever wanted to toy with your favorite beer recipes on the road? I’ve spent the better part of the last two years making that dream a reality. This week I present a short preview of upcoming BeerSmith Mobile which brings recipe editing to your phone or tablet. BeerSmith Mobile follows our earlier release of BeerSmith Lite, but offers a greatly expanded capability.

BeerSmith Mobile – iPhone, iPad, Android, Tablets and Kindle Fire

BeerSmith mobile brings you full recipe editing. You can add new ingredients, alter your mash schedule and run the brewday timer all from your phone or mobile device. It also has the ability to create new recipes on your mobile device. It will be available for the iPhone, iPad, Android, Android Tablet and Kindle Fire operating systems.

Cloud Access to Your Desktop Data

Using your free BeerSmithRecipes.com account, you can drop a recipe in the cloud folder on your desktop version of BeerSmith, head out the door and edit it from your phone or iPad.

Your profile data (equipment, mash profiles, fermentation profiles) can be saved from your cloud recipes to your mobile device to make it easy to get started using your equipment setup or favorite mash schedule. Ingredients can also be saved from any recipe so its easy to add ingredients.

Recipe Editing, Scaling, Adjustment Functions

Editable Recipe Profiles and Ingredients

Brewday Timer with Session Data Entry

Brewing Tools and Unit Converters

Pricing and Release Date

I’ve set an Android release date of 1 May 2013, and will release the iPhone/iPad version approximately two weeks after that (pending app store approval). I’m planning to offer it for a limited introductory price of $7.99 until the end of June. After that the price will rise to $9.99. BeerSmith mobile will initially be offered as a separate application (from Lite) in the Google Play, Apple and Kindle app stores.

Upgrades from BeerSmith Lite

I am actively looking at the various “in-app” purchase options as well and hope to offer an “in-app” purchase upgrade for users of “BeerSmith Lite” to upgrade to BeerSmith Mobile in place, but expect it will be a month or two after the launch before I can complete and test these options. In this case, the in-app purchase will let you add the full mobile functionality to your existing BeerSmith Lite for the difference in purchase price.

Where to Learn More?

Updates and the launch announcement will be sent for all platforms to my newsletter list – so join it today!

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Nanobrewing Beer with Michael Mraz – BeerSmith Podcast #57

Brad Smith and Friends — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 16:05:30 +0000

This week Michael Mraz joins me to talk about his new project starting a microbrewery. Mike is a nationally award winning home brewer who is now launching his own nano-brewery on a full time basis in El Dorado Hills, CA. We talk about some of the challenges a starting pro-brewer faces including setting up the business, getting the licenses and actually brewing the beer.

CHANGE: The opening for Michael’s New brewery has been pushed back to 1 May!

Download the MP3 File – Right Click and “Save As” to download this mp3 file

Topics in This Week’s Episode (41:00)

Michael Mraz from Mraz brewing Company is this week’s guest. Michael was twice California Homebrewer of the Year and has also won national home brewing awards. He joined us earlier in podcast 42 to discuss brewing sour beers.
We start by talking about how Michael got the idea to start his own small brewery.
We talk a bit about the business end of things – items such as writing a business plan, raising money and starting on a shoestring.
Michael explains how he selected a location, negotiated the lease and put the partnership together.
We talk about some of the harder pieces of pulling the facility and brewing equipment together.
Michael talks about the challenges of starting a brewery while still holding a full time job
We discuss beer – the types of beer he wants to brew and how he selected them as well as how he selected his equipment
Michael discusses some of the challenges with purchasing supplies and finding ingredients
He shares his thoughts on what will make his brewery unique and different
Michael shares some closing thoughts on his experience to date

Thanks to Michael Mraz for appearing on the show and also to you for listening!

Thoughts on the Podcast?

Leave me a comment below or visit our discussion forum to leave a comment in the podcast section there.

Subscribe to the Podcast

Great News! We’ve been featured in the New and Notable podcasts on iTunes.

If you are not using iTunes, you can subscribe using this feed:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/BeersmithcomHomeBrewingBlog

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the blog and my newsletter (use the links in the sidebar) – to get free weekly articles on home brewing.

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Brewing a Lager with Erik Schmid – BeerSmith Podcast #56

Brad Smith and Friends — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 18:31:42 +0000

This week we discuss how to brew the perfect Lager with Erik Schmid from The Brewmeister homebrew shop. Erik tells us how to overcome some of the challenges with Lager including refrigeration, yeast selection, ingredients, aging and dealing with off-flavors.

Download the MP3 File – Right Click and “Save As” to download this mp3 file

Topics in This Week’s Episode (39:03)

Erik Schmid is this week’s guest. Erik runs two home brew shops (The Brewmeister shop) near Sacramento California, and is an expert in Lager brewing. He also joined us for Episode 40 on Pilsners.
We start with a discussion on some of the history of lagers -which are a relatively new invention – with most forming around the mid 1800′s.
A lot of new homebrewers head right out to their local shop and buy a lager kit so they can brew their favorite American lager – but this is a bad idea as Erik will explain.
We talk about how important refrigeration is for brewing lagers, as well as some popular control systems for fermenting your lager.
Erik describes some of the differences between lager and ale yeast, why its important to pitch with twice as much lager yeast, and also how critical aeration (oxygen) is for brewing a good lager.
We discuss some popular lager ingredients including Pilsner malt, Munich malt and Vienna malt as well as noble hops.
Erik explains the lager fermentation schedule, what the various steps are for, and why lagers take a lot longer than ales.
We talk a bit about off flavors that frequently occur in lagers such as the rotton egg smell, as well as what to do with it
Erik talks about the importance of extended aging for a lager at near-freezing, as well as how long it takes (months) to completely clean out a lager.
We discuss carbonation of lagers which benefit from higher carbonation levels which bring out the clean flavor
Erik shares his final thoughts on lagers as well as talks for a minute about his homebrew shops and new home brewing club
Erik provided me with two recipes for Lagers – the first was a German Pilsner and the second an American Lager

Thanks to Erik Schmid for appearing on the show and also to you for listening!

Thoughts on the Podcast?

Leave me a comment below or visit our discussion forum to leave a comment in the podcast section there.

Subscribe to the Podcast

Great News! We’ve been featured in the New and Notable podcasts on iTunes.

If you are not using iTunes, you can subscribe using this feed:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/BeersmithcomHomeBrewingBlog

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the blog and my newsletter (use the links in the sidebar) – to get free weekly articles on home brewing.

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Blonde Ale Recipes and Beer Style

Brad Smith and Friends — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 13:21:56 +0000

Blonde Ale is a light, slightly malty beer popularized by the American craft beer movement. This week we take a look at the history of Blonde ale, how to brew it at home and some recipes.

History of Blonde Ales

It is difficult to trace the precise origin of the term “Blonde Ale”, but it is clear that Blonde Ales are a modern style. The American Blonde Ale style is largely an invention of the US craft beer revolution of the early 1990′s. In the UK, John Gilbert of Hop Back Brewery is widely credited with developing a Blonde ale called “Summer Lightning in 1989. Blonde ales are now widely made in Belgium (such as Duval), the UK, US, Brazil, France, and indeed worldwide.

The style itself has heritage back to both Pale ales and light European ales such as Kolsch, both of which have been produced for centuries. Significant variations exist, with West Coast US breweries often pushing the more assertive Pale Ale end of the spectrum,while others explore moderate English summer ales or the light Kolsch end of the flavor spectrum.

The Blonde Ale Style

Blonde ales are light in color and generally have a malty aroma. Some variations have a slight hop aroma as well reflecting the hop variety chosen, but the flavor balance should be towards the malty side. They generally are light yellow to gold in color, clear, and brewed with moderate carbonation. Some variants such as the English may have a slight fruitiness, but they should not have diacytl or harsh bitterness. Some also have a slight toasted malt flavor (biscuit, bread, toast, or wheat) but they should not have any caramel or roasted flavors.

The style is brewed to a moderate alcohol level of 3.8-5.5%, with an original gravity of 1.038-1.054. Color is light – generally 3-6 SRM and the beer is hopped to provide a slightly malty finish – with only 15-28 IBUs. Blonde ales should have a clean finish and be very drinkable.

Brewing a Blonde Ale

Blonde ales are traditionally brewed as an all malt beer, though some examples do use up to 25% wheat malt or sugar adjuncts to lighten the beer. Many are made with 100% pale malt. Cara-Pils/Dextrine malt is often added for head retention. Caramel/Crystal malt is used only to add color, and generally only the lightest variants (10-15L) as a caramel flavor is not desired. Some brewers do add small quantities of Munich, Vienna, Biscuit or lightly toasted malt to enhance either the malty or toasted/biscuit flavor. Fruit variants of Blonde are also popular (Strawberry Blonde for example) since the light palette of a blonde goes well with many fruits.

Just about any hop variety can be used in a Blonde ale. American Blonde’s obviously trend towards American hop varieties, but excellent Blonde ale can be made with English, Continental and New Zealand/Australian hop varieties as well. Some care needs to be taken with stronger/harsher hop varieties to maintain the balance of the beer as it should always tilt slightly towards the malty side without excessive hop flavor or aroma. Some brewers select lower alpha/moderate hop varieties for this reason.

Since a clean finish is desired, most brewers use a well attenuating yeast such as California Ale yeast (WLP001) or American Ale yeast. Some brewers also favor Kolsch ale yeast for its clean light finish. Other possible yeast choices include Belgian Ale yeast or English ale yeast, but care should be taken to maintain a relatively clean finish with no diacytl.

For all grain brewers, a light body mash profile (148F/64C) is appropriate. Extract brewers should pick a light colored malt and take care to avoid carmelization during the boil. Blonde ales are fermented and aged at typical ale temperatures, and sometimes filtered or cold stored for a period to enhance clarity. The beer is moderately carbonated, and should have a long lasting white head.

Blonde Ale Recipes

Here are some of the top rated Blonde Ale recipes from our BeerSmithRecipes.com sharing site:

Top Blonde Ale Recipes

I hope you enjoy brewing your own Blonde Ale at home. Thanks for joining me on the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog. Please subscribe to my newsletter for weekly articles on brewing techniques and beer styles, and also check out my podcast on beer brewing which is also available on iTunes.

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Beer Faucet/Tap Selection and Kegging

Brad Smith and Friends — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 12:33:39 +0000

This week we take a look a beer taps (faucets) and the key roll they play in a good keg system for your home brewed beer. Selecting the right faucet is a critical decision when designing a kegging system. You might want to refer to my earlier articles on kegging home brewed beer and determining the proper keg line length to learn more about kegging in general.

Beer Tap Types

There are several different types of beer taps available, and each has its advantages and disadvantages. Let’s explore some of the different possibilities:

Cask Beer Taps - Old beer barrels were served with no external pressure or gas supply. They used cask taps which are nothing more than on/off valves that let the beer flow from the barrel. They are really not used anymore except with by some historical brewers who serve directly from the cask.
Pressure Dispense Bar Taps – This is the style of most modern beer taps, though there are many variations – including those that are mounted on a bar and those mounted on the wall or to your refrigerator. We will cover the makeup and variations of this style in more detail shortly.
Portable Picnic Taps – Small, inexpensive plastic taps that attach to the end of a keg line for use with a hand pump or CO2 source. These are most often associated with portable serving setups, but some brewers do use these inexpensive taps inside their refrigerator as an alternative to more expensive through the door or external tap systems.
Beer Engine – A hand operated pump traditionally associated with English cask ales. It was developed in 1797 by engineer Joseph Bramah, and uses a hand operated pump to dispense beer from a cask, often located in the basement or cellar of the pub. Modern variants are sometimes electrically powered.

I won’t spend much time on Beer Engines or Cask Beer taps as most home brewers do not serve from a cask.

Portable picnic taps are widely used by home brewers since they are available for less than $6 each if you search online. Most homebrewers attach them to 4 feet (or so) of keg line and use them to serve directly from the keg output line. They seal well and serve well. The only downside is that they do tend to collect mold if not periodically cleaned, so you need to either clean them occasionally. Once the mold sets in the valve must usually be replaced since it ruins the soft plastic in the valve.

Bar Tap Parts

Most serious beer brewers eventually transition to stainless steel bar taps. These can be mounted either on the side of your refrigerator, on a wall or on your bar. Bar mounted taps are usually mounted to a “beer tower” which holds one more more taps. Lets take a look at the major parts of a beer faucet:

Beer Faucet – is the valve that actually controls the beer flow and serves the beer. This is what most people think of when we talk about a beer tap. However, usually the faucet is sold without the shank or handle (see below) so those must be purchased separately. Also faucets come in many variations such as stout taps, creaming, flow control, chrome, stainless, and brass.
Tap Handle – Often sold separately from the faucet, the handle screws into the top of the faucet. These vary from a simple 2.5″ round plastic handle to large handles that feature the brand of beer, labels or even chalk boards.
Shank – Also usually sold separately. The shank is a threaded metal tube that screws into the back of the faucet, and goes through the mounting board, refrigerator or beer tower and connects to the beer line. Shanks are sold in varying lengths depending on what kind of surface you are mounting the faucet on. For example a refrigerator might use a 4″ shank, but going through a wall or bar tower might require a longer or shorter one.

Since these parts are sold separately (in most cases) you can mix and match – selecting the proper shank for your installation, your favorite type of faucet and then finding a pretty handle to match your bar setup.

Choosing a Beer Faucet – Variations

Of the three parts of a beer tap, the faucet is most important as it provides the seal as well as controlling the flow when serving beer. Here are some considerations when choosing a faucet:

Stainless, Brass or Chrome – The type of metal does play a role in the life of the faucet. Stainless is widely accepted as the longest lasting, and generally most expensive. For those who prefer the golden brass look, you can purchase stainless faucets with a brass coating – which give you long life with a brass look. Most chrome faucets are chrome plated brass which will eventually wear through. Brass is softer than stainless and will eventually wear out. If you want durability – spend a few extra dollars and go stainless.
Rear Closing vs Front Closing Faucets – Most faucets are rear closing meaning that the handle closes a valve near the back of the faucet, minimizing the amount of beer left in the faucet when it is closed. The downside of a rear closing faucet is that some droplets remain in the faucet when not in use leading to bacterial/yeast growth. Front closing (forward seal) faucets such as those made by Perlick provide a seal near the end of the handle, which minimizes bacterial/yeast activity in the faucet. The downside is that a small amount of beer is trapped in the faucet itself. Front closing are more expensive and harder to find, but should require less frequent cleaning.
Flow Control Faucets – Some faucets come with a flow control valve that lets the server adjust the beer flow right from the tap. This can be a big plus if you are serving a variety of beer styles from a single pressure source, since you can compensate to some degree for too much or too little pressure for a given beer style. For example you might want to serve a porter at lower pressure than a lager, but have both driven by the same CO2 tank.
Creamer Faucets?- A creamer faucet is a special rear closing faucet that operates in both the forward and backward directions. In the forward position it pours just like a standard faucet. In the backward direction, however, it allows additional air to be sucked into the beer creating to create a foamy head. This is typically done at the end of the pour to add a creamy head to the beer.
Stout Faucets – A stout faucet is a special variation of a creamer faucet that is oriented vertically and has a restriction plate and agitator that releases dissolved gas in a controlled way to give a creamy texture to the finished head. It generally provides more agitation than a standard creamer faucet, and is usually used with stouts. Again, moving the faucet forward initiates a normal pour, and the backward motion is used to add the creamy head.

Maintenance and Cleaning

No matter what beer tap style you choose, all taps and keg lines do need to be periodically cleaned. Over time, mold, bacteria, yeast and other contaminents will tend to build up in the line and taps resulting in a stale beer taste. How often you need to clean depends on how often you use your taps and lines. Frequently used systems are less prone to contamination, but most sources recommend cleaning every 2-6 weeks, so a monthly cleaning schedule is not unreasonable. Some sources recommend flushing the lines and tap with water once a week to prevent buildup as well.

To clean the faucet, its best to completely disassemble it and wash it in a cleaning/sanitizing solution. Use a brush to remove any grime/buildup. Beer lines can be cleaned by flushing them with a good cleaning solution and then rinsing by running water through them.

Hopefully today’s article will aid you in designing the perfect kegging system. If you are just getting started with kegging take a look at my earlier article on the basics of kegging home brewed beer, and also my article on beer line length which is critical for getting the proper pour from your keg system.

Thank you for joining me on the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog. Please subscribe to receive articles in your inbox each week on homebrewing or listen to my podcast.

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Bière de Garde Recipes and Beer Brewing

Brad Smith and Friends — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 14:41:34 +0000

Bière de Garde or “beer for keeping” is a French pale ale traditionally brewed in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region. It is a strong pale ale, cellar aged for an extended period before consumption. This week, I take a look at the history of this style and how to brew it at home.

History

Bière de Garde has its roots in the French/Belgian farmhouse ale brewing tradition centered around the Flanders region along the Belgian/French border which flourished in the late 19′th century. Many small breweries and farmhouses brewed farmhouse ales such as Saison and Bière de Garde. The region was devastated during the First and Second World Wars, destroying most of the original breweries and farms. The style was kept alive by a handful of brewers in small farms and villages.

Bière de Garde made a very slow comeback in the latter half of the 20th century, but is still not as well known as its farmhouse cousin Saison or the much more popular Belgian ales. It was traditionally brewed only in winter and then aged for consumption in warmer weather, but is now brewed year-round. A number of fine Bière de Gardes are now available commercially including: Jenlain (amber), Jenlain Bière de Printemps (blond), St. Amand (brown), Ch’Ti Brun (brown), Ch’Ti Blond (blond), La Choulette (all 3 versions) and more.

The Bière de Garde Style

Bière de Garde comes in three variations (Blond, Amber and Brown) which vary primarily in color from golden-blonde to deep brown with an overall rane of 6-19 SRM. The darker variations tend to have a more complex flavor profile. It is a strong pale ale with medium to high malty flavor often with hints of toast, caramel or toffee. Unlike English pale ale, it has low to moderate esters (fruitiness) and alcohol flavor. It has low to no hop flavor with balance tilted towards the malt. The beer is fairly stron (6-8.5% alcohol) with a starting gravity of 1.060-1.080.

The finished beer should be smooth and well aged. It has a much rounder, sweeter, maltier character than a Saison and also lacks its spicy flavor. Clarity can vary from good to poor, and some haze is acceptable. It is usually served highly carbonated with a good head, and may have a slightly dry finish. Attenuation with this beer is typically very high – in the 80-85% range, and final gravity in the 1.008-1.016 range.

Brewing a Bière de Garde at Home

Bière de Garde is made from a pale malt base (60-80%) with the addition of Munich and Vienna malts (10-25%) for maltiness. The blond variation is typically made without crystal malts, though the darker variations often include crystal malt additions to achieve the desired color. Sugar is sometimes used to enhance the dry finish in the beer and aid in attenuation.

A lower temperature (light body) mash profile is used to achieve high attenuation. Darker variations sometimes use an extended boil to caramelize the wort for a darker color and rich flavor. Soft water is used for mashing.

Continental hops are used with a floral or slightly spicy aroma such as Hallertauer, Tettnanger, or Saaz. These are used in small quantities to balance the beer towards the malty side (only 18-28 IBUs of hops typically), since hop flavor is not a significant component of this beer.

True farmhouse ales often use indigenous yeasts and molds that are hard for a home brewer to precisely duplicate. Some good options include White Labs French Ale (WLP072), White Labs Belgian Saison (WLP565), Wyeast European Ale (1338), and Wyeast French Saison (3711), though some brewers also use Belgian ale yeasts.

Bière de Garde is usually fermented at ale temperatures and then cellared for an extended period before drinking. The finished beer is served well carbonated and should have a robust white or brown head depending on the color variation.

Bière de Garde Recipes

Here are some recipes from our BeerSmithRecipes.com sharing site:

Bière de Garde Recipes

Thank you for joining me on the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog. If you would like an article on home brewing sent to you each week, please subscribe to my newsletter. Also check out my podcast on home brewing.

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Designing Beer with Denny Conn – BeerSmith Podcast #55

Brad Smith and Friends — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 16:04:30 +0000

This week I discuss how to design a beer recipe with Denny Conn. Denny shares some of his tips on creating a home brewing recipe from scratch including imagining the beer, selecting ingredients, applying techniques and iterating to perfect the beer.

Download the MP3 File – Right Click and “Save As” to download this mp3 file

Topics in This Week’s Episode (37:36)

Denny Conn is this week’s guest. Denny is a member of the American Homebrewer’s Association governing committee and a member of the Cascade Brewer’s Society. He has a web site on batch sparging at DennyBrew.com
Denny wrote an article on beer recipe design for the May/June 2012 edition of Zymurgy magazine. We discuss many of his main points here on this episode.
We start by discussing how one starts with a blank sheet of paper and begins imagining a beer.
Denny shares his philosophy on researching beer styles and also ingredients.
We talk about the next step which is developing the grain bill and selecting ingredients
Denny shares some tips for “knowing your ingredients” well
We talk about sugars and some unique flavors you can get from sugars
Denny shares his thoughts on misc ingredients such as spices and flavorings (including mushrooms and vanilla beans)
We discuss process issues like selecting mash temperatures, and applying hop techniques
Denny shares a few tips for brewers just starting to design their first beer
The American Homebrewers Association Conference which we discussed is June 27-29th in Philadelphia

Thanks to Denny Conn for appearing on the show and also to you for listening!

Thoughts on the Podcast?

Leave me a comment below or visit our discussion forum to leave a comment in the podcast section there.

Subscribe to the Podcast

Great News! We’ve been featured in the New and Notable podcasts on iTunes.

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Multi vs Single Step Mashing for Home Brewing

Brad Smith and Friends — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 19:09:42 +0000

Multi-step mashes used to be the standard for making beer, but increasingly home brewers and pro brewers have moved to brewing exclusively with a single step mash. The single step mash has many advantages including time, cost savings, simplicity and consistency.

The Single Step Infusion Mash

Most newcomers to all grain and partial mash brewing start with a simple single step infusion mash. The process involves heating water to a fixed temperature slightly above your target temperature, and then adding your crushed grains. If calculated properly you will hit a mash temperature usually in the range of 148-156F. At this temperature a combination of alpha and beta amylase will break longer complex sugar chains in barley into simpler sugars that can be easily fermented. By adjusting this conversion temperature we can also affect the body of the beer.

Typically this process takes anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes. A cooler or insulated pot is often used to maintain temperature though on more complex systems such as RIMS and HERMS a recirculation pump and heating element may also help maintain the temperature. At the end of the mash process we run hot water through the grain bed with some kind of filtering mechanism to extract the hot wort we’ll boil to make beer.

Multi-Step Mashing and History

In a multi-step mash, we make multiple stops at different temperatures along the way – typically from lowest temperature to higher until we reach our conversion temperature of 147-156F, at which we convert the sugars and lauter. In the earlier days of beer brewing, multi-step mashes were the standard, but in modern brewing have largely been abandoned.

The historical reason behind multi-step mashes was to develop enzymes to help in the conversion of starches. Before malting and kilning was well understood, most malts were what we would today describe as “undermodified”. They had relatively low enzyme content as a result, and required additional steps to help enhance the enzymes.

Here are some typical steps (also called rests) in a multi-step mash with their formal descriptions:

Phytase (86-126 F) – Lowers the pH of the mash slightly. Lowering the mash pH has a number of benefits, though a Phytase rest is rarely used by modern brewers, as there are alternate ways to control mash pH.
Debranching (95-112 F) – Helps to increase the solubility of starches resulting in increased extraction for certain malts.
Beta Glucanese (95-113F) – Breaks down the gummy heavy starches, which can help improve stability and extraction, particularly for mashes high in proteins and adjuncts such as wheat.
Pepidase (113-131F) – Produces free amino nitrogen, which can aid in fermentation.

Do I Need a Multi-Step Mash?

Assuming you are using a reasonable portion of modern pale malt in your beer, there is little reason for using a multi-step mash in most beers. Modern base malts have very high diastatic power (enzyme content) making the historical rests unnecessary. A single step mash will work in over 95% of the beers most brewers will brew.

The only exceptions I can think of would be where you are working with a high percentage of unmalted ingredients such as uncooked cereals, unmalted wheat or a high percentage of non-traditional brewing grains. In these cases you might want to consider an appropriate rest to cook or gelatanize the cereals, or simply switch to a gelatinized/cooked alternative.

For example, use torrified or flaked wheat or barley instead of raw wheat or barley. Pick cooked “quick” or instant oats instead of the uncooked kind. Pre-cooking, flaking or torrifying these unmalted cereals allows them to be used directly in a single step mash.

One other trick I’ve learned when working with many German styles is to use a small addition of melanoidin malt in the place of a complex decoction or multi-step mash. This addition gives the beer a slightly malty warmth you might get from a decoction mash using a simple single infusion mash.

Thanks for joining me on the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog. Please sign up for my newsletter for weekly delivery or listen to my podcast for more great brewing tips!

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Pro Beer Brewing Startup with Modern Times – BeerSmith Podcast #54

Brad Smith and Friends — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 16:52:34 +0000

This week I interview Jacob McKean and Michael Tonsmeire who are involved in a cross country beer collaboration to build a new brewery in San Diego called Modern Times. We walk through some of the challenges in going from home brewer to pro brewer!

Download the MP3 File – Right Click and “Save As” to download this mp3 file

Topics in This Week’s Episode (45:50)

Jacob McKean and Michael Tonsmeire are this week’s guests. They are in the middle of collaborating on a new micro brewery called Modern Times Beer in San Diego. Jacob and Michael are in a unique situation where Michael is developing recipes for Jacob from the opposite side of the country! Michael also runs a blog at TheMadFermentationist.com
Jacob starts the discussion out with his decision to become a professional brewer, and why he decided to make the leap from home brewer to pro-brewer.
Michael joins in to describe his role in developing the recipes (aka creative director) for the new brewery, and his unique situation being on the other side of the country!
Jacob shares some of the steps involved in creating your own brewery – most of which have to do with being an entrpreneur/businessman and not home brewing.
Michael tells us about some of the challenges involved in perfecting a recipe for commercial brewing and how it is much different than developing a home brew recipe for fun.
Jacob joins in to tell us how you scale recipes up from small pilot batches to something much larger. We also have a detailed discussion on late hop additions, hop oils and whirlpool hops.
Michael shares some considerations in choosing styles of beer they want to brew commercially, and how market considerations play a role in choosing which styles to brew.
Jacob tells us how style choices and brewing equipment choices are closely related. In fact some large decisions like step mashing can require $20-50k in additional costs! Even dry hopping decisions require equipment modifications in many cases.
Michael talks about the challenges of being the pilot brewery from across the country – including trying to match San Diego’s water, determining hop schedules and more.
Jacob shares his thoughts on what will make Modern Times different from other small breweries.
I’ve invited Jacob and Michael back to come on the show again after their grand opening next summer and give us an update on their brewery and share some lessons learned from their first pro batches!
We spend just a minute talking about tips for making better beer.
Here are two recipes Michael provided that we mentioned at the end of the podcast: Blazing World and Black House - They intend to brew these commercially!

Thanks to Jacob McKean and Michael Tonsmeire for appearing on the show and also to you for listening!

Thoughts on the Podcast?

Leave me a comment below or visit our discussion forum to leave a comment in the podcast section there.

Subscribe to the Podcast

Great News! We’ve been featured in the New and Notable podcasts on iTunes.

If you are not using iTunes, you can subscribe using this feed:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/BeersmithcomHomeBrewingBlog

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Late Hop Additions and Hop Oils in Beer Brewing

Brad Smith and Friends — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 17:35:59 +0000

A trend in modern brewing is the greater use of late steeped hop additions for many styles. These include steeped hop additions, whirlpool hops, use of a hop-back and even dry hopping. Surprisingly, most of these late additions are not done to increase bitterness, but instead to exploit hop oils which play a significant role in many beer styles.

Bitterness and Late Hop Additions

When designing a new beer recipe, many brewers get very focused on the bitterness level of the beer, traditionally measured in IBUs (International Bitterness Units). Bitterness comes from the alpha acids in hops (in chemistry terms these are the humulones: humulone, cohumulone, adhumulone). During the boil, these alpha acids undergo a chemical reaction called isomerization which transforms them into bitter compounds – the traditional bitterness we taste in beer.

This hop bitterness is critical for beer, as it counterbalances the sweetness provided by barley malt. However, the focus on bitterness (IBUs) ignores many of the other flavor compounds contributed by hops.

Early on, brewers recognized that just dumping hops in a pot and boiling them for 90 minutes resulted in boiling off a lot of the flavor that hops contribute, even though it did create the needed bitterness. So we started adding later additions at 30 minutes, 15 minutes, 10 minutes or 5 minutes from the end of the boil to preserve some of the flavor compounds that contribute to great beer.

Steeped and Whirlpool Hops

More recently science has helped us isolate many of the flavor compounds in hops, and understand how to preserve those flavors. Surprisingly, some of these flavor compounds vaporize at temperatures well below boiling, so the simple act of boiling hops, even for a few minutes, eliminates these oils. Also most of these oils are prone to oxidization (from exposure to air) so adding them early in the boil can also oxidize the oils from both oxygen still in the wort and also oxygen in the air during the boil, as well as when we aerate the wort before fermentation.

These volatile flavor compounds are referred to simply as “hop oils” or “essential oils”. To take full advantage of them, you can’t boil the hops. In fact even steeping them at high temperature is a bad idea – so home brewers and some commercial brewers have moved to steeping at low temperature, dry hopping, and using a hop back or whirlpool system to infuse these hops after the boil. Many have had spectacular results.

Essential Hop Oils

In addition to alpha acids in your bittering hop addition, there are four main hop oils that can add flavor late in the brewing process – each of which boils off at a different boiling point. Most also rapidly oxidize when exposed to air:

Myrcene – (147 F/63.9 C boil point) – The largest of the hop oils, making up 40-60% of the hop oil content in many American varieties (Cascade has 50-60%), though most noble hops are low in myrcene (Saaz: 5-13%). Mercene boils off readily, and can even volatilize in a high temperature steep (147F), so you will lose it if you boil it. It has a herbal note that can be described as green, balsamic, hoppy in small quantities. It also has a slight piney/citrus flavor. As a result of its low boiling point, it is present in much higher quantities in dry hopped or steep-hopped beers. It tends to provide a “green hop” or fresh hop aroma when used in dry hopping.
Humulene – (210F/99C) – Humulene is the traditional noble hop oil, providing a strong herbal component most people associate with noble hops. Humulene is actually widely used in the perfume industry for its herbal characteristic. Over long boils, it also tends to produce a slightly spicy flavor – such as that from Saaz hops in light lagers or Nugget. Because it boils just below the boiling point of water, it usually provides its best characteristics as either a late boil addition or post-boil addition. Humulene will not survive a long boil, and is also prone to oxidize.
Caryophellene – (262F/129C) – Caryophellene is a counterpoint to humulene – and provides a spicy, woody, earthy and even citrusy flavor. Clove and pepper contain this oil in significant quantities. While not a significant in noble hops, Caryophellene is a major aroma component in many traditional English hops such as Goldings and Northdown as well as many US hops such as Mount Hood. In beer it contributes a strong dry wood, pepper and earthy spice flavor. It may even add a citrus finish. Many hops are rated by their Humulene to Caryophellene ratio with noble hops having a high ratio of 3:1 or more. Caryophellene oxidizes rapidly, so fresh hops must be used and are often added late to preserve the flavor.
Farnesene – (203-257F/95-125C) – Found in the coating of apples and other fruits, it provides the “green apple” flavor as well as flowery, citrusy, woody and at the extreme end musty, woody or vegetative. Farnesene is the smallest of the hop oils – typically less than 1% of the hop oil content, but it can be higher in many noble varieties. Again because it oxidizes rapidly it is best preserved as a late or post boil hop addition.

Some Lessons on Hop Oils and Late Hop Additions

Looking at the hop oils above, we can see several common themes. First, three of the four oils oxidize easily when exposed to air. As a result hop processing and storage is really important for preserving these oils. Fortunately the microbrewery industry has been a driving force the last 10 years in improving hop processing and packaging, and also they have been driving the availability of a much larger variety of hops.

However, as a homebrewer, you need to be aware that the moment you open your vacuum sealed foil pouch of hops you are exposing your hops to air, and starting to degrade the hop oils. Oxidization also happens more rapidly with temperature, so storing your hops in the freezer until needed is important.

Another key point is that three of the four major hop oils have a boiling point below 212F/100C – so the act of merely boiling your hops for any length of time will start to boil off these flavor oils as well. So when designing a beer you may want to consider (in addition to your main bittering hop addition) adding your aroma/flavoring hops after the boil has ended. In fact if you want to preserve the Myrcene component it should be added after your wort has cooled below 147F/64C.

There are several methods for preserving these oils including steeping hops after the boil, during your cooldown, using a hop-back, whirlpool additions and of course dry hopping after fermentation. All of these have the advantage of not boiling off the oils, and also a much lower risk of oxidization as the boil or fermentation remove most of the oxygen from the wort/beer.

I’ve been experimenting with moving most of my late boil additions to post boil – usually a combination of steeping some hops while cooling the wort and also dry hopping with good results. Many small commercial brewers are also extensively using these techniques with great results. I still use boil additions, though I now use them primarily for bitterness.

Thanks for joining me this week on the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog. Please subscribe to my newsletter or podcast for weekly thoughts on homebrewing!

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Eco-Friendly Brewing with Amelia Loftus – BeerSmith Podcast #53

Brad Smith and Friends — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 19:31:58 +0000

This week we discuss eco-friendly home brewing with Amelia Loftus. Amelia is an writer on ecologically friendly brewing and also a founding member of Seven Bridges Cooperative, a brewing supply shop that specializes in organic ingredients.

Download the MP3 File – Right Click and “Save As” to download this mp3 file

Topics in This Week’s Episode (42:50)

Amelia Loftus is my guest this week. Amelia is an expert on ecologically friendly brewing and also a founding member of Seven Bridges Cooperative, a brewing supply shop that specializes in organic ingredients. She’s also working on a new book on eco-friendly brewing to published in the Spring of 2014. Amelia runs a website at AmeliaLoftus.com and also has started a new eco-friendly brewing discussion forum.
We start with a discussion of what eco-friendly brewing is, and why it is important.
I ask Amelia about her role as a founding member of Seven Bridges Cooperative, an organic brewing supply store. We also discuss some of the advantages of using organic ingredients in your beer brewing.
Amelia describes her experiments with growing her own hops and grains at home.
We discuss how to choose equipment for eco-friendly brewing and also what some advantages are of making good purchases up front.
Amelia offers some advice on choosing chemicals for cleaning in brewing that will not harm the environment
We discuss what to do with spent grains. Amelia has a recipe for spent grain energy bars.
We discuss some steps to use in the brewing process to be energy efficient
Amelia covers some ways to be efficient with fermentation and packaging
We discuss a bit about the upcoming book she is working on in eco-friendly brewing
Amelia provides a few closing thoughts
Here’s a link to her recipe: Barley’s Bark Brown Ale

Thanks to Amelia Loftus for appearing on the show and also to you for listening!

Thoughts on the Podcast?

Leave me a comment below or visit our discussion forum to leave a comment in the podcast section there.

Subscribe to the Podcast

Great News! We’ve been featured in the New and Notable podcasts on iTunes.

If you are not using iTunes, you can subscribe using this feed:

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BeerSmithRecipes Beer Recipe Sharing Site Expansion and Sale

Brad Smith and Friends — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 23:57:19 +0000

Happy New Year! I recently expanded our Beer Recipe Cloud at BeerSmithRecipes.com by moving to a new server and I’m now offering 50% more storage for all users, including free accounts as well as discounts on all member accounts.

I launched BeerSmithRecipes.com last May, and a little over half a year it has grown to over 16,000 users storing almost 42,000 beer recipes. With the launch of our BeerSmith Lite mobile app for Android, iPhone, iPad and Kindle last fall, the site was starting to slow down from the combined traffic from mobile and web searches, which have reached several hundred thousand per month. So it was time for an upgrade! I moved to a much larger dedicated server in December, which provides a lot of room for new growth.

Since I now have the room, today I increased the storage limits for all users (both paid and free) accounts by 50%, so you can now store and share more recipes between machines, with your friends or to your mobile device. I also have placed BeerSmithRecipes memberships on sale for 50% off in most cases. You can get a one year gold membership for $9.99 or a six month gold trial for $5.99.

I would like to thank the many thousands of people who have already taken time to share their best recipes, and encourage you to take a few minutes to publish yours or rate another member’s recipe. If you have not tried out the new cloud service with BeerSmith 2.1 I have a video overview here.

I’m still hard at work on the “full” mobile version of BeerSmith which will include recipe editing and plan to have it ready for release this Spring. It, too, will be fully integrated with the BeerSmith cloud to make transfer and sharing of recipes across your devices as easy as possible.

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For the Love of Hops with Stan Hieronymus – BeerSmith Podcast #52

Brad Smith and Friends — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 19:35:37 +0000

This week Stan Hieronymus joins me to discuss his new book “For the Love of Hops” (Amazon link). Stan has spent the last five years studying hop growing, production, and its use in both home brewing and commercial beer brewing.

Download the MP3 File – Right Click and “Save As” to download this mp3 file

Topics in This Week’s Episode (42:05)

Stan Hieronymus is my guest this week. Stan just published a new book For the Love of Hops (Amazon affiliate link) for Brewers Publications that goes into great detail on the history, growth, processing and use of hops in beer. It is an amazing book both for the professional and homebrewer.
We start with a few minutes about his new book, which is part of the four book series on beer brewing ingredients including: Yeast: A Practical Guide to Beer Fermentation, and the upcoming Water: A Comprehensive Guide for Brewers (Amazon links)
We discuss the amazing things hops do for beer – in addition to bitterness, they play a role in foam, aroma, flavor, preserving the beer, and more.
Stan talks about the history of hops – where it came from and how it came to be used in beer
Stan describes how the hop industry has changed over the years – moving toward higher alpha production, but also the rise of the microbrewing industry driving aroma production as well as higher quality standards.
We discuss isomerization as well as aroma and how our understanding of hop use has evolved
Stan describes the major aroma hop oils and the flavors they contribute to a finished beer. Many of these oils are volatile – they are easily boiled off
We talk about how our evolving understanding of hop flavor is driving more late hop additions in beer including post-boil, whirlpool and steeped hops
Stan describes how our knowledge of dry hops has increased, and how it is now best to keep dry hops down to 3 days exposure or less. Some brewers are even using two dry hopping stages to avoid grassy flavors.
We talk about proper hop storage and how to maintain hop freshness
Stan discusses some of the things that can go wrong with hops including off, grassy and skunky flavors
I ask Stan to provide a few closing tips for home brewers

Thanks to Stan Hieronymus for appearing on the show and also to you for listening!

Thoughts on the Podcast?

Leave me a comment below or visit our discussion forum to leave a comment in the podcast section there.

Subscribe to the Podcast

Great News! We’ve been featured in the New and Notable podcasts on iTunes.

If you are not using iTunes, you can subscribe using this feed:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/BeersmithcomHomeBrewingBlog

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Mash Temperature and Beer Body in All Grain Brewing

Brad Smith and Friends — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 01:26:50 +0000

Great beer balances bitterness, color, flavor and body. As an all-grain brewer, you need understand how to control the body of your home brewed beer using mash temperature. By altering your mash schedule to match the style of beer you are brewing you can achieve precise control over the body and mouth-feel of your beer.

Managing Beer Body in the Mash

The key step in mashing is called the conversion step. Frequently done at a temperature between 146F/63C and 156F/69C, the conversion step breaks down complex sugars in the grains into shorter chains of sugar that can be consumed by yeast. If you are doing a single step infusion mash, the conversion step is your single step.

The temperature of your conversion step determines, in large part, what percentage of the complex sugars are broken down into simpler sugars. This is due to the enzymes active in the mash that break down complex sugars into simpler ones.

The two main enzymes active during the mash are alpha and beta amylase. Alpha amylase, which is most active in the 154-167F/68-75C range, creates longer sugar chains that are less fermentable, resulting in a beer with more body. Beta amylase, which is most active between 130-150F/54-65 C trims off single maltose sugar units that are more fermentable. This results in a more complete fermentation (higher attenuation) and a cleaner beer with a thinner body.

A more complete explanation is as follows: both enzymes work to break longer sugar chains into smaller maltose units that yeast can ferment. Alpha amylase is very flexible as it can break sugars chains up at almost any point, and is useful for creating shorter chains for beta amylase to work on. Beta amylase, in contrast, breaks off single highly fermentable maltose units of sugar, but can only work from the ends of the sugar chain. As a result beta amylase is better at creating single molecule maltose sugars that yeast loves, but it takes longer as it works only from the ends of the molecule. The two enzymes work best when applied in combination which is why we usually mash in the middle temperature range around 153F/67C.

A low step temperature (146-150F/63-66 C) emphasizing beta amylase will therefore result in a more complete conversion to simple sugars, but will take longer to complete. These simple sugars will ferment more readily, producing a highly attenuated beer that has higher alcohol content but less body and mouth-feel.

Conversely, a high temperature conversion step (154F-156F/68-69 C) emphasizing alpha amylase gives you more unfermentable sugars, resulting in lower alcohol content and a full bodied beer with a lot of mouth-feel. Moderate conversion temperatures (150-153F/65-67C) result in a medium body beer. In BeerSmith the mash profiles are labeled light, medium and full bodied to make this selection easy.

Conversion time also varies with temperature. Complete conversion of your malt for a low temperature, light bodied profile takes longer than a high temperature, full bodied mash profile. For my BeerSmith software, I actually built this into the latest version – using an adjustment factor when estimating the final gravity of the beer based on the mash conversion step temperature.

A Hybrid Mash Conversion Profile

One trick I see some advanced brewers use is to include a step both at a low conversion temperature (say 145F/63 C) and a second mash step at high conversion temperature (say 155F/68 C). This results in very high sugar conversion, and a very clean, light bodied beer. It does this by activating both the alpha and beta amylase in sequence. It is useful primarily for beers that require a clean, dry finish – and is most often associated with lagers.

Designing your Beer

How does this apply to all-grain beer design? It depends upon the style. Some styles, such as lagers have a clean, low bodied finish. Low temperature, light body mash profiles are appropriate to use with these styles. Sweet Stouts, Pale Ales and other full bodied beers will benefit from a full bodied, high temperature mash profile. Refer to the BJCP style guide for your target beer style to determine whether a light, medium or full bodied mash profile is appropriate to your style.

Thanks again for joining me on the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog. Please subscribe to the BeerSmith newsletter or my podcast for more articles and episodes on home brewing.

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Single Malt and Single Hop (SMASH) with Drew Beechum – BeerSmith Podcast #51

Brad Smith and Friends — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 21:59:01 +0000

This week Drew Beechum joins me to discuss SMASH brewing (Single Malt and Single Hops). SMASH brewing is a great way to not only get familiar with brewing ingredient, but also a way to simplify your brewing to create great beer with fewer ingredients.

Download the MP3 File – Right Click and “Save As” to download this mp3 file

Topics in This Week’s Episode (44:01)

Drew Beechum is my guest this week. Drew is the author of The Everything Homebrewing Book and also the upcoming book The Homebrewers Journal. (Amazon Affiliate Links). Drew is also the former President of the Maltose Falcons brewing club.
Today’s topic is SMASH brewing which is Single Malt and Single Hops. Drew makes the case that this is a great technique to learn about specific ingredient flavors, but also provides an overarching philosophy of how to simplify your brewing by using fewer ingredients.
Drew starts by describing what SMASH is and why it is a great way to think about beer recipe design.
He explains why simplified brewing with fewer ingredients is the standard in the craft brewing industry where microbreweries simply can’t afford to have too many varieties of ingredients on hand.
We discuss some of the popular beer styles that lend themselves to SMASH brewing.
Drew walks us through a typical SMASH recipe and how he picks the malts and hops to use.
We discuss which hop varieties work best with SMASH
Drew explains which malts work best
We talk about extending the SMASH philosophy just a bit – for example almost every BJCP beer style can be brewed with just two malts.
Drew explains how SMASH can really improve your brewing overall by giving your recipe design some focus
We talk briefly about Drew’s new book: The Homebrewers Journal. (Amazon Affiliate Link) – which comes out in a few months.
Some of the popular SMASH beer recipes on BeerSmithRecipes.com

Thanks to Drew Beechum for appearing on the show and also to you for listening!

Thoughts on the Podcast?

Leave me a comment below or visit our discussion forum to leave a comment in the podcast section there.

Subscribe to the Podcast

Great News! We’ve been featured in the New and Notable podcasts on iTunes.

If you are not using iTunes, you can subscribe using this feed:

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And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the blog and my newsletter (use the links in the sidebar) – to get free weekly articles on home brewing.

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Brewing Saison Beer with Nathan Smith – BeerSmith Podcast #50

Brad Smith and Friends — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 17:17:39 +0000

This week Nathan Smith joins me to talk about how to brew the perfect Saison or Farmhouse Ale. Saison is a light, refreshing beer that is highly drinkable and Nathan shares his secrets on how to brew a perfect one.

Download the MP3 File – Right Click and “Save As” to download this mp3 file

Topics in This Week’s Episode (48:42)

Nathan Smith is my guest this week. Nathan is a nationally award winning home brewer, and also a frequent guest on the Brewing Network.
We start with a discussion of the history of Saison or Farmhouse Ale as it is also known
Nathan describes the style and taste of a typical Saison
We discuss how to brew the perfect Saison starting with the grain bill
Nathan talks about which hops are his favorite for use in this style and how to use them
We discuss brewing techniques to use and also the mash schedule for a Saison
He explans which yeast strains work best with Saison, and also how to ferment them
We talk about the sour/acidic finish that some Saisons have and how to achieve those flavors as a home brewer
Nathan explains the importance of water in brewing a good Saison
We talk briefly about Single Malt and Single Hop brewing – Saison is a popular beer to use with SMASH as it is a fairly simple style
Some of the popular Saison recipes on our BeerSmithRecipes.com recipe site

Thanks to Nathan Smith for appearing on the show and also to you for listening!

Thoughts on the Podcast?

Leave me a comment below or visit our discussion forum to leave a comment in the podcast section there.

Subscribe to the Podcast

Great News! We’ve been featured in the New and Notable podcasts on iTunes.

If you are not using iTunes, you can subscribe using this feed:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/BeersmithcomHomeBrewingBlog

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the blog and my newsletter (use the links in the sidebar) – to get free weekly articles on home brewing.

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First Wort Hops (FWH) in Beer Revisited

Brad Smith and Friends — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 18:49:35 +0000

A few years back I wrote an article on First Wort Hopping (FWH)- a technique I’ve used frequently over the years to brew great beer. While my support for the technique has not changed, my understanding of it has evolved a bit.

What is First Wort Hops?

First wort hopping (FWH) is a technique that goes back at least a hundred years in Germany, but was originally used to enhance isomerization (the conversion of alpha acids that produces the bulk of hop bitterness in beer). In 1995, Priess, Neuremburg and Mitter published an article (Brauwelt International, Vol IV, p 308) that reintroduced the technique. Later authors suggested that First Wort Hopping could be a replacement for late hopping, and that aromatic hops that were used for finishing could be used as FWH instead. Most references also recommend using only low alpha aroma hops for FWH.

The actual technique is an all grain brewing technique where at least some hops are added to the boiler during first runnings of the mash, allowing the hops to steep in the boiler during the sparge process. These same hops are left in the boiler as it is heated and boiled, effectively making them full boil hops.

Estimating FWH Bitterness

For the estimation of bitterness (IBUs), first wort hops are treated as full boil hops plus about 10%. For a 90 minute boil, we would calculate their contribution as if it were a 90 min boil and then add 10% to the IBU number. The 10% extra accounts for the fact that the hops do extract some bitterness during the high temperature steep before the boil.

Even this 10% number has some controversy associated with it. If you take a beer made exclusively with FWH and send it off to a lab, you will likely find that the IBU number is accurate – FWH does produce slightly more bitterness than the equivalent hops used in the boil alone.

The controversy arises from the fact that FWH taste much smoother than an equivalent bitterness level in a non-FWH beer. The hop flavors are blended in with the beer flavors better and the majority of beer drinkers prefer the FWH version. So even though the IBUs may be higher, the perceived bitterness is slightly lower.

Recent Thinking on First Wort Hop Additions

Aside from the IBU controversy, I think first wort hops use has evolved significantly over the years. When I talk to top brewers, I find that not only are most of them aware of FWH but they tell me that they use it frequently in a wide variety of beer styles, and with a wide variety of hop varieties. Because FWH provides a more smoother hop flavor profile that is well blended with other flavors in the beer, it really is appropriate for almost any style of beer where hop flavor is not a dominant component of the style.

Most early references speak of FWH as if it were a substitute for late aroma hop additions. I also think this is outdated advice. Because FWH are kept in the wort for the full boil, they are not a good substitute for very late hop additions. During an average 60-90 minute boil, all of the delicate hop oils you want to preserve with a late hop addition are boiled off. The flavor profile you get from FWH is favorable, but it is simply not the same as the oils and aroma you get from late hop additions.

Finally, most article on FWH say it only should be done with a portion (30% or less) of the hops and only using low alpha aroma hops. This also is outdated advice. Home brewers are beginning to discover that even high alpha hops have some great aromas and flavors that, when used properly, can be added at any stage during the brewing process. I’ve made well over a dozen batches with FWH exclusively, particularly for milder (less hoppy) styles with nothing but positive results.

Also if you speak to many competitive brewers, you will find that they are using FWH for large portions of their hop schedule – some even brewing great beers using only first wort hops. While this would not be appropriate for a hoppy beer like an IPA, the smooth blending of flavors that occur with FWH can be very desirable for many styles where hops is not the dominant flavor such as ales, continental lagers, what beers, Marzen, and many more.

I urge you to try experimenting with FWH a bit more if you are an all grain brewer. In my opinion it makes better beer, with a smoother flavor and less harshness. Also, having done quite a few beers now using exclusively FWH, I believe it can be used with a wide variety of hops to brew a wide variety of beer styles.

Thanks for joining me on the BeerSmith blog. If you want to get more great articles join my newsletter or subscribe to my podcast.

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Brewing India Pale Ale (IPAs) with Mitch Steele – BeerSmith Podcast #49

Brad Smith and Friends — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 16:21:20 +0000

This week my guest is Mitch Steele from Stone Brewery. Mitch is the author of a new book called IPA: Brewing Techniques, Recipes and the Evolution of India Pale Ale. Mitch tells us how to brew the perfect India Pale Ale.

Download the MP3 File – Right Click and “Save As” to download this mp3 file

Topics in This Week’s Episode (43:26)

Mitch Steele is my guest this week. Mitch is the author of the new book IPA: Brewing Techniques, Recipes and the Evolution of India Pale Ale (Amazon affilliate link). He’s also the brewmaster at Stone Brewing Company and has a degree in Fermentation Science from the University of California at Davis.
Mitch starts by talking about the history of India Pale Ales in the 1700s
We talk about how the style has evolved with the Burton IPA style in the 1800′s and also how it has enjoyed a huge resurgence through microbreweries here in the US over the last 30 years
Mitch talks about the popular IPA substyles and variations
We discuss the grain bill for a modern English IPA
Mitch explains the hop varieties and hop schedules he prefers for brewing an IPA including dry hopping
We talk about brewing water and its role in creating a classic IPA
Mitch recommends some yeasts to use for IPA
We talk about fermenting, mashing and finishing an IPA
We spend a few minutes talking about what is needed to brew popular variations like the Double IPA, Imperial IPA and dark IPA
Mitch talks about his new IPA book and what it includes

Thanks to Mitch Steele for appearing on the show and also to you for listening!

Thoughts on the Podcast?

Leave me a comment below or visit our discussion forum to leave a comment in the podcast section there.

Subscribe to the Podcast

Great News! We’ve been featured in the New and Notable podcasts on iTunes.

If you are not using iTunes, you can subscribe using this feed:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/BeersmithcomHomeBrewingBlog

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the blog and my newsletter (use the links in the sidebar) – to get free weekly articles on home brewing.

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Multiplying Your Beer – Several Beers from One

Brad Smith and Friends — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 19:12:11 +0000

This week we take a look at ways to create more than one beer from a single batch of homebrew. Some time back, I wrote an article on parti-gyle brewing which can make two beers from a single mash. In this article we’re going to take it a step further by looking at ways to split off multiple batches thoughout the brewing process. We also discussed this in BeerSmith Podcast #5.

Parti-Gyle Brewing Reviewed

The start of the discussion is a method called parti-gyle brewing. The basic idea is to create two different beers using the first and second runnings from a single mash. So, for example, you could create a strong scotch ale, and then a second weaker one from a single mash. The first runnings are drawn off into one boiler, where they can be hopped and fermented separately from the second. Because the first runnings are of higher gravity, you typically will get one high gravity beer and one low gravity beer from the same mash.

Also, since you can make separate hop additions and even select different yeasts for the two beers, you can make different beer styles from a single mash as long as their grain bills are similar. The article linked above provides some details on estimating gravity and color for a parti-gyle beer.

Taking Split Batches to the Next Level – The Mash and Boil

If you can make two related, or even unrelated beers by splitting the runnings of a single mash, the obvious extension is to consider splitting the batch at other points in the brewing process. So lets take a look at some possibilities.

First, you can consider actually doing a two stage mash with additional ingredients. In the first stage, a high gravity light colored beer could be made, for instance, and then you could add dark grains and additional water to the mash for a second running that produces a lower gravity dark beer. If you maintain temperatures in the normal mash conversion range of 148-156, you could even convert your second stage grain additions by holding them at that temperature for a period of time before draining the second beer off.

A closely related concept is to draw two separate runnings from a single mash, as you would with parti-gyle, and add a bag of steeped grains during the early part of the boil – much as extract brewers do. This would let you create two completely different styles such as a strong ale and mild brown from a single mash.

Obviously, in addition to varying the grain bill or steeped grains for your two batches you can vary the hops additions, spices and misc ingredients added. So you could create two very different beers by varying the hop schedule – producing for example and IPA and a mild from the same mash.

If you don’t want two beers of different strength, you can split the wort from your mash after you’ve collected the entire volumes. This would give two batches of wort that are identical in strength and composition, but again you could vary steeped grains and hops to make very different beers.

Splitting Post Boil

You don’t need to stop splitting batches at the traditional mash or boil stages either. You can split a batch after the boil and ferment the wort into beer with varying yeast, fermentation schedules, and additions. Consider making a lager and an ale from a single batch! How about a wheat beer and fruit beer out of the same boiler? A spiced holiday ale along with a honey ale. The possibilities are endless.

Even after fermentation is complete you still have options. Many wines and Belgian beers are made by combining young and old finished beverages. Blend two beers together to make something truly unique. Mix an old batch with a younger one. Mix two styles to create your own.

You can also mix finished beers to hide flaws in a single batch. Have a stout that is over the top? Consider smoothing it out by adding something milder to it. A spiced beer with too much spice? Dilute it with a clean neutral ale.

Finally you can alter the character of a finished beer with spices and flavors. Add an oak tea to part of a batch to see what it tastes like. Make a hop tea to create an IPA from your pale ale. Add some bitter orange peel and coriander tea to your American Wheat to make it taste like a wit. Add some raspberry extract to your wheat to make a fruit beer. Again, the possibilities are endless.

While I can’t cover every possible combination, I was hoping to open your mind a bit to the option of splitting your batch at any point in the brewing process to experiment. If you have the time and equipment you can create a variety of micro-batches from a single batch by splitting it at several points in the process. This saves time and money as you are not locked into brewing 5 or 10 gallons of a single beer, and may more quickly zero in on that one beer that tastes really great!

Thanks for visiting the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog – please subscribe to our newsletter for a lot more great articles or join in listening to our online radio show – the BeerSmith podcast.

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Oktoberfest and Marzen Beers with Gordon Strong – BeerSmith Podcast 48

Brad Smith and Friends — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 21:54:12 +0000

This week my guest is Gordon Strong, who is back to talk about the Octoberfest, Marzen and Pumpkin Fall beer styles. Gordon gives us a great overview on brewing some of the most popular autumn beers.

Download the MP3 File – Right Click and “Save As” to download this mp3 file

Topics in This Week’s Episode (48:18)

Gordon Strong is my guest this week. Gordon is a three time Ninkasi award winner (top US homebrewer), Grandmaster Level VII Beer Judge, President of the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP.org), and author of the recent book “Brewing Better Beer” (Amazon Affiliate Link). Gordon joins me this week to talk about how to brew some popular fall beer styles including Marzen, Octoberfest and Pumpkin beers.
Gordon talks a bit about the history of Octoberfest and Marzen beers as well as how they are related to Octoberfest
We discuss how Marzen got its name – from the German word for the month March in which it was brewed
Gordon speaks about the Octoberfest/Marzen style and its chief characteristics
We talk about the ideal grain bill and hops for this style
He explains which mash and fermentation profile he prefers including why he likes decoction for this beer style
We cover the basics of brewing Pumpkin beer, which is another popular beer style
Gordon talks for just a few minutes about his book “Brewing Better Beer”

Thanks to Gordon Strong for appearing on the show and also to you for listening!

Thoughts on the Podcast?

Leave me a comment below or visit our discussion forum to leave a comment in the podcast section there.

Subscribe to the Podcast

Great News! We’ve been featured in the New and Notable podcasts on iTunes.

If you are not using iTunes, you can subscribe using this feed:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/BeersmithcomHomeBrewingBlog

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the blog and my newsletter (use the links in the sidebar) – to get free weekly articles on home brewing.

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SMaSH Brewing – Single Malt and Single Hop Beers

Brad Smith and Friends — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 12:20:42 +0000

SMASH is a relatively new approach to home brewing based on simplicity. Simplified home brewing has some significant rewards. It cuts to the heart of what a single malt and single hop tastes like, and also saves you time and money.

The Cost of Complex Beer

Most home brewers, myself included, when starting to design their own recipes trend towards the extremely complex. The tendency is to add everything but the kitchen sink to make that first recipe as special as possible. My first attempts at recipe design included at least 5 specialty malts, four hop additions, water additions and a bunch of other stuff. Unfortunately the results were less than stellar – absolutely mediocre beer.

Over time I’ve increasingly come to the conclusion that complexity can be expensive – both in terms of cost and also in terms of quality and time. A good example is the old policy of adding hops at 60, 45, 30 and 15 minutes. Recent research indicates that most aromatic hop oils are fragile, and boil off in 10 minutes or less. So a single hop addition, or perhaps one for bitterness and one for aroma would be bettter.

Commercial brewers, particularly craft brewers, avoid complexity at all costs. They simply cannot afford to maintain a large stock of dozens of ingredients – they have to be able to create a variety of beers with a limited set of ingredients. Yet they make award winning beers from a small stock.

SMaSH Brewing

A group of dedicated home brewers have coined the term “SMaSH” to help drive simpler brewing. SMaSH stands for “Single Malt and Single Hops”. The idea is to break brewing down to its basic elements and emphasize the flavor of a single malt and single hop variety.

Obviously SMaSH brewing is not suited to every beer style. The best beer styles for SMaSH are as follows: Pilsner (all kinds), Vienna Lager, Saison, Munich Dunkel, Wild Ales, IPAs and even Barleywine.

SMaSH brewing is also a great educational experience for the brewer. Since it emphasizes the flavors of a single malt and a single hops it can really help to define those flavors for the brewer. It lets you truly understand what one hop and one malt bring to the beer. Also, you can create a single base mash and consider breaking it out into multiple batches using different hops if you have sufficient equipment.

SMaSH Recipe Design

The simplicity of SMaSH makes recipe design really easy. You only have to choose one malt to use, one hop to use, and one yeast and then how you are going to mash and ferment it.

Since malt is so important to a SMaSH beer, you need to pick a flavorful malts. Popular malts for SMaSH include Maris Otter, Pilsner, Pale Malts and Munich Malts.

The hops also provides defining character. The best advice I have is to go to get samples of several hops and smell them, taste them, and pick one that balances the malt you are using. Most experienced SMaSH brewers tend to select medium alpha hops because they let you achieve a good beer balance with a single addition. Low bitterness aroma hops are OK, but if you are making a hoppy brew and use a large amount and boil them for a long time it can lead to grassy flavors. High alpha hops also offer some interesting possibilities for SMaSH, but be certain you like the flavor and aroma of the hops before using it in a SMaSH batch.

Obviously SMaSH can be extended to include more than one malt or hop addition, though it is no longer SMaSH at this point. However, the concepts of simplicity and limited ingredients still apply. For example, most of the BJCP beer styles can be made with only two malts – one base malt and one specialty malt. The key here is to focus on the minimum needed to achieve your objective.

Some SMaSH Recipes

Here are some SMaSH recipes from our BeerSmithRecipes.com sharing site:

SMaSH Recipe Examples

I encourage you to try making a few batches using SMaSH. It is a great way to gain a true understanding of what a single malt or single hop does to the flavor of your beer, and the philosophy of simplicity is a good one to apply to home brewing in general.

Thanks for visiting the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog. For more articles, subscribe to my newsletter or join us on the BeerSmith internet radio show.

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BeerSmith Lite now on iPhone and iPad – as well as Android and Kindle Fire

Brad Smith and Friends — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 12:34:45 +0000

BeerSmith Lite is now available for iPad, iPhone on the Apple App Store. It joins the Android and Kindle Fire versions which are available through their stores.

While you can’t create or edit recipes using the “lite” app, you can find new recipes from BeerSmithRecipes.com, download your own recipes from our cloud service, run a brewday timer, and use our reference and brewing calculators from within the app. You can read more about detailed features here…

We’re also working on a “full featured” app that will allow recipe editing – for release in a few months, as well as the first update to BeerSmith Lite to continue to expand the range of devices supported and address concerns as they arise.

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How to Brew Beer with Midwest’s David Kidd and Nick Stephan – BeerSmith Podcast 47

Brad Smith and Friends — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 21:53:34 +0000

This week my guests are David Kidd and Nick Stephan from Midwest Homebrewing. Beginning home brewing for new beer brewers is the topic of this week’s show, and David and Nick give you some great tips on getting started with Extract and also answer some of the most common questions they get from beginning and intermediate home brewers.

Download the MP3 File – Right Click and “Save As” to download this mp3 file

Topics in This Week’s Episode (41:09)

David Kidd is the President and CEO of Midwest Supplies at MidwestSupplies.com and is an avid home brewer and wine maker. Nick Stephan has been at Midwest since 2009 since graduating from the University of Minnesota, Duluth. He runs Midwest’s social media, customer service and marketing arms including twitter and facebook.
In the intro, I discuss our BeerSmith Lite mobile app which is now available for Android and Kindle Fire. The iPad/iPhone version is coming shortly.
Nick starts with a description of the equipment and rough costs needed to get started home brewing.
David explains the extract brewing process used by beginning homebrewers, and roughly how long it takes to make a beer.
Nick discusses selecting your first home brewing ingredient kit and also what kind of kit might be best to make.
David talks in detail about steeping whole grains
Nick talks about how to go from extract kits to designing your own beer, and some of the resources that can help you do that. He recommends John Palmer’s book “How to Brew” as well as Jamil Zainasheff and John Palmer’s book “Brewing Classic Styles”
David explains what a wort chiller is for, what some of your options are and how to select one
Nick explains what some of the advantages of a large kettle and full boil volume is
David talks about what advantages and disadvantages are for using liquid yeast and yeast starters
Nick talks about temperature control and how important fermentation temperature control is for brewing lagers
David discusses the risk of scorching extract and why late extract additions can help
Nick talks about the use of clarifying agents to reduce haze in the finished beer
David talks about intermediate brewing using partial mash or all grain brewing and which might be the best choice for a beginner who wants to take the next step
David discusses MidwestSupplies and what they offer for the homebrewer

Thanks to David Kidd and Nick Stephan for appearing on the show and also to you for listening!

Thoughts on the Podcast?

Leave me a comment below or visit our discussion forum to leave a comment in the podcast section there.

Subscribe to the Podcast

Great News! We’ve been featured in the New and Notable podcasts on iTunes.

If you are not using iTunes, you can subscribe using this feed:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/BeersmithcomHomeBrewingBlog

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the blog and my newsletter (use the links in the sidebar) – to get free weekly articles on home brewing.

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BeerSmith Lite App for Android Released on Google Play and Kindle

Brad Smith and Friends — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 16:18:04 +0000

I’m happy to announce that my new BeerSmith Lite app on the Android platform is now available on Google Play and Amazon App Store. While you can’t create or edit recipes using the “lite” app, you can find new recipes from BeerSmithRecipes.com, download your own recipes from our cloud service, run a brewday timer, and use our reference and brewing calculators from within the app.

Get it on the Google Play (Android) Store!

Get it on the Amazon (Kindle Fire) App Store!

The iPhone and iPad versions of BeerSmith Lite for the Apple store are still awaiting approval and I have no firm release date as this process can take some time, but we will announce them here and also to my email list as soon as they are released.

Get it on the Google Play (Android) Store!

Get it on the Amazon (Kindle Fire) App Store!

Release date of the iPad/iPhone version will depend upon final approval by the Apple App store.

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John Palmer on Hops and Home Brewing – BeerSmith Podcast 46

Brad Smith and Friends — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 15:33:36 +0000

This week my guest is John Palmer, author of “How to Brew”. John shares his thoughts on brewing with hops including some of the newest understanding regarding how to get the most out of high alpha hops, hop freshness and when to best add hop additions to maximize your flavor and aroma.

Download the MP3 File – Right Click and “Save As” to download this mp3 file

Topics in This Week’s Episode (47:22)

John Palmer the author of How to Brew and also Brewing Classic Styles (Amazon affiliate links) is my guest this week. John joins us to talk about a recent presentation he did on hops including how to best maximize your hop flavor, hop storage and recent thinking on hop use.
John starts with a simple explanation of what alpha and beta acids are in hops and the importance of alpha acids.
He shares some of the history of the science of hops and how that understanding has evolved over the last 100 years.
We talk about what an IBU (International Bitterness Unit) really is and how it is measured. John explains why the IBU number does not tell the whole story as far as hop bitterness and flavor go.
We discuss the isomerization process, and also how it provides the majority of bitterness, but not the entire hop flavor profile. Fragile hop oils often account for additional bitterness.
We discuss the debunking of the classic “60 min, 30 min, 10 min” hop additions and why many brewers are moving towards truly late hop additions and whirlpool/hop backs to get more flavor from their hops
John talks a bit about hop oils and some of the methods to get the most of these – many of which are volatile and boil off easily
Palmer shares his thoughts on high alpha hops and how hops that we once reserved just for bittering are now becoming popular for their unique aromas as well.
John shares some thoughts on hop categorization from his book “Brewing Classic Styles”
We discuss his upcoming book called “Water: A Comprehensive Guide for Brewers” which will be coming out in the Spring of 2013

Thanks to John Palmer for appearing on the show and also to you for listening!

Thoughts on the Podcast?

Leave me a comment below or visit our discussion forum to leave a comment in the podcast section there.

Subscribe to the Podcast

Great News! We’ve been featured in the New and Notable podcasts on iTunes.

If you are not using iTunes, you can subscribe using this feed:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/BeersmithcomHomeBrewingBlog

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the blog and my newsletter (use the links in the sidebar) – to get free weekly articles on home brewing.

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BeerSmith Lite Preview – Home Brewing App for iPhone, iPad and Android

Brad Smith and Friends — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 20:24:50 +0000

Since launching BeerSmithRecipes.com a few months ago I’ve been hard at work developing the mobile versions of BeerSmith. The first of these will be “BeerSmith Lite” which is a I’m going to preview this week. I will be submitting it to both the Apple store and Android store in the coming days, and hopefully (with their approval) have it available for download in late October or early November.

BeerSmith Lite App (and BeerSmith Full)

The “lite” version is intended as a companion application, recipe finder and brewday timer for BeerSmith on the desktop. Unlike the full version (which is still in development and a few months away from release), the lite version does not allow recipe editing.

However, the lite version is still packed with features including the ability to search, browse and download recipes from our BeerSmithRecipes.com sharing site, access via the internet to your cloud folder which lets you take recipes with you on the go, and a detailed brewday timer so you can use it while brewing your beer. It also has a brewing reference, series of standalone tools and unit converters.

iPhone, iPad and Android Support

We’ve been beta testing the lite version for over a month now on a wide variety of Android devices (phones, tablets, even the Kindle fire) as well as iPhones and iPad. It runs well on Android 2.3 or higher and IOS 5.1 or higher. The application layout is identical on all platforms in the initial version, though I may further customize tablet layouts in the future.

Cloud Access to Desktop Recipes

One of the main reasons it took so long to get a mobile version of BeerSmith published, is that I wanted to complete the BeerSmithRecipes.com cloud service first so you would have an easy way to access recipes created on your desktop from your phone or tablet. I’m happy to say that this is precisely the case for with BeerSmith Lite.

If you add a recipe into your cloud folder on your desktop version of BeerSmith, and then refresh the cloud view on your mobile device the recipe is instantly available on your mobile device. From there you can copy it to local (offline) storage on your device or directly access the brewday timer.

Search BeerSmithRecipes.com on the Go

I’ve added a search page so you can search thousands of recipes available now on BeerSmithRecipes.com directly from your phone or tablet. BeerSmithRecipes.com, which I launched in May now has almost 3,000 shared, recipes, over 9,000 users and some 17,000 recipes stored online. Type in “Irish Red” and you can quickly locate the top rated Irish Reds. If you find one you like, you can copy it directly to your local storage or cloud folder for later reference. Its a great way to find new recipes on the go or have a few minutes at work and want to find new brown ale recipes.

The Brewday Timer

A lot of people asked for the ability to take their desktop brewday timer with them. So I started by duplicating that function on the mobile app. You can drop a recipe into your cloud folder, walk out in the garage and open the brewday timer for it on your phone. The timer shows you step by step mash/steep and boil instructions and also plays an alarm as each new step is reached.

The beta testers asked for more – so I also included just about all of the data that appears on an average brewsheet in compact form on the timer page. This makes it easy to compare your expected volumes and gravities against the estimated values, and also provides a reference for later steps like aging and carbonation.

Brewing Reference, Tools and Unit Converters

The lite app also includes a suite of 7 handy brewing tools for common functions like determining alcohol content, converting a refractometer reading or adjusting your mash temperature. I added unit converters for volume, weights, temperature, and OG to perform those functions.

Hydrometer Adjustment
Infusion Step Tool
Alcohol and Attenuation Tool
Mash Adjust Tool
Weight to Volume Tool
Refractometer Tool
Carbonation Tool
Temperature, Gravity, Weight, Volume, Pressure unit converters

Also the new mobile app has a brewing reference with a full beer style guide and also the most common beer ingredients – so you can have that in your pocket while on the go as well!

Beer Style Reference
Hops Reference
Grain/Extracts Reference
Yeast Reference
Misc Reference
Water Reference

Pricing and Release Date

The app will be submitted to both the Apple App store and also the Google Play (Android) store shortly. The price is set at $3.99. Final release dates depend on approval timelines for both stores, which can vary widely from a few days to many weeks. I will be posting additional messages both here on the blog and also to my email subscription list and on the podcast as soon as the app is released.

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Brewing in Brazil with Randy Mosher – BeerSmith Podcast 45

Brad Smith and Friends — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 15:41:16 +0000

This week my guest is Randy Mosher, the author of Radical Brewing. Randy and I discuss his recent trip to Brazil and how breweries there are taking advantage of local cuisine, ingredients and customs to develop their own flavors in beer. In a wide ranging interview, Randy once again opens our minds to a world of interesting brewing possibilities.

Download the MP3 File – Right Click and “Save As” to download this mp3 file

Topics in This Week’s Episode (39:56)

Randy Mosher, the author of Radical Brewing and also Tasting Beer (Amazon affiliate links). He also is a partner in 5 Rabbit Brewery near Midway Airport in Chicago. Randy recently returned from Brazil where he explored a wide variety of beer styles and also finishing up a new book about home brewing.
Randy starts by talking a bit about his recent trip to Brazil and the explosion in microbreweries there.
We discuss the strong growth we’re seeing across South America in homebrewing and also beer brewing
Randy explains how some of the microbreweries in Brazil are starting to experiment with local flavors, culture and cuisine in their beer.
We explore the use of Cane Sugar and Honey in beers
We talk about the use of local Brazilian fruits in beer and which styles bring out fruit flavors the best
Randy talks a bit about local spices that are being used in beer
We discuss in general how to meld exotic flavors and ingredients into your personal beer style
Randy discusses where to find some of these Brazilian ingredients locally
We spend a few minutes discussing Randy’s new book on homebrewing which is coming out early next year

Thanks to Randy Mosher for appearing on the show and also to you for listening!

Thoughts on the Podcast?

Leave me a comment below or visit our discussion forum to leave a comment in the podcast section there.

Subscribe to the Podcast

Great News! We’ve been featured in the New and Notable podcasts on iTunes.

If you are not using iTunes, you can subscribe using this feed:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/BeersmithcomHomeBrewingBlog

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the blog and my newsletter (use the links in the sidebar) – to get free weekly articles on home brewing.

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Brewing German Rye Beer (Roggenbier) at Home

Brad Smith and Friends — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 17:09:24 +0000

Germany rye beer (Roggenbier) is a fairly rare style today that predates the German purity laws, made from a grist where the majority of the grain bill is malted rye. This week we take a look at the history of rye beer, the style itself and how to brew it at home.

The History of German Rye Beer

Brewers throughout Europe made beer with rye for many centuries, and in fact beer was often made with whatever grain was at hand. During the medieval period after a series of bad harvests, many German states decided that rye should be reserved for bread making, and its use in beer declined. In 1516, the German Purity laws were adopted in Bavaria (called Reinheitsgebot), and dictated that only barley would be used for brewing. The purity law was eventually extended to all of Germany, and rye beers declined and disappeared.

Almost 500 years later, in 1988, a handful of Bavarian brewers began brewing rye beer again. The modern version is dark, with a formulation similar to Dunkelweizen, but using rye as about half of the typical grain bill. It is not clear how close modern rye beer is to the historic version.

The Rye Beer Style

Roggenbier (literally rye beer) is a specialty ale produced with 50-60% rye malt. Rye is a somewhat dry beer that uses the same type of yeast as hefeweizen resulting in a light, dry, spicy taste.

Many American microbreweries produce wide variations of rye beer. Some are made using traditional American yeast and hops resulting in a cleaner finish and hoppier flavor. A popular US variant called “Rye-P-A” resembles an India Pale Ale (IPA) in flavor – with a very strong hop presence. Rye porters, saison, ales, and wheat variations are also popular.

Other variants include Sahti, which is made from a combination of rye, juniper berries and wild yeast, Kvass which is a low alcohol beer made from rye bread, and Rauchroggen which is made with rye dried over an open flame for a smoked finish.

German rye beer has a light copper-orange to dark red copper color (14-19 SRM), white head and is often cloudy as it can be served “with yeast” much like hefeweizen. The Bavarian version is essentially a dunkelweizen (dark wheat) made with rye instead of wheat with greater body and light on finishing hops.

The flavor grainy with a strong spicy flavor like that of rye or pumpernickel bread. The style is made with medium to low bitterness, and a moderate weizen yeast character (clove-banana hints). The finish is also dry and grainy with a slight bitterness from the rye itself. It has no diaceytl (fruity flavors), though citrus is sometimes present from the yeast. Ryes are served highly carbonated.

The beer has moderate alcohol content (4.5-6%) with an original gravity of 1.046-1.056, and 10-20 IBUs of bitterness which provides a fairly malty/rye finish due to the low bitterness ratio.

Brewing a Rye Beer

German rye beers are made with 50-60% rye, with the remainder of the malt bill consisting of pale malt, wheat malt or Munich malt. Crystal malts are often used in small quantities to add body and color. Occasionally debittered dark malts are used to darken the color.

Rye is a huskless grain, which makes it difficult to mash. Using 50% or more in a mash results in a sticky, gummy mash that is prone to stuck sparge where the sparge filter and grain bed get blocked. Therefore, many home brewers also add rice hulls (which add no flavor) to the mash to help reduce the chance of a stuck sparge. Rye also has one of the strongest flavors of all cereals, so it must be balanced carefully when designing the beer.

Decoction mashes are traditionally done with rye beers, as with many other Bavarian styles. However, it is not required. A single step infusion mash is sufficient. If you want to get the “decoction” malty sweetness in your beer, consider adding a small amount of Melanoidin malt instead – as it simulates the flavor.

Continental hops are traditionally used with rye beers. Popular varieties include Hallertauer, Saaz, Tettnang, and other noble and semi-noble hops. Hop levels are low, so finishing and dry hops are not often used.

Bavarian Weizen or Hefeweizen yeasts are used in this style to produce a distinctive clove and banana flavor. The beer is often fermented at a slightly low fermentation temperature to help emphasize the clove flavor and also prevent the formation of esters (fruity flavor). The finished beer is served highly carbonated and chilled, and may be served either with yeast like a Hefeweizen or without like a traditional Weizen.

Rye Beer Recipes

Our new recipe site at BeerSmithRecipes.com has a ton of rye recipes listed now – and you can refine the search here to find the top rated ryes and also search by recipe type:

Rye Beer Recipes on BeerSmithRecipes.com

Thank you for joining me this week on the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog. I hope you enjoyed this week’s article and will consider subscribing to my weekly newsletter to get more articles, or listening to my podcast on iTunes.

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American Homebrewers Association with Gary Glass – BeerSmith Podcast 44

Brad Smith and Friends — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 14:55:50 +0000

This week my guest is Gary Glass, the Director of the American Homebrewers Association (AHA). Gary provides us with an overview of the AHA, how it got started and some of the many services and events the AHA sponsors and provides to the homebrewing community.

Download the MP3 File – Right Click and “Save As” to download this mp3 file

Topics in This Week’s Episode (40:40)

Gary Glass, the Director of the American Homebrewers Association (AHA) is my guest this week. Gary runs the 30,000+ member AHA, which provides a variety of services and events for its members.
Gary tells is a bit about the AHA and provides an overview of what it does for its members.
We talk about the origins of the AHA, which was started by Charlie Papazian in 1978, about the same time that home brewing became legal again in most of the US.
Gary provides an overview of the AHA structure and governing board as well as permanent staff.
We discuss the National Homebrewers Conference (NHC), the premier national event here in the US. Next year’s NHC will be held in Philadelphia in late June, and sign up starts in early February.
Gary tells us about the national homebrew competition and awards which are held as part of the NHC.
We discuss the state of the homebrewing industry which has been growing at an amazing 15-20% per year for the last few years
Gary tells us about his parent organization – the Brewers Association which is focused on the craft beer industry and their major event which is the Great American Beer Festival.
We discuss some of the ongoing efforts the AHA is leading in legislation including trying to get homebrewing legalized in the only two states where it remains illegal (Alabama and Mississippi).
We finish with a summary of why you should think seriously about becoming a member of the AHA.

Thanks to Gary Glass for appearing on the show and also to you for listening!

Thoughts on the Podcast?

Leave me a comment below or visit our discussion forum to leave a comment in the podcast section there.

Subscribe to the Podcast

Great News! We’ve been featured in the New and Notable podcasts on iTunes.

If you are not using iTunes, you can subscribe using this feed:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/BeersmithcomHomeBrewingBlog

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the blog and my newsletter (use the links in the sidebar) – to get free weekly articles on home brewing.

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