This is an instructional video on how to make tasty beer using the Refinery, Sharper Image, or any other branded all-grain, one gallon, beer kits. This video takes you from inventorying the kit to fermentation. Part two will cover fermentation through bottling and tasting. Congratulations on your beer kit! Let’s go make some beer!
barley
This week I take a look at some of the key process factors when lautering and sparging your all grain beer. Last week in part one, I discussed equipment design and how a filter bed forms around grain husks and creates channels that the wort flows through. I explained why a poorly designed lauter tun […] 
This week I take a closer look at the mashing process and what is actually going on when we mash malted barley and then sparge it to produce wort during the brewing process. The Purpose of Mashing Mashing is, in its most simple form, a process that breaks longer carbohydrate molecule chains into simpler sugars […] 
Brightstar‘s brewer Steve Brockman delves into the alternatives to barley and how best to use them.
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Randy Mosher joins me this week to discuss the wide variety of processes and flavors developed while kilning and roasting malt. This includes the Maillard reaction, carmelization and Pyrolisis. Subscribe on iTunes to Audio version or Video version or Spotify or Google Play Download the MP3 File– Right Click and Save As to download this […] Welcome to Home Brewer Pro! Your one-stop-shop homebrewing course. This video is the third of the free introductory series. I’ll tell you what you need to know to get started making great craft beer at home and this lesson I’m going to walk you through an entire brew day, using a 1 Gallon starter kit.
Our batch analysis/QC at Sapwood Cellars is pretty basic. Mostly it's me finding time each weekend to taste a recent release (ideally side-by-side a comparable example from another brewery). I write up tasting notes, include feedback I've gotten from other people, and recipe/process tweaks for next batch.
Part of my routine is to scroll through Untappd to see if I can spot any common threads to the compliments or complaints... but I don't put a huge amount of stock in the average score (see this post). Blind rating by a skilled tasting panel is the gold standard... but having a large/diverse group of beer drinkers give you feedback has value as well! With four years of Untappd scores for our IPAs at my disposal, I thought it would be interesting to see which hops "the beer drinking public" preferred in Sapwood Cellars IPAs and DIPAs!
All IPAs and DIPAs
Pairing Hops
Part of my routine is to scroll through Untappd to see if I can spot any common threads to the compliments or complaints... but I don't put a huge amount of stock in the average score (see this post). Blind rating by a skilled tasting panel is the gold standard... but having a large/diverse group of beer drinkers give you feedback has value as well! With four years of Untappd scores for our IPAs at my disposal, I thought it would be interesting to see which hops "the beer drinking public" preferred in Sapwood Cellars IPAs and DIPAs!
Cheater Hops IPAs
We started this series of IPAs when we opened to showcase our favorite hop varieties. We recently released #22 (Citra-Motueka). All of the batches were 6.5-7.5% ABV, with similar malt bills (American pale barley, chit, wheat, and oats), fermented with an English-leaning yeast, and dry-hopped post-crash at 3-4 lbs/bbl. The table below is the average Untappd score of all batches dry hopped with the variety listed.
The table below include all 65 "big batch" IPAs and DIPAs we've released that don't contain adjuncts (although I did include Phantasm beers). These are diverse in terms of recipe construction, alcohol strength, and dry hopping rate. As a result, the scores are a bit more prone to bias compared to the Cheater Hops data set.
For some batches you'd expect to see a high rating due to pairing two great hops together (e.g., Nelson/Galaxy or Mosaic/Citra). Both varieties score well across all our beers, so no surprise combing them results in a well-rated IPA. More interesting is sorting by the average standard deviation for the hops included. This shows which combinations rated higher than expected given the average scores for those hops across all beers. Snip Snap (Citra/Galaxy), Cheater Hops #22 (Citra/Motueka), Shard Blade (Mosaic/Galaxy), Cheater Hops #13 (Mosaic/Simcoe), and The Dragon (Nelson Sauvin/Mosaic/Hallertau Blanc) were all in the top-10 "overachievers." These hop blends follow different approaches either "leaning into" a particular flavor (fruity, or winey) or balancing fruity with a danker variety.
Rounding out the top-10 are two all-Simcoe (Cheater Hops #12 and Drenched in Green), two all-Mosaic (Fundle Bundle and TDH Trial #1), and an all-Nelson beer (3S4MP). Certainly a sign that these hops can shine alone compared to Citra and Motueka which are highly rated in blends, but haven't exceled in single-hop beers (despite our best efforts). Of course you need a great lot of hops for this to work; the bottom-10 also includes single-hop beers featuring: Simcoe (Cheater Hops #9), Nelson Sauvin (Cheater Hops #11), and Mosaic (Fumble Bumble)!
Two beers with Galaxy and Nelson (Cheater X and X2) each had a standard deviation close to 0. They still rate well, but no better or worse than expected across all beers with Nelson or Galaxy.
Surprisingly three of the bottom four included three varieties Cheater Hops #7 (Simcoe, Citra, Mosaic) Cheater Hops #6 (Motueka, Mosaic, Simcoe) False Peak (Idaho 7, Sultana, Citra). Blending hops can create a generic "hoppiness." These beers may have been missing a distinct "wow" aroma for people to grab onto.
Take Aways
The high/low scores for different batches brewed with the same single hop variety really drives home how unreliable this data likely is. Without multiple batches hopped with the same hop combination, it is impossible to say with certainty if a beer scored well because of aromatic synergy or a delicious lot of hops. Luckily several of the top-rated combinations are beers we have brewed multiple times.
The data does suggest to me that using one or two varieties for the dry hop is the best bet for making the most appealing IPA unless you have something very specific in mind. Often when breweries use a large number of hop varieties in a beer it is to promote consistency (batch-to-batch and year-to-year). It would be interesting to expand the data set to include beers from other breweries. That would produce data that is less specific to our particular brewing approach, hop sourcing, and customers' palates.
Help Provide Data
Dr Axel Goehler, the CEO of Bestmalz joins me this week to discuss malts and Craft brewing. Subscribe on iTunes to Audio version or Video version or Spotify or Google Play Download the MP3 File– Right Click and Save As to download this mp3 file. Your browser does not support the audio element. Topics in […] 
This week I take a close look at malts, the four major malt groups and how malts are best used in beer brewing. This is a summary article which incorporates links to more detailed articles on each malt group. The Four Major Malt Groups All of the barley malts used in brewing can be effectively […] From brewery hotels to campgrounds, quirky Airbnbs to luxurious resorts, this is your guide to planning a craft beer weekend getaway.
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This week I take a close look at the roast malt group, and explain when and why you would want to use these malts in your beer. The Roast Malt Group The roast malt group includes pale chocolate, chocolate malt, carafa I, II and III, black patent malt, red malt and stout roast. These are […] 
This week I describe base malts and their use in beer brewing. The Base Malt Group Base malts are the most widely used in beer brewing as they make up the vast majority of any malt bill. Many beer styles like IPA were traditionally made with only base malts, and you can brew a large […] 
This week I take a look at the kilned malt group, and explain when and why you would want to use kilned malts in your beer brewing recipes. The Kilned Malt Group As I explained in my earlier article on malting and malt groups, kilned malts are made using the same basic malting process as […] Here’s a look at how six Northern California breweries are crafting conscious, sustainable beers, and why they do it.
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This week I look at the malting process, how we commonly group malts and the impacts for beer brewing. The Malting Process The malting process starts with raw barley grain, harvested from the field. The grain is dry when brought into the malt house, but the first step is to immerse the grain into water […] 
This week I cover some of the changes you need to make to brew a high gravity beer using BeerSmith software. High gravity beers (generally over 1.060 or so) do require some minor changes to your recipe and equipment profile as well as some process changes for brewing. High Gravity Brewing Considerations I’ve written a […] 
This week I take a look at what type of water is best for extract beer brewers. I make the case that distilled or RO water may be the best choice for extract brewing. Water Chemistry for Extract Brewers Advanced all grain brewers go through a lot of effort to get their water profiles right […] The roots of American craft beer extend throughout the nation, but the bines of the movement are clearly embedded in the Pacific Northwest.
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Melissa Corbin explores St. Patrick's Day traditions and two Irish-American brewers of note.
The post Donning, Downing, and Drowning the Shamrock: A Sordid Tale of Green Beer appeared first on CraftBeer.com.
Dr Charlie Bamforth joins me this week to discuss the use of non-barley adjuncts in beer brewing. Subscribe on iTunes to Audio version or Video version or Spotify or Google Play Download the MP3 File– Right Click and Save As to download this mp3 file. Your browser does not support the audio element. Topics in […] In this video I show how to mash grain the first step in brewing your own beer as a all grain brewer
Taking a walking tour is one of the best ways to get to know a city without the trappings of more touristy activities. You’re introduced to the region and its context by one of its very own, if even simply for social reasons.
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Some of the most frequent questions I receive on BeerSmith software are about how to properly set up and dial in your equipment profile. This is an important first step as the equipment you are using drives all of the critical recipe estimates like color, bitterness and original gravity. I’ve composed many articles and videos […] While perennial award winners BentSpoke, Lion and Brick Lane all won medals for their beers.
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Headed south to the Gulf Coast? Interstate 65 offers up several great craft beer cities to quench your thirst as you stop for the night.
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This week I take a look at malt enzymes vs malt color and how enzymes affect conversion of the malt during the beer brewing process. Malt Enzymes and Mashing In all grain brewing, enzymes are very important during the mash as they are needed to convert the longer starch chains in the malt into shorter […] Yatala brewery to buy up to 40,000 tonnes of barley direct from NSW farmers a year.
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Brent Manning joins me this week from Riverbend Malt to discuss his experience with Craft Malting in North Carolina for the last 10 years. Subscribe on iTunes to Audio version or Video version or Spotify or Google Play Download the MP3 File– Right Click and Save As to download this mp3 file. Your browser does […] 
This week I take a look at the differences between alpha and beta amylase which act during the mash to convert longer starch chains to simple sugars in beer. Alpha vs Beta Amylase Enzymes are naturally produced in malted barley during the malting process. Chief among these are alpha amylase and beta amylase. They are […]