This week I take a look at yeast blends and how you can blend yeast to achieve a unique flavor
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This week I take a look at fermentation considerations when brewing a very high gravity beer such as an Imperial Stout or Barley Wine. Last week in Part 1, I covered several methods for achieving a very high starting gravity. Selecting Your Yeast Now that you have a high gravity wort, you need to consider […] 
This week I look at methods to reduce oxygen in your finished beer. Oxygen is known to negatively impact beer flavor and long term stability. While oxygen is widely used at the beginning of fermentation to aid in yeast growth, the yeast effectively scrubs virtually all of the oxygen out of the beer during fermentation. […] 
This week in part 4, I cover common beer infections including wild yeast and bacteria as well as some equipment and material concerns related to cleaning and sanitation. In Part 1 I provided an introduction to cleaning and sanitation and explained why it is a two step process. Part 2 covered cleaners for home brewing […] 
This week I take a look at sanitizers to use for beer brewing. In part 1 I presented an introduction to cleaning and sanitation and the importance of separately cleaning and sanitizing. Part 2 featured the most common cleaners used for beer brewing and their strengths and weaknesses. Sanitizing Sanitizing is the process of reducing […] 
This week I take a look at the recent trend towards lagers in Craft Brewing. While they certainly won’t replace IPAs in the US Craft Beer market, we’re seeing more finely crafted lagers entering the market in the past few years. Craft Lagers on the Rise IPAs continue to absolutely dominate the Craft Beer market, […] 
This week I present a design case study for developing a Marzen beer recipe. Along the way I describe my thought processes as I work through creating and brewing a new recipe. Designing a Marzen Beer Before I start a new beer, I sit down and describe what I’m trying to accomplish. This beer was […] 
This week I take a look at how to perfect a single beer recipe, and why this is important for brewers. When I first started brewing back in 1987, I wanted to brew everything. The Craft Beer revolution had not happened yet, so there were few examples of most styles, and we often learned about […] 
This week I take a look at the concept of mixed yeast fermentation – using more than one strain of yeast to brew your beer as well as some of the strengths and pitfalls. Mixed Yeast Fermentation History Thanks to modern science, most of us use a single strain of yeast when we brew our […] 
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 the reason why most beer brewers have moved to a single boil addition instead of having short duration flavor and aroma hop additions in the boil. The History of Short Duration Boil Additions When I started brewing back in 1987 it was very common to use short duration, […] 
This week I take a look at how to incorporate separately steeped dark grains with BeerSmith, a technique often used to minimize burnt, harsh roast grain flavors in the finished beer. Steeping/Sparging vs Mashing Dark Grains As I covered in this original article on the topic, all grain brewers can be well served by separately […] 
This week I take a look at the key components of a brewing yeast data sheet and how to apply them when brewing beer. Yeast Data Sheets With the explosion of information available to home brewers, many yeast labs are now providing detailed data on the performance of their yeast strains. Virtually all yeast labs […]