Recent Posts
May/June 2024 Zymurgy Magazine Now Available
The May/June 2024 Zymurgy magazine is now available! Check out featured stories on brewing pioneers, craft and home brewing in Mexico, homebrew club community building, beer hiking in Bavaria, and ciders of France.
The post May/June 2024 Zymurgy Magazine Now Available appeared first on American Homebrewers Association.
American Homebrewers Association… Read the rest “May/June 2024 Zymurgy Magazine Now Available”
Freely Given: Water as a Hospitality Tool in Craft Beer Spaces
“Always offer at least a glass of water to your guests.” As a child of immigrants, I understood this simple maxim to be a baseline for good hosting. I learned secondhand that India was a place where unexpected visitors and open-door policies are the norm. I couldn’t have anticipated how these ways of moving through the world would translate within my professional life in the craft beer industry.
I cut my teeth bartending in Seattle’s Ballard Brewery District, where converted warehouses and a lingering spirit of maritime culture color the neighborhood with an approachable brand of grittiness.… Read the rest “Freely Given: Water as a Hospitality Tool in Craft Beer Spaces”
The Induction IPA
Use RO water and adjust with CaSO4, CaCl, MgSO4, and acidulated malt. Mash at 148°F (64°C) for 60 min using HERMS through HLT. Mash out at 170°F (77°C). Use counterflow wort chiller, transfer to fermenter, and pitch yeast at 66°F (19°C). Ferment at at 68°F (20°C) for 10 days before diacetyl rest at 71°F (22°C) until day 14. Dry hop at end of primary fermentation 3 days prior to cold crashing. Remove trub on day 14 and cold crash to 38°F (3°C) over 3 days. Allow to clear for 6 days before transferring to kegs.… Read the rest “The Induction IPA”
Cass River Homebrew Club Celebrates 35 Years
By Julia Herz, American Homebrewers Association Executive Director
Cass River Homebrew Club has been a beacon of homebrewing excellence for 35 years.
Founded in 1988 in Frankenmuth, Michigan, by the brewers of the Cass River Brewing Company, Fred Sheer and Fred Schumacher, and homebrewers Bill Eisenhauer, Jeff Hervert, and Scott Wenzel.
The club currently boasts approximately 40 active members and meets at Tri-City Brewing Company in Bay City, MI.
The club holds a significant place in the history of homebrewing. They are reported to be the second-oldest club in the State of Michigan and one of the longest-standing clubs in the U.S.… Read the rest “Cass River Homebrew Club Celebrates 35 Years”
How Lager Hats Became a Signifier of Beer Cool
I was drinking at a Brooklyn bar last spring when I first saw the navy blue hat stitched with “LAGER LAGER LAGER LAGER” in a gold sans-serif font. “That brewery sells more hats than it does beer,” a knowledgeable friend told me as he pointed at a scruffy man wearing it. As I would continue to see the hat’s seeming ubiquity at various breweries, beer bars, beer festivals, and the like as I traveled the globe, it became easy to believe that was the case.
“When we came up with the branding, we wanted to make lager very cool.… Read the rest “How Lager Hats Became a Signifier of Beer Cool”
Big Brew 2024 Official Homebrew Recipes
Thank you to the Big Brew 2024 sponsors, Lallemand Brewing and Rahr Malting Co.
On May 4, homebrewers around the world will get together to celebrate Big Brew 2024. Big Brew is an annual celebration on the first Saturday of May that commemorates National Homebrew Day. It encourages beer enthusiasts and homebrewers of all walks of life to get together and make a batch (or two or three) of beer.
This year’s Big Brew falls on May the Fourth, and we are excited to share five official Big Brew 2024 homebrew recipes inspired by Star Wars.… Read the rest “Big Brew 2024 Official Homebrew Recipes”
A Day in Vienna (Vienna Lager)
Start with RO water. Mash at 152°F (67° C) for 60 min. Boil 60 min. Ferment in primary at 50°F (10°C) for 3 days, then at 60°F (16°C) for 18 days. Cold crash for 2 days.
The post A Day in Vienna (Vienna Lager) appeared first on American Homebrewers Association.
American Homebrewers Association… Read the rest “A Day in Vienna (Vienna Lager)”
Foraging For Beer’s Wildest Ingredients
American brewers are known for experimenting with all kinds of wild ingredients, from breakfast cereals to tropical fruit, but “wild” usually isn’t meant to be taken literally. Some brewers, however, are looking to the actual wild places around their breweries for their next unusual ingredient, often finding unexpected flavors growing right outside their doors, from mushrooms to pine tips. While foraging for brewing ingredients is nothing new, many breweries are using this ancient brewing tradition to create unique and surprising modern beers.
Only Scratching the Surface
Perhaps the best-known example of this practice is Scratch Brewing, a small brewery nestled into the wooded hills near Ava, Illinois.… Read the rest “Foraging For Beer’s Wildest Ingredients”