Home brewing can be an addictive past time. The process of beer making is fascinating and experimenting with different recipes in an effort to find the “perfect brew” is very enjoyable. Of course, home brewing can also be frustration at times, particularly if a brew goes bad due to incorrect measurements, poor ingredients, or temperature … Read more
Have you heard about using olive oil in beer fermentation instead of oxygen? As homebrewers, we are always looking for ways to improve our beer. If something as simple as adding a minute amount of olive oil to the starter or wort prior to fermentation can increase the ester production and flavor stability, then … Read more
Some yeast fermentation terminology will be given here so that you will understand what you are reading in the homebrewing texts, what’s going on in your carboy or bucket, and so you can communicate these terms concisely. Attenuation: Beer Attenuation is usually represented as a percentage of the total wort that the yeast convert into alcohol and … Read more
Many homebrewers like fermenting in a keg. With the price of glass carboys going up, not to mention the danger involved in transporting the heavy glass containers around from place to place, it makes sense to buy another corny keg instead. There are many advantages but also some problems. One problem is that many primary … Read more
Beer attenuation is one of those seemingly complicated topics thrown around on the forums. It can get confusing for even advanced brewers who don’t use the terms often. Before we get into the calculations, I believe a few definitions of the terms are in order. Extract refers to the total solids contained in a wort (or … Read more
Fermentation temperature control is the single most important thing you can do that will make the most dramatic improvements in your beer. And it can be a big problem, especially when brewing in the Deep South. Winter brewing is great but summer brewing can be brutal in the 100°+ days. Without temperature control, it’s simply … Read more
Controlling Beer Fermentation and Fermentability Beer Fermentation is one of the magical processes occurring in your home brewery. The process is not very well understood by beginning homebrewers, so it is usually where a lot of mistakes occur. Most will just pitch the yeast that came with the kit and hope for the best. It … Read more
Secondary Fermentation, is it Worth the Effort? Do I transfer my green beer for a secondary fermentation or not? Apparently there is a controversy among homebrewers regarding this question. I’ve never worried too much about it to tell you the truth. Part of the controversy is more about semantics than actual mechanics. The way I … Read more