I’ve long been frustrated with the lack of technology and equipment available for homebrewers who want to dry hop in the carboy or keg.   The process of dry hopping is too uncontrolled for my liking. The thing I like most about commercial breweries is they operate nearly completely closed systems.  Unlike commercial breweries, those brewers at home who don’t ferment ... Read More »

A strong, bright, and deep red hue gives this beer a beautiful appearance.  The journey to the glass though, is far from pretty.  This Flanders Red recipe was inspired by my desire to branch out into more challenging styles.  I also wanted to start brewing styles that I won’t be under pressure to drink immediately.  It’s been getting tiresome having ... Read More »

A Bolivian brewer has come up with an ingenious solution for quenching thirst and dealing with altitude sickness: coca beer, based on the same plant used to make cocaine.  Now, before you go adding a 3rd back of white powder to your water adjustments, remember that coca is the plant, not the cocaine, which requires a complex chemical processes to ... Read More »

I sat faced with the dreaded need-one-freaking-thing-to-brew-this-beer trip to the local homebrew shop today.  I was about 1/2 a pound of DME short of making the yeast starter to prepare my Wyeast 1332 Northwest Ale to pitch into my Fort George Tender Loving Empire NWPA Clone Recipe.  While I shouldn’t complain, I used to live in rural Georgia and it ... Read More »

The fermentation chamber has been cleared of high-temp-needy Saisons and it’s time to brew another Heady Topper clone.  What I brewed today, Heady Topper 4.0, is fairly similar to Heady Topper 3.0 with just a few changes.  Updates and results at bottom of post. Links to previous attempts for reference: Heady Topper Clone 3.0 Heady Topper Clone 2.1 Heady Topper ... Read More »

As National Homebrew Day approaches so does my Spring Inventory Day.  A little back story…. When I was 16 I got my first job working the stock room at a local retailer.  I learned the inventory management system and was  eventually put in charge of keeping control over stock levels.  It was difficult even in a stringently managed system to ... Read More »

Meridian hops are a fairly new breed of hop from Oregon.  Once thought to be the sister of the Willamette, they were originally called Columbia hops. In 2012, the farmers at Indie Hops decided to start re-growing Columbia hops.  They started processing “Columbia” and thought something was off.  The aromas and oils were too dissimilar to Willamette, bringing up the ... Read More »

Something about Fort George’s Tender Loving Empire NWPA sings to me.  It could be the tangerine sunset appearance, or the crisp bitterness, or possibly the rye in the grist. Perhaps it’s the use of Meridian hops that intrigues me.   Whatever it is, the minute I finished the glass I was on the internet looking for a clone recipe.  There were ... Read More »

Since going to the Portland’s first farmhouse and wild ale festival last month, I’ve been itching to get to work with saisons and Brett.  I was inspired to brew a fairly basic saison and add dregs from Boulevard’s Saison Brett to add some complexity. I had the Saison Brett or Logsdon’s Seizon Bretta dregs to choose from, but went with ... Read More »

This recipe took 1st place at the 2013 Heart of Cascadia Homebrew Competition.  Proud to bring this award to the heart of Cascadia, Portland, Oregon.  This is one of my favorite styles and I think it deserves it’s own classification.  What I set out for in this brew was a borderline double IPA that was black in color, had just ... Read More »