It wasn’t that long ago that if you had offered homebrewers and craft beer drinkers a low-impact, low-alcohol beer with approachable flavor, they would have scoffed. Real beer was meant to be big, bold, adventurous, and preferably have a sizable ABV (Alcohol by Volume).
Oh, how times have...
If there is one thing homebrewing enthusiasts have learned during the decade-long explosion of craft beer we’ve experienced, it’s that the Reinheitsgebot, aka the historic German Beer Purity law, is a respectable piece of the past, but that beer can be so much more than water, malt, hops, and...
Before long, any homebrewer with a little yard space is going to start eyeing up the corners of his or her yard and thinking about where to plant some hops. We encourage that urge! As we’ve touched on before, gardening for your homebrew is a great extension of the hobby, and even with a plant as...
By now you know the story of most startup breweries. Someone with a passion for homebrewing gets a glimmer in their eye and starts daydreaming about doing it for a living. They take the plunge and go professional, but the road towards opening a brewery ends up being longer and rockier than...
White Labs needs no introduction to homebrewers. As one of the largest providers of brewing yeast in the United States, all of us at one time or another have used their products. Founded way back in 1995 by President and CEO Chris White, their mission has been simple to sum up, though perhaps...
Succeeding in a big beer city like Philadelphia can’t be easy. This is a town that sits alongside Portland, San Diego, and Asheville as one of the great beer Meccas in the United States, after all. While that means it’s packed with beer lovers, it also means there is a lot of competition. How do...
Few things get a beer geek ready to talk your ear off than name-dropping a sour beer or two. Sour beers are more of a distinct continent on Planet Beer than a style as there are many styles of sour and/or wild ales. It’s a world countless homebrewers want to dive into, but also one they may...
Rules are made to be broken. Admittedly, I may be a little biased in that regard. I grew up in a household that leaned towards punk rock rather than Pat Boone, my teachers wondered when I was finally going to straighten out (answer:32), and speed limits were more suggestions than limits.
That...
Kits are a staple of the homebrewing scene. Put together by your local homebrew shop or the big online retailers, they are all-in-one boxes that give you everything you need to create beers that are time-tested and brewer-approved. Sometimes they are clones of popular craft brews, other times...
There are few things in the homebrew world as enjoyable as growing your own hops. Being able to craft a killer pale ale or IPA with hops you grew yourself is not only fun; it’s one of brewing’s most enjoyable bragging points (and let’s be honest, we all like a small brag now and then)...
For most homebrewers, the process begins and ends in their brewing area, and whatever goes into their beer comes from their friendly neighborhood homebrew supply shop or their favorite online retailer.
While there is nothing wrong with that-- it’s a system that serves countless happy homebrewers...