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I’ve often heard champagne yeast called for as a solution for stuck fermentations. However, there are plenty of reasons not to and some reasons why using champagne yeast might actually make you unable to fix the problem. I also did a few trials with ale, lager, and champagne yeast to put some...

New ingredients, new hops thrown at an old style, or some new pastry tossed into the fermentor is one way to do something new or different. This article proposes something a bit different in how you can push yourself to be creative when it comes to designing recipes...

Five other brewers and I have spent this last year taking turns making small changes to a stout recipe and then passing it along to the next brewer to make the one change they thought would most improve the beer. Here’s where we’re at so far. https://brewublog.wordpress.com/stout/

Some surveys lately have collected some good info about homebrewing and some of the things we do/who we are (the Brülosophy survey and the AHA survey come to mind). I have some questions that I think should be answered and that I’ll present back once analyzed. Some of these questions are dealing...

Brewers often use the weight of malt and hops when writing recipes, but this sometimes makes for confusion due to varying brewhouse efficiencies, batch sizes, and even units of measurement. I propose a different way to write recipes so that they may be universally understood and utilized...

I got a new ball lock keg as a gift the other day, and when I took it apart today, I found that the dip tube was firmly stuck in the liquid out post. Ive tried pulling on it with quite a bit of force and can’t get it out. It’s as if it got pushed in too far somehow and the o-ring is preventing...

This post takes a look at iteration 8 of this red IPA recipe. A change of some hops and a return to consistency brings this recipe one step closer to where it needs to be. https://brewublog.wordpress.com/2017/10/24/iteration-8/

This post is a bit different. In it, I present an idea on moving forward after the red IPA part of this project is over (which isn’t yet, but is approaching). I’m looking for feedback on this idea, and I hope you’ll take the short, 5-question survey linked in the post...

Comparing Iterations 4 & 7 side by side https://brewublog.wordpress.com/2017/09/26/tasting-iterations-4-7/

This post covers the seventh version of this red IPA recipe. I've only brewed adjusted versions of this recipe so far this year, and I'm not stopping yet! https://brewublog.wordpress.com/2017/09/12/iteration-7/

Since finding the malt profile I wanted in Iteration 5, this is the first time I've started toying around with hop additions for this red IPA. I also drop my first hydrometer and get my second stuck mash--but at least my mash efficiency was great...

In this post, I come to a conclusion based on meticulous note-taking, take a look at the changes I made for this iteration, and address what's in store next. https://brewublog.wordpress.com/2017/06/13/iteration-5/

In this post, I regroup after Iteration 3's misstep with the malt bill, deal with a repeated mistake, and learn something new about using C120. https://brewublog.wordpress.com/2017/05/08/iteration-4/

Side by side comparisons are showing me a lot about my brewing process. They're also showing me that they're exponentially more difficult on an empty stomach. In this post, I compare versions 2 & 3 of this red IPA recipe, fight my preconceived notions, and do a bit of blending with...

I gave myself another excuse to drink two beers at once and did a second set of side by side tastings. In this post, I compare the first and third recipe of this red IPA. I also address failure, perspective, and how blending might not land exactly you in the middle ground between two flavors...

This post covers Iteration 3 of my continued attempts to improve upon my recipe, tasting notes, and what I'll do differently next time. https://brewublog.wordpress.com/2017/04/11/iteration-3/

This is the first side by side tasting of this project, comparing Iterations 1 & 2, addressing some concerns about this method, and observing something unexpected about the effect of malt choice. https://brewublog.wordpress.com/2017/03/29/tasting-iterations-1-2/

For those who haven't been following along, I am brewing different versions of the same recipe all year in an attempt to get it exactly where I want it, and this is the only beer I'm brewing all year. In this post, I walk through my thought process of answering the questions I was left with from...

What's something you wish your recipe software/website of choice did that it currently doesn't do? What's it missing? Bonus question: what software do you use and why?

While Iteration 2 is still in the fermenter, I've been drinking some other red IPAs and trying to learn from them. While most of this project is about being reactive to the decisions that I've made in my recipe, this week's post is about trying to learn from what other people have done...