Brew Dudes Homebrewing Blog

Lager Brewing Thoughts

On December 1, 2009

I was thinking for my first lager that I would “go back to extract” just so I could focus all my energies on the fermentation temperature control. I guess with a few all grain batches under my belt I could do the whole process, but I sorta want to know if lagering without a fridge is really doable and want to take the issues of messing up the beer on brew day out of the equation.

What do you think? Am I just being overly cautious? Should I just go for it?

The grain bill for the Maibock is going to be ultra simple – just Pilsner and Munich malts…

Probably just one hop addition with 60 minutes to go in the boil.

I don’t know. I could simplify it even more and just focus on fermentation.

Beer Brewing Communities

By John Krochune

On November 27, 2009

In General

Fermentation Friday again and this time the topic comes from the guys at Just Another Booze Blog. This month, we are discussing our homebrew community.

First and foremost, our homebrew community is our family and friends. I think they are the ones that we brew for. They are the ones that we talk to about homebrewing and beer.

The Brew Dudes blog is the next layer of the onion, where we have regular readers and commenters who have been a part of our homebrewing adventures. We are extremely grateful that you take the time to check out this website. Thank you.

Mike is active on the Brewing Knowledge Base. I spend my time on Twitter and Facebook.

Overall, I think we are part of a large community of beer enthusiasts and brewers and it certainly is a fun club.

Brewers Gold Hops

By John Krochune

On November 24, 2009

In Hops

Another rip roarin’ hop profile from the Brew Dudes. We took a look at Cluster hops last time, which have wild American roots. This time, it’s another North American/British hybrid hop by way of Canada: Brewer’s Gold.

The parent of Brewer’s Gold hops was a wild hop name BB1 that was found growing in Manitoba. It was collected in 1916 by a guy named Macoun who was working as a professor at Wye College in England. By 1919, Professor E.S. Salmon had bred BB1 with some native UK varieties to make Brewer’s Gold.

Brewing trials were conducted by local breweries in 1933 and 1934 to test out the new hop variety. The official release year of this hop in 1934.

From my research and looking at the other profiles we have done on this blog, Brewer’s Gold is a parent of many of the new high alpha acid hop varieties.

Many modern high alpha hops were developed from Brewer’s Gold. Has a resiny, spicy aroma/flavor with hints of black currant.

Origin: UK by way of the Great White North

Aroma/Flavor: Resiny, Spicy, fruity, hints of black currant.

Alpha Acid: 8 – 10%

Typical Usage: Bittering mostly.

Beer Styles: English and German ales. Works nicely with the noble varieties. I believe Pete’s Wicked uses Brewer’s Gold.

Bringing Homebrew To Work

By John Krochune

On November 20, 2009

In General

When in the course of working events, beer brewing does come up in conversation. I found out one of my co-workers is a homebrewer and I told him I would bring some homebrew into work today.

It’s definitely great to find someone where you spend most of your time that is interested in good beer and making beer.

I am happy to work at a place that is ok with a little embibing during work hours.

And a good Friday to you.

Friday Homebrew

Oxygen Barrier Bottle Caps

By John Krochune

On November 19, 2009

In Equipment

Yeaaaaaaaah! Now this is a subject I know every reader will be holding on to the edge of their seat because of the massive thrill it provides.

Ok. Enough joking.

What’s the skinny on oxygen barrier bottle caps? I purchased a bag of them for my hard cider, knowing that I would be storing them for a long period of time.

They claim to have an “oxygen scavenging agent” embedded into the plastic liner inside the cap.

Do they actually work? Has anyone experimented with a batch where some beers were capped with regular bottle caps and some were capped with these kooky oxygen barrier ones? Were the beers capped in regular bottle caps unable to keep their freshness longer?

Do they keep beers from getting oxidized? Are they worth the extra $1.31 I spent on them?