Brew Dudes Homebrewing Blog

Schwarzbier – Jar of Destiny

On September 10, 2025

If you think all dark beers are heavy, sweet, or ready to punch you in the mouth with roasted malt, let’s reset those expectations. From the 15th pick, the Jar of Destiny handed us a Schwarzbier, which is style 8B in the 2015 BJCP guidelines.

Schwarzbier, or “black beer,” is dark and mysterious, but smooth, clean, and sneaky drinkable. Mike did his research and this dark beauty.

Jar of Destiny Schwarzbier Recipe

Mike’s goal was to nail the spirit of a German Schwarzbier, which is essentially a Pilsner in disguise. The trick? Get the color without tripping into roasty stout territory.

This recipe is for a 3.5 gallon batch.

Water:
Favoring sulfate over chloride for crispness.

Grain Bill:
68% Bohemian Pilsner malt (floor-malted for more character)
20% Light Munich malt
5% Carapils
2% Melanoidin malt
2% Carafa Special III (dehusked for less roast)
2% Blackprinz (American dehusked black malt for color boost)

Hops:
8g Nugget hops, boiled for 60 minutes
2 oz Hersbrucker hops, boiled for 15 minutes

Yeast:
Cellar Science German Lager (3470 Weihenstephan strain), direct pitched onto a healthy yeast cake.

Mash:
Step mash: 10 min @ 135°F, 50 min @ 142°F, ramp to 168°F to finish.

Fermentation:
It was quick and clean. took off within 6 hours, mostly finished in 3.5 days at 65–67°F. With this yeast strain, there is no need for a marathon lagering session.

Stats:
Original Gravity: 1.048
Final Gravity: 1.011
ABV: 4.8%

Mike improvised with Blackprinz to nail the color and stuck with a classic yeast to keep it crisp. He went for a highly fermentable wort, aiming for drinkability over chewiness. Result? Spot on.

More Than Meets The Eye

This Schwarzbier pours a deep brown, not jet black, with hints of red in the right light. On the nose, we get subtle malt and a whisper of floral from the Hersbrucker. It has no heavy roast or caramel. It certainly had no sticky sweetness. The first sip is dangerously drinkable, lighter-bodied than you’d expect for the color. It has just a touch of roast and a slightly crackery finish.

Honestly, if you closed your eyes, you might mistake it for a Pilsner with a little attitude. This is not a one-and-done pint; it’s the kind of beer you’ll want two or three of.

Mike’s final verdict? “I probably wouldn’t have picked this style on my own, but I’m really glad the Jar tossed it my way.”

We gave it high marks all around. If you’re a homebrewer who’s skeptical about lagers or dark beers, give this one a spin. You just might end up with a new favorite.

BREW ON!

Links To The Jar of Destiny Series Results
Check out the British Strong Ale post
Check out the Black IPA post
Check out the International Amber Lager post
Check out the Belgian Tripel post
Check out the Double IPA post
Check out the Kölsch post
Check out the English IPA post
Check out the Wood-Aged Beer post
Check out the Belgian Golden Strong Ale post
Check out the American Amber Ale post
Check out the German Pils post
Check out the Brett Beer post
Check out the Munich Helles post
Check out the Imperial Stout post
Check out the Foreign Extra Stout post
Check out the Belgian IPA post
Check out the Eisbock post
Check out the Czech Dark Lager post
Check out the California Common post
Check out the American Light Lager post
Check out the Pale Kellerbier post
Check out the Belgian Pale Ale post
Check out the Trappist Single post
Check out the Classic Style Smoked Beer post
Check out the Czech Amber Lager post
Check out the Gueuze post
Check out the Irish Stout post
Check out the Tropical Stout post
Check out the Schwarzbier post
Check out the American Wheat Beer post

Easy Homebrew Hard Seltzer Recipe

By John Krochune

On September 3, 2025

In Recipes, Videos

We know, we are known to brew beer on this site. But what if you had a friend who looked at your kegerator and said aloud to you:

“Man, I could go for something a little lighter like maybe a seltzer.”

Before you disown that friend, think about the statistics. As a society, we are becoming more and more isolated. A good number of people say they have no friends at all.

Keep your friendships alive and learn a new skill. Mike has put together a process to create hard seltzer at home without all the drama of fermenting sugar-water and hoping for the best.

Follow this easy homebrew hard seltzer recipe and have a refreshingly crisp beverage. You can whip up in a day and strengthen your friendship.

No Fuss Hard Seltzer Recipe

Forget everything you know about hard seltzer recipes that involve dumping pounds of sugar and nutrients into a fermenter and waiting for clarity. Here’s the Brew Dudes, easy “just-add-vodka” version:

Ingredients:

1 full bottle (750 ml) of vodka (45% ABV, Mike used an all-barley malt vodka for flavor)
Spring water (enough to dilute vodka 10-fold for 4–4.5% ABV)
2–2.5 oz raspberry syrup (or other flavor extract)
1–2 ml lactic acid (or citric/phosphoric acid, to taste)
CO2 for force carbonating (target 40 PSI)

Instructions:

Mix the Base: Pour vodka into your sanitized keg. Add spring water until the total liquid volume is 10 times the vodka, giving you a final ABV around 4–4.5%. Use spring water for a clean taste and to avoid messing with tap water chlorine.
Flavor It: Start with 0.5 oz of your flavoring syrup. Shake the keg, taste, and add more in small increments until the flavor pops. Mike settled around 2–2.5 oz for raspberry. Avoid going overboard.
Acidity Adjustment: Add 1 ml of lactic acid, shake, and taste. If it needs more zip, add another ml. Acidity is key to making the fruit flavor pop.
Carb Up: Hit it with 40 PSI of CO2. Shake the keg a few times throughout the day, letting it rest occasionally. Be careful—high PSI requires kegs and fittings rated for the pressure. Safety first!
Serve: After a solid chill and carb, pour yourself a glass. If it pours too hard, a longer draft line helps control foam.

Yep, that’s right. There are zero fermenters to clean with dead yeast sludge, and you can dial in your flavor and ABV without issues.

What Did We Think? (And What Could Go Wrong?)

First impressions: this seltzer is clear, lively, and genuinely refreshing. You do taste the vodka a bit, but you can find a more neutral spirit than the all-barley malt vodka. We think it blends nicely with the raspberry flavoring. There’s zero aftertaste from artificial sweeteners because, well, we didn’t use any.

If you’re the kind who’s always chasing that perfect bubbly, fair warning—a short beer line will pour this at 40 PSI like a firehose. But that’s an easy fix: swap in a longer line, and you’re golden.

Most importantly, this method gives you endless options: swap vodka for tequila and squeeze in some lime for a ranch water-style seltzer, or go wild and infuse your own botanicals or fruit for custom flavors. You can even try rum for a spiced holiday version. The only real rule? Make sure your keg and hardware can handle high PSI. No disintegrations.

So there you have it. Quick, easy, endlessly customizable, and perfect for any homebrewer with a keg system.

BREW ON!

CraftPRO 9-in-1 Beer Brewing Test Strips

By John Krochune

On August 27, 2025

In Equipment, Videos

Water chemistry is something this blog has tried to discuss in a way that makes the subject seem a little less complex. Mike has done a lot to simplify water chemistry for homebewing.

The fine folks at CraftPRO are trying to do the same thing. They sent us their 9-in-1 Beer Brewing Test Strips to check out.

We set up some tests and showcased how these test strips can give you a quick water read before brew day.

How the Test Strips Work (and How We Tested Them)

These test strips are as simple as it gets. You just dip a strip into your water sample for two seconds, pull it out, let it sit for 30, and compare the color changes against the provided chart. Each strip tests for nine things: calcium, magnesium, iron, sulfate, total chlorine, pH, alkalinity, total hardness, and a partridge in a pear tree (ok, not the last one).

For our test, we got three glasses of different water: Glass A was distilled, Glass B was our go-to spring water, and Glass C had our local tap water.

The distilled and spring water came out almost identical, which isn’t shocking, with really low ion readings across the board.

Our tap water, on the other hand, actually showed a bit of chlorine, around 3 ppm. It is enough for us to use Campden tablets. Calcium was also higher in the tap, sitting around 50 ppm, but nothing wild. The strips don’t test for sodium or chloride (the two things most homebrewers obsess over for malt and hop character), but they do a good job of giving you a ballpark idea for everything else.

Should You Bother? Our Thoughts

Here’s the bottom line: if you want lab-grade precision or need exact numbers for sodium and chloride, you’re still better off sending out a sample for proper lab analysis. These strips, though, are a handy, cheap, and dead-simple way to get a sense of where your water stands. They are also good at seeing any changes based on your brewing salt additions.

The downside is the color matching. If you’re color blind or can’t reliably tell the difference between many shades of blue, for instance, these strips are going to be frustrating.

For most homebrewers, though, they’re a quick, low-commitment tool that’s great to have in your kit. Big thanks to CraftPro for sending these along.

Brew ON!

All Munich Malt Lager – Recipe and Tasting

By John Krochune

On August 20, 2025

In Malts, Videos

Sometimes you just have to throw caution (and a whole sack of malt) to the wind and see what happens. That’s exactly what Mike did for this brew, which is a bold, unapologetic Munich Lager.

The grain bill for this beer is built entirely from light Munich malt. He’s also calling it a “SMaSH” beer (Single Malt And Single Hop) because, well, it is. He only used Liberty hops for this recipe.

What happens when you turn up the malt and keep the hops simple? Watch this video to learn more.

All Munich Malt Lager Recipe

This recipe is for a 3.5 gallon batch.

Grain Bill:
100% Light Munich malt (Valley Malt, in our case)

Hops:
Liberty (just a 60-minute addition, aiming for about 30 IBUs)

Yeast:
CellarScience German

Water:
Moderate sulfate to chloride ratio (about 2:1, to keep the malt from running wild)

Mash Schedule:
Dough-in at 135°F for 10 minutes (high-protein rest)
Ramp to 145°F, hold 30 minutes
Ramp to 155°F, hold 10 minutes
Mash out at 168°F for 10 minutes

Outcomes:
Starting Gravity: 1.044
Finishing Gravity: 1.012
ABV: About 4.2%
SRM (Color): 8—think dark copper, but not quite dunkel territory

Mike brewed this batch with Valley Malt’s light Munich, mostly because he bought 40 pounds and he needs to use it for something.

Our Thoughts on the Malt Overload

As you can guess, this beer is all about the malt. The color is a beautiful deep copper, and the aroma is pure bready goodness. It’s like you just walked into a bakery specializing in Bavarian pretzels.

There’s not a ton of hop aroma. He used Liberty hops for bittering and it’s there for balance. The mouthfeel is smooth, with plenty of body considering the moderate ABV.

Flavor-wise, the beer had a ton of bread crust and malt sweetness up front. It’s not toasty or caramel-like, just pure, rich malt. It is a little overwhelming for a session, but perfect with hearty food.

If you’re looking for a fall beer to go with sausage and mustard, this one’s your new best friend. If you’re a “two pints and done” kind of drinker, the full Munich malt experience might feel like a bread-eating contest.

Mike thinks a little pilsner malt would lighten things up next time.

All in all, this “Munich Lager” is a reminder that brewing is about experimentation, pushing boundaries, and sometimes just using what you’ve got on hand.

Would we brew it again?

Absolutely!

(with some adjustments)

BREW ON!

Vera Hops SMaSH Beer Tasting & Review

By John Krochune

On August 13, 2025

In Hops, Videos

If you’ve spent any time poking around homebrew forums lately, you’ve probably noticed a new name popping up: Vera hops. With plenty of positive chatter and some notes about its flavor profile, I wanted to know more. So, I brewed up a SMASH (Single Malt And Single Hop) beer with Vera hops to see what this variety is all about. Check out this video and learn along with us.

It’s SMaSHing!

Let’s cut to the chase and lay out the recipe for those of you who want to follow along or tweak your next homebrew session. As always, we went with a one-gallon batch because it keeps costs down and lets us crank out more hop experiments for your reading (and drinking) pleasure.

Vera SMASH Beer – 1 Gallon

Grain: 2 lbs US 2-row malt
Water: 2 gallons (spring water from the store
Yeast: 3g US-05 American Ale
Hops: 28g Vera hops (alpha acids ~5.7%)
Schedule:
- 7g @ 60 minutes
- 7g @ 15 minutes
- 7g at flameout
- 7g for dry hopping (24 hours)
Boil Time: 60 minutes
Fermentation: Ferment at room temperatures for 7 days, refrigerate for 1 day, dry hop for 1 day, then package

Tasting Notes

The first thing that hits on the aroma is a strong citrus note. Specifically, a dry lemon-lime essence, with maybe a touch of Juicy Fruit gum. Mike picked up some honeydew melon and the faintest hint of lemongrass, but nothing overwhelming. The aroma isn’t a punch in the face, more like a pleasant wave. Flavor-wise, you’ll notice that same lemon-lime leading the charge, plus a mellow, grassy, and herbal background that keeps things interesting. The bitterness is pretty tame.

Overall, Vera isn’t a showboat; it’s subtle, citrusy, and would play nicely in Mexican lagers, pale ales, or hazy IPAs. If you want to lift the citrus vibes in a New England IPA or tame some of those more aggressive hops, Vera could be the blend partner you didn’t know you needed.

BREW ON!