Basic Brewing Radio

Ricky the Meadmaker from Groennfell and Havoc Meaderies in Vermont talks about sharing his recipes online and shares his best meadmaking practices.

Homebrewer Ryan Deaver joins us to talk about spontaneously fermented palm wine he researched in the west African country of Benin.

Brad Ring and Betsy Parks from Brew Your Own magazine talk about their new Big Book of Homebrewing and share tips on coming up with your own homebrew recipes.

Gary Glass, director of the American Homebrewers Association, updates us on the state of our hobby, upcoming National Homebrew Competition deadlines and new events at the Minneapolis HomebrewCon.

Homebrewer Will Schumacher talks about his experiments brewing with spruce that he foraged from his time in Switzerland.

James and Steve take advantage of a beautiful day to sample three porters on the porch, all from the same batch.

James and Steve carry on the tradition of sharing stories from listeners of brew days gone bad.

Marshall Schott and Malcolm Frazer from Brulosophy.com share their experiments - the effect of keeping the lid on during the boil and not boiling a Berliner Weisse.

Chris Colby, editor of Beer and Wine Journal and author of the Homebrew Recipe Bible, gives us tips on carving time out during the holidays for the important thing - brewing.

Steve Wilkes is now the owner of a shiny new local homebrew shop in Fayetteville, Arkansas. He talks about the process of starting the shop and plans for the future.

Mad Fermentationist Mike Tonsmeire shares his techniques for brewing tart beers with lots of hop character, and he samples three interpretations from James.

We continue the discussion with Gard Karlsnes, who runs the pilot brewery at Aass Brewery in Norway. This time, we sample a ginger beer and Christmas stout. Part two of two.

Gard Karlsnes runs the pilot brewery at Aass Brewery in Norway and is expanding its horizons beyond Reinheitsgebot roots. Part one of two.

Chris Gagne of Hermit Thrush Brewing in Brattleboro, Vermont, talks about brewing beer with only wild yeast he's harvested from the environment.

Chris Colby, editor of Beer and Wine Journal and author of the Homebrew Recipe Bible, shares tips on how to make your cream ale stand out in a competition setting.

Homebrewer Jason Jackson shares four versions of his saison enhanced with vegetables from his garden. Steve Wilkes helps sample.

Our series on northwest Arkansas brewing continues with New Province Brewing in Rogers and a visit with owner-head brewer Derek McEnroe.

Author Stan Hieronymus talks about his latest book that takes a look at how American brewers are using local ingredients to put their stamp on our favorite beverage.

Josh Chapman, head brewer of Bluejacket in Washington DC, shows us around what Mike Tonsmeire describes as the "Disney World of Brewpubs."

Chris Colby, editor of Beer and Wine Journal and author of The Homebrew Recipe Bible, walks us through tannins: when they're good or bad and how to control them in our beer.

Ricky the Meadmaker returns to the program with his wife and business partner, Kelly Klein, to share some wonderful "beer-strength" meads and tips for our own meads.

Brulosophy team member Jake Huolihan shares two experiments comparing vitality vs viability starters and batch vs no sparging.

We join head brewer Nathan Zeender in 3-D at the production brewery of Right Proper in the Brookland neighborhood of Washington D.C.

Homebrewer and beer historian Dave Janssen talks about grisette, a tasty obscure Belgian style, and how it relates to saison.

Mike Tonsmeire, the Mad Fermentationist, shares an experiment around his dining room table splitting a funky beer batch and adding five different honey varieties.