Experimental Brewing

The Brew is Out There! Whether for the pursuit of better health or just something to drink between beers, Non-Alcohol or Low Alcohol beer is growing rapidly across the world. Until recently the answer to "hey, can I homebrew a NA beer" has been "not really!". We're sitting down with Richard Preiss of Escarpment Labs to discuss their new NAY yeast strain and how you can safely make an NA beer at ho...

Happy New Year and we’re kicking things off with questions from you and our questions to Julia Herz, the new director of the American Homebrewers Association. Where does she see the AHA going and what did you all ask about fermentation? (More Q&A next episode!) Episode Links: Homebrewers Association: https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/ Patreon Remember even a buck is good for charity...

The Brew is Out There! Kegs are wonderful! Draft beer is fantastic! Kegs are heavy and not easily shared! All of these things are true and so today we talk about our best tips for bottling draft beer. If you have other tips to add to the pile, let us know! This episode is brought to you by: American Homebrewers Association Brewing America Mangrove Jacks Don't forget to subscribe via your favorite...

Happy New Year and we're kicking things off with questions from you and our questions to Julia Herz, the new director of the American Homebrewers Association. Where does she see the AHA going and what did you all ask about fermentation? (More Q&A next episode!) Episode Links: Homebrewers Association: https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/ Patreon Remember even a buck is good for charity: http://w...

The Brew is Out There! Christmas may be in the past, but it doesn't mean you can't carry the Christmas spirit forward in your glass. Drew sits down with Chris Enegren of Enegren Brewing to talk their take on a bock built for the Christmas season! (Photo credit to Sean Inman of beersearchparty.com) This episode is brought to you by: American Homebrewers Association Brewing America Mangrove Jacks Do...

It’s the holiday season – which means it’s Christmas beers and quick tests that you can do. Drew tastes his way through the Crisp Heritage malts to demonstrate the hot steep malt evaluation method and help formulate what to do with these new/old malts! Episode Links: Get Your Questions In! – questions@experimentalbrew.com New Brussels Lambic – https://www.beercity.bru...

The Brew is Out There! How do you make a classic even better? By trying new ingredients! Drew talks with Caleb Michalke of Sugar Creek Malt about malted corn and why it can make a classic even better. They're joined by Ryan Kriesch of "A Pint With" to taste his rendition of I Dream of Jenny Cream Ale using Sugar Creek's Boone County White Malted Corn. Links Sugar Creek: http://www.sugarcreekmalt.c...

It’s been a tough few years for homebrewers and competitions – we’re talking with the Weiz Guyz Brewers out of Loveland, Colorado about their annual Sweetheart’s Revenge and what makes it unique as well as the outstanding Colorado Strong program! Episode Links: Larry Bell Sells to Lion/Kirin: https://vinepair.com/articles/bells-brewery-sells-to-lion/ Larry’s Letter to...

The Brew is Out There! REPLAY: New Years is almost here with it's Janus like powers of transformational drive. Denny and Drew sit down and review how they organize things in the brewhouse to make the brew day easier and more likely to happen. How do you organize things? Links Gamma Lids for Grain Storage: http://amzn.to/2zp5zOb Food Saver Vacuum Sealer: http://amzn.to/2D7BVPE Mobile Prep Table: ht...

Everything old is new again! Denny and Drew sit down with Colin Johnston, David Griggs and Mike Benson to tslk how to revive forgotten malt varieties and why you should brew with the four "new" varieties from Crisp! Episode Links: SF Strong Beer Week Inspired "Green Death" : https://www.sfgate.com/wine/brew/article/Green-Death-malt-liquor-for-SF-... Crisp Malting - https://crispmalt.com/ The Herit...

The Brew is Out There! Last time, we covered Drew's favorite way to use hops. This time, it's Denny's! We break down the two West Coast IPA styles we agree on before Drew throws in a disputed third variety. Just how bitter does an IPA need to be to be West Coast? Links: Denny's Survivables West Coast IPA: https://community.grainfather.com/recipes/700087 This episode is brought to you by: American...

In this episode - Denny and Drew tackle the changing world of beer and new cans, strange diets (and a favorite new word), cask beers, burnt honey, and more! Oh and Drew secretly tastes one of Denny's beers! Episode Links: Sierra Nevada's New Lineup: https://www.brewbound.com/news/2021/sierra-nevada-to-launch-lifestyle-ha... Texas Brewing Retail Front Closing Sale: https://www.facebook.com/texasbre...

The Brew is Out There! Drew loves his Saisons, this is known. He also loves his hops. Until recently, big bold hoppy character and big spicy Belgian yeast characters have been difficult to bring together in harmony. Here's a quick look at Drew's process for making a hoppy Saison. Links: Citra Saison: https://www.experimentalbrew.com/recipes/citra-saison Loral Canyon Saison: https://www.experimenta...

Hop harvest is winding up as we write and brewers are heading to Yakima and Yakima Chief Hops to find out the details on this year's crop. For everyone else, we've brought Yakima to you in the form of Bryan Pierce, YCH's Chief Sales and Marketing Officer. How's the crop? Tune in! Episode Links: Guinness in Chicago: https://chicago.eater.com/2021/9/21/22685972/guinness-taproom-chicago-re... Truly H...

The Brew is Out There! Collaborations are known for producing some wild ideas and Andrew Bell (Radiant) and Casey Harris (Topa Topa) came up with a doozy - a dark double dry hopped Kölsch that defies the odds and made something really interesting! Check it out! Links: Radiant Brewing: https://www.radiantbeer.com/ Topa Topa Brewing: https://topatopa.beer/ "Am I Even Kölsch" Recipe: https://www.expe...

Lawsuits, awards and beer, oh my! We look at who's won awards at the GABF and talk about the world of seltzers and lawsuits before digging into a new experimental way of preparing hops and fake styles! Oh and people have feelings about brew bags and all in one systems and using computers for the BJCP! Episode Links: Sierra Nevada 101oz Pale Ale: https://mybeerbuzz.blogspot.com/2021/09/sierra-nevad...

The Brew is Out There! It's a running joke in the beer world that every brewer started as a homebrewer. Eric Gomez, of Orlando's Brewers Anonymous, speed ran his way from first kit, to tons of medals for his brews and now his first professional brewing gig. Drew sits down with Eric to discuss what makes a winning beer, what makes a brewer tick and what he's looking forward to in his new job! Links...

As hop aroma science has evolved, it figures the wizards at Yakima Chief would attempt to split the aroma atom. They've unleashed a blend of hop components that target specific compounds to "pop" fruit forward aromas. YCH's Spencer Tielkemeyer and Joe Wells of Fair State Brewing help us understand how to maximize your Pop. Episode Links: BYO Boot Camp with Denny & Drew: https://byo.com/bootcamps-2...

Since our last new non-QA episode of the show, things got interesting in the beer world. We talk to Melissa McCann of the Women's International Beer Summit (and the newly formed Women's Craft Fermentation Alliance). In the meanwhile we also talk about what to do about sexism. (Spoiler: the answer is simple - treat people like they're actually people with full rights, feelings and abilities) Episod...

REPLAY! We've been a bit delayed this summer due to travel (remember that?) and renovations (along with everyone else in the country)! We'll be back next week with brand new episodes - but in the meanwhile, enjoy our a replay on our discussion on Saison Stalls and Denny's interview with Brian Perkey of Lallemand about his long history and what's changing in the world of brewing! Episode Links: BYO...

The Brew is Out There! Despite it's reputation, vanilla is anything but boring and anything but cheap! We're talking to Sara Anderson of IndriVanilla about what makes vanilla so magical and why it's so dang expensive. Drew drops a few tips on using your newly acquired vanilla to it's utmost. Links: IndriVanilla (the Retail Store): https://indrivanilla.com/ Vanilla Bean Co-Op (Facebook Group): http...

REPLAY! (For HomebrewCon Time!) We've survived the PGPDF and are back and catching back up! We've got a whole slew of feedback, news stories, brew sessions, hop science, micro-resolutions (aka things we think we can do), a listener's brewing experience and... the juicy story of why you can buy Columbus, Tomahawk or Zeus in the hop freezer - sit back for a lesson in farm spying! Show note - ~34 min...

The Brew Is Out There! REPLAY - And Boy Haven't Oats Become More Important Than Ever? On this week's episode of the Brew Files, Drew and Denny talk one of Drew's favorite ingredients - oats, their origin, their use, their forms, pitfalls, styles and one of Drew's beloved recipes for Drew's beloved pup - Cookie. Episode Links: Thomas Fawcett Oat Malt: http://www.fawcett-maltsters.co.uk/uploads/2/0/...

When we asked for listener questions - y'all responded, but one man - Dave Taylor - dropped a mountain of questions on us. He and Denny go way back online with many years of thoughts, conversations and conflicting opinions. So, we sat down with Dave and work through all of his questions in a go! Episode Links: HomeBrewCon Virtual: https://www.homebrewcon.org/ World Central Kitchen: https://wck.org...

The Brew is Out There! The rise of the craft lager has been predicted many times and seems, in the last few years, to come to fruition. But what about the IPL or Hoppy American lager? Given enough time and attempts, brewers have figured it out. One of the most lauded is Jack's Abby Craft Lagers..Drew sits down with Jack Hendler to discuss making a hoppy lager and why, a lager might just be the mos...