The Brewing Network Presents | Dr. Homebrew

When is a Gose not a Gose? When it's really a Grodziskie! The Dr. Homebrew team got thrown for a loop on this week's show, as the beer we thought was a Gose turned out to be something way, WAY different. Our homebrewer this week is Michelle Wonder, and along with Melissa McCann, they run the Women's Craft Fermentation Alliance, which is an amazing organization striving to increse the reach of home...

The greatest of all Brown Ales is represented on the show today - Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale. In years past, this delightful treat of a liquid was in clear bottles, forcing any drinker to basically play the lottery when it came time to drink one - will it be skunky? Now they have shifted to brown bottles several years ago, all the loveliness of a Sam Smith's Nut Brown comes through, and we're ha...

We're getting Scottish in the office today! Dave is back with a Wee Heavy, which is always a real treat to dive into. These beers are complex and malty, but can be very tricky to balance just right. Did Dave do those things? Plus, Brian Cooper takes us through the things that make up a good BJCP score sheet. Be sure to check out Five Star and their Homebrew Club Program for tips, tricks, and produ...

The season for festbier is upon us, and that's a good thing, because this style is such a great one to taste. Malt complexity everywhere, cleanly lagered ... what's not to like? Dave joins us as we judge his homebrew version of this style, and then Brian Schar takes us through his experiences judging the first round of the Great American Beer Festival. Be sure to check out Five Star and their Home...

Today on the show, we turn our attentions to resident BJCP judge and co-host Brian Cooper, who has submitted round two of his Hazy IPA for judging. This is a re-brew of sorts, with Brian taking feedback from an earlier show and applying it to this new iteration of murky juiciness. Will his hard work pay off? Then, we do a commercial calibration of Liquid Hoppiness IPA by Sierra Nevada. Be sure to...

In the world of American Lagers, Coors Banquet is an easy Top 3 beer. This crisp, easy-drinking style is one that's hard to replicate and easy to become a showcase for flaws in technique. We talk about Coors Banquet during our Commercial Calibration, and what goes into making beers of this caliber. Then, Brian Schar takes us through 4 weird off-flavors every homebrewer should know. If you want to...

Bock is one of those styles that can really go wrong if you let it. From cloyingly sweet to one-dimensional, there's really no shortage of things to screw up when attempting a Bock. Perpetual guest Colin returns with his very first attempt at this deceptively complex style. Since this is a lager, cleanliness is more important than ever, so be sure to check out Five Star and their Homebrew Club Pro...

Pale Ale is one of the lord's perfect styles, provided it meets our strict definition. On today's show, we have Andy back on, who convinced Brian Cooper to mule two bottles of his Pale back from HomebrewCon this last month for us to judge on the show. Then, we do a Commercial Calibration segment with everyone's favorite Blonde Ale ... 805, from Firestone-Walker! To get great homebrewing gear and a...

Summertime is Cider time, and we have a pretty cool one on today's show! Bob joins us and sent in his version of a Rainbow Sherbet Cider. What does that mean? We had no idea, either, so don't feel too lost. First, however, we meet up with Colin again, who sent us a Belgian Blonde Ale. To get great homebrewing gear and advice, sign up for the Five Star Chemicals Homebrew Club Program! Learn more ab...

Master BJCP judge Brian Cooper loves to torture us on this show, and today's episode grants us no relief. Brian gave us two of his homebrewed beers to judge - a Hazy IPA and his attempt at a clone of Consecration from Russian River! Both styles are beers that Brian loves to drink, so we had high expectations going into this judging. Was it warranted? *shrug* Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...

It's Cider Day here on Dr. Homebrew! Listener Bill sent us four different versions of his cider, each with a different yeast. Our goal? To pick the cider we liked the best. Bill was having a hard time choosing which version to enter into competitions, so he somehow thought we'd have some insight on that for him. Sucker. In order to lead us more effectively through these ciders, we brought experien...

We've had lots of unintentionally themed shows in the past, but never one like this ... it's the Smoke Beer Show! Two very different smoked beers, one a Belgian IPA and the other a Cherry Porter. We realize smoked beers aren't for everyone, but man they sure do make for good judging comments! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

(George Costanza voice) Mead is back, baby! Ashley joins the show again and allows us to judge her Pomegranate Mead, which was big and syrupy. Then we run through two commercial examples of Mead - including one that was in a can, of all things! Mead seems like it's seeing a resurgence, and we love it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We had two unique beverages on this week's show - a Mead and an ice cream-inspired Porter. The Mead was a sack-strength style mead, made with Blackberry Blossom Honey, and at 14%-ish, was very drinkable. A Salted Caramel Porter was in the second segment, based on the brewer's love of trying new styles and adding his own flair to them. For having just learned how to brew ten months ago, this was a...

We have been overly distracted by non-alcoholic beers as of late, and we show no signs of slowing. In fact, we brought Jamil on the show to talk to us about how NA beer is made, and some general rules of how we can make it at home. Then we talked with Jason, who sent in an American Brown Ale, and we convene the first ever Council of Jasons. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adch...

We talk a lot about competitions, but not much about some good rules and guidelines to follow when planning one. Our first guest is Justin, and he's throwing a homebrew competition for his friend who passed away last year. Called, "Kunklefest", Justin wants a bit of help and reassurance from the Brians about planning something great. Then we have Robbie from Club DOZE on to talk about organizing T...

How serious are you about competitive homebrewing? Do you do just enough to ensure your beer tastes good at the judging table, but beyond that, who cares? Are you interested in upping your medal count in the years to come? Andy and Matt run a Facebook group called "Competitive Homebrewing", and they are fanatics about one thing - winning. And sharing information. So, that's two things, really. We...

Not only did we have some Hazy IPA talk to open the show, but we opened a triple IPA, as well. That's what happens when you have 4 BJCP beer judges on one show, I guess. after the break, Brian and Brian - along with guests Jon and Hirindu, talked about the Mead Judging program and their experiences with it. Hirindu runs the educational arm for Mead in his homebrew club, D.O.Z.E., and was able to s...

It's the Mead Show on today's Dr. Homebrew! Our first guest is Michael Fairbrother of Moonlight Meadery, who heard we were going to be using his meads as judging fodder and hacked our internet stream to sit in with us. He talked about styles of meads, how he approaches the ones he makes, and if judges perception matters to him. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Taking up a sour beer project is never easy - just ask Neriah. He crafted a base beer to sour and age, then one to blend back as a young beer, all while splitting the batch and fruiting it two different ways. One entry had Sauvignon Blanc grape juice added and the other had Malbec grape juice. That's a lot of work! Did it pay off for him? Find out! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone...

Think back to your first batch of homebrew. Was it any good? Would you have felt comfortable not only advancing to all-grain, but also trying a lager for your second batch? Spencer did, and while we can't say we were that confident in our skills at brew #2, It sort of worked out for Spencer. We chat with him about all that, and then we talk with our friend Gordon Strong about the new style guideli...

NE IPA, despite JP's best efforts, are now a mainstream style. What we see less of is smoked pepper beers! On today's show, we dive into both styles of beers and chat with the homebrewers responsible for such creations. Plenty of recipe tips and judging info here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ok yeah, we've all heard of a German Pils, but this marks the first appearance of a homebrew take on a Traditional African Ale. Technically entered as an Experimental Ale, this unique beer really had the judges working hard to identify flavors and ingredients. It was a fun judge! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Homebrewer Nate joins us on Dr. Homebrew to talk about his Kolsch. This beer is a re-brew based off of feedback he received from a previous episode. Then, we keep Nate on the call to get a better idea of how he approached re-brewing this beer, and to offer advice to other brewers out there on what they can do to improve their beers based on feedback. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megapho...

Three lagers are up on the agenda today, and only one of them is a homebrew. Brian sent us his Czech Pale Lager attempt, and we try our best to solve his green pepper issue, then we get to the main event: how does Heineken 0.0 stack up against regular Heineken in a taste test? We know what you're thinking, and you aren't wrong. The push of NA beer into the craft space is new, so if anyone can pass...