A Brief History of The Stout: Enjoying The Darkest Beers
|

A Brief History of The Stout: Enjoying The Darkest Beers

Ahh, the stout. A perfect winter warmer unless you’re like us and prefer them all year long. We love a good stout, whether flavored with coffee or peanut butter or just the way the good brewer intended them. And for homebrewers, few beers are as easy to brew as a stout.  But stouts have a…

Dip Tubes and Bazookas: Tips for Clearer Beer
|

Dip Tubes and Bazookas: Tips for Clearer Beer

Dip Tubes and Bazookas Tips for Clearer Beer Affiliate links below! Click here for more information. On the outside, homebrewing is easy. A little boiling water, some grain and hops, bango bongo we have beer. Sounds easy. But then the grains start slipping out of their bag, ingredients start to disintegrate in the boil and…

An Exhaustive Guide to Hops (And Where To Get Them!)
| |

An Exhaustive Guide to Hops (And Where To Get Them!)

Nothing gets us beer nerds hyped up like a little talk about IBUs and hop varieties. Even for the most jaded IPA drinkers among us, there are folks that have no clue what hops are or which ones make your beer go “oooooh”. Some of us might even scratch our heads over the acronyms above….

Eight Christmas Beers We Would Drink All Year Long

Eight Christmas Beers We Would Drink All Year Long

Figuratively sue us for not jumping on the pumpkin ale bandwagon this year.  We couldn’t help ourselves.   It isn’t that we don’t like them.  We like some of them.  But we just didn’t feel it this year.  It was probably because we were so concerned with slaughter and phantoms to bother with them.   We…

What are Malt Extracts? Easier homebrewing with extracts
|

What are Malt Extracts? Easier homebrewing with extracts

For those of us just starting to dip our toes into the world of homebrewing it can be a little intimidating.  Especially for those of us who have stepped up from that box store “Mr. Beer” kit into something a little more complex.   Ready to start brewing but don’t have the gear yet?  We got…

Cool Your Brew: How To Use A Wort Chiller
|

Cool Your Brew: How To Use A Wort Chiller

Wort chillers.  It sounds like an indie aggro-punk band from the west coast doesn’t it?     Loud noises aside, below we explain just exactly what a wort chiller is, why they are good to add to your home brewing kit and which are the best wort chillers in each category.   What you talkin’ about?  Wort, the…

California water restrictions spell trouble for craft brewers
|

California water restrictions spell trouble for craft brewers

Slowly the great state of California has been drying up. Since 2011 California residents have been struggling with an ongoing drought that has forced them to reconsider the way they live, eat and drink.  Recently craft brewers and wine producers have also felt the pressure.  Now, California governor Jerry Brown has ordered mandatory water use…