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Intro to Sour Mashing

March 1, 2015 by Derek Springer 27 Comments

Year of the Sour Mash

Part of the Year of the Sour Mash series.

Sour beer, the homebrewer’s final frontier. Many homebrewers spend their entire brewing careers fighting infections, but there are some that crave them; choosing to harness the organisms that would otherwise spell ruin to make something magical.

To many, the idea of making a sour beer seems like an impossible dream: the time, equipment, and expertise required ensures that many homebrewers view sour beer as a pastime for the brewing elite. My friends, do not despair, sour beer is within your grasp! There is a fast, easy method to get active making sour beer: the sour mash. Sour mashing is a technique for any beer that would benefit from a crisp, tart, or funky edge.

I am kicking off the Year of the Sour Mash with this overview of sour mashing. I will be covering many of these topics in greater depth in future posts, but in the mean time I hope to convince you that sour mashing is not something to be afraid of, but a fun process that is easy to be successful at if you follow a few techniques. Without further ado, let us get started!

[Read more…]

Filed Under: General Tagged With: intro, year of the sour mash

Toasting Oats Guide

February 17, 2015 by Derek Springer 8 Comments

Flaked OatsI am a big fan of using small amounts of flaked adjuncts like flaked wheat and flaked barley in my recipes to add some extra mouthfeel and boost head retention. Since St. Patrick’s Day is approaching I have been thinking about stouts and I have been itching to try my hand at making an oatmeal stout, which makes ample use of flaked oats for its signature creamy texture.

If you have never used oats in a recipe before, they lend a smooth, silky mouthfeel and a luscious creaminess that is hard to beat. Oats are relatively neutral in flavor (slightly oaty, naturally), but it is possible to bump the character up a notch by toasting them in the oven; toasting the oats will add a nice amount of nutty/biscuity character reminiscent of an oatmeal cookie. Oat toasting is a great technique for any style that you want a full, creamy mouthfeel and nutty/biscuity character, stouts and nut brown ales come to mind.

The challenge I discovered, however, was that when I was researching oat toasting technique there was sparse advice for the process beyond “cook in oven at 300ºF until toasted.” Thus, I decided to create this guide to toasting oats in hopes others would not share the same frustration I had as I worked out the proper technique.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Techniques Tagged With: guide, oats, toasting

Neomexicanus Hop Review: Latir

February 9, 2015 by Derek Springer 8 Comments

Part of my series on neomexicanus hops.

Latir header
When I began the journey of discovery that led me to neomexicanus I had no idea just what a sensation this series would become. My only thought at the time was “I just spent $50 on six ounces of hops, I should write an article or two so I feel justified,” not “I should spend the next few months of my life researching the history and future of neomexicanus.” Unsurprisingly, it appears there are many adventurous homebrewers out there looking to explore the horizons of this new hop variety with as much eagerness as myself. In a cruel irony of fates I was in the same place at the same time as none other than Stan Hieronymus himself, but missed the opportunity to serve him some neomexicanus beer by mere minutes (Stone Escondido is a huge place and the 59th Annual American Hop Convention was having a reception there).

@derekspringer dang, on bus & just read this. Sorry I missed you. And the beer.

— Stan Hieronymus (@StanHieronymus) January 22, 2015

As for the reception to the Chama Pale Ale: it received almost standing ovations at my club and equally positive reviews from the handful of individuals to whom I shipped bottles. Folks were having a hard time believing that there was so much character from only three ounces of hops and were tossing around words like mellon, peach, and (of course) weed to describe the aromas and flavor. Needless to say, it has been a hit; I think there is going to be quite a demand for Chama next fall!

Since I have been on a bit of a lager kick recently (’tis this season) I decided a simple (but delicious!) German Pilsner would be a good showcase for Latir which is described as “spicy, herbal, and flowery.” Before I get into the recipe and hop review let’s take a closer look at the hop details.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: latir, neomexicanus, recipe

Cheap and Easy Hop Storage

February 4, 2015 by Derek Springer Leave a Comment

Hop Storage

Over the past year or two I have slowly been developing a process to store bulk-purchased hops cheaply and securely. It took me far too long to write it up, but I am happy to announce that the article is finally published over on HomeBrewTalk.

Being a tightwad I have spent a lot of time thinking on how to come up with a cheap option for hop storage. The solution came to me on a random idle evening as I went down the path of following just about any link I could get my hands on to perpetuate my idleness. As we all know, sometimes that means you stumble into a community dedicated to preserving salad in jars; sometimes that means you become enraptured by one-upmanship of the salad-in-a-jar enthusiasts as they try to preserve their salads in the cheapest way possible. And sometimes that means you crib come up with an idea for storing hops in such a cheap and easy way that you feel like you should start a life in the informercial biz…

Read the full article over on HomeBrewTalk!

Filed Under: Techniques Tagged With: homebrewtalk, hop, storage

I’m a (Provisional) BJCP Judge!

January 26, 2015 by Derek Springer 3 Comments

BJCP Entrance Exam Certificate

Whelp, I can cross the first of my Brew Years Resolutions off! Of course, now that means that I have to study even harder and take the tasting exam.

Side note: someone at the BJCP is seriously infatuated with Irish Red Ale and English Brown Ales. Like 50% of the questions were comparing IRA to other styles or English Browns to Brown Porters.

Filed Under: General Tagged With: bjcp, judge

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Derek Springer

Derek Springer

I write code & brew beer--if you ask nice I'll share some with you :)

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