I have a question for my reader(s): So I’m obviously by no means an expert, but I’m wondering what I can do to improve my brewing.  I’m still using malt extract, and I don’t have the room or the equipment to go all-grain.  I’m using grains and whole hops (not a kit) and primary and [...]

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At the fresh hop festival last weekend I overheard some woman asking one of the servers if any of the beers were “very bitter.”  I wanted to suggest to her that she step away from the beer, give her tickets (for samples) to someone who actually knew what a hop was, and head on over [...]

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I had the opportunity to attend the 2007 Oregon Bounty Fresh Hop Beer Tastival in Troutdale, OR last weekend.  It was my first time attending.  It was a lot of fun and a very interesting experience.  It was sponsored by Oregon Bounty, the Oregon Brewers Guild, the Oregon Hop Growers Association, and McMenamins.  We sampled [...]

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This beer tastes great - but I got a little lazy and apparently bottled it too early.  All of my other beers had turned out so well, that I thought I didn’t need to take a final hydrometer reading.  I brewed it during August, so I figured that the heat had helped the fermentation go [...]

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So the big news this week is that Molson-Coors and SABMiller are merging in order to better compete against Anheuser-Busch.  Apparently Anheuser-Busch controls 50% of the US beer market, Molson-Coors has 11% and Miller 19%.  Pete Coors (Vice Chairman of Coors) said in a statement, “Consumers are broadening their tastes and are increasingly looking for [...]

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This was my first pale ale - the recipe again courtesy of Main Street Homebrew. It is pretty similar to the Mirror Pond Pale Ale from Deschutes Brewing. I’m really happy with how this beer turned out. It is moderately hoppy (at least by Oregon standards) with a great flavor. Sadly, [...]

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Currently in my secondary fermenter is a west coast style stout (again courtesy of Main Street Homebrew - Doug’s recipe).  I took a little sample this weekend and it is good!
All Saints Stout
12oz Roast Barley
8oz Crystal
8oz Chocolate Malt
4oz Carafa
2oz No. Brewer Hops (1oz @ 60 min, 1/2 oz @ 20 min, 1/2 oz @ 10 [...]

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Currently fermenting is a beer resembling the Rogue Ales Mocha Porter. The recipe was put together by Kevin at Main Street Homebrew.
9 lbs Amber Malt Extract
12oz 8ol Crystal Malt
6oz 4ol Crystal Malt
12oz Chocolate Malt
2oz Carafa
2oz No. Brewer Hops (1 oz @ 60 min, 1/2 oz @ 20 min, 1/2 oz @ 10 min)
Irish [...]

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If you’re a nervous brewer like I am, I discovered a great tool. It is a tool for estimating original and final specific gravity for your brews. Link here. You shouldn’t use it to determine if fermentation is finished, but it is a good guide. You do have to convert everything [...]

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As you can see below, I used a blow-off tube with my first batch of beer. The results were fine, but since then, I haven’t used one. I’ve been using a 7 gallon glass carboy as my primary fermenter (which has ample room for expansion so no need to blow-off) and I have [...]

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