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• Gilligan's Gueuze (Blended Lambic)

  • A gueuze is a beer made from blending “old” lambics, up to three years old, with a “new” lambic that has just finished its main fermentation. The traditional mash program for a lambic is a turbid mash, involving both infusions and decoctions to step the mash through a variety of temperatures. The mash in the all-grain version is a simplified version of this.

     

• Older But Wiser American Pilsner

  • American Pilsners have little malt flavor, hop character or body. But, these elements are balanced and there are no faults. To make a good American Pilsner, you need to make a highly fermentable, high-adjunct wort, pitch plenty of yeast and hold the fermentation temperature constant.

• Berliner Weisse (Napoleon’s Champagne)

  • The biggest challenge to making a Berliner weisse is making a light, clean base beer, then rapidly souring it with bacteria. You need to sour the beer fairly rapidly since it’s a low gravity beer and doesn’t have a lot of alcohol to act as a preservative.

• Dropkick Murphy’s Dry Stout

  • You may have been told that it is one of the easiest beers styles to make. In reality, there are several difficulties to making even a passable dry stout. The first is that there is a narrow window of acceptable roast flavors in a stout. The second difficulty is getting a dry beer. The third difficulty is that the large amount of dark roasted grains can make for an overly acidic beer.

    A good recipe (that uses the dark, ~500 °L, version of roasted barley and some adjunct to dry out

• Ötzi’s Eisbock

  • As members of the Bock(bier) family, Eisbocks have all the characteristics of a typical strong beer, only more so. They are much maltier and smoother even than the Dopplebocks.  Essentially, Eisbocks are "iced strong beers," becuase they are frozen at the end of their maturation period (which separates out water in the form of crystals that can be removed). 
    

• Rauchbier (Awesome Atavism)

  • The biggest trick to making a good rauchbier is getting a clean smoke character, one in which chlorine compounds from your water don’t react with the smoky phenols to make odd flavors and aromas. To avoid this, carbon filter your water and — because carbon filtration may not remove all the chlorine compounds in your water — treat your brewing liquor with one crushed Campden tablet per 20 gallons (76 L).

• Schwarzbier

  • A schwarzbier is like a good bluff in poker — it looks like one thing, but is another. Schwartz-biers look like dark roasty beers, but taste similar to Pilsners.

• Tripel the Light Fantastic

  • Light colors and dry finishes don’t go along with most big beers, but that’s exactly what makes a Belgian tripel great. The road to homebrew heaven is littered with failed tripel attempts, but here’s your path to salvation — use only light base malts and about 25% clear adjunct (sugar); pitch a big yeast starter and add some yeast nutrients in the boil to supply nitrogen to the yeast.

• Groudskeeper Willie's Wee Heavy

  • Wee heavies are malty/sweet big ales, but don’t smell fruity as most big ales do. You need to use a yeast strain that won’t overattenuate the beer, pitch a large yeast starter and hold the fermentation temperature lower than with most ales. A Golden Promise malt for your base malt is a good choice.

• Pierre, South Dakota Witbier

  • Belgian wit (white) beers are very pale, turbid beers with a balanced spiced character and a crisp “zing.” These traits make for an appealing and refreshing beer, but each of these characters also makes it potentially hard to replicate at home.

• What are some good rules to follow when trying to brew a "hybrid" style, let's say a Hefeporter?
• Is it true that homebrew is an excellent source of vitamin B?
• 2005 Holiday Gift Guide
  • Click here for great beer-related holiday gift ideas for your brewing friends or family (or even you!)
• Getting Good Beer Foam: Techniques
  • How to improve the foam in your next glass of homebrew.
• Vitamin Beer & Hybrids: Mr. Wizard
  • The wise one answers your homebrewing questions.
• The 10 Hardest Beer Styles
  • Witbier. Wee Heavey. Tripel. Schwartzbier. Gueze. Eisbock. Dry Stout. Berliner Weisse. American Pilsner - are these the 10 most difficult styles for a homebrewer to pull off? They won't be after reading our recipes and tips for success.

• Last Call
  • Frozen beer yields some cold comments at the Upper Mississippi Mash Out.
• Keys to Aeration: Advanced Brewing
  • Give your yeast some breathing room and say goodbye to sluggish fermentations with proper aeration.
• Build a Transparent In-Line Aerator: Projects
  • Build an aeration system that you can see right through.
• Russian Imperial Stout: Style Profile
  • Dark as winter night in Siberia and big as Mother Russia, Russian Imperial Stout is a real challenge for homebrewers. Find out how to make this classic big beer.
• Russian Imperial Stout: Tips from the Pros
  • Get tips on how to brew this behemoth brew from two commercial comrades.
• Homebrew Nation
  • An EHERMS, the Lincoln Lagers and a handy clip for malt extract cans. Plus: the Replicator clones Haines Brewing's Lookout Stout
• Mail
  • Help for a hurting hopback and a question about kettle metal.
• Do Barley Varieties Matter?
  • Our Style Profile columnist sat on a panel in Germany and tasted four Pilsner beers made from four different barley varieties. Are all Pilsner malts the same, regardless of the variety of barley malted? Find out.
• Pacific Northwest Clones & Brewing Tips
  • The Pacific Northwest is home to hop fields and hoppy beers. Hear what brewers from BridgePort, Full Sail, Redhook and Widmer Brothers have to say about their beers and brewing in the region. Plus: clone recipes for BridgePort Porter, Full Sail Amber Ale, Widmer Brothers Snow Plow Milk Stout and Redhook ESB.
• Hopping Help for Extract Brewers
  • Are you an extract brewer who needs help making hoppier homebrew? Find out what factors influence hop bitterness and what you need to do to reach your target IBUs. Also, identify the beer styles you can successfully brew givenyour homebrew equipment and procedures.