Experimental Brewing

Busy Episode this time! Crammed with like - additional feedback to last episode's Staling results. Seems like some of you have been using scary old grain! In the pub we stop and talk a while about Denny's Hop School experiences (more on those later), the law in California and the crushing "loss" of Bosteels Brewery to ABI. (Maybe they should be Boo-steels now?) and one brewery's response to the recent PR campaign to try and make everyone feel better about the buyouts. We swing by the brewery to talk about Drew's recent Saison yeast tasting - which you can find online. In the library we visit a couple of papers on yeast genetics. In the lab, we're happy to announce our next great experiment - brought to you by our sponsors, the American Homebrewer's Association and NikoBrew.com. We're going to get a whole squad of homebrewers making up some hoppy beers and having them analyzed and tasted! See the recipe and experiment writeup for details. We're super stoked for this! Then Denny goes and talks to the folks

This episode we talk about two of our favorite online communities and their upcoming distributed competitions. We stop in the pub to talk updates to the North Carolina Legal Situation and a new homebrew rights situation in Nebraska. (See why it's important we keep fighting the legal fight?) Denny previews the upcoming Hop School and Drew talks about visiting Boulder CO and the AHA/BA offices. In the Brewery, we talk about the impending pumpkin crisis - ok, crisis to some and Drew's visit to Hop Barley and the Alers and their annual auction. We revisit our Staling experiment - can you brew with pre-crushed malt that's been sitting for a month? We review the results and discuss other possible avenues of exploration. After that Denny's back in Milwaukee talking with James Beard winning chef Justin Aprahamian of Sanford Restaurant in Milwaukee, Like Minds Brewing in Chicago and the new brewpub back in Milwaukee. Denny delves into the world of fine food and fine beer. Find out why Like Minds originally opened in

This episode we talk about two of our favorite online communities and their upcoming distributed competitions. We stop in the pub to do a little talk about mashing obsessions and the law and homebrewing. We head to the library to talk about Scott Janish's article on DMS, causes and cures and his test. Denny and I talk about his favorite homebrew myths before he heads to the land by the waters - Milwaukee - where he talks to Mino Choi, a homebrewer with a culinary obsession and a couple of 50 point entries under his belt. Mino talks his process, his designing and some agressive techniques he uses to drive his fermentations. We come back to our "Something Other Than Beer" segment with Denny enjoying spending time with Cecilia Chiang, the Chinese cuisine equivalent to Julia Child and we close out with Drew circling back to a lesson from earlier in the show! Episode Links: Brew United - http://www.brewunited.com/ SJPorr Challenge - https://sjporrchallenge.org/ Trumer Pils - http://www.trumer-international.co

This episode we start getting back to our regular podcast format (ok, mostly), but we start in the pub where we talk the massive changes in the beer industry last week because this time they're near and dear to Denny's heart. From there we go off to the lounge with an interview at San Francisco's Ferment Drink Repeat (who for the record are not sellouts - they're awesome). What sorta crazy person creates a homebrew shop and brewery? Well, listen and find out! After the lounge, it's time for a Q&A where we tackle brewers questions about Saison, getting their Red on, style guidelines and why sometimes brewers can be dicks. We come back to our "Something Other Than Beer" segment with Netflix inducing massive nostalgia in Drew and we close out with a tip from a South African listener about how to deal with the whole multiple keg carbonation issue. Episode Links: How Terrapin Quietly Sold Out - http://www.atlantamagazine.com/drinks/terrapin-quietly-sold-big-beer-bet... Hop Valley Sells Out -http://registergua

This episode starts with a brief stop at the brewery where we walk you through some of the newest things we're playing with! (Like Drew's new mill - review on the site) Then we ask - What happens when you get a whole bunch of brewers together and have them open up their breweries? Well, if they belong to the Falcons then it becomes their annual event "Brew with a Falcon". Denny tests out our spiffy phone interface and calls five brewers in the Los Angeles area as they're brewing. At least one of them will be familiar to you! See what sort of crazy beer is being made! Then it's time for our last turn around the block in Charm City as we present our HomeBrewCon presentation - "How To Brew Like An All-Star". The audio is courtesy of the American Homebrewer's Association. Did you know that all members of the AHA get free access to audio recordings and slide decks from all of the Con's presentations? To join the AHA just click on the AHA logo on our homepage! Support the podcast and the group that fights for you

Attention, attention... this episode is brought to you by an accidentally awesome quirk of fate. After we announced our experiment (Saison Yeast - Airlock vs. Open Ferment - Does it prevent "stall") way back when, our itinerant "Science" co-host Marshall Schott let us know that his site, Brulosophy.com was running the same experiment! We waited and coordinated our experimental results release. Marshall released his results earlier this week and now we get together and discuss our results plus his. There are a total of five experimental runs here and what do they say? Well, put yer earbuds in and listen! (And if you think this is the last time we're doing this.. ha, you don't know how all this works! Maybe we'll do it on purpose next time!) From our time in the Casa Verde labs, we move back to Baltimore and spend some time with the Free State Homebrew Club Guild at HomeBrewCon's "Craft Beer Kickoff" Party. We had a heck of a time with the various club members and we hope you learn a thing or two! (Plus, hey

First time ever! Denny and Drew and a thousand of their favorite friends are in the same room - the Expo hall at the 2016 American Homebrewer's Association "HomebrewCon". We sat down in the BrewcraftUSA booth and talked with a bunch of different folks including some of our sponsors and some of our very favorite people - including IGOR Nicki Forster who brought us a beer to taste, Marshall Schott who abused us with a triangle test and another listener, Keith Baker, who dropped a beer on Denny to make him crazy! This episode is jammed packed with questions, answers, and really interesting people so give it a listen! (Also this is your last chance to drop some money on the pooches before we get to our next charity!) Also, a big thanks to listener Chris Nelson for our wonderful "Wrath of Conn" poster that you see on the site. Episode Links: Patreon Remember even a buck is good for the dogs: http://www.patreon.com/experimentalbrewing Freedom Service Dogs: https://freedomservicedogs.org/ Homebrew Con - Registe

It's HomebrewCon Week! As this episode goes live we're at the hotel in Baltimore getting ready to rock out with some homebrew! So this episode is going to be a real "quick" one (for us). In feedback Denny talks about a great response he got from Spain and then Drew has to issue a correction from the Correctional Department of Corrections about a misstate he had about yeast strains. In the pub, we talk our "plans" for Homebrew Con in Baltimore in June - a live Q&A, a Troubleshooters Corner, Book Signings and more! Denny recounts his experience with the first "Zymurgy Live" put on by the AHA featuring Stan Hieronymus. Then Drew talks a bit about what might be a trend for the furutue of brewers pulling back from distribution. For the interview segment in the lounge, Drew interviewed two breweries located a mere 500 ft from each other physically but a world apart in terms of brewing philosophy. Our victims this week are the fine folks of Transplants Brewing and Lucky Lukes Brewing in Lancaster CA - about as f

As we get ready to head to the NHC, our schedules get a little screwy (we have one more episode before the Wrath of Conn Con) In feedback we hear about some fun experiences and a nice gesture on the part of a listener. Also we hear from others about Denny and Marshall's recent commentary about skipping over aeration/oxygenation In the pub, we talk our "plans" for Homebrew Con in Baltimore in June - a live Q&A, a Troubleshooters Corner, Book Signings and more! The Brewers Association gets their history on with one of America's great institutions - The Smithsonian. Denny talks his overwhelming experience at the Craft Brewers Conference. And lastly we ask "Has Craft Beer Gone Too Far?" In the library we discuss a great article from the Counter Brew website that does a really excellent job laying in the ground work for your knowledge about Brett. At the lab where we talk the recent obsession with the hazy style called "New England IPA". Specifically we cover the history and the theories behind the style and

Another episode and a new feature! Read on! In feedback we hear more about people's weight loss journies. Could we be on the way to skinny brewers? Also a listener chimes in to let us know that he won serious medalage with Drew's Peanut Butter Jelly Time recipe. In the pub, we talk our "plans" for Homebrew Con in Baltimore in June - a live Q&A, a Troubleshooters Corner, Book Signings and more! We talk about the 500th Anniversary of the Rheinheitsge-whatever and we revisit the Moonlight vs. Moonlight Trademark fight. In the library we discuss Scott Janish's great article about how dry hopping adds bitterness, just not the way you think it does! At the lab where we talk the next experiment you can join in on - Saison Yeast and the dreaded "stall". Drew's advocated a simple change - open fermentation - to avoid the nasty tendency that WLP 565 and Wyeast 3724 have to start strong, take a two week nap and then finish the job. Is he right? Let's see! We launch a new variety of interviews that we're tentative

Another episode and this time we're here with Olive Oil results! In the pub, we talk our "plans" for Homebrew Con in Baltimore in June - a live Q&A, a Troubleshooters Corner, Book Signings and more! We talk some gluten free barley, a new name for an old country and why some trademark fights make us sad. A new room is added to the house as we sit down in the library to discuss the imminent release of Homebrew All-Stars! Then to the lab where Marshall joins the guys as they discuss the IGOR's results of their Olive Oil vs. No Aeration efforts. Can you use Olive Oil to cheaply replace aeration? We go to Dallas where Drew talks with Barrett Tillman of both Black Man Yeast and Deep Ellum Brewing Company about his experiences as a brewer, his love of all things sour and funky and why he decided to start a mini-yeast company. After that, we're off to the books as we try and answer more listener questions. Drew adds a quick tip about immersion circulators and brewing Lastly, the guys hit the kitchen as Denny

It's Episode 12 and we're announcing our next experiment amongst other things! We start with listener feedback - everyone was intrigued by and puzzled by the results of our First Wort Hop experiment. So were we! At the pub, we talk about how the results of the GC election with lots of teasing that's not meant to be taken seriously! We announce that we have "plans" for Homebrew Con in Baltimore in June. Denny gets to rant and rave at the moon with his latest pet peeve and Drew shares an awesome example of how sometimes the customer isn't right at all. We make a quick stop in the brewery to talk about getting your beer can on Then to the lab where we dig into every homebrewer's experience. You go to the homebrew shop full of good intentions, buy some grain and mill it. Then you can't brew for a month or two - is your grain still good? Oh bother - guess we'll find out, won't we? We go to the Pacific Northwest Homebrewers Conference where Denny interviews Annie Johnson - one of our favorite brewers. Not only

It's Episode 11 and experimental results are back! We start with listener feedback - namely, y'all really loved the Session Beer Recipe collection and the Q&A episode. Looks like we're going to have to keep answering questions! At the pub, we talk about how hops are being explored as actual medicine and why sadly this doesn't mean your Quadruple IPA is about to become "healthy", how our sponsor PicoBrew went to 11 for Denny and discuss why we feel that bars and breweries should offer samplers (and why the money crunchers back us up on this assertion). Then to the lab where we comb through the results of Denny's favorite experiment - First Wort Hopping vs. 60 minute bittering. First though we start with listener Tim Hagan's fairly clear explanation of the meaning of P-Value. We also talk about why some folks are encouraging a move away from P-Value as the end all be all of science. And then we dig into the experiment! What new and interesting twists did our IGORs find this time? Is there an actual impact h

It's Episode 10 and it's finally time to see if we're as smart as we say we are. We discuss the listener response to our Session Beer efforts and promise to post a kickass list of session beer recipes. (Link below) We run off to the pub and discuss the recently concluded Pacific Northwest Homebrewers Conference and the lameness of "pink washing" and silly sexism. And then to the lecture hall where "Professors" Denny and Drew sit down and try and see how long they can fake actually knowing anything. For listener ease we've broken the questions up into categories so you can find things more easily. OVer the course of twenty some odd questions we tackle questions about ingredients, process, styles, yeast and everything else. Before we leave, Drew gives a brief shout out to two very impactful passings that recently occurred. One to the man whose decision in the 70's still impacts us to this day. The other, well, that one's more important to Chihuahua owners. Episode Links: Freedom Service Dogs - https://freedoms

It's Episode 9 - last call for questions before the big Q&A episode! (Send your questions to questions@experimentalbrew.com) We run off to the pub and discuss feedback abut the potential canning crisis, the unbearable BS of science, the now sold out Pacific Northwest Homebrewers Conference and Hops in Drew's hometown. And then to the lab where the guys launch the next experiment. Is there a detectable difference between adding Olive Oil as an aeration replacement and just not adding any aeration/oxygen at all! We go into the history of the whole Olive Oil excitement and why they think everyone has it a little wrong. With the approach of Session Beer Day - April 7th - we get beer writer extraordinaire and Session Beer Project creator, Lew Bryson on the phone and go through the history of the project, the beer day and what Lew ultimately wants to achieve! We take a brief detour to provide everyone with some homebrew advice so you can have a session beer of your own on tap for Session Day! Denny drops another qu

In Episode 8 - Denny and Drew remind listeners about the upcoming Q&A episode. (Send your questions to questions@experimentalbrew.com) They run off to the pub and discuss a potential canning crisis, actual grown up science, the upcoming Pacific Northwest Homebrewers Conference and Denny's run for the Governing Committee. Then they visit a new location for the podcast - the brewery (who woulda guessed) to discuss the availability of the Idaho 7 hop (currently branded 007 The Golden Hop) and Weyermann's Barke Malt. And then to the lab where the guys are joined by Marshall "Brulosophy" Schott, to discuss the results of the Hop Whirlpool Temperature Test. Does it make a difference if you whirlpool your hops at 120F instead of 170F. (In theory, fewer hop oils get volatilized at the lower temp). What was the result? Listen! Once again, hoppy times are brought to you by NikoBrew.com! Back to the Bay Area - no not the San Francisco Bay Area - the Tampa Bay Area where Drew conducts an interview with Brian Fenstermache

In Episode 7 - Denny and Drew take a spin through listener reactions to the first experiment results unleashed online and in the podcast. Then it's off to the pub where they discuss the rise of homebrewing around the globe (focused on an article about Indian homebrewers), Denny wields the eraser of correction about the beers he tried from Barrel of Monks and Drew talks up Lew Bryson's Session Beer Day project. And then to the lab where the guys launch the next experiment - all about the First Wort Hop. This time out the crew is set on re-creating Denny's classic experiment that yielded inconclusive results about FWH. Ignore the recipe content in the podcast because the IGORs asked for a recipe change and who are the guys to deny them that? Once again, hoppy times are brought to you by NikoBrew.com! Time to announce the podcast's first charity project - Freedom Service Dogs of America. They're dedicated to rescuing and training shelter dogs to serve as support animals for the disabled, including returning vets

In Episode 6 - Denny and Drew look to even more listener feedback. In the pub we promulgate a public service announcement near and dear to Denny's heart, investigate rumors of nefarious hop dealings and reminisce about Denny's time in the big snowy territory of Vail. And then we go to the lab where we discuss the first ever results delivered by our IGOR crew. Is there a discernable difference between Wyeast 1056 and WLP001? Marshall "Brulosopher" Schott of Brulosophy.com joins us to provide his view on the data provided by our IGORs and the vast swath of tasters. Back to the Bay Area we're onto Faction Brewing in Alameda and the ever voluble Rodger Davis. This is part one of two parts thanks to all the stories Rodger has at his disposal! Finally we take your questions, Drew talks about pressure and Denny remembers David Bowie and Alan Rickman. So, what do you guys think of our results? Do you agree? Disagree? Try brewing the test yourself and see what you find! Episode Links: Dangers About Grapefruit - http:

In Episode 5 - Denny and Drew look back at the Brew Year's Resolutions where we've had a bunch of feedback from listeners. We talk in the pub about the latest in acquisitions with the sweet spicy addition of hypocrisy - throw in a little competition and Denny's soon to be appearance in Vail. After that we return to the lab to present our second experiment. This time we're exploring if throwing hops into a whirlpool steep at a lower temperature (120F) makes a qualitative difference in the beer over throwing them in at the "new" recommended temperature of 170F. In theory, 120F should preserve more of the volatile aromatic compounds we care about, but does it actually matter? Back to the Bay Area we go with a pint at Oakland's very lovely Trappist where we talk with Nick Impellitteri of the Yeast Bay about his unique take on a yeast company and what he truly enjoys in regards to the little critters. He's got some fun directions he's hoping to take things and who knows - they may be future cross collaborations t

In Episode 4 - Denny and Drew reflect on the feedback we received about our discussion of the decline of homebrewing before we head to the Pub to talk about socially conscious brewing projects like Lady Justice Brewing in Denver and we talk about the Brew Tube community and how they're coming together after a loss. After that we return to Casa Verde to make plans and let the universe laugh at us as we reveal what our Brew Years Resolutions are. Seriously, that's just asking for failure. We'll see in a year no matter how much Denny protests the topic! Back to the Bay Area we go with another round of San Francisco treats as we bring you our first listener tasting ever. Things get a little dicey and Drew has to run. Warning the audio does get a little hairy! Note to listeners - if you know we'll be somewhere, feel free to bring beer for us to taste. It's a mandate of our parole from the Gambrinus Asylum for the Brewingly Insane that we taste your beer and offer critiques. Be warned though - you may end up on t