Following primary fermentation, immature beer is far from finished because it contains suspended particles, lacks sufficient carbonation, lacks taste and aroma, and it is physically and microbiologically unstable. Conditioning reduces the levels of these undesirable compounds to produce a more finished product. The component processes…
Time for a pop quiz! What common beverage helped start the agricultural revolution, helps prevent kidney stones, and has been around for thousands of years? If you said beer you would be correct. Man’s favorite drink has been around for several thousand years and holds…
SMaSH beers are beers that are brewed with a Single Malt variety (SM) and a Single Hop variety (SH). SMaSH beers are great beers to learn about ingredients and how they can affect the brewing process, since each ingredient is isolated and the differences between…
At the close of the 1970s, there were 44 brewing companies in the United States that all made nearly identical beers. Light, easy-drinking and largely tasteless lagers were the American beer du jour—unless, of course, you bought imported beers. Since then, American craft brewers…
Water quality is very important to beer. After all, beer is mostly water. Historically, a correlation was observed between the liquor composition of an area and the type of beer that the region could best brew. The Pale Ales of Burton-on-Trent and Edinburgh, Porters of…
There are eleven active breweries in Alabama. Follow the links to each website. Avondale Brewing Company in Birmingham, Alabama http://www.avondalebrewing.com/ Back Forty Beer Company in Gadsden, Alabama http://backfortybeer.com/ Beer Engineers in Birmingham, Alabama http://beer-engineers.com/ Blue Pants Brewery in Madison, Alabama http://www.bluepantsbrew.com/ Cahaba Brewing Company in Birmingham, Alabama http://www.cahababrewing.com/ Fairhope Brewing Company in Fairhope, Alabama www.fairhopebrewing.com Good People…
Integrated with mythology and discovered independently by most ancient civilizations, the earliest records we do have tell us that beer has been heartily appreciated for as long as it’s been talked about and brewing it has been deemed a most serious and important job. Very…
You wouldn’t think that something as seemingly mundane as filtration could elicit such strong emotions among brewers and beer drinkers, but it does. Most mass-produced beers are filtered to give them a bright clarity. Most home brewers and many craft brewers do not filter their…
Have you met Weedy? He’s our bearded assistant brewer who’s a long time homebrewer and a big part of the big batch brewing with us. He’s been homebrewing for much longer than you’d expect (especially given his age) and does a damn fine job of…
In 1890, there were over 2,000 breweries in the United States. In 1933, after Prohibition ended with the 21st Amendment to the Constitution, only about 300 breweries renewed production. More than 800 breweries died during Prohibition. As the U.S. ramped up the commitment to freeing the…
Beginners Homebrewing Class 
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