Our beloved porter has seen it all. It went from the rough-hewn, smoky seminal macrobrew in early 18th-century England, to the first truly international beer in the 19th century, to near extinction in the 1970s, all in a span of 250 years. It was thankfully resurrected by CAMRA and American microbrewers in the 1970s.
What a great time to be a brewer. From progressive and avant-garde beers to the authentic, Old-World stalwarts, we can savor them all. And in many ways, we can thank the homebrewers, whose ranks nourished, inspired and galvanized the microbrewery movement and continue to do so today.
After 24 years of homebrewing, I am still mesmerized by the hypnotic churning and billowing suds of fermenting wort as it is metamorphosed into beer by the humble fungus, yeast. More than a mere catalyst, yeast can exert the most influence of any ingredient.
Homebrewers have a particular affection and appreciation for dark beers. Often considered too harsh, bitter and assertive by the timid or uninitiated, they are just as often agreeable, even mellow. The proper use of roasted grain and malt makes them possible, and in some cases they are fairly defined, or even dominated by these emphatic specialty ingredients. Read More…
Warm weather presents something of a dilemma for brewers, as yeast is wont to misbehave under high temperatures. Rather than letting the brewhouse lie fallow, use this period to brew saison, the seasonal, quirky farmhouse brew of Wallonia in southern Belgium. Modern saison differs from its historical counterparts in some ways, and with regard to yeast, this works to the brewer’s advantage. Read More…
Said to be at least 9,000 years old, mead is considered our most ancient intentionally fermented beverage. The uninitiated assume that today’s mead is heavy and cloyingly sweet, a surprisingly prevalent misconception. To be sure, mead can be made sweet, but honey as a medium allows for a vast number of interpretations, the majority of which would destroy any preconceived notion of its character. Home meadmakers know this well, and the variety that this writer has run across is mind-numbing, in more ways than one. Varietal honey alone offers dozens of choices and even brings with it a distinctly regional flair. With that in mind, and since this is a column dedicated to beer brewing, a natural path worthy of exploration is the melding of mead and beer: braggot. Read More…
