When I first started out on my brewing journey, I bought a Brooklyn Brew Shop Punk IPA kit. I'd love to say that my first batch turned out well, but honestly, it didn't taste great at all. Over time I started to produce better beers, and for a few years after that I used a mis-match collection of pots and pans for brewing. Eventually, I decided to invest in a Grainfather G30 and it has certainly made brewing more fun. I am always interested in making small tweaks and improvements to my brewing process and I recently brewed a Lager using the decoction mashing method. If you've not heard of de ..read more

Many of you may have heard of ChatGPT. Over the past few weeks and months, its been all over news articles on the web.  If you've not heard of it before, it is a chatbot that you can ask questions and it will respond with articulate answers across many domains of knowledge. I wanted to test it out and what better way than to do so than with a homebrew recipe! I asked it to produce a recipe for a 25 liter Hazy Pale Ale and this is what it came up with. Ingredients 19 liters of water 3.6 kg of pale malt 0.9 kg of wheat malt 0.45 kg of oats malt 60 g of Mosaic hops (60 minutes) 30 g of Mos ..read more

I've been brewing for a few years now, and while I have a pretty good handle on how different temperatures can affect the wort you produce during the brewing process, I often have to remind myself. When it comes to my own learning, I often find that the best way to learn is to write things down and try to explain it myself - so here goes! In this article, we will explore how mash temperatures affect the brewing process, the impact of temperature on the conversion of starches into sugars, and the effects of temperature on the finished beer. Mash Temperature As every brewer knows, you need to m ..read more

Ever since I brewed my first New England IPA (or Hazy Beer), I've been on a quest to achieve the perfect haze that not only looks good, but sticks around too. Far too often, I've brewed a hazy beer that drops clear after a few months in the keg. I've also previously blogged about the different techniques that professional brewers use to lock in haze stability in their beers. I recently came across a product from Totally Natural Solutions called HopGain® Haze which is hop extract that you dose into a finished beer to add long lasting haze. According to the website, the product: Imparts no fla ..read more

It's that time of the year - Christmas! There are some awesome gifts out there for homebrewers. This is my list of things that I think are pretty awesome - some of them are pricey, some a bit cheaper but hey....a guy can dream...right? Oh, and as you read this article, it's worth noting that none of these are sponsored or adverts - these are just some things that I think are pretty cool. So without further ado - these are my top 10 Christmas presents for homebrewers. GCast Bluetooth Wifi Bridge Like many homebrewers, I own a Grainfather G30. It's super easy to operate and has become my trusted ..read more

Have you ever brewed a beer and noticed that it didn't quite seem like it was "balanced"? Maybe it tasted too sweet, or even too bitter. Believe it or not, there is a useful tool called the BU/GU ratio that can help you with this. The BU/GU Ratio of a beer stands for bitterness units (IBUs) divided by the gravity units. As a brewer, it helps you determine the amount of bitterness balanced with the sweetness of your beer. The higher the BU/GU ratio, the higher the bitterness. Conversely, the lower the ratio, the lower the bitterness (and higher the sweetness). In terms of a ratio, you should i ..read more

For many years, I've been using ingredients from all over the globe to try and brew authentic styles of beer. There is nothing quite like punchy American hops in a West IPA, Noble hops in a crisp Lager or floral East Kent Goldings in an English Ale. With that said, I think there is something quite romantic about the idea of using local ingredients to inject a bit of terroir into my beer. I've always loved the idea of using as many locally sourced ingredients as possible when making my beer whether it be foraged fruit, homegrown hops or even wild yeast. I've had a go at trying most things in m ..read more

When it comes to beer styles, I am a big fan of Hazy IPA's (also known as NEIPA's). They are an easy drinking style with a soft, pillowy mouthfeel that burst with tropical, fruity flavours. When it comes to building a recipe for Hazy IPA's, I like to use a hefty whirlpool and dry hop of amazing American hops such as Citra, Mosaic, Idaho 7, Eukanot and Azacca. I recently saw an article about the idea of brewing a New England IPA with English only hops which definitely caught my attention. Being based in the U.K., the idea of using local ingredients is very appealing. However, if you've ever us ..read more

As most of you may know already, having an insight into the specific gravity of your beer can help you understand the progress of your brews and whether or not there are any potential issues. I recently purchased a Tilt Hydrometer to keep a track of my brews and I have to say that I am really impressed with this little device. A Tilt Hydrometer is a free-floating digital hydrometer and thermometer for continuous real-time monitoring. It takes no time to set up and gives me accurate gravity readings. Most of all, it helps me easily determine when my beer is finished without having to take a sa ..read more

Over the past few years, I've been brewing Hazy IPAs that are so delicious that they don't last longer than a few weeks in the keg before they get finished! I've always been really happy with how my Hazy IPAs (or NEIPAs) have turned out. From an aroma and flavour point of view they were spot on - a silky mouthfeel and bursting with tropical hop flavours. The thing is....something was missing from them. As time went on, they all seemed to have one thing in common. When I leave them in the keg for a couple of months (or more) they all seem to drop clear and lose their "haze". In those first few ..read more