Episodes

Every year we do a Q&A for our partners at Brew Your Own Magazine. It’s a loose easy going affair of questions from the crowd. Sit back and listen to the audio version of that Q&A and don’t forget you can subscribe to BYO and support the podcast! Episode Links: Homebrewers Association: https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/experimental Patreon Remember even a buck is good for charity: http://www.patreon.com/experimentalbrewing Episode Contents: 00:00:00 Introduction and Questions This epis...

A Cider Tote The Brew Is Out There! On this week’s episode of the Brew Files, we get ready for the fall with a quick lesson in making America’s founding beverage – cider. We come at it from two different points of view (surprise!) since Denny has actual apple trees and Drew has a giant city surrounding him (but apple orchards a short drive away!) But together, we’ll get you to the right answer about to make great cider from some bad apples! Links The Everything Hard Cider Book – http://amzn....

Drew’s still under the weather with something fun and exciting. So we’re taking a quick spin around the world of beer news and what we’re prepping/brewing! Episode Links: Homebrewers Association: https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/experimental WIBS Summit: https://wcfa.beer/wibs23/ The Two Most Popular IPAs in America: https://vinepair.com/booze-news/voodoo-ranger-ipa-collection-sales/ Not All Linalool Is the Same: https://phys.org/news/2023-09-year-old-assumption-beer-aroma.html Birds Fly...

Drew’s sick this week – so in celebration of Masa pouring Guavaaahhh at the Great American Beer Festival – a replay! (Note for GABF, he and Arts District Brewing used Oregon Fruit Puree for the guava) The Brew Is Out There! The annual Doug King Memorial Competition celebrating Doug’s craziness has a new winner – Masa Kitano of the Socal Cerveceros with his Guavaaahhh Gose. Drew talks with Masa about how he got into homebrewing, what inspired this fruit filled Gose and his experiments with Wet H...

What does the new year of hops have in store for us? Denny reports on what he found during this year’s Hop & Brew School at Yakima Chief Hops! Episode Links: Homebrewers Association: https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/experimental Rev Nat Cidery Closing: https://www.oregonlive.com/beer/2023/09/rev-nats-hard-cider-to-close-operations-6-months-after-opening-new-taproom.html Recreated Classic Paintings with Beer: https://www.boredpanda.com/famous-paintings-recreated-beer-scott-clendaniel/ Anc...

The Brew Is Out There! Every since the announcement that Anchor was shutting down, we’ve had Steam California Common beer on the mind. Drew sat down with Sherwin and Kirk of Brewyard Beer Company, possible America’s largest brewer of California Common beer these days. Find out why they use Cal Common yeast for 75% of their beer! Links: Brewyard Beer Company: https://www.brewyardbeercompany.com/ This episode is brought to you by: American Homebrewers Association Brewing America Grainfather ...

As fall creeps into view, it’s time to talk about that most controversial of beer add-ons – smoke. We sit down with multiple award winning homebrewer Jeff Gladish to discuss his love of smoked beers and just how easy it is to make your own custom cold smoked malts at home with a Weber grill and 20 feet of ducting Episode Links: Homebrewers Association: https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/experimental Martyn Cornell on Steam Beer: https://zythophile.co.uk/2023/07/21/steam-beer-from-yukon-to-...

The Brew Is Out There! Bread and beer have been intertwined across human history and so in the spirit of home fermentation, we talked with Jeff Renner, an experienced homebrewer and even more experienced baker to talk the ancient art of baking and why you don’t need to overthink it, even your sourdough starter Links: Jeff’s Sourdough Instructions: https://aabg.org/2010/01/21/sourdough-starter-instructions/ King Arthur’s “Extra Tangy Sourdough”: https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/extra-t...

What do homebrewers do when they lose a friend? They make beer! Drew sits down with Marc Gorfinkle and Andy Blaz to tell their wild story of commemorating their friend Devin Stewart by taking a wild trip to the magic brewery of Fantome! Episode Links: Homebrewers Association: https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/experimental The Homebrew Recipe: https://beersmithrecipes.com/viewrecipe/4607943/mayor-unusuals-meeow-fantome-collab-w-the-brahery Fantome: https://fantome.be/ Patreon Remember eve...

The Brew Is Out There! Nothing goes better with an ice cold beer than a fiery salsa or hot sauce and there’s no reason that you can’t make your own sauce at home! In honor of National Home Fermentation Day, Brian Trout walks you through sauces from fresh to fermented with a stop at salsa macha to kick us off. Links: Brian Ferments: https://www.brianferments.com/ San DiFUEGO Hot Sauce Club: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sandifuego/ Tabasco Factory Tour: https://youtu.be/Xnaj9ULhwqU Online Fo...

While at HomeBrewCon, Drew sat down with Luis and Roxy of the Tijuana Homebrew Club to talk about the homebrew scene in Mexico, how they got started brewing and why Roxy is the better brewer Episode Links: Homebrewers Association: https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/experimental The Bru Show – Mario/Mushroom Beer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyCJ3LlHq2Q Tijuana Homebrew Club: http://www.tijuanahomebrewclub.com/ Unsolved Mysteries: https://www.peacocktv.com/watch/asset/tv/unsolved-myster...

The Brew Is Out There! Homebrewers often chant “Don’t Fear the Foam”. Old barflys get annoyed at any wasted space in their glass, but Jen Blair is here to remind you to “Respect the Foam”. Sit back and find out her thoughts on what makes for a beautiful glass of beer Links: Under the Jen-fluence: https://underthejenfluence.beer/ This episode is brought to you by: American Homebrewers Association Brewing America Grainfather Don’t forget to subscribe via your favorite podcasting service (iT...

Live from San Diego – It’s the Denny and Drew and Friends Show! Seriously, we’re joined by our friends from HomeBrewCon to talk the conference and homebrewing while enjoying a few wonderful homebrews as well! Episode Links: Homebrewers Association: https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/experimental HomeBrewCon: https://www.homebrewcon.org/ Jeff’s Rye Pilsner: https://www.experimentalbrew.com/2023/07/14/rye-pilsner/ Jeff’s Mecca Doppelbock: https://www.experimentalbrew.com/2023/07/14/jeff-rank...

The Brew Is Out There! We’re going way back in time with Dr. Travis Rupp, the Beer Archaeologist. We’re tackling the question of “what is beer”, “what has it been over the course of human history”, and “what does it mean for us as brewers today?” Also, why did the Romans steal everything, including the Greek disdain for beer? Links: The Beer Archaeologist: https://www.thebeerarchaeologist.com/ This episode is brought to you by: American Homebrewers Association Brewing America Grainfather ...

It’s here! As we publish, HomeBrewCon is happening and Denny Kong hits the taps! Drew sits down with Kelsey to discuss the recipe and why it does what we think is the “Modern IPA” Episode Links: Homebrewers Association: https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/experimental HomeBrewCon: https://www.homebrewcon.org/ Rosa Merckx: https://embracethefunk.com/2020/03/30/rosa-merckx-the-icon-you-need-to-know/ Danish Painters and Beer: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/painting-beer-brew-yeast-art-can...

The Brew Is Out There! It’s summertime in SoCal and that means its time to grab a beach vacation in a glass. Drew sits down with Kevin Limon of Montebello’s Angry Horse Brewing to discuss Mexican lagers – light and dark. Grab a cerveza! Links: Angry Horse Brewing: https://angryhorsebrewing.com/ This episode is brought to you by: American Homebrewers Association Brewing America Grainfather Don’t forget to subscribe via your favorite podcasting service (iTunes, etc). Like our podcast, revie...

Drew’s favorite festival of the year just happened and look at that – Drew had a recorder with him to catch up with Andy Carter, Julia Herz and Andy Gamelin at the Southern California Homebrewers Festival Episode Links: Homebrewers Association: https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/experimental HomeBrewCon: https://www.homebrewcon.org/ California Homebrewers Association: https://www.calhomebrewers.org/ Society du Lambic Part 1: https://www.experimentalbrew.com/2022/07/02/brew-files-123-societ...

The Brew Is Out There! Disasters. Accidents. Incidents. Call them what you will, but a moment’s missed attention in the brewery can cause bad things to happen. In this episode, Denny and Drew cover some of the more common things that can happen and importantly, how to keep them from happening again!. Links: This episode is brought to you by: American Homebrewers Association Brewing America Grainfather Don’t forget to subscribe via your favorite podcasting service (iTunes, etc). Like our p...

It’s festival season and Denny and Drew catch up – including Denny’s experience with the Falcons and what happened with Drew’s massive brewday! Episode Links: Homebrewers Association: https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/experimental HomeBrewCon: https://www.homebrewcon.org/ Clay from JaDeD’s GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/clays-road-back Did the Pursuit of Beer Styles Lead Us Down A Blind Alley: https://www.beervanablog.com/beervana/2023/5/4/did-the-pursuit-of-beer-styles-lead-us-down...

The Brew Is Out There! Vinnie Cilurzo has never forgotten his roots as a homebrewer and freely shares his knowledge with the crowd. We’re dropping you into the chaos of the 3rd Anniversary Happy Hour of the Maltose Falcons with Russian River as Drew, Vinnie and a cast of others, taste the classic Pliny the Elder and discuss what’s changed and why it works so well. Links: Russian River Brewing: https://www.russianriverbrewing.com/ The Zymurgy Recipe for Pliny the Elder: https://www.homebrewer...

Homebrew clubs are awesome and we can prove it! Entering it’s 6th year, the American Homebrewer’s Association’s Radegast Club of the Year Award seeks to recognize the crazy amazing things they do. We talk with the AHA’s Matt Bollng about the award and how your club can win! And we dig into a bunch of Saison info as well as the beer news and brewing fun! Episode Links: Homebrewers Association: https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/experimental HomeBrewCon: https://www.homebrewcon.org/ Cantillon...

Stephen Porr has been brewing and YouTubing for years and by reputation making great beers. How good? Denny finds out! Plus we finally get a chance to try David James’ Czech Amber! Episode Links: Homebrewers Association: https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/experimental HomeBrewCon: https://www.homebrewcon.org/ Drekker – Mac-Prrrt-roni Mac and Cheese Beer – https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=535421142118124 Guinness Closing in Maryland – https://www.wbaltv.com/article/guinness-closing-manufac...

The Brew Is Out There! Drew’s procrastination has caught up with him and now he’s gotta scramble to make beers in time for the Southern California Homebrewer’s Festival. What’s his plan and how can you do the same? Links: California Homebrewers Association: https://www.calhomebrewers.org/ Mild/Saison “2fer”: https://share.brewfather.app/xSmBVUsWYuuNss Michigan Spring Cold Pale: https://share.brewfather.app/Fwa2NzmFAeDshR This episode is brought to you by: American Homebrewers Association Br...

After hearing our confusion and musing on “What is Cold IPA”, listener and brewer David Basile offered us his Cold IPA and his take and notes on the style! And to double up the IPA content – Denny sent Drew his latest West Coast DIPA to break down. Episode Links: Homebrewers Association: https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/experimental HomeBrewCon: https://www.homebrewcon.org/ The Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Mixed Case: https://shop.sierranevada.com/products/bigfoot-vertical-12-pack-ca 5000 Year ...