Basic Brewing Radio

Homebrewer Nick Johnson shares his ambitious experiment brewing graf with apple juice along with four malt extracts and five yeast strains.

James and Steve sample small batches brewed with specialty malts from Sugar Creek Malt Company – lavender smoke, crystal rye, and bourbon barrel aged chocolate malt.

James and Steve taste small batches with Swedish hops sent by listener Marcus: Svalof Mauritz, Korsta and Hulla Norrgard.

Caleb Michalke and John Beal from Sugar Creek Malt Company in Indiana talk about using traditional techniques to create some innovative malts.

Casey Helwig from Imperial Organic Yeast walks us through three standard procedures to test the quality of our wort.

Chris Colby, author of How to Make Hard Seltzer, addresses some of the factors in keeping yeast happy and healthy in fermentations.

Garrett from the Man Made Mead YouTube channel walks us through four experiments he's done challenging traditional wisdom in brewing meads.

James talks with Grant Heuer, Lucas Greta and Betsy Duffy from Gezellig Brewing in Newton, Iowa, about their recent extremely sucessful competition performance.

James and Steve taste individual examples and a blend of a traditional European hop and a relatively new American one.

James and Steve round out a disastrous year with two full hours of brewing disaster letters from listeners.

Glenn Cole, brewer at Hofbrauhaus in St. Louis, takes us through the elaborate decoction process he uses to brew Dunkel.

Homebrewer Matt Giovanisci talks about living the dream of turning a spare garage into a perfect spot to brew.

Longtime listener Greig McGill of Brewaucracy in Hamilton, New Zealand, collaborates with James on a deliciously hoppy low-gravity rye and wheat beer.

James and Steve sample three dark beers made with malts designed to contribute color over roastiness.

Homebrewer Bruce Hanley shares his version of a traditional Ethiopian mead made of honey with gesho leaves and stems.

Amahl Turczyn, author of A Year of Good Beer - a page-a-day calendar, joins us to talk about the process of turning beer in to vinegar.

In the 18th episode of the series, James and Steve taste a Hop Sampler with two very popular hops and a blend of the two.

Glenn Cole of Midwest Ale Works talks about a beer designed to raise money and awareness for farmers and communities devastated by this past summer's derecho.

Chris Colby, author of How to Make Hard Seltzer, gives us ideas to brew some tasty holiday beers and answers questions about flavoring seltzer and using potatoes in brewing.

Mike Tonsmeire, the Mad Fermentationist and co-founder of Sapwood Cellars, gives us tips on going back to the roots of the Imperial Stout style.