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Basic Brewing Radio™ 2008
December 18, 2008 - Beer Pet Peeves
On the last episode of 2008, James and Steve help listeners air their frustrations with the remarks of the uninitiated.
December 11, 2008 - Smoked Beers
Chris Colby, editor of Brew Your Own magazine tells us about smoked beers and how to make our own at home.
December 4, 2008 - Beer Blending Experiment
Michael Tonsmeire, The Mad Fermentationist, leads James, Steve, and Andy through an exercise of blending beers together to create better ones.
November 27, 2008 - Brett Pack Beer Dinner
We celebrate Thanksgiving week by remembering our beer dinner with the Brett Pack. Join James and Andy for dinner with Adam Avery, Vinnie Cilurzo, Rob Tod, Tomme Arthur, and Sam Calagione.
November 20, 2008 - Attenuation Experiments
Home brewer Kai Troester joins us again to take us through his extensive experiments on the factors affecting attenuation in the mash tun.
- Kai's site
- Kai's experiments as pdf
November 13, 2008 - Building a Kegerator
Chris Colby, editor of Brew Your Own magazine gives us tips on how to build our own kegerator at home. Chris also updates us on the world hop situation.
November 6, 2008 - GABF Grab Bag
A collection of short interviews from Denver: David Myers of Redstone Meadery, Pro-Am brewer David Schollmeyer, author Maureen Ogle, and Greg Koch of Stone Brewery.
October 30, 2008 - Brewing Against the Grain
We talk to home brewers Vickie Watson and Ken Dollar from Mississippi, where home brewing is illegal. We also talk to Mazen Hajjar, owner of the first brewpub in Beirut, Lebanon: 961 Beer.
October 23, 2008 - Pro Brewers: Odell's and Great Divide
James and Andy get brewing tips from Jake O'Mara from Odell Brewing Company and Taylor Rees and Alan Johnson of Great Divide.
October 16, 2008 - LongShot 2008 Winners
In our first episode back from the Great American Beer Festival, we talk to the winners and runners up in the Sam Adams LongShot competition.
October 9, 2008 - Late Season Hop Care and Listener E-mail
James and Andy sit on the deck, talk about how to take care of homegrown hops at the end of the season, and answer some listener e-mail.
October 2, 2008 - Brewer Profile: Steve Mazylewski - Hog Haus
Steve Mazylewski, brewer at The Hog Haus in Fayetteville, Arkansas, sits down with James and Steve to sample his Oktoberfest, Pumpkin Spice Ale and IPA.
September 25, 2008 - ANHC and Rogue Harvest Ale
Andy Davison, chairman of the Australian National Homebrewing Conference, talks with us about preparations for their inaugural event. Also, Brett Joyce, president of Rogue tells us about their venture into growing hops.
September 18, 2008 - Sour Mashing
Chris Colby, editor of Brew Your Own magazine, explains the process of sour mashing. Whether you're adjusting pH or making a sour beer, Chris says sour mashing is easy to do.
September 11, 2008 - Understanding Attenuation
Home Brewer Kai Troester explains the concept of attenuation, the factors that affect it and how we can test the attenuation potential of our wort.
- Kai's Understanding Attenuation site
September 4, 2008 - Brewing Gadgets
Home brewer John Chubick of Bloomington, Illinois joins us to talk about his homebrew hop dryer, stir plate and temperature controller.
John's videos on YouTube:
- Video One
- Video Two
August 28, 2008 - French Press Hopping
James and Andy try out one of the hop stretching methods explained by Chris Colby on the previous show: steeping hops in a French press coffee maker.
- New England Apple Ale recipe
August 21, 2008 - Stretching Hops
Chris Colby, editor of Brew Your Own magazine explains some tips on how to get the most out of our precious hops. Also, how to use a French press coffee maker in the process.
August 14, 2008 - Roasting Coffee
Home brewer and coffee roaster Scott Koué of San Francisco joins us to talk about roasting our own coffee. Home roasted coffee can add more creative control into home brewed coffee beers.
August 7, 2008 - Aeration: Shaking vs Pumping
Scientist and home brewer Fred Johnson of Apex North Carolina shares his experiment comparing fermenter shaking against aquarium pumping for aeration. Also, advice for cleaning Better Bottles.
- Fred's Experiment PDF
July 31, 2008 - Mt. Carmel Brewing
We sit down with Mike Dewey of Mt. Carmel Brewing Company in Cincinnati, Ohio - a commercial home-based brewery.
July 24, 2008 - Turbid Mashing
Chris Colby of Brew Your Own Magazine explains the Belgian technique of turbid mashing, which makes the most of limited mash tun space.
July 17, 2008 - Randy Mosher - Belgium Nobody Knows
Our National Homebrewers Conference coverage from Cincinnati concludes with an interview from Randy Mosher. Randy talks about Belgian beer history and culture he found in a rare book.
July 10, 2008 - NHC Wrapup Pt. 2
Our National Homebrewers Conference coverage from Cincinnati continues. We have interviews with Ant Hayes, Greg Doss, Ray Daniels, Ken Schramm, and Craig Ballenger.
July 3, 2008 - NHC Wrapup Pt. 1
Steve joins James as they begin their collection of interviews gathered from experts at the National Homebrewers Conference in Cincinnati. This week: Dave Wills, Michael Ferguson and Chris White.
June 26, 2008 - Jim Koch NHC Keynote
Jim Koch, founder of the Boston Beer Company, gives an inspiring keynote address to the National Homebrewers Conference in Cincinnati.
May 29, 2008 - Brewing Green
James and Steve read letters from listeners with tips on how to brew greener and cheaper.
May 22, 2008 - Mead Basics
Mike Lozano, home brewer and mead maker from Aurora, Colorado, takes us through the basics of mead making from the ground up.
- Mike's Mythic Mountain blog
May 15, 2008 - Alternate Hopping Strategies
Michael Tonsmeire, the Mad Fermentationist, shares three beers that have had hops added in "non-traditional" schedules.
May 8, 2008 - Dandelion Wine
Tired of looking at those dandelions in your yard? Home brewer Don Osborn tells us how to put them to good use in the fermenter.
- Don's Dandelion Wine recipe page
iTunes | Streaming mp3
May 1, 2008 - Beer Eye for the Wine Guy
Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library TV brings the thunder to BBR and gives us his perspectives on the art of tasting as he samples homebrew.
April 24, 2008 - Homegrown Hops Revisited
Chris Colby, editor of Brew Your Own magazine, answers questions from listeners about growing hops in containers and other home growing issues.
April 17, 2008 - Brewer Michael Lalli of Choc Beer
James and Steve sit down with the head brewer of the largest brewery in Oklahoma to share beers and tips on how to brew better beers.
April 10, 2008 - The Science of Skunking
Chemistry professor Brad Sturgeon of Monmouth College explains the science behind beer skunking and what kind of glass is best to protect against it.
Download Brad's Paper
April 3, 2008 - Tasmanian Hop Harvest
Matt Kirkegaard, editor of Beer and Brewer Magazine fills us in on the state of the hop harvest in Australia and tells us about the beer and brewing culture in his part of the world.
March 27, 2008 - Homebrew Goes to College
Dr. Andrew McMichael of Western Kentucky University tells us about his History and Science of Beer and Brewing course that incorporates home brewing.
March 20, 2008 - What Is an IBU . . . Really?
John Palmer, author of How to Brew, shares information from a conference that challenged his concept of what defines an International Bitterness Unit (IBU).
- Also mentioned: Australian National Homebrewing Conference
March 13, 2008 - Belgian Sugar Experiment II
The Mad Fermentationist Michael Tonsmeire Leads us through the second round of his tasty experiments using different sugars in Belgian beers.
March 6, 2008 - Brewing Italian Style
Italian home brewer and beer podcaster Tony Manzi gives us a virtual tour of the beer and home brewing scene in his country.
February 28, 2008 - Hop Update and Hybrid Sparging
Chris Colby from Brew Your Own Magazine gives some advice on hop substitution and tells us about a hybrid sparging method between batch and fly. Also, we get an update on the Utah home brewing legislation from Douglas Wawrzynski.
February 21, 2008 - Is Homebrew Good for You?
Steve Wilkes talks about the health effects of homebrew and beer in general with nutritionist Marjorie Fitch-Hilgenberg of the University of Arkansas. Also, we check in on Utah brewing legislation with home brewer Douglas Wawrzynski.
February 14, 2008 - Homebrew History
Charlie Papazian shares a bit of homebrew history 30 years after legislation legalizing home brewing passed Congress. Also, home brewer Robb Holmes talks about brewing when it was breaking the law.
February 7, 2008 - Advanced Yeast Handling
Home brewer Anthony Fischer gives James and Steve an overview of advanced yeast storage and propagation techniques he uses in the lab.
January 31, 2008 - Contest, Letters, "World's Best Beer"
James, Steve, and Andy reveal the winners of the "You know you're a home brewer when . . . " contest, read listener letters, and sip rare Belgian beers.
January 24, 2008 - Mash Tun Efficiency
"How to Brew" author John Palmer helps us walk through mash tun efficiency - how to get the most out of our mash.
January 17, 2008 - Ray Daniels on Beer Education
Ray Daniels introduces us to the Cicerone program, which is designed to educate beer servers and sellers. Also, Ray talks about education opportunities for home and professional brewers.
January 10, 2008 - Sourdough Bread
Home brewer and home baker John Owen talks about the similarities between baking and brewing and tells us how to make sourdough bread from scratch.
January 3, 2008 - Leftover Brewday
Andy Sparks and Steve Wilkes join James on the patio to brew a partigyle session with leftover ingredients.