Basic Brewing Radio

Home brewer Kai Troester joins us again to take us through his extensive experiments on the factors affecting attenuation in the mash tun.

Chris Colby, editor of Brew Your Own magazine, give us tips on how to build our own kegerator at home. Chris also updates us on the world hop situation.

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.

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.

James and Andy get brewing tips from Jake O'Mara from Odell Brewing Company and Taylor Rees and Alan Johnson of Great Divide.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Home brewer John Chubick of Bloomington, Illinois joins us to talk about his homebrew hop dryer, stir plate and temperature controller.

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.

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.

Home brewer and coffee roaster Scott Koue 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.

This is Fred Johnson's paper comparing fermenter shaking vs aquarium pumps for wort aeration.

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.

We sit down with Mike Dewey of Mt. Carmel Brewing Company in Cincinnati, Ohio - a commercial home-based brewery.

Chris Colby of Brew Your Own Magazine explains the Belgian technique of turbid mashing, which makes the most of limited mash tun space.

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.

Our National Homebrewers Conference coverage from Cincinnati continues. We have interviews with Ant Hayes, Greg Doss, Ray Daniels, Ken Schramm and Craig Ballenger.

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.

Jim Koch, founder of the Boston Beer Company, gives an inspiring keynote address to the National Homebrewers Conference in Cincinnati.

James and Steve read letters from listeners with tips on how to brew greener and cheaper.

Mike Lozano, home brewer and mead maker from Aurora, Colorado, takes us through the basics of mead making from the ground up.

Michael Tonsmeire, the Mad Fermentationist, shares three beers that have had hops added in "non-traditional" schedules.

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.

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.

Chris Colby, editor of Brew Your Own magazine, answers questions from listeners about growing hops in containers and other home growing issues.

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.

This is Brad Sturgeon's paper showing effectiveness of colored glass on absorbing light harmful to beer.

Chemistry professor Brad Sturgeon of Monmouth College explains the science behind beer skunking and what kind of glass is best to protect against it.

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.

Dr. Andrew McMichael of Western Kentucky University tells us about his History and Science of Beer and Brewing course that incorporates home brewing.

John Palmer, author of How to Brew, shares information from a conference that challenged his concept of what defines an International Bitterness Unit (IBU).

The Mad Fermentationist Michael Tonsmeire leads us through the second round of his tasty experiments using different sugars in Belgian Beers.

Italian home brewer and beer podcaster Tony Manzi gives us a virtual tour of the beer and home brewing scene in his country.

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.

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.

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.

Home brewer Anthony Fischer gives James and Steve an overview of advanced yeast storage and propagation techniques he uses in the lab.

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.

"How to Brew" author John Palmer helps us walk through mash tun efficiency - how to get the most out of our mash.

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.

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.

Andy Sparks and Steve Wilkes join James on the patio to brew a partigyle session with leftover ingredients.

In this low-maintenance holiday episode, we share your brewday mishaps to live, laugh and learn.

Peter Ausenhus of Worth Brewing Company in Northwood, Iowa talks to us about how he's running a professional brewery with homebrew-scale equipment.

Chris Colby of Brew Your Own Magazine fills us in on the hop situation and gives us tips to make it through to better, hoppier times.

Benjy Edwards of Columbus, Ohio teaches us about cask conditioning and how we can make Real Ale at home.