Monthly Archives: February 2015

One of the biggest mysteries in the beer world: what is the difference between a porter and a stout? At first glance, they are seemingly interchangeable; dark beers with a nice foamy head. To the average palate, they even taste similar. The porter may seem a bit lighter and sweeter, but the difference can be hard to detect. So what is it then that sets these two apart? The answer, it seems, is not so black and white. Instead, you have to go back in history to the 18^th century. According

Bung The bung is the stopper for a keg or casket. The bung is placed in the hole that is used for filling up or emptying the keg, and the bung is usually placed in the keg during carbonation. Fun fact: the bung used in a cask for "real" beer, or ale, must be a wooden bung in order to allow the pressure during fermentation and carbonation to be released.

"Accept the challenges, so you may feel the exhilaration of victory." - George S. Patton.  Today, I feel like trying something new, something different, something tough. I gather my ingredients, crank up some Manu Chao and charge in (for your enjoyment, here is Manu Chao's Youtube station, so you can get your groove on while cooking.)  Soon, wafts of spice and pollo transform my kitchen into una cocina

First time brewers often think that to add fruit to their beer, they simply add it to their fermenter… but let's stop right there. What is the first rule of brewing good beer? If you guessed sanitation, you were correct. Adding fruit straight to your homebrew without taking the proper steps can lead to microorganisms in your beer that create off flavors. Step 1: Choosing Your Fruit First things first, you will want to decide which type of fruit beer you are looking to brew.

Acetaldehyde Acetaldehyde is a compound that produces green apple flavor and aroma in homebrew, and is a byproduct of fermentation. However, one must remember that you need acetaldehyde in order to have beer! Why is this? Because acetaldehyde is formed during the conversion of sugar to ethanol by yeast. In simple terms: yeast creates acetaldehyde which is a precursor for alcohol… no acetaldehyde, no beer.