2022-07-20 20:20
Summer Somewhere has been the summer seasonal beer at my home brewery since 2015. I have described Summer Somewhere as being the same British Golden Ale recipe every year but with completely… Read More
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The Would-be Brewmaster Blog
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A blog about home brewing beer. The highs, the lows and the hangovers.
2022-07-05 11:00
My last successful brew was August of last year. American Stout is a style I had wanted to tackle for awhile. Compared to Irish Stout, American Stout is higher in alcohol and often has an Am… Read More
2022-06-28 06:26
Homebrew Con 2022 is in the books. Taking place in Pittsburgh, I made the drive from my Boston-area home to mule beer and other supplies for the show. The first in-person Homebrew Con since… Read More
2022-02-28 03:03
One of my favorite posts was my definitive guide to seasonal beer. Going by that schedule, I would be stocking up on spring seasonals if there was an actual spring training this year. I… Read More
2022-02-19 01:12
I realize it has been quiet in these parts. Sadly I haven't brewed in six months; the longest I have gone without brewing since I started. I am going to fire up my kettle again soon. I need… Read More
2021-03-17 15:06
I'm a loner Dottie... a rebelAs an only child who is a bit of an introvert, I tend to pursue most of my hobbies and interests alone. Being an independent learner means that most of what I ha… Read More
2021-03-01 17:51
After brewing imperial stouts in November of 2018 and 2019, my intention was to brew another vintage in November of 2020. For whatever reason I never got around to it. Then, at the end of Ja… Read More
2021-02-24 14:19
Below is an unpublished post from 2019 I wrote for another website. In addition to a regular Brew Day post, I took more of a "how to" approach like I did in some of my earlier posts. I… Read More
2021-02-22 16:57
About six years ago I interviewed for a job with a decent sized craft brewery. The brewery was looking for a sales rep in my area. I was a sales professional in another industry and thought… Read More
2021-02-01 15:02
Originally I was merely going to reshare this post from 2015 on my Facebook page along with a quick update. As I was writing the post on Facebook my commentary was starting to get a little l… Read More
2020-04-07 16:39
My plan for this years National Homebrew Competition (NHC) was to rebrew beers that had done well in previous competitions, or that I really enjoyed and thought would do well.Employee Orient… Read More
2020-03-30 16:14
The shelves in the door were removed so afermenter would fit.The biggest separator between the homebrewer and commercial brewers might be fermentation temperature control. The ability to pre… Read More
2020-03-25 20:37
The year 2020 was very busy for me, until all of a sudden it wasn't. Followers of my Facebook page might have seen that I have made trips to Denver, California, Chicago, New Hampshire, Maine… Read More
2020-01-10 20:12
Another year and another decade in the books! All-in 2019 was a very solid brew year for me. The only hiccup was the beer I brought to Ales over ALS and having to dump eight one-gallon batch… Read More
2019-12-30 20:07
Recently I was speaking to a friend who is opening a brewery in Massachusetts. Like any new brewery in the northeast, he is going to launch with hazy IPAs, but he also loves classic British… Read More
2019-12-18 16:21
It has actually been over a year since my colleague Sven and I brewed our imperial stout: Employee Orientation 101. Now that the weather is colder and next year's National Homebrew Competiti… Read More
2019-12-04 14:09
I needed a hit. Like a batter in a slump, or a down-on-their-luck band I needed a hit. I brewed two great beers over the summer, but those kegs are empty. I even used the last bit of Olde No… Read More
2019-11-04 10:42
On the heels of discovering that my brown ale was infected my homebrew pipeline was suddenly empty. At least two of my kegs are getting low; an emergency brew day is in order! Winter is also… Read More
2019-10-29 13:03
I was feeling pretty good. On the heels of my imperial stout advancing to the final round of the National Homebrew Competition, I won a medal at the New England Regional Homebrew competition… Read More
2019-10-29 00:55
That is the headline from a Q & A published on Wicked Local. Be sure to read it here Read More
2019-08-27 21:26
Hop harvest is a favorite time for many brewers. Large commercial brewers are invited by hop growers and brokers to the Pacific Northwest for hop selection. At hop selection, brewers and pur… Read More
2019-08-20 15:06
My homegrown hops are almost ready for harvest. In particular my Northern Brewer plant in its second year is yielding even more cones and is taking over two maple saplings in my neighbors ya… Read More
2019-08-16 01:59
A bit late in sharing this, but I had a lot of fun co-hosting the Homebrew Happy Hour postcast with Josh. We talked a bit about Muntons Brewery-in-a-Bag kits.I will have to send him my defin… Read More
2019-07-22 11:00
When I attempted to recreate the classic recipe for Samuel Adams Summer Ale, I may have come off as the old man yelling at a cloud. With this brew you may think I am doubling down on my malc… Read More
2019-07-06 02:18
Sometimes events unfold independently of each other that all contribute to a singular result. Years ago, when I was still living in an apartment with no yard and brewing on a stove, I receiv… Read More
2019-06-05 14:50
Nice of Boston Beer to so perfectly describe the recipe!Ten years ago the legendary "Rock of Boston" WBCN went off the air. When it happened it was a bit of a shock to me. Toward the end of… Read More
2019-05-09 18:39
I have been guilty of this myself. Wake up on a brew day, throw on a brewery-branded Dickie's work shirt, and commence a five hour brew day or eight hour double brew day. As I have embarked… Read More
2019-03-20 11:10
Inspired by Leinenkugel's Creamy Dark. A smooth dark lager with just enough malt character to be interesting, but still approachable. Blows Negra Modello out of the water for me. I entered t… Read More
2019-03-14 11:56
Time goes by so fast. You only wanna do what you think is right. You know what doesn't feel right? That I haven't brewed either of my house Irish beers in a very long time. As I have started… Read More
2019-02-26 19:18
It's been two years since I brewed the first batch of Thomas Brady's Ale. Originally I had intended to brew the beer on an annual basis. Unfortunately last year I was busy settling into… Read More
2019-02-07 12:28
I really think video is a better medium for sharing tasting notes. I have never done a great job at posting tasting notes blogs anyway.As far as the quality of the videos I think they are ge… Read More
2019-02-05 21:24
My first video posted to the blog. I'm not sure why my last two have not. I think I have it figured out. The video and video editing are works in-progress Read More
2019-01-03 06:00
2019-01-01 15:38
Welp, 2019 is upon us! The one Brew Year's Resolution I failed miserably with from 2018 was to write more. Writing was so much easier when I was in a cubicle and needed something to occupy m… Read More
2018-08-14 15:20
As a beer drinker I try to make it a point to circle back to some of my favorite beers that got me into craft beer in the first place or just inspired me along the way. As a brewer I have al… Read More
2018-08-02 12:17
Every writer has their own creative process. For me it was easier to sit down and write when I was sitting down at a cubicle 40 hours per week. I would bang out posts during lunches and brea… Read More
2018-07-24 15:08
I remember the first time I saw a can of Oskar Blues Dales Pale Ale. I was living with my cousin Adam at the time, and let's say friends showing up with beer was not an uncommon occurrence… Read More
2018-03-27 12:18
Welp, I guess the last couple months got away from me. Lately that is my stock answer for when I don't get around to doing things. "Sorry I didn't do XXXX until now, the day/week/month just… Read More
2018-01-17 13:02
Buying a home is an interesting thing. It is the largest expense we will ever incur, but your decision is largely based off walking around for 20 minutes at an open house. In the end there a… Read More
2018-01-11 05:24
The Session, a.k.a. Beer Blogging Friday, is an opportunity once a month for beer bloggers from around the world to get together and write from their own unique perspective on a single topic… Read More
2018-01-03 16:47
There really is something to be said for any brewer or beer drinker to have a house beer. A house beer being a beer that is kept in the house at all times. It's the beer you go to if you wan… Read More
2018-01-01 18:39
I am a sucker for things that were cool four years ago.As I reviewed my Brew Years Resolutions from last year, my line "I have a feeling 2017 is going to be a big year for me personally and… Read More
2017-12-20 08:36
When I was a younger man that frequented crowded bars, beer out of the bottle was ideal because my only concern was not spilling or splashing my beer if I was bumped into. I held my beer by… Read More
2017-12-04 17:10
Fittingly now that my last cider is finally in a keg, I have a new cider fermenting. Yeast and bacteria are all around us. It is natural and it is unavoidable. A fresh-pressed juice from an… Read More
2017-11-30 17:17
From Day 1 the ethos of this blog has been that homebrewing can be as involving of a hobby as you want it to be. The level of involvement does not just apply to brewing beer. Many homebrewer… Read More
2017-11-21 18:43
Investing in kegs is a leap most semi-serious homebrewers make. It is easier to clean and sanitize one keg than up to 50 bottles. If you use the CO2 tank to carbonate your beer it is ready t… Read More
2017-11-14 12:30
Not only have I barely brewed over the last several months. I have also been too busy, distracted and lazy to package beers in carboys, Beers that have been ready to go for quite awhile. I c… Read More
2017-11-06 15:33
I was really hoping to have a brew day post or two ready to go by now. I have everything I need to brew five gallon, all-grain batches in a reasonable period of time now that we have our own… Read More
2017-10-24 12:46
In sixth grade I put off and I put off starting my project for the school science fair. Finally, a couple days before the fair I slapped together the easiest experiment I could think of. I t… Read More
2017-08-29 12:16
It was only a couple short months ago that I was marveling that after three years I was still producing content on a regular basis. Between a new job, and hopefully a new house I haven't bre… Read More
2017-07-25 12:37
My and my cousin/occasional co-brewer Andy's affinity for DL Geary Brewing is well-documented. When Jennie and I recently visited the brewery, I made sure to pick up a case of Geary's Summer… Read More
2017-07-12 11:21
Split batches are a great tool in the homebrewer's arsenal. Commercial brewers brew several days a week, if not every day. Even the most avid of homebrewer probably only brews once or twice… Read More
2017-07-10 18:07
At the end of last year I thought I was ready to start some kind of professional brewing company. What I realized was that this wasn't something I was equipped to take on myself. For B… Read More
2017-07-05 15:36
One of my Brew Year's Resolutions was to collaborate more. The idea was to brew more with others and brew less in my hot and tiny kitchen. This brew was presented to me and is a great opport… Read More
2017-06-22 21:00
Three years ago Jennie was tasked with finding "community bloggers" for the Beverly Citizen's website. Having written previously on a variety of topics, and willing to work for cheap (free)… Read More
2017-06-19 14:20
When Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project was still a going concern they were my favorite brewing company. A year and a half later I still have a few bombers in my beer fridge that I am holdin… Read More
2017-06-06 13:21
British golden ale is a style I first learned about when the draft version of the new Beer Judge Certification Program style guidelines were published in 2014. The style developed in England… Read More
2017-06-02 16:28
One of my most frequent laments in this space is dealing with the limitations of brewing in a third floor apartment. Our apartment is fairly nice, and the rent is very cheap. For brewing it… Read More
2017-05-24 14:44
I brewed Endicott Red for two purposes: I wanted to brew an Irish Red for St. Patrick's Day while feeling nostalgic about drinking mass-marketed lager at a chain restaurant. Drinking the bee… Read More
2017-05-19 15:24
In the wake of the 2016 election, the moral panic that is fake news sprung to public consciousness. I would argue that even more of a threat to society than fake stories about the pope endor… Read More
2017-05-15 17:56
At the beginning of the brewery tour at the Samuel Adams brewery in Boston, guests walk through in improvised tunnel into the brewhouse. The tunnel is actually an old fermention tank cut ope… Read More
2017-05-11 14:38
Two years ago Jennie and I went on an epic road trip full of beer and baseball. In addition to passing through Atlanta, North Carolina, and Delaware we spent a night in Asheville. Out of all… Read More
2017-05-10 14:57
I held off on a brew day post for this brew as I brewed it specifically for Homebrew Talk. It was a post specifically about New England IPA. I shared my insights, tips, and brewed a sample b… Read More
2017-05-09 15:46
Keeping up with trends will be a monthly look at trends in the craft beer scene and how it relates back to homebrewing. Published for Homebrew Talk. See the original story here. Wh… Read More
2017-04-27 19:16
Before I finally broke down and purchased Amazon Prime, I would always have to buy one extra item to qualify for free shipping. One such item I bought was Brew Your Own Magazine's 250 C… Read More
2017-04-24 15:39
There is quite a bit of overlap between homebrewers and craft beer lovers. Many craft beer drinkers see macro beer as an existential threat. Personally, I am more ambivalent. I wrote a post… Read More
2017-04-17 09:38
As our club has been planning our homebrew competition, Jennie wanted to re-brew and enter her recipe Shareholder's Saison. She designed, and I brewed the first batch of Shareholder's Saison… Read More
2017-04-13 13:12
With the North Shore Brewers Competition less than a month away, I will be bottling my double IPA The Anti-Chris this weekend. I dry hopped the crap out of this beer. Not wanting any of the… Read More
2017-04-12 11:16
I find yeast to be a particularly interesting topic in the world of brewing. Many brewers exclusively use a generic ale yeast like Chico be it Safale S05, Wyeast 1056, or White Labs 001, and… Read More
2017-04-10 05:49
March is supposed to be "In like a lion, and out like a lamb". In Massachusetts in 2017 March weather was miserable from beginning to end. Snow was still on the ground on Red Sox Opening Day… Read More
2017-04-06 13:26
Awhile back my homebrew club The North Shore Brewers acquired two used Utopias barrels from Samuel Adams. The first two barrel beers were two batches of a Kate the Great/Mott the Lessor clon… Read More
2017-04-03 11:07
Barrel House Z (BHZ) opened in 2016 in Weymouth, Mass., and is a brewery that specializes in barrel-aged beers. Last year as they opened, BHZ sponsored their Launch Pad homebrew competi… Read More
2017-03-27 18:11
I really loved the name for this beer which makes it all the more sad that this batch was a dud. Invisible Hand was brewed to harvest fresh yeast for my club's latest barrel beer. I racked t… Read More
2017-03-22 11:52
There are some practices employed by commercial brewers that aren't necessarily practical for homebrewers. There are also traditional methods that were employed for various reasons that no l… Read More
2017-03-16 11:59
My Brew Year's Resolutions are going fairly well so far. I have been entering more competitions and won my first medal. I even went on to win another medal at the Ocean State Homebrew Compet… Read More
2017-03-13 16:41
There is a romance to buying a Belgian or other sour beer and seeing it packaged with a cork and cage. As you unwind the wire cage, and then try to get a firm grip on the cork to remove it f… Read More
2017-03-07 12:42
Last year at HomebrewCon in Baltimore I bought two books in-part because the authors were there and I wanted to have signed: Water and American Sour Beers. I also picked these books up becau… Read More
2017-03-01 16:13
In the hobby of homebrewing, five gallons has long been the standard batch size. Some advanced brewers have equipment and brew batches anywhere from 10 gallons up to half barrel batches. On… Read More
2017-02-27 13:51
I purchased an aquarium pump with an air filter at Modern Homebrew Emporium. Yeast is a living organism. Technically it is billions of living organisms. Those billions of tiny yeast cells fe… Read More
2017-02-21 12:42
Thomas Brady's Ale is a barleywine inspired by the original barrel-aged beer Thomas Hardy's Ale. In the five weeks since I brewed the beer, Tom Brady only added to his legacy by leading the… Read More
2017-02-16 18:47
The first ever batch where I employed a partial mash, a process that involves obtaining a percentage of your batch's fermentable sugars from mashing grains, and then topping that off with ma… Read More
2017-02-14 14:53
Even with the holiday season being over, I am still filling in one day a week at Modern Homebrew Emporium in Cambridge. This past week I worked my regular job, poured for Newburyport on Frid… Read More
2017-02-07 12:18
In my recent post Making hard cider at home, I admitted that the only medal I had ever won in a competition was for a cider. I was hoping to change that last year as I vowed to enter more co… Read More
2017-01-31 12:52
After another successful batch of Pa's Lager, I started to brainstorm about what other styles I could brew with San Francisco Lager WLP810 yeast. This is a yeast that can product lagers whil… Read More
2017-01-25 12:33
After my club, the North Shore Brewers filled one of its two Samuel Adams Utopias barrels with a SMaSH Barleywine, the second barrel is ready to be filled with a new beer. We conducted a pol… Read More
2017-01-20 13:18
A friend of mine who works at a bottle shop recalled a conversation she had with a local brewery rep. The rep was quite excited that his brewery's new double IPA was moving from 22 ounce bom… Read More
2017-01-19 13:37
Every beer geek reaches a level where their home has beer of some kind at all times. If a beer lover is like me and doesn't quite have a beer cellar, chances are there is a portion of their… Read More
2017-01-18 13:11
My cousin and occasional brew collaborator Andy has actually been brewing for much longer than I have. He used to share a two-family home with his sister Jill and brother-in-law Greg; Andy a… Read More
2017-01-11 17:04
Jim Koch likes to talk about how Samuel Adams with first its Triple Bock, and later Utopias pioneered barrel-aging of beer. Goose Island makes similar boasts as it has been brewing… Read More
2017-01-10 13:39
In my neck of the woods, the coastline of Massachusetts north of Boston, an area locally referred to as the North Shore, our maritime heritage is still a large part of our local identity. Wh… Read More
2016-12-27 13:34
As I reflect on my past year as a brewer there were far more highs than lows. Most recently I moved up in BJCP rank from Recognized to Certified. I narrowly lost out on the People&rsqu&hell…Read More
2016-12-20 13:28
…and you can’t… teach… that!!Well I did it. After retaking the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) Beer Judging Examination for a second time I just… Read More
2016-12-19 13:16
As I was writing my post about Courageous Kevin’s Cream Ale and Pugnacious Pete’s Porter, I tried to link to my brew day post about my 2016 batch of Pa’s Lager. To my… Read More
2016-12-15 14:20
The response I received for Pugnacious Pete’s Porter at Ales Over ALS was overwhelming. I was moved by how much it meant to the Frates family, but I was also taken aback by the respons… Read More
2016-12-09 13:14
This is a belated Part II where I post some thoughts and reflections on beers I brewed in 2016. Click here for Part 1.Salted Caramel Brown Ale – The other batch we brewed for Jamboree… Read More
2016-12-07 14:00
I haven’t entered as many homebrew competitions this year as I would have liked. Instead of laziness as it was in the past, it has been down to the fact that most of my brewing in 2016… Read More
2016-11-29 12:49
At Homebrew Con Northern Brewer, being the largest homebrew supplier in the country had a huge setup. They had a ton of swag they were giving away, were running daily raffles, and were givin… Read More
2016-11-22 17:15
The last couple of posts have touched on the fact that I am starting to seriously think about starting some kind of professional brewery. While I may have been slacking on brewing and writin… Read More
2016-11-21 12:30
After years of "someday when" talk that was speculative at best, I am seriously considering starting some kind of professional brewing company. I have re-branded what was a baseball th… Read More
2016-11-17 19:21
Lately I have been thinking a great deal about what the next step in my career should be. After working for large corporations for half of my life, I have reached a point where I want to con… Read More
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