Over the last 1.5 years, I've been working on a book about a topic I've been very much interested for several years, Vienna Lager. I've researched the history of the beer style from its beginning in the late 1830s up to the 21st century, and how the beer style survived when it had fallen out of fashion in its country of origin, Austria.

While original brewing records of the original Vienna Lager don't exist anymore, I've nevertheless been able to reconstruct the ingredients and brewing methods (malting, mashing, boiling, fermentation) used to brew this beer style in the second half of the 19th century based on a multitude of historic sources from that time period.

Another intention of writing this book was also to dispel all the myths around the style. While you keep reading the same stories and narratives about the creation of Vienna Lager and how survived to modern times, I found during my research that the history is much more complex, nuanced and interesting, while I found other supposed claims about the style (like it surviving thanks to Austrian and German brewers who had emigrated to Mexico) to be entirely untrue.

If beer history, home-brewing and Vienna Lager is the kind of stuff that interests you, then this book is for you! You can find more information about it on vienna-lager.com. Here is also the direct link to Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Vienna-Lager-Andreas-Krennmair-ebook/dp/B08CMH6L9H

I should’ve listened to that other guy who said the same thing on here a few years ago. If you think homebrewing is a clever way to hide your excessive drinking, you’re going to regret it one day.

Piles of equipment, books, expert knowledge, stacks of grain, awesome hops in the freezer, a mini chem lab, etc. etc.. I got really great at brewing beer and was all in on the hobby but now I’m looking at all this stuff having stopped brewing a few months back, dumped all my awesome aging sour beer a couple months ago and stopped drinking entirely a month ago and I miss it all terribly but I’d rather have a marriage and healthy relationships and not be worried about my job performance and the liver enzymes results every year at my physical.

From someone who learned the hard way… take a couple days off every week and try to keep it under 4 drinks most days while you still can (and, yes, a pint 7.5% IPA counts as 2 drinks). You can’t really turn back once you go down the addiction road too far. And, believe me I tried desperately for far too long to go back to moderate drinking. You can read all the stories about how that goes on /r/stopdrinking (which is a great place if you need help).

I still can’t quite bring myself to sell all the stuff but maybe someday soon. If anyone has cool ideas on repurposing homebrew equipment (I’m making salami now, for example) and supplies and/or rehoming it where it’ll get used well, I’m all ears. Stay safe out there!

My first brew was on November 19, 1991. I wanted to share what I learned since then. This advice is written to my younger self.

***

To me, from the future:

I hear you’re gearing up to brew beer. I’m not gonna kid you, it’s easier to buy it already made. It’s cheaper, too, considering the equipment you’ll buy.

You will brew a lot of mediocre beer. And a few stinkers. Brewing will be a lot of work all the time and maddeningly frustrating some of the time. You will even quit once (but not forever) and try again to see if you were wrong. You were. Your second act will be your best.

So, since your heart is set on this monumentally stupid activity, I’ll share what I learned, hoping it will make your life easier.

Don’t overthink beer -- It’s easy to waste time debating everything -- hop varieties, beer styles, technique, that new piece of kit everyone says is the bomb. Brewing is complicated enough, why complicate it more? Are you fretting over a malt choice because it might add 3*L? It’s not worth the worry. Don’t lose your mind.

Be skeptical of experts -- I heard and believed a lot of good ideas that didn’t work well. In the early days, homebrewing books parroted commercial techniques that weren’t always right for small-scale brewing. Today the internet (you’ll find out what that is soon) makes it even easier for rumor to become accepted truth. I’m more skeptical now: if someone can’t say they did x and got result y, I move on.

Brew to ingredients, not style or clones -- Remember when you planted broccoli in your garden and your wife asked: Why are you wasting your time growing a common vegetable when you can use the space for something interesting or new? She was right. Is beer any different? I brew what I can’t find in stores. I love pale lagers, love them. I dive into what malt, hops and yeast can do to beer-flavored beer. You’d struggle to fit most of my brews into a BJCP style guideline. I learned to enjoy brewing more when I stopped competing and ignored what other people said was good. I follow my palate and curiosity. I brew what I love. I am my only judge.

Simple beer is better beer -- I base recipes around a few ingredients in amounts I can easily buy. Adding lots of ingredients in small amounts muddies the flavor of each. Beer expresses itself more clearly when there are fewer things competing for attention. Bonus: there’s less waste and I usually have nothing left over.

Keg -- This had the single biggest impact on both beer quality and my budget. Bottles are difficult to manage, clean and fill. Kegs speed packaging, make carbonation dead simple, and are easier to clean and sanitize. They cost more, too, and keezers need more maintenance (they also don’t want to live past eight years), but the benefits outweigh the costs.

Simplify wherever you can -- Does step mashing make a big difference? I’ve never thought so. I mash at one temperature for the time it takes to prep for the next step (about 45 minutes these days). Kettle hopping doesn’t give me the hoppiness I want, but dry hopping does. I brew in two-week increments so I can reuse yeast. I will ferment longer without worry when I have to. I mash with a bag in a cooler and don’t sparge. Brewing science gives me a thousand knobs and switches to turn and press. I touch the ones that make a difference I can perceive, and most of those involve ingredients. My stress is lower and my brew day goes faster.

Buy a good pump -- It’s worth more than its cost. Gravity and siphoning work. Pumps kick ass.

Accept your limitations -- I can’t describe what Munich malt tastes like or exactly how it differs from Vienna. Is it more toasty than grainy? My tongue knows the difference even if my brain can’t find the words. Citrus I can taste, and it rubs me the wrong way, so I pass on the gazillion IPAs everyone says they love. My fermentation temps will always be my basement temps. Sometimes I miss my target OG. Oh well.

Brewing is cleaning -- You don’t have to love cleaning to love brewing, but you must be willing to scrub until your equipment is clean. Sanitizing right is a lesson I learned too many times.

Ingredients get better every day -- In the early 90s, ingredients were dodgy and inconsistent (malt extract in a can, anyone?). Today they’re much better. Still, I make deliberate choices. I prefer liquid yeast because my results are better. I use San Francisco lager yeast most often because it handles my basement’s varying spring and fall temperatures. I bitter with German Magnum because it’s easy to get, I don’t need much, and it doesn’t push my beer where I don’t want it to go. Extract has gotten very good, but I mash because my results are consistently better.

Nobody wants to drink your crappy beer -- And nobody wants to read your crappy novel, either. (Remember that before you waste a year creating a 300-page paperweight). Don’t take it personally. Brew for yourself.

Of course, since you are the younger me, you won't take my advice and end up figuring it out on your own. (When you get a stuck mash or dump a batch because you didn't sanitize right, remember I told you so.)

Good luck.

- Future You

(P.S.: Say goodbye to that long hair. Or any hair. Yeah.)

***

Will I still be brewing 35 years from now? I hope I’m still breathing 35 years from now (beer is not a preservative). I’m amazed where brewing has taken me, even to teach a beer tasting course at the college where I work.

I’m psyched for what’s next. Cheers.

Just had my first brew day yesterday! I brewed the Chinook Ipa ( with an altered hop schedule) recipe kit that came in my Northern Brewer brewing set up. Everything went pretty smooth. I pitched Us 05 around 62f and left my carboy in the basement. This morning its hovering around 60f maybe 59 and no activity. I moved the carboy upstairs where its a bit warmer. Should I do anything else?

Hi everybody,

Home Brew Beer book's Peach and Green Tea Kettle Sour recipe (page 137) instructs to add peach puree and green tea "after fermentation". But it does not specify what "after fermentation" means. Do I understand it correctly that these ingredients are to be added right before bottling, along with the priming sugar?

Also, at the very bottom of the recipe, there is this note: "let the beer rest until the gravity is stable". Is this note somehow related to my question? Most recipes do not have this note, but I assumed that this is the case for all brews regardless.

Thanks in advance!

We are trying a new weekly thread, "Brew the Book", starting today. Prior discussion.

This is and will be simpler than previously explained. This is for anyone who decides to brew through a recipe collection, like a book. You don't have to brew only from the collection. nor brew more often than normal. You're not prohibited from just having your own threads if you prefer.

Every recipe can generate at least four status updates: (1) recipe planning, (2) brew day, (3) packaging day, and (4) tasting. Likely one or more status updates. You post those status updates in this thread.

This thread informs the subredddit and helps keep you on track with your goal. It's just that simple. Let's see if it gets traction.

Cheers, Your mods

All the above books are great but I am looking for some more brewing books that are a little off the beaten path. Any recommendations?

I’m gauging interest in a new weekly thread. Maybe on Thursdays. Please comment whether you’d participate, would lurk, or think it’s a bad idea.

The premise is you declare a book, issue of a magazine, or other widely-accessible recipe collection at the start of 2020 that you want to brew from. You don’t have to brew only from that collection. You work your way through the recipe collection in some orderly fashion you have chosen. And you post the recipe, brew day picks, your thoughts and learnings, tasting notes, planning work, or whatever each week. You don’t have to brew a lot, but most weeks you’d post something you did toward the project.

Any interest?

Clarification: you certainly wouldn’t brew every week and probably not post every week, but you might post about which recipe is next, or dialing in the recipe or water for the next, or taste the last one, or just update that you’ve packaged a batch, etc. I can’t imagine I’ll get through more than 7-8 recipes in 2020 myself, given all the other obligated brews and demands on time.

Click here for last week’s thread. I’ll set this up for automoderator to past in the next week or two. As well as link to sidebar and link to a new wiki entry with list of participants and their declared recipe collection.

To recap, this thread is for anyone who decides to brew through a recipe collection, like a book. You don't have to brew only from the collection. nor brew more often than normal. You're not prohibited from just having your own threads if you prefer.

Every recipe can generate at least four status updates: (1) recipe planning, (2) brew day, (3) packaging day, and (4) tasting. Likely one or more status updates. You post those status updates in this thread.

This thread informs the subredddit and helps keep you on track with your goal. It's just that simple.

I decided since I’m working from home for the foreseeable future I should probably brew some beer. During work hours. Like, all of the work hours. And then some.

I decided to do 3 batches back to back to back. Mashed the first in at 7 AM (it gave me myriad issues) and the last went in the fermenter at 6 PM. Here they are in their fermenters (plus a Flanders red that is bulk aging).

First brew - my attempt at a Jackie O’s Oro Negro Clone. 25 lb grain bill plus a lb of D180 candi syrup. Monster brew in theory. In actuality I missed my OG target hard. 1.105 target, actual 1.080. Meh.

Second brew - Rare Barrel Golden Sour recipe. Went off without a hitch. Racked onto Flanders red yeast cake. Planning to start a sour Soledad with this and the Flanders red where I keg a blend every 4-6 months and combine the rest in a fermenter.

Third brew - 3 gallon batch no boil NEIPA. After mashing brought up to a boil then immediately chilled to ~160 and did a whirlpool addition with galaxy, Ekuanot, and el dorado. This one should be done soon.

What’s everyone else brewing during this crazy time we’re living in?

I've been giving more and more thought to branching out into wine in addition to beer. Anyone have a recommendation for the How to Brew counterpart for winemaking?

A buddy of mine makes good home brew and I asked him to brew up 5 Gallons for me. He did and it turned out great. I asked him how much I owed him, he said just throw a steak BBQ for him and his wife and all will be good.

I am a big BBQ guy and so that was music to my ears. But looking at my Family's weekend Calendar we are booked for awhile and I would like to get my buddy compensated for his time.

I don't know how much hops are.. nor the other components to make brew. Can anyone help me with what a good price to pay a buddy for 5 gallons of Home Brew?

Week 4. Anyone can start any week.

Past weeks’ threads now linked in sidebar. Need to improve that. Also my set up for automoderator was a fail. I think I messed up the date. Will fix. Will also create that new wiki entry with list of participants and their declared recipe collection.

To recap, this thread is for anyone who decides to brew through a recipe collection, like a book. You don't have to brew only from the collection. nor brew more often than normal. You're not prohibited from just having your own threads if you prefer.

Every recipe can generate at least four status updates: (1) recipe planning, (2) brew day, (3) packaging day, and (4) tasting. Likely one or more status updates. You post those status updates in this thread.

This thread informs the subredddit and helps keep you on track with your goal. It's just that simple.

Week 3. Anyone can start any week.

Click here for last week’s thread and click here for the first weekly thread. I’ll set this up for automoderator to past in the next week or so - have not done it yet. Also a link in sidebar and link to a new wiki entry with list of participants and their declared recipe collection.

To recap, this thread is for anyone who decides to brew through a recipe collection, like a book. You don't have to brew only from the collection. nor brew more often than normal. You're not prohibited from just having your own threads if you prefer.

Every recipe can generate at least four status updates: (1) recipe planning, (2) brew day, (3) packaging day, and (4) tasting. Likely one or more status updates. You post those status updates in this thread.

This thread informs the subredddit and helps keep you on track with your goal. It's just that simple.

So as the title suggests, I'm looking for textbooks, journal articles, blogs, etc.. that dive pretty deep into the chemistry and biology of brewing beer. Not in terms of industrial or home brewing specifically, but the theoretical stuff like how yeast strains, grain composition, hops, and water chemically effect the end product.

I've taken classes in biology and chemistry on the college level and I'd like to take the theory behind all the stuff I learned into my hobby. I understand organic chemistry and about a half semesters worth of biochemistry, so my knowledge ends at yeasts ability to take pyruvate and make it into ethanol.

Thanks in advance!

This weekly thread is for anyone who decides to brew through a recipe collection, like a book. You don't have to brew only from the collection. nor brew more often than normal. You're not prohibited from just having your own threads if you prefer. Check out past weekly threads if you're trying to catch up on what is going on.

Every recipe can generate at least four status updates: (1) recipe planning, (2) brew day, (3) packaging day, and (4) tasting. Maybe even more. You post those status updates in this thread. If you're participating in this thread for the first time this year (other than as a commenter), you might want to declare the recipe collection you're working from.

This thread informs the subredddit and helps keep you on track with your goal. It's just that simple!

This weekly thread is for anyone who decides to brew through a recipe collection, like a book. You don't have to brew only from the collection. nor brew more often than normal. You're not prohibited from just having your own threads if you prefer. Check out past weekly threads if you're trying to catch up on what is going on.

Every recipe can generate at least four status updates: (1) recipe planning, (2) brew day, (3) packaging day, and (4) tasting. Maybe even more. You post those status updates in this thread. If you're participating in this thread for the first time this year (other than as a commenter), you might want to declare the recipe collection you're working from.

This thread informs the subredddit and helps keep you on track with your goal. It's just that simple!

Long time lurker just looking for some advice. Racking my brain to think of anything I don't have for my first AG brew (and first brew ever) next weekend. Equipment run-down:

• Northern Brewer deluxe starter kit.
• Polarware 10 gallon w/ SS valve and thermometer.
• Blichmann floor burner.
• 10 gallon igloo HLT w/ SS valve.
• 10 gallon igloo MLT w/ SS valve & SS false bottom.
• High temp tubing for everything.
• Homemade 20' wort chiller. (thanks guys)
• Sparge arm
• Homemade stir plate. (thanks again)
• 2L Erlenmeyer flask and stir bar.
• Two cases empty bottles.
• Pliny the Elder clone kit.

Anyone else jump right in? Besides filling my propane tank and some whirlfloc I'm wracking my brain trying to think of what I'm missing. I'm already assuming it'll be undrinkable, but I'm tired of looking at the equipment unused (last x-mas I got the NB kit).