Originally published in the September/October 2003 issue of Zymurgy magazine On Saturday Night Live, Billy Crystal's character Fernando used to say, "It's better to look good than to feel good, and dahling, you look mahvelous." Well, I wouldn't go quite…
Originally published in the September/October 2001 issue of Zymurgy magazine Bottling homebrew has fallen out of favor these days for many experienced homebrewers who feel that it takes too much time and is too labor intensive. A lot of folks…
Originally published in the May/June 2006 issue of Zymurgy magazine For more than a generation, the "champagne of beers" failed to live up to its billing. No leap of imagination could conjure a magical beverage from that pale yellow, ghostly beer.…
Originally published in the January/February 2013 issue of Zymurgy magazine. I’ve been brewing beer for just over four years now. When I began brewing, those with more experience told me that bottling beer was the worst, most tedious part of the…
Originally published in the May/June 2009 issue of Zymurgy magazine. A jockey box is a portable dispensing device used to chill beer just in time for serving, removing the need to keep kegs cold. A jockey box needs to be functional,…
Originally published in the November/December 2014 issue of Zymurgy magazine. Ice cider, like ordinary hard cider, is a fermented drink made from apples, but the juice from the apples is concentrated before fermentation by freezing—that’s the ice part—and fermentation is…
Originally published in the November/December 2001 issue of Zymurgy magazine. “Wine made of the juice of Peares called in English Perry, is soluble, purgeth those that are not accustomed to drinke thereof; notwithstanding it is as wholesome a drinke being taken in…
Originally published in the January/February 2015 issue of Zymurgy magazine. As part of this great, growing hobby, we all want to make some really delicious mead. Making great mead allows us to share one…
J.B. Zorn, who currently lives in Fairfax, Virginia, does it all. He has been on active duty in the U.S. Coast Guard for over seven years, has been homebrewing for nine years and medaled in a few competitions. He’s also…
Originally published in the March/April 2015 issue of Zymurgy magazine. [Editor's Note: The following is an excerpt from Malt: A Practical Guide from Field to Brewhouse by John Mallett, published by Brewers Publications in 2014.] Like stock creates the base of every…
Nearly 10 years ago, Michael Tonsmeire brewed his first batch of beer in a student-taught class at Carnegie Mellon University. Now, he's written American Sour Beers, has a cult following on his blog, The Mad Fermentationist and consults for Modern Times Brewery in…
Originally published in the January/February 2014 issue of Zymurgy magazine. Late last spring and into summer, nearly 50 breweries and brewpubs across the country served beers with names like Iron Horse IPA, The Cure, and, most often, Ales for ALS.…
