Have you ever made the perfect beer your friends raved about – and then remade it and it was not nearly the same? This happened with a tripel, for surprising reasons.

This great hobby combines compressed gas, boiling fluids, glass, electricity, alcohol and flame – whatever could go wrong? Just about everything, it seems.

Oak has been used in brewing for many years, but recently it has seen a resurgence of interest due to its large flavor impact on both wine and beer.

Recent hop shortages are debasing your homebrew and putting a dent in your wallet, so why not grow your own? Hops are easy to grow, and their requirements are simple.

Zymurgy readers share their homebuilt tools, and offer a few other tricks using household items that weren’t originally meant for brewing beer.

Fermentation temperature control seems to be a common problem with homebrewers. Why not convert an upright freezer into a fermentation cabinet?

Pressed for time? With a keg/carboy washer, you can wash kegs and carboys with hot water while taking care of other brewery matters.

Many craft brewers started out brewing beer in their kitchens or garages. So why not celebrate this link between home and craft brewing at the GABF Pro-Am?

The hops and malt crisis hitting the brewing industry is also impacting homebrewers. But so far the news coming in about hops, malt and yeast for 2009 is mostly good.