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.

Once you part the veil of seeming stodginess in German brewing, you’ll find a veritable treasure trove of ancient brews that, in all truth, can only be described as “extreme”.

What will you do now as the mercury dips down past those valued fermentation temps? The answer lies in the oft ignored, slightly impractical world of lagers, of course!

Jacketed conical fermenters, or uni-tanks as they are commonly known, are standard fare in the brewing industry. But are they practical for homebrewers?

Bitters are beers for drinking, for enjoying several pints over the course of an evening, rather than for carefully paced sipping. They are the “daily bread” of beer drinking.