Category Archives: Food and drink

Improve mash efficiency in your stainless steel mash tun

Posted on October 1, 2018 by alex

Mash efficiency refers to the extent to which you are able to pull the sugars out of the malted grain and into the water. A high percentage of sugar recovery (75-90%) is called ‘high mash efficiency’. A low percentage (60-75%) is called ‘low … Continue reading →

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Keptinis – Lithuanian baked beer

Posted on July 14, 2018 by alex

At Šnekutis Užupis Farmhouse ale styles are known for being messy, sprawling, ill-defined categories to the point where it can be questioned whether they really are styles at all. The Lithuanian style keptinis, however, has a simple definition: it’s made … Continue reading →

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How to brew keptinis

Posted on July 14, 2018 by alex

The Jančys family brewhouse Keptinis is a little-known Lithuanian style of beer where the mash is baked in an oven. The first farmhouse brewer I ever wrote about was keptinis brewer Ramunas Čižas. A few years ago I put together … Continue reading →

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Brewing Water Basics

Posted on December 20, 2017 by alex

For many brewers, water chemistry is treated as the last frontier of homebrewing. Oftentimes, it is ignored or at least not something homebrewers want to think about. The old adage “if your water tastes good, it’s fine to brew with” … Continue reading →

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Lithuanian beer – a rough guide

Posted on November 12, 2017 by alex

Lithuania has one of the most interesting beer cultures on earth, but it’s a beer culture that is almost wholly unknown outside the country itself. This guide explains what is so special about Lithuanian beer and helps you choose the … Continue reading →

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Parti-Gyle Brewing – Two Beers from One Mash

Posted on November 12, 2017 by alex

Parti-Gyle brewing is a method for making more than one batch of beer from a single all grain mash. It offers tremendous flexibility since you can brew two beers of different gravities, and also add different hops and yeast to … Continue reading →

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Sahti – the Finnish Farmhouse Ale

Posted on November 11, 2017 by alex

Sahti is the traditional beer of Finland. The popularity of the drink waned after the wars, obviously the prohibition of 1919 – 1932 didn’t help. Today, sahti enjoys a small-time revival on the craft brew bandwagon, even on a commercial scale. But … Continue reading →

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Sahti and Related Ancient Farmhouse Ales

Posted on November 11, 2017 by alex

This is an introduction to ancient homebrewed farmhouse ales of northern Europe. Finnish Sahti is the best known of them, but similar beers exist in the Nordic and Baltic countries: koduõlu in Estonia, gotlandsdricke in Sweden, maltøl in Norway and kaimiškas in Lithuania. Once upon a time there were farmers who … Continue reading →

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When and How to Measure and Adjust Mash pH for Beer Brewing

Posted on October 30, 2017 by alex

At a recent homebrew club meeting, one of the members asked me a brilliant question – when and how should you adjust your mash pH when all grain beer brewing? This is a devilishly complex question as you want to … Continue reading →

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Brew Beer with Electricity

Posted on September 20, 2017 by alex

Info Links: Electric Brewing Systems (Wort Hog Turnkey Systems) Wort Hog Turnkey Systems Electric brew kettle conversion (video) Installing a water tank heating element in brew pot Heating Element Adapter, 1.5″ tri-clamp rim heating element adapter 240V Brew Controller (video) … Continue reading →

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