Lately I’ve been a little obsessed with wet hop ales, beers brewed with freshly picked hops that go straight from hop bine to brew kettle. My curiosity was piqued back in late July when I visited Zachrich Hop Farm near Mechanicsburg, Ohio. They were having an open house and had invited members of the SODZ... Continue Reading →
All Things Beer Episode 29 – Summer Homebrews
After a summer break the All Things Beer podcast is back with an episode devoted to homebrews. We welcome back recurring guests Hans Gorsuch and Chris Mercerhill to discuss and dissect the fruits of our labor, including a hefeweizen, two different saisons, a biere de garde, and a wet hop harvest ale. Our conversation touches... Continue Reading →
All Things Beer Episode 28 – All Things Bock
In this episode we take a deep dive on strong German lagers from the bock family - doppelbock, maibock, weizenbock, eisbock. We trace the history of this style back through the mists of time to the city of Einbeck, then follow it's reinvention as a lager in 17th century Munich, and the development of the... Continue Reading →
Brewing a Fruited Berliner Weisse
Among the scores of historic beer styles, Berliner Weisse has one of the more interesting back stories. Like many styles it was for many centuries largely confined to a specific place, the Prussian capital that later became the capital of Germany. Once lauded by Napoleon as the “Champagne of the North”, by the early 21st... Continue Reading →
Pat’s Pints Podcast Episode 22 – Saisons
In this episode Mark and I are joined by by homebrewer and Pat’s Pints Podcast veteran Hans Gorsuch for an in-depth discussion of an underappreciated gem of the beer world, saisons. We sit outside on a warm summer evening and enjoy a range of saisons while the cicadas serenade us as the evening turns to... Continue Reading →
Pat’s Pints Podcast Episode 17 – American Sour Beers and Wild Ales with Sean White (Part 2)
In the second half of our interview with Sean White, co-owner and head brewer at Little Fish Brewing, we continue our exploration of the fascinating world of sour beers. The episode kicks off with with a candid discussion of the challenges of spontaneous fermentation. As the pod progresses we talk about the important role of... Continue Reading →
A.J. Zanyk’s Baltic Porter wins Barley’s Homebrew Competition
This past Sunday marked another successful finish to one of Ohio’s longest running beer traditions, the Barley’s Homebrew Competition. The contest dates back to last century, the summer of 1996 to be specific. At that time I was still in graduate school in Oregon, drinking the likes of Rogue, Deschutes and Widmer. In those days... Continue Reading →
Free Homebrewing Workshop Saturday at the Worthington Public Library
Have you ever thought that you'd like to try your hand at homebrewing but don't know where to start? You could be like me and wait for someone to give you a Mr. Beer American Light starter set for Christmas. If you follow all of the instructions in a few short weeks you too can have... Continue Reading →