All tagged craft beer

Beer Foam

Beer Foam

Justin Jackson
Brewing Resources, Beer Books, Practical Home Brewer

We’ve all seen the server or bartender go through the painstaking process of slowly pouring beer from the faucet or out of a can or bottle into a nearly-horizontal glass, making every effort to not allow any foam to show up at the top of the glass. However, every brewer will tell you that foam is an important characteristic of beer that is supposed to be there. In some countries there is a clear line below the top of the glass, highlighting the level of liquid that you paid for (with room for foam on top). In other countries the liquid is meant to be held together by surface tension at the brim of the glass without a trace of foam.

In this post I won’t be sharing about how much foam each pint should have, but I will share some ways that brewers can improve foam in their beer. Particularly, I’ll share some takeaways from Dr. Charles Bamforth’s 2012 book, Foam, from the ASBC “Quality Series”.

Brewerism - Western Australia (Margaret River & Coast)

Justin Jackson
Brewerism

Australia is a land that has everything it needs to make world-class beer with hop farms in Tasmania, barley fields in Western Australia and a brewing history heavily influenced by British immigrants in the 19th century. While I’ve previously traveled to Tasmania, Melbourne and Sydney, this past December (2019) I made my first trip to Western Australia - home of the Margaret River wine region, a beautiful coastline, and other agriculture that has made it ripe to support an emerging craft beer scene. In this post I’ll touch on a few breweries I was able to visit in Margaret River, Fremantle, and the coast in-between. I’ll give you my general impression as well as a relative “grade” of the venue and the beer, and some justification for each.

Seven Useless Facts I Learned from "Portland Beer: Crafting the Road to Beervana".

Seven Useless Facts I Learned from "Portland Beer: Crafting the Road to Beervana".

Justin Jackson
Brewerism, Beer Books, Beer History

As a brewer, I’m always interested in learning more of the science behind brewing and fermentation. As a beer enthusiast, however, I always love a good history lesson about beer and brewing. American Palate has published a series of historical books on beer and as I have traveled I have come across a few of the titles to supplement my, often dry, beer science knowledge with the more colorful story of beer around the world.

Having recently visited Portland, aka “Beervana”, and other parts of Oregon on a summer family road trip, I came across Portland Beer: Crafting the Road to Beervana at the locally famous Powell’s Bookstore. Needless to say I was happy to avoid another technical brewing text to go for a more enjoyable read to give me more of a background on this city that has come to be recognized as one of the hubs for craft beer in America.

In this post I wanted to filter out a handful of historical facts that I found interesting.

Brewerism - Hobart, Tasmania

Brewerism - Hobart, Tasmania

Justin Jackson
Brewerism

Australia is a place with no shortage of great beer and since Tasmania accounts for majority of the hop supply, it’s no wonder that there would be a handful of breweries putting out some excellent craft beers in the state’s capitol of Hobart. We spent a week in Tasmania, using Hobart as a base, and since we never made it up to Launceston (home of James Boag’s and also close to Van Dieman’s) I decided to focus this post on the breweries of Hobart.

Gluten-Free Brewing Basics

Gluten-Free Brewing Basics

Justin Jackson
Practical Home Brewer, Brewing Resources

Gluten is a troublesome protein found in cereal grains such as barley, wheat, and rye.  Approximately 1% of the world population is affected by celiac disease which is an autoimmune disorder that damages the small intestine and affects nutrient absorption.  Gluten sensitivity is a recognised condition affecting about 6% of the US population, and involves other, less serious reactions from ingested gluten.  Since the primary source of sugar in brewing comes from cereal grains, most people with celiac disease and gluten intolerances avoid beer altogether, but craft brewers have gotten creative over the years in trying to offer gluten-free options that still taste great.  This post will introduce you to the basics of gluten-free brewing.

Brewerism - Berlin

Brewerism - Berlin

Justin Jackson
Brewerism

German "craft beer"?  Why would they need that?  For a country that oozes "craft" in everything that they do, and a history that is steeped in strict traditions when it comes to brewing, it seemed unlikely that we would ever see German brewers joining the craft beer revolution.  I suppose we shouldn't be surprised that the most diverse and international city in Germany would serve as a catalyst for this new German craft beer movement.

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