Basic Brewing Radio

08-03-17 56 Brewing

02 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Nick Chute, head brewer of 56 Brewing in Minneapolis, shares some delicious beers and some tips on how to brew similar ones at home.

07-27-17 Home Lab Yeast Analysis

26 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Zack Taggart, lab manager at 42 North Brewing, tells us how to set up our own homebrew lab to analyze yeast health and count cell population.

07-20-17 Matt Weide Mead Experiments

19 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Former meadmaker of the year Matt Weide joins us at HomebrewCon in Minneapolis to share meads made with walnuts, peanuts and ginger. He also shares a ...

07-13-17 Boom Island Brewing

12 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Kevin Welch of Boom Island Brewing in Minneapolis has turned passion for music and Belgian beers into a commercial operation designed to carry on a lo...

07-06-17 Hop Chronicles and Club Night

05 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

We meet up with the Brulosophy crew at HomebrewCon in Minneapolis to evaluate two varieties of hops, and we chat with brewers and brewing experts on t...

05-25-17 Hop Timing Experiment

24 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Steve Wilkes and Casey Letellier help James evaluate an experiment comparing three beers with single hop additions at 60 minutes, 30 minutes and flame...

05-18-17 Earthbound Beer

17 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Stuart Keating gives us brewing tips and explains why his brewery brews beers described as the "smallest and weirdest" in St. Louis.

05-11-17 Brewing Kombucha

10 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Phil Nigash of the podcast My Life As a Foodie joins us to talk about restarting his show and getting into brewing kombucha at home.

05-04-17 Sean Terrill Attenuation Study

03 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Sean Terrill of Two Mile Brewing in Leadville, Colorado, talks about his study and article examining the effect of mash temperature on attenuation rat...

04-27-17 Fruit Flavor Additions

26 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Homebrewer Jamie Conway joins James and Steve as they taste beers and meads with different approaches to integrating fruit character.

04-20-17 Step Mashing

19 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Colby of Beer and Wine Journal gets into the details about step mashing and how we can use it to control the character of our beers.

04-13-17 Recipe Formulation: Playing with Gravity

12 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

James and Steve sit down during a brew day to talk about how to calculate and predict starting and finishing gravity levels of beers.

04-06-17 Indiana Water Experiment

05 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Homebrewer Aaron Winey shares his experiment brewing an American blonde ale using water from four different sources.

03-30-17 Callister and Lightheart Brewing

29 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Homebrewer-turned-pro Nathaniel Senff of Lightheart Brewing talks about being a part of the collaborative Callister Brewing in Vancouver, British Colu...

03-23-17 Casey Goes Pro, Part Two

22 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In this second part of a two-parter, Casey Letellier, currently brewing at West Mountain Brewing Company, talks about his plans to open his own – Iv...

03-16-17 Casey Goes Pro, Part One

15 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In this first part of a two-parter, Casey Letellier, currently brewing at West Mountain Brewing Company, talks about his plans to open his own – Ivo...

03-09-17 Kettle Fermentation

08 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Homebrewer Scott Koue shares his experience in fermenting beer in the same kettle that he used to boil the wort.

03-02-17 Homebrew Stout Collaboration

01 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Homebrewers Ron Schmidt and Jamie Conway share their collaborative stout that was split to age on vanilla and a rye whiskey barrel.

02-23-17 Frost Fest 2017

22 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

James wanders around Frost Fest in Fayetteville, Arkansas, to sample beers and get some homebrewing tips from professional brewers.

02-16-17 Hop Tweaking

15 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Colby, editor of Beer and Wine Journal and author of the Homebrew Recipe Bible, talks about hop substitution and ways to change up the hopping o...

02-09-17 Mead Best Practices

08 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Ricky the Meadmaker from Groennfell and Havoc Meaderies in Vermont talks about sharing his recipes online and shares his best meadmaking practices.

02-02-17 African Palm Wine

01 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Homebrewer Ryan Deaver joins us to talk about spontaneously fermented palm wine he researched in the west African country of Benin.

01-26-17 Recipe Formulation Tips

25 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Brad Ring and Betsy Parks from Brew Your Own magazine talk about their new Big Book of Homebrewing and share tips on coming up with your own homebrew ...

01-19-17 AHA Update

18 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Gary Glass, director of the American Homebrewers Association, updates us on the state of our hobby, upcoming National Homebrew Competition deadlines a...

01-12-17 Swiss Spruce Porter

11 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Homebrewer Will Schumacher talks about his experiments brewing with spruce that he foraged from his time in Switzerland.

01-05-17 Plain, Coconut, and Mole Porter

04 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

James and Steve take advantage of a beautiful day to sample three porters on the porch, all from the same batch.

12-29-16 Disaster Show 2016

28 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

James and Steve carry on the tradition of sharing stories from listeners of brew days gone bad.

12-15-16 Brulosophy Boil Experiments

14 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Marshall Schott and Malcolm Frazer from Brulosophy.com share their experiments - the effect of keeping the lid on during the boil and not boiling a Be...

12-08-16 Holiday Brewing Time Management

07 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Colby, editor of Beer and Wine Journal and author of the Homebrew Recipe Bible, gives us tips on carving time out during the holidays for the im...

12-01-16 Steve's Brew Shop

30 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Steve Wilkes is now the owner of a shiny new local homebrew shop in Fayetteville, Arkansas. He talks about the process of starting the shop and plans ...

11-17-16 Hoppy Sour Beers

16 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Mad Fermentationist Mike Tonsmeire shares his techniques for brewing tart beers with lots of hop character, and he samples three interpretations from ...

11-10-16 Bryggerhuset Pilot Brewery Part Two

09 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

We continue the discussion with Gard Karlsnes, who runs the pilot brewery at Aass Brewery in Norway. This time, we sample a ginger beer and Christmas ...

11-03-16 Bryggerhuset Pilot Brewery Part One

02 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Gard Karlsnes runs the pilot brewery at Aass Brewery in Norway and is expanding its horizons beyond Reinheitsgebot roots. Part one of two.

10-27-16 Hermit Thrush Brewing

26 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Gagne of Hermit Thrush Brewing in Brattleboro, Vermont, talks about brewing beer with only wild yeast he's harvested from the environment.

10-20-16 Competition Cream Ales

19 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Colby, editor of Beer and Wine Journal and author of the Homebrew Recipe Bible, shares tips on how to make your cream ale stand out in a competi...

10-13-16 Vegetable Saisons

12 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Homebrewer Jason Jackson shares four versions of his saison enhanced with vegetables from his garden. Steve Wilkes helps sample.

10-06-16 New Province Brewing

05 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Our series on northwest Arkansas brewing continues with New Province Brewing in Rogers and a visit with owner-head brewer Derek McEnroe.

09-29-16 Brewing Local - American Grown Beer

28 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Author Stan Hieronymus talks about his latest book that takes a look at how American brewers are using local ingredients to put their stamp on our fav...

09-22-16 Bluejacket/The Arsenal

21 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Josh Chapman, head brewer of Bluejacket in Washington DC, shows us around what Mike Tonsmeire describes as the "Disney World of Brewpubs."

09-15-16 Managing Tannins

14 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Colby, editor of Beer and Wine Journal and author of The Homebrew Recipe Bible, walks us through tannins: when they're good or bad and how to co...

09-08-16 Groennfell and Havoc Meaderies

07 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Ricky the Meadmaker returns to the program with his wife and business partner, Kelly Klein, to share some wonderful "beer-strength" meads and tips for...

09-01-16 Brulosophy Starter and Mash Experiments

31 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Brulosophy team member Jake Huolihan shares two experiments comparing vitality vs viability starters and batch vs no sparging.

08-25-16 Nathan Zeender of Right Proper Brewing

24 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

We join head brewer Nathan Zeender in 3-D at the production brewery of Right Proper in the Brookland neighborhood of Washington D.C.

08-18-16 Grisette and Saison

17 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Homebrewer and beer historian Dave Janssen talks about grisette, a tasty obscure Belgian style, and how it relates to saison.

08-11-16 Tonsmeire Funky Honey Beer Experiment

10 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Mike Tonsmeire, the Mad Fermentationist, shares an experiment around his dining room table splitting a funky beer batch and adding five different hone...

08-04-16 Fruit IPA

03 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Colby, editor of Beer and Wine Journal, talks about the latest thing in IPAs - fruit!

07-28-16 Tonsmeire Taps

27 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

We sample two delicious Mad Fermentationist beers from the source: a stout reinvigorated with specialty grain tea and a New England IPA.

07-21-16 Brulosophy New England Pale Ale Experiment

20 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

We take part in sampling an experiment testing the effect of gelatin on a tasty, cloudy, hoppy East Coast pale ale.

07-14-16 Collaborative Flemish Red

13 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Christian Layke, brewer at Gordon Biersch's Rockville Maryland location, and Mad Fermentationist Mike Tonsmeire work together on a tasty barrel-aged s...

07-07-16 Baltimore Homebrew Con Club Night

06 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

We roam the floor of Club Night at Baltimore Homebrew Con to find interesting brewers who brew delicious beers and get brewing tips.

06-02-16 NZ Kelly Ryan of Fork and Brewer

01 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Roving reporter Will Gallaspy picks the brain of Kelly Ryan, brewer at Fork and Brewer in Wellington, New Zealand.

05-26-16 NZ Brewing Pioneer Ben Middlemiss

25 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Roving reporter Will Gallaspy catches pioneering New Zealand craft brewer Ben Middlemiss and talks to him about how good beer came to the Kiwis.

05-19-16 Homebrew All Stars

18 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Denny Conn and Drew Beechum, authors of Homebrew All Stars, divine which category of brewer Steve and James fit into.

05-12-16 Chris Colby NZ Keynote

11 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Colby, editor of Beer and Wine Jounal, dives into the details on foam – how it's created and the positive and negative factors affecting it.

05-05-16 John Palmer NZ Keynote

04 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

John Palmer, homebrew guru, shares his top five brewing priorities in his keynote presentation at the New Zealand Homebrew Conference.

04-28-16 Chris White NZ Keynote

27 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

White Labs Yeast founder, Dr. Chris White, shares some yeast science and practical homebrewing advice at the New Zealand Homebrew Conference.

04-21-16 NZ Sour Panel

20 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In this panel from the New Zealand Homebrewers Conference, pro and home brewers share advice and experience in brewing delicious sour beers.

04-14-16 How Enzymes Work

13 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Colby, editor of Beer and Wine Journal, dives deeply into science as he describes how enzymes work on a microscopic level and how that applies t...

04-07-16 Brulosophy Vorlauf and Cold Sparge

06 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Ray Found from Brulosophy.com shares two experiments: one on the effects of spent grains in the boil and another on sparging with room temperature wat...

03-31-16 Common Sense Brewing

30 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

James moderates a panel from NZHC with Tasty McDole, Will Gallaspy and Nick Wiseman on brewing with common sense.

03-24-16 Nelson Marchfest Brew-Off

23 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

We head to New Zealand for the first homebrew conference in Nelson and take part in a brewing demonstration.

03-17-16 Episode 500

16 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

While James, Andy and Chris head to New Zealand, we celebrate our first 500 episodes with this look back.

03-10-16 More Sour Hybrids

09 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Homebrewer James Sites shares another round of his tasty sour beer and wine hybrids fermented with his own house sour culture.

03-03-16 Springtime Hop Care

02 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

James Altwies of Gorst Valley Hops give us some excellent advice on making sure our homegrown hops get a good start on the season.

02-25-16 Fading Alpha Acids

24 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Colby, editor of Beer and Wine Journal, talks about how time affects the levels of alpha acids in hops and how to slow their fading.

02-18-16 Quality Management

17 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Mary Pelletieri, author of Quality Management: Essential Planning for Breweries, joins us to talk about how to bring quality management practices into...

02-11-16 Bentonville Brewing Company

10 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

We continue our introductions to northwest Arkansas breweries as we visit with Katie and Beau Boykin of Bentonville Brewing.

02-04-16 Bronzed Brews

03 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Peter Symons joins us from Sydney to talk about Bronzed Brews, his new book exploring the history of Australian brewing.

01-28-16 Sugar Staggering Experiment

27 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Malcolm Frazer of Brulosophy.com shares his experiment comparing the results of adding sugar to the fermenter all at once vs staggered over time.

01-21-16 Hitting Original Gravity

20 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Colby, editor of Beer and Wine Journal, shares tips on hitting original gravity if things go awry during the brew day.

01-14-16 Homemade Crystal Malt

13 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Homebrewer Phillip McDaniel shares samples of crystal malt he made and his technique for making it.

01-7-16 Tonsmeire Recipe Tips

06 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Michael Tonsmeire, the Mad Fermentationist, shares his ten tips of what to consider when coming up with a beer recipe.

12-31-15 Brewing Disaster Stories

30 Dec 2015

Contributed by Lukas

In their annual tradition, James and Steve read a collection of listener-submitted brewing disaster stories.

12-17-15 Gruit Blending Experiment

16 Dec 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Homebrewer Dan McCarthy shares ten gruits, and James and Steve sample to find the perfect blend.

12-10-15 One Hour All Grain Brewing

09 Dec 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Brulosopher Marshall Schott talks about his Short and Shoddy brew day, where he brewed an all grain batch of beer in around sixty minutes.

12-3-15 Columbus House Brewing

02 Dec 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Brewer Jason Corral shows us around his professional electric system based on his homebrew setup and controlled with an Arduino controller.

11-19-15 Holiday Spices

18 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Colby, editor of Beer and Wine Journal, talks about four favorite holiday spices for brewing and gives us some tips.

11-12-15 Small Sour Barrel Strategy Pt. 2

11 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Homebrewer CJ Shamas returns to share beers from his small sour barrel program with James, Steve and Andy.

11-05-15 Apple Blossom Cream Ale

04 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

We get a behind-the-scenes look at the brewing of the collaboration Cream Ale, as Apple Blossom scales up James' homebrew recipe.

10-29-15 Hefeweizen Fermentation Temperature Experiment

28 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Homebrewer Dennis Pike returns with the results of his experiment testing the effects of different fermentation temperatures on hefeweizen.

10-22-15 Beer Dispensing Systems

21 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Homebrewer Phil Proctor shares tips on setting up elaborate beer dispensing systems and on designing a homemade glycol chiller.

10-15-15 Brewing with Mushrooms

14 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Homebrewer Ray Sykes brings mushrooms to homebrew for some really tasty and interesting flavors.

10-08-15 Fall Ciders

07 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Homebrewer Nick Johnson shares four ciders brewed with ingredients inspired by the season of fall.

09-24-15 Black Apple Crossing Cidery

23 Sep 2015

Contributed by Lukas

James sits down with Trey Holt from Black Apple Crossing Cidery to sample ciders and get homebrewing tips.

09-17-15 Sour Small Barrel Strategy

16 Sep 2015

Contributed by Lukas

In part one of a two-part series, homebrewer CJ Shamas shares tips on using small barrels to produce sour beers.

09-10-15 Brewing Tripel

09 Sep 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Colby, editor of Beer and Wine Journal, shares tips on brewing a delicious Trappist-inspired beer with a simple ingredient list.

09-03-15 Carolina Reaper Beer Experiment

02 Sep 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Doug Wawrzynski unveils the most ambitious split batch experiment in BBR history: Will the numbing effect of Szechuan peppercorns tame the heat of Car...

08-27-15 Barrel Progression Experiment

26 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Father and son homebrewing team, Nick and Curt Kiest, share their experiment aging a series of beers in an eight gallon oak whiskey barrel.

08-20-15 Hefeweizen Pitching Rate Experiment

19 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Homebrewer Dennis Pike shares his experiment comparing the effects of three different yeast pitching rates on hefeweizen.

08-13-15 Bread Yeast Mead and Crock Pot Bochet

12 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Tim Leber joins us with an experiment evaluating bread yeast in mead and shares burnt honey mead made in a Crock Pot. Also, a surprise habanero mead.

08-06-15 Modern Times Brewing

05 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

We visit Modern Times Brewing in San Diego to talk to Jacob McKean and Michael Tonsmeire about starting a brewery based on homebrew, roasting and brew...

07-30-15 Black Malt and Man Boobs

29 Jul 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Colby, editor of Beer and Wine Journal, talks about the myths surrounding black malt and how versitile it really is. Also, do IPAs really give y...

07-23-15 White Labs Yeast

22 Jul 2015

Contributed by Lukas

We visit with Dr. Chris White of White Labs about their tasting room, new products, and general brewing industry topics.

07-16-15 Brulosopher NHC Experiments

15 Jul 2015

Contributed by Lukas

We join Brulosopher Marshall Schott at the National Homebrewers Conference in San Diego to evaluate experiments on lager fermentation temperatures and...

07-09-15 Vinnie Cilurzo at NHC and Small Batch Lagers

08 Jul 2015

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River about spontaneous fermentation, a new hop exclusively for homebrewers, and brewing Pilsners. Also, homebrew...

07-02-15 Club Night 2015

01 Jul 2015

Contributed by Lukas

James, Steve, and a cast of BBR characters wander Club Night at the National Homebrewers Conference in search of great beers.

05-28-15 Feeding Big Beers

27 May 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Colby, editor of Beer and Wine Journal, talks about increasing alcohol content of beers by feeding the yeast added sugar in the fermenter.

05-21-15 Stout Chemistry Brulosophy Experiment

20 May 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Malcolm Frazer, contributor to Brulosophy.com, shares his experiment brewing a dry Irish stout with water chemistry suited for stouts and for pale ale...

05-14-15 Sewage Brewage

13 May 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Mark Jockers from Clean Water Services and Jeremie Landers from the Oregon Brew Crew talk about a challenge in Portland using treated effluent to brew...

05-07-15 Sour Beer Cider Hybrids

06 May 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Homebrewer James Sites shares two tasty brews that are blends of sour beers and ciders with fruit.