High on Hops: Experimental Homebrewing

By Lee Heidel March 7, 2015

There’s a new bible for ambitious home brewers looking to push the boundaries of beer.

Experimental Homebrewing: Mad Science in the Pursuit of Great Beer by Drew Beechum and Denny Conn can be seen as spiritual successor to Dogfish Head Craft Brewery owner Sam Calagione’s Extreme Brewing. In the nearly ten years since Calagione’s epic treatise on challenging the home brew status quo, the commercial craft beer landscape has expanded and changed more rapidly than even he could have imagined. With more and more fantastical options available on store shelves, a home brewer who wants to stay ahead of the curve will have to go even farther into the science behind brewing and the possibilities of new flavor combinations and techniques.

Experimental Homebrewing contains some of the most inspirational recipes ever seen in a brewing book. Some of our favorites include:

The Curried Oat Mild, for example, is an ode to tikka masala, combining ginger, paprika, Indian coriander and (of course) masala powder into an aromatic, spicy feast of a beer.

The Mean Green Beer incorporates kale, spinach and cucumbers to create a green-tinged pale ale that would make St. Patrick proud. There’s also an entire section on brewing with meat. Bacon Helles, anyone?

The book isn’t just another off-beat recipe collection. It details innovative and inexpensive ways to control fermentation temperatures, “faking” a cask of real ale, creating canned super-starters for better yeast production and more MacGyver-esque ways to up your game. While the recipes do form touchstones to illustrate concepts from chapter to chapter, they are always accompanied by equations, measurement guidelines and the all-important why behind what makes that particular concoction so special.

It’s not the perfect “getting started” book for brand-new home brewers, but Experimental Homebrewing is inspirational and fun for novices or pros. The tone is conversational and humorous while at the same time conveying the knowledge that comes from years of real-world experimentation.

Experimental Homebrewing leaves the reader excited to take on a provided recipe or technique, but also empowers the reader to go off-book and bring their own imaginative concepts to the brew kettle.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Lee Heidel is the managing editor of Brew/Drink/Run, a website and podcast that promotes brewing your own beer, consuming the…

Food & Drink

Eat These 13 Foods High in Calcium for Strong Bones

Cheese plate.

Although the importance of consuming enough calcium tends to be a discussion focused more heavily on women, calcium is equally important for men. Calcium is the most abundant mineral in the body, it is critical for forming the structural components of bones and teeth. Furthermore, calcium plays key roles in muscle contraction, nerve conduction, heart health, and the secretion of various enzymes and hormones. A deficiency in calcium can not only increase your risk of fractures, but it can also cause fatigue, numbness and tingling, appetite changes, and other adverse health effects. Calcium needs vary throughout the lifespan, but the daily value for most men is between 1,000-1,300 mg.
When most people think of calcium-rich foods, milk and dairy products are the first—and perhaps only—foods that come to mind. Dairy products do tend to be high in calcium, but there are also non-dairy foods, including healthy vegetables and seeds that provide calcium as well. These plant-based foods are important sources of calcium for those following a vegan diet. Keep reading for a list of 13 of the best dietary sources of calcium, and be sure to double down on your favorites, or try some new ones, to support your bones, teeth, muscles, and nerves.

Milk

Food & Drink

Eat These 14 Foods High in Antioxidants for Optimal Health

Foods high in antioxidants.

Have you ever heard the advice to “eat the rainbow”? Essentially, this refers to consuming fruits and vegetables that span the color palette—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. As you browse the produce aisle in your favorite grocery store, you may notice all the different natural pigments. These colors are due to the specific phytonutrients and antioxidants present in the food.
Antioxidants and phytonutrients are compounds in plant-based foods that reduce oxidative damage in the body and can reduce the risk of certain diseases. Consuming these foods high in antioxidants is a great way to improve your health and feed your body with micronutrients and disease-fighting natural compounds. “Eating the rainbow” ensures you get a variety of types of antioxidants, and provide your body with a well-rounded nutritional profile for optimal wellness. Improve your health and keep reading for a list of the foods highest in antioxidants.

Dark Chocolate

Food & Drink

Best Pumpkin Beers Worthy of Your Pint Glass this Fall

best pumpkin beer

It's pumpkin season, people. The portly orange produce is invading everything these days, from your morning upper to post-dinner dessert. Soon enough, fall will give way to winter and the last remnants of pumpkin spice will fade as everyone swaps out the spice for peppermint. Until then, pumpkin beer it is.

Pumpkins have even infiltrated the beer realm, sometimes with not-so-desirable results. When done poorly, a pumpkin beer tastes like little more than a bunch of brown sugar and cinnamon hit with carbonation and alcohol. But the practice is so popular that there are some really tasty options out there, especially when combined with other ingredients in pumpkin coffee beer.