By The Mash Tun go to Craft Theory 2019! Cal and guest host Chris MacLennan (from The Space Jam Continuum ) interview as many brewers/beer people as they could find and demand to know about one of the beers they've brought to the festival. In part one of this two-part special, they interview these lovely people: Tom from Little Earth Project https://www.littleearthproject.com/ Steve from Eight Arch Brewing http://www.8archbrewing.co.uk/ Andy from Elusive Brewing https://www.elusivebrewing.com/ T...
Apr 28, 2019•1 hr 17 min
In the third part of our Back To Basics series Mike and Cal meet up with Rob and Martin from www.themaltmiller.co.uk to chat about equipment. We cover all the kit you'll need from the lowest level all the way up to the top tier stuff, all whilst chatting about our own setups and how they've changed over time. No setup is right for everyone so if you're wondering what type of kit might be right for you, give it a listen!
Apr 14, 2019•47 min
Drunk in the Cologne region of Germany for centuries, Kölsch is a light crisp refreshing beer that has all the hallmarks of a lager, but is technically an ale. If you’re interested in brewing this beer yourself, you can find the recipe here As usual, we brew one ourselves and talk about it, then try these commercial examples: Hacker Pschorr - Kellerbier Früh - Kölsch Boutilliers - Tonight, Tomorrow...
Mar 31, 2019•45 min•Ep. 22
If you like your beer to have a big sweet chocolaty malt backbone behind a luscious citrus hoppy aroma, you may very well enjoy the American Brown style. This beer doesn't mess around and gives you big flavours whilst still being refreshing enough to have you asking for more. Newcastle Brown this ain't! If you're interested in brewing this beer yourself, you can find the recipe here As usual, we brew one ourselves and talk about, then try these commercial examples: Torrside Brewing - Bugbear Ele...
Mar 17, 2019•39 min•Ep. 21
Join Mike and Cal as they discuss the basics of brewing! If you’ve ever wanted to brew or are new to homebrewing, the Back To Basics episodes may be a good place to start! In the second of these glossary episodes, we spend a bit more time going into the fermentation process (where wort turns into beer) including general advice, pitfalls to avoid and more Weird Brewer's Weird Words.
Mar 03, 2019•44 min
Existing for centuries, the traditionally sour and salty style of beer from the Goslar region in Germany has recently started making a huge impact in the beer world. A Gose gives a savoury edge to your biting sours and can give a depth of flavour that quick kettle sours can lack, and pairs excellently with a vast array of different fruit flavours. As part of a new partnership with our favourite homebrew supplier The Malt Miller you can find the recipe and buy the ingredients needed to make this ...
Feb 17, 2019•48 min•Ep. 20
Dark and complex, but easy going and very sessionable, the Traditional Dark Mild has been a staple of English Beer for a very long time. Don't let the colour fool you, this is not a sipper, so get it down yer! As usual, we brew one ourselves, talk about the style and our recipe, before trying out these commercial examples: Boutilliers - Sleep Delays http://www.boutilliers.com/ St Peters - Mild http://www.stpetersbrewery.co.uk/ Vale - Black Swan http://www.valebrewery.co.uk/...
Feb 03, 2019•50 min•Ep. 19
In this episode we travel to The Grumpy Goat in Reading ( http://thegrumpygoat.co.uk/ ), the bottleshop where Cal and Mike buy 90% of the beers reviewed in other episodes. We talk to owners Anne-Marie and Charlie about the shop and their upcoming beer festival "Craft Theory" http://crafttheoryfestival.co.uk/ We also review these beers from previous episodes: Jasmine Green Tea Pale Ale Hefeweizen/Witbier Saison (with Mike Bates) Rauchbier Coconut Brown *We apologise for the dip in audio quality f...
Jan 27, 2019•36 min
Cal loves a lager, but sometimes the wait for that perfectly clean crispy beverage is just too long. One option? Brew a Steam Beer (AKA a California Common), a rough and ready lager yeast beer fermented high and rushed into your glass. We did find one example of the style, but had a bit of trouble getting the archetypal Anchor Steam Beer. So, instead, we tried these delicious alternatives: Siren Craft - Hot Water State https://www.sirencraftbrew.com/ Anchor - California Lager Anchor - Liberty Al...
Jan 20, 2019•33 min•Ep. 18
Join Mike and Cal with new homebrewer Dave Ashmore as we discuss the basics of brewing! If you've ever wanted to brew or are new to homebrewing, the Back To Basics episodes may be a good place to start! In Episode 1 don't expect a thorough scientific view or a weighing up of the pros and cons of various methods. Instead it's a quick and simple overview of the basic processes involved, starting with water through malt and hops and ending with finished beer.
Jan 06, 2019•48 min
Brewing has existed for millennia so when something truly new comes along people tend to pay attention. Brut IPAs are so new and have captured so many imaginations that we had to try it out for ourselves! Focusing on more of an aged Brut Pale rather than the dry fresh and hoppy Brut IPA, we're treading fairly new ground here, but will our experiment work? We also try these commercial styles of Brut Pale/IPA: Siren Craft - Cuvée Brut https://www.sirencraftbrew.com/ Abbeydale and Haand - Splash It...
Dec 23, 2018•49 min•Ep. 17
In this episode Cal gets to revisit one of his earliest brews, the Coconut Brown. Combining the sweet malty robustness of a Brown Ale with the unique creaminess of Coconut, it's a style not seen very often but enjoyed by most that try it. We try some commercial examples of beer with Coconut in: Mongozo - Coconut https://www.mongozo.com/ Siren Craft and Basqueland - Hawaiian Shake https://www.sirencraftbrew.com/ https://basquebeer.com/en/ Dark Revolution and Vibrant Forest - Baloo https://www.dar...
Dec 09, 2018•50 min•Ep. 16
As the sweet, roasty, yet smooth drinking evil twin of the Black IPA, the White Stout is lesser known but just as beloved to its fans. Is the illusion great enough to justify the "Stout" name, or is it just a Coffee Pale Ale? In this episode we're joined by Kieran Johnson (who recently brewed one with BlackJack Brewery) as we delve into what makes this elusive style so delicious. As usual we try some of these commercial examples of the style: Butcher's Tears - Grainiac https://butchers-tears.com...
Nov 25, 2018•45 min•Ep. 15
In this special episode we visit Reading's newest brewery "Double-Barrelled" as they brew an Imperial Stout due to be double barrel aged! We also review these Imperial Stouts: Elusive Brewing - Invisible Wall https://www.elusivebrewing.com/ Gipsy Hill - HFO https://gipsyhillbrew.com/ Omnipollo - Noa Pecan Mud Cake http://www.omnipollo.com/...
Nov 11, 2018•50 min•Ep. 14
In Final Gravity we take a look at the various beers we’ve brewed after they’re completed. Find out what went right, what went wrong and most importantly what we’ve learned on our journey to learn by brewing. This episode we're joined by beer reviewer James Moore as he gives his opinions on our beers and talks about his quest to drink all "1001 Beer You Must Try Before You Die" https://youtu.be/DYJ8uHsQxaQ In this episode we sample: Black IPA Tropical Pale Ale Pancake Beer German Pils...
Nov 04, 2018•23 min
In this episode we hit the hybrid between the classic German style of sweet wheaty Hefeweizen and the Belgian style of spicy zesty Witbier. A wheat heavy hazy pale beer flavoured with orange peel and honey! We delve into the two styles, talk about our own take and try some of these commercial examples: Paulaner - Hefe-Weissbier https://www.paulaner.com/ Howling Hops - Traditional East End Hefeweizen http://howlinghops.co.uk/ Northern Monk and Bundobust - Bombay Dazzler https://www.northernmonkbr...
Oct 28, 2018•45 min•Ep. 13
Guest homebrewer special! In this episode Mike heads north to York to brew with award winning homebrewer Mike Bates, as he recreates the Saison that won him the award. Afterwards, Mike and Cal return to Reading to try these fantastic examples of the style: Crooked Stave - Vieille http://www.csartisans.com Time and Tide - Echo https://www.timeandtidebrewing.co.uk Burning Sky - Saison a la Provision https://www.burningskybeer.com...
Oct 14, 2018•46 min•Ep. 12
In this episode we embrace the smoke and brew a "Rauchbier", a big smoky delicious and malty style from Bamburg. We're also joined by Chris MacLennan, Cal's co-host from The Space Jam Continuum, also part of the Kaiju.fm Network. As usual, we brew one ourselves, talk about the style and our recipe, before trying out these commercial examples: Butcher's Tears - Smoke & Mirrors https://butchers-tears.com/ Torrside - Hopfenrauch I - http://www.torrside.co.uk/ Yeastie Boys - Rex Attitude https:/...
Sep 29, 2018•35 min•Ep. 11
In this episode Mike and his lovely wife Rachael have a look at the floral, delicate and yet rich flavour found by adding Jasmine Green Tea to pale ale. As usual, we brew one ourselves, talk about the style and our recipe, before trying out these commercial examples: Siren Craft - Yu Lu https://www.sirencraftbrew.com/ Wild Weather - Storm in a Teacup https://wildweatherales.com/ And a second one by Wild Weather - The Complete History https://wildweatherales.com/...
Sep 16, 2018•33 min•Ep. 10
In this episode we use up all the little bits of leftover ingredients from other brews to make a "Pancake Beer", a usually amber yet hoppy style that always changes (depending on what you have left). Good for those that hate waste! Since there are no (publicly described) commercial examples of the style, we instead look at a couple of English Amber Ales: Purity - Pure UBU https://puritybrewing.com/ Bath Ales - Gem https://bathales.com/ And we also try one of Cal's very old homebrew. It was chunk...
Sep 02, 2018•44 min•Ep. 9
In this special episode, instead of brewing at home we travel to Elusive Brewery to chat with owner and head brewer Andy Parker. On the brewday itself we look at his version of a Belgian Pale Ale (called "Plan B") as well as talk about the brewery and his new book. Featuring reviews of the following beers: Elusive - Plan B (first version) Elusive - Exxxtra Life https://www.elusivebrewing.com/ Weird Beard and Tiny Rebel - Cardinal Wolf http://www.weirdbeardbrewco.com/ https://www.tinyrebel.co.uk/...
Aug 19, 2018•43 min•Ep. 8
In this episode we take a look at the crisp refreshing world of pilsner lagers, focusing on the German interpretation of the style AND THEN the British interpretation of the German interpretation and... you get the idea. As usual, we brew one ourselves, talk about the style and our recipe, before trying out these commercial examples: Camden Brewery - Camden Pils http://www.camdentownbrewery.com/beer/pils-lager/ Electric Bear and Red Cat collab. - Water Lane https://electricbearbrewing.com/ https...
Aug 05, 2018•44 min•Ep. 7
In this episode we embrace the warm weather and make a tropical brew! Pale ale with additions of actual fruit, tropical pale ales are very popular and very delicious. As usual, we brew one ourselves, talk about the style and our recipe, before trying out these commercial examples: Tiny Rebel - Clwb Tropicana https://www.tinyrebel.co.uk/ Brewski - Pango http://brewski.se/ Renegade - Witness The Citrus https://renegadebrewery.co.uk/...
Jul 22, 2018•53 min•Ep. 6
In this episode we look at Mike's favourite style of beer the Black IPA. Many despise it's contradictory title, but inside the beer itself you'll find two elements that go together better than expected, roasted malts and heavy hops. As usual, we brew one ourselves, talk about the style and our recipe, before trying out these commercial examples: Beavertown - Black Betty https://www.beavertownbrewery.<wbr></wbr>co.uk/ De Kromme Haring - Inktvis http://www.dekrommeharing.nl/ Pohjala - ...
Jul 08, 2018•47 min•Ep. 5
In Final Gravity we take a look at the various beers we've brewed after they're completed. Find out what went right, what went wrong and most importantly what we've learned on our journey to make better beer. In this episode we look at: SMaSH West Coast IPA New England IPA Kettle Sour...
Jun 30, 2018•15 min
In episode 4 we look at Kettle Sours, a method of souring beer without having to wait a couple of years! As usual, we brew one ourselves, talk about the style and our recipe, before trying out these commercial examples with our guest reviewer Rachael Harrison-Wood: Tiny Rebel - Frambuzi https://www.tinyrebel.co.uk North Brewing - Volta https://www.northbrewing.com Wild Weather - Ask Me About Loom https://wildweatherales.com...
Jun 24, 2018•41 min•Ep. 4
In episode 3, Mike and Cal take a look at a very new style making waves in the beer world. With characteristics like hazy, fruity and even dank the New England IPA is delicious and easy drinking, but big, full and smooth. As usual, we brew one ourselves, talk about the style and our recipe, before trying out these commercial examples: Eight Arch and The Tipsy Pig - Dainty http://8archbrewing.co.uk/ Unbarred and Forest Road Brewing - Unwind NEIPA http://www.unbarredbrewery.<wbr></wbr>...
Jun 10, 2018•41 min•Ep. 3
In our second episode we look at a style that's taken the world by storm, it's the West Coast IPA. A big hitting hop monster with high bitterness and robust but supportive malt. As usual, we brew one ourselves, talk about the style and our recipe, before trying out some commercial examples: Lagunitas IPA by Lagunitas https://lagunitas.com/ 5 O'Clock Shadow by Weird Beard http://www.weirdbeardbrewco.<wbr></wbr>com/ Treason by Uprising http://www.uprisingbrewery.co.<wbr></wbr&...
May 26, 2018•36 min•Ep. 2
The First episode where we brew a straight forward beer using just marris otter and Cascade hop, its going to be crisp malt flavors and big citrusy flavors. We will cover the recipe, the brewing process, tasting and reviewing some commercial brews. Beers tasted and their web pages: Only Warrior from Mike's home brew - No Website (yet) Pale ale Simcoe - Wiper and True http://wiperandtrue.com/ Simcoe - Arbor http://arborales.co.uk/ Hero factory - Wild weather brewery https://wildweatherales.com/...
May 12, 2018•47 min•Ep. 1
