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Recipe Development -
Amber Lagers
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Basic Brewing Radio™
Find an archive of experiment episodes here.
At Basic Brewing Radio, we're all about home brewing. Each week, we hope to bring to you interesting interviews with people who can shed light on the hobby, share an interesting story, or give expert advice to help us all become better home brewers.
We plan to make each show short and to the point, because we know how precious your time (and bandwidth) can be.
New to podcasting? Check out our guide.
Our Basic Brewing Gallery shows off photos of listeners and viewers wearing our apparel in cool places.
Download Greg O'Grady's Quantity Converter Spreadsheet (Excel document).
January 26, 2023 - Recipe Development, Amber Lagers
Chris Colby, author of the Homebrew Recipe Bible and editor of beerandgardeningjournal.com, walks us through formulating two delicious amber beers.
January 19, 2023 - Brewing with Birch
Mika Laitinen, author of Viking Age Brew and brewingnordic.com, tells us how to use every part of the birch tree to make delicious beers.
January 12, 2023 - Social Project Brewing
James and Steve sample beers with head brewer Jamie Conway, now of Social Project Brewing, and brewery founder Chris Spence.
January 5, 2023 - Mead and Cider Roundup
James and Steve sample non-beer things they've made recently and experiment with ways to add sweetness and acidity at serving time.
December 29, 2022 - Brewing Disasters 2022
James and Steve read tales of brewing gone bad from listeners, and they drink some delicious homebrew to pair with it from Scott Housel.
Download your Disaster Show Bingo Card here (pdf).
December 15, 2022 - Homebrew Evolution
James visits with Marshall Schott, founder of Brulosophy, about the state of homebrewing and the advancements we've seen in the past several years.
December 8, 2022 - Recipe Development, Raspberry Wheat
Chris Colby, author of The Homebrew Recipe Bible and editor of beerandgardeningjournal.com, tastes James' winter ale and formulates a recipe for a raspberry wheat.
December 1, 2022 - Adam's Winter Grab Bag
Adam Ross from Twin Span Brewing shares four delicious beers and a tasty seltzer that use a variety of brewing techniques.
November 17, 2022 - Recipe Development, Belgian Tripel
Matt Giovanisci from Brew Cabin joins James to sample a Belgian Wit and plan a delicious Belgian Tripel.
November 10, 2022 - Holiday Tincture Sampler
James and Steve sample some seasonal tinctures in a holiday beer that James and Chris Colby formulated on this show last month.
November 3, 2022 - Pressure Fermenting
Adam Ross from Twin Span Brewing in Iowa shares some beers with James and Steve that were fermented under higher pressure.
October 27, 2022 - Mead Oak Experiment
Mead man Tim Leber leads James and Steve through an experiment comparing American, French and Hungarian Oak in a simple mead.
October 20, 2022 - Rose's Beer Garden
James and some old friends join Rose Schweikhart in the Beer Park next to Superior Bathhouse Brewery to sample beers in a National Park.
October 13, 2022 - Recipe Development, Holiday Ale
Chris Colby of beerandgardeningjournal.com walks James through the process of formulating a recipe for a spiced holiday beer.
October 6, 2022 - Dark Tincture Sampler 2
James and Steve sample a dark beer flavored with tinctures of five different flavors you probably don't associate with dark beers.
September 29, 2022 - Recipe Development, Belgian Wit
James and Matt Giovanisci of Brew Cabin taste Matt's American Amber Ale and collaborate on an unconventional Belgian Witbier recipe.
September 15, 2022 - Tulsa Craft Beer Invitational
James and Steve head to the parking lot of High Gravity Fermentations to sample beers at the Tulsa Craft Beer Invitational.
September 8, 2022 - Oklahoma Beer, A Handcrafted History
Brian Welzbacher, Oklahoma beer historian, talks about the challenging history of beer and brewing in the Sooner State.
September 1, 2022 - Recipe Development, Dry Stout
Chris Colby, author of The Homebrew Recipe Bible and Methods of Modern Homebrewing, walks us through formulating a recipe for a delicious dark beer.
August 25, 2022 - Small Batch Home Malting
Sherwin Santiano of the Canadian Malting Barley Technical Center, who trains professional maltsters, gives us tips on malting our own barley at home.
August 18, 2022 - Mead Day Chat
Ricky the Meadmaker of Groennfell and Havoc meaderies joins James and Steve on Mead Day Eve to chat about their favorite honey beverages.
August 11, 2022 - Hop Farm Brewing Pt. 2
We continue our conversation with Malcolm Frazer of Hop Farm Brewing in Pittsburgh with two English Milds and a NEIPA.
August 4, 2022 - Hop Farm Brewing Pt. 1
Malcolm Frazer and Melissa Larrick from Hop Farm Brewing in Pittsburgh lead us through a delicious flight of lighter colored beers.
July 28, 2022 - Judging Ciders
Matt Jannett of Fenn Valley Vineyards talks about his life as a winemaker and a recent experience judging a cider competition.
July 21, 2022 - Pittsburgh Club Night
We hit the floor (not literally) at Homebrew Con Club Night in Pittsburgh to try delicious traditional and not-so-traditional beers and meads.
July 14, 2022 - Homebrew Sake and Hybridizing Yeast
We join Dr. Matt Winans of Imperial Organic Yeast R & D at Homebrew Con in Pittsburgh to talk making sake at home and Imperial's work to combine different yeast strains into a new one.
July 7, 2022 - Recipe Development, American Amber Ale
Matt Giovanisci joins James to collaborate on formulating a recipe from scratch for a hoppy American favorite.
June 30, 2022 - Homebrew Con Day One
We head to Pittsburgh for Homebrew Con and collect a series of fun and informative interviews from day one of the conference.
June 16, 2022 - Dive Bär
North American transplants David Shotlander and Jonathan Klassen talk about brewing in Gland, Switzerland and taking their brewery to the next level.
June 9, 2022 - Vaulted Oak Brewing
We head to Charlotte, North Carolina, to celebrate the first anniversary of Vaulted Oak Brewing with brewer David Carey and co-founder Kiel Arrington.
June 2, 2022 - Dark Tincture Sampler
James and Steve go dark as they test tinctures of toasted coconut, mint, and wild blueberries in a darker beer.
May 19, 2022 - Italian Grape Ale
Our Italy correspondent, Tony Manzi of the UBeeRadio podcast, introduces us to the world of Italian Grape Ale – a sometimes tart and funky intersection of wine and beer.
May 12, 2022 - Recipe Development, Yeast
Chris Colby, author of The Homebrew Recipe Bible, Methods of Modern Homebrewing, and How to Make Hard Seltzer, gives us an overview of using yeast in recipe development.
May 5, 2022 - Brewing with Kernza
Casey Letellier of Ivory Bill Brewing in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, talks about brewing with Kernza – the first perennial grain. Casey also talks about his recipe development strategy.
April 28, 2022 - Recipe Development, Adjuncts
Chris Colby, author of the Homebrew Recipe Bible and Methods of Modern Homebrewing, gives us an overview of adjuncts used in developing recipes.
April 21, 2022 - Recipe Development, Water Made Simple
Matt Giovanisci of the Brew Cabin blog and YouTube channel shares his simplified approach to brewing water chemistry.
April 14, 2022 - Recipe Development, Tonsmeire on Hops
Mike Tonsmeire, the Mad Fermentationist and co-founder of Sapwood Cellars, talks about his hopping strategies in modern hoppy beers.
April 7, 2022 - Citrus Zest Tincture Sampler
James and Steve sample tinctures made with lime, Myer lemon, and organic Minneola tangelo. We also sample Ivory Bill Myer Lemon Wheat and talk to brewer Casey Letellier about it.
March 31, 2022 - Recipe Development - Specialty Malts and Grains
Chris Colby, author of the Home Brew Recipe Bible and Methods of Modern Homebrewing, walks us through the most commonly used specialty malts and grains.
March 24, 2022 - Twelve Top Tasting Tips
Briony Liebich from flavourlogic.com give us some great advice on honing our senses when we taste our favorite beverage.
March 17, 2022 - Recipe Development from Story to Glass
Matt Giovanisci of the Brew Cabin YouTube channel and brewcabin.com talks about his approach taking abstract inspiration onto paper and into the fermenter.
March 10, 2022 - Recipe Development and Base Malts
Chris Colby, author of The Home Brew Recipe Bible and Methods of Modern Homebrewing, gives us an overview of the most basic of beer ingredients.
March 3, 2022 - Fruit Tincture Sampler
James and Steve use tincures made from dark sweet cherries, strawberries and jalapeños to liven up a basic pale ale.
February 24, 2022 - Recipe Development By the Numbers
Chris Colby, author of The Homebrew Recipe Bible and Methods of Modern Homebrewing, explains the numbers related to writing recipes and brewing beer.
February 17, 2022 - Brewing with Rye
Mika Laitinen, author of Viking Age Brew and brewingnordic.com, talks about the challenges and rewards of brewing with rye.
February 10, 2022 - Ozark Beer Company Update
Andy Coates brings us up to date on hazy beers, small batch blended barrels, and new gear at Ozark.
February 3, 2022 - Pepper Tincture Sampler
James and Steve play with tinctures made with dried chilis to dose into a tasty little pale ale.
January 27, 2022 - Fermentation Troubleshooting
Alex Gruber from Imperial Organic Yeast technical support walks us through the process of diagnosing troubled fermentations.
January 20, 2022 - Julia Herz, AHA Executive Director
We get to know Julia Herz as she takes the reins as Executive Director of the American Homebrewers Association.
January 13, 2022 - Ponche Barleywine and Pressure Fermentation
Adam Ross from Twin Span Brewing talks about his barleywine infused with Mexican punch along with a rosemary and spruce beer and brewing under pressure.
January 6, 2022 - Old Toe Sucker Ale
James attends a brew day at Fossil Cove Brewing to witness the recreation of a historic New Albion Brewing recipe with craft beer pioneer Jack McAuliffe.