16 Tips to Brew Better Beer

What are hops and what do they do for beer? Who on earth first thought to boil them in beer? Why are there so many varieties? All these questions will be answered in our "Hops" series.

Cascade hops are arguably the hop that started a revolution in craft brewing. Their citrusy, spicy aroma and palette have been used in countless brews and launched hoppy Pale Ales and American IPA's as a class of their own.

This is the first in a series on hops, their characteristics and their uses.

It’s important to know the gravity of your wort because that will affect how much alcohol is produced, how long it will take to ferment, whether or not it is likely to “get stuck”, the sweetness/dryness of the beer and a myriad other factors.

When it comes to measuring the specific gravity of a beer to wort, there are two main tools we can use: the hydrometer and the refractometer. they do the same thing - but in very different ways.

What causes hangovers? What are the best cures? Why do we do it to ourselves, swear we'll never do it again the next day, only to turn around and repeat the cycle a week later?

What is your best hangover cure? Let us know.

20/20 hindsight is a wonderful thing. You can always look back and say “I wish I knew that before…”, but wouldn’t it be great if you actually knew it up front. This post outlines my top tips for brewing better, easier, more consistently and more often.

Transferring from fermenter to keg avoiding contact with oxygen as much as possible. We spent time and money to make the beer, so we want it to taste as good as it possibly can.

How well do you know your brewing terms? In this episode we go through a few brewing terms in a game of "Is this a brewing term or not." How many do you know?

For a more exhaustive list, go to https://www.backyardbrewer.com.au/blog/brewing-terms

We do the hard yards by tasting 6 Aussie Pale Ale's to compare them and give you a little information about them and Pale Ale in general. This could have been a much shorter video, but we tend to go off on tangents.

You can watch the episode on YouTube https://youtu.be/L_CjI8sksng

For more information on brewing terms, go to
https://www.backyardbrewer.com.au/blog/brewing-terms

The Beers:
Pirate Life South Coast Pale Ale
Green Beacon 3 Bolt Pale Ale
Bridge Road Beechworth Pale Ale
Balter Captain Sensible
Black Hops Pale Ale
Your Mates Larry

More on the breweries:
Pirate Life https://www.piratelife.com.au/
Green Beacon https://www.greenbeacon.com.au/
Bridge Road https://bridgeroadbrewers.com.au/
Balter https://www.balter.com.au/
Black Hops https://blackhops.com.au/
Your Mates https://yourmatesbrewing.com/

Honourable mentions:
Ballistic https://ballisticbeer.com/
Thirsty Chiefs https://www.thirstychiefs.com.au/
Brendale Brewing https://www.brendalebrewingco.com.au

I unbox the Mangrove Jack’s Starter Brewery Kit, look at what’s in it, and how useful it is. Is it really good value for money?

Are you time poor, don’t have much space, or are you just starting out on your brewing journey.?

Extract and fresh wort kits are then easiest way to make beer. They’re quick, they’re easy, and there is a huge variety these days. 

I’ll walk you through the process of this easy and addictive way of making beer.