By The Mash Tun

Mike and Cal join award winning homebrewer Daren Fearon a few days after he brewed one of the biggest styles homebrewers can try, the American take on Barleywine. By taking all that is good about beer (the malt bite, the hoppy finish, the yeasty esters and a touch of alcohol), pushing everything as high as it will go and with ABVs ranging from 10% all the way up to 15%, this heavyweight style can pack quite the punch. We also talk with Daren about his work with the Reading Amateur Brewers (http://readingamateurbrewers.co.uk/), his approach at the style, his recipe, then try these delicious examples: Brewdog - AB25 https://www.brewdog.com/uk/ Siren Craft - Maiden 2017 - https://www.sirencraftbrew.com/ Tiny Rebel and Siren Craft - Dark Cherry & Chocolate Barley Wine https://www.tinyrebel.co.uk/

In recent years strains and cultures of yeasts from Norway have started to get a lot of attention in the brewing world. Unlike other strains they ferment clean even at temperatures as high as 40°C! But can it make a good lager? Using a (sort of) traditional Munich Helles as a base and an isolated strain of Kveik, Mike hopes to find out. As usual, we brew one ourselves and talk about it, then try these examples: Hofmeister - Helles http://www.hofmeister.co.uk/ And Union - Unfiltered Lager http://www.andunion.com/en/ Boutilliers - Turtle Paradise http://www.boutilliers.com/ * FINAL GRAVITY * We also try the Traditional Dark Mild from episode 19. Find out what went right, what went wrong, and what we learned by brewing. If you are interested in brewing this beer, you can find the recipe at https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/

Ever wandered what happens when you take the massive fruit punch of a New England IPA and push it even further? If you're adding actual fruit and other ingredients to boost that body into a creamy and sticky mess, you might be venturing towards an Icecream Pale Ale. Big in hops, fruit and body, this beer style may not be traditional, but it sure is delicious! As usual, we brew one ourselves and talk about it, then try these examples: Mike's White Chocolate White Stout from episode 15 Siren Craft and Magic Rock- Translucid IPA (not an Icecream Pale, but uses a Kveik yeast strain as mentioned in the episode) https://www.sirencraftbrew.com/ https://www.magicrockbrewing.com/ Arbor Ales and New Bristol Brewery - Whose Lime Is It Anyway? - http://arborales.co.uk/ https://www.newbristolbrewery.co.uk/ * FINAL GRAVITY * We also take a look at the American Brown brewed in episode 21 (http://www.kaiju.fm/by-the-mash-tun/21-american-brown/). Find out what went right, what went wrong, and what we learned by bre

For people who like their dark beers both very strong and very rich, the Imperial Milk Stout takes all the body of a powerful stout and cranks it up further with additions of lactose. Being an unfermentable sugar, the yeast leave the lactose alone during fermentation giving the beer an extra luxurious sweetness. As usual, we brew one ourselves and talk about it, then try these commercial examples: Thornbridge - Cocoa Wonderland https://thornbridgebrewery.co.uk/ Elusive - Invisible Wall https://www.elusivebrewing.com/ Wander Beyond - Scoop https://www.wanderbeyondbrewing.com/ You can also find the recipe to this episode's beer at www.themaltmiller.co.uk Final Gravity is also back and start from this episode is becoming a regular segment, sampling one or two of our previous beers once they're finished. To start off with this episode we revisit episode 20's "Gose"

If you want a surefire way of brewing a delicious beer that you'll love to drink, why not start with a clone beer? Taking a tried and tested beer from another brewery and trying to recreate it as authentically as possible (or brewing a "clone" of it) can help any brewer hone their skill whilst also providing tasty and recognisable beer. In this episode Mike joins up with Dave Ashmore (who appeared in the first episode of "Back To Basics" ) as they brew a clone of Timothy Taylor's Landlord. During recording certain technical difficulties occurred meaning the review of Timothy Taylor's Landlord itself was actually made afterwards with Cal. After that Mike also tried a couple of Dave's other clone beers, "Dr Blunder's Peeler" a clone of "Dr Hexter's Healer" by West Berkshire Brewery and "Hefelhoff" a reinterpretation of "Tornado Top Hat" by Wild Weather. You can find the recipe kit for this Timothy Taylor's Landlord clone at https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/product/timothy-taylor-landlord-premium-kit/ and

Episode 26 - Spruce Beer with Wild Weather Ales Cal and Mike go to visit their friends and local brewery Wild Weather Ales. In the episode we learn about the brewery itself, and their experience brewing with the fantastic extra ingredient of Spruce Tips! We try another Spruce Beer "Sprucy Banger" by Adnams and Northern Monk https://www.adnams.co.uk/ https://northernmonk.com/ Then try some fantastic and interesting beers by Wild Weather themselves https://wildweatherales.com/ "All Hans on Deck" collab with Wettre Bryggeri https://wettrebryggeri.net/ "Infinite Genies" collab with Brixham Gin https://www.brixhamgin.net/ and finally "Full of Beans Export" their 8.0% version of "Full of Beans", talked about in our Craft Theory Special episode.

Many of us have tried Rye in bread and other ingredients, but the question is should it be added to beer? Well, if Rye IPAs are anything to go by then of course it should! Often reddish in colour, Rye IPAs mix the big hit of American hops with a delicious (and some say spicy) malt kick. As usual, we brew one ourselves and talk about it, then try these commercial examples: West Berkshire Brewery - Have A Great Day https://www.wbbrew.com/ Adnams - Crystal Rye IPA https://www.adnams.co.uk/ Tap Social and Toast - 28 Days http://www.tapsocialmovement.com/ https://www.toastale.com/

Modern English IPAs (unlike their traditional counterparts) may be made with all English ingredients but still manage to hit big intensities whilst also maintaining a quaffable easiness. If you like Maris Otter malt and big hops that tend toward spicy, herbal and earthy whilst keeping some of that hoppy citrus, then look no further! As usual, we brew one ourselves and talk about it, then try these commercial examples: Marstons - Staffordshire IPA http://www.marstons.co.uk/ Cheddar Ales - Goat's Leap https://www.cheddarales.co.uk/ Adnams - Jester IPA https://www.adnams.co.uk/

Dating back to at least 800BC, Schwarzbier (otherwise known as Black Lager) is the oldest known style of European beer. Black in colour, but with the crisp refreshing body of a lager, this beer gets its popularity from its intricate balance mixed with delicious drinkability! As usual, we brew one ourselves and talk about it, then try these commercial examples: Köstritzer - Schwarzbier https://www.koestritzer.de/ Würzburger Hofbräu - Schwarzbier https://www.wuerzburger-hofbraeu.de/de/whb/ And Union - Neu Black Lager http://www.andunion.com/en/ If you're interested in brewing this beer you can find the recipe at www.themaltmiller.co.uk

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 the bumper second part of this two-part special, they interview these lovely people: Anne-Marie from The Grumpy Goat http://thegrumpygoat.co.uk/ Simon from To Øl https://toolbeer.dk/ Will from West Berkshire Brewery https://www.wbbrew.com/ JD from Wild Weather https://wildweatherales.com/ Mike from Double-Barrelled https://doublebarrelled.co.uk/ Kit from Wye Valley Meadery https://www.wyevalleymeadery.co.uk/ Paul from Beatnikz Republic http://www.beatnikzrepublic.com/ Chris from De Molen https://brouwerijdemolen.nl/ Steve from Siren Craft https://www.sirencraftbrew.com/ Our apologies about the sound quality at certain times, the recordings were done on location, and as such do fluctuate.

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/ Terry from Brew By Numbers http://www.brewbynumbers.com/ Jordan from UnBarred Brewery http://www.unbarredbrewery.com/ And finally Matt, wild fermentation fan and one of the organisers of the festival itself! Our apologies about the sound quality at certain times, the recordings were done on location, and as such do fluctuate.

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!

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

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 Electric Bear - Howdy Ho

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.

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 beer yourself by following this link As usual, we brew one ourselves, talk about the style and our recipe, before trying out these commercial examples: Double-Barrelled - Red Jungle Fowl Left Handed Giant - Parts Unknown Wild Beer Co - Sleeping Limes We also managed to find a bottle of Anchor Steam that we somehow managed to miss on our "Steam Beer" episode.

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/

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 for this episode, it was recorded live on location at The Grumpy Goat. It's a lovely shop filled with lovely beer, but also many fridges!

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 Ale https://www.anchorbrewing.com/

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.