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Only certain products should be used to clean your beer bottles before and after use. Find out what you can use as a cleaner for beer bottles with help from the owner of Annapolis Home Brew in this free video clip.
Brewing homemade beer is a lot easier to pull off than you might be thinking. Find out how to brew your own perfect homemade beer with help from the owner of Annapolis Home Brew in this free video clip.
Carbonating and bottling your own beer will take some getting used to, but ultimately you will find out just how straightforward it really is. Learn how to carbonate and bottle your beer with help from the owner of Annapolis Home Brew in this free video clip.
Beer fermentation and temperature control are the two main keys to successful home beer brewing. Learn about beer fermentation and temperature control with help from the owner of Annapolis Home Brew in this free video clip.
Gluten free beer brewing at home is not some impossible dream that you won't be able to realize. Learn about gluten free beer brewing at home with help from the owner of Annapolis Home Brew in this free video clip.
Beer kegerators need to be cleaned in a very specific way to avoid contaminating your creation. Clean beer kegerators with help from the owner of Annapolis Home Brew in this free video clip.
Brewing your own beer requires you to know how to use something called a heat exchanger. Learn about heat exchangers for beer brewing with help from the owner of Annapolis Home Brew in this free video clip.
Brewing your own beer gives you the opportunity to choose from a wide variety of different flavors. Learn about beer brewing flavors with help from the owner of Annapolis Home Brew in this free video clip.
Beer lovers don't have to stick with pretzels, and chocolate lovers don't have to stick with wine. As two beloved products in the world, it makes sense to enjoy beer and chocolate in one sitting. Certain combinations aren't worth the calories, but in order to find the combo that makes your taste buds sing, you have to bite the bullet and get to sampling.
Determining the year a beer stein was produced is a difficult task that must take into account a variety of information about the stein's shape, decorations, materials and markings. A beginning collector can sometimes find certain clues that help place the stein in history. But for definitive dating and appraising, it is best to consult an expert. Even steins that match the characteristics of an older style can turn out to be modern reproductions.
Turn your beer bottle collection into a decorative accent for your barroom. Use a circle of 12 bottles to mark the hours on a large, eye-catching clock. Build one to show off the labels from your favorite breweries or the labels you designed for your own home brew. For a different look, remove the labels and create a modern-style clock from clear glass bottles. Use one colored bottle to mark the quarter-hours and a different color for the rest of the clock.
Beer kegs are popular in bars for obvious reasons, but their use is not limited to beer storage. Kegs are elongated cylinders that are also durable and this makes them usable as barstools if you take the time to convert them. The kegs can decorate a bar or a dorm room and can be used as a conversation piece. While it is possible to make a keg into a barstool from scratch, kits are available that make the process simpler and faster. This enables you to have a keg barstool within a few minutes.
A keg is a cylindrical container used to store and serve liquids and beverages, primarily beer. It is usually made out of aluminum although steel and wooden kegs are also available at select places. Beer kegs are useful for parties, picnics and camping where beer needs to be served again and again. Beer kegs can be emptied and used as kettles for brewing and storage. With proper beer keg taps, you will be able to empty and refill the kegs easily time after time.
Football and beer. They go together like Montana to Rice, like chips and salsa. Whether you’re on the back porch in Tuscaloosa barbecuing chicken and ribs waiting for the Tide to roll their latest opponent or tailgating in the Detroit Lions' parking lot before kickoff, grilling sausages or just listening to a postgame report, the tag lines you hear, “cold-filtered’, ‘beachwood-aged’ and “only the best hops’ are as familiar as the "red zone" and "the 3-4 defense". So what are the X’s and O’s that breweries use to create your favorite beer? What is the basic game plan for these…
Grilling meat on the barbecue is part science, part art. When slow-cooking ribs or grilling steaks, you can pour beer into a drip pan beneath the meat to create a beer vapor that will infuse the meat to add flavor. After the meat is finished cooking, you can deglaze the leftover mixture of beer residue and pan drippings and thicken it to form a beer-infused pan gravy. The delicious results are disproportionate to the simplicity of the technique.
Beer kegs are operated using a tap. The tap consists of a valve and coupler. The valve is the part of the tap is inserted into the keg. There are six types of beer keg taps. An S type tap, otherwise known as a European Sankey tap, is used for an S type keg. The S type tap is only used for certain European import beer kegs, such as Heineken, St. Pauli Girl and Amstel, though there are many more. Removing the tap valve from the S type keg can be accomplished with little difficulty.
If the party's over and you're left with more beer bottles than you know what to do with, don't just throw them in the trash. You can send them off to the recycling center, or you can have some fun recycling them yourself. Growing flowers in old beer bottles is not only eco-friendly. You can make eclectic decor for your home and have an attractive and unique vase at the same time.
As any brewmaster will tell you, brewing beer in the hotter months is almost impossible. The temperature at which you ferment the beer will directly affect the taste and alcohol content of the finished product. The solution for brewing in hot weather is to create a consistent, controlled temperature at which the beer can ferment. A programmable thermostat is just the tool to help. These thermostats are available for less than $100 dollars and plug directly into the wall.
Making your own shampoo is an economical and preservative-free alternative to using store-bought products that contain chemicals and dyes. Herbal ingredients can be found in your backyard garden and can also be purchased at your local health food store, while the soap and conditioning oils can be found at your local pharmacy. New bottles can be found at your local craft store, but you can make this an extra green do-it-yourself project by using recycled containers.
Venues are never ready for your party until you've finished putting up the decorations. Streamers, balloons, twinkling lights, flowers and more are typical party decorations; however, maybe you're looking to step outside the box and cater more toward your guests' interests. Maybe you want a do-it-yourself table centerpiece that can be used by your friends for years to come. Use beer mug centerpieces to adorn your party tables, and decorate or fill them with favors for your guests to remember the party by.
Enthusiasts wanting control over the types and quantity of hops and malt in their beverages can produce their own homemade craft beers. Quality, hand-selected ingredients give personally produced ales and porters a unique and fresh taste. Once you've mastered making your beer at home, you need to let its drinkers know how fresh the ale is and mark it for storage. In case you're not around when the bottles come out of the fridge, you can convey the beer production date with a professional-looking label.
The key to pouring a perfect black and tan or one of the many variations is the black and tan spoon. Using the spoon allows you to slow your pour so that one beer can float on top of the other. You can create a black and tan spoon from any thin, flexible spoon you have lying around the house. Ensure that the handle of the spoon is long enough to reach halfway down a traditional pint glass when bent in half or you will waste a perfectly good spoon.
Beer plays a role in the culinary part of many cultures and is sometimes a part of dramatic productions, especially those involving adult characters. But when those productions have to be put on in front of children or on stages where alcohol is not permitted, actual beer might not be allowed. Instead, you can recreate the frothing glasses of your favorite brew with a few ingredients from a local grocery store and your audience will be none the wiser.
Beer bottles from various manufacturers and countries come in different shapes, colors and are made from glass and other materials. Consequently, they can be displayed on shelves in game rooms or other areas of the house. As the base of beer bottles are generally no more than three inches in diameter, a 1-by-4 inch section of lumber is wide enough to accommodate the bottles. Prior to installation, the shelf can be painted or stained to tie in with the colors of the bottles on display.
Instead of throwing that old refrigerator away, give it an extra life by turning it into a container for a beer keg. Old refrigerators make great beer keg taps (known as a "kegerator") by keeping the beer inside perfectly chilled. Although the procedure might sound difficult, many manufacturers offer refrigerator conversion kits. These kits contain everything you need to turn that old eyesore in your garage into a beer dispensing dream.
Beer steins are centuries-old drinkware. Pewter is just one material used to make beer steins. Pewter is a metal that is easy to clean, although most experts caution against using dishwashers to clean pewter. There are three types of finishes for pewter steins – polished, satin and oxidized. Polished silver has a glossy look, satin is a matte finish and oxidized has an antique or aged look. Cleaning the pewter beer stein correctly is the best way to keep it in good condition.
If you are short on cash but your house is filled with old furniture, consider recycling some of that old furniture and using craft supplies to create a unique, custom lampshade with the use of bottle caps of your favorite beers. Top a lamp in your study, office or man cave with the custom lampshade to add a unique style to your room.
If you are hosting a party where you will be serving beer, you might wonder whether to purchase the beer in a keg or in bottles. When making this decision there are several things to consider. First, you must look into the types of beers available in kegs vs. bottles, the price differences between them, and how many people will be attending the party.
Beer is arguably the most popular alcoholic beverage in the world and has been consumed for thousands of years. However, the advent of numerous choices has made the beer market an incredibly competitive one. In addition to the thousands of brands of lagers, ales and other brews from all across the world, there generally seems to be one major line of demarcation when it comes to taste, at least in the United States: domestic, or American, beer vs. imported, or the rest of the world.
Black and tan tiles are a starting point for creating a retro 1950s look in your home. Whether you want to combine certain aspects of retro decor with a more modern look, or create a full-on themed interior, this is a relatively easy look to achieve because of the popularity of the style. There are plenty of retro accessories available to help create an authentic retro 50s atmosphere.
People often choose tan as the base palette for many rooms in their homes. Tan is less likely to show dirt than is white, yet it stills maintains a fresh, light look for any space. Unfortunately, too much tan can become staid and boring without another color or two to break up the monotony.
Beer fridges, also called kegerators, allow beer connoisseurs access to fresh beer directly from home. By combining a small refrigerator and a tap handle system, these kegerators can easily accommodate multiple taps for multiple kegs, making it difficult to remember which handle pours which beer. Tap handles for specific beers can be purchased, but designing tap handle labels that can be affixed to current handles offers the inexpensive option of changing labels as you wish.
While most people consider cola and beer to be beverages only, there are some gardening enthusiasts that look upon them as fertilizer ingredients as well. Recipes for homemade fertilizers and tonics -- especially those for roses -- include these two liquids for the carbohydrates they can provide to benefit microbes in the soil.
Nothing makes a pizza or barbequed burger taste better than an ice cold bottle or can of beer. Unfortunately, some football fans and barbeque hosts are faced with the dilemma of a group of rowdy friends and warm beer. Satisfy their cravings for ice-cold brew quicker by chilling the beer in a matter of minutes inside your freezer. All that is required is a bucket, ice and rock salt, which speeds up the ice's ability to cool the liquid.
Germans are great advocates of beer and they have specific styles of beer for all seasons. Maibock is a style of German beer consumed in the spring, hence the word "Mai" meaning the month of May. Maibock is traditionally a beer from Bavaria, located in north Germany. The hops are harvested in the fall and the beer brews during the winter months and is ready to drink when spring arrives.
You can prevent your cold beverage from sweating and dripping all over the place by putting a cozy over the can or bottle. The cozy will insulate the beverage and keep your beer icy cold. You can crochet beer cozies with cotton yarn, ensuring their washability and have them ready for any event. You can create a six-pack of beer cozies in a matter of a few days with little effort.
Most home beer makers, at some point during their development as brewers, will want to craft a beer with distinct orange flavoring. Actual orange slices are too acidic to be used in the brewing or fermenting process. Orange peel can be used to give your home brew an orange flavor and aroma, however, without any of the negative side effects of actually using orange slices. Belgian wit beers are among the most common types of beers with orange flavoring.
You have left a beer keg in the garage and the temperature plummeted to below zero. Or perhaps you left it in a large freezer to let it cool and then you forgot to pull it out. No matter how it happened, a frozen beer keg isn't of much use if the guests have arrived to your party and are ready to drink. Fortunately, you have several options to thaw your keg.
Make a cake in the shape of a beer mug for a stag or bachelor party or a special celebration for someone who loves their beer. Decorate it to look like a foaming and frothy alcoholic beverage that may just look too good to cut into pieces. You can make the entire cake in the shape of a realistic beer mug, attach a fondant beer mug handle, and top the cake with fluffy icing to look like an overflowing mug of beer.
Parboiling any sausage -- bratwurst, knockwurst, andoullie and even hot dogs -- is an excellent way to impart flavor to the meat prior to grilling or roasting it. Parboiling also allows some of the fat to be rendered from the sausage, thereby reducing the calorie and fat content. Add onions, garlic or herbs to the boiling liquid to give the sausage even more flavor. Beer can also be used with great success and can either bring out the sweet or bitter flavors of the sausage depending on the type of beer used.
A Cornelius (Corny) keg is a cylindrical container that was initially used to dispense soft drinks. These days it's cheaper for soft drink manufacturers to sell their fountain drink mix in bags so the Corny keg is now mostly used to dispense beer. It is particularly popular with the home or amateur beer brewer. When you first get a Corny keg it is a good idea to open it up and clean it. This is done via the port at the top of the keg.
Tapping a party keg properly can make the difference between foamy and tasty beer. Liquor stores that sell kegs supply customers with taps that fit into the opening of kegs, and pressurizing carbon dioxide to create carbonated instead of flat beer. The taps include a faucet and lever that release beer. Tap a party keg with gentle pressure and turning techniques for cold, frosty drafts.
Empty beer kegs are great storage devices and can also be used as brewery pots. Since they only have an opening to input the liquid and valve, a larger opening needs to be made to use the keg for other things. Most beer kegs are made of stainless steel to protect the beer from impurities and rust. Therefore, standard saws cannot be used to cut the keg. Plasma cutters cut metal up to 3/8-inch thick. The top of standard stainless steel kegs measure less than 1/10-inch thick.
Draft beer, also known as draught beer outside of the United States, is beer that is contained in a pressurized keg or cask. In bars, glasses are filled with draft beer from a tap that is connected via pipes or tubes to the keg, often located beneath the bar. This storage method helps preserve the beer's flavor, but also makes it prone to foaming when served. There are a few different causes of foam, but fortunately all have solutions.
Beer has a very long and storied history. Despite the fact that all types of beer are made primarily from the same four basic ingredients (water, malted grain, hops and yeast), many different subcategories of beer have evolved over the years. The differences between these subcategories, such as lagers and bocks, can be quite confusing for a novice beer enthusiast.
Filtering the yeast out of your beer is a wise way to add crystal clear shine to your beverage. Non-metabolized yeast proteins that are not broken down will give beer a foggy or hazy look, according to Home Brew Digest. Filtering yeast is a straight-forward process beginning with kegs and a standard beer dispensing system. Hook up the system with a couple of hoses and a filtration cartridge, and you are on your way to a beautiful beer.
Brewing coffee in a Mr. Coffee or any other automatic brewing system requires three important elements to prepare a great cup of coffee. First, you need water that is fresh and filtered. Second, you need a coffee maker in excellent working condition. Third, you need high-quality beans that are fresh.
A mash tun is used in homebrewing to separate fermentable extract (wort) from a mixture of grain and heated water (mash). Similar to allowing tea to steep, mashing allows enzymes to modify the hot mash. Once mashing is finished, the wort must be filtered out for fermentation. Copper is the preferred metal in brewing, so making a mash tun filter out of copper tubing will make you the envy of your homebrewing community.
Home brew kits are popular with both amateur and expert home brewers because they allow for detail and more sophisticated techniques, but they also allow the beginner to brew a batch of beer with little or no knowledge of the process. Just about any home brewing equipment, such as a keg, can be reused for more batches, provided they are cleaned properly. The beer making process is extremely susceptible to contamination, so cleaning your equipment is a must.
From the beginning of the process to the end, a clean brewery produces a more delicious beer and prevents it from going bad. From bacteria to dirt, any kind of contamination during the process can ruin an entire batch of beer. Due to this, cleaning and sanitizing everything is incredibly important, whether in a small home brew environment or a large-scale operation.
