Home Brew A Sour Beer

Sour beer, you have to be kidding me right? Who in their right mind would want a sour beer? Me, and millions of beer lovers.

Belgian Lambics, Weizenbiers and even the famous Guinness Stout are a few beers that have a higher acidity than your average lager beer. It's this slight vinegary aftertaste that sets these beers apart from the rest of the beer world. What causes this sourness is the ever-present bacteria that lives on malted barley grain. So, as home brewers how do we utilize this unfriendly bacteria for the good?


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If you want to learn to brew beer, check out this video course...

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Home Grown Hops For Home Brewed Beer

Home Grown Hops For Home Brewed Beer

The hop plant (Humulus lupulus) has been cultivated for over 1500 years. Most people know of its use in flavoring beer, but it can also be used as an ornamental plant for your landscaping. This article is written for those who will use it for both.

The first order of business is to find the perfect spot to plant your rhizome. I recommend full sunlight for your plants. Hops can grow up to 20 feet in height when supported by a trellis but I opted to grow my hops up my backyard fence which is located next to my decking where I brew beer.

The hop rhizome can be planted either vertically or horizontally in a trench about 2 - 3 inches in depth. Surround the plant with a mound of soil to help direct water to the plant as you want to keep the rhizome moist until the first sprouts appear. After a few weeks you will want to train the plant on a trellis, I support my vines with some inexpensive wire fence screwed into my wood fence and I opted to weave my plants zigzag through my wire fencing in a 6ft by 6ft area. Most commercial growers will train 5 or 6 shoots on a trellis but I only train 2 at the most since I have limited space. Just cut back any unneeded shoots.

Like most plants don't over water your hops. If you water on a regular time table you may be hurting your hop plants. Keeping the soil moist all the time encourages only the top roots to spread. For a healthy plant you need the deep roots to grow so only water when the top soil is drying out. But don't wait for the leaves to turn brown or purple before you water just monitor the top soil. You will need to feed your hops on a regular schedule. I use an all purpose vegetable fertilizer that mixes with water.

Despite your best efforts, hops may be savaged by disease or pests. Downy mildew is the most common disease. Avoid the hot, moist conditions that favor spore germination. This is why I don't use sprinklers to water the plants. And I usually water early in the morning so the leaves can dry off.

The most common pest is the hop aphid. It is a tiny, soft green pest that sucks the juices out of the plant. They should be controlled before the hops produce cones, because once they get into the cones a black mold grows on their secretions rendering the cones unusable. Ladybugs are a natural enemy of aphids and will help keep them under control. Insecticidal soaps and diatomaceous earth are used successfully to control aphids. As a last resort, commercial insecticides might be needed.

Since hops are a hardy perennial once established they can be harvested for many years. And as a homebrewer this makes economical sense for me. And it adds a special touch using my own hops in my own beer. So why not enjoy both the looks and the uses of the amazing hop plant?

If you want to learn to brew beer, check out this video course...

A mouth of a perfectly happy man is filled with beer

A mouth of a perfectly happy man is filled with beer


“A mouth of a perfectly happy man is filled with beer.” After coining that phrase, you don’t think this anonymous Egyptian from 2200 BC kept it to himself. I can see him raise his drinking vessel to his Nile-side neighbors while repeating the words.

Every country in the world has some sort of traditional drinking toast, often dozens. Usually one or two words, common toasts are not in the same league with toasts to the bride (which can drone on for hours), or to the retiree who’s been with us for 30 years but would rather get to his food while it’s hot. All of these really should be briefer, especially if a meal is being served. The everyday, no black tie, corner pub toasts exist in every culture and the vast majority simply mean ‘I wish you good health’. Not surprisingly it is the English who have strayed from the norm. ‘Cheers’, ‘Down the Hatch’, ‘Bottoms up’ and many more. I always assumed the latter referred to the bottom of the glass, however the Hawaiians have taken this literally. ‘Okole Maluna’ means ‘buttocks up’. I am including a list of multi-national toasts to impress your friends and use as a sign of respect when in the company of people from different cultures.

Always Some Backyard Action That Requires a Beer.

Always Some Backyard Action That Requires a Beer.

Just sitting in the backyard this morning when out of the blue, all Hell breaks loose. Some low life wanna be criminal is being chased by the police. He jumps my neighbors fence and hides under his pool deck. All this is unbeknown to my neighbor and all of us. The neighbors son walks out back and hears this dude under his deck. At the same time a squad of Seminole County's finest come guns drawn. The cops take down the perp and dragged him to a waiting squad car.

Hope this neighborhood doesn't end up like the one we escaped a few years ago!

I'm sure a trip to the beer tap is in order.