Experiment Writeups

Curious to see how our experiments have turned out over time? Look no further than right here! As experiments are conducted by the IGORs (and others - if you have an experiment you want to talk about or have linked to - let us know!), writeups will appear here. They'll generally appear a week or so after their podcast

So sit back and enjoy some beerology!

Writeup: Dark Grains - Cold Steep vs. Full Mash

Submitted by drew on Fri, 11/23/2018 - 00:00

Happy Black Friday y'all - how about some advice on making a black colored beer?

You'll often hear advice about mashing your dark grains differently. Instead of incorporating them in when you mash some, like Gordon Strong, recommend adding them during the sparge (aka capping). Others recommend, for the smoothest possible character, adding them as a cold steeped extract. Today's experiment is all about the cold steep

Writeup: Cryo Hops vs. T-90 Pellets - Dry Hop at Half Rate

Submitted by drew on Fri, 05/11/2018 - 00:39

Miguel's set to brew!

Cryo Hops - a new tool in brewers ever escalating attempts to cram more and more hop oils in your face. But when we use them at recommended rate (1/2 ounce of cryo = 1 ounce of T-90 pellets) will tasters be able to tell the difference.

IMPATIENT RESULT: Nope. Half the cryo seems to be no different than the full T-90. (aka what YCH says it should be)

The IBU is a LIE! Kind of.....

Submitted by DennyAndDrew on Fri, 06/23/2017 - 00:00

This article was originally published in the May/June 2017 issue of Zymurgy. Subscribe to the AHA - support homebrewing and the podcast!

An IBU by any other name would taste just as bitter… or would it?

Writeup: BrewTan - Or Do Oxygen Scavenging Chemicals Change the Beer Character - Updated

Submitted by drew on Fri, 04/14/2017 - 16:41

Could this be all you need to make stable, characterful beers?

Heads Up: We've updated the results with an additional IGOR panel. It sorta changes things.

IMPATIENT RESULT: QUALIFIED SUCCESS (Read On)

Writeup: Olive Oil vs No Aeration

Submitted by drew on Wed, 08/03/2016 - 09:16

We're back at it! Now that HomebrewCon has passed and we can get back to our regularly scheduled program of experimental madness. And for this round, we'll be revisiting the experiment we covered earlier this year in the podcast. (Episode 13 to be precise!)

IMPATIENT RESULT: FAILED

Executive Summary

Denny and I went into this experiment with a clear expectation of what the eventual answer would be and for once science agreed with us. It was a novel happenstance!

Writeup: Comparing First Wort Hopping to 60 minute Bittering Additions

Submitted by drew on Wed, 05/04/2016 - 09:45

Ok, so this writeup as a little delayed. Blame it on my schedule or something! I've been a busy man. But here we go - the results haven't changed in the last few weeks and things are primed to re-experiment!

This is a variant of an experiment Denny's done a few times over in the past always with mixed results. Will this time be any different?

Writeup: Hop Whirlpool - Does steeping at lower temperature improve final hop character?

Submitted by drew on Thu, 02/25/2016 - 00:21

Gravity Reading (courtesy Jason Mundy)

Writeup: Yeast Comparison of the "same" strain - Wyeast 1056 / WLP001

Submitted by drew on Wed, 01/27/2016 - 10:09

The Subjects Under Question (courtesy Bob) For our very first experiment we asked our IGORs to tackle a fairly simple experiment. Can tasters detect a difference between the same wort fermented with the classics Wyeast 1056 American Ale (nee Chico) and White Labs WLP001 California Ale? See the link above for the full writeup on the parameters of the experiment.