If you’ve been immersed in American beer for a while, you’ll know the tales of long misty days of yore when there were but a few breweries left and then a rebirth — Anchor, New Albion, and on and on to these days of a brewery on every corner.

And part of that lore is the role of homebrewing — after all, interview professional brewers and an overwhelming number will say “I started as a homebrewer” and half the plaudits about homebrewing praise it as a source of innovation. But . . . 50 years ago, in a corner of the Valley (San Fernando, that is), in Southern California, just off the world-famous Ventura Boulevard, the homebrewers that would become the Maltose Falcons really just wanted a good beer. 

The club was a mixture of science nerds, Mother Earth rock and roll hippies, and ex-military guys. They all knew that beer could be good from time spent overseas or people’s smuggled suitcase beers, but at the time Anchor was still a San Francisco treat and not even New Albion Brewing had been founded (that was a few years off). It was a decade before the first brewpub opened in Los Angeles and the best-known local beer was the horrendous “Brew 102,” which had just stopped pouring. (It is not greatly missed except as nostalgia fodder.)

In other words, L.A. was as much of a beer desert as the not too far off Death Valley is an actual desert. In order to survive it with a good pint, you had to make it yourself.

And did they! 

They first came together in 1974 in the ironically named Garden of Olives — a messy jumbled storage yard behind L.A.’s oldest homebrew store and our still current HQ, the Home Beer Wine Cheesemaking Shop (although it moved across Ventura back in the 1980s) — and then eventually in 1976 became organized enough to have an actual newsletter and a set of officers. This was mostly the fault of the man we consider our founder, Merlin Elhardt, who just wanted to make some good German beer, and the owner of our host shop, John Daume, who always acted as an instigator of shenanigans, sowing chaos between both the Cellar Masters (winemaking) and the Maltose Falcons (brewers), who happened to be his best customers.

Original dues were $10 per year — roughly $55 today — and garnered you a 10% discount at the Shop (still does today!). By the end of 1976 there were 48 members.

Right from the jump you can see the club’s silly attitude mixed with a love of learning — the first single-page newsletter had a reminder that yeast should be pitched near 70 °F (21 °C), but they had accidentally pitched around 105 °F (41 °C) and the beer still worked. One other factor, in those early days of the club, the monthly meeting always involved a brew session for education. 

By the second newsletter in our archive (August 1976), the full nerdery that still is exhibited today was present in the form of a full three pages being devoted to yeast culturing on slants and making starters (a radical idea at the time!). Some of the chemistry has changed from those early lessons of Dr. Michael Lewis, but the general dance steps are the same. (In later years you also see microbial analysis of commercial dried yeasts demonstrating the amount of contamination in the product at that time. Thank Ninkasi that dried yeast
rocks today!) 

With time rolling on, the club quickly got involved with exchanging newsletters and efforts with other clubs around the state and the nation. They worked with the San Andreas Malts and others to push for state and federal legalization of the hobby. What we believe to be the nation’s oldest ongoing homebrew competition was started in 1979 (The Mayfaire, formerly the Springfest) – with the
styles of:

• Ale – Extract
• Ale – Grain
• Ale – Extract – Dark
• Ale – Grain – Dark
• Lager – Extract
• Lager – Grain
• Lager – Extract – Dark
• Lager – Grain – Dark
• Stout or Bock
• “Unusual” 

The Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) Guidelines, these were not. 

We’ve had brewers big and small in our membership — cultivating relationships with Tecate and Anheuser-Busch (whose Van Nuys plant looms over the Valley), helping establish craft brewers big (Rogue – John Maier, Sierra Nevada – Steve Grossman) and small (too many to list). 

Talking with folks across our history, you can see the intention of the club changing — from hard working geeks, to fiercely competitive brewers, helping set up the actual BJCP Guidelines and the American Homebrewers Association Governing Committee,  to hard thinking partiers with our own band (The Maltose Falcons Brews Band, rocking since 1990), co-founders of festivals with a life beyond us (The Southern California Homebrewers Festival), and people who’ve had to listen to me talk way, way, way too much since I started brewing in 1999. 

Over time, the club developed a number of annual traditions — three festivals/parties, chili cookoffs, bus trips, monthly brew sessions, mead tastings, holiday tastings, etc. And it was a great time trolling through our newsletter archives to suss out all of these details. Last year, I read through more than 15,000 pages of newsletters and emails to get a better history of
the club.

Wait . . . why did I do that?

As part of the 50th Anniversary celebration, Jamie Crawford and I began a project of collecting everyone’s favorite recipes from various brewers — “What beer makes you think of the Falcons or a Festival? What beer has a good story” — and then it spiraled from there. What we originally pictured as a collection of our anniversary collabs and a few well-known recipes quickly became a “community cookbook” with 129 recipes, history, and significant artwork from the club’s history. 

Taking inspiration from those really goofy first Mayfaire guidelines, we organized the book into the categories of:

• Anniversary
• Belgiany
• Dark Colored Ale
• Dark Colored Lager
• Hoppy
• Light Colored Ale
• Light Colored Lager
• Mead
• Stout, Porter, Bock
• Unusual

After a few months of furious work, cajoling, and editing, the book is now available via Amazon in both physical and e-book formats (www.maltosefalcons.com/50thBook). All proceeds from the book go to the club. 

We wanted to share some of the highlights with you, too. Without further ado, following are some significant recipes from Falcons’ history (adjusted to BYO’s recipe specs).

Save for the occasional extract batch, most of my homebrews are of the all-grain variety. Just like anyone else choosing this format for their brews, at the end of a brew day I’m left with a decent amount of spent grain and the lingering question of what to do with it. Depending on your batch size and brewing frequency, you may find yourself generating lots of this brewing byproduct. Many brewers simply dispose of their spent grain either in the trash or in some convenient dump site located on or near their property. For those looking to alternative methods of disposal, lots of brewers, especially those on the commercial side, partner with farmers to pick up and haul away spent grain to use as animal feed. Some homebrewers compost their spent grain while some save it for further processing into tasty treats for their canine companions. I’m here to present an additional outlet for spent grain, which is also my favorite way to utilize it, and that’s in the kitchen.

I’m so passionate about culinary uses of spent grain that this is my second contribution to BYO on the topic. A previous article “Cooking with Spent Grains” in the December 2022 issue focused on the usage of spent grain that is first dried to remove all residual water, then milled into a flour-like consistency and substituted for regular flour in recipes. For this article, my goal is to make it even easier to use spent grain in recipes by skipping the drying and milling steps altogether. It turns out that fresh (undried) spent grain makes for a wonderful addition to all kinds of recipes both sweet and savory.

What is Spent Grain? 

A little recap here before we go any further. When brewing beer, a base malt (or malts) serves as the main source of fermentable sugar in the wort that’s created during the mashing process. The primary ingredient in your base malt is almost always barley. “Specialty” malts can be used to provide color and deeper flavors to beer. Adjuncts (non-barley-based additions) can also be used for a variety of reasons (for example, body and/or flavor enhancement). These additions can take the form of oats, corn, or rice, to name a few. Spent grain is the solid matter left behind once you drain off the wort. Typically, it can’t be reused for beermaking because most all of its sugars have been extracted during mashing. 

Options for handling spent grain typically fall into two categories: Disposal and reuse. A typical 5-gallon (19-L) batch will leave a homebrewer with 20+ pounds (9+ kg) of wet spent grain leftover at the end of mashing. As brewing is already a resource-intensive process, I try to reuse as much as possible during a brew day, even spent grain. While I may not be able to use a full batch’s volume of spent grain in the kitchen after every brew, I can surely use some of it. Many commercial brewers have realized this potential, saving some of their spent grain for use in the production of both human and dog treats to be resold at the very same brewery that generated the spent grain. Turning a waste-stream into cash — I love that! 

Preparing fresh spent grain for cooking

In my previous article, I detailed the steps required to transform spent grain into a flour-like product that can be substituted into recipes in place of all-purpose flour. For this article, there isn’t any special preparation needed other than cooling. Once cooled, fresh spent grain can be immediately added or substituted into a recipe as needed or desired. If needed, fresh spent grain can be further broken down into smaller bits with a food processor. Fresh spent grain can be stored cold if there isn’t an immediate need to use it in a recipe. It will keep in the refrigerator for up to two weeks in a sealed container. For longer storage times, I’ve had success freezing fresh spent grain for up to three months with no detectable change of quality. 

How to Approach Culinary Usage of Spent Grain

There isn’t a magic formula here, especially if you’re not afraid of a little trial and error, however, you should not attempt to replace 100% of the regular wheat flour with spent grain. Flour, when combined with water and mechanical action (kneading or mixing), will create gluten. Gluten is responsible for providing structure, elasticity, texture, and mouthfeel to baked goods. While barley does contain gluten, it doesn’t contain nearly as much as wheat does (and gluten proteins are denatured to some degree during normal mashing and sparing). If too much wheat flour is replaced by barley, then you run the risk of not having an adequate amount of gluten to achieve the intended result. For example, a pizza crust may be more cracker-like instead of stretchy. To mitigate this, one alternative would be to use bread flour or another flour that’s high in protein. This additional protein will be conducive to the creation of gluten, just note that this won’t be appropriate for all recipes. I don’t recommend using bread flour in recipes that require a more delicate “crumb,” or texture, i.e., cakes, cookies, cupcakes, muffins, or quick breads.

My general rule of thumb for substitutions is as follows: 

For traditional yeast-leavened breads and pizza dough, I’d begin by swapping out 25% of the wheat flour with fresh spent grain. 

For everything else, including cookies, brownies, cakes, quick breads (bread leavened with baking powder and/or baking soda) and muffins, pancakes, or waffles, I generally swap out 50% of the flour called for with fresh spent grain.

If you’re unsure how much spent grain to substitute, I recommend starting with 25% and increasing that amount if you are happy with the results. 

Recipes will list ingredient quantities either by weight (for example, 8 oz./227 g) or by volume (for example, 1 cup) — I wouldn’t really get too caught up here as percentages can be applied in both scenarios. In other words, in any given recipe, you can exchange wheat flour for spent grain at a 1:1 ratio. The process is very similar to swapping out one type of flour in a recipe for another (i.e., replacing all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour). There are sometimes gluten tradeoffs to be made in those kinds of swaps as well, but that’s beyond the scope of this article.

The best advice I can offer is to not be afraid to experiment on your own to dial in your own swapping percentages. If you’re happy with a recipe’s result, then make no further changes, or feel free to experiment by increasing the amount of spent grain. And vice versa.

Many of my favorite cooking recipes use ingredients that are referred to as adjuncts in the brewing process. This was a good starting point in considering how to apply spent grain into recipes. Let me share a few examples: 

My cornbread recipe contains a mix of flour and cornmeal. My Mexican lager, Kentucky common, and cream ale recipes all contain at least 10% flaked maize in their grain bills. Spent grain generated from those brew days makes a nice addition to cornbread, as well as pancakes and Johnny cakes. 

I can’t make oatmeal raisin cookies without oats. Oats feature prominently in both my house New England IPA recipe as well as any oatmeal stout. 

Some beers, like hefeweizens and witbiers, contain high proportions of wheat in their grain bills. Spent grain produced by those brews would be easy to swap in just about any recipe. 

For recipe development, I like to look for common ingredients as well as common colors. For example, spent grains from almost any dark brew are great substitutions into chocolate brownies and chocolate chip cookies.  

Using spent grains will impact a recipe’s flavor as well as texture, often for the better. All-purpose flour is highly refined and designed to not have any real discernible flavor. It’s in your baked goods to provide structure and that’s about it. Barley, along with whatever else is in your spent grain mix, will undoubtedly lend more depth of flavor to whatever items you prepare with it. An immediate flavor characteristic that I notice with most spent grain is a very subtle nuttiness. Depending on the beer brewed, its spent grain will impart other flavors as well. For example, when I brew a stout, some percentage of my grain bill will consist of darker roasted barley, which lends roasty, almost chocolate-like notes to food items like brownies or a molasses-based quick bread. 

Recipes

I brew many different styles of beer at home and each style has its own unique grain bill — resulting in different combinations of spent grain that will impart their own flavor characteristics to the recipe made. The recipe examples I present here demonstrate applications of spent grain across a variety of different beer styles. 

Brewing is fun and we all get our jollies in different fashions. Brewing is tradition and traditions must be respected and rituals performed. And for those brewers who hew to the twin pillars of masochism as fun and tradition above all else, there is no sacrament as sacred and profound as decoction mashing. 

True decoction believers claim profound impacts on flavor and benefits to beer quality that no simple mashing profile with modern ingredients could ever match. But as two very lazy people who enjoy brewing but not “BREWING,” we think they’re crazy. (That’s OK, we’re crazy as well, you’ve just gotta appreciate that everyone is crazy in their own special way and allow them their fun.) 

Let’s break this situation down and figure out a happy meeting place with some portion of the benefits without all the extra tedium.

Decoction Mashing 101

Much modern brewing operates under delightfully straightforward techniques and with stunningly easy to use ingredients. But out of millenniums of brewing history, that’s only been the case for the century+ (modern science, instrumentation, engineering, and agronomics really changed the brew deck). Regardless, mashing is mashing — crack grains, make a big bowl of porridge at the right temperature to spring starches from the barley, and activate the enzymes necessary to transmute those starches into yeast fodder, aka sugar. 

The legend of decoction mashing basically goes like this: Back before thermometers were a thing, you could only reliably tell the temperature of water when it came to a boil or was freezing — everything else was educated guesswork, so brewers used a mashing process that depended on observable phenomenon (aka “this stuff is boiling!”) and repeated trials to discover what steps made the best beer with the ingredients at hand. Malt is the other part of the story — older malt varieties grown with older, less managed growing practices produced crops that were less ideal for brewing. Malting techniques didn’t create full modification of the barley, which meant less enzymatically powerful malt, thus it needed more mechanical intervention to properly produce suitable wort. 

In other words, “We have no practical thermometers, wooden mash tuns, and dodgy malt, so how do we make great beer?” 

The answer, at the time, was, “We’ll boil the grain!”  

The general process for homebrewers goes like this:

• Strike your mash at your desired starting temperature. 

• Let the mash rest for a short period.

• Pull a “thick third” of the grain and liquid and bring it to a boil in a second kettle, stirring consistently for 15 minutes. 

• Stir the boiling mash back into the main mash, bringing the temperature of the combined mash up.

• Repeat with thick or thin (more liquid) thirds as needed to run through your rests and convert the mash for lautering. (Usually, that last decoction to prepare for mash out is a “thin” portion to denature the enzymes, which flooded the liquid when mixed with the grain.)

Please recognize that under the umbrella of “decoction mashing,” every brewer probably has multiple versions of what a decoction mash looks like, so if this doesn’t look like how your Opa talked about brewing, don’t write us!

It should be clear that decoction is a hot, sticky, and laborious process. Scalding mash gets
slung around. There’s so much stirring and so much gooey, piping hot grain that when compared to a traditional single-infusion mash, decoction mashing feels desperately, showily “extra.” 

So why do it? Proponents argue that decoction lends a certain je ne sais quoi to the final beer; an undefinable sense of deeper and richer sips. It allows for more efficient extraction of starches, and the resulting sugars (and malt proteins) get exposed to high heat for long periods, leading to the formation of those lovely “brown tasting” melanoidin compounds and extra color and destruction of clarity-
hindering proteins. Even negative aspects of decoction like oxidative damage or tannin extraction from the boiled grains have potential flavor impacts that are perceived as fundamental.

Does it Matter?

Now the tricky bit — so far, we’ve talked the process and the perception, but we know that the brain is a machine that lies to fit what we think we should be tasting. What does the science say? Turns out, it’s a mixed bag. There are plenty of studies showing perceivable impacts, and others showing none. There are even studies showing that, yes, it makes an impact — but tasters prefer the simpler mashed beer. One of Denny’s first experiments ever was a decoction experiment coordinated through the Home Brew Digest (there’s a blast from the past) and it showed no discerned difference. Drew was involved in another experiment that had Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) judges noticing a difference, but non-trained beer enthusiasts unable to decipher it.

In other words, decoction’s importance appears to be in the taste buds of the beer taster and in the enjoyment of the brewer. Neither of us feel the need in our brewing to endure the process. 

Are There Other Options?

We’ve established that decoction mashing is a fair bit of extra labor, time, and expense (for commercial brewers, at least, as it requires more wages and more fuel costs!), so it shouldn’t be a surprise that a number of different techniques have been developed to replicate some portion of those fabled decoction results for a lot less hassle. To follow is a rundown of the alternatives, from easiest to hardest. 

Ingredient Substitutions

The easiest and most oft claimed solution to the decoction question is, “well, you want melanoidins — just use that malt that’s called ‘melanoidin malt.’” And using it, or a similar highly toasted malt like aromatic, in restrained quantities (under 5% of the total grist) will give some extra “oomph” to your beer. Just add it into the mash with the rest of the grains and away you go. 

Purists (and frankly, even we) would tell you that melanoidins are just one part of the “magic” of decoction, and thus using a special melanoidin malt will give an incomplete profile, but it is a cheap and easy way to boost your beer’s perceived maltiness and mouthfeel. Just watch the amounts as they are intense malts.

Boil Down

We’ve advocated for this next technique many times before when wanting to replicate the flavors of a long boil without the long boil. Pull the first gallon (3.8 L) of your runnings and bring them to a boil in a separate pot. While the main mass of the beer is getting to the boil, reduce the gallon (3.8 L) to around a quart (1 L) for concentrated sticky sweet flavors. Add the newly “enhanced” malt syrup to the boil and continue on. When doing this, just keep in mind the additional wort that will need to be collected to hit your final volume due to the higher-than-usual boil-off rate.

Again, this is an easy technique with an interesting impact, but it’s more caramel and lip smacking burnt sugar than it is the vaunted “deeply bready and toasty” flavors of a decocted mash.

Pressure Cooker Decoction

Let’s say you really want to decoct but just really hate the stirring aspect, what do you do? Take advantage of the pressure cooker revolution. If we’re to judge by the flood of “Instant Pot” cookbooks out there, then at this point there should be approximately 1.42 electric pressure cookers per American household. Why not revive an old technique of using a pressure cooker to decoct your mash?

To pull this trick off (with a stove top model or electric), scoop a thick portion of the mash (say, one quart/liter) into a heat-proof vessel that will fit in your cooker. Place a trivet at the bottom of the cooker and a little water and then your mash vessel. Run your pressure cooker at high pressure (electric models tend to run between 11–12 PSI and stovetop models at 15 PSI) for 15 minutes. Allow the pressure cooker to release naturally and then stir the super-heated grain back into your main mash. 

You may be saying, “Hey, isn’t that just a decoction with extra equipment?” Why, yes, it is. But the glorious part about it is you can walk away from the pressure cooker and not stress over constant stirring (as long as your pressure cooker’s safety devices work).

And even still, folks will tell you that it’s not quite the same because you don’t lose moisture during the pressure run, but those same folks won’t be pleased unless you only stir the mash with a mash paddle carved from a tree hewn from the forests of Bavaria (or Bohemia in a pinch).

Pseudo Decoction

One last alternative. What if we just “faked it?” There are a few different mashing schemes that attempt to replicate the impact of a decoction, minus the labor. There’s the Schmitz process that has you strike your mash like a regular infusion mash. Give it time to get incorporated and the malt hydrated (~15–20 minutes) and then pull as much enzyme-rich liquid as you can from the mash to somewhere safe and kept warm. Then, like a reckless adventurer of old, boil the grain, stirring vigorously for 15–30 minutes depending on your lack of sanity. Cool the mash back down to your mash temperature and stir the liquid back in and proceed like you haven’t just lost all reason.

A more reasonable variant of the whole thing comes from longtime beer experimenter, Kai Troester, whose blog braukaiser.com, while no longer updated, is a wealth of beery experimentation with an eye towards German brewing. Kai flips the equation on the Schmitz process and recommends creating a thick initial mash of half your grain and a little less of the water. Boil that initial mash for 20–30 minutes before mixing in the remaining water and malt to bring everything down in temperature and proceed with conversion. 

If you follow Kai’s process, we recommend that you add the water first and then the remaining grain because you’re depending on the second half of your malt for enzymatic power to convert everything. To that point, you’ll want to make sure you have enough high-Lintner value malts in the second half (Pilsner, pale, etc.) to ensure that you can still convert. Generally, this would only be a concern with a malt bill heavy in adjuncts or toasted malts (e.g., a hefeweizen gets a bit tricky, and a completely Munich-driven malt bill is probably a no-go via this process).

One Last Reason to Understand Decoction

Having spent much of this column trying to convince you of the folly of spending your hard-won time on an old-fashioned mashing technique, there is one good practical reason to be comfortable with decoctions. Yes, practical, as in not just for the sake of knowledge and “I’ve done everything in brewing” ticking behavior. 

For years, Drew was an apartment brewer with a woefully underpowered natural gas stove. Missing infusion temperatures took forever to correct and getting to mash out dragged. So, he borrowed a trick from a fellow homebrewer, Cullen Davis, and used a small decoction to add extra heat. Just drag a part of the mash to a small pot and run a small decoction step to heat up the main mash. Never forget, one of the greatest skills you can cultivate is flexibility and adaptability. 

Brew Your Own readers including Publisher Brad Ring recently spent a week exploring Ireland’s breweries, distilleries, and scenic countryside. With visits to 15 breweries and distilleries, the group was lucky to experience the incredible beer and whiskey culture of Ireland firsthand during BYO’s Brewery, Distillery, and Hiking Adventure last September. We visited an amazingly broad spectrum of breweries from the multi-media, multi-story Guinness Storehouse in Dublin where the group took a stout pouring workshop, to the small family-owned Ballykilcavan farm brewery where the malting barley grown on-site for 13 generations is now the backbone of beers brewed near the barley fields in restored buildings dating back to the 1700s. All along the way we had the chance to experience that legendary Irish hospitality meeting with friendly local brewers from Ireland’s growing craft beer community happy to share their tips and stories while the group enjoyed sampling their beers and whiskeys.

Plus, each day we also took to the trails for scenic hikes to earn those pints along seaside cliffs and through the beautiful and rugged Irish countryside, putting our rain gear to good use in some classic Irish weather.

From dry stouts to Irish red ales, it was a special chance to enjoy classic beer styles at the source. Plus, all that beer had plenty of great hearty Irish food like fresh fish and chips or stews paired alongside, giving plenty of fuel for hiking to the next stop. It was a treat to try Ireland’s answer to moonshine, called Poitín, at Micil Distillery in Galway, listen to master storyteller and brewer Peter Curtin of Burren Brewery in a pub owned by his family for generations, watching locals play traditional music while drinking local beers in wonderful Dingle pubs, visiting longtime BYO subscriber Gordon Lucey’s 9 White Deer Brewery in County Cork who still has a DIY pilot brew system he built from plans in a past BYO story, and enjoying a whiskey tasting at Jameson. And it was a week made all the more special by sharing it with fellow homebrewers passionate about beer, whiskey, and exploring the incredible cities, countryside, and culture of Ireland.

Our next BYO trip with space available will be to New Zealand for a Hop Harvest and Brewery Adventure March 5 – 13, 2026. Details can be found at byo.com/trip. We hope you can join us on a future beer adventure. Sláinte! 

While many homebrewers offer suggestions about what foods pair nicely with their beers, to me nothing is quite as delightful as cheese. Particularly at informal gatherings, cheese and beer go so well together. Cheesemaking is a lot less complicated and challenging than many might imagine. To follow are details about my own approach to cheesemaking that may motivate you to try your own hand at this form of fermentation.

You can certainly use store-bought milk. The one precaution is to avoid any milk that is ultra-pasteurized. The heat from this kind of pasteurization damages the casein proteins in milk in ways that cheesemakers cannot repair. Regularly pasteurized milk is also damaged, but adding ¼ tsp. of food-grade calcium chloride dissolved in non-chlorinated water for every gallon (3.8 L) of milk enables the milk to form firm curds. 

As a homebrewer, you know that 90 percent of the hobby is about cleaning and sanitation. This is true, too, for cheesemaking. I heat all kettles and steel tools (knives, ladles, colanders, slotted spoons) in boiling water, and I boil molds, baskets, and cheese cloths at the same time. I spray the counters in my kitchen with the same sanitizer used for brewing and, as extra insurance, I cover the counter on which I lay my tools with a clean dish towel. 

You may already have much of the equipment you need for cheesemaking. I make a batch of cheese using a single gallon (3.8 L) of milk so I don’t need oversized kettles. If you have two large kettles or stock pots, one of which can sit inside the other to act as a double boiler, that is perfect. Recently, I purchased a very basic sous vide device and that, in my opinion, is even better. With a double boiler, you must constantly monitor the temperature of the milk/curds, but a sous vide heats water to the temperature you set and keeps that water in the “bath” in constant motion. If you set it for 90 °F (32 °C) it stays at 90 °F (32 °C) until you change it, giving you much more control over the temperature of the milk or curds than a double boiler with less need for supervision. 

Cheese does need to be refrigerated, but a cheese fridge (cheese cave) is warmer than your kitchen fridge. If you age a cheese in your regular fridge, it will take perhaps twice or three times as long as it would in a cheese cave. A cheese cave is very similar to a wine fridge or fermentation box. Typically, I age cheese between 50–55 °F (10–13 °C). 

To make a cheese fridge, all you need is a small dorm room refrigerator to which you attach a plug-and-play thermostat. When the fridge falls below the set temperature, the thermostat will shut off the power to the fridge, and when the temperature rises a degree or two above the set temperature, the thermostat will switch the power back on. There is no need to modify the fridge in any way. What you don’t want or need is a freezer compartment, as that takes up space you cannot efficiently use for aging cheese. 

Other tools and equipment you will need include: 

Measuring cups and spoons: Most additives are added in ¼ cup of distilled water.

Thermometer: I use a thermometer with a lower and upper-level alarm. 

Basin: This is the water bath for the sous vide. It needs to be able to comfortably hold the kettle with the gallon (3.8 L) of milk and be able to contain enough water to be at the height of the milk in the kettle. 

Kitchen scale: This is used for measuring salt for brine and to determine the weight of the cheese; often the amount of time a cheese should be submerged in brine is based on its weight.

Kitchen whisk: This helps incorporate yogurt into the milk in these recipes, but a whisk is sometimes used in place of a curd knife to cut the curds. 

Cheesecloth: You could use a clean dish towel, but butter muslin or the material used for flour sacks is better. Supermarket “cheesecloth” is not suitable. 

Long knife for cutting curds: The knife needs to be able to cut the curds through to the bottom of the kettle. 

Slotted spoon: For stirring. 

“Basket” or mold: This enables you to shape the cheese and press the curds to expel the whey. 

Cheese press: These can be very expensive, but even if you are not very handy you can easily make a press for a few dollars. You will need two wooden cutting boards about 11 x 14 inches (28 x 36 cm), four 12-inch (30-cm) threaded rods, eight washers, and eight nuts. Clamp the two boards together and drill them about 1 inch (2.5 cm) from each corner. Fasten the rods to the bottom board with a nut and washer beneath and above the board, and slide the top board over the rods. Best if you can widen the top holes a little to enable you to slide down the top board easily. The two boards with these rods allow you to add any necessary weights to the top board. Remember that 1 gallon (3.8 L) of water weighs about 8 lbs. (3.6 kg), and you can use bricks, pavers, or exercise weights. 

Cheese cultures: These, too, can be expensive (you can find them in some homebrew supply stores or various outlets online), but you can make most kinds of cheese with two relatively inexpensive and easily available cultures. One is plain yogurt with live cultures and the other is buttermilk with live cultures. The first is perfect for what are called thermophilic cheeses, such as Emmental, Parmesan, Jarlsberg, and the like, while buttermilk culture is suitable for mesophilic cheeses, such as Cheddar or Caerphilly. A few cheeses use both mesophilic and thermophilic cultures. 

Brine: Different cheeses are salted in different ways, but many cheeses are brined. One common brine is about 18% salt. To make this brine, take 1 liter (1 quart) of non-chlorinated water, 180 g non-iodized salt, 1 Tbsp. of calcium chloride, and 1 tsp. of white vinegar. Boil the water and dissolve the additives. This brine can be re-used but needs to be refrigerated. For any subsequent batch of cheese you need to check to make certain that the salt content is still around 18%. Calcium chloride is included to ensure that the brine does not pull any calcium from the cheese and the vinegar is there to increase the acidity of the brine, again inhibiting the brine from reducing the acidity of the cheese as the system will tend to want to balance any significant chemical differences between the brine and the cheese. 

To follow are three recipes for different styles of cheese that will provide further details on the basics just covered and result in three delicious pairings for your homebrews. 

You’ve made some cheese (following the instructions in this story I wrote), and left behind is the whey. While many cheesemakers use the whey in place of broth in a bread dough, or as a treat for a lucky cat, I look for another fermentation from this byproduct. Such projects have included wine, mead, and even liquor (which is then used to make liqueur). Let me explain. 

For any of these projects, my first step is to transform the whey into a wine. A wine made from whey, from milk? No way.  Yes, whey. 

Whey wines have a very long indigenous history in the Highlands and islands of Scotland, as well as Scandinavia, in Mongolia, and in Kyrgyz. In Scotland, a very low-alcohol wine called blaand (as in blond/e, not bland) was made from buttermilk. This was fermented in wooden kegs, by lactose-
consuming yeast, Kluyveromyces lactis. YouTube videos offer lessons on making blaand at around 12% ABV, but the original drink was perhaps closer to kvass, a drink made from rye bread at 1–2% ABV. 

In Mongolia, a low-alcohol wine, koumiss, was made from mare’s milk. In the Kyrgyz Republic, koumiss is fermented in barrels, but in Mongolia this wine is fermented in goatskin bags. 

Rather than search for Kluyveromyces lactis yeast, I ferment “on” the whey and not the whey itself. As I make cheese beginning with one gallon (3.8 L) of milk, I usually finish a pint short of that of whey. I heat the whey to about 200 °F (93 °C) to pasteurize it and eliminate the bacteria with which I inoculated the milk to make the cheese. At that temperature and at the acidity of the whey (a pH of around 5.0 or lower) a second run of cheese, akin to ricotta, may begin to form on the top of the liquid. If it does, remove the foam with a slotted spoon. Then add 2–2.5 lbs. (0.9–1.1 kg) of sugar and mix well to dissolve (this brings the volume back up to about one gallon (3.8 L). Cover the kettle and let the sweetened whey cool overnight.

If you like the idea of making a lactomel — a mead made from whey — add about 2.5 lbs. (1.1 kg) of honey, orange blossom is a good choice, in place of the sugar.

If you add 5 or 6 lactase tablets to transform the (unfermentable) lactose sugars into glucose and galactose you will increase the amount of fermentable sugar, bringing the specific gravity from about 1.090 to about 1.100. While lactose is relatively sweet, it has been determined to be only about 20% as sweet as sucrose, so definitely not as sweet as sugar.

Measure the gravity. If it is significantly above 1.100, add spring water to bring the gravity down for a more balanced wine or mead. Pour the whey into a sanitized fermenting bucket and pitch the yeast. If you intend to drink whey wine as a table wine, pitch Lalvin 71B or QA23 wine yeast at this point. 

As a table wine or mead, add tannin as if this was a fruit wine (about ½ tsp. per gallon/3.8 L) and loosely cover the fermenter with a cloth. After a few days of active fermentation, rack the wine into a carboy. Now seal with a bung and airlock. The wine will need to age about nine months or more before you can really taste its fruity nature, which is very similar to the French sweet wine Sauternes. 

If, however, you are interested in making liquor or liqueurs from your whey, pitch 1 Tbsp. of baker’s yeast. This will take off like gangbusters within a few hours. No need to add tannin or acid. Rack to a carboy after a few days and seal with a bung and airlock. Fermentation will be complete in 3 weeks.

From there, you can distill the wine. The result, for all intents and purposes, is vodka. As such, I’ve used it as a base to make liqueurs. 

Your brewery equipment is an investment and should be treated that way. While stainless steel can withstand a lot, it is not indestructible. Like all equipment, it will experience wear and tear and needs to be properly taken care of to make sure it is working as efficiently as possible and can last as long as you need it to. 

Importance of Proper Care

Optimizing Efficiency

Efficient brewing operations rely on well-maintained equipment. When your equipment is in optimal working condition, it performs better and reduces the need for repairs and downtime. Poorly maintained equipment can result in slower production speeds, inconsistent product quality, and increased energy consumption. By keeping equipment clean and functioning properly, you ensure smooth, efficient operations that support both quality control and cost-effective brewing.

Enhancing Longevity

The lifespan of your brewery equipment can be significantly extended with proper care. Regular maintenance, such as cleaning, repassivation, and checking for leaks, ensures that the equipment can handle the wear it endures in daily use. When you address small issues early, they don’t evolve into larger problems that may require expensive repairs or replacements. Routine attention to your equipment’s needs prevents corrosion, rust, and damage from occurring, which can lead to premature failure. This proactive approach helps keep your equipment running for years, saving money in the long run.

Ensuring Consistent Beer Quality

Regular cleaning and sanitizing, as part of a broader care plan, are crucial for protecting the taste and safety of your product. Any residue, buildup, or contamination left unchecked can lead to off-flavors, fermentation issues, and poor beer quality. A well-maintained system helps to ensure that every batch is brewed under optimal conditions, supporting the consistency and integrity of your beer. 

Maintaining Safety Standards

Proper equipment maintenance is also a key component in ensuring the safety of your brewery operations. Faulty equipment can lead to dangerous situations, such as pressure buildup, leaks, or electrical malfunctions, which pose risks to your team and facility. Regular inspections and maintenance help identify potential hazards early, reducing the risk of accidents. Additionally, maintaining safety-related equipment like pressure relief valves (PRVs) and personal protective equipment (PPE) ensures that your brewery complies with safety regulations, protecting both employees and the business.

Setting Up New Equipment

Even with new equipment, there are tasks to complete to set yourself up for success and have your stainless steel last. If not properly treated, stainless steel can corrode or rust, so it needs to be passivated. Passivation is a metal cleaning process using nitric acid, phosphoric/nitric acid blends, or citric acid to remove free iron from the surface. The chemical treatment leads to a protective oxide layer that is less likely to chemically react with air and cause corrosion. Passivated stainless steel resists rust and helps extend its life.

When receiving new equipment, it is recommended to clean using a degreasing agent, passivate, and sanitize before use, even if the manufacturer says the equipment comes already passivated. You want to be in control of the process and know it has been done to your standards. Stainless steel should be repassivated every year as a preventative measure, or anytime you believe the protective oxide layer has been damaged (stubborn stains that required you to scrub excessively, any scratches, nicks, or dents to the stainless, exposure to regular steel, steel wool, or iron metals, exposure to bleach cleaners, and with unique water quality, i.e., hard water or reverse osmosis water).

Along with passivation, new equipment should also be checked for leaks by running a full test cycle with water. Tanks and equipment that hold pressure should also be tested to ensure they can hold and maintain pressure.

Ongoing Care

Ongoing cleaning practices ensure the quality of your final product and keep your equipment well-maintained. Set up a Clean-In-Place (CIP) process for cleaning and sanitizing your equipment. Your team should be consistent and follow the same process and protocols. There are numerous brands of CIP chemicals on the market and it’s important to understand the chemicals you are using and follow the guidelines from your supplier. Temperature, pH, dosage rate, dilution, cycle time, and interaction with other chemicals and CO₂ all play a part in how effectively your tanks will be cleaned.

Alkaline cleaners, both caustic and non-caustic, work to remove organic material, like wort, yeast, and hop residue. Acid cleaners work on non-organic materials, like water scale, beer stone, and other mineral buildups. Sanitizers prevent contaminants such as mold and bacteria from growing on equipment but only work on equipment that has been properly cleaned, rinsed, and dried. If sanitizing parts, put parts back on the equipment wet to create a sanitary seal.

In addition to cleaning and sanitizing your brewery vessels, it’s also important to clean and sanitize all small parts and the ports they are connected to. Carb stones, gaskets, manway gaskets, clamps, etc. should be removed and cleaned after each use. This allows you to deep clean those individual pieces, check them for wear and tear, and replace them if needed. This should also include secondary containers (buckets, pitchers, graduated cylinders, measuring cups) and hand tools (wrenches, pliers, brushes) after their use. These pieces move around the brewery and can potentially cross-contaminate other equipment. Rubber hoses are also prone to cracks, wear spots, and holding onto moisture that can breed bacteria and should also be cleaned, purged, and sanitized.

Use non-abrasive scrubbers and brushes while cleaning brewery equipment, both on the inside and outside of the vessels. Abrasive scrubbers can scratch the stainless steel, which puts the equipment at risk of being contaminated. Just like with a CIP process, schedule routine cleanings of exterior surfaces. This will prevent mineral buildup from CIP chemicals and biofilm, and keep your tanks looking shiny.

Stay Ahead with Preventative Maintenance

Wear and tear is normal on any piece of equipment. Regardless of brewery size, regular brewery maintenance ensures that your brewing operations run smoothly.

Being proactive with a preventative maintenance routine for your brewery saves a myriad of potential headaches: Permanent damage to equipment, spending more money to get equipment fixed immediately, frustrated brewery staff, missed deadlines for beer sales, quality control issues, and safety and liability issues. When your equipment is cared for correctly, it will do its job the same way each time, resulting in a more consistent and quality-controlled product. Plus, maintaining your equipment will always be cheaper than replacing it.

Like with a CIP process, create a clear maintenance plan for everyone to follow. Set up a calendar with routine maintenance checks, ongoing cleaning and organizational tasks, and larger projects to tackle. Log this information to track your maintenance history and share it openly with the team. Keep instructions and manuals all in one place for easy access. It’s also important to understand what tasks your team can do themselves and what tasks need to be outsourced to a professional. For outsourced tasks, have a go-to list of companies that you know and trust.

A clean and organized production space will make it easier to complete maintenance tasks. Create a spare parts management system to label and track parts and pieces and note quantities. Know when and how often certain equipment needs maintenance to keep parts on hand ahead of time. These parts can be classified based on importance. Critical spare parts should always have enough inventory in-house to replace directly when needed. General spare parts should be easy to get ahold of when needed (always in stock with your supplier, quick delivery time). Non-critical spare parts are acceptable to have a longer lead or delivery time.

Keep your inventory simple and standardize the number of different brands/models used, when possible. This will help consolidate suppliers, save on shipping costs, and over time help understand the quality and lifespan of certain parts.

These are items I recommend always having on hand in your production space:

• Tri-clover gaskets in all sizes

• Manway gaskets

• Carb stones

• Pump seal and gasket replacement kits

• Butterfly valve seats

• Glycol and steam valve replacement parts

• PIDs for control panels

• Hose clamps/crimps

• Food-grade lubricant

Recommended Maintenance

Different equipment will require different maintenance plans. To follow are some tasks recommended to perform on common equipment nanobreweries often use, though it is not intended to be all-inclusive, nor will every piece of equipment be used in every brewery:

Brewhouses and Tanks

• CIP and sanitize vessels. Check all gaskets, clamps, and valves for wear. (After each use)

• Descale or acid-wash surfaces. (Monthly)

• Repassivate to help prevent corrosion. (Annually)

• Check motors (on rakes and other mechanisms) for rust, faulty wiring, worn threads, and loose bolts. (Annually)

Grain Mill and Auger

• Vacuum the inside to remove any dust and ensure the case keeps moisture out. (Weekly)

• Check wiring and components for signs of wear. (Annually)

• Run a milling test to ensure the grind size is correct. (Upon noticing changes in gravity)

Glycol, Pumps, and Heat Exchanger

• Check liquid levels in glycol chiller. Ensure fans and coils are clean. (Quarterly)

• Check glycol lines running to tanks for leaks or mildew, replace insulation if necessary. (Annually)

• Strip down pumps to ensure they are clean inside. Check gaskets. (Annually)

• Take apart heat exchanger to deep clean and inspect plates. (When quality issues are found)

Packaging

• Check that the canning line control panel is dry and free of any moisture. (After each use)

• Evaluate kegs for dents/damage. (During cleaning cycles)

• Apply food-grade grease to moving parts. (Monthly)

• Check keg coupler seals and spears. Ensure kegs can hold pressure. (Quarterly)

• Check hoses on canning line for damage or discoloration. (Quarterly)

• Repassivate kegs to deep clean and prevent corrosion. (Annually)

Small Parts and Brewhouse Accessories

• Clean and sanitize yeast brinks, keg lines and couplers, clamps, buckets, pitchers, pliers, etc. (After each use)

• Clean, purge, and sanitize hoses. Check clamp fittings and inside of hoses for damage. (After each use)

• Check gaskets for tears, holes, or discoloration. (Weekly)

• Recalibrate pH meters, CO₂ volume meters, thermometers, refractometers, and dissolved oxygen readers. (Weekly)

• Lubricate valves, clamps, hinges, fermenter doors, and sample ports. (Quarterly)

Safety Equipment

• Inspect PPE for damage and replace if needed. (Daily)

• Test eye wash and shower. (Weekly for basic functionality. Annual inspections)

• Break down and recalibrate PRVs. (Quarterly)

Other

• Ensure ingredients storage area is clean and dry. (Daily)

• Take apart and deep clean tap lines. (Weekly)

• Clean brewhouse floor, repair non-slip surfaces that may have worn down. (Weekly)

• Clean cooler floor, check door seals. (Monthly)

• Inspect water filters, replace as needed. (Quarterly)

Possibly the ancestor of all alcoholic beverages, mead has been enjoyed by audiences across history — from humble working folk to soldiers, pirates, and even royalty. And while its popularity waned in recent centuries, over the last decade or so there has been a resurgence in interest in making this ancient, golden-hued drink. 

Mead is also sometimes called honey wine because it is, in its most basic form, a beverage of similar strength to wine that gets its sugar from honey. Of course, there are numerous variations of mead that differ based on honey source as well as the addition of spices, grains, fruits, and other ingredients that allow for an exploration of creativity.

In this piece, it’s the fruit bit that we will be concentrating on — specifically stone fruit — with the expectation that you already know the very basics of meadmaking (though if you don’t, start here for a good overview of the general process: www.byo.com/article/modern-mead-making). 

Stone fruits, scientifically classified under the genus Prunus, are a type of fruit characterized by their fleshy exterior and a hard “stone” or pit inside, which houses the seed. They are commonly known as drupes. These fruits are known for their juicy, sweet, and sometimes tart flavors, which makes them popular choices for fresh consumption as well as making fruit meads (melomels) of diverse flavors. 

Examples of the more common drupes that we all know are mangoes, nectarines, peaches, plums, cherries, and apricots. Some that may not be as obvious include pecans, amlas (Indian gooseberries), blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) and ivy (Hedera helix). 

Stone fruits are versatile and can be used in meadmaking by combining the juice with other flavors and fruits (more on this later) or used with a single honey variety for a straight- forward mead. Alcohol percent can also range from high-octane still meads that finish dry and have tremendous aging potential, to lower-alcohol beverages (often carbonated) that drink as light and refreshing with more retained residual sweetness. 

No matter the style, making the best stone fruit mead requires the best fruits at optimum ripeness. If you live in an area where these fruits are grown, you have a big advantage as you can use the freshest fruits. That said, there are many other options from canned and frozen fruits to purees that can also have good results. Any of these other choices would be far better than using subpar fruit that you don’t want to eat. Expecting a resulting mead to taste better than the sum of its parts is a fool’s game. And let’s face it: The price of honey is too high to gamble with fruit that has visible mold, wildlife damage, or significant bruising. Though you may be able to find fruit for a discounted price simply for aesthetic deformities, which is a great way to use up perfectly good-tasting fruit.

Sugar Levels of Stone Fruits

Stone fruits vary in their natural sugar content, based on factors such as variety, growing conditions, and ripeness. Now, why is it important that we consider the sugar levels of our stone fruits for meadmaking? Well, besides the fact that it directly adds to the sweetness and flavor, sugar is the main component that ferments in your mead. Because honey is the primary source of sugar in mead — even fruit mead — this isn’t a huge factor, but the more sugar the fruit has the less honey will be needed to hit your target starting gravity. There are numerous sources for average sugar content of fruit online. One I have used is www.sugarnutritionresource.org. Here is the average sugar content of the most common stone fruits used in meadmaking: 

• Sweet cherry (1.036–1.053 SG)

• Peach (1.032–1.036 SG)

• Nectarine (1.032–1.036 SG)

• Plum  (1.024–1.032 SG)

• Apricot (1.024–1.028 SG)

As a homebrewer, you know that averages are just a starting point when it comes to a fruit’s sugar content. As an agricultural product, the actual sugar content will vary from place-to-place, or even tree-to-tree, based on weather patterns and growing conditions. So the best way to get the most accurate measurement is to test the juice using a refractometer. With a fruit like cherries, get a handful and crush them together in a Ziploc bag. Wait a while and then take a sample. With larger fruits, cut slices of a bunch of pieces and follow a similar process.

What’s the Recommended Amount of Fruit to Be Used Per Batch? 

Depending on the flavor intensity and the type of stone fruit being used, the recommendation varies on just how much fruit you’ll need for a batch of mead. However, on average, 1–3 lbs. per gallon (120–360 g/L) works well with most fruits. After using this as a starting point, you might leave it for a week and then have a tasting session to see if you want to add more fruit or not. In my experience, I have found 2 pounds (0.9 kg) of stone fruit per gallon (3.8 L) to work to give me the perfect flavor. The fruit itself and your palate will have an impact on the perfect amount for your mead. 

Fresh, Canned, or Frozen Fruit?

All of these fruit forms yield good results in your mead, but there are some distinctions you must note. 

In my first three years of making peach, plum, and cherry meads, I used canned fruits because it was available year-round. It wasn’t until I went to an open fruit market that I experienced a different taste and degree of tartness in my final product. Fresh fruit is natural, so it is usually less sweet or more tart depending on ripeness, which can be adjusted in the recipe to balance sweetness. You have full control on how it’s processed: Adding of extra sugars or not, freezing or not, removal of skin/seed removal, etc. It’s all your choice. However, the seasonality of fruit means they aren’t available year-round, plus you will have to spend more time cutting, depitting, etc. Just like choosing fruit to eat, most would agree fresh is going to taste best, but the trade-off of time and effort are real considerations.

The canned fruit form is usually available throughout the year, although they often contain added sugars, syrups, and preservatives. I have enjoyed the meads made with canned fruit, and another benefit is a consistent flavor profile for the most part, though they don’t have the same taste as perfectly ripe, fresh fruit. 

Another option is buying frozen fruit. It is similar to fresh fruit (though, again, nothing beats fresh tastewise). You don’t get the added ingredients that often come with canned fruits, and the fact that the fruit is frozen actually makes working with the fruit easy. Why? Well, freezing fresh fruit is a step I recommend anyway, which we’ll discuss in the next section.

Processing 

Processing stone fruits for meadmaking involves several steps to extract flavors effectively and prepare them for fermentation. They are slightly more labor-intensive than most fruits because the pits need to be removed, and the size of many of the fruits means you can’t just crush them as you would a softer berry. Following are the processing steps I take:

1. Choose Ripe Fruit

The same fruit that is the best flavor for eating is the best fruit for meadmaking. Select ripe, preferably freshly picked, fruits for the best flavor. For peaches and nectarines, your nose will tell you when they are ripe. They will emit a sweet – almost floral – aroma. You can also do the pressure test. This is how you can select a ripe plum — take the stem and gently apply pressure. If it yields, you know it’s ripe and ready to go.

2. Rinse

Give the fruit a thorough rinse and rub to remove any dirt, bugs, or residues.

3. Depitting

Before you freeze your fruits, it’s advisable to remove the pits, especially for plums and other fruits that have large seeds. This is because if you decide to crush the stones or leave them in contact with your fruit for fermentation, it could cause a bitter taste (because of the presence of a bitter compound in them, amygdalin). Also, isn’t it just easier to process without a stone to battle with?

4. Freezing

An important processing step for fresh stone fruits is to freeze for 24–48 hours. This will not only slow and retard the growth of bacteria that may be on the fruit, but releases the flavor much easier during fermentation. When fruit is frozen, the water inside the fruit cells forms ice crystals. These crystals expand and rupture the cell walls. When the fruit is thawed, these ruptured cells release more of their internal juices and flavors into the mead. This process increases the extraction of flavors from the fruit as the cellular structure is broken down, allowing more of the natural compounds to mix with the mead.

5. Chopping, pureeing, or juicing

After freezing and thawing, it’s recommended to cut the fruit into smaller pieces or crush the fruits well using whatever device is at your disposal. Another option is pureeing the fruit into a smooth paste by using a blender or food processor. If you have a juicer, you can juice the fruit and add the juice to your fermenter as well. 

Additional Ingredients to Add

While making your own melomel, rather than just the basic mixture of honey, water, yeast, and fruit, why not take it a step further with ingredients to enhance flavor and complexity? Of course, the variety of honey used is important and should complement the fruit you choose. Wildflower and orange blossom honeys are usually safe bets for these types of meads, but don’t be afraid to play around with some more exotic honey varieties that may add to the experience.

Beyond honey variety, here are few ingredients that often pair great with stone fruit meads:

Spices

Cinnamon sticks, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, vanilla beans, and star anise are just a few of the spices that could be added to your mead. However, the options are vast and can range from floral additions like chamomile, to exotic choices like cardamom or even chili peppers for a spicy kick. If you haven’t experimented before, a good place to start is thinking about some of your favorite dishes. Love peach cobbler with cinnamon and a little nutmeg served with vanilla ice cream? Sounds like a good combination for mead too!

Once you pick the spices to complement your mead, consider when and how much to add. If you want a more pronounced spicy aroma and flavor by the time your mead is ready for consumption, then it is recommended to add spices during the secondary fermentation or aging process. You should carefully consider the appropriate quantity to be added for each spice, as these spices should complement the taste of your stone fruit mead, not overwhelm it. Some spices, like cloves or cinnamon can be quite potent while others like vanilla or ginger can add depth without dominating. Do trials if possible, and remember that more spice can always be added, but once too much is added it can’t be taken out.

Herbs

Herbs also add a spectrum of flavors and aromas that complement and enhance the natural sweetness of mead. Some of the spices listed earlier could also be classified under herbs. Some other popular herbs include lavender, chamomile, and rosemary, all of which add specific subtle floral notes to complement your honey; chamomile imparts a soothing, apple-like flavor and rosemary gives a piney note with hints of citrus. 

Citrus zest

Speaking on citrus, citrus zest is prepared by scraping or cutting from the rind of unwaxed citrus fruits such as lemon, orange, and lime with the use of a micro plane or a fine grater. Zest adds bright, tangy flavors to your mead that often complement the honey perfectly. They could also be added during secondary fermentation or aging. Just be sure to leave the pith (the white layer beneath the outer peel) as it is very bitter.

Other fruits

Who said a stone fruit melomel should only contain these types of fruits? Throw in some raspberries, blackberries, or even apples for that cyser blend. There are a lot of combinations that work well together. A fun trial to see how they will taste together in a mead is to buy an assortment of fruits and try eating them in
different combinations.

Oak

Oak chips and cubes are readily available and convenient for homebrewers. Oak chips have more surface area and can impart flavors faster, while oak cubes release flavors more slowly due to their density. As homebrewers are aware, there are also different oak types; American oak tends to add stronger vanilla and coconut notes, while French oak is known for more subtle spice and tannin. Consider the mead and the flavors you wish to impart with the oak to make
your choice.

Yeast nutrients

While honey provides essential nutrients for yeast, ensuring a robust fermentation process often requires supplementing with yeast nutrients. 

Two popular nutrient options are Fermaid O and Fermaid K. Fermaid O is an organic blend of yeast hulls and vitamins, and Fermaid K an inorganic combination of diammonium phosphate, yeast hulls, and other nutrients designed to support yeast health during fermentation. Fermaid O is more suited for delicate meads and Fermaid K is better used for robust or high-ABV meads.

Yeast nutrients can be added directly into your honey and water mixture (must), when pitching the yeast, but ensure you mix the nutrient with a small amount of warm water first before adding it to the must to minimize the risk of clumping. 

Pectic enzyme

In this article, we are dealing with fruits just as much as we’re dealing with meads, so of course we have to talk about this important fruit enzyme. Pectinase is crucial for the breakdown of pectin, a complex polysaccharide in fruits, into simpler molecules.

During your fermentation  process, pectin tends to cause cloudiness and haze in the mead leading to a turbid appearance. This is where your pectic enzyme clears things up and reduces turbidity. Pectinase could also function in breaking down fruit cell walls, releasing trapped nutrients, sugars, and aromatics in the must. Typically, you should add pectic enzyme during the initial stages of mead preparation (primary fermentation stage). A previous “Mr. Wizard” column sheds more light on pectic enzymes, which you can access online at: www.byo.com/mr-wizard/pectic-enzymes/

Ready to make a stone fruit melomel? Following are two recipes that put much of the information covered here to use. Feel free to experiment and tweak them to your own tastes —that’s what the hobby is all about!

When I first started learning about world beer styles more than 30 years ago, Oktoberfest seemed fairly straightforward. It was an amber-colored, malty, German lager that routinely appeared in late summer as a festive seasonal for the cool weather. There were many German brands, and they were all labeled Oktoberfest, Oktoberfestbier, or Oktoberfest-Märzen. American microbreweries frequently had a similar seasonal offering, although few would match the malt character of the best German examples, and some were a bit too hoppy. This matched many other styles of the time; there were traditional examples, as well as American interpretations. 

Ah, if life could only be so simple. The real story is quite a bit more complicated, and it requires learning some new terms for beers we thought we knew. Oktoberfestbier has a specific meaning in Germany and is treated like a protected appellation, not a style. It is used by the six large breweries within the city limits of München (Munich) to describe the beer served at the annual Oktoberfest festival, which has been held in the meadow fairgrounds just outside the city gates since 1810.

The name Oktoberfest-Märzen is perhaps the most accurate name, since it combines both the appellation and the style. The Märzen-style amber lager of Munich is related to the Vienna amber lager of Austria, in that they have a common history and were introduced in the early 1840s. But the first beers at Oktoberfest were actually dark lagers (Munich dunkel style). The Märzen style was served at the festival from 1872 until 1990, when the golden festbier style was adopted.

Imports to America often were the traditional amber Märzen, even after festbier was introduced, and were frequently labeled as Oktoberfest. European Union rules don’t apply to exports or to producers outside Germany, so the confusion persisted. When trying to sort these things out for beer judging purposes, the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) decided to take the unpopular but accurate choice of avoiding the Oktoberfest name entirely. The BJCP Style Guidelines includes Märzen as Style 6A, part of Category 6, Amber Malty European Lager, which also includes rauchbier and dunkles bock. The related festbier is Style 4B, and represents the modern beer served at Oktoberfest.

History

The origin of the Oktoberfest version of Märzen is actually pretty well known. Prior to the version we know, Märzen was originally a name used for a strength band of beer (14 °Plato) and was applied to the dark brown beers of the time. The name Märzen is derived from März (March), implying brewing the beer at the end of the brewing season, lagering it in cool caves over the summer, and enjoying it in the fall. This was before the advent of mechanical refrigeration, which was not available before the 1870s.

Original usages aside, since 1841 Märzen has been used to describe the amber lager introduced by Gabriel Sedlmayr at the Spaten Brewery in Munich. Sedlmayr and his friend Anton Dreher, from Vienna, visited Great Britain in 1833 to learn more about English and Scottish brewing. Armed with a saccharometer (a type of hydrometer), they measured samples they were able to obtain (albeit somewhat surreptitiously), and learned more about attenuation and process control. They also studied malting and kilning to learn about improving their ingredients. They already had proper lager yeast and wonderful hops at their disposal.

Sedlmayr and Dreher each introduced similar styles in 1841, which is why the styles are sometimes known as Vienna/Märzen/Oktoberfest. Vienna and Märzen styles took their own paths after this introduction, with the Märzen becoming a bit stronger as it was adopted as a festival beer (which are traditionally about 2% stronger than “regular” beers) in 1872. It was to remain the standard festival offering for over a century before preferences for lighter-colored, more drinkable styles resulted in festbier being adopted at Oktoberfest in 1990.

Export German versions of Oktoberfestbier to the U.S. and elsewhere are typically based in the Märzen style, although labeling and formulation can vary by brewery (some German examples are definitely the modern version — check the appearance before purchasing). Craft versions of Oktoberfest are usually based on Märzen, including what is known by the Brewers Association Guidelines as American-Style Maerzen/Oktoberfest. This style is exemplified by the hoppier, more bitter Samuel Adams Octoberfest beer, which has a different balance than the German versions.

Sensory Profile

Märzen is an amber German lager, so it has a character like other German lagers — smooth, clean, properly fermented, and lagered. The color is amber-orange to deep reddish-copper; basically, darker than gold but lighter than brown. It has brilliant clarity and should have a persistent, off-white head.

The balance is malty, so bitterness should just support the malt but not enough that the finish is bitter. German lagers are generally dry to off-dry, so the beer should be attenuated, not sweet or heavy. The impression of maltiness comes from high-kilned base malts and lower hop rate, not from residual sweetness. The malt aroma and flavor is bready, rich, and somewhat toasty. Noticeable caramel, chocolate, biscuit, or roast flavors are out of place. Hop aroma and flavor are low to none with a soft floral, herbal, or spicy quality if detected.

The beer is medium-bodied but with a smooth texture from lagering, and has moderate carbonation. It shouldn’t taste of alcohol, but may be very lightly warming (it is an approximately 6% alcohol beer, after all). It should have a malty finish and aftertaste, but be attenuated enough that another drink is welcome. The best examples have an elegant, rich flavor profile suggestive of quality ingredients. Harsh, sharp, or rough flavors are not appropriate.

Brewing Ingredients and Methods

Grist formulations can vary quite a bit, but usually have some mixture of Pilsner, Vienna, and Munich base malts. Additional flavor and color malts can be used to darken the beer and enrich the flavor, with darker Munich malt, toasted malts, and a light use of crystal-type malts possible. The trick is getting the richness of flavor and amber color without any roasted notes. Munich-type malts are often the dominant flavor, but the beer shouldn’t wind up being as heavy as a bockbier. 

Early books on the style, such as George Fix’s Vienna/Märzen/Oktoberfest, stressed quality ingredients as necessary for a rich, elegant malt profile. I believe his point was mostly about using continental 2-row malts, not domestic 6-row malts when brewing this style. This is less of a problem today, but I do believe European maltsters’ offerings are a better flavor fit for this traditional style.

Decoction mashes were traditional for styles of this era, although German brewers have mostly switched over to step mashes today. Step mashes can make very good German beer, but sometimes the grist needs to be adjusted with a higher percentage of Munich malt and possibly some increased color and flavor malts. The mash program should target a moderate-bodied beer, not something super crisp and dry. Homebrewers can use a single-infusion mash in the moderate temperature range (151–153 °F/66–67 °C) for this beer.

Water isn’t a major factor in this style, as there is not a minerally flavor profile evident. I would tend to use lower ion water sources, and to emphasize calcium chloride as the calcium source to help play up the maltiness in the beer. Munich water tends to have higher carbonate levels, but this should be removed before brewing (or another option is to use reverse osmosis water, as I do).

Traditional German hop and yeast choices will work here. Hallertauer is the classic German hop used by Munich breweries, so that would be my first choice, but the hops are subdued so this isn’t a major driver of the profile. Any of the other Saazer or noble-type hops could be used; Tettnanger would be my second choice. 

A clean German yeast strain is required, and the Weihenstephan 34/70 strain is a great performer. This yeast can be found from a number of liquid suppliers (Wyeast 2124, White Labs WLP830, Imperial L13, Omega OYL-106), and is even available in dried form (SafLager W-34/70). While derived from the same strain, there can be some performance differences; I’ve had good luck with Wyeast 2124, so that’s what I tend to use. I also like using the WLP833 (German Bock) yeast since it makes the beer seem maltier. WLP833 is the Ayinger yeast, so if you like that flavor, that’s one to try. I would avoid any yeast strains that are higher sulfur producers.

I find warming the temperature for a diacetyl rest at the tail end of fermentation is completely unnecessary if you avoid strains that are known diacetyl producers and follow good fermentation practices (adequate pitch rate, oxygenation, and nutrients). Taste your beer before racking and decide if it needs it.

Lagering helps reduce yeast byproducts and produce a well-conditioned, smooth finished beer. The old German rule of one week of lagering for each degree Plato of original gravity can be followed, although many commercial breweries in Germany now simply kräusen their beer to accelerate the conditioning. To kräusen, add 1–2 quarts (1–2 L) of actively fermenting yeast to the beer when it still has 4–6 gravity points remaining to attenuate, then cool slowly to lagering temperature and lager for two weeks. Lagering at freezing temperature (32 °F/0 °C) produces better, faster results.

Homebrew Example

My version is a competition-type beer I make, which shoots for the malty side of the style with maximum flavor. I’m basically trying to get as close to a bock without it seeming bock-like. Judges seem to favor richer malt flavors in this style, and that’s also in line with my personal preferences, so that’s what’s guiding my choices here.

My Märzens always seem to start with equal parts Pilsner, Munich, and Vienna malts, before I start customizing. In this case, I’m bumping up the Vienna malt more, and adding some dark Munich as well for extra maltiness. Not satisfied with that, I throw in some aromatic malt for extra malt flavor, melanoidin malt for some rich toast, and a touch of CaraMunich® III for color and a hint of caramel richness. I often use German maltsters (Belgian for the aromatic) for authenticity and because I prefer these flavors for the Märzen style.

With all the boosted specialty malts, I can safely use an infusion mash at 152 °F (66 °C), followed by a mash-out. All of the German noble hops are fine and can be freely substituted since they are not playing a major role in the final profile. For maximum maltiness, I’ll go with the Ayinger yeast strain. It gives a little extra special flavor I enjoy, but the more neutral 34/70 strains can be used and make a delicious beer as well. The water profile is neutral and favors the malt. Fermentation and lagering are traditional, with me preferring to go old school and use a long lagering process.

As I said, this is a competition beer. It is a bit bigger, sweeter, and maltier than many modern German examples. I do think the traditional fermentation and lagering process has benefits in the smoothness of the beer and cleanness of the flavor profile. You can approximate those with faster approaches, but again, in competitions, every little edge gives you a boost. Even if you are making this for yourself and your friends, I hope you will appreciate the boldness of the result as much as most judges do. 

Marzen: By the Numbers

OG: 1.054–1.060
FG: 1.010–1.014
SRM: 8–17 
IBU: 18–24
ABV: 5.6–6.3%

Wine often comes to mind when doing pairings with cheese, but beer may in fact be more suitable. Two experts share their tips for creating the perfect pairing.

Ruth Miller, aka the Beer & Cheese Maven, hosts beer and cheese pairing events in and around Vermont.

eer is a great beverage to pair with cheese because it has a complexity and depth of flavors and aromas that are readily accessible to the palate. The unique carbonation of beer serves to aerate and volatize the flavors, making them more detectable by the nose and taste buds. Additionally, it washes the palate clean in order to repeat the experience multiple times.

I don’t believe there are any rules when it comes to coming up with beer and cheese pairings. Taste is a subjective exploration. The true sign of a successful pairing is when a combination creates a sense of, “Wait, what!?” or “Wow!” or “Who knew?”

While there are no rules, I can offer some general guidelines for those new to pairings. I like to categorize them by:

A. Contrast (differences)

B. Complementary (compatible/similar)

C. Dynamic (flavors of one may be elevated or tamped-down by the other)

D. Cultural/Geographic (traditional pairing that has been observed in components from the same terroir, region, or ethnography)

E. The “Magic Third Flavor” (when the flavors of each component create a new flavor when combined)

Additionally, I recommend considering textures when pairing and using the above guidelines. Cheese must always be cool, or even room temperature — not cold — to taste flavors fully. 

I avoid pairing beer and cheese with identical, obvious flavors like fruits, smoke, diacetyl, etc. as they will simply blend together and cancel each other, rendering each indistinguishable from the other. 

If doing many pairings, order them beginning with lighter/crisper beers and progress to maltier/darker beers (and/or mild, fresh cheeses progressing to earthy, funky cheeses). Avoid serving bread as it sways flavors too far over to the grain aspect of the beer. As a palate cleanser, use water and neutral, low-salt crackers.

My favorite pairings include:

Hefeweizen & triple crème = banana cream pie

Porter or coffee stout & fresh chèvre = café au lait/cappuccino

Pale ale & aged Cheddar = grassy/herbaceous

Belgian pale or quadrupel & washed-rind or “stinky” cheese = sweet earthy funk

Crisp German or Austrian lager & Alpine cow cheese = bready, crackers, grain, fruity

Barleywine & buttery blue cheese & honey = fudgey, sweet, and salty

Most styles of beer have complementary pairings, but some are harder than others. I’ve found DIPAs hard to pair due to their varied and overwhelmingly floral aspect of the hop varieties. Texture (creamy, mellow) can deal with the bitterness aspect. Also, it’s hard for a palate to re-set after such a long-lasting hop hit. Therefore, it is best served as a stand-alone pairing. Grassy, herbaceous cheeses like Cheddar are good partners. Sour and acidic beers can be tricky as well — the scouring effect of such a beer on the tongue can occasionally result in a weird medicinal result, but some are great. Trial and error is key, but these must always be tested to ensure a good pairing before serving to guests.

Mirella Amato created the online course “Mastering Beer & Food Pairing brought to you by Beerology®” to teach enthusiasts how to master pairing beer with food.

All the cheese experts I have worked with agree that beer is actually a better pairing for cheese than wine is. There are so many complementary flavors between these two, which isn’t necessarily the case with wine.

It’s so much fun to buy a range of cheeses and a range of beers and mix and match. You’re unlikely to encounter a bad pairing. You’re much more likely to encounter a lot of decent pairings, and the occasional spectacular one. 

If you’d prefer to start with some combinations that are destined to work, here are a few combinations that are tried and true: A rich beer, like barleywine, will be great with a sharp blue cheese. Cheddar and English bitter is another classic combination. Then, there is witbier and goat cheese or saison and washed-rind cheese. The proof that a pairing was successful is that you find yourself reaching for it and wanting to go in for another bite, and another sip. And then another bite, and another sip.

When presenting a series of pairings of any kind, keep the beers with a high bitterness, acidity, or alcohol content for the end, along with their cheese pairing. In terms of palate cleansers, it is always a good idea to have a few crackers on the plate, especially if you are presenting softer cheeses.

My go-to pairing is Beemster XO with an English-style porter. The caramel and nutty notes of the cheese mirror the sweet and toasty malt flavors of the beer, and the chocolate notes in the beer play well with the salty notes of the cheese. It’s also a textural feast, between the smooth mouthfeel of the beer and the crumbly texture of the cheese that has these tiny crystals in it. It’s quite delightful.

When entertaining, a really fun combination is grilled halloumi with a Czech pale premium lager. It’s a fun snack/appetizer with dynamic contrasts between the salt and creaminess of the cheese and the carbonation and bitterness in the beer. The temperature contrast between the warm cheese and cold beer makes it even more dynamic.