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What Are You Brewing Next?
How do you decide what beer you're brewing next?
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Good morning. Wrexham, a small mining town in Wales, was recently put on the map by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney buying the Wrexham Football Club, and starting a documentary series “Welcome to Wrexham” to follow the clubs progress toward promotion.
Long before this recent claim to fame, Wrexham was well known around the world for their Munich style lager called “Wrexham Lager”. It was so well renowned that it was even served on the ill fated Titanic voyage in 1912. The original brewery closed in 2000, but was since revived in 2011 by the founding family.
-Brandon Copeland
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What Are You Brewing Next?
Once you solidify yourself as a homebrewer to your friends and family, the question you often get is: What are you brewing next?
Sometimes, this is an easy answer. A lot of my inspiration in the past has been from going out to some local breweries, trying a beer in a particular style that I don’t normally drink, and then thinking: I could brew this better myself.
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Credit: Smithsonian Associates
If I know a particular style I want to brew, then I take my search to Brewgr. There is an advanced search tool called the Homebrew Recipe Finder and Search Tool that allows you to create a very granular search through Brewgr’s archive of over 93,000 homebrew recipes.
If I don’t know what style I want to brew, I head to the Homebrew Beer Recipes page on Brewgr that displays all Brewgr recipes by BJCP style. This is a great place to be inspired, especially if you want to branch out into a new category of beer you’ve never brewed before.
If I’m still struggling with inspiration for a new brew, I head to Google or YouTube for inspiration. I often come back to the Homebrew Challenge where this guy brews 99 beers in 99 weeks, all different BJCP styles. It’s a pretty hardcore challenge (and sounds like a logistical nightmare for an apartment homebrewer) but I’ve pulled some inspiration from some of his beers including the New Zealand Pilsner.
Sometimes though, there is decision fatigue. Nothing really seems right, or you just don’t feel like making something too adventurous. One of the best things you can do as a homebrewer is make the same recipe you’ve made in the past for a second time. Dig back into that existing recipe in Brewgr, make changes if need be, and create a new brew session. Keep track of your tasting notes to see how it differs from the first brew.
How Do You Create Your Homebrew Recipes? |
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What Upgrades Does Brewgr Need?
As mentioned in the last newsletter, we are giving a facelift to Brewgr in 2024 and we are looking for your feedback. What changes/updates would you like to see in Brewgr?
As we mentioned before, we will always maintain the features that we offer now for free, and will continue to expand upon our free offering. However, we also are looking for premium upgrades that people would be interested in that would improve your brew day.
Reply to this email and let us know if you have any ideas you would like to see implemented into Brewgr in the future!
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Beer Trivia Question
🍺 On average, how many gallons/liters of beer are consumed worldwide every year?
Read to the end to find out if you're right!
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Homebrewing Equipment Highlight
KOMOS Kegerator
I have a kegerator that I converted from a mini fridge 11 years ago, and it’s still running to this day. However, every time I brew I’m tempted to upgrade to the KOMOS Kegerator and just use my old kegerator as a fermentation chamber.
With up to 4 taps, there are so many options - in my mind I would want to have two homebrews on tap at all times, a keg of carbonated water, and a keg that is reserved for a specialty cocktail. It would be the ultimate party kegerator.
If we had a bigger apartment, I may have pulled the trigger already, but I haven’t been able to rationalize it just yet. I don’t think it would be a hard sell for my wife - she loves anything that will make for a better party.
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Deal of the Week
Adventures in Homebrewing is having a clearance sale, and if you dig deep, you can find some really incredible deals.
I was digging into the sale and found a drip tray that was 67% off. I’ve been meaning to add a drip tray to my kegerator for the past 11 years and this was a no brainer. It’s worth a look to see if anything you need is discounted!
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Last Weeks Poll Results: Have You Thought About Starting a Brewery?
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It turns out, as homebrewers we generally all share this in common - we all at least consider the idea of starting our own brewery once we begin homebrewing. 76% of people agreed with this sentiment - even if it’s not financially feasible, it’s at least a reoccurring thought of “what if”.
For those of you who have already started your own brewery, kudos to you. If anyone is interested in a short interview on the process of going from homebrewer to brewery owner, reply to this email!
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Brewgr Recipe of the Week
MBS Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale
While bourbon aged beer isn’t my favorite, as a brewer it’s important to gain experience brewing all types of beers. This recipe seems like a very approachable all grain bourbon barrel ale - just add some bourbon and whiskey barrel chips to the secondary. I also know some of my family members would be lining up to try it…
Credit: MyBrewSupply
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And the Answer Is...
🍺 50 billion gallons (189 billion liters) of beer are consumed worldwide every single year. To put this in perspective, it’s equivalent to 76,000 Olympic swimming pools worth of beer.
It would offer a little more incentive to swim some laps if the pool was full of beer… I’d rather relax in a beer spa while drinking Czech lager from the tap.
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Happy Brewing!
- Brandon, Brew Great Beer Team
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