The Brewing Network Presents | Dr. Homebrew

Splitting the wine and beer worlds up was probably not the marketing plan craft beer should have gone with. So many flavors and descriptors cross those fermented boundaries that the two beverages are more alike than not. Sort of. On today's show, we bring on Jake from Bedrock Wine Co., a small winery in the heart of California's wine country. Jake manages the vineyards out there, and has a very solid knowledge on how grapes shape the final product, and how we can perhaps bring some of that vocabulary over to beer. Plus, he's very handsome. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Travis from Brew Strong is back with us, as we judge his Rye Double IPA. Not a style we usually see anymore, there was a time Rye IPA was pretty much everywhere, so this was a good refresher for us. We then chat with Travis about how he prepares for his Double IPA recipes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's the Brew Strong x Dr. Homebrew event of Cooper's dreams! Travis from Brew Strong sent in not one, but two Double IPAs, shattering any expectation of sobriety on this episode. So what does a wet hop Double IPA taste like? We aim to find out! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sometimes the day just calls for a big bag of beer to dig through, and that's what this episode is all about! Getting three beer judges together to taste random craft beers is a good way to work on your vocabulary and on-the-fly tasting skills, too! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Homebrew, homebrew, everywhere, but not a brewer in sight! Today's show is back to homebrew, but our guest, Steve, was feeling under the weather so we had to plod along without him. Steve had given us an English Mild and an American Stout to get through, and he was even kind enough to include his recipes, which is always helpful. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our friend Dave Teckam is back with us, as we dive into two Sierra Nevada Bigfoot vintages - one from 2024 and the other from way back in 2014. Most people consider 5 to 7 years as the "sweet spot" for this beer, so drinking a 10-year-old version was a lot of fun for us! Not to mention Dave's method of saving open bottles of beer for later ... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Homebrew is back, baby! Even if we had to drag it across the internet ourselves, we were hell bent on judging some homebrew on this show, and that's what we did. Cooper setn around one of his meads, made with Tupelo honey, and Jason bullied the Birans into trying some weird-assed Brown Ale he made. Plus, we have a surprise guest that dropped in early to hang with us ... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Browsing the shelves at our local big box beer stores, we realized there are so many winter beers on the market today, and many of them sort of go against what we consider to be true "Winter Warmers". So on today's show, we bring you several examples of beers (and two ciders) that will fit right in with the cold weather this year, while still providing you with a new drinking experience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Homebrew competitions are thriving, and there's no competition quite like the World Cup of Beer here in the Bay Area! On today's show, Steve from the Bay Area Mashers homebrew club, joins us to talk about the upcoming comp, what we can expect from it as far as prizes goes, and more. Plus, we dive into perhaps the most seen Christmas beers on the shelves! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The holidays are among us, and so are the darker, sturdier beers. On today's show, we run through some classic Holiday beers as well as some new ones, and see how they would fall in the current BJCP guidelines. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Browsing the beer shelves at the grocery store can sometimes yield amazing stuff. On our last trip to the store, we found two beers that seemed equally interesting, for different reasons. The first is a non-alcoholic version of 805 from Firestone-Walker called ... 8Zero5. The other is a holiday beer from Clausthaler. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's wet hop season, and that means more than a few brewers are going to be packing their beers with tiny little flavor bombs of hoppy goodness this Fall. On today's show, we taste two local Fresh Hop beers to find the differences in flavor between the two, and we discuss what wet hopped beers are supposed to taste like, and how you can best make one at home. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oktoberfest season is here, and we like digging around for examples of the style we don't normally see. When Brian Schar found this NA Oktoberfest, we had to crack it open on the show and see what it was all about. Plus, our pal Dimitri lands back on the show, to talk about how his BJCP exam went, and to drop some tips on how to git gud. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're in the first throws of Oktoberfest season, so we thought it would only be appropriate to compare what the Germans are doing versus what the Americans are up to. I mean, it's not that drastic, but I didn't know what else to say. We also have a homebrewed English Porter on the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wandering around the liquor store, we realized that we had yet to approach the subject of the humble Radler, and where that fits in with the current BJCP guidelines. Plus, JP had never tried one before, so we had to pick some up. Meanwhile, in another isle, we stumbled across Chimay in cans! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Inland Empire Brewers are back, and they brought more California Common for us! Part two of our massive deep-dive into the style of Cal Common, the Inland Empire Brewers flooded our halls with their takes on this style, and we gave them all the feedback they could ever want. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the oldest homebrewing clubs in the country floods us with one of the oldest styles in the state - California Common! are either of these claims true? Who can tell? On this show, we take down three Cal Common beers from three different brewers of the Inland Empire Brewers club! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Porters are one of those styles that represent many entry points for old school brewers, so it's nice to see them come across our desks - especially from someone new to the hobby. We're back with Dimitri as we discuss his Porter, then we talk about the latest entry into the non-alcoholic space from Sierra Nevada - Trail Pass! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's not every day we get to chat it up with someone who has recently taken up the hobby of homebrewing, much lest taste their beers, so this show is a fin one for us. Today we welcome Dimitri to the show, and he hits us with an American Amber Ale. Then we talk about hos is BJCP journey started and what he's learned so far in his test prep. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week's show, we basically lean on JP again for content. He delivers an American Red Ale, which is a clone of the famous St. Rogue Red from Rogue Ales, and then a homebrewed Kombucha. At this point, we need to seriously invest in creating a Kombucha score sheet ... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Friend of the show Vito is back, and this time he's teaching us a thing or two! Vito has done a lot of research into what makes a great batch of hop water, and since we have received a couple of examples as of late, why not learn a bit more about how it's made? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hazy IPA gets a few new names on today's show, which might be just the thing it needs to finally catch on. Plus, we have a clone of the great Yuengling lager to rip through. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As craft beer drinkers, we're always on the lookout for brands we have yet to encounter, and on today's show we talk about one such brewery found at our local Asian Market .. Baeren Beer. The two styles on offer were a Dortmunder Export and a Schwarzbier, not your typical styles just found floating on a random shelf somewhere. Plus, we talk about non-alcoholic beers, so that's fun. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

German Pilsner and a Belgian Triple - two beers that could not be more opposite. On today's show, we have the brewer of both of these styles - Scott - to explain himself to us, as well as field exceptional questions from two people who know what they are talking about. And JP. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our friend Barry over at Lucky Envelope Brewing in Seattle recently subjected himself to a brew day with Warren and Dave Marliave. The beer that resulted was something called a Swiss Red Ale, and while that style doesn't really exist, Barry still wanted our feedback on it. Who are we to turn down a brewer in need, right? We also chat about homebrew vs. commercial judging, how they differ, and the best ways to tackle entering each. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fresh of the heels of Christmas, the Dr. Homebrew crew rejoins in an epic defiance of a holiday hangover. On today's show, the boys break into a couple of Pilsners by the same brewer! One is a Dry Hopped West Coast-style Pils, and the other, a classic German-style Pils. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Czech Pale Lager needs to come in unassuming and almost nebulous to your senses. It's not an easy style to nail, and lucky for us we have a great example of one on today's show. Then we are joined again by Ryan from Old Standby Brewing Co, to tell us about a couple of new collaborations for charity he's done recently. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We've had mixed fermentation beers on this show before, but none of them have been done using the Solera method (at least we think). So on today's show we get to tackle this very involved beer method. Plus, we breakdown a pumpkin Amber Ale, which Jason is very excited for. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The rare three beer show today, as we welcome Jake to the show, with his American Pale Ale! After we toss him aside like an old piece of fruit, we crack open two beers Jason brought from his last visit to the 21st Amendment. While it's not an official Commercial Calibration segment, we had some fun breaking these beers down and chatting about them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're a "One Beer, ONe Guest" kind of a show this week, as we welcome Julia Herz, Executive Director of the American Homebrewers Association! Julia sent us her version of an English Bitter - a style we will always accept - and we had a lot of fun trying to break down her recipe. Then, we chatted about Julia's book, "Beer Pairing: The Essential Guide From The Pairing Pros" - a fantastic look at a better way you pair your beers with food. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The boys have all let their beers properly lager, so it's time to bring the saga of Dr. Hombre to a close tonight, as we do our final tasting and score sheets for the Dr. Homebrew Mexican Lager! This was such a fun experiment - three different brewers, all with different equipment, yeast, and capacities for understanding brewing science. Find out who's beer was the best, and who's maybe wasn't so much the best. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Guess The Style" sounds dangerous, but we're professionals, so we came out the other side unscathed, yet somehow still scarred. We had a lager that kind of blew our minds with regards to recipe, which we always love to have happen. Then we run through a Hazy IPA. Here's hoping that's not a trend ... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cold IPA. Sure, it sounds good, but what even is it? Colin joins us again to help us figure out what a homebrewed version of this emerging style even tastes like, and the boys start digging into the guidelines to help us all sort out the good from the not-so-good. Plus, Colin sent us some commercial beers, so he got to hang out for a bit longer than usual. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The style of Blonde Ale has come and gone over the years, and it seems like we're seeing a fresh resurgence of it - which is fine by us! Ben sent us his most recent batch, so we dug into that, and then JP had passed around his Cream Ale - or what he thought was a Cream Ale - and the guys gave him some notes on that as well. We wrap up by drinking a Hop Splash hop water from Sierra Nevada! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What does Lil' Wayne and a homebrewed beer have in common? They're both misunderstood by most people! Or something, look, just listen to this show to find the real answer, ok? Also, Brian, Brian, and JP talk about their Mexican Lager brew days and how the beer is progressing! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two styles of IPA that seem to go through stages of popularity - the Rye IPA and the humble Cold IPA. One is a blast from the past with some rich malt notes, and the other is a modern take on the hoppy side of things. How can the brewers make these beers better? Besides just making them all Dark Milds? Find out, on this week's show! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Smoked beer is about as polarizing a flavor as you can get, even to hardcore beer nerds. Given our recent rekindling of our smoke beer fetish on this show, we were lucky enough to have Matthias Trum, part of the current generation of smoked beer stewards at the historic Schlenkerla brewery as our guest! Stationed in the heart of Bamberg, Germany, The Trum family has cared for the Schlenkerla legacy for decades, with each generation taking steps to ensure its survival. How do they survive in a world dominated by IPA? Matthias tells us that and more on this very special episode of Dr. Homebrew! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brian x2 and Jason decide it's high time they all start contributing beer to the show, for better or worse. Before this week's show started, the boys decided on creating a Mexican Lager recipe to be brewed by each of them for a future show. Of course, no recipe formulation session would be complete without a thorough tasting of said styles before deciding what the recipe will look like. Four commercial examples of Mexican Lagers are broken down and consumed in the first half, and all that data was used in the second half to create what is sure to be the greatest Mexican Lager ever produced by Dr. Homebrew. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Friend of the show and serial homebrew collaborator Ryan is back with us to share another one of his fun brewing projects! Ryan is the founder of Old Standby Brewing, and has been linking up with commercial breweries to brew beer for local charities. This time, Ryan brewed a Dortmunder Export with the folks at Zoiglhaus in Portland, Oregon, to benefit the Doernbecher Children's Hospital. We talk about how this beer was made, a little recipe info, and let Schar tee off on beer style naming. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Commercial calibrations are one of our favorite segments on this show. Mainly because we can bill Justin for some of the best beers in any given style, but also we get the chance to examine some of these tentpole beers in ways we don't normally get the chance to. On today's show, we are drinking a commercial Munich Helles, which is always welcome here, and then we bust open one of Cooper's homebrews that he wants feedback on. And we're always ready to break that man down. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Time to homeBrew Strong! This week we have two Strong Beers on the schedule - a Belgian Golden and a Strong Bitter. Which apparently used to be called ESB, but has since ceased to be "extra". Anyway, A couple of good beers that need a little help, which hopefully is what they got. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Homebrew goes internal! On today's show, Brian and Brian got a call from an unexpected brewing duo - Justin Crossley and Chris Graham! The boys brewed two beers for The National Homebrew Competition this year, and they wanted some honesty feedback ahead of the judging round. So it's a Pale Ale and a Dortmunder, heading to San Diego this year for the boys ... find out how they did! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Returning champion homebrewer JP joins JP and The Brians for another amazing homebrew! Maybe. He paid to have that written. After his English Mild, the team runs another Commercial Calibration, this time it's the iconic Schlenkerla smoked beer! Be sure to check out Five Star and their Homebrew Club Program for tips, tricks, and products! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Homebrewer Robb sent in two beers to the show, and they were styles we love digging into. One was an Oatmeal Stout, and the other a Mixed Fermentation Sour. Now, sours can be a bit of trouble to judge at times, because you never know what you are going to get, but we laid our palates on the line and did it anyway! Be sure to check out Five Star and their Homebrew Club Program for tips, tricks, and products! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices