When asked what are some good summer beer styles for drinking outdoors, I’m inclined to say, “the one in your hand.” But some beer styles lend themselves to drinking in the summer some more than other, and likewise, there are some beer recipes that lend themselves to being brewed in the summer. This isn’t the time or place for heavy dopplebocks or Russian imperial stouts (though I certainly wouldn’t fault you for enjoying one on the back porch!). These summer beer styles are relatively sessionable yet still full of flavor.
Below are five of my favorite summer beer styles for outdoor drinking:

• Kölsch – A light, crisp effervescence with just enough hop bitterness to keep things interesting. A slight fruity aroma may be present due to the use of an authentic Kölsch yeast. Some noble hop flavor may be perceptible and a little wheat may be used for flavor. A dry finish makes it a great thirst quencher.

• Rauchbier – Though not yet very popular stateside, German smoked beer can be a very pleasant summer beverage. The smoked malt flavor is reminiscent of barbeque or campfire and may pair well with grilled meats like bratwurst, steak, and lamb. A rauchbier isn’t for everyone – some may be turned off by the smokiness. But for the more adventurous, a smooth, smoky rauchbier is an excellent summer beer style option for drinking outdoors.

• Pilsner – Like Kölsch, pilsner is light, crisp, and dry with a firm noble hop bitterness. Unlike Kölsch, pilsner is a true lager and may feature more grain flavor and more assertive hop flavor. There are three types of pilsner (German, Czech, and American) and all three would be enjoyable during outdoor festivities.

• California Common – California common is another ale-lager hybrid, fermented with a lager yeast on the cooler side of ale temperatures, usually around 60-65˚F. Color for this beer style can range from light to dark amber. Hop bitterness is significant, usually 30-45 IBUs. The malt flavor has some toasted and caramel notes, while hop flavor can range from medium to high. Anchor Steam, the original California Common, uses all Northern Brewer hops.

• Saison – Any list of summer beer styles would be incomplete without saison. Developed in the French-speaking part of Belgium, saison was a classic thirst quencher among farmers and farmhands. A Belgian saison features a complex spicy and fruity yeast character, a crisp effervescence, and a dry finish. There may be a slight tart note. Many saisons use herbs and spices for additional flavoring and complexity, anything from coriander and orange peel to peppercorns and lemongrass. Next time you’re on the farm, don’t forget the saison!

These are just five of my favorite summer beer styles for drinking outdoors. There are others. What are your favorites?
—–
David Ackley is a beer writer, brewer, and self-described “craft beer crusader.” He holds a General Certificate in Brewing from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and is founder and editor of the Local Beer Blog.

We all know that some beers are more bitter than others. Perhaps you’ve noticed that high gravity barley wines and double IPAs often have IBUs (International Bittering Units) in the 80s, 90s, or above. Without substantial hop bitterness, these beers would come across as excessively sweet.
On the other hand, some beers are more malt forward. Belgian tripels, for example, can be just as alcoholic as double IPAs, but the tripel features phenolics, esters, and malt character, whereas the double IPA tends to be focused on the hops.
What we find in comparing beer styles is that balance can be calculated by comparing the hop bitterness to the original gravity of the beer recipe. It is this IBU and OG balance relationship that primarily controls a homebrew’s hoppy impression or the relative bitterness.
Let’s explore this relationship with some easy math.

Bitterness Units / Gravity Units Ratio
To calculate the BU:GU ratio, simply multiply the original gravity by 1000 then subtract 1000 to get the gravity units: (1.050 * 1000)-1000 = 50. Another way to say this is move the decimal place over three spaces and get rid of the “1” on the left. Now divide the IBUs by the gravity units to get the BU:GU ratio.
Let’s go back to our double IPA/Belgian tripel comparison. In the first example, we have the original gravity and the IBUs for a hypothetical double IPA:
Double IPA OG: 1.080
Double IPA IBUs: 80
BU/GU = 80/80 = 1.00
That’s a pretty bitter beer!
Now let’s calculate the BU:GU ratio for a Belgian tripel:
Tripel OG: 1.079
Tripel IBUs: 37
BU/GU = 0.47
In this case, the bitterness of the tripel is not nearly as prominent as the IPA.
The BU:GU ratio may range from as low as 0.20 for the least bitter beers and as high as 1.00 or more for IPAs and other highly hopped beers. To give you an idea of the range, let’s look at some BU:GU ratios from some of our most popular beer recipe kits:

• Steam Freak Pilsner Urkel (Clone): 1.14
• Steam Freak Steam Stoker Stout: 0.76
• Steam Freak Babbage Brown Porter: 0.56
• Brewers Best American Pale Wheat: 0.53 – 0.56
• Brewers Best Belgian Dark Strong: 0.33 – 0.38
• Brewers Best American Cream Ale: 0.33

These BU:GU ratios gives us a good indication of the hop bitterness compared to the original gravity. However, there are other secondary factors that can affect the relative bitterness, as well, including dryness (from a low final gravity), astringency (as from roasted grains), and other flavor and mouthfeel characteristics. You may want to take these into consideration when trying to produce a well balanced beer.
For example, a high proportion of caramel malt in the double IPA example may help take some of the edge off the IBUs, while the dryness of the tripel may make it seem more bitter than the IBUs suggest.
I’d encourage you to explore the BU:GU ratio for some of your favorite beers to figure out how you define good balance. Try calculating the ratio for some of your homebrews and use this number to determine whether you’ve hit the mark or not on hop bitterness and balance.
What to learn more about IBU and OG balance? Ray Daniels examines BU:GU ratios for many of the most common beer styles in his book Designing Great Beers.
—–
David Ackley is a beer writer, brewer, and self-described “craft beer crusader.” He holds a General Certificate in Brewing from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and is founder and editor of the Local Beer Blog.

Many homebrewers consider a secondary fermentation to be a worthwhile step when brewing beer. For the time it takes to move a batch of beer from a primary fermenter to a secondary fermenter, it offers a number of opportunities to improve your homebrew and make the best beer that you can.
Check out these ten tips for putting your beer through a secondary fermentation. Most are just suggestions, but the first is imperative:

1. Sanitation, sanitation, sanitation – Don’t spoil you hard work by being lax at this stage! Thoroughly clean and sanitize the secondary fermenter as well as your hoses and tubing used to transfer the beer. Be sure to sanitize the airlock as well and fill with either clean water or a diluted vodka solution.

2. Use an Auto-Siphon – Transferring the beer is much easier with an Auto-Siphon. It’s one of the most cost-effective upgrades you can make as a homebrewer. The Auto-Siphon will prime your siphon flow for you with just one pump. It’s a no-brainer for the homebrewer who routinely does secondary fermentations.

3. Take a hydrometer sample – Transferring to a secondary fermenter offers a good opportunity to check in on your beer’s gravity — and while you’re at it, clarity, too. This is a good time to head off any potential issues while you still can. Remember to record the gravity in your homebrewing notes.

4. Add sugars – If you find that your alcohol content is a little lower than you’d like, you can add additional sugars when putting your beer into secondary fermentation. It can be corn sugar, brown sugar, honey, or dried malt extract…any fermentable ingredient can be used to boost gravity. Most should be dissolved in clean, sterile water before mixing.

5. Add clarifiers – Many brewers choose to add finings, or clarifiers, when doing a secondary fermentation on their beer. Gelatin or isinglass may be added at this stage.

6. Add water – If you find you’re short on volume and can afford to spare some alcohol content, you may want to mix in a small amount of sterile water to the fermenter. Boil the water for 20 minutes and allow to cool to the temperature of the beer, stirring it in using a sanitized spoon. Use a dilution calculator to figure out how much water to add.

7. Add dry hops – A secondary fermentation is also an opportunity to boost your beer’s hop flavor and aroma. Check out our Quick Guide to Dry Hopping Your Homebrew Beers for advice.

8. Add herbs or spices – Just like dry hopping, you can “dry spice” your homebrew with herbs and spices. Remember: a little goes a long way!

9. Keep the temperature stable – Big swings in the secondary fermentation temperature can lead to off-flavors. Read these tips for controlling homebrew fermentation temperatures.

10. Try it in the keg – If you’re set up with a homebrew draft system, you can do a secondary fermentation right in the keg. Sediment at this stage will be minimal, just keep the keg vent open so the fermentation does not build up to much pressure. Then all you have to do is force carbonate after the secondary fermentation period.

What other techniques do you use during your beer’s secondary fermentation to ensure a successful homebrew?
—–
David Ackley is a beer writer, brewer, and self-described “craft beer crusader.” He holds a General Certificate in Brewing from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and is founder and editor of the Local Beer Blog.

Blogger Bill Downs introduces us to the opponents in the opposite corner of the homebrewing ring: the microbes that can spoil you beer!
—–
I remember my first beer very well. It was an extract kit with a pound of grain, sometimes called a partial mash. It was a stout and a good one.
What did I do right? In spite of being under-equipped and inexperienced, I did some things right. I followed the directions in the kit to the letter, and the most important thing I did was to make sure everything was sanitized! Why?
There are two natural spoilers that are guilty of causing homebrew contamination:

• Wild Yeast
• Bacteria

Wild Yeast Contamination:
Let’s examine this with a little more detail starting with wild yeast. When it comes to homebrew contamination, there are two broad types of wild yeast:

• Saccharomyces, which can cause flavor defects and also cause over performance of the fermentation process.
• Non-Saccharomyces: They produce acid and cause strong mousey flavors, films and unusual esters (fruit or bubble gum flavors).

There are some types of non-saccharomyces yeasts, such as Brettanomyces bruxellensis (Brett for short), that are intentionally allowed in some types of beers. An example of this particular yeast is what you find in Lambic style beers. The smell of “sweaty horse blankets” is a common smell that comes from Brett.
As a rule however, you never want this type of yeast in beer. Not only does non-saccharomyces strains cause off-flavors, some brewers will tell you they are almost impossible to clean off of equipment (especially plastic) and it will continue to taint all your beers with off-flavors. That depends on whom you ask, but some breweries take it seriously enough to use separate equipment for their Brett beers.

Bacterial Contamination:
Here are some details about homebrew contamination through bacterial infection. There are six basic types of bacteria brewers need to watch for. These are:

1. Lactic acid bacteria: Probably the most problematic bacterial contamination because it can survive in a low oxygen environment and is tolerant to low pH, high alcohol, and hops.

2. Common brewer’s bacteria: These are less troublesome because they don’t do well in a pH of higher than 4.2, but should not be discounted – they will still cause off-flavors.

3. Acetic acid bacteria: These are particularly bad since they metabolize ethanol into vinegar.

4. Pectinatus: This type of homebrew bacterial contamination produces fatty acids and acetic acids.

5. Megashaera: These poisonous bacteria produce hydrogen sulfide, which causes a rotten egg smell.

6. Zymomonas: These are very potent. They survive well in high alcohol and a low pH environment. Fortunately, zymomonas is not very often found and seems to confine itself to ale breweries.

All these bacteria can be found in raw homebrewing materials such as grain, hops, additives, vessels, tubes and other brewing equipment. This is why cleanliness and sanitation are next to beer Godliness!
But, don’t let this scare you! Here is all you have to know to completely avoid any type of homebrew contamination:

• Clean all around you.
• Clean all equipment and sanitize.
• Clean and sanitize anything that will come in contact with the beer.

If you do these things, there is no reason to worry about wild yeast or homebrew bacterial contamination. Or as Charles Papazian would say, “Relax, don’t worry, have a homebrew!”
—–
In 2000, after a lot of reading and research, Bill Downs started homebrewing. He founded, and then became the president of his local homebrew club, the Mesa Verde Mashers. Bill is a contributing reporter for the Rocky Mountain Brewing News, a BJCP Beer Judge, and owner and webmaster of www.homebrewingnews.com.