Wassail is a warm alcoholic drink mixed with spices and made with either wine, beer, cider, brandy, or a combination of more than one. It’s traditionally enjoyed during the week of Christmas, accompanying carolers as they go from house to house wishing good tidings. There’s also a lesser-known forms of wassailing, that of going to the orchards to bless the tress in hopes for a bountiful season.
You may be familiar with the carol “The Wassail Song”:

Here we come a-wassailing
Among the leaves so green,
Here we come a-wand’ring
So fair to be seen.
Love and joy come to you,
And to you your wassail, too,
And God bless you, and send you
A Happy New Year,
And God send you a Happy New Year.

The word “wassail” likely predates the Christmastime association. It’s derived from the old English “waes hail” – a toast to good health – and is found in literature dating back to the eighth-century.
Whether you’re wassailing from house to house, blessing the apple trees, or just spending time with family this holiday, consider making some wassail with your own homebrew. The wassail recipe below calls for sherry or Madeira wine to be combined with brandy. I’ve adapted it to use a combination of homebrewed beer and wine, leaving the brandy optional if you want that extra punch.
Wassail Recipe (adapted from the Joy of Cooking)
Makes 22 six-ounce servings
Core and bake:

• 12 all-purpose apples

Combine and boil for 5 minutes:

• 4 cups sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 tbsp. ground nutmeg
• 2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp. ground mace
• 6 whole cloves
• 6 allspice berries
• 1 cinnamon stick

Meanwhile, beat in a large bowl until stiff but not dry:

• 12 egg whites

Beat in another large bowl until light in color:

• 12 egg yolks

Fold the whites into yolks. Strain the sugar and spice mixture into the eggs, combining thoroughly, but gently. Bring nearly to a boil in a large pot:

• 6-7 twelve-oz. bottles of homebrewed ale (I would shoot for something malt-forward, like a porter or a Scotch ale)
• 2 cups of sherry or Madeira wine
• up to 2 cups brandy (optional)

Gradually add the beer/wine mixture to the spices and eggs, whisking vigorously with each addition. Add the brandy towards the end. Just before serving, with the mixture foaming, add the baked apples. Serve in warm mugs, placing a piece of baked apple in each one.
If I remember correctly from last Christmas, this wassail recipe certainly does the trick! Do you have a favorite holiday drink tradition?
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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.

So much of the appreciation of beer comes from its relationship with food. Among the many gastronomical combinations, few offer such a perfect marriage as the pairing of beer and cheese.
Beer and cheese actually have a lot in common. Both are crafted by skilled artisans, utilizing mysterious processes to transform raw materials into something greater than the sum of its parts. In both cases, the creativity of the brewer and the cheesemaker can result in a unique and delicious product.
As with homebrewing, don’t let anyone tell that there is one right or wrong way to do a pairing of beer and cheese. Let your tastes and personal preferences guide you as you seek to match them. That said, here are some pointers:

1. Match like with like
   Often times, a subtle, mild beer will go well with a lighter cheese. Neither overwhelms the other. Hefeweizen and chevre is a great light on light combination. Similarly, big, hoppy IPAs often match well with funky blue cheeses. The bitterness of the beer helps balance out the strong, pungent flavors of the blue. Also look for specific flavor elements in both the beer and cheese that can exist in harmony.
2. Find contrast
   Like a conversation, a paired beer and cheese can agree or disagree. Sometimes, a contrast in flavors yields an interesting combination. Try a big, malty Scotch Ale with a light farmhouse cheese.
3. Go from light to heavy  
   When it’s time to progress through the tasting, start with the lightest beers and cheeses first. This helps maintain your palate for the more aggressive flavors later on.
4. Taste the beer first
   When you’re ready to taste a pairing of beer and cheese, start with the beer. Identify its characteristics, including aroma, flavor, and mouthfeel. Then try the cheese. What are its characteristics? Is it soft and mild, or hard and aggressive? Finally, try the beer again to see how the beer and cheese interact. Does the combination enhance any flavors? Does it mask any flavors? How does the beer cut through the texture of the cheese?

A pairing of beer and cheese that is exceptional can bring about what I like to call food nirvana. Try some of these combinations to see if you can find the perfect match:

• Brie with Black Lager
• Chevre and Hefeweizen
• Mild cheddar with a Nut Brown Ale
• Gorgonzola with an Imperial IPA
• Gruyere and Bock
• Gouda and Stout

Want to go the extra mile? Pair a homemade beer with cheese made with beer. Now we’re talking! Do you have any tips for pairing beer and cheese? We’d love to hear yours!
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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 of the Local Beer Blog.

Over on the E. C. Kraus Wine Blog, Ed has been sharing some of the key winemaking terms used by professional and hobbyist winemakers.
A great deal of jargon also surrounds the world of brewing. To help you talk like a brewer and improve your craft, here are some of the brewing and beer terms you should add to your playbook:

• IBUs – IBUs stand for international bittering units, which measure the amount of alpha-acids (the part of the hop that contributed bitterness) that are isomerized during the boil and absorbed into the beer. IBUs range from the single digits for light lagers, lambics, and wheat beers and up to 100 or higher for Imperial IPAs and barley wines. Check out this IBU range chart for bitterness ranges for different beer styles.
• Krausen – Krausen is just a German word that refers to the foamy layer of yeast and protein that sits on the top of wort at the height of fermentation. The peak is sometimes referred to as “high krausen”. (You may hear reference to a practice called “krausening”. It’s an interesting technique, but neither practical nor necessary for the average homebrewer.)
• Phenol – Phenol is an aromatic byproduct of the fermentation process, produced by yeast. Depending on the style, phenol may or may not be desirable. For example, German weizens are expected to have a certain level of spicy, clove-like phenols. In other beers, undesirable phenols may be produced by excessive fermentation temperatures. This is one of the reasons why controlling fermentation temperature is so important.
• Hot Break – The “hot break” is the point in the boil where proteins coagulate and start to foam on top of the boiling wort. This is normal. Too much hot break and the wort can boil over, creating a big mess and an even bigger headache. If it looks like you’re about to have a boil-over, you can remove the pot from the heat source or quickly add a dose of cold water.
• Cold Break – The cold break happens during the cooling of the wort, prior to pitching the yeast. Chilling the wort rapidly ensures helps proteins settle out of suspension, which helps avoid haze when the beer is ready to serve. Immersion wort chillers are one of the best ways for homebrewers to chill wort quickly.
• Adjuncts – Adjuncts are sugar sources other than barley malt that increase gravity or affect flavor in some way. Some adjuncts are used for head stability. Examples include wheat, various sugars, and more.

Are there any homebrewing terms you’d like to learn more about? Leave a comment below!
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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.

When we left off in Part One of this “History of Homebrewing” series, Prohibition outlawed the making of beer at home. Still, families didn’t give up on their desire for beer, and the breweries did their best to survive through the dry spell by producing non-alcoholic “near beers” and, not so discreetly, products that could be used for beer making. Red Top and other companies offered malt barley syrup for home “cooking.” Prohibition did little to stop homebrewing: it’s estimated that Americans brewed over 700 million gallons of homemade beer in 1929!
When Prohibition was repealed in 1933, winemaking was legalized, but not homebrewing. It wasn’t until 1978 that Jimmy Carter signed into law a bill that legalized homebrewing, but by this time America’s breweries had grown, consolidated, and drastically reduced the variety of beer in the US, resulting in the dismal beer landscape that existed from Prohibition to the 1970s. It was up to the few remaining homebrewers to resurrect lost beer styles and build interest in “craft” beer.
By the time Jimmy Carter officially legalized homebrewing in 1978, Charlie Papazian had picked up the hobby. In 1978, he and Charlie Matzen founded the American Homebrewers Association and published the very first issue of Zymurgy magazine.
During these early stages of the modern brewing renaissance, there were a number of resources published that allowed homebrewers to learn about brewing and beer styles. Papazian published the Complete Joy of Homebrewing in 1984. Several of the early brewing books are still popular today.
Even with the growing enthusiasm for homebrewing, not every state permitted it. It wasn’t until this year (2013) that Alabama and Mississippi became the 49th and 50th states in the US to legalize homebrewing!
Some of the success of homebrewing must be attributed to the homebrewers who were determined to make a living from their passion. If it weren’t for the likes of Jim Koch, Ken Grossman, and Sam Calagione, homebrewing probably wouldn’t have the following that it does today.
Just check out these stats from the American Homebrewers Association!
2012 Homebrewing Stats

• There are more than 1,000,000 homebrewers in the United States.
• There are more than 37,000 American Homebrewers Association members.
• Nearly 1,500 homebrew clubs exist in the United States.
• 300+ homebrew competitions are scheduled to be held in the United States.
• 1,802 attendees at the 2012 AHA National Homebrewers Conference.
• 7,823 entries were judged in the 2012 AHA National Homebrew Competition.

So, if you’ve read this far, you’re probably a homebrewer, part of a long tradition of American brewing. Why do you brew? Why do you love it?
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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 of the Local Beer Blog.
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Resources: Homebrewers Association: History of Homebrewing,

Since the earliest Sumerians fermented grains in pots some 10,000 years ago, making beer at home was for a long time an important part of domestic responsibilities. Extensive beer making traditions exist around the world whether in Africa, Asia, or the Americas, where indigenous cultures used what resources they had available to make the nutritious, seemingly magical beverage that we know as beer. However, in the United States, the homebrewing tradition nearly died out.
In the early days of the American colonies, brewer’s malt was one of the most important commodities. The colonists carried copious amounts of malt and hops (as well as beer!) with them from Europe to the New World. Sanitation wasn’t well understood, so beer (which is boiled in the brewing process) and other alcoholic beverages were considered safer to drink than water. It was a matter of necessity to have a steady supply of beer.
Many households arriving from Europe brought along the necessary equipment for making beer at home. Numerous records show that the wealthiest families developed fairly sophisticated brewhouses, though certainly there were families who were less well off who made do with more basic beermaking equipment.
Many of the New World settlers set out immediately to find ingredients that could be used for brewing. This led many of them to discover the local maize, though it wasn’t long before barley, wheat, rye, and hops were planted throughout the colonies. In the late 1700 and early 1800s, Thomas Jefferson wrote about the beer that was brewed at his home in Monticello, using the resources produced at his farm and in the surrounding area.
Brewing at home was often the responsibility of women. In fact, Thomas Jefferson’s wife brewed 15 gallons of beer every two weeks! It’s encouraging that female brewers today are growing in number, both on the professional and hobbyist level.
As the country entered the mid 19th-century, brewing became the domain of large industrial companies (think of Yuengling, founded in 1829). Through the Industrial Revolution, these companies could brew enormous amounts of beer at a higher quality and lower cost than most households could do at home.
And then came Prohibition. Along with the sale of alcohol, making beer or wine at home became illegal in 1919.
So how did we get from a point where beer couldn’t be sold, or even made at home, to where we are today? Stay tuned for Part Two to find out!
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Resources: Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia: Beer, Homebrewers Association: History of Homebrewing, Brewed in America
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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 of the Local Beer Blog.