Video: Home Brewing - Irish Red Ale - Part 1

July 19th, 2009

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MMCD: Intensive Care Edition

May 11th, 2009

It was an eventful weekend for us and as a result the Monday Morning Coming Down post should be above par this week.  But first, our top story:  Jeff is hurt…  Here’s his brave report.
Jeff- I have scratched my cornea trying to put in my contact. I am going to bow out of MMCD this week and I am [...]

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MMCD: Homebrewing Edition

April 13th, 2009

We spent more time creating beer than destroying it this weekend.  Check back soon for the video but jump into the full post to get our weekly updates and let us know your beers for the last week in the comments.

Justin- Friday started with some drinking at a local bar. I began the summer season [...]

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Our first foray into home brewing.

April 9th, 2009

This weekend, Jeff and Justin are scheduled to begin Rough Draft’s first attempt at home brewing. Who knows how the final product will turn out? Our only hope is that we don’t get injured and we learn from our experience. We plan on filming the endeavor and posting it in segments here on Rough Draft [...]

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RDU: Fermentation

March 26th, 2009

Fermentation is the final step in the beer brewing process. Sure, there’s bottling or kegging to be done afterwards, but if one wanted to, they could stick their head into the beer after fermentation and end up all snookered and such.
To begin fermentation, the cooled wort, which is now covered to avoid contamination by stray [...]

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RDU: The Boil

March 19th, 2009

To begin the boil, the sticky sweet liquid from the mash is placed in a brew-kettle. Most major breweries use steam-jacketed brew kettles. The sides and bottom of these kettles are actually double-walled with a hollow space between where steam is pumped in. This method allows for consistent heating throughout the many gallons of liquid [...]

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Eat THIS, Wino!

March 12th, 2009

Craft brewing has been on the rise since laws banning home brewing were repealed in 1978. Since that time, America has seen its number of breweries sky rocket. We’ve also seen the quality of the beers offered shoot through the roof. Unfortunately, despite the quality and variety of brews available, beer still takes a backseat [...]

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RDU: The Mash

March 5th, 2009

Now that we’ve covered the basic ingredients of our favorite beverage, we’ll delve into how they’re combined, processed and ultimately end up delicious and nutritious.
After the cereal grains (mainly the barley we talked about earlier) have been malted it’s time for that malt to get smashed. Using a grain mill, the grain is rolled and [...]

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The political history of home brewing in the US.

February 24th, 2009

We received a tip to check out this interesting article from Reason Online, a Libertarian publication and website. We try not to be overly political because we’re not that sort of site, but the history of home brew laws since prohibition are rather interesting. If home brewing has only been allowed since 1978 and we’ve come [...]

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Beer and Malt: A Lesson in Beer Ingredients

February 5th, 2009

Very soon, Rough Draft will begin its first foray into home brewing. We’ll take you through the process step-by-step as we more-than-likely transform the four basic ingredients into a barely consumable beverage that we’ll valiantly attempt to choke down in front of our friends. Hopefully, we’ll be so convincing they’ll think we’re better brewers than [...]

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