Brewing Beer

Beer isn't just for drinking anymore. There are many useful and surprising things that an ice-cold brewski can help you accomplish, from household chores to better-tasting food. It can even help you look and feel healthier. And while it may seem sacrilegious to use a beer for ...more

Step aside, ginger ale; ginger beer is here, and it's delicious. Ginger beer is made by fermenting a combination of ginger simple syrup, yeast, and water, which gives it its robust flavor and sparkling quality. It's extremely simple to make, but you do have to wait a bit for ...more

Each flavor of sake, the national spirit of Japan, comes with its own fans, not unlike whiskey aficionados here in the States. While sake is often called "rice wine," it is more akin to a malted beverage like beer. Unfortunately, many people's first exposure to sake comes in ...more

You can brew your own beer on the stove, in a keg, or even inside a pumpkin, but those all look boring next to The Wobbly Boot Pico Brewery, the most sophisticated home-brewing system you'll ever see. Built by Ben_B, an engineer at National Instruments, the brewery sits on a s ...more

Geekosystem has generously assembled a handy list of 10 foods you can allegedly make in a coffee maker. Sounds kinda grimy to me, but my own mother passed this link along, so if mom thinks it's kosher, I'll give it a try. Here are the ten (click through to Geekosystem for len ...more

What's the Difference Between Ales and Lagers People often ask me, "Nick, what is the difference between Ales and Lagers?" Well, as you may or may not know, there are two types of beers -Ales & Lagers. All beers are made from the basic combination of water, hops, malts, and y ...more

What Dad Really Wants from You for Fathers Day! Stop and think before you give your dad another "World's Best Dad" t-shirt this Fathers Day. This is the healer of scrapped knees and your biggest fan at your baseball games when you were a kid. Shouldn't he be able to sit back ...more

Enjoy Early Morning Games with the Perfect Breakfast Brew Check out the list of the Top Ten Breakfast Beers here: http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/bella/2010/06/the_10_best_beers_for_breakfas.php

Oktoberfest is the world's largest annual beer festival located in Munich, Germany! The festival starts in late September and lasts until early October -approx 16-18 days. Oktoberfest is an important part of the Bavarian Culture and has been going on for over 200 years. Each y ...more

What is the Strongest Beer in the World?? Long live the Queen and move over Sean Connery because the Scottish have done it! The strongest beer in the world belongs to a company called Brewdog out of Fraserburgh. The beer is called Tactical Nuclear Penguin and has an alcohol c ...more

Serious Eats' latest Meet and Eat features Todd Barricklow, creator of the Taco Bike, an eco-friendly alternative to the fast growing food truck industry. The 200+ pound bike is equipped with a propane tank, three sectioned griddle, water tank, heat exchanger, wash sink, waste ...more

The wait is almost over. The sixth season of Game of Thrones kicks off this Sunday, April 24th at 9 p.m. (PT) on HBO, or at 5:57 p.m. (PT) on HBO GO and HBO NOW, with the first episode "The Red Woman." Video: . Whether you're watching GoT with friends or at home by yourself, i ...more

There's a lot of firsts that President Barack Obama can claim, like being the first POTUS from Hawaii, the first to publicly support same-sex marriage, and of course, the first African American to hold office. One of his coolest firsts, though, is that he's the first American ...more

When Chan Mei Zhi Alcine chose her senior project, she thought outside the box by thinking inside the bottle. Along with a research team at her university, she found a way to combine health and enjoyment, while meeting a challenge not so definitively met before in alcoholic be ...more

Three smart devices shown at CES 2016 are making it easier for you to make stupid decisions. PicoBrew, Somabar, and 10-Vins demonstrated their systems for beer, mixed cocktails, and wine, respectively, and each one is attempting to change the way we enjoy our favorite potent p ...more

Beer, glorious beer! It can stop grilled meats from producing carcinogens, can make fried foods super crunchy, and it even saved civilization from total annihilation. Is there anything it can't do? Sadly, yes. While most of you know that a perfect pour makes all the differenc ...more

When alcohol tastes bad, there's little you can do to save it—or so you think. While it might seem easier to toss your entire bottle of old, opened wine, or to give up and drink crappy vodka anyway, there are creative ways to turn a spoiled or just plain bad boozy beverage int ...more

Any beer aficionado who's been to Ireland will always talk about how the Guinness there "just tastes different." But save your eye rolls, skeptics: it turns out your favorite lagerhead actually has a valid point. Some people think there's a different formula for Irish vs. Ame ...more

Great ESB recipe without the spices, but add some fresh spices for a great Christmas beer! Video: .

One of my favorite things about cocktails is that they're so diverse. They can be sweet or savory, filling or refreshing. And they can take advantage of nearly any ingredient imaginable, including egg whites, smoked ice, flavor cubes, and even beer. As a card-carrying member ...more

Each year we inevitably fall into the pumpkin spice game. From the usual (like lattes and muffins) to the slightly more absurd (like Pringles and beef jerky)—if the leaves are turning colors and food ain't pumpkin spiced, it ain't worthy of consumption. The same seasonal rule ...more

During our high school years, one of us (hint: her name starts with a B) worked at Cold Stone Creamery. She loved working there, and from this love emerged a fascination with adding creative ingredients to plain ol' vanilla ice cream. We now keep this blank palate of frozen g ...more

Every year, fans of Irish culture, as well as those looking to celebrate their own culture, come together on St. Patrick's Day, March 17. Although beer isn't an official component of the day, many often raise a glass of brew to commemorate the occasion and this year that acti ...more

Often, when you crack open a beer with friends, your buddies are more focused on texting and Snapchatting than what's happening right in front of them. Smartphones have wedged their way into bars around the world—but an innovative new beer glass is encouraging patrons to put d ...more

Fight me all you want, but it ain't a party without alcohol—whether it's a Halloween party, Christmas party, dinner party, or even a damn wedding. (If you think that people will stick around after dinner for a dry wedding, then you're sorely mistaken.) And while we'd all love ...more

Harry Potter fans got a treat last week when Pottermore, a site created by Harry Potter author, J. K. Rowling, released a test that let users learn what form their Patronus protective charm would take. Does it need to be said? The internet almost exploded. Riding this new wa ...more

Fish is a remarkably useful ingredient, whether you eat it as is or use fish sauce to give your recipes extra depth and flavor. However, if you enjoy a glass of Guinness on occasion, you might be surprised to know that there's most likely fish in that beverage, too. Isinglass ...more

With all due respect to the fine folks at DrinkTanks, it's a little surprising that no one came up with their idea sooner. After all, last I checked, beer was pretty darned popular. Still, the company has come up with the ultimate toy for beer drinkers. (Santa, I've been good ...more

Sometimes just drinking your alcohol can feel a little dull and boring. Eating your alcohol, however, is always a party. Whether you're hosting a party and looking for a unique idea to serve drinks, or have a problem with people judging you for drinking at noon, all you have ...more

When your day sucks, all you want is a tall, ice-cold glass of beer at the end of it all. Nothing complicated about having some booze to temporarily drown your sorrows. But sometimes you get stuck with crappy beer (hey-o, Keystone Ice!), and it feels like the world is out to ...more

In my opinion, vodka gets a lot of undeserved flak. It seems like most people have a bad experience in college with a plastic bottle of vodka and never go back. I can't blame them; it took me a few years after graduating college to start to enjoy vodka again—but now I adore it ...more

Ah, ginger. From stir fry to smoothies, ginger is a reliably sharp and refreshing flavor that adds zing to everything it touches. It may be a pain in the ass to remove the skin from ginger (or not), but the zest it brings to food is well worth the trouble. Don't Miss: How to B ...more

To some people, Thanksgiving is merely quality time with family and friends that they can't get throughout the rest of the year. To others, it's that one time when it's okay to be a greedy hog and get hammered all weekend long. In that spirit of eat-and-drink-until-you-drop, ...more

Summer is a time for sangria sipped on the patio, enjoying the fruity refreshment with a friend while the smell of barbecue wafts from a distance. It's the perfect way to spend a lazy, hot August afternoon. Traditional Spanish sangria is made by mixing red wine, chopped fruit ...more

You can put spices in a scramble or fry an egg in bacon fat, so why poach eggs in just plain water? Water doesn't add any flavor whatsoever, so you're wasting a valuable opportunity to give your poached eggs more oomph—an extra important step if you're not frying your poached ...more

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." We've all seen the quote, attributed to Benjamin Franklin, on numerous shirts, glasses, and bar signs. It's a good, if overused slogan. It makes one clear, indisputable point: beer is great, and life is better with it ...more

It's nice to have a drink on an airplane, whether you're taking a flight somewhere fun or for work. However, what's not so nice is the high prices and relatively bad quality of the liquor that's available. If that's what's holding you back from having a nice tipple, never fea ...more

There's nothing worse than holding an ice cold brewski on a hot summer day and having no way to open it. If you're a Bud fan, you'll have no problem opening the bottle because most mass-market beers have twist-off caps. But if you have a taste for finer, more expensive brews, ...more

Koji is a culture made up of a certain fungus (mold) called Aspergillus oryzae, which has been used to ferment rice and soybeans in Japanese, Chinese, and Korean kitchens for centuries. Koji can actually have other involved fungi, but Aspergillus oryzae is the most common, and ...more

We admit it: we are ranch dressing fanatics. We like to put it on our simple salads, spread it across our chicken wings, and dip homemade sweet potato fries in it. Plus, since childhood, neither of us can eat pizza without ranch dressing to accompany it. Don't Miss: How to M ...more

Whether your holidays are cause for celebration or exhaustion from over-celebrating, alcohol is more often than not involved in the merrymaking. We at Food Hacks are very fond of enjoying this particular indulgence in lots of different ways. Flavored liquors and liqueurs have ...more

My French press is one of the most important tools in my kitchen. It's indispensable, and it's no small exaggeration when I say that I use it on a daily basis thanks to my coffee addiction. However, it gets used for a lot more than just my morning cuppa (and my second morning ...more

As exciting as it can be to crack open a beer, there's nothing fun about wandering around a party and asking other partygoers for a bottle opener. Don't worry, we've got you covered: here are 10 crazy ways to get to drinking while impressing your friends with your ingenuity. ...more

One of my favorite things about American Chinese food is how easy it is to eat: the pieces are bite-sized, the flavors are addictive, and the meat is always tender and easy to chew. But if you've ever tried to replicate any of your favorite takeout in the kitchen, you've likel ...more

My years in the restaurant business have taught me many things. Some of those things are best left unsaid and other things require a PhD in vulgarity, but the one thing I learned that I keep coming back to night after night is that you do not have to spend a lot of money to dr ...more