Home Brewing

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

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

But elephants don't need toothpaste, do they? Mr. Kent, a Long Island chemistry teacher, is at it again with his after hours experiments. We like to refer to him as Mr. Wizard 2.0. Elephant's toothpaste is what science geeks call this foamy reaction. Chemically it is the dec ...more

Iced coffee may not be as simple as brewing hot coffee and sticking it in the fridge until it cools down, but it's still very simple to make if you plan ahead. Simply mix together 1 part ground coffee (coarsely ground, full-bodied dark roasts work best) with 4.5 parts filtere ...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

After enabling disk encryption, creating encrypted disk images, installing KeePassX and iTerm2, and using Git with local repositories, the next step to getting your Mac computer ready for hacking is setting up a package manager that can install and update open-source hacking t ...more

Making your own alcohol at home sounds like fun, but it's a long, complicated, and sometimes expensive process. You need all sorts of equipment, and by the time you're finished, it's been a few weeks—even months. If you want to try home-brewing without all the hassle, one of ...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

It's that time a year when winter storms begin causing havoc across the United States, and when "rotating outages" are common to help sustain the electrical grid during intense cold periods. That means pretty much anybody with snow and ice in their backyard can succumb to powe ...more

The next time you are in the mood for a hot drink, make your own tea bags to brew at home. Grab your favorite herbs and spices from your garden or your local supermarket. Mix and match your favorite combination, add to an empty tea bag, and steep in hot water. Voilà—instant on ...more

Hi there Dolls, I just got done putting the children to bed for the night. Fed the husband, made a little love, and took a bubble bath! I lathered up my body with a Gardenia lotion and have thrown on my amazing silk robe. I smell and feel wonderful as I sip on my Cantaloupe ...more

Minecraft was first released just a few years ago, but when a paradigm-shifting piece of media comes along the rest of the world is quick to take inspiration from it. The absolutely terrible XBLA knock-off FortressCraft was the first, and last month a much more interesting gam ...more

Inspired by Cornell's new, innovative robotic gripper (a sort of shape-shifting balloon hand), Steve Norris of Norris Labs decided to go DIY and make his own home-brewed replica at a lower cost. "I constructed my own version of the Cornell University Universal Gripper using p ...more

Not Martha takes another stab at making homemade, "bathtub" gin (see previous). Try her latest modification, and report back in the comment section below, please! This variation omits the heavy orange zest flavoring in the first recipe. Ian’s Gin Recipe (with small changes b ...more

After a stressful day, there's nothing more relaxing than a smooth glass of straight, room temperature whiskey to help unwind. On hot days, popping a few rocks in does the trick. And on cold days, hot toddies are truly amazing. If you've ever had a hot toddy, chances are you ...more

Welcome to Minecraft World! Check out our advanced tutorials and come play on our free server. Sometimes it's easy to get overwhelmed with the sheer scale or complexity of a build or group project on your favorite server. Too much stress from any creative endeavour can lead t ...more

There's a lot that you can do in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Sure, you can do the predictable thing and be a gay cat-man that shouts at dragons to death. But you can also take on even the most mundane of tasks. Want to make pies for twenty hours? There's an oven right over th ...more

SCRABBLE. I miss it. That idiosyncratic smell of cardboard, cheap wood and plastic that rushes out when I remove the box's cover. The instant gratification of unfolding the board into the sweet spot of the table, smoothing it out into the perfect receptacle for a heated battl ...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

Where you lead, Gilmore Girls, I will follow. My lifelong dream to grow up Gilmore was to blame for how I ended up waiting in line outside a Williamsburg coffee shop at 6:30 a.m. on a random Wednesday morning. If I was going to start my day like a Lorelai, I needed to live my ...more

You may be surprised to know that the wildly popular and seasonal Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks actually does not contain any pumpkin in its ingredients. That, and making your own pumpkin spice latte at home is actually not very difficult at all. To make the pumpkin spice ...more

You just sat down, coffee in hand, and the day is ready to start. Now that you have taken a few sips, let me pose a question: What is living in that coffeemaker of yours? The answer might make you dump that coffee down the drain pronto. Extremophiles are rugged microbial indi ...more

In the past, creative chefs and bakers have been rewarded for their daring in the kitchen with viral attention from the internet—like the rainbow bagel or cronut. These sensations weren't crafted for the sake of going viral, but ended up generating an insane amount of buzz any ...more

If you normally take your iced coffee with plain old cream and sugar, you'll find that Starbucks recently-introduced Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew will really hit the spot. It's icy, smooth, and perfectly sweetened with vanilla syrup. Maybe you've tried this drink at Starbuck ...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

After a few years, your cinnamon, paprika, and saffron begin to lose their vibrant hues, and the aromas that once filled your kitchen are barely distinguishable when you open their jars. These are telltale signs that your spices need to be replaced sooner rather than later. D ...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

Many people drink green tea for health reasons, and it's no wonder. This beverage is a superstar when it comes to antioxidant levels, and is being studied for its potentially curative properties on multiple health concerns, whether it's staving off the aging process or fightin ...more

I am a man who enjoys a good cup of crap. Not just any crap, but the kind that makes the Seattle coffee-snob inside of me feel all warm and happy as if the sun were out (which of course it isn't.) It's the kind of crap that has traveled through the intestinal tracts of a noctu ...more

To keep fungal pathogens at bay in their crowded homes, wood ants mix potions to create powerful protection for their nest and their young. Makes sense, right? Humans mix chemicals all the time to make medicines, household cleaners, and other health and wellness products. But ...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