This Web site is dedicated to my favorite hobby -- brewing beer!

I would like to extend a great big "thank you" to Pat Babcock, for offering to host these pages on the HBD server!

Note: If you're looking for an on-line "how to get started" guide, check out the Library at The Brewery (see the "links" section, below).

Recipe Library

Here are some of my favorite beer recipes...

• Odyssey Wit (New!)
• Orangeblossom Honey Ale (New!)
• Dragon's Breath IPA
• Apocalypse Alt
• Kitchen Sink Porter
• Old '98 Barleywine

Tech Stuff

Articles on various technical aspects of home brewing...

• Making Yeast Starters
• The Yeast Zone: Personal Experiences With Various Yeast Strains
• What Is Extraction Efficiency?
• Potential extract table for various types of malt
• Understanding Specific Gravity and Attenuation
• Reconditioning Old Firestone Soda Kegs
• False Bottom or Screen?

Miscellaneous

Random homebrew-related stuff...

• Mike's Big Brewing Glossary (definitions of brewing-related terms)
• So you want to enter a homebrew competition (homebrew competition FAQ)
• Making bottle cap labels on your inkjet printer (Updated!)

Links To Other Useful Sites

A grab bag of assorted homebrew-related sites from all around the Web...

• The Brewery - http://hbd.org/brewery/index.html.   Excellent source of information on many aspects of home brewing.
• The Homebrew Digest - http://hbd.org.  Great on-line discussion forum which describes itself as a "Forum on beer, homebrewing, and related issues".  Generally a lot more technical than the rec.crafts.brewing newsgroup (which is also a great forum, by the way)..
• John Palmer's "How To Brew" site - http://www.howtobrew.com.   Excellent on-line reference, which takes you all the way from brewing your first extract batch, to all-grain mashing.
• The Real Beer Page - http://realbeer.com. Lots of stuff about beer in general.
• Beer Judge Certification Program - http://www.bjcp.org. Interested in becoming a certified beer judge? This is the place. Their site also has a downloadable copy of the BJCP Beer Style Guidelines, as an Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) file.
• Association of Brewers (including the American Homebrewer's Association) - http://www.beertown.org. Includes the AHA Beer Style Guidelines, and information on entering the National Homebrew Competition.
• Urban Knaves of Grain - http://hbd.org/ukg. DuPage County's oldest and largest home brewing club.  Tied for AHA Homebrew Club Of The Year in 1999, and the "home" club of Joe Formanek, winner of the AHA Ninkasi Award in 2000!  If you live in the western suburbs of Chicago, check us out!   New members are always welcome, regardless of experience level -- whether you've just brewed your first "kit beer" on the kitchen stove, or are setting up a 3-tier, computer controlled RIMS brewhouse with temperature controlled fermenters in that dedicated brew shed in your back yard, we've got people who would love to "talk shop" and share their homebrew with you.  And dues are still only $12/year!

I do not work for any of these companies.  I personally use their products, and consider myself to be a satisfied customer.

• Wyeast - http://www.wyeastlab.com. Wyeast produces a wide variety of liquid yeast cultures, in the popular "smack pack" packaging.  Their Web site has descriptions of the various strains of brewing yeast available through them.
• White Labs - http://www.whitelabs.com.   White Labs markets vials of what they call "pitchable liquid yeast".   They don't have quite the variety of strains that Wyeast does, but the White Labs vials are more convenient, because you don't need to make a starter.
• Jack Schmidling Productions - http://user.mc.net/arf/aysindex.htm.   I use a JSP MaltMill to mill all of my malt.  It works well, and you can't beat the lifetime warranty!

Feedback, Etc.

If you have any questions or comments regarding this Web page -- or just want to discuss home brewing -- I can be reached at uchima@pobox.com.   I also participate in the rec.crafts.brewing Usenet newsgroup (check it out -- it's one of the most friendy and flame-free Usenet groups on the 'net).

You are also invited to visit Mike's Home Page.

The Fine Print

While all information and procedures presented on Mike's Brew Page are believed to be accurate and safe, homebrewing involves a certain amount of inherent risk.   Boiling liquids, breakable (glass) equipment, caustic cleaning/sanitizing chemicals, pressurized gasses, etc. can pose hazards if mishandled.   The author assumes no responsibility for any injury or property damage which may arise from the use of information on this site.

Mike's Brew Page is Copyright © 1999-2001 by Michael Uchima, All Rights Reserved

(Last updated November 18, 2001)