Belgian in Bangalore Wit
Witbier is a barley/wheat, top-fermented beer brewed mainly in Belgium. It is unfiltered and hazy at serving temperatures due to suspended yeast and wheat proteins. It is a descendant of medieval beers that were not brewed with hops, but instead flavored with a blend of spices and herbs called “gruit”. The gruit of modern witbier contains mainly coriander, orange, bitter orange and hops. The...
Read MoreRaw Sauerkraut: A Fermented Superfood
Making sauerkraut requires a process of pickling called lacto-fermentation. Lacto-fermentation is a form of food preservation that employs various lactic acid bacteria to convert sugars in the food into lactic acid. The bacteria required for this food transformation are already present on raw cabbage so no special cultures need to be added. Foods preserved via lacto-fermentation can last several...
Read MoreEvolverFest 2010
Yesterday, I spent most of the day at the Lake Claire Community Land Trust for EvolverFest 2010. The main reason I was at the event was that I was presenting on Crafting Modern Herbal Brews but I also worked at the Crop Mob Atlanta table handing out flyers and talking to people about local sustainable agriculture. Also in attendance was Patricia Kyritsi Howell, local medicinal herbalist. She was...
Read MoreHow to Make T’ej
T’ej (Ethiopian-style Honey Wine) is a spontaneously fermented mead. Spontaneous fermentation means that no lab-grown yeast is added to ferment the honey water. Instead, the wild yeast and bacteria present in the air are used. I have made my fair share of mead but have always used a little packet of wine yeast I pick up at the brew store. What could be more local and unique than the yeast...
Read MoreKickstarting a Brewery
Mystery Brewing Company (@mysterybrewing) in Chapel Hill, North Carolina is trying to kickstart a craft brewery. The man behind the Mystery is Erik Myers (@topfermented). He has run into the same “problem” as I have, not much money but several dedicated fans that have offered cold hard cash to help him scale up. Starting up a craft brewery takes a lot of money on top of the multitude of legal...
Read MoreWild Fermentation
For several years now I have been harnessing the transformational abilities of fermentation to produce tasty alcoholic beverages. Building on my successes with brewing it is now time to try my hand at a few more of this processes magical feats. I wanted to start fermenting foods and non-alcoholic beverages. Unable to much information in one place online I picked up a copy of Sandor Katz’s...
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