19th Sep 2017
By Greig McGill“Love”, sang glam-rockers The Sweet, “is like oxygen. You get too much, you get too high. Not enough and you’re gonna die.”I’m pretty sure that the group known for such gems as Ballroom…
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24th Aug 2017
Interview with Craftwork BreweryWe had a chat with Michael O'Brien and Lee-Ann Scotti from Craftwork Brewery in Oamaru. Here are some Q&A insights into the great beers they're making.What made you dec…
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6th Aug 2017
Unclutter Your BrewingBy Greig McGillThis month, the fun and funky team at Brewshop have asked me to write about some general tips and tricks for brewing. I thought I’d centre them around a theme that…
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1st Jul 2017
Fermenting Under PressureBy Greig McGill There’s been a bit of buzz lately around fermentation under pressure. It’s been a tool in the arsenal of industrial brewers for decades now, but is there any…
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15th May 2017
Making Sense of Judging FeedbackBy Greig McGillHaving been on both sides of the scoresheet, so to speak, I thought it could be useful to create a practical guide to interpreting what can occasionally…
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12th Apr 2017
Recipe BuildingBy Greig McGillSo ya wanna brew a beer? Where do you start? Are you trying to clone (or approximate) something you love? Come up with a new beer you’ve tasted in your dreams? Or simply…
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9th Feb 2017
It's All About the FermentationBy Greig McGillIn my recent post on brewing for competition, it might have surprised people that I didn’t specifically mention the F-word. Fermentation (that’s what you…
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5th Dec 2016
Brewing Beer for CompetitionBy Greig McGillIf you’re reading this, you may already know what a great and rewarding hobby home brewing is. There’s always more to learn, to try, to think about, and to d…
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6th Oct 2016
Interview with Sebastian Burke of Burkes BrewingWhat made you decide to follow a life in beer?I was encouraged by friends after many tasting sessions and some great competition results. As well, I saw…
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4th Feb 2016
Yeast, that often highly underrated ingredient we use in brewing – the turner of wort into beer. Sometimes it just doesn’t follow what we have planned for our beer. We’ve all experienced fermentation…
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1st May 2015
You have undoubtedly come across dextrose in your travels. This sugar, which is also known as glucose, is fundamental to almost all forms of life on the planet.Also known as brewer's sugar, dextrose i…
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14th Feb 2015
Yeast might make the beer, but it needs a brewer to create the wort. In the wort is a mélange of sugars most of which are derived from starch during the mash. A bit of knowledge of the different sugar…
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