What happens when homebrewing goes wrong? Find out how to get out of the homebrewing rut on a special episode of Fuhmentaboudit! with Chris Cuzme and Mary Izett. Learn about the little crevices where problematic bacteria can hide and get advice on how to make sure everything goes smoothy if you're brewing at home. Get some insight into making unique beers like sours of Berliner Weisse and hear some home brewing success stories from Chris & Mary. Also hear about some interesting homebrewing apps and meetups for beer enthusiasts! This program was sponsored by Brooklyn Slate.

"I like the refractometer because if you have a target gravity you can stop your sparge if you've already reached your gravity" [21:00]

--Chris Cuzme on Fuhmentaboudit!

This week Cooking Issues starts a little early and takes on all your chocolate making questions from how to get the best crystals from your cocoa butter to using immersion circulators. From chocolate Dave's focuses his advice to centrifuges and how you can keep yours clean as well as advising a caller about the benefits of getting a good commercial fryer, even for your household. Then, have you ever wanted to make the perfect homemade mozzarella but it's not coming out right? Tune in as Dave tells you how getting your pH and starter cultures right is essential! This episode is sponsored by Modernist Pantry.

"The key thing with mozzarella curd is that the pH needs to be just right or it won't have the proper texture."

--Dave Arnold on Cooking Issues

John Conzella of Condzella's Farm and T.J. Smolka of the Chelsea Brewing Company are in the studio talking beer farming and science! Mary Izett and Chris Cuzme are back on this week's Fuhmentaboudit! to talk about the New York state hop industry. Tune in to hear about John's recent successful Kickstarter campaign, and what it means for hop harvesting on Long Island. Learn about New York's history as a major hop producer! Later, T.J. explains how to harvest yeast from homebrews! What is the difference between washing and rinsing yeast? And how many times can you re-use yeast? Extract yeast from your homemade beers, and brew long and prosper! This episode has been sponsored by Fairway Market.

"About 100 years ago, hops were king in New York. New York produced 80% of the nation's hops" [5:15]

"Homebrewing is where it starts. It's the root of beer culture out here in New York. It's important to me to get hops in the hands of homebrewers." [9:45]

-- John Condzella on Fuhmentaboudit!

"The thing you want to move your yeast into should be a de-oxignated and nutrient-free material." [25:30]

-- T.J. Smolka on Fuhmentaboudit!