Mike Gray Blog

Mike Gray Blog: Beer, Barbecue, Catholicism, and Other Interests

  • Brewing an Oak Aged Sour Beer (Part 1)

    Brewing an Oak Aged Sour Beer (Part 1)

    I gave up alcohol for Lent, an unfortunate sacrifice when you brew beer as a hobby. While I am not drinking beer, I like to keep a batch fermenting and did not give up making alcohol, just drinking it (sorry, I’m a lawyer). To avoid the disappointing circumstance of brewing a beer that’s past its…

  • Looking to the Eastern Church for Reform in Rome

    Looking to the Eastern Church for Reform in Rome

    In Everything Hidden Shall Be Revealed: Ridding the Church of Abuses, Adam A.J. DeVille considers possible reforms to Roman Catholicism that respect tradition while reducing abuse and increasing accountability. The book’s strength is that while it challenges many common assumptions about the Church, it does not fall into the traps of either presuming that the…

  • Garage Pilsner – Brewing a Lager on a Budget

    Garage Pilsner – Brewing a Lager on a Budget

    For as long as I have brewed, the thought of making a lager has loomed large in my mind. Like most home brewers, I started out with a snobbish aversion to lager generally. Few get into home brewing with the intent of cloning Bud Light. I wanted to make the coveted flavorful ales absent from…