Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine Podcast

Listen to the podcast for those who make and drink great beer. Every week we talk to professional brewers and industry experts about practical brewing advice, in-depth coverage of brewing trends that matter to you, and tips for getting the most out of your homebrew.

358: Bill Cherry of Switchback Enjoys the Slow Burn of Learning Through Doing

Innovation in beer has been accelerating for the past decade as breweries—excited by new styles and techniques, and feeding a culture of newness incentivized by social apps—churn out a relentless quantity of new beers in new formats with new labels. However, to hear Bill Cherry tell it, the choices he’s made at Switchback (https://www.switchbackvt.com) over the past two decades have been driven more by slowness than speed. Packaging in 22-ounce bombers so they could dial in packaging before moving to more popular formats, or pursuing innovation in smoked beer because demand (and competition) in that niche are small, have afforded the brewery time and space to figure it out and build demand organically, always focusing first on the beer and its quality. The results have paid off over recent years, with 2022 gold and 2023 bronze medals at the World Beer Cup for Katie’s Love Poem, their grodziskie. But that’s just the kindling, as their broader Flynn on Fire series has seen them tackle and learn from a vast array of different smoked beers. Cherry loves smoked beer because they’re harder to sell to consumers—there isn’t a built-in market for them, so they have to create one, and he loves that challenge as well as the runway for lower-stakes experimentation. In this episode, he talks through that counterintuitive strategy and how it relates to their approach to innovation, including: designing Switchback Ale based on pieces of other inspirational beers growing slowly to make sure beer quality is always top priority packaging draft only for the first 10 years of the brewery until they could afford a quality bottling line homing in on smoked because because “nobody likes smoked beers, but they should” creating the smoke-o-meter scale for conveying smokiness to consumers step-mashing for flavor, not just attenuation maintaining a living yeast pitch that’s going on 2,000-plus generations balancing hop flavor and smoke aroma in smoked IPA And more. “if you can get people to drink something that they don’t know they want, that’s true craft,” says Cherry. This episode is brought to you by: G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): At G&D Chillers they always strive to Build Great Chillers. Partner with them as you Build Great Beer. Choose G&D Chillers on your next Expansion or Brewery start up and receive 1 free year of Remote control and Monitoring of your new G&D Chiller! ProBrew (https://www.probrew.com) By partnering with ProBrew, brewers can fill and seam their canned product at ranges from 100-600 cans per minute. Our unique filling process also ensures low dissolved oxygen pickup and focuses on product quality during the entire process. Visit probrew.com or email us at contactus@probrew.com. Old Orchard (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer): Berry Blend, Blood Orange, Lemonade, and Tart Cherry are the latest additions to our lineup of flavored craft juice concentrate blends. To learn more and request your free samples, head over to oldorchard.com/brewer (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer) Omega Yeast (https://omegayeast.com): Streamline efficiency with Omega Yeast’s Diacetyl Knock Out series. The DKO series is comprised of 8 familiar yeast strains engineered to knock out the formation of diacetyl before it starts. The strains you know, now better. Contact Omega Yeast today at omegayeast.com. ABS Commercial (https://abs-commercial.com). ABS Commercial are proud to offer brewhouses, tanks, keg washers, and preventative maintenance parts to brewers across the country as well as equipment for distilling, cider-making, wine-making, and more! Contact them today at sales@abs-commercial.com to discuss your customized brewery needs. Yakima Chief Hops Varietees (https://varietees.com). VarieTees Supply Co. offers hop apparel inspired by hop varieties, art, and community. Shop designs from various artists inspired by your favorite varieties including Citra, Simcoe, Sabro, and Mosaic! Shop VarieTees and use promo code CBB20 for 20% off at varietees.com. OPA Design Studio (https://designopa.com): The architects at OPA Design Studio are your partners in developing the unique design you need. With over a decade of experience designing breweries, the folks at OPA are here to serve as your trusted experts from start to finish. Visit designopa.com to set up your no obligation introductory consultation today. Craft Spirits & Distilling Podcast (https://spiritsanddistilling.com/podcasts/): If you’re a distiller or curious about it, check out the Craft Spirits & Distilling podcast. Click on the link and subscribe from your favorite podcast platform.

05-03
01:20:28

357: Von Trapp Makes Conscious Process Choices For Lager Quality and Drinkability

While popular movies tell finite stories, the real lives of the people they feature don’t stop when the final credits roll. So, it was up to the von Trapp family—whose story was told with huge dramatic license in The Sound of Music—to write their own next chapters. They did so by establishing a popular, Austrian-inspired family lodge in northern Vermont—then, about 15 years ago, they opened a brewery just down the hill. They launched with the goal of producing finely crafted European-style lagers, befitting the family’s heritage. Craft lagers weren’t exactly lighting up the sales charts at the time, but it was a long-term bet from a family that thinks in generations rather than quarterly returns. Now, with a beautiful automated Rolec brewhouse and an attached beer hall, they’re producing award-winning lagers at scale—including the Oktoberfest that we named one of our Best 18 Beers in 2018 (https://beerandbrewing.com/the-best-18-beers-of-2018/)—all while making very intentional decisions about process and ingredients. In this episode, brewing operations director Tom Everett and quality manager Jack Van Pappegem talk through their approach to ingredients and process, including: avoiding decoction of many pale lagers, despite having an automated and dedicated decoction vessel finishing pale lagers dry, but not too dry using small amounts of specialty malts to build character managing the grain crush keeping a tight focus on pH strategies to promote healthy fermentations selecting yeast for the ideal character lagering in cylindroconical unitanks brewing Oktoberfest lager as well as dark lagers And more. This episode is brought to you by: G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): At G&D Chillers they always strive to Build Great Chillers. Partner with them as you Build Great Beer. Choose G&D Chillers on your next Expansion or Brewery start up and receive 1 free year of Remote control and Monitoring of your new G&D Chiller! ProBrew (https://www.probrew.com) By partnering with ProBrew, brewers can fill and seam their canned product at ranges from 100-600 cans per minute. Our unique filling process also ensures low dissolved oxygen pickup and focuses on product quality during the entire process. Visit probrew.com or email us at contactus@probrew.com. Old Orchard (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer): Berry Blend, Blood Orange, Lemonade, and Tart Cherry are the latest additions to our lineup of flavored craft juice concentrate blends. To learn more and request your free samples, head over to oldorchard.com/brewer (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer) Omega Yeast (https://omegayeast.com): Streamline efficiency with Omega Yeast’s Diacetyl Knock Out series. The DKO series is comprised of 8 familiar yeast strains engineered to knock out the formation of diacetyl before it starts. The strains you know, now better. Contact Omega Yeast today at omegayeast.com. ABS Commercial (https://abs-commercial.com). ABS Commercial are proud to offer brewhouses, tanks, keg washers, and preventative maintenance parts to brewers across the country as well as equipment for distilling, cider-making, wine-making, and more! Contact them today at sales@abs-commercial.com to discuss your customized brewery needs. Yakima Chief Hops Varietees (https://varietees.com). VarieTees Supply Co. offers hop apparel inspired by hop varieties, art, and community. Shop designs from various artists inspired by your favorite varieties including Citra, Simcoe, Sabro, and Mosaic! Shop VarieTees and use promo code CBB20 for 20% off at varietees.com. OPA Design Studio (https://designopa.com): The architects at OPA Design Studio are your partners in developing the unique design you need. With over a decade of experience designing breweries, the folks at OPA are here to serve as your trusted experts from start to finish. Visit designopa.com to set up your no obligation introductory consultation today. Craft Spirits & Distilling Podcast (https://spiritsanddistilling.com/podcasts/): If you’re a distiller or curious about it, check out the Craft Spirits & Distilling podcast. Click on the link and subscribe from your favorite podcast platform.

04-26
01:02:06

356: House Rules! Cameron Fisher of Crafthaus Is On a Cold (IPA) Streak

Welcome to Las Vegas, craft brewers! In this final of three CBC preview episodes, Crafthaus (https://www.crafthausbrewery.com) head brewer Cameron Fisher joins to discuss their approach to making cold IPA (and more) in the desert of Southern Nevada. Whether it’s Czech-style lager served on a Lukr faucet in their Arts District taproom or a throwback hoppy red ale poured with love from their Henderson taproom at the brewery, the beers Crafthaus makes have earned a reputation for quality, breadth, and accessibility. In this episode, Fisher touches on: Connecting beers to audiences through familiarity and experience Using flaked maize and white wheat in cold IPA Pushing big IBUs in the first wort addition then cool pooling Layering hop formats with concentrated pellets and T-90’s Avoiding generic hop flavors by editing down hop blends Dry hop saturation Fermenting with characterful lager yeast that leaves more body Creating coffee beers with different roasters and coffees And more. This episode is brought to you by: G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): At G&D Chillers they always strive to Build Great Chillers. Partner with them as you Build Great Beer. Choose G&D Chillers on your next Expansion or Brewery start up and receive 1 free year of Remote control and Monitoring of your new G&D Chiller! ProBrew (https://www.probrew.com) “ProBrew is changing the game at this year’s CBC in Las Vegas. Visit go.probrew.com/CBC24 or contact us at contactus@probrew.com to schedule time with one of our subject matter experts at Booth #1783 at this year’s show.” Old Orchard (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer): Berry Blend, Blood Orange, Lemonade, and Tart Cherry are the latest additions to our lineup of flavored craft juice concentrate blends. To learn more and request your free samples, head over to oldorchard.com/brewer (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer) Omega Yeast (https://omegayeast.com): Streamline efficiency with Omega Yeast’s Diacetyl Knock Out series. The DKO series is comprised of 8 familiar yeast strains engineered to knock out the formation of diacetyl before it starts. The strains you know, now better. Contact Omega Yeast today at omegayeast.com. ABS Commercial (https://abs-commercial.com). ABS Commercial are proud to offer brewhouses, tanks, keg washers, and preventative maintenance parts to brewers across the country as well as equipment for distilling, cider-making, wine-making, and more! Contact them today at sales@abs-commercial.com to discuss your customized brewery needs. Yakima Chief Hops (https://yakimachief.com). As a global preferred supplier of NZ Hops, Yakima Chief is the source for the pronounced bright and tropical aromas New Zealand hops are known for, adding a rush of exotic fruits and zesty citrus to your recipes. NZ Cryo is now available, learn more at yakimachief.com OPA Design Studio (https://designopa.com): The architects at OPA Design Studio are your partners in developing the unique design you need. With over a decade of experience designing breweries, the folks at OPA are here to serve as your trusted experts from start to finish. Visit designopa.com to set up your no obligation introductory consultation today. Craft Spirits & Distilling Podcast (https://spiritsanddistilling.com/podcasts/): If you’re a distiller or curious about it, check out the Craft Spirits & Distilling podcast. Click on the link and subscribe from your favorite podcast platform.

04-19
01:04:03

355: RipeLocker Enables a Fresh Approach to Brewing with Wet Hops

This special fresh hop–focused episode of the podcast is brought to you interruption-free by the the freshness experts at RipeLocker. (https://ripelocker.com) RipeLocker has patented a radically innovative storage solution to revolutionize the post-harvest industry with technology to extend the shelf-life of perishables such as fresh hops while preserving quality and taste. The company’s low-pressure chambers prolong freshness after harvest by weeks, often months, and for brewers, this opens up new ways to think about fresh- and wet-hop beers. This episode focuses on fresh-hop brewing, from harvest through brewing and then marketing them to end consumers. Joining for the conversation are Brendon Anthony, RipeLocker senior director of fruit science, Tyler Sabin, Oasis Farms hops manager, and Bart Gumpert, Coronado Brewing’s R&D and innovation brewer. There are as many different ways to brew fresh-hop beers as there are brewers doing it, but RipeLocker (https://ripelocker.com) technology opens up some avenues for thinking about fresh-hop brewing in new and fresh ways. Through this conversation, the panel discusses everything from how the hypobaric chamber works to pick windows for fresh-hop varieties, the variability of rates of aging for different hop varieties, brewers’ favorite fresh-hop varieties and combinations, the hub and spoke distribution strategy, innovative ways brewers are taking advantage of the opportunities that RipeLocker allows, and ways that this technology may impact fresh-hop brewing in the future. Visit https://ripelocker.com (https://ripelocker.com) for more information, or visit https://oasisfarmsfreshhops.com (https://oasisfarmsfreshhops.com) to explore the ways you can use fresh hops from Oasis Farms preserved in RipeLocker chambers in your fresh-hop beers this upcoming harvest. (Sponsored Content)

04-16
45:12

354: No Limits! Dave Pascual of Big Dogs Plays His Medal-Winning Cards Close to the Vest

Dave Pascual, head brewer for longtime Las Vegas brewery Big Dog’s (https://www.bigdogsbrews.com), takes a methodical approach to running the brewhouse, even if it doesn’t feel out-of-the-ordinary to this longtime brewer. Running a clean and organized brewery is just how it’s done. Despite how obvious some of these little things may appear, it’s the sum of all those professional details that’s helped cement Big Dog’s legacy as a consistent award winner in categories as diverse as English-Style Brown Ale and Belgian-Style Tripel. In this episode, Pascual discusses his approach to creating recipes and brewing award-winning beers, including: brewing light lager with two-row instead of pilsner tasting and comparing, consistently dialing in hops in very light lagers building a full-spectrum malt bill for brown ale achieving pleasant fermentation notes in Belgian-style beers changing medal-winning recipes wood-aging barleywine building a team that consistently focuses on excellence And more. This episode is brought to you by: G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): At G&D Chillers they always strive to Build Great Chillers. Partner with them as you Build Great Beer. Choose G&D Chillers on your next Expansion or Brewery start up and receive 1 free year of Remote control and Monitoring of your new G&D Chiller! ProBrew (https://www.probrew.com) “ProBrew is changing the game at this year’s CBC in Las Vegas. Visit go.probrew.com/CBC24 or contact us at contactus@probrew.com to schedule time with one of our subject matter experts at Booth #1783 at this year’s show.” Old Orchard (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer): Berry Blend, Blood Orange, Lemonade, and Tart Cherry are the latest additions to our lineup of flavored craft juice concentrate blends. To learn more and request your free samples, head over to oldorchard.com/brewer (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer) Omega Yeast (https://omegayeast.com): Streamline efficiency with Omega Yeast’s Diacetyl Knock Out series. The DKO series is comprised of 8 familiar yeast strains engineered to knock out the formation of diacetyl before it starts. The strains you know, now better. Contact Omega Yeast today at omegayeast.com. ABS Commercial (https://abs-commercial.com). ABS Commercial are proud to offer brewhouses, tanks, keg washers, and preventative maintenance parts to brewers across the country as well as equipment for distilling, cider-making, wine-making, and more! Contact them today at sales@abs-commercial.com to discuss your customized brewery needs. Yakima Chief Hops (https://yakimachief.com). As a global preferred supplier of NZ Hops, Yakima Chief is the source for the pronounced bright and tropical aromas New Zealand hops are known for, adding a rush of exotic fruits and zesty citrus to your recipes. NZ Cryo is now available, learn more at yakimachief.com OPA Design Studio (https://designopa.com): The architects at OPA Design Studio are your partners in developing the unique design you need. With over a decade of experience designing breweries, the folks at OPA are here to serve as your trusted experts from start to finish. Visit designopa.com to set up your no obligation introductory consultation today. Craft Spirits & Distilling Podcast (https://spiritsanddistilling.com/podcasts/): If you’re a distiller or curious about it, check out the Craft Spirits & Distilling podcast. Click on the link and subscribe from your favorite podcast platform.

04-12
01:04:38

353: Viva Las Vegas! Able Baker's Matt Marino Goes "All In" on Modern West Coast IPA

In this first of a three-episode miniseries on Las Vegas brewers, timed to give you more local knowledge as you head to the desert for this year’s Craft Brewer’s Conference, Able Baker (https://ablebakerbrewing.com) Director of Brewing Matt Marino discusses his evolving approach to modern West coast IPA and hazy session IPA. Through the conversation, he touches on: brewing oversized batches at high gravity to maximize output from their 15bbl brewhouse pushing extreme attenuation to hit a 1.4-1.6°P finishing gravity in a 7% ABV IPA making the move from 2 row malt to pilsner malt selecting hops and hop formats for survivability and efficiency fermenting with non-diacetyl-producing yeast recirculating while dry hopping to maximize extraction in West coast IPA the constant evolution of recipes for the brewery’s most popular brands blending to create new beers the best beer-related (and non-beer-related) things to do while visiting Las Vegas And more. This episode is brought to you by: G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): At G&D Chillers they always strive to Build Great Chillers. Partner with them as you Build Great Beer. Choose G&D Chillers on your next Expansion or Brewery start up and receive 1 free year of Remote control and Monitoring of your new G&D Chiller! ProBrew (https://www.probrew.com) “ProBrew is changing the game at this year’s CBC in Las Vegas. Visit go.probrew.com/CBC24 or contact us at contactus@probrew.com to schedule time with one of our subject matter experts at Booth #1783 at this year’s show.” Old Orchard (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer): Berry Blend, Blood Orange, Lemonade, and Tart Cherry are the latest additions to our lineup of flavored craft juice concentrate blends. To learn more and request your free samples, head over to oldorchard.com/brewer (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer) Omega Yeast (https://omegayeast.com): Streamline efficiency with Omega Yeast’s Diacetyl Knock Out series. The DKO series is comprised of 8 familiar yeast strains engineered to knock out the formation of diacetyl before it starts. The strains you know, now better. Contact Omega Yeast today at omegayeast.com. ABS Commercial (https://abs-commercial.com). ABS Commercial are proud to offer brewhouses, tanks, keg washers, and preventative maintenance parts to brewers across the country as well as equipment for distilling, cider-making, wine-making, and more! Contact them today at sales@abs-commercial.com to discuss your customized brewery needs. Yakima Chief Hops (https://yakimachief.com). As a global preferred supplier of NZ Hops, Yakima Chief is the source for the pronounced bright and tropical aromas New Zealand hops are known for, adding a rush of exotic fruits and zesty citrus to your recipes. NZ Cryo is now available, learn more at yakimachief.com OPA Design Studio (https://designopa.com): The architects at OPA Design Studio are your partners in developing the unique design you need. With over a decade of experience designing breweries, the folks at OPA are here to serve as your trusted experts from start to finish. Visit designopa.com to set up your no obligation introductory consultation today. Craft Spirits & Distilling Podcast (https://spiritsanddistilling.com/podcasts/): If you’re a distiller or curious about it, check out the Craft Spirits & Distilling podcast. Click on the link and subscribe from your favorite podcast platform.

04-05
01:07:15

352: Chris Lohring of Notch Wants You to Brew More Distinctive Lager

Notch (https://www.notchbrewing.com) founder Chris Lohring loves the fact that more craft brewers are embracing lagers—but he has some strong opinions about the best way to brew them. “‘Crispy boys’ don’t exist,” he says. “Lagers aren’t dry. Clean lager yeast is boring to me.” Refinement and distinction are his goals, not minimalism, and he and his team use all the tools in the brewer’s toolbox to achieve them—such as adjusting mash schedules and malt bills to build body in low-ABV beers; moving lager mid-fermentation from quasi-open fermentors to conicals before later moving to horizontal tanks; reducing and timing decoctions to fit the goals of individual beers; and considering the impact of mash rests on fermentability, among many other things. It’s not one thing, after all, that makes a lager distinct—in his words, “there’s no magic bullet.” In this episode, Lohring discusses: why Czech pale lager is a category, not a style how variable processes in the cellar lead to different expressions of diacetyl manipulating a mash schedule to build body and character with more expressive lager yeasts what decoctions do and don’t do for lagers using small percentages of crystal malt in Czech-style pale lagers fermenting with no head pressure, and skimming to optimize flavor and hop character the difference between černé pivo and tmavé pivo using American hops in Czech-style lager And more. This episode is brought to you by: G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): At G&D Chillers they always strive to Build Great Chillers. Partner with them as you Build Great Beer. Choose G&D Chillers on your next Expansion or Brewery start up and receive 1 free year of Remote control and Monitoring of your new G&D Chiller! ProBrew (https://www.probrew.com) “ProBrew is changing the game at this year’s CBC in Las Vegas. Visit go.probrew.com/CBC24 or contact us at contactus@probrew.com to schedule time with one of our subject matter experts at Booth #1783 at this year’s show.” Old Orchard (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer): Berry Blend, Blood Orange, Lemonade, and Tart Cherry are the latest additions to our lineup of flavored craft juice concentrate blends. To learn more and request your free samples, head over to oldorchard.com/brewer (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer) Omega Yeast (https://omegayeast.com): Streamline efficiency with Omega Yeast’s Diacetyl Knock Out series. The DKO series is comprised of 8 familiar yeast strains engineered to knock out the formation of diacetyl before it starts. The strains you know, now better. Contact Omega Yeast today at omegayeast.com. ABS Commercial (https://abs-commercial.com). ABS Commercial are proud to offer brewhouses, tanks, keg washers, and preventative maintenance parts to brewers across the country as well as equipment for distilling, cider-making, wine-making, and more! Contact them today at sales@abs-commercial.com to discuss your customized brewery needs. Ss Brewtech (https://SsBrewtech.com). Ss Brewtech was founded by a group of home and craft beer brewers, dedicated to bringing an engineering-first approach to brewery equipment. Ss brewhouses are used to formulate new beer recipes at some of the world's greatest breweries. To learn more, head over to SsBrewtech.com US Water Systems (https://uswatersystems.com): Depending upon the city and day, water quality can vary 40% to 50%. The best method is to start with the same water every time and Reverse Osmosis gives you that power. Visit USWaterSystems.com (https://uswatersystems.com) for a free expert analysis. Craft Spirits & Distilling Podcast (https://spiritsanddistilling.com/podcasts/): If you’re a distiller or curious about it, check out the Craft Spirits & Distilling podcast. Click on the link and subscribe from your favorite podcast platform.

03-29
01:08:55

351: The Big Friendly Takes A Down-To-Earth Approach to Award-Winning Saisons and Barrel-Aged Stouts

Will and Joe Quinlan, brothers and cofounders of The Big Friendly, just make beer. Will loves saison so they make a few saisons every year. Joe loves barrel-aged stout so they make a few of those every year. Their distribution is minuscule so their production is very small, but they do take a meticulous approach to beer making despite their small size. In this episode, the brothers each recount their approach to the beers they make, and in the process they discuss: building mixed fermentation cultures out of separate stock strains resting and conditioning saison using flavor- and aroma-forward New Zealand hops in saison tuning sourdough yeast for beer fermentation barrel-conditioning saison editing malts in barrel-aged stouts And more. This episode is brought to you by: G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): At G&D Chillers they always strive to Build Great Chillers. Partner with them as you Build Great Beer. Choose G&D Chillers on your next Expansion or Brewery start up and receive 1 free year of Remote control and Monitoring of your new G&D Chiller! ProBrew (https://www.probrew.com) “ProBrew is changing the game at this year’s CBC in Las Vegas. Visit go.probrew.com/CBC24 or contact us at contactus@probrew.com to schedule time with one of our subject matter experts at Booth #1783 at this year’s show.” Old Orchard (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer): Berry Blend, Blood Orange, Lemonade, and Tart Cherry are the latest additions to our lineup of flavored craft juice concentrate blends. To learn more and request your free samples, head over to oldorchard.com/brewer (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer) Omega Yeast (https://omegayeast.com): Streamline efficiency with Omega Yeast’s Diacetyl Knock Out series. The DKO series is comprised of 8 familiar yeast strains engineered to knock out the formation of diacetyl before it starts. The strains you know, now better. Contact Omega Yeast today at omegayeast.com. ABS Commercial (https://abs-commercial.com). ABS Commercial are proud to offer brewhouses, tanks, keg washers, and preventative maintenance parts to brewers across the country as well as equipment for distilling, cider-making, wine-making, and more! Contact them today at sales@abs-commercial.com to discuss your customized brewery needs. Ss Brewtech (https://SsBrewtech.com). Ss Brewtech was founded by a group of home and craft beer brewers, dedicated to bringing an engineering-first approach to brewery equipment. Ss brewhouses are used to formulate new beer recipes at some of the world's greatest breweries. To learn more, head over to SsBrewtech.com US Water Systems (https://uswatersystems.com): Depending upon the city and day, water quality can vary 40% to 50%. The best method is to start with the same water every time and Reverse Osmosis gives you that power. Visit USWaterSystems.com (https://uswatersystems.com) for a free expert analysis.

03-22
01:11:53

Episode 350: Kelly McKnight of New Belgium Highlights the R&D Behind Some of Craft’s Biggest Beers

Kelly McKnight could have done a lot of other things—she was a sponsored pro skateboarder and snowboarder in her younger years, and she studied pre-med at Harvard—but she found such solace and relief in brewing that she changed paths to brew professionally. Now, she’s lead R&D brewer in one of the beer world’s most successful innovation programs, using all of tools at the their disposal to understand flavor and expression in beer. In this episode, the New Belgium (https://www.newbelgium.com) brewer touches on: bench testing new ingredients the process behind reinventing Fat Tire chemical analysis of hops and hop blends using natural flavors in IPA process engineering to move ideas to large-scale production exacting dry-hop automation offbeat fruits that work well in beer And more. This episode is brought to you by: G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): At G&D Chillers they always strive to Build Great Chillers. Partner with them as you Build Great Beer. Choose G&D Chillers on your next Expansion or Brewery start up and receive 1 free year of Remote control and Monitoring of your new G&D Chiller! ProBrew (https://www.probrew.com) “ProBrew is changing the game at this year’s CBC in Las Vegas. Visit go.probrew.com/CBC24 or contact us at contactus@probrew.com to schedule time with one of our subject matter experts at Booth #1783 at this year’s show.” Old Orchard (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer): Berry Blend, Blood Orange, Lemonade, and Tart Cherry are the latest additions to our lineup of flavored craft juice concentrate blends. To learn more and request your free samples, head over to oldorchard.com/brewer (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer) Omega Yeast (https://omegayeast.com): Streamline efficiency with Omega Yeast’s Diacetyl Knock Out series. The DKO series is comprised of 8 familiar yeast strains engineered to knock out the formation of diacetyl before it starts. The strains you know, now better. Contact Omega Yeast today at omegayeast.com. ABS Commercial (https://abs-commercial.com). ABS Commercial are proud to offer brewhouses, tanks, keg washers, and preventative maintenance parts to brewers across the country as well as equipment for distilling, cider-making, wine-making, and more! Contact them today at sales@abs-commercial.com to discuss your customized brewery needs. Ss Brewtech (https://SsBrewtech.com). Ss Brewtech was founded by a group of home and craft beer brewers, dedicated to bringing an engineering-first approach to brewery equipment. Ss brewhouses are used to formulate new beer recipes at some of the world's greatest breweries. To learn more, head over to SsBrewtech.com US Water Systems (https://uswatersystems.com): Depending upon the city and day, water quality can vary 40% to 50%. The best method is to start with the same water every time and Reverse Osmosis gives you that power. Visit USWaterSystems.com (https://uswatersystems.com) for a free expert analysis.

03-15
01:08:07

Episode 349: Ryan Speyrer of Parish is Building the Future of Hazy IPA on a Foundation of Classic Hops

There is the East Coast and there is the West Coast, but aficionados of hazy IPA know not to sleep on the Gulf Coast, thanks largely to Parish Brewing (https://parishbeer.com) in Broussard, Louisiana. Parish’s Ghost in the Machine has become a juggernaut in the world of hazy IPA, earning accolades such as a 2019 Beer of the Year (https://beerandbrewing.com/the-best-19-beers-of-2019/) from Craft Beer & Brewing and a mention on critic Alex Kidd’s top ten list in 2020 (https://beerandbrewing.com/critics-list-alex-kidds-best-in-2020/). More recently, Parish won a spot in the top 20 small regional breweries (https://beerandbrewing.com/best-in-beer-2023-readers-choice-your-favorite-breweries-by-size/) as voted on by the readers of Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine®. Nor is their success limited to IPA—Parish also picked up a silver medal at the 2023 Great American Beer Festival for its top-selling wheat beer, Canebrake. In this episode, head brewer (and Master Cicerone) Ryan Speyrer joins the podcast to discuss the ways they brew their iconic hazy IPAs, touching on: the evolution of Ghost in the Machine, from West Coast to hazy the roles that wheat and oats do (and don’t) play in hazy IPA balancing specific hop varieties between whirlpool and dry hop to maximize the expression of each using classic hops such as Cascade along with Simcoe in modern, fruit-forward IPA the importance of extended cold-conditioning And more. This episode is brought to you by: G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): At G&D Chillers they always strive to Build Great Chillers. Partner with them as you Build Great Beer. Choose G&D Chillers on your next Expansion or Brewery start up and receive 1 free year of Remote control and Monitoring of your new G&D Chiller! ProBrew (https://www.probrew.com) “ProBrew is changing the game at this year’s CBC in Las Vegas. Visit go.probrew.com/CBC24 or contact us at contactus@probrew.com to schedule time with one of our subject matter experts at Booth #1783 at this year’s show.” Old Orchard (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer): Berry Blend, Blood Orange, Lemonade, and Tart Cherry are the latest additions to our lineup of flavored craft juice concentrate blends. To learn more and request your free samples, head over to oldorchard.com/brewer (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer) Omega Yeast (https://omegayeast.com): Streamline efficiency with Omega Yeast’s Diacetyl Knock Out series. The DKO series is comprised of 8 familiar yeast strains engineered to knock out the formation of diacetyl before it starts. The strains you know, now better. Contact Omega Yeast today at omegayeast.com. ABS Commercial (https://abs-commercial.com). ABS Commercial are proud to offer brewhouses, tanks, keg washers, and preventative maintenance parts to brewers across the country as well as equipment for distilling, cider-making, wine-making, and more! Contact them today at sales@abs-commercial.com to discuss your customized brewery needs. Ss Brewtech (https://SsBrewtech.com). Ss Brewtech was founded by a group of home and craft beer brewers, dedicated to bringing an engineering-first approach to brewery equipment. Ss brewhouses are used to formulate new beer recipes at some of the world's greatest breweries. To learn more, head over to SsBrewtech.com US Water Systems (https://uswatersystems.com): Depending upon the city and day, water quality can vary 40% to 50%. The best method is to start with the same water every time and Reverse Osmosis gives you that power. Visit USWaterSystems.com (https://uswatersystems.com) for a free expert analysis.

03-08
01:01:32

348: Spotlight: Keys to Successful Beer Fermentation with White Labs, Russian River, and Beachwood

This special fermentation-focused episode of the podcast is brought to you interruption-free by the yeast and fermentation specialists at White Labs (https://www.whitelabs.com). If you brew beer, you’re familiar with White Labs, as they’ve been supplying brewers with the highest quality yeast and fermentation aids for many years, and they now serve brewers around the world from outposts in San Diego and Asheville in the United States, as well as Copenhagen and Hong Kong. Throughout this episode, we focus on the keys to effective fermentations, from yeast health to enzymes and more. Joining for the conversation are Chris White, founder of White Labs; Julian Shrago, co-owner and brewmaster of Beachwood Brewing in Long Beach, Huntington, and Garden Grove, California; and Garrison Fratoni, head brewer for Russian River in Windsor, California. During the podcast, these three discuss the work they’ve been doing in maximizing yeast health while dialing back on the excessive use of yeast nutrients and enzymes. Increased attenuation and efficiency, despite decreased enzyme and nutrient additions? It’s possible, with the techniques and approaches that these brewers discuss. White Labs never settles for “good enough,” and their innovative spirit continues to advance the craft of fermentation, guaranteeing products that defy the status quo. They fuel the brewing community by offering new product innovations, educational resources, and a collaborative atmosphere—empowering brewers to make the best beer possible. To learn more about the range of top-quality yeast, nutrients, and other fermentation solutions that White Labs offers to brewers, visit WhiteLabs.com (https://www.whitelabs.com).

03-05
01:14:11

347: Preston Theony of Wren House Embraces Change as a Constant and Flavor Over Style

Black Caddis began as one of Preston Theony’s homebrew recipes, but rather than create a take on an existing style, he started with the flavor he wanted to achieve and built a recipe to realize that. Now, after brewing the beer commercially at Wren House (https://www.wrenhousebrewing.com) for the better part of the past decade, he’s still not done experimenting with changes to not just the recipe, but the core of fermentation itself. More recently, the beer has moved from ale fermentation with a Kölsch strain to lager fermentation with a 34-70 strain, in order to amplify the “clean, cutting characteristic” that Theony sought. It’s dark beer in the 4% ABV range sold in one of the hottest of the United States, and drinkability is paramount. Similarly, Theony has never stopped tinkering with their hazy IPA recipe, despite core beer Spellbinder’s gold medal in the juicy or hazy IPA category at the 2020 GABF. Note that anything he mentions doing or using in this podcast is subject to change, and this is only a snapshot of where they are at this brewing moment. But with that said, through the conversation, he touches on: switching to lager fermentation with a shorter lagering time to give Black Caddis porter more edge layering Carafa, C120, Carafoam, and Chocolate Rye malt for broad flavor in a small beer hyperfocusing on pH throughout the brewing process reducing whirlpool hops and boosting dry hops to improve drinkability using Galaxy as a bridge between Citra and Mosaic dry hopping early and capping the tank their approach to awards season as a time to reflect and improve beers evaluating competition feedback And more. This episode is brought to you by: G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): At G&D Chillers they always strive to Build Great Chillers. Partner with them as you Build Great Beer. Choose G&D Chillers on your next Expansion or Brewery start up and receive 1 free year of Remote control and Monitoring of your new G&D Chiller! ProBrew (https://www.probrew.com) Turnkey brewery systems. Production line design services. Retro-fitting processing systems. ProBrew™ can do all this and more with any brewery, old or new, small or large. For more information, fill out our contact form on www.probrew.com or email contactus@probrew.com. Old Orchard (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer): Old Orchard has supplied flavored craft juice concentrate blends to over 46 states for the production of fruit-forward beer, cider, seltzer, wine, spirits, and more. To learn more and request your free samples, head over to oldorchard.com/brewer (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer) Omega Yeast (https://omegayeast.com): Streamline efficiency with Omega Yeast’s Diacetyl Knock Out series. The DKO series is comprised of 8 familiar yeast strains engineered to knock out the formation of diacetyl before it starts. The strains you know, now better. Contact Omega Yeast today at omegayeast.com. ABS Commercial (https://abs-commercial.com). ABS Commercial are proud to offer brewhouses, tanks, keg washers, and preventative maintenance parts to brewers across the country as well as equipment for distilling, cider-making, wine-making, and more! Contact them today at sales@abs-commercial.com to discuss your customized brewery needs. Ss Brewtech (https://SsBrewtech.com). Ss Brewtech was founded by a group of home and craft beer brewers, dedicated to bringing an engineering-first approach to brewery equipment. Ss brewhouses are used to formulate new beer recipes at some of the world's greatest breweries. To learn more, head over to SsBrewtech.com US Water Systems (https://uswatersystems.com): Depending upon the city and day, water quality can vary 40% to 50%. The best method is to start with the same water every time and Reverse Osmosis gives you that power. Visit USWaterSystems.com (https://uswatersystems.com) for a free expert analysis.

03-01
01:13:09

346: 12 West Finds Success in Simplicity with West Coast Pils and IPA

With taprooms in Mesa and Gilbert, Arizona, 12 West (https://12westbrewing.com/) may boast one of the coolest “home breweries” in the United States. Its production space is in the 6,000-square-foot luxury garage behind one of the founders’ homes, with roll-up doors that open to a patio with a swimming pool, skate ramps, and a moto track in the distance. Meanwhile, the beer that head brewer and co-owner Justin “Gully” Gullickson and assistant brewer Andrew Cooper are making to feed the two taprooms is as compelling as it is consistent. In this episode, they discuss their West Coast–style pils, Radial Spines—one of our Best 20 Beers in 2023 (https://beerandbrewing.com/the-best-20-beers-in-2023/)—as well as their high-scoring IPAs. Along the way, they touch on: blending West Coast IPA and pilsner grists for their West Coast pils setting up successful lager fermentations with a single-infusion mash whirlpooling with Cryo hops dry hopping cold for extended periods with Cryo hops staggering hop-blend percentages between the hot and cold sides, based on individual hop characteristics grounding new-school hop flavors with old-school classics brewing IPA with gummi sharks And more. This episode is brought to you by: G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): At G&D Chillers they always strive to Build Great Chillers. Partner with them as you Build Great Beer. Choose G&D Chillers on your next Expansion or Brewery start up and receive 1 free year of Remote control and Monitoring of your new G&D Chiller! ProBrew (https://www.probrew.com) Turnkey brewery systems. Production line design services. Retro-fitting processing systems. ProBrew™ can do all this and more with any brewery, old or new, small or large. For more information, fill out our contact form on www.probrew.com or email contactus@probrew.com. Old Orchard (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer): Old Orchard has supplied flavored craft juice concentrate blends to over 46 states for the production of fruit-forward beer, cider, seltzer, wine, spirits, and more. To learn more and request your free samples, head over to oldorchard.com/brewer (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer) Omega Yeast (https://omegayeast.com): Streamline efficiency with Omega Yeast’s Diacetyl Knock Out series. The DKO series is comprised of 8 familiar yeast strains engineered to knock out the formation of diacetyl before it starts. The strains you know, now better. Contact Omega Yeast today at omegayeast.com. ABS Commercial (https://abs-commercial.com). ABS Commercial are proud to offer brewhouses, tanks, keg washers, and preventative maintenance parts to brewers across the country as well as equipment for distilling, cider-making, wine-making, and more! Contact them today at sales@abs-commercial.com to discuss your customized brewery needs. Ss Brewtech (https://SsBrewtech.com). Ss Brewtech was founded by a group of home and craft beer brewers, dedicated to bringing an engineering-first approach to brewery equipment. Ss brewhouses are used to formulate new beer recipes at some of the world's greatest breweries. To learn more, head over to SsBrewtech.com US Water Systems (https://uswatersystems.com): Depending upon the city and day, water quality can vary 40% to 50%. The best method is to start with the same water every time and Reverse Osmosis gives you that power. Visit USWaterSystems.com (https://uswatersystems.com) for a free expert analysis.

02-23
01:08:35

345: Arizona Wilderness Explores Terroir Through Mobile Coolships, Regenerative Local Grain, and More

Last year, Arizona Wilderness’ (https://www.azwbeer.com) beet-centered saison Jitterbug Perfume scored a perfect 100 with our blind judges, and went on to nab a spot in our Best 20 Beers in 2023. In this episode, head brewer Brad Miles and wood cellar manager Nick Pauley dissect that particular beer, from the blend of wood-aged saisons that form the base, to the way they roasted and processed the beets, and the particular fruit juice and spice additions that rounded it out. They also discuss the Arizona Wilderness approach to spontaneous brewing, using a mobile coolship and wort that they drive out to cooler, higher elevations in the wintertime to capture wild microflora. Along the way, they touch on: building a spontaneous process that works in a dry, desert environment using aged American hops like Crystal, Chinook, and Cascade in spontaneous beer adding funk character to saison with aged hops using regenerative certified organic grains in saison building a base with 5-6 different wood-aged saisons to stand up to strong flavored ingredients balancing acidity in spontaneous and saison beer brewing with Kernza grain partnering with local growers and a local maltster to support a new grain economy And more. This episode is brought to you by: G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): At G&D Chillers they always strive to Build Great Chillers. Partner with them as you Build Great Beer. Choose G&D Chillers on your next Expansion or Brewery start up and receive 1 free year of Remote control and Monitoring of your new G&D Chiller! ProBrew (https://www.probrew.com) Turnkey brewery systems. Production line design services. Retro-fitting processing systems. ProBrew™ can do all this and more with any brewery, old or new, small or large. For more information, fill out our contact form on www.probrew.com or email contactus@probrew.com. Old Orchard (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer): Old Orchard has supplied flavored craft juice concentrate blends to over 46 states for the production of fruit-forward beer, cider, seltzer, wine, spirits, and more. To learn more and request your free samples, head over to oldorchard.com/brewer (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer) Omega Yeast (https://omegayeast.com): Streamline efficiency with Omega Yeast’s Diacetyl Knock Out series. The DKO series is comprised of 8 familiar yeast strains engineered to knock out the formation of diacetyl before it starts. The strains you know, now better. Contact Omega Yeast today at omegayeast.com. ABS Commercial (https://abs-commercial.com). ABS Commercial are proud to offer brewhouses, tanks, keg washers, and preventative maintenance parts to brewers across the country as well as equipment for distilling, cider-making, wine-making, and more! Contact them today at sales@abs-commercial.com to discuss your customized brewery needs. Ss Brewtech (https://SsBrewtech.com). Ss Brewtech was founded by a group of home and craft beer brewers, dedicated to bringing an engineering-first approach to brewery equipment. Ss brewhouses are used to formulate new beer recipes at some of the world's greatest breweries. To learn more, head over to SsBrewtech.com US Water Systems (https://uswatersystems.com): Depending upon the city and day, water quality can vary 40% to 50%. The best method is to start with the same water every time and Reverse Osmosis gives you that power. Visit USWaterSystems.com (https://uswatersystems.com) for a free expert analysis.

02-16
01:06:43

344: Marble Brewery’s Josh Trujillo Finds Success at the Intersection of Hops and Lagers

Josh Trujillo didn’t set out to become a brewer, but after 16 years at Marble (https://marblebrewery.com)—the last eight of which he’s served in the top brewing role—he’s found it to be a perfect vocation given his mix of technical and tasting aptitude. Over the years, Marble has pursued ways other integrating hops into both traditional and modern lagers, and their judiciously dry-hopped Pilsner even won 2014 World Beer Cup gold employing a quarter-pound-per-barrel dry hop at the time. Now, Marble is stretching out in the hoppy lager space with West Coast pils, and mirroring that smaller beer with their approach to cold IPA, while their MavLab R&D brewery continues to rack up medals for both traditional ales and lagers as well as more progressive styles. In this episode, Trujillo shares their approach to brewing lager, including: Brewing rice and corn lagers with two row pale malt and a single infusion mash Managing runoff to avoid astringency Extending boils to manage DMS production Designing subtle yet characterful hop blends for dry-hopped Pilsner Moving hot side hops to the whirpool for more hop expression Marrying the classic with the contemporary in West Coast pils Brewing hoppy beers with new twists on classic hops And more. This episode is brought to you by: G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): At G&D Chillers they always strive to Build Great Chillers. Partner with them as you Build Great Beer. Choose G&D Chillers on your next Expansion or Brewery start up and receive 1 free year of Remote control and Monitoring of your new G&D Chiller! ProBrew (https://www.probrew.com) Turnkey brewery systems. Production line design services. Retro-fitting processing systems. ProBrew™ can do all this and more with any brewery, old or new, small or large. For more information, fill out our contact form on www.probrew.com or email contactus@probrew.com. Old Orchard (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer): Old Orchard has supplied flavored craft juice concentrate blends to over 46 states for the production of fruit-forward beer, cider, seltzer, wine, spirits, and more. To learn more and request your free samples, head over to oldorchard.com/brewer (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer) Omega Yeast (https://omegayeast.com): Streamline efficiency with Omega Yeast’s Diacetyl Knock Out series. The DKO series is comprised of 8 familiar yeast strains engineered to knock out the formation of diacetyl before it starts. The strains you know, now better. Contact Omega Yeast today at omegayeast.com. ABS Commercial (https://abs-commercial.com). ABS Commercial are proud to offer brewhouses, tanks, keg washers, and preventative maintenance parts to brewers across the country as well as equipment for distilling, cider-making, wine-making, and more! Contact them today at sales@abs-commercial.com to discuss your customized brewery needs. Ss Brewtech (https://SsBrewtech.com). "Ss Brewtech was founded by a group of home and craft beer brewers, dedicated to bringing an engineering-first approach to brewery equipment. Ss brewhouses are used to formulate new beer recipes at some of the world's greatest breweries. To learn more, head over to SsBrewtech.com" Christian Hansen (https://www.chr-hansen.com/en/legal-notice): Christian Hansen are the fermentation experts with over 100 years experience in dairy and wine, and are now bringing that knowledge of microbes to brewers with their SmartBev range of frozen liquid yeast and freeze-dried bacteria.Go to Chr-Hansen.com to learn more.

02-09
01:05:29

343: Natalie Rose Baldwin of Wayfinder Paints Hoppy Pictures With a Broad Palette

Over the past number of years, Portland, Oregon’s Wayfinder (https://www.wayfinder.beer) has built a reputation for assertive Pacific Northwest Coast IPAs, balanced and bitter Cold IPAs, and classic renditions of European lagers. Last year, Natalie Rose Baldwin stepped into the Brewmaster position and quickly found herself getting up to speed on their hop-centric beers, but her years of experience at Breakside more than prepared her for the technical and creative challenge. In this episode, Baldwin focuses on IPA and West Coast pils, with a closing contemplation on one of her favorite styles—gose. Along the way, she covers: the weight of expectation on Wayfinder cold IPA developing production yeast strategies around IPA and cold IPA building a fresh hop West Coast keller pils thinking about flavor as color using the Breakside nitrogen-shatter-and-cold-steep fresh hop method tweaking picking windows to maximize fresh hop expression using domestic pils base malt for hop-forward West Coast pils brewing French pils with spelt and Strisselspalt hops managing healthy fermentations in gose And more. This episode is brought to you by: G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): At G&D Chillers they always strive to Build Great Chillers. Partner with them as you Build Great Beer. Choose G&D Chillers on your next Expansion or Brewery start up and receive 1 free year of Remote control and Monitoring of your new G&D Chiller! ProBrew (https://www.probrew.com) Turnkey brewery systems. Production line design services. Retro-fitting processing systems. ProBrew™ can do all this and more with any brewery, old or new, small or large. For more information, fill out our contact form on www.probrew.com or email contactus@probrew.com. Old Orchard (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer): Old Orchard has supplied flavored craft juice concentrate blends to over 46 states for the production of fruit-forward beer, cider, seltzer, wine, spirits, and more. To learn more and request your free samples, head over to oldorchard.com/brewer (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer) Omega Yeast (https://omegayeast.com): Streamline efficiency with Omega Yeast’s Diacetyl Knock Out series. The DKO series is comprised of 8 familiar yeast strains engineered to knock out the formation of diacetyl before it starts. The strains you know, now better. Contact Omega Yeast today at omegayeast.com. ABS Commercial (https://abs-commercial.com). ABS Commercial are proud to offer brewhouses, tanks, keg washers, and preventative maintenance parts to brewers across the country as well as equipment for distilling, cider-making, wine-making, and more! Contact them today at sales@abs-commercial.com to discuss your customized brewery needs. Ss Brewtech (https://SsBrewtech.com). "Ss Brewtech was founded by a group of home and craft beer brewers, dedicated to bringing an engineering-first approach to brewery equipment. Ss brewhouses are used to formulate new beer recipes at some of the world's greatest breweries. To learn more, head over to SsBrewtech.com" Christian Hansen (https://www.chr-hansen.com/en/legal-notice): Christian Hansen are the fermentation experts with over 100 years experience in dairy and wine, and are now bringing that knowledge of microbes to brewers with their SmartBev range of frozen liquid yeast and freeze-dried bacteria.Go to Chr-Hansen.com to learn more.

02-02
01:14:59

342: Hazy IPA Now! With Fidens, North Park, Green Cheek, and Russian River

Ten years into the rise of hazy IPA, the brewing world knows far more about how to make this challenging yet enduringly popular style—yet the deeper we push, the more we realize how much more we have to learn. For this extended episode of the podcast, we got the gang from last year’s West Coast IPA Now! episodes back together to discuss hazy IPA, along with a respected East Coast voice in the hazy IPA conversation. Steve Parker of Fidens (https://www.fidensbrewing.com) joins Evan Price of Green Cheek (https://www.greencheekbeer.com), Kelsey McNair of North Park (https://www.northparkbeerco.com), and special guest host Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River (https://www.russianriverbrewing.com) as they dissect varying approaches to medal-winning, crowd-pleasing hazy IPA, including: choosing soft water over more chloride-heavy approaches different strategies around pH to balance flavor, function, and food safety selecting malt for color and flavor contributions using adjuncts such as unmalted wheat, chit malt, oats with husks, and more, to build pale color yet stable haze feeding bigger fermentations to offset low efficiency mashes the impact that certain hop varieties have on haze development and stability “coolpooling” with concentrated pellets and knockout hopping with advanced hop products promoting biotransformation during active fermentation without dry hops in the tank double-batching over two days while under-pitching and over-aerating closing the tank several days before terminal, and dry hopping under pressure the impact of pellet density what to look for in certain varieties at hop selection balancing bitterness and final gravity And more. This episode is brought to you by: G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): At G&D Chillers they always strive to Build Great Chillers. Partner with them as you Build Great Beer. Choose G&D Chillers on your next Expansion or Brewery start up and receive 1 free year of Remote control and Monitoring of your new G&D Chiller! ProBrew (https://www.probrew.com) Turnkey brewery systems. Production line design services. Retro-fitting processing systems. ProBrew™ can do all this and more with any brewery, old or new, small or large. For more information, fill out our contact form on www.probrew.com or email contactus@probrew.com. Old Orchard (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer): Old Orchard has supplied flavored craft juice concentrate blends to over 46 states for the production of fruit-forward beer, cider, seltzer, wine, spirits, and more. To learn more and request your free samples, head over to oldorchard.com/brewer (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer) Omega Yeast (https://omegayeast.com): Streamline efficiency with Omega Yeast’s Diacetyl Knock Out series. The DKO series is comprised of 8 familiar yeast strains engineered to knock out the formation of diacetyl before it starts. The strains you know, now better. Contact Omega Yeast today at omegayeast.com. ABS Commercial (https://abs-commercial.com). ABS Commercial are proud to offer brewhouses, tanks, keg washers, and preventative maintenance parts to brewers across the country as well as equipment for distilling, cider-making, wine-making, and more! Contact them today at sales@abs-commercial.com to discuss your customized brewery needs. Ss Brewtech (https://SsBrewtech.com). "Ss Brewtech was founded by a group of home and craft beer brewers, dedicated to bringing an engineering-first approach to brewery equipment. Ss brewhouses are used to formulate new beer recipes at some of the world's greatest breweries. To learn more, head over to SsBrewtech.com" Christian Hansen (https://www.chr-hansen.com/en/legal-notice): Christian Hansen are the fermentation experts with over 100 years experience in dairy and wine, and are now bringing that knowledge of microbes to brewers with their SmartBev range of frozen liquid yeast and freeze-dried bacteria.Go to Chr-Hansen.com to learn more.

01-26
02:25:02

341: Spotlight: New IPA Malt from Gambrinus and BSG

This special ingredient-focused edition of the podcast is brought to you interruption-free by the brewing-ingredient experts at BSG (https://bsgcraftbrewing.com/craft-coast-top-secret-gambrinus-ipa-malt/?utm_source=cbbpodcast&utm_medium=audio&utm_campaign=gambrinus+ipa+cbbpodcast&utm_content=malt). Today’s beer drinker loves pale beer more than ever, and over the course of the past decade, brewers have been feeding this shift by releasing lighter and lighter colored IPAs that pack a similar flavor punch without the heft that specialty malts can bring. To help brewers achieve that flavor without the color, Gambrinus and BSG recently announced IPA Malt (https://bsgcraftbrewing.com/craft-coast-top-secret-gambrinus-ipa-malt/?utm_source=cbbpodcast&utm_medium=audio&utm_campaign=gambrinus+ipa+cbbpodcast&utm_content=malt), a new domestic malt designed for IPA brewers who crave that low SRM beer color but still want character in the malt that can stand up to today’s big hop bills. In today’s spotlight episode, Ashton Lewis (Training and Technical Support Manager for BSG (https://bsgcraftbrewing.com/craft-coast-top-secret-gambrinus-ipa-malt/?utm_source=cbbpodcast&utm_medium=audio&utm_campaign=gambrinus+ipa+cbbpodcast&utm_content=malt)), Ken Smith (Director of Operations for Gambrinus Malting (https://bsgcraftbrewing.com/craft-coast-top-secret-gambrinus-ipa-malt/?utm_source=cbbpodcast&utm_medium=audio&utm_campaign=gambrinus+ipa+cbbpodcast&utm_content=malt)), and Blake Masoner (Cofounder and Head Brewer for Craft Coast Beer & Tacos (https://craftcoast.co) in Oceanside, California), join the podcast to discuss this new malt. Over the course of the conversation, they cover it from initial brief through development and into brewing, exploring how it works, what it’s capable of, and what else may be in store for brewers who try it. Along the way, they cover: the domestic malt’s English-like biscuity character that contrasts with the grassiness of Continental malt agronomic and malthouse details behind the malt understanding how flavors translate from the malt into finished beer using the malt at 100 percent while achieving flavor in a low-FG beer exploring other beer styles IPA Malt (https://bsgcraftbrewing.com/craft-coast-top-secret-gambrinus-ipa-malt/?utm_source=cbbpodcast&utm_medium=audio&utm_campaign=gambrinus+ipa+cbbpodcast&utm_content=malt) may be suited for This special spotlight episode is brought to you by BSG & Gambrinus. As every brewer knows, BSG (https://bsgcraftbrewing.com/craft-coast-top-secret-gambrinus-ipa-malt/?utm_source=cbbpodcast&utm_medium=audio&utm_campaign=gambrinus+ipa+cbbpodcast&utm_content=malt) leads the way in the brewing industry by supplying the finest ingredients and supplies to brewers at competitive prices, and they are trusted by many of the most respected brewers in the craft community. Try the new Gambrinus IPA Malt (https://bsgcraftbrewing.com/craft-coast-top-secret-gambrinus-ipa-malt/?utm_source=cbbpodcast&utm_medium=audio&utm_campaign=gambrinus+ipa+cbbpodcast&utm_content=malt) today, available exclusively through BSG.

01-23
01:01:07

340: Jason Thompson of Calusa Is Brewing Hazy IPAs That Glow

Sarasota, Florida’s Calusa (https://www.calusabrewing.com/) has become a fan favorite in the Sunshine State, focusing on compelling hazy IPAs that capture vivid flavors, consistent drinkability, and a bright, sunny color that cofounder and head brewer Jason Thompson describes as “glow.” In this episode, Thompson discusses: managing variable minerality brewing hazy IPA with flavorful malts such as Weyermann Bohemian Pils increasing the wheat component of his recipes to aid haze stability mashing out to improve lautering ultra-low-temp whirlpooling, to allow greater aromatic contribution without added bitterness taking care of yeast so they last for 50-plus generations recirculation and rousing dry hops, to increase contact and extraction post-fermentation developing interesting hop combinations, such as Saphir and Centennial making Sabro work in hazy IPA using barrels for bitterness in barrel-aged stout And more. This episode is brought to you by: G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): At G&D Chillers they always strive to Build Great Chillers. Partner with them as you Build Great Beer. Choose G&D Chillers on your next Expansion or Brewery start up and receive 1 free year of Remote control and Monitoring of your new G&D Chiller! ProBrew (https://www.probrew.com) Turnkey brewery systems. Production line design services. Retro-fitting processing systems. ProBrew™ can do all this and more with any brewery, old or new, small or large. For more information, fill out our contact form on www.probrew.com or email contactus@probrew.com. Old Orchard (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer): Old Orchard has supplied flavored craft juice concentrate blends to over 46 states for the production of fruit-forward beer, cider, seltzer, wine, spirits, and more. To learn more and request your free samples, head over to oldorchard.com/brewer (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer) Omega Yeast (https://omegayeast.com): Streamline efficiency with Omega Yeast’s Diacetyl Knock Out series. The DKO series is comprised of 8 familiar yeast strains engineered to knock out the formation of diacetyl before it starts. The strains you know, now better. Contact Omega Yeast today at omegayeast.com. ABS Commercial (https://abs-commercial.com). ABS Commercial are proud to offer brewhouses, tanks, keg washers, and preventative maintenance parts to brewers across the country as well as equipment for distilling, cider-making, wine-making, and more! Contact them today at sales@abs-commercial.com to discuss your customized brewery needs. Ss Brewtech (https://SsBrewtech.com). "Ss Brewtech was founded by a group of home and craft beer brewers, dedicated to bringing an engineering-first approach to brewery equipment. Ss brewhouses are used to formulate new beer recipes at some of the world's greatest breweries. To learn more, head over to SsBrewtech.com" Christian Hansen (https://www.chr-hansen.com/en/legal-notice): Christian Hansen are the fermentation experts with over 100 years experience in dairy and wine, and are now bringing that knowledge of microbes to brewers with their SmartBev range of frozen liquid yeast and freeze-dried bacteria.Go to Chr-Hansen.com to learn more.

01-19
01:04:12

339: Ashleigh Carter, Jeff Bagby, and Ryan Brooks Dissect Mexican Lager and More

This week’s episode is a panel discussion on lager brewing, recorded in front of a live audience late one night on the patio of Cerveza Fauna (https://cervezafauna.com) after a full day of judging for the Copa Baja beer festival in Mexicali, Mexico, in late 2023. Joining the discussion are three prominent lager brewers—Ashleigh Carter of Denver’s Bierstadt Lagerhaus (https://www.bierstadtlager.com), Ryan Brooks of San Diego’s SouthNorte (https://southnorte.com), and Jeff Bagby (who, earlier this week announced that he was joining Green Cheek Beer (https://www.greencheekbeer.com) as they acquire Bagby’s brewery in Oceanside, California). The location in Mexico provides the perfect backdrop for diving into Mexican, Mexican-style, and adjunct lagers, and the discussion also focuses on dark lagers. Along the way, they cover creative and technical points such as: the challenge of brewing great lager in smaller batch sizes understanding other brewers’ commercial approaches through lab analysis priorities for gear and process techniques for brewing better lager on systems designed for single-infusion ale understanding the impact of water on lager brewing selecting yeast for Mexican-style lager approaches to natural carbonation brewing with corn via cereal mash versus pre-gelatinized products making specialty beer with popcorn clever approaches to building color without intense dark malt flavor And more. This episode is brought to you by: G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): At G&D Chillers they always strive to Build Great Chillers. Partner with them as you Build Great Beer. Choose G&D Chillers on your next Expansion or Brewery start up and receive 1 free year of Remote control and Monitoring of your new G&D Chiller! ProBrew (https://www.probrew.com) Turnkey brewery systems. Production line design services. Retro-fitting processing systems. ProBrew™ can do all this and more with any brewery, old or new, small or large. For more information, fill out our contact form on www.probrew.com or email contactus@probrew.com. Old Orchard (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer): Old Orchard has supplied flavored craft juice concentrate blends to over 46 states for the production of fruit-forward beer, cider, seltzer, wine, spirits, and more. To learn more and request your free samples, head over to oldorchard.com/brewer (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer) Omega Yeast (https://omegayeast.com): Streamline efficiency with Omega Yeast’s Diacetyl Knock Out series. The DKO series is comprised of 8 familiar yeast strains engineered to knock out the formation of diacetyl before it starts. The strains you know, now better. Contact Omega Yeast today at omegayeast.com. ABS Commercial (https://abs-commercial.com). ABS Commercial are proud to offer brewhouses, tanks, keg washers, and preventative maintenance parts to brewers across the country as well as equipment for distilling, cider-making, wine-making, and more! Contact them today at sales@abs-commercial.com to discuss your customized brewery needs. Ss Brewtech (https://SsBrewtech.com). "Ss Brewtech was founded by a group of home and craft beer brewers, dedicated to bringing an engineering-first approach to brewery equipment. Ss brewhouses are used to formulate new beer recipes at some of the world's greatest breweries. To learn more, head over to SsBrewtech.com" Christian Hansen (https://www.chr-hansen.com/en/legal-notice): Christian Hansen are the fermentation experts with over 100 years experience in dairy and wine, and are now bringing that knowledge of microbes to brewers with their SmartBev range of frozen liquid yeast and freeze-dried bacteria.Go to Chr-Hansen.com to learn more. California Craft Beer Summit (https://cacraftbeersummit.com). Everyone’s talking about 2024 California Craft Beer Summit, March 12-14 in Sacramento. Kicking off the Summit as the Keynote speaker is Rob Tod, the pioneer who built Allagash Brewing. Check out the full schedule at the website cacraftbeersummit.com.

01-12
01:02:04

Sven Livesey

I really enjoyed this podcast...Annie definitely knows her stuff and I found that she came across extremely well. Great work Annie.....cheers from Lincolnshire, England.

05-01 Reply

JeffK

If the FG is 1.030 or 1.040, what is the starting gravity?

03-01 Reply

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