377: Shaun Yasaki of Noble Beast Makes Quirky and Nuanced Lager Work at Pub Scale
Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine Podcast
Exploring Lager Brewing Techniques with Rice and Cereal Cooking
This chapter explores the detailed process of lager brewing, highlighting the use of cereal cookers and raw grains like rice. The discussion emphasizes creative methods, the trial-and-error approach, and the impact of quality ingredients on flavor and quality.
After an early stint at Cleveland staple Fat Head’s, and a brief foray into brewery operation with the now-defunct Platform, Shaun Yasaki set out in 2016 to create a brewpub that reflected his interests as a brewer—well-made beers that don’t chase trends but earn repeat business for both flavor and drinkability. To achieve that goal, he designed a 10-barrel brewhouse that could brew any style of beer without compromise, thanks to its dedicated cereal cooker and decoction vessel. Now, with Noble Beast, he squeezes more beer from every batch using high-gravity brewing methods, and the results have garnered notice—two GABF medals for Baltic-style porter Murder Ballads, plus a number of high scores from our blind-judging panel at Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine®.
In this episode, Yasaki discusses:
- designing a 10-barrel brewhouse with flexibility for cereal mashes, decoction, parti-gyle brewing, and more
- exploring “weird” mash regimes to optimize flavor and fermentation performance
- finding space for expression within traditional lager styles
- maintaining foam-positive proteins through mashing and decoction
- finding complementary esters in specific lager yeast strains
- milling and cooking raw rice to create “negative space” in beer for other flavors to fill
- decocting and cereal mashing IPA
- using non-diacetyl-producing yeast in IPA fermentation
- high-gravity brewing on a small pub system
And more.
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