434: Frank Bilello of Noble Savage Lets the Beer Become What it Wants to Be

The Untappd Community Awards offer an interesting barometer of consumer excitement around breweries and beers, but for Noble Savage in Glen Cove—east of New York City, on Long Island—landing two beers among the top three hazy IPAs in the United States proved quite an accomplishment. Founder and head brewer Frank Bilello has kept things small, tinkering as he goes and using an unusual creative process; his milky-pale beers get little to no boil and showcase the delicate yet pungent notes of New Zealand hops.

In this episode, Bilello discusses:

• using 100 percent New York–grown craft malt for all his beers
  
• employing large amounts of malted wheat, flaked oats, and malted oats to soften hazy IPA mouthfeel
  
• managing pH in the mash for function and flavor
  
• making on-the-fly decisions about hopping while brewing
  
• blending yeast strains for flavor and attenuation
  
• staging dry hopping with a sacrificial round to pull out larger particulate matter before hitting with a harder second round
  
• Enigma’s benefit as a hot-side hop and Southern Cross in the dry hop
  
• minimizing boils to lower heat stress, retain more protein, and keep the color light
  
• using New Zealand hops almost exclusively for hazy IPA
  
• spunding IPA for natural carbonation

And more.

This episode is brought to you by:

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