Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine Podcast

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

Feb 16, 2024

Arizona Wilderness brewery's top-rated Jitterbug Perfume dissected, using mobile coolships for spontaneous brewing in the desert, regenerative local grains like Kernza, and unique ingredients like beets. Discussing sustainability, partnering with local growers, and building a base with wood-aged saisons for strong flavors.

01:06:43

Creator website

Episode guests

Nick Pauley

Brad Miles

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Arizona Wilderness Brewery prioritizes sustainability and flavor innovation by using unique local ingredients like perennial grains.

Arizona Wilderness Brewery's cool ship process for brewing spontaneous beers reflects their dedication to creating high-quality and diverse cool ship beers in various locations.

Arizona Wilderness Brewery focuses on blending different base beers and aged hops to create complex and rich flavors, emphasizing creativity and experimentation in crafting distinctive beers.

Deep dives

Craft Beer and Brewing Podcast Episode Highlights Arizona Wilderness Brewery

Arizona Wilderness Jitterbug Perfume, scoring a perfect 100, is discussed as one of the best beers of 2023 by Arizona Wilderness Head of Production, Brad Miles, and Wood Cellar Manager, Nick Pauli.

Introduction

4min

Brewing Journey: From Business to Brewery

6min

Exploration of Craft Beer Passion and Wild Beer Brewing

4min

Exploring the Process of Brewing Spontaneous Beers in Arizona

19min

Exploration of Cool Ship Brewing and Saison Process at Arizona Wilderness Brewery

6min

Crafting Unique Beers with Regenerative Organic Grains

11min

Promoting Regenerative Agriculture with Local Grains in Brewing

13min

Exploring Quality Control in Brewing and Arizona Wilderness's Sustainability Goals

4min

Last year, Arizona Wilderness’ 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.

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