450: Stephen Boardman of 450 North Builds Intense Flavor and Nostalgic Connection With Fruit

Dec 12, 2025

Stephen Boardman, Director of Sales and recipe creator at 450 North Brewing, brings his food science expertise to the world of craft beer. He shares the origins of their intense smoothie sours and the creative processes behind flavor design. The conversation touches on managing scarcity in beer releases and the unique festival experiences they curate. Boardman also discusses using culinary techniques like balancing salt, fat, and acid to elevate flavors and draw inspiration from desserts and cocktails, encouraging innovation in brewing.

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INSIGHT

From Hazy IPAs To Saturated Smoothies

450 North evolved from hazy IPAs to intensely fruited “slushy” smoothie sours starting around 2017.
The brewery leaned into bold fruit saturation and layered variants (XL, XXL) to define its identity.

ANECDOTE

Line Culture Was A Social Scene

Stephen recalls standing in snowed-in release lines and the community spirit those events created.
He remembers people happily sharing beers regardless of rarity, making lines feel like social gatherings.

INSIGHT

Scarcity Helps Hype But Hurts Economics

Perceived scarcity can drive excitement but actual scarcity hurts brewery economics.
Stephen emphasizes balancing enough supply to benefit the business while keeping releases desirable.

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From the corner of the family farm in rural Columbus, Indiana, surrounded by corn fields, 450 North has built a worldwide reputation for intensely flavored fruit beers and supersaturated smoothie sours. Stephen Boardman—now sales director as well as recipe creator and ingredient-sourcing whiz—joins the podcast to share the brewery’s unique perspective on these unapologetically assertive fruit beers.

In this episode, Boardman discusses:

bring a culinary background to the craft-beer space
the evolution of line culture and a look back at the brewery’s earlier days
managing scarcity with “rare” releases
finding inspiration through a variety of creative modes
the impact of salt, fat, and acid on flavor and sweetness
reverse-engineering food flavors with natural ingredients
building compelling base beers for smoothie sours
designing beers to hit all the senses
building memorable festival experiences

And more.

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