318: Ex Novo’s Dave Chichura Reflects on the Dynamic Decades of a Brewing Career in Motion
Aug 28, 2023
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Dave Chichura, Ex Novo's Director of Brewing Operations, reflects on his dynamic brewing career. Topics include challenges of brewing in rural environments, scaling award-winning beers, recipe writing, hop selection for West Coast IPA, hop creep management, and becoming a better manager.
Selecting quality hops is crucial in brewing a West Coast IPA to avoid off-flavors.
Seeking help and sharing knowledge is essential in the brewing industry.
Recipe development in brewing evolves from following existing recipes to understanding the science behind brewing and collaborating with team members.
Deep dives
Dave Tuchura's Brewing Career
Dave Tuchura, Director of Brewing Operations for ExNova, discusses his long and varied career in brewing. He started brewing professionally in 1996 at the Rock Bottom Brewing Company in Indiana and later worked at breweries like Oscar Blues and Melvin. Tuchura shares his experiences and challenges faced at each brewery, highlighting the growth of Oscar Blues and the development of his skills as a brewer. He then discusses his move to ExNova in Corralis, New Mexico, and the opportunity to lead their production and continue making great beers.
Approach to Brewing a West Coast IPA
Tuchura explains ExNova's approach to brewing their West Coast IPA, called the Mass Ascension IPA. They use water from a 300 feet deep well, which is a bit hard but not the worst. The beer is brewed with Simcoe, Centennial, and Mosaic hops. Tuchura emphasizes the importance of selecting quality hops and avoiding off-flavors like garlic or diesel characteristics. For fermentation, they use an American ale yeast strain and let the beer ferment completely. After fermentation, they perform a soft crash and then dry hop the beer by throwing the hops into the top of the tank. Tuchura shares his preference for keeping the dry hopping process simple and avoiding additional beer transfers.
Importance of Seeking Help and Sharing Knowledge
Tuchura highlights the significance of seeking help and sharing knowledge in the brewing industry. He shares his personal experience of struggling with acid aldehyde issues and hop creep in the past and the importance of reaching out for assistance. Tuchura encourages brewers to ask for help and take advantage of the abundance of resources and knowledge available in the brewing community. He also mentions his involvement in platforms like NBA's 'Ask the Brewmasters' where he both asks and answers questions to contribute to the collective knowledge of the industry.
The Evolution of Recipe Development
The episode discusses the evolution of recipe development in brewing. The speaker shares their personal journey of learning and improving their recipe development skills, starting from following existing recipes to eventually gaining a deeper understanding of the math and science behind brewing. They highlight the importance of education and attending brewing courses to enhance their knowledge. The speaker also emphasizes the significance of collaboration and seeking input from team members when developing recipes.
Challenges and Growth in Brewery Management
The podcast explores the challenges and growth in brewery management. The speaker shares their experiences and personal struggles in managing a growing brewery. They discuss the importance of humility, learning from mistakes, and developing effective leadership skills. The speaker emphasizes the value of leading by example, creating a harmonious work environment, and promoting open communication. They express their commitment to mentoring and supporting the team, while acknowledging their own imperfections as a manager.
Dave Chichura loves brewing, and loves to work. He's always lived simply, and maintained a lifestyle that allows him to move around. And move he has, from breweries in the Midwest as well as up and down the Rocky Mountains. Now, as Director of Brewing Operations at Ex Novo in Corrales, New Mexico, he's putting in practice all the lessons he's learned, building and managing the brewing team as they make beers that have brought home four GABF and World Beer Cup medals over the past two and a half years.
In this episode, Chichura recounts:
The challenges in making beer in rural environments
Scaling medaling-winning Melvin beers from 3bbl to 20bbl
Developing his recipe-writing skill set
Selecting and using hops in West Coast IPA
Dry hopping techniques that do and don't work
Managing hop creep
Asking for help with problems outside of his expertise
Becoming a better manager
And more.
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