Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine Podcast 207: Nick Mader of Alma Mader Balances Lager with Two Sides of Hazy IPA
For Alma Mader, combining lager brewing with a broad approach to hazy IPA provides the best of both worlds—a dogmatic approach to technical brewing synergized with a ranging program to squeeze every last ounce of flavor from their hops. Founder and head brewer Nick Mader studied and worked with industry-leading breweries before heading back home to Kansas City, Missouri, to open the eponymously named brewery with wife Tania Hewett-Mader. That studied, nuanced approach to beer design is evident no matter which style you order.
In this episode, Mader first discusses lager, including:
- Quality, consistency, and expression in Saaz hops
- Dialing in utilization of Noble hops in lagers
- Utilizing later hop additions in lager
- Balancing bitterness and malt character
- Manipulating pH to achieve proper expression
- Keeping minerality in check
- The significant differences in lager yeasts strains
Then, the discussion turns to hazy IPA, and Mader covers:
- Their two-pronged approach to hazy IPA, with drier and sweeter veins
- Boil additions in hazy IPA for mid-palate hop flavor
- The impact of specific hop varieties on expression of “juicy”
- The benefit of using gypsum
- A West Coast–style approach to hazy IPA
- “Cool-pooling” for better hop aroma
And more.
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