444: Mike Foniok of the Establishment Takes an Ultramodern Approach to Mixed-Culture Fermentation

Nov 7, 2025

Mike Foniok, co-founder and brewer at The Establishment in Calgary, is known for his innovative mixed-culture and barrel-aged beers, including a gold-medal-winning ale. In this discussion, he dives into the art of blending hops and maintaining complex cultures, sharing insights about using barrel-aged hazy IPAs in blends. Foniok explains how he manages acidity through advanced fermentation techniques, the importance of local ingredients, and the challenges of ropiness. Expect a bold perspective on pushing brewing boundaries and redefining beer styles!

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ANECDOTE

Hobby Roots Turned Serious Brewery

Mike Foniok describes the Establishment as a home-brewer passion project turned brewery opened in 2019.
He says mixed-culture beer is a small percent of sales but consumes half their floor and mental space.

INSIGHT

Working With, Not Against, Your Mixed Culture

They work around their house mixed culture rather than trying to replace it, accepting PDO-driven acidity and ropiness.
PDO-produced exopolysaccharides then get broken down by Brett to leave body in dry, low-ABV table beers.

ADVICE

Build Body In Low‑ABV Table Beer

Use local floor‑malted pilsner, 20% wheat, and chit malt to build body in low‑ABV table beers.
Boost bitterness (they target ~42 IBUs) and dry‑hop to suppress excess lactobacillus acid production.

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Sheesh! The Establishment (Calgary, Alberta) has built a reputation over the past few years for taking an unconventional, experimental approach to mixed-culture brewing—as well as many other styles—and they’ve brought home numerous awards to prove it. The 2025 World Beer Cup gold medal for Belgian-Style Sour Ale may be the biggest of them all, despite the unabashedly modern approach to the mixed-culture blend: Erlton Street 5 includes a component that's essentially barrel-aged hazy IPA, right down to the Dynaboost dip-hop. They’re not afraid of calculated risks, and they love seeing where new ideas and techniques take them—because, as Foniok says, “Beer first, ask questions later.”

In this episode, Foniok discusses:

using advanced hop products in mixed-culture beer
bench-trialing potential dry hops
working around the mixed culture and dealing with Pediococcus ropiness
brewing with high hop loads to suppress excessive acid production
blending over multiple days to challenge and ultimately verify the blend
using aged hops that have moved past the cheesy stage
promoting fast fermentation for Saccharomyces strains in the mixed culture
blending a fermented component with a hazy-IPA-ish grist
bench-testing hops for improving dry-hop selection

And more.

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