248: This episode is nuts. Bob Slack and Justin Teff of Pulpit Rock Share Their Adjunct Experience

Jul 15, 2022

Bob Slack and Justin Teff, co-head brewers of Pulpit Rock, discuss their process of achieving great results with adjunct-forward and barrel-aged beers. Topics include removing roasted barley, triple mashing, driving 'plushness' through low attenuation, toasting nuts and coconut, matching tank size to adjunct volume, using offbeat ingredients, and more. They also explore the creative process, barrel aging techniques, and infusing beer with adjuncts. The importance of balance and quality ingredients is emphasized.

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INSIGHT

Viscosity Defines Their Barrel-Aged Identity

Pulpit Rock's signature trait is viscosity and plush mouthfeel rather than just high alcohol or heavy roast.
That viscous approach changed their barrel-aging needs and release cadence.

ADVICE

Build A Fudgy Base Without Roasted Barley

Remove roasted barley and boost chocolate malts and crystal malts to get fudgy chocolate character without ashy roast bitterness.
Use high-gravity, mostly-first-runnings worts and overnight concentration to build dense base wort.

ADVICE

Control Attenuation For Plushness

Target low attenuation (around 50% AA) and terminal gravities near 1.068–1.080 to drive plush mouthfeel.
Use US-05 and increased pitching to reliably hit that low attenuation.

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Pulpit Rock co-head brewers Bob Slack and Justin Teff have built a reputation for creative “pastry” beers in both the stout and quick sour realms. In this episode, they discuss in depth their process for achieving great results with such adjunct-forward and barrel-aged beers, from managing increased viscosity and extended barrel-aging times, to their focus on ingredient freshness.

The conversation covers:

removing roasted barley from the base recipe and replacing with other malls to build more chocolate character
triple mashing with a focus on first runnings
driving “plushness” through relatively low attenuation
toasting raw nuts and coconut immediately before maceration to improve flavor
matching tank size to the volume of adjuncts rather than the volume of beer, to maximize surface area and extraction
employing multiple rounds of maceration for certain ingredients
adjunct addition horror stories
using offbeat ingredients like granola and sheet cake

and more.

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