Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine Podcast 285: Little Fish Brew Mixed Culture Beers With Subtlety and Grace
Sean White, cofounder of Athens, Ohio’s Little Fish, is committed to mixed culture sour beer. It’s not the only thing that they brew, but it’s part of the soul of the brewery and a founding pillar that they’ve continued to develop (and improve) over the past eight years. Over those years, they’ve been recognized a number of times for the beers from this program—gold and bronze World Beer Cup medals in 2016 and 2018, silver and gold GABF medals in 2020 and 2022—but if you ask White, he’ll tell you that they’re still figuring it out. They haven’t settled, and they’re still learning.
In this episode, White discusses how they brew these compelling beers, from timing ingredient additions to parameters around their spontaneous beer program. Along the way, he discusses:
- maintaining multiple cultures via solera and brink
- minimizing beer waste to promote sustainability by reducing failure
- balancing acidity in award-winning beers
- neutralizing aged hops to manage funky flavor components
- sourcing and processing local fruit
- fruiting in the barrel
- bottle conditioning with an acid shock starter to reduce yeast stress
- topping up barrels to prevent the development of off flavors
- not drinking beer for the past eight months, while still brewing it
And more.
This episode is brought to you by:
G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): For years G&D Chillers has chilled the beers you love, partnering with 3,000+ breweries across the country. They know brewing doesn’t stop at 5 o’clock and nor do they. Reach out for a quote today at gdchillers.com.
BSG Craft Brewing (https://BSGCraftbrewing.com): Let Rahr North Star Pils™ be your guide. With overtones of honey and sweet bread, flavor and aroma notes of hay and nutty character. Rahr North Star Pils™ is a base malt you can set your compass by! Set a course for BSGCraftbrewing.com to learn how
Accubrew (https://accubrew.io) AccuBrew gives brewers, like you, unprecedented insight into your fermentation process. You can remotely monitor sugar conversion, temperature, and clarity to ensure consistency by quickly detecting out-of-range conditions. AccuBrew helps you monitor, document, and manage your fermentation process in real-time.
ProBrew (https://www.probrew.com) At ProBrew, we believe that your brewery deserves equipment as unique as the drinks that you craft. ProBrew’s customizable equipment empowers breweries to expand operations at their own pace. For more information, visit www.probrew.com or email contactus@probrew.com.
Old Orchard (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer): If you hear Old Orchard mentioned in the brewing community, don't be surprised: the flavored craft juice concentrate blends from Old Orchard have shipped to over 46 states. To join the core of Old Orchard's brewing community, learn more at oldorchard.com/brewer
Ss Brewtech (https://www.ssbrewtech.com): Ss Brewtech has taken technology they invented working with world-renowned industry veterans and made them available to every craft brewer. To learn more about Ss Brewtech's innovation list, head over to SsBrewtech.com.
Christian Hansen (https://www.chr-hansen.com): Christian Hansen are now bringing their knowledge of microbes to brewers with their SmartBev range of frozen liquid yeast and freeze-dried bacteria. Reimagine what your beer can be. Go to Chr-Hansen.com to learn more on the SmartBev line of products.
California Craft Beer Summit (http://cacraftbeersummit.com): Join the craft beer community in Sacramento March 19-22 for the California Craft Beer Summit. Access educational sessions on business and technical skills and network with industry leaders all under one roof. Early bird discounts end January 20 visit cacraftbeersummit.com to register.