
Master Brewers Podcast
Each week, thousands of brewers download The Master Brewers Podcast to hear interviews with the industry's best & brightest in brewing science, technology, and operations. The show is known for featuring technical deep dives, a bit of brewing history, cutting edge research, hard lessons learned, important industry contributors, and no fluff. If you make beer for a living, this show is for you.
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Latest episodes

Nov 16, 2020 • 23min
Episode 193: Killer Yeast
Could beer infected with diastaticus be rescued by killer yeast?Special Guest: Nicholas Ketchum.Sponsored By:MoreBeer: Chr. Hansen: Precision Fermentation: Gusmer: BSG: Proximity Malt: ABS: Hopsteiner: Links:Poster 91 - Can we rescue Beer infected with Diastaticus during fermentation: A profile in killer yeast and the effect of co-fermentation on the superattenuative characteristics of diastaticus — 2020 World Brewing CongressBrewing CO2 Webinar (MBAA+ASBC+BA) — a 'supercritical' ingredient, utility, and byproductUpcoming Events - Master Brewers CalendarJoin Master Brewers — Use promo code BEER20 to save 20% on dues now through December 31, 2020WBC Connect 2020 On-Demand Access — Boundless access to WBC Connect 2020 content is now available for purchase to those that did not attend this year's congress. The 150+ hours of session recordings is a great educational resource. Boundless access gives you access now through October 8, 2021!

Sep 17, 2020 • 1min
Mainstage
John Mallett (Bells Brewery), Rebecca Newman (Lagunitas Brewing Company), Paul Pettinger (New Belgium Brewing), and Jason zumBrunnen (Ratio Beerworks) will be answering YOUR questions about Business Continuity in a Covid-19 Environment during the #worldbrewingcongress Mainstage Panel Discussion this weekend. We'll hear about how their breweries have pivoted, as well as topics like ensuring employee safety, rethinking the workplace, exploring brewery culture, and controlling external factors. Submit your questions for the panelists via the link below.Links:SUBMIT YOUR QUESTIONS HEREMainstage Panel Discussion Details — Business Continuity in a COVID-19 environment: Current and Future ChallengesSpotify Playlist — WBC Connect 2020 | Brewing Without BoundariesWorld Brewing Congress 2020 — on FacebookWBC Connect 2020 — on Twitter

Sep 14, 2020 • 47min
Episode 184: Just Say No to Leaking Can Seams
Cans have become the primary packaging type in the U.S. craft brewing scene. While cans are a near-ideal package for maintaining the quality of the beer, it's important to understand the seaming process and how to diagnose and fix issues with the seamer. Failing to do so will lead to tremendous damage to brands and consumer confidence in canned craft beer. This presentation will focus more on the key quality indicators of seams, how to identify seam issues, tools needed to fix the issue, and how to adjust the seamer to fix the issue.Special Guest: Rick Blankemeier.Sponsored By:Precision Fermentation: Gusmer: BSG: Proximity Malt: ABS: Hopsteiner: Links:Poster 63 - A quality overview of can seams — WBC Connect 9.19.20 Poster SessionWBC Connect 2020 — REGISTER NOW!Upcoming Events - Master Brewers CalendarDistrict Presentation: Can Seaming and Tooling Set Up for Craft Brewers — District Texas Spring Meeting April 30, 2019 Can Seaming WebinarWBC Connect 2020 On-Demand Access — Boundless access to WBC Connect 2020 content is now available for purchase to those that did not attend this year's congress. The 150+ hours of session recordings is a great educational resource. Boundless access gives you access now through October 8, 2021!

Aug 27, 2020 • 3min
Preview: 2020 WBC
The 2020 World Brewing Congress is almost here! Have you registered yet?Special Guest: Keith Villa.Links:2020 World Brewing Congress — Register now!WBC on TwitterWBC on Facebook

Aug 24, 2020 • 39min
Episode 181: Tracking Biotransformation of Sulfur Compounds in Beer
A growing demand in utilizing biotransformation, a general term for the conversion of compounds through biological pathways, to improve the organoleptic profile of beer has changed the way hop forward beer recipes are approached. While the analysis of terpene biotransformation has been well documented, there remains a gap in knowledge in sulfur compounds due to their extremely low concentrations (sometimes in concentrations of parts per trillion) and high volatility. Analysis of sulfur compounds requires precise and sensitive analytical methodology in order to detect them. While sulfur compounds have been successfully detected using gas-chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) a pulsed flame photometric detector (PFPD), and a GC sulfur chemiluminescence detector (GC-SCD), the research presented here utilizes a GC-SCD via stir bar-sorptive extaction (SBSE) methodology previously used to track aroma intensities in optimizing harvest picking windows. This work shows an identification of various thiols and sulfur compounds found in both un-hopped and hopped wort (with Amarillo® (VGXP01), Cashmere, Idaho grown Saaz (Osvald-72 c.v.), and Czech Saaz) and tracks them through the fermentation process confirming the volatility of some thiols and most notably the presence of 4-methyl-4-mercaptopentan-2-one (4MMP) in the final beer at a retention time of 9.5 minutes, a compound that contributes a catty, black currant/Sauvignon Blanc aroma character. Differences in hop varieties were compared with an American ale yeast, and the effect of yeast strain as well as temperature on thiol production with VGXP01 was compared between an American ale, German lager, Belgian saison, and Brettanomyces bruxellensis strain.Special Guest: Tim Wallen.Sponsored By:Precision Fermentation: Gusmer: BSG: Proximity Malt: ABS: Hopsteiner: Links:Poster 110 - Tracking Biotransformation of Sulfur Compounds in Beer — WBC Connect 9.19.20 Poster SessionWBC Connect 2020 — REGISTER NOW!Upcoming Events - Master Brewers CalendarWBC Connect 2020 On-Demand Access — Boundless access to WBC Connect 2020 content is now available for purchase to those that did not attend this year's congress. The 150+ hours of session recordings is a great educational resource. Boundless access gives you access now through October 8, 2021!

Aug 17, 2020 • 17min
Episode 001: Total Oil Content ≠ Aroma
This was the very first episode of The Master Brewers Podcast, recorded during the 2016 WBC. As we prepare to kick off the all-virtual 2020 WBC in just a few weeks, this seems like the perfect opportunity to listen in on what was happening during the 2016 WBC. Special Guests: Daniel Vollmer and Tom Shellhammer.Sponsored By:Precision Fermentation: Gusmer: BSG: Proximity Malt: ABS: Hopsteiner: Links:WBC Connect 2020 — REGISTER NOWDry Hopping on a Small Scale: Considerations for Achieving Reproducibility — MBAA TQ 201635. The influence of hop oil content and composition on hop aroma intensity in dry-hopped beer — 2016 World Brewing CongressInstrumental Evaluation of Hops — 2016 World Brewing CongressUpcoming Events - Master Brewers Calendar

Aug 10, 2020 • 33min
Episode 180: Exogenous Enzyme Applications in Malting
We continue conferencing vicariously from the Master Brewers Live event during the 2019 Master Brewers conference in Calgary, where former Master Brewers Technical Director Mark Sammartino joined me to talk about trials using exogenous enzymes in malting to get brewers more consistent malt and make life easier in the malthouse.Special Guest: Mark Sammartino.Sponsored By:Precision Fermentation: Gusmer: BSG: Proximity Malt: ABS: Hopsteiner: Links:WBC Connect 2020Presentation 26 - Exogenous enzyme applications in malting — 2019 Master Brewers Conference2019 Master Brewers Conference Proceedings — New member benefit!Upcoming Events - Master Brewers CalendarCOVID-19

Aug 3, 2020 • 27min
Episode 179: Reuse of Spent Dry Hop Slurry in the Brewhouse
Isn't it a shame to just throw out all of that spent hop slurry after dry-hopping a tank? Ola Oladokun from Carlsberg sat down with me during last year's conference in Calgary to talk about brewing trials designed to put that "spent" hop slurry back to work.Special Guest: Olayide Oladokun.Sponsored By:Precision Fermentation: Gusmer: BSG: Proximity Malt: ABS: Hopsteiner: Links:WBC Connect 20202019 Master Brewers Conference Proceedings — New member benefit!Upcoming Events - Master Brewers CalendarCOVID-19

Jul 27, 2020 • 24min
Episode 178: Friends Don't Let Friends Drink Oxidized Beer
Audrey Skinner joins us to talk about bright tank purges and other important battles in the war you should be waging against dissolved oxygen in your brewery.Special Guest: Audrey Skinner.Sponsored By:Precision Fermentation: Gusmer: BSG: ABS: Hopsteiner: Links:WBC Connect 2020Managing Dissolved Oxygen in the Brewery — MBAA TQ vol. 57, no. 1Purging Bright Tanks — MBAA Tech TipsBest Practices for Purging Brite Tanks — Ask The BrewmastersBrite Tank Purging with DO meter — Ask The BrewmastersBright Tank Headspace O2 specifications - industry standards — Ask The BrewmastersEpisode 150: TPO Gone Wild? Managing Oxygen Ingress on Smaller Scale Canning LinesEpisode 055: TPOUpcoming Events - Master Brewers CalendarCOVID-19

Jul 20, 2020 • 21min
Episode 040: What is Aleppo?
Need to remove haze? Need to add haze? Need to stabilize flavor? This week, we're talking applications for tannic acid in the brewery.Special Guest: Joe Formanek.Sponsored By:Precision Fermentation: Gusmer: BSG: Proximity Malt: ABS: Hopsteiner: Links:MBAA TQ 2017 - Use of Tannic Acid in the Brewing Industry for Colloidal and Organoleptic StabilityPresentation 23 - The use of tannic acid in the brewing process as a stabilizing agent — 2015 Master Brewers ConferenceDistrict Presentation ArchivesAsk The BrewmastersWBC Connect 2020Webinars on TapUpcoming Events - Master Brewers CalendarCOVID-19