Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine Podcast

Ethan Frisch, co-founder of Burlap & Barrel, connects small farmers to spice markets, while Bryan Selders oversees R&D at Dogfish Head, known for its innovative brews. They dive into the global quest for flavor inspiration, exploring the complexities of spices like cinnamon and the nuances between sour, sweet, and savory. The conversation highlights how unique spices can elevate beer and emphasizes ethical sourcing's impact on flavor innovation, showcasing brewing as an ever-evolving culinary art.

Join brewmaster Matt Brynildson of Firestone Walker, Henrik Fentie from Sweden’s Omnipollo, and Enzo Frauenschuh of Germany's Frau Gruber as they dive into the world of barrel-aged stouts. They explore the balance between sweetness and drinkability, the artistry of flavor creation, and the challenges of developing robust recipes across continents. Their discussion reveals the impact of temperature and ingredients on barrel aging and highlights the innovative spirit driving collaborations in craft brewing—showcasing the seamless blend of tradition and modernity.

The Best in Beer theme continues this week, as contributing editor Kate Bernot and hops insider Stan Hieronymus sit down with executive editor Joe Stange and cofounder and editorial director Jamie Bogner. Together, they discuss their personal favorites from the past year in beer, round-robin style, recorded live at Craft Beer & Brewing office in Fort Collins, Colorado. They each discuss their own top 10 beers as well as most their compelling beer experiences, meanwhile offering thoughts on trends that should give hope for the future of craft brewing around the world. While we determine the magazine’s Best 20 Beers in 2024 via a combination of blind judges’ scores through the year plus additional blind tasting among this same crew, their personal picks are their own—from hedonistic choices to compelling stories that tell beer stories through their own eyes. This episode is brought to you by: G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): At G&D Chillers they always strive to Build Great Chillers. Partner with them as you Build Great Beer. Choose G&D Chillers on your next Expansion or Brewery start up and receive 1 free year of Remote control and Monitoring of your new G&D Chiller! ProBrew (https://www.probrew.com) “ProBrew is excited to now offer 2-4 week lead times on all in-stock ProFill Rotary Can Filler and Seamers. This special lead time is only while supplies last, so send us an email at contactus@probrew.com or call us at 262-278-4945. ProBrew, Brew YOUR Beer.” Old Orchard (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer): Berry Blend, Blood Orange, Lemonade, and Tart Cherry are the latest additions to our lineup of flavored craft juice concentrate blends. To learn more and request your free samples, head over to oldorchard.com/brewer Omega Yeast (https://omegayeast.com): Experience distinct transparency and juiciness with Omega Yeast’s DayBreak-V. We've genetically eliminated haze in the popular British-V strain, allowing you to preserve the fruit-boosting prowess while achieving crystal clarity. Learn more at info@omegayeast.com. Five Star Chemical (https://fivestarchemicals.com) Our cleaning solutions are specifically formulated to meet the unique needs of breweries, ensuring that your equipment stays clean and free of harmful bacteria and contaminants. From cleaning fermenters to kegs, we have a solution for every step of the brewing process. RSS Maclin (https://RSSMACLIN.com) provides the training and resources breweries of all sizes need to ensure the exceptional quality of your product remains the same from beginning to end. For more information, visit RSSMACLIN.com or email Service@rssmaclin.com Indie Hops (https://indiehops.com) breeds new hop varieties to help brewers captivate beer lovers. Brewers worldwide trust Indie’s unique varieties — Strata, Lórien, Luminosa, Meridian and Audacia — to modernize, brighten and diversify their beer lineup. Visit indiehops.com/podcast to discover what’s new in hop flavors. Berkeley Yeast (https://berkeleyyeast.com). Superbloom strains make classic hops flavor; Fresh strains keep diacetyl low even with large hop additions; Tropics strains make a tropical bouquet reminiscent of the finest southern hemisphere hops. Mention this podcast for 20% off your first order.Support Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine Podcast

Our annual issue on the very Best in Beer today hits subscribers alongside this special, once-per-year episode of the Craft Beer & Brewing podcast. Hosts Jamie Bogner and Joe Stange reveal results from our annual Readers’ Choice survey—including your favorite breweries, beers, bars, and destination cities—as well as our Best 20 Beers in 2024, decided through a year of blind judging, and finally culminating in careful consideration by our editorial team, including Stan Hieronymus and Kate Bernot. It’s an episode filled with insight, experiences, trends, memories, and even a few hot takes, as we take a closer look at the absolute Best in Beer today. This episode is brought to you by: G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): At G&D Chillers they always strive to Build Great Chillers. Partner with them as you Build Great Beer. Choose G&D Chillers on your next Expansion or Brewery start up and receive 1 free year of Remote control and Monitoring of your new G&D Chiller! ProBrew (https://www.probrew.com) “ProBrew is excited to now offer 2-4 week lead times on all in-stock ProFill Rotary Can Filler and Seamers. This special lead time is only while supplies last, so send us an email at contactus@probrew.com or call us at 262-278-4945. ProBrew, Brew YOUR Beer.” Old Orchard (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer): Berry Blend, Blood Orange, Lemonade, and Tart Cherry are the latest additions to our lineup of flavored craft juice concentrate blends. To learn more and request your free samples, head over to oldorchard.com/brewer Omega Yeast (https://omegayeast.com): Experience distinct transparency and juiciness with Omega Yeast’s DayBreak-V. We've genetically eliminated haze in the popular British-V strain, allowing you to preserve the fruit-boosting prowess while achieving crystal clarity. Learn more at info@omegayeast.com. Five Star Chemical (https://fivestarchemicals.com) Our cleaning solutions are specifically formulated to meet the unique needs of breweries, ensuring that your equipment stays clean and free of harmful bacteria and contaminants. From cleaning fermenters to kegs, we have a solution for every step of the brewing process. RSS Maclin (https://RSSMACLIN.com) provides the training and resources breweries of all sizes need to ensure the exceptional quality of your product remains the same from beginning to end. For more information, visit RSSMACLIN.com or email Service@rssmaclin.com Indie Hops (https://indiehops.com) breeds new hop varieties to help brewers captivate beer lovers. Brewers worldwide trust Indie’s unique varieties — Strata, Lórien, Luminosa, Meridian and Audacia — to modernize, brighten and diversify their beer lineup. Visit indiehops.com/podcast to discover what’s new in hop flavors. Berkeley Yeast (https://berkeleyyeast.com). Superbloom strains make classic hops flavor; Fresh strains keep diacetyl low even with large hop additions; Tropics strains make a tropical bouquet reminiscent of the finest southern hemisphere hops. Mention this podcast for 20% off your first order. FOBAB (https:fobab.com). Sample more than 350 one-of-a-kind barrel-aged beer, cider, mead and perry from 13 style categories and cheer on your favorite breweries as they compete for top honors in the nationally recognized competition. It’s all happening at the Festival of Wood & Barrel-Aged Beer in Chicago November 22nd and 23rd. Get your tickets now at fobab.com.Support Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine Podcast

Steve Parker, co-founder of Fidens, shares insights on crafting award-winning hazy IPAs. Kelsey McNair of North Park Beer Company discusses the unique flavor profiles of West Coast and East Coast iterations. Scott Janish from Sapwood Cellars delves into the evolution of New England-style IPAs and balancing bitterness in hazy brews. They explore innovative dry hopping techniques, maximizing hop extraction, and optimizing haze while minimizing off-flavors. Join them for a deep dive into the art and science behind one of craft beer's most popular styles!

In this engaging discussion, Vinnie Cilurzo, Brewmaster of Russian River Brewing, Doug Reiser, Head Brewer at Burial Beer, and Khris Johnson, Head Brewer at Green Bench Brewing, share their expertise on crafting West Coast IPAs. They dive into innovative dry hopping techniques and the significance of lesser-known hop varieties. The brewers discuss balancing body and hop intensity, optimizing water chemistry, and the impact of using flowable hop products. Their collaborative spirit shines as they explore the complexities of brewing while answering audience questions.

As a trained food scientist with 20 years of experience in the field, Eric Tennant entered the brewing world with a bit more background than most. And that background has served him well, as he considers both ingredients and processes required to achieve the beer flavors he envisions. Over the past few years, he’s focused Benchtop around foeder-aged lagers, but the constraints of the small brewery have led to a number of innovative process solutions. The techniques that he applies are making award-winning beer, too—Benchtop just recently took home a silver medal in Zwickelbier or Kellerbier at GABF, and their barrel-aged barleywine, Old Wooden Ship, was one of Craft Beer & Brewing’s 20 best beers of 2023. In this episode, Tennant discusses: crafting a hybrid approach to lager that’s part Czech, and part German decocting in a brewhouse not designed for it polishing beer through lagering without head pressure in oak foeders increasing IBUs in lager recipes to offset the mellowing effect of foeder aging double batching with different recipes optimized for two different mash processes checking COAs and manipulating mashes to fit the malt protecting foam potential when wood aging brewing barrel-aged English barleywine And more. This episode is brought to you by: G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): At G&D Chillers they always strive to Build Great Chillers. Partner with them as you Build Great Beer. Choose G&D Chillers on your next Expansion or Brewery start up and receive 1 free year of Remote control and Monitoring of your new G&D Chiller! ProBrew (https://www.probrew.com) “ProBrew is excited to now offer 2-4 week lead times on all in-stock ProFill Rotary Can Filler and Seamers. This special lead time is only while supplies last, so send us an email at contactus@probrew.com or call us at 262-278-4945. ProBrew, Brew YOUR Beer.” Old Orchard (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer): Berry Blend, Blood Orange, Lemonade, and Tart Cherry are the latest additions to our lineup of flavored craft juice concentrate blends. To learn more and request your free samples, head over to oldorchard.com/brewer Omega Yeast (https://omegayeast.com): Experience distinct transparency and juiciness with Omega Yeast’s DayBreak-V. We've genetically eliminated haze in the popular British-V strain, allowing you to preserve the fruit-boosting prowess while achieving crystal clarity. Learn more at info@omegayeast.com. Five Star Chemical (https://fivestarchemicals.com) Our cleaning solutions are specifically formulated to meet the unique needs of breweries, ensuring that your equipment stays clean and free of harmful bacteria and contaminants. From cleaning fermenters to kegs, we have a solution for every step of the brewing process. Indie Hops (https://indiehops.com) breeds new hop varieties to help brewers captivate beer lovers. Brewers worldwide trust Indie’s unique varieties — Strata, Lórien, Luminosa, Meridian and Audacia — to modernize, brighten and diversify their beer lineup. Visit indiehops.com/podcast to discover what’s new in hop flavors. Berkeley Yeast (https://berkeleyyeast.com). Superbloom strains make classic hops flavor; Fresh strains keep diacetyl low even with large hop additions; Tropics strains make a tropical bouquet reminiscent of the finest southern hemisphere hops. Mention this podcast for 20% off your first order.Support Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine Podcast

Alex Lawes is the cofounder of Whiplash, a Dublin brewery famous for its low-ABV beers and innovative techniques like the mash press filter. Grzegorz Ziemian co-founded Stu Mostów in Poland, known for reviving historical beer styles. They delve into advanced brewing techniques, such as achieving concentrated flavors without extended boils and managing low-ABV recipes. Ziemian discusses recreating historical brews like schöps and expanding the range of grodziskie. The conversation is a captivating blend of tradition and innovation in the craft beer scene.

John Hoolihan, founder of Brewlihan Meadery and a leader in innovative mead-making, shares his journey of transforming a homebrewing hobby into a top-ranked meadery. He dives into the science behind creating the perfect balance of flavors, using diverse honey varieties and tweaking acidity and tannins. Hoolihan discusses the challenges of fermentation with multiple yeast strains and highlights the importance of local ingredients in crafting unique mead profiles. His insights shed light on scaling production while maintaining quality and flavor.

Andrew Foss, head brewer of Human Robot, shares insights into crafting unique lagers with character rather than just cleanliness. He discusses the art of decoction mashing and a direct-fire brewhouse, which allows for complex flavors through innovative mash strategies. Foss highlights the importance of 'the wave' for mouthfeel and embraces using inconsistent malts for richer taste. He emphasizes intentional brewing practices that shape aroma and flavor, pushing past traditional definitions of lagers to create something truly exceptional.