For Yvan de Baets of Brasserie de la Senne, what’s old is new again. All brewing styles shift and develop over time, as tastes change and things come into and fall out of fashion. But for this student of Belgian brewing history, the lack of hops in contemporary Belgian beers was a stylistic travesty that he needed to remedy. Enter Brasserie de la Senne, which—when it officially opened in Brussels in 2010—doubled the number of operating commercial breweries in the city (the only other one at the time was Cantillon). Over the past decade and a half, the Senne brewery has made a mark not just on drinkers but on fellow brewers the world over, with thoughtful, nuanced, unapologetic takes on Belgian beer styles. From classic extra-pale Taras Boulba to hoppy triple Jambe de Bois, they’ve followed a different path than Belgian compatriots, developing a thumbprint of assertive Noble hopping and multiple forays into mixed fermentation—all driven, de Baets says, by the selfishness of brewing only what they want to drink. In this episode, de Baets discusses how they think about and employ hops in their beers, from selection to timing. He dives deep into the impact of tank geometry on ester production, and credits their squat, wide fermenters with creating a lower-stress environment for their yeast—thus favoring subtlety and reducing higher alcohols. His approach to mixed fermentation, acidity, a new pilsner (influenced by the inimitable Eric Toft of Brauerei Schönram), and science-driven takes on traditional brewing techniques all enter the conversation. De Baets, however, is not a “purist” in any sense of the word, happy to give credit where due and celebrate those who brew with a sense of purpose to keep traditions alive. “American brewers and consumers have saved many traditional Belgian styles that were simply dying in Belgium, because the Belgians didn’t care about them any more, which is a shame and extremely sad,” he says. “Some of the Belgian-style saisons made in the US are better than most of the saisons we have in Belgium. Some Flemish reds are the same. I will not say, of course, that some lambic-like American beers are better than the best of Belgium now, but some are approaching them and extremely, extremely close.” *This episode is brought to you by: * G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): Nearly 2,000 breweries across the US, Canada & Mexico partner with G&D Chillers. Innovative, Modular Designs and no proprietary parts propel G&D ahead as the premier choice for your glycol chilling needs. Breweries you recognize—Russian River, Ninkasi, Jacks Abby, Samuel Adams, and more—trust G&D to chill the beer you love! Call G&D Chillers to discuss your project today or reach out directly at Gdchillers.com BSG (https://bsgcraftbrewing.com/): BSG is partnering with Leopold Bros. to bring a new line of small-batch, handmade malts to brewers and distillers. Leopold Bros. is a family owned floor malting operation and distillery and 2020 James Beard Award Finalist, located in Denver, Colorado. Since brothers Scott and Todd Leopold first opened their doors in 1999, they have created everything from classic unfiltered lagers to a number of spirits, including a wide array of whiskey styles. Learn more about the upcoming malt line by going online to BSGCraftbrewing.com, or contact BSG at 1.800.374.2739. Quantiperm (https://quantiperm.com): Tired of the trial-and-error carbonation processes? Then look at our innovative automated carbonation systems for precise carbonation. These systems handle wide flow ranges to accommodate all your beer, wine, soda, or cider styles. You can even carbonate and directly send the product to a packaging line without tankage! Besides carbonation, QuantiPerm offers robust and economical systems for nitrogenation and water deoxygenation. All our systems have an easy-to-use graphical user interface with reports and graphs that you can pull up on your mobile device. Visit quantiperm.com for more information. Grandstand (https://egrandstand.com/catalog/category/view/id/179): Grandstand is your source for the latest trends in branded drinkware, apparel and promotional items. We make your job easy by serving as your one-stop-shop for everything you need to outfit your taproom and fans. Current trends include to-go drinkware, tie dye prints and portable coolers. Visit egrandstand.com/lookbook to see what’s trending. ABS Commercial (https://www.abs-commercial.com): ABS Commercial is excited to be a part of today’s Podcast! ABS is a full brewery outfitter offering brewhouses, tanks, keg washers and small parts. ABS wanted to do something fun for the craft beer industry, so they are giving away an ABS Keg Viking Keg Washer LIVE on December 5th, which happens to be national repeal day. To enter, go to www.abs-commercial.com, click on “Keg Viking” page and fill out the contest form for your chance to win! Support Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine Podcast

Seattle’s Fremont Brewing is known for fresh hop beers, and over the past decade they’ve engaged in a level of problem solving (on both the logistical and technical sides) that is relatively unparalleled. What started as a small organic experiment with a well-established hop farm has turned into a yearly logistical dance, as harvesters, trucks, and brew staff work in concert to pick hops at the right time, transport them at the right temperature, and get them into batches at just the right moment. In this episode, Director of Brewing Operations Matt Lincoln (who has been with the brewery since day one) explains both the operational challenges the brewery faces to tackle such an ambitious fresh hop program, and how they manage fresh hops through the brewing process. Whether it’s planning their brewing volume based on the season’s yield, using their lauter tun as a hop back with moving rakes to aid extraction, or tweaking temperatures to insure the best outcomes, Fremont has learned much the past decade of brewing these beers at scale. The conversation also moves through how the brewery’s approach to hoppy beers has evolved, pushing more and more hot side hops into the whirlpool to retain aromatics while still achieving the right amount of isomerization for their unapologetically bitter IPAs. Yeast expression is of particular importance, as is managing hop creep, and Lincoln discusses both in depth. Later, he pivots to discuss their approach to barrel aging and blending beers like B-Bomb that have earned the brewery much acclaim. Fresh hop beers are expensive to make with difficult challenges to overcome as brewers and growers manage tricky constraints in time and temperature, but few breweries brew them as well as Fremont does. When you listen to Lincoln explain it, you’ll understand why. *This episode is brought to you by: * G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): Nearly 2,000 breweries across the US, Canada & Mexico partner with G&D Chillers. Innovative, Modular Designs and no proprietary parts propel G&D ahead as the premier choice for your glycol chilling needs. Breweries you recognize—Russian River, Ninkasi, Jacks Abby, Samuel Adams, and more—trust G&D to chill the beer you love! Call G&D Chillers to discuss your project today or reach out directly at Gdchillers.com BSG (https://bsgcraftbrewing.com/) This episode is brought to you by Rahr North Star Pils. A new base malt to set your compass by. Rahr North Star Pils is crafted for brewers looking for a domestic pilsner malt with low color and low modification. North Star Pils carries overtones of honey and sweet bread, supported by flavors and aromas of hay and nutty character. Suitable for any beer style, but particularly craft brewed versions of classic lagers. Let Rahr North Star Pils guide your craft by visiting BSGCraftbrewing.com, or contact BSG at 1.800.374.2739. Quantiperm (https://quantiperm.com): Tired of the trial-and-error carbonation processes? Then look at our innovative automated carbonation systems for precise carbonation. These systems handle wide flow ranges to accommodate all your beer, wine, soda, or cider styles. You can even carbonate and directly send the product to a packaging line without tankage! Besides carbonation, QuantiPerm offers robust and economical systems for nitrogenation and water deoxygenation. All our systems have an easy-to-use graphical user interface with reports and graphs that you can pull up on your mobile device. Visit quantiperm.com for more information. Grandstand (https://egrandstand.com/catalog/category/view/id/179): Grandstand is your source for the latest trends in branded drinkware, apparel and promotional items. We make your job easy by serving as your one-stop-shop for everything you need to outfit your taproom and fans. Current trends include to-go drinkware, tie dye prints and portable coolers. Visit egrandstand.com/lookbook to see what’s trending. ABS Commercial (https://www.abs-commercial.com): ABS Commercial is excited to be a part of today’s Podcast! ABS is a full brewery outfitter offering brewhouses, tanks, keg washers and small parts. ABS wanted to do something fun for the craft beer industry, so they are giving away an ABS Keg Viking Keg Washer LIVE on December 5th, which happens to be national repeal day. To enter, go to www.abs-commercial.com, click on “Keg Viking” page and fill out the contest form for your chance to win!Support Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine Podcast

Brick West head brewer Sam Milne is fanatical about process and technique, and it’s this love of fine tuning small details that stoked his love of brewing lagers years ago. After moving up the ranks at Kulshan Brewing in Bellingham, Washington, he received a full scholarship from the Glen Hay Falconer Foundation to study at the World Academy of Brewing at the Siebel Institute (Chicago) and Doemans Academy (Munich)—an experience that cemented this passion for lagers—and returned to the states to join and launch Brick West. They’ve thrown out the typical brewery playbook, and focused intently on German-style beers like pilsner, helles, hefeweizen, and gose (along with a smattering of west coast IPAs that nod to their proximity to hops-growing regions in Yakima to their west and Idaho to their east). In this conversation, Milne gets into the details that make their beers interesting despite their simplicity—deriving complexity from simple malt bills, carefully tuning mash protocols to achieve finishing gravities that will accentuate the best character of the beer, pH testing mash conversion at each step so as not to linger longer than necessary, managing whirlpool temperatures to achieve proper aroma and bitterness, cone-to-cone pitching for lower yeast stress, krausening and spunding for quality carbonation, and avoiding pumps to minimize oxygen pickup through the brewing and packaging process. Milne’s respect for tradition is paramount, but he pairs that with a tinkerer’s mentality of always finding small ways to make things a little bit better. This episode explores those small things that can have big impact on finished beers. *This episode is brought to you by: * G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): Nearly 2,000 breweries across the US, Canada & Mexico partner with G&D Chillers. Innovative, Modular Designs and no proprietary parts propel G&D ahead as the premier choice for your glycol chilling needs. Breweries you recognize—Russian River, Ninkasi, Jacks Abby, Samuel Adams, and more—trust G&D to chill the beer you love! Call G&D Chillers to discuss your project today or reach out directly at Gdchillers.com BSG (https://bsgcraftbrewing.com/): BSG is partnering with Leopold Bros. to bring a new line of small-batch, handmade malts to brewers and distillers. Leopold Bros. is a family owned floor malting operation and distillery and 2020 James Beard Award Finalist, located in Denver, Colorado. Since brothers Scott and Todd Leopold first opened their doors in 1999, they have created everything from classic unfiltered lagers to a number of spirits, including a wide array of whiskey styles. Learn more about the upcoming malt line by going online to BSGCraftbrewing.com, or contact BSG at 1.800.374.2739. Five Star Chemicals & Supply (https://fivestarchemicals.com): Five Star Chemicals & Supply Inc. is your leading provider of cleaning, sanitizing and adjunct chemicals for breweries, throughout North America and internationally. All products have been formulated with safety, equipment material, and quality in mind. Interested in trying our products? Contact support@fivestarchemicals.com to inquire about a free Craft Brew Sample Pack and only pay the shipping. Cheers to Beer! Grandstand (https://egrandstand.com/catalog/category/view/id/179): Grandstand is your source for the latest trends in branded drinkware, apparel and promotional items. We make your job easy by serving as your one-stop-shop for everything you need to outfit your taproom and fans. Current trends include to-go drinkware, tie dye prints and portable coolers. Visit egrandstand.com/lookbook to see what’s trending. ABS Commercial (https://www.abs-commercial.com): ABS Commercial is excited to be a part of today’s Podcast! ABS is a full brewery outfitter offering brewhouses, tanks, keg washers and small parts. ABS wanted to do something fun for the craft beer industry, so they are giving away an ABS Keg Viking Keg Washer LIVE on December 5th, which happens to be national repeal day. To enter, go to www.abs-commercial.com, click on “Keg Viking” page and fill out the contest form for your chance to win!Support Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine Podcast

In the second of our two-episode Best in Beer podcast extravaganza, Jamie and Joe talk with beer writers Kate Bernot, Samer Khudairi, Stan Hieronymus, and Alex Kidd about their top ten beers of 2020, trends in brewing, impacts of COVID-19 on the beer world, other outstanding breweries, and more. From their outposts in Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles, St. Louis, and Missoula, Montana, these respected writers offer thoughtful insights on breweries to watch, trends you can't ignore, and what makes beers and styles compelling today. *This episode is brought to you by: * G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): Nearly 2,000 breweries across the US, Canada & Mexico partner with G&D Chillers. Innovative, Modular Designs and no proprietary parts propel G&D ahead as the premier choice for your glycol chilling needs. Breweries you recognize—Russian River, Ninkasi, Jacks Abby, Samuel Adams, and more—trust G&D to chill the beer you love! Call G&D Chillers to discuss your project today or reach out directly at Gdchillers.com BSG (https://bsgcraftbrewing.com/) Haze for days in your IPAs! Kerry BioHaze from BSG adds that perfect stable cloudy appearance for your hazy recipe. Made with all-natural materials, BioHaze is a free-flowing microgranular powder that binds with protein molecules in beer that form polyphenol-protein complexes to produce a cloudy haze. This unique product can be added to final beer to give your beer that famous haze. Find out more about BioHaze at BSGCraftbrewing.com, or contact us at 1.800.374.2739. Five Star Chemicals & Supply (https://fivestarchemicals.com): Five Star Chemicals & Supply Inc. is your leading provider of cleaning, sanitizing and adjunct chemicals for breweries, throughout North America and internationally. All products have been formulated with safety, equipment material, and quality in mind. Interested in trying our products? Contact support@fivestarchemicals.com to inquire about a free Craft Brew Sample Pack and only pay the shipping. Cheers to Beer! Grandstand (https://egrandstand.com/catalog/category/view/id/179): Grandstand is your source for the latest trends in branded drinkware, apparel and promotional items. We make your job easy by serving as your one-stop-shop for everything you need to outfit your taproom and fans. Current trends include to-go drinkware, tie dye prints and portable coolers. Visit egrandstand.com/lookbook to see what’s trending. ABS Commercial (https://www.abs-commercial.com): ABS Commercial is excited to be a part of today’s Podcast! ABS is a full brewery outfitter offering brewhouses, tanks, keg washers and small parts. ABS wanted to do something fun for the craft beer industry, so they are giving away an ABS Keg Viking Keg Washer LIVE on December 5th, which happens to be national repeal day. To enter, go to www.abs-commercial.com, click on “Keg Viking” page and fill out the contest form for your chance to win!Support Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine Podcast

2020 was a challenging year for trying new beer, but like everyone has done over the past eight months of shutdowns and socially distancing, we persevered. We were able to taste thousands of beers over the past year at Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine®, between our blind-panel reviews, those sent to us to consider for general coverage, those tasted at various festivals (remember festivals? Yes, we did get to some in the earlier months of this year), and those shared when we visited breweries—not to mention all the ones we bought and enjoyed at home. Once a year, we put our collective heads together and create our Editors' Picks for the Best Beers of the Year. We also poll you, our readers and listeners, for your favorite beers, as well as your favorite breweries of various sizes. In this exhaustive episode, Cofounder and Editorial Director Jamie Bogner and Managing Editor Joe Stange walk through the best beers and breweries of 2020 and the stories behind them. *This episode is brought to you by: * G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): Nearly 2,000 breweries across the US, Canada & Mexico partner with G&D Chillers. Innovative, Modular Designs and no proprietary parts propel G&D ahead as the premier choice for your glycol chilling needs. Breweries you recognize—Russian River, Ninkasi, Jacks Abby, Samuel Adams, and more—trust G&D to chill the beer you love! Call G&D Chillers to discuss your project today or reach out directly at Gdchillers.com BSG (https://bsgcraftbrewing.com/) This episode is brought to you by Rahr North Star Pils. A new base malt to set your compass by. Rahr North Star Pils is crafted for brewers looking for a domestic pilsner malt with low color and low modification. North Star Pils carries overtones of honey and sweet bread, supported by flavors and aromas of hay and nutty character. Suitable for any beer style, but particularly craft brewed versions of classic lagers. Let Rahr North Star Pils guide your craft by visiting BSGCraftbrewing.com, or contact BSG at 1.800.374.2739. Five Star Chemicals & Supply (https://fivestarchemicals.com): Five Star Chemicals & Supply Inc. is your leading provider of cleaning, sanitizing and adjunct chemicals for breweries, throughout North America and internationally. All products have been formulated with safety, equipment material, and quality in mind. Interested in trying our products? Contact support@fivestarchemicals.com to inquire about a free Craft Brew Sample Pack and only pay the shipping. Cheers to Beer! Grandstand (https://egrandstand.com/catalog/category/view/id/179): Grandstand is your source for the latest trends in branded drinkware, apparel and promotional items. We make your job easy by serving as your one-stop-shop for everything you need to outfit your taproom and fans. Current trends include to-go drinkware, tie dye prints and portable coolers. Visit egrandstand.com/lookbook to see what’s trending. ABS Commercial (https://www.abs-commercial.com): ABS Commercial is excited to be a part of today’s Podcast! ABS is a full brewery outfitter offering brewhouses, tanks, keg washers and small parts. ABS wanted to do something fun for the craft beer industry, so they are giving away an ABS Keg Viking Keg Washer LIVE on December 5th, which happens to be national repeal day. To enter, go to www.abs-commercial.com, click on “Keg Viking” page and fill out the contest form for your chance to win!Support Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine Podcast

For Kevin Stafford, Head Brewer and Cofounder of New York’s Finback Brewery, exploration and creative expression has always been the brewery’s goal, as they wholeheartedly embrace the new. But there’s a certain cohesiveness to the range of their experimentation that grounds it. They’re not purists and don’t subscribe to the artificial limitations imposed by style—what matters is that it tastes good, and evokes a spirit of playfulness. In this episode, Stafford talks about their approach to hazy IPA, unexpected hops combinations, using ingredients like coconut in flavored IPAs, and tracking customer feedback loops like Untappd scores to help understand customers’ tastes. With their rich dessert stouts, he discusses adjunct processes around ingredients with high fat content such as nuts, which can pose challenges in the brewhouse, and he discusses additions of high-sugar ingredients (such as Froot Loops cereal) while fermentation is still active. Body in big stouts is very important, and he walks through how they build it without some of the sweetness inherent in lactose approaches. “If that imperial stout coats the glass—when you rotate the glass a little bit—as long as it sticks and makes the glass brown, and stays there for a while—that makes me happy,” says Stafford. “I don’t care if there’s no head.” What does matter to Stafford is maintaining a spirit of weirdness and creativity, putting coconut in everything, and constantly challenging themselves to find new possibilities in the beer they make. *This episode is brought to you by: * G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): Nearly 2,000 breweries across the US, Canada & Mexico partner with G&D Chillers. Innovative, Modular Designs and no proprietary parts propel G&D ahead as the premier choice for your glycol chilling needs. Breweries you recognize—Russian River, Ninkasi, Jacks Abby, Samuel Adams, and more—trust G&D to chill the beer you love! Call G&D Chillers to discuss your project today or reach out directly at Gdchillers.com BSG (https://bsgcraftbrewing.com/): BSG is partnering with Leopold Bros. to bring a new line of small-batch, handmade malts to brewers and distillers. Leopold Bros. is a family owned floor malting operation and distillery and 2020 James Beard Award Finalist, located in Denver, Colorado. Since brothers Scott and Todd Leopold first opened their doors in 1999, they have created everything from classic unfiltered lagers to a number of spirits, including a wide array of whiskey styles. Learn more about the upcoming malt line by going online to BSGCraftbrewing.com, or contact BSG at 1.800.374.2739. Five Star Chemicals & Supply (https://fivestarchemicals.com): Five Star Chemicals & Supply Inc. is your leading provider of cleaning, sanitizing and adjunct chemicals for breweries, throughout North America and internationally. All products have been formulated with safety, equipment material, and quality in mind. Interested in trying our products? Contact support@fivestarchemicals.com to inquire about a free Craft Brew Sample Pack and only pay the shipping. Cheers to Beer! Yakima Valley Hops (https://www.yakimavalleyhops.com/Default.asp): Yakima Valley Hops is your hop source whether you are brewing 5 gallons or 5 barrels. Get all the hops you want, when you want them. We source the highest quality hops from the Yakima Valley and premium growing regions around the world so that you have access to the largest hop portfolio possible—even the hard to find varieties like Citra®, Nelson Sauvin, and Galaxy®. Homebrewers: YakimaValleyHops.com // Wholesale: SpotHops.com ABS Commercial (https://www.abs-commercial.com): ABS Commercial is excited to be a part of today’s Podcast! ABS is a full brewery outfitter offering brewhouses, tanks, keg washers and small parts. ABS wanted to do something fun for the craft beer industry, so they are giving away an ABS Keg Viking Keg Washer LIVE on December 5th, which happens to be national repeal day. To enter, go to www.abs-commercial.com, click on “Keg Viking” page and fill out the contest form for your chance to win!Support Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine Podcast

For Madison, Wisconsin-based entrepreneur/blender/iconoclast Levi Funk, the apparent conflict in philosophies between his two brands isn’t a conflict at all. While his blendery and passion project, Funk Factory Gueuzeria, is focused exclusively on spontaneously fermented and wild ales, the more recent launch of his Untitled Art brand is a radical departure, with its focus on cutting-edge current styles like hazy IPA, heavily fruited kettle sours, and even hard seltzer. Still, for Funk, these two approaches aren’t as divergent as they may seem. As one of the earlier spontaneous brewers in the United States, he took risks to test a concept and develop a practice that could work. Untitled Art continues that experimentation and risk-taking in beers that he also enjoys drinking—even if they are very different than the spontaneous beers that put him on the map. In this episode, Funk discusses both, talking through his approach to spontaneous brewing and blending, from breaking rakes in the breweries that make his wort, to understanding which flavors will and won’t age out of wild and spontaneous barrels. He discusses blending strategies, his own palate and how it impacts the beers, their methods for adding fruit, and more. As the conversation turns to Untitled Art, Funk focuses more on business than brewing, delving into the unusual business structures he’s developed with distributors in their 23-state footprint. He’s built a brand by breaking all the rules, with no appeal to geography or locality, no personally identifying elements in the brand, no salespeople, and no marketing budget. Yet the brand’s lack of communication has become a selling point, as consumers engage and enjoy the beers on their own merits. Untitled Art has embraced hard seltzer with open arms, working to overcome the disdain that a number of brewers have for the segment. “It’s the most recent iteration of an evolution in beer that a certain group of breweries are going to write off and say ‘this is not beer,’” says Funk. “But I bet you that 90 percent of the beer that brewery makes, at some point in history there was a group of brewers who said, ‘That is not beer.’” *This episode is brought to you by: * G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): Nearly 2,000 breweries across the US, Canada & Mexico partner with G&D Chillers. Innovative, Modular Designs and no proprietary parts propel G&D ahead as the premier choice for your glycol chilling needs. Breweries you recognize—Russian River, Ninkasi, Jacks Abby, Samuel Adams, and more—trust G&D to chill the beer you love! Call G&D Chillers to discuss your project today or reach out directly at Gdchillers.com BSG (https://bsgcraftbrewing.com/) Haze for days in your IPAs! Kerry BioHaze from BSG adds that perfect stable cloudy appearance for your hazy recipe. Made with all-natural materials, BioHaze is a free-flowing microgranular powder that binds with protein molecules in beer that form polyphenol-protein complexes to produce a cloudy haze. This unique product can be added to final beer to give your beer that famous haze. Find out more about BioHaze at BSGCraftbrewing.com, or contact us at 1.800.374.2739. Five Star Chemicals & Supply (https://fivestarchemicals.com): Five Star Chemicals & Supply Inc. is your leading provider of cleaning, sanitizing and adjunct chemicals for breweries, throughout North America and internationally. All products have been formulated with safety, equipment material, and quality in mind. Interested in trying our products? Contact support@fivestarchemicals.com to inquire about a free Craft Brew Sample Pack and only pay the shipping. Cheers to Beer! Yakima Valley Hops (https://www.yakimavalleyhops.com/Default.asp): Yakima Valley Hops is your hop source whether you are brewing 5 gallons or 5 barrels. Get all the hops you want, when you want them. We source the highest quality hops from the Yakima Valley and premium growing regions around the world so that you have access to the largest hop portfolio possible—even the hard to find varieties like Citra®, Nelson Sauvin, and Galaxy®. Homebrewers: YakimaValleyHops.com // Wholesale: SpotHops.com ABS Commercial (https://www.abs-commercial.com): ABS Commercial is excited to be a part of today’s Podcast! ABS is a full brewery outfitter offering brewhouses, tanks, keg washers and small parts. ABS wanted to do something fun for the craft beer industry, so they are giving away an ABS Keg Viking Keg Washer LIVE on December 5th, which happens to be national repeal day. To enter, go to www.abs-commercial.com, click on “Keg Viking” page and fill out the contest form for your chance to win!Support Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine Podcast

"I’ve become a traditionalist. I’m more interested in going backwards,” says Mike Karnowski, founder of Zebulon Artisan Ales. “As I see what craft beer is turning into, I’m turning around and running back to the 1800s.” Karnowski loves exploring the rich history of brewing, working together with brewing historian Ron Pattinson to re-create recipes from the forgotten brew logs of the past three centuries. At a time when “innovation” tends to mean jumping on the latest trend, Zebulon instead looks backward, creating engaging beers that tell stories and shine light on periods in brewing history. It’s an unusual approach to “innovation,” but it's one that has found a growing audience, as a subset of beer fans pivot from the pop hits of today and seek connection to brewing’s past. To realize that creative vision, Karnowski has kept Zebulon purposefully small—a seven-barrel brewhouse produces limited runs of each beer, and the brewery employs just Mike and his wife Gabe. Together, they do it all, from brewing to packaging to compliance to taxes, and even manning the bar for the limited taproom hours every week. They may be focused, but they’re not crazy; they understand that the key to being free to explore these pathways in brewing is to keep the overhead low. In this episode, Karnowski talks about his experience brewing a number of historical beers, from imperial-strength 19th century “mild” that bears little resemblance to its current definition, to 1750s beers with smoked malt, an extremely low-ABV WWI-era beer that resembles beer-flavored seltzer, and post-war IPA that would be unrecognizable to IPA drinkers today. Along the way, he discusses producing diastatic brown malt, how to create invert sugars necessary to brew historic English styles, using black malt without the associated off flavors, and more. *This episode is brought to you by: * G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): Nearly 2,000 breweries across the US, Canada & Mexico partner with G&D Chillers. Innovative, Modular Designs and no proprietary parts propel G&D ahead as the premier choice for your glycol chilling needs. Breweries you recognize—Russian River, Ninkasi, Jacks Abby, Samuel Adams, and more—trust G&D to chill the beer you love! Call G&D Chillers to discuss your project today or reach out directly at Gdchillers.com BSG (https://bsgcraftbrewing.com/) This episode is brought to you by Rahr North Star Pils. A new base malt to set your compass by. Rahr North Star Pils is crafted for brewers looking for a domestic pilsner malt with low color and low modification. North Star Pils carries overtones of honey and sweet bread, supported by flavors and aromas of hay and nutty character. Suitable for any beer style, but particularly craft brewed versions of classic lagers. Let Rahr North Star Pils guide your craft by visiting BSGCraftbrewing.com, or contact BSG at 1.800.374.2739. Five Star Chemicals & Supply (https://fivestarchemicals.com): Five Star Chemicals & Supply Inc. is your leading provider of cleaning, sanitizing and adjunct chemicals for breweries, throughout North America and internationally. All products have been formulated with safety, equipment material, and quality in mind. Interested in trying our products? Contact support@fivestarchemicals.com to inquire about a free Craft Brew Sample Pack and only pay the shipping. Cheers to Beer! Yakima Valley Hops (https://www.yakimavalleyhops.com/Default.asp): Yakima Valley Hops is your hop source whether you are brewing 5 gallons or 5 barrels. Get all the hops you want, when you want them. We source the highest quality hops from the Yakima Valley and premium growing regions around the world so that you have access to the largest hop portfolio possible—even the hard to find varieties like Citra®, Nelson Sauvin, and Galaxy®. Homebrewers: YakimaValleyHops.com // Wholesale: SpotHops.com ABS Commercial (https://www.abs-commercial.com): ABS Commercial is excited to be a part of today’s Podcast! ABS is a full brewery outfitter offering brewhouses, tanks, keg washers and small parts. ABS wanted to do something fun for the craft beer industry, so they are giving away an ABS Keg Viking Keg Washer LIVE on December 5th, which happens to be national repeal day. To enter, go to www.abs-commercial.com, click on “Keg Viking” page and fill out the contest form for your chance to win!Support Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine Podcast

For Jake Gardner, Head Brewer of Westbound & Down (Idaho Springs, Colorado), brewing means defining goals for a beer and mapping out the way to achieve those goals, naming the challenges and articulating solutions at each step of the process. Proceeding in a thoroughly planned and detailed manner brings clarity to the process, and the methodical approach has served Gardner well over his past decade in professional brewing. After chasing a medal in the hotly contested Imperial IPA category at GABF and World Beer Cup, Gardner’s patience and approach was rewarded in 2019 with a silver medal. But the Westbound & Down approach is anything but conventional—with English yeast strains and specific bittering hops that scrub off the palate quickly, the brewery has carved out a soft and fruity yet bright and tightly controlled niche in the broader world of West Coast IPA. They continue to expand that niche with creative explorations of contemporary hops, yeast experimentation, and focusing on the minutiae of brewing that make a big impact on the finished beer. In the barleywine category, Gardner has called upon his background in brewing English-style ales at Hogshead in Denver, and discusses the various design concerns for these barrel-aged beers designed to age. From managing free amino nitrogen to double mashing and dialing back oxidative malts, Gardner discusses the ways they’ve built their medal-winning Louie barleywine to taste great not only when fresh, but also with a few years under its belt as it ages and oxidizes gracefully. *This episode is brought to you by: * G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): Nearly 2,000 breweries across the US, Canada & Mexico partner with G&D Chillers. Innovative, Modular Designs and no proprietary parts propel G&D ahead as the premier choice for your glycol chilling needs. Breweries you recognize—Russian River, Ninkasi, Jacks Abby, Samuel Adams, and more—trust G&D to chill the beer you love! Call G&D Chillers to discuss your project today or reach out directly at Gdchillers.com BSG (https://bsgcraftbrewing.com/): BSG is partnering with Leopold Bros. to bring a new line of small-batch, handmade malts to brewers and distillers. Leopold Bros. is a family owned floor malting operation and distillery and 2020 James Beard Award Finalist, located in Denver, Colorado. Since brothers Scott and Todd Leopold first opened their doors in 1999, they have created everything from classic unfiltered lagers to a number of spirits, including a wide array of whiskey styles. Learn more about the upcoming malt line by going online to BSGCraftbrewing.com, or contact BSG at 1.800.374.2739. Mountain Rose Herbs (https://mountainroseherbs.com): This episode is brought to you by Mountain Rose Herbs, purveyors of the highest quality, organic herbs, spices, and teas. Whether you want to add depth to your next golden tripel with classic notes of cinnamon, pepper and clove, or artfully layer exotic, zesty grains of paradise into a perfect ale, adding botanicals to your brewing is an easy way to customize a delicious flavor profile. Mountain Rose Herbs has been providing organic herbs and spices to chefs, herbalists, and dedicated brewers for more than three decades. Learn more at mountainroseherbs.com and get 10% off of your first order with the code “craftbeer10”. Yakima Valley Hops (https://www.yakimavalleyhops.com/Default.asp): Yakima Valley Hops is your hop source whether you are brewing 5 gallons or 5 barrels. Get all the hops you want, when you want them. We source the highest quality hops from the Yakima Valley and premium growing regions around the world so that you have access to the largest hop portfolio possible—even the hard to find varieties like Citra®, Nelson Sauvin, and Galaxy®. Homebrewers: YakimaValleyHops.com // Wholesale: SpotHops.com ABS Commercial (https://www.abs-commercial.com): ABS Commercial is excited to be a part of today’s Podcast! ABS is a full brewery outfitter offering brewhouses, tanks, keg washers and small parts. ABS wanted to do something fun for the craft beer industry, so they are giving away an ABS Keg Viking Keg Washer LIVE on December 5th, which happens to be national repeal day. To enter, go to www.abs-commercial.com, click on “Keg Viking” page and fill out the contest form for your chance to win!Support Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine Podcast

Grains of Wrath’s Mike Hunsaker has never been afraid to work for his success, and that journey of working and learning has led him to brewing gigs from Virginia to Cleveland and Oregon. Today, as Cofounder and Head Brewer for Grains of Wrath (Vancouver, Washington), he’s focused not just on commercial success, but also on making beers that his peers respect. “I’m happy with making a little less money, but having more respect, as far as what we’re doing here and how we go about our business,” says Hunsaker. In this episode, Hunsaker discusses both his approach to new-school West coast IPAs, and his approach to lagers like his twice GABF medal-winning Vienna Lager. The conversation covers: Tweaking the malt blend in IPAs based on the oil content of hops Regional variations in approaches to malt in IPA The impacts of Munich, Vienna, and Carablonde when blended in West coast IPA Blending hops for maximum impact Hot and cold side hopping regimens Planning for hops creep and adjusting recipes and techniques With each new crop year, testing varieties for hops creep culprits Bittering lagers with low-alpha hops And much more *This episode is brought to you by: * G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): Nearly 2,000 breweries across the US, Canada & Mexico partner with G&D Chillers. Innovative, Modular Designs and no proprietary parts propel G&D ahead as the premier choice for your glycol chilling needs. Breweries you recognize—Russian River, Ninkasi, Jacks Abby, Samuel Adams, and more—trust G&D to chill the beer you love! Call G&D Chillers to discuss your project today or reach out directly at Gdchillers.com BSG (https://bsgcraftbrewing.com/): Haze for days in your IPAs! Kerry BioHaze from BSG adds that perfect stable cloudy appearance for your hazy recipe. Made with all-natural materials, BioHaze is a free-flowing microgranular powder that binds with protein molecules in beer that form polyphenol-protein complexes to produce a cloudy haze. This unique product can be added to final beer to give your beer that famous haze. Find out more about BioHaze at bsgcraftbrewing.com, or contact us at 1.800.374.2739. Mountain Rose Herbs (https://mountainroseherbs.com): This episode is brought to you by Mountain Rose Herbs, purveyors of the highest quality, organic herbs, spices, and teas. Whether you want to add depth to your next golden tripel with classic notes of cinnamon, pepper and clove, or artfully layer exotic, zesty grains of paradise into a perfect ale, adding botanicals to your brewing is an easy way to customize a delicious flavor profile. Mountain Rose Herbs has been providing organic herbs and spices to chefs, herbalists, and dedicated brewers for more than three decades. Learn more at mountainroseherbs.com and get 10% off of your first order with the code “craftbeer10”. Yakima Valley Hops (https://www.yakimavalleyhops.com/Default.asp): Yakima Valley Hops is your hop source whether you are brewing 5 gallons or 5 barrels. Get all the hops you want, when you want them. We source the highest quality hops from the Yakima Valley and premium growing regions around the world so that you have access to the largest hop portfolio possible—even the hard to find varieties like Citra®, Nelson Sauvin, and Galaxy®. Homebrewers: YakimaValleyHops.com // Wholesale: SpotHops.com ABE Beverage Equipment (https://ABEequipment.com): ABE Beverage Equipment provides complete brewing and packaging solutions worldwide. Whether you are just starting out or are looking to expand, ABE offers brewhouses, tanks, canning lines and more for small to medium sized brewers. ABE has equipped over one thousand breweries worldwide and has the best customer service in the industry. Call ABE Beverage Equipment at 402-475-BEER or visit ABEequipment.com to learn more. That’s ABEequipment.com for complete brewing and packaging solutions. Support Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine Podcast