Category: Production
Phantasm: The Magical Mystery of Thiols Explained
It’s not unusual for brewers to trade information about new hop varieties and text or email one another about how to best use experimental varieties. The products usually involve a big hop company that has heavily invested in a years long research project, sending the new varieties out for testing to a few select breweries. But some ingredients fly even further under the radar.
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Expert Topic Sustainable Solutions for Clean Water in the Brewing Industry
The importance of water cannot be understated, not just for beer but for life. As draught conditions persist in certain areas of the country and polluted supplies are becoming more common in others, brewers are taking the necessary steps now to be thinking about clean water.
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Expert Topic ‘Tis the Season – Zach Beckwith Talks About How to Best Serve Fresh Hop IPA’s
There is a certain love that comes with a fresh pint of fresh hopped IPA that gets beer fans of all stripes a sense of wonder and delight. While some will think that these beers should be consumed within hours of being brewed or packaged there are some brewers who believe giving these beers a little bit of time is beneficial to everyone.
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Sponsored Is My Fruit Pureé Aseptic (and Why Should I Care)?
The word aseptic comes from two Greek roots that mean, in essence, not toxic. The aseptic manufacturing process preserves foods and beverages through rapid heat treatment followed by rapid cooling under sterile conditions. By using aseptic processing, potentially harmful microbes are eliminated from products, making perishable fruit pureés shelf-stable and safe for consumption. But that’s not all that aseptic processing and packaging does.What is aseptic fruit pureé?
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Sponsored 2022 Flavor Trends that Brewers Should Know About
In 2022, people are more motivated than ever to eat and drink healthier. Retro themes are popping up as people escape to pre-pandemic days. On the other hand, they’re also feeling a little stir crazy and ready to travel. It’s likely that two years of global pandemic are having a big impact on lifestyle trends. As a result, consumers are motivated by health concerns, nostalgia, and the call to adventure. That combo should give daring brewers plenty of inspiration for novel fruit beers.
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Expert Topic Yakima Brewer Kevin Quinn on a Changing Climate and Hop Farming
Climate change is on the mind of every farmer and grower in the Pacific Northwest these days. From the average temperature rising over two degrees over the last several decades, to wildfires, and unusual rain patterns, there is a lot to be thinking about and acting upon not to mitigate problems in the future.
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Expert Topic Sugar Creek Malt’s Caleb Michalke Discusses Rauchmalt
As craft malting continues to rise in popularity and farmers are reviving traditions, brewers are looking for ways to have their beer stand out on the marketplace. While rauchbiers aren’t breaking any sales records there is a loyal set of fans who are looking for a smoky fix.
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Expert Topic Lance Shaner of Omega Yeast Talks About Latest Innovations in Yeast
While hops get a lot of the attention from brewers and drinkers alike, and malt has intrigue, especially as the craft segment of that ingredient is on the rise, there is another area that deserves renewed focus.
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Expert Topic Best Practices For Fruit Purees
Fruit beers are having a moment. Once subjected to derision among serious beer geeks, often due to the abundance of sickly sweet versions, modern fruit beers often employ a steadier hand and seek to achieve some balance. The days of adding blueberry juice to a bland base beer are in the rear view and the technology fruit infusions employ have substantially improved from the days of having to hand juice fresh fruit.
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News Brewers Publications Releases ‘Gluten-Free Brewing: Techniques, Processes, and Ingredients for Crafting Flavorful Beer’
No barley, no wheat, no rye? No problem! Gluten-Free Brewing: Techniques, Processes, and Ingredients for Crafting Flavorful Beer is the latest book release from Brewers Publications.
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Expert Topic Dan Suarez on Using Local Farms for Fresh Brewing Ingredients
While the act of adding fruit, vegetables, and herbs is nothing new for beer, the pace in which brewers have been tinkering with recipes using those ingredients has certainly increased. There are companies that make it easier than ever to get garden-fresh flavors into beers via powders, purees, and extracts, but for smaller operations or special one-offs, using fresh is still best.
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Expert Topic Chris Lohring of Notch Brewing Discusses Brewing Craft Beer with Corn
Chris Lohring once called corn “the most vilified grain in all of American brewing.” He also argues that it is one of the most traditional and historically important brewing ingredients. As the founder of Notch Brewing in Massachusetts, Lohring has long fought against such unjust brewing notions, has brewed multiple beers with corn, and offers some advice for those who may be interested in exploring this historic often ridiculed ingredient.
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News BA to Hold Hopsource in Yakima for Its Fifth Year
Brewers Association (BA) staff will conduct the Hopsource hop sensory assessment in Yakima, Washington again in 2022. Brewers and industry members visiting Yakima for hop selection will have the opportunity to evaluate over 20 varieties of hops that are being considered for advancement in the BA-funded United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Public Hop Breeding Program.
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Expert Topic James Priest Talks About Using Honey as an Ingredient
In a world where just about everything is added to beers to increase flavor or bring new delight to a pint, it is fitting that honey, the sweet nectar that mankind has been enjoying for more than 8,000 years, is enjoying a renewed turn in ales and lager.
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News 2022 Hop Yield May Be Down by 20% in Germany – Average Yield Expected in US
The global hop company BarthHaas has said in its August report that its German hop crop is estimated to be down by as much as 20% vs. 2021. The early maturing varieties such as Hallertau Mittelfrüh, Northern Brewer, Traditional and Perle) have been affected the most.
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Understanding Your Water Footprint and its Impact on the Climate
When it comes to sustainability, one issue rises above all others: water usage. Without water, there is no beer. And as any brewer knows, water doesn’t just comprise more than 90-percent of the final product, it’s also used in nearly every step of production. Cold water cools down wort, hot water cleans and sanitizes equipment, water rinses floors and bottles and cans after filling. All the way down to employee hand washing and rinsing glasses in the tasting room, water is ubiquitous.
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Keith Villa on CBD and THC in Drinks: Now and in the Future
The buzz around CBD and THC infused drinks has steadily grown in recent years, from faint whispers to celebratory screams. Once a pipe dream for cannabis enthusiasts, spiked seltzers and other beverages are increasingly big business. And near the center of the action is an unlikely advocate, the creator of the famous Blue Moon Belgian White.
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