Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine Podcast

• 417: Ryan Allen of Macallen Is a Farmer with a Brewing Problem

  Estate-grown barley, hops, and fruit are the engines that power the beers at Macallen Farm and Brewery (https://www.facebook.com/p/Macallen-Ferme-et-Brasserie-100046434972035/), and multigenerational farmer (and brewery founder) Ryan Allen embraces agriculture as a creative tool in his brewing process. Whether it’s heirloom barley varieties grown in intentional ways to optimize flavor profiles, or it’s Cascade hops that he lets hang for extra weeks to develop deeper fruit notes, there are few variables that he’s not willing to test and push in pursuit of the perfect flavor and aroma. In this episode, Allen discusses: growing heirloom barley for taste before yield choosing beer styles for different barley varieties and harvest conditions brewing test batches of every recipe, each year, to adjust recipes to the new crop weather impact on growth and flavor in barley controlling for pests through methods such as crop rotation adjusting water profiles to complement year-to-year barley flavor changes malting in-house for an additional layer of control choosing when to pick C-hops to optimize citrus and mango flavors varying the pick times for a single hop variety to achieve different expressions managing dry whole-cone hops in the brewhouse growing and processing estate-grown fruit for beer juicing the fruit, then using the skins for color adjustment 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 North America and beyond. With our 24/7 service and support, your brewery will never stop. Remote monitor your chiller for simple and fast access to all the information you need, and gain peace of mind your operation is running smoothly. Berkeley Yeast (https://berkeleyyeast.com). Berkeley Yeast bioengineers ordinary strains and make them extraordinary—enhancing the flavors you want and eliminating the ones you don’t. Visit berkeleyyeast.com to learn more and start brewing with science on your side. Old Orchard (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer): As breweries expand beyond beer into other segments like mocktails and CBD beverages, Old Orchard is here to help. We can formulate custom blends featuring specialty ingredients. More information and free samples are waiting at oldorchard.com/brewer. Indie Hops (https://indiehops.com) Lórien seamlessly combines traditional elements of European noble hops with an elegant twang of American modernity. Learn more about Lórien and the rest of Indie’s varieties at www.indiehops.com. Indie Hops — Life is short. Let’s make it flavorful. Steel Chill Cups (https://SteelChillCups.com) Steel Chill-Cups are the perfect promotional tool! Crafted from 100% recyclable steel and proudly made in the USA. Discover how Steel Chill-Cups can “Put your brand on every pour”—visit SteelChillCups.com today! Arryved (https://www.arryved.com) Not only does Arryved offer a world-class POS built specifically for breweries, but they also provide Arryved Brewery Management, e-commerce, and more to help breweries scale and thrive. Visit arryved.com to learn more. Paktech (https://www.paktech-opi.com) With a minimalist design, durable functionality you can rely on, and custom color matching, PakTech helps brands stand out while staying sustainable. Trusted by craft brewers nationwide, they offer a smarter, sustainable way to carry your beer. To learn more, visit paktech-opi.com Brewery Workshop (https://breweryworkshop.com) If you’re launching a brewery or acquiring an existing one, consider our brewery workshop and new brewery accelerator, September 14 through 17th in Fort Collins, Colorado. Over four days, we engage in panel discussions, technical brewery tours, networking, and small working group sessions that help you better understand and prepare for the challenges of brewery operation. Tickets are on sale now.

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• 416: Derrick Robertson of BreWskey Narrows His Hop Palette to Explore the Variations Within Varietals

  Before he took the leap and started his own, BreWskey (https://www.brewskey.ca) cofounder Derrick Robertson was a process engineer who helped design breweries. That background was invaluable when building out a brewhouse and cellar in a building that’s a historic landmark in Vieux-Montréal. With multiple spaces and sprawling patios, BreWskey is popular among travelers who drink plenty of pale lager in warmer months—with many who also appreciate BreWskey’s creative and contemporary approach to hazy IPA. Robertson has an unquenchable thirst for experimentation, treating each batch on their two- and 10-barrel systems as an opportunity to tweak variables, test ingredients, and dial in processes. He’s not afraid to brew beer with a point of view informed by his own tastes—witbier without phenolic Belgian yeast, for example—and he’s always up for experiments, such as pushing 34/70 to see just how much heat it can endure. When it comes to hazy IPA, however, he can’t bear the astringent burn that certain hops exacerbate, so he’s dialed in processes to turn beers at brewpub speed with robust body and just enough haze—because, as he says, there is such a thing as too much haze. In this episode, Robertson discusses: balancing brewpub and taproom beer menus with an on-the-fly creative process adjusting the beer program week to week, based on tourism trends brewing white beer with London Ale III while replacing certain yeast-driven flavors with targeted ingredient additions using New Zealand hops strategically for light color without the burn the fungibility of many hazy IPA grain bills selecting hop varieties, such as Rakau, that improve the expression of others why Riwaka is like smoked malt avoiding “Galaxy paste” when brewing with the Australian hop accepting inefficient extraction techniques when using certain hops, to avoid picking up off-flavors dialing in his hop palette to eight to 10 hops, while expanding the number of lots of each dry-hop bench-testing for lot selection, to understand how the rub connects to the actual flavors and aromas in finished beer 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 North America and beyond. With our 24/7 service and support, your brewery will never stop. Remote monitor your chiller for simple and fast access to all the information you need, and gain peace of mind your operation is running smoothly. Berkeley Yeast (https://berkeleyyeast.com). Berkeley Yeast bioengineers ordinary strains and make them extraordinary—enhancing the flavors you want and eliminating the ones you don’t. Visit berkeleyyeast.com to learn more and start brewing with science on your side. Old Orchard (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer): As breweries expand beyond beer into other segments like mocktails and CBD beverages, Old Orchard is here to help. We can formulate custom blends featuring specialty ingredients. More information and free samples are waiting at oldorchard.com/brewer. Indie Hops (https://indiehops.com) Lórien seamlessly combines traditional elements of European noble hops with an elegant twang of American modernity. Learn more about Lórien and the rest of Indie’s varieties at www.indiehops.com. Indie Hops — Life is short. Let’s make it flavorful. Steel Chill Cups (https://SteelChillCups.com) Steel Chill-Cups are the perfect promotional tool! Crafted from 100% recyclable steel and proudly made in the USA. Discover how Steel Chill-Cups can “Put your brand on every pour”—visit SteelChillCups.com today! Arryved (https://www.arryved.com) Not only does Arryved offer a world-class POS built specifically for breweries, but they also provide Arryved Brewery Management, e-commerce, and more to help breweries scale and thrive. Visit arryved.com to learn more. Paktech (https://www.paktech-opi.com) With a minimalist design, durable functionality you can rely on, and custom color matching, PakTech helps brands stand out while staying sustainable. Trusted by craft brewers nationwide, they offer a smarter, sustainable way to carry your beer. To learn more, visit paktech-opi.com Brewery Workshop (https://breweryworkshop.com) If you’re launching a brewery or acquiring an existing one, consider our brewery workshop and new brewery accelerator, September 14 through 17th in Fort Collins, Colorado. Over four days, we engage in panel discussions, technical brewery tours, networking, and small working group sessions that help you better understand and prepare for the challenges of brewery operation. Tickets are on sale now.

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• 415: Mathieu Paquette of Dunham Goes Hard on House Character

  This small brewery in Dunham, Quebec, just north of the Vermont border, features a pub, guesthouse, and extensive beer garden that make it the perfect stop-through or weekend destination for those heading south from Montreal or north from the States. But Brasserie Dunham (https://www.brasseriedunham.com) is much more than a waypoint. Over the past 13 years, the brewery has built a reputation for world-class saisons, finding expression through refined fermentation, an evolving culture, and intriguing use of hops. Today, Dunham brews a range that includes 750 ml bottles of saison as well as cans of lager and pale ale. Yet saison remains core to their identity. In this episode, head brewer Mathieu Paquette shares their approach to recipe development and process. Along the way, he touches on: designing beer for their mineral-heavy well water the evolution of yeast and water over a decade-plus of brewing using ingredients such as flaked rye, oats, and wheat to add body to dry beers maintaining precision in the brewhouse to moderate other downstream factors blending modern and classic hops for dynamic range building a living mixed culture with periodic backups for safety adjusting fermentation temperature dynamics to refine expression blending foeder-aged ale into light, dry table beer to add depth troubleshooting bottle-conditioning issues hosting the upstart Bad Bones (https://www.badbonesbeer.com/home-en) brewery in the former barrel cellar 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 North America and beyond. With our 24/7 service and support, your brewery will never stop. Remote monitor your chiller for simple and fast access to all the information you need, and gain peace of mind your operation is running smoothly. Berkeley Yeast (https://berkeleyyeast.com). Berkeley Yeast bioengineers ordinary strains and make them extraordinary—enhancing the flavors you want and eliminating the ones you don’t. Visit berkeleyyeast.com to learn more and start brewing with science on your side. Old Orchard (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer): As breweries expand beyond beer into other segments like mocktails and CBD beverages, Old Orchard is here to help. We can formulate custom blends featuring specialty ingredients. More information and free samples are waiting at oldorchard.com/brewer. Indie Hops (https://indiehops.com) Lórien seamlessly combines traditional elements of European noble hops with an elegant twang of American modernity. Learn more about Lórien and the rest of Indie’s varieties at www.indiehops.com. Indie Hops — Life is short. Let’s make it flavorful. Steel Chill Cups (https://SteelChillCups.com) Steel Chill-Cups are the perfect promotional tool! Crafted from 100% recyclable steel and proudly made in the USA. Discover how Steel Chill-Cups can “Put your brand on every pour”—visit SteelChillCups.com today! Arryved (https://www.arryved.com) Not only does Arryved offer a world-class POS built specifically for breweries, but they also provide Arryved Brewery Management, e-commerce, and more to help breweries scale and thrive. Visit arryved.com to learn more. Paktech (https://www.paktech-opi.com) With a minimalist design, durable functionality you can rely on, and custom color matching, PakTech helps brands stand out while staying sustainable. Trusted by craft brewers nationwide, they offer a smarter, sustainable way to carry your beer. To learn more, visit paktech-opi.com Brewery Workshop (https://breweryworkshop.com) If you’re launching a brewery or acquiring an existing one, consider our brewery workshop and new brewery accelerator, September 14 through 17th in Fort Collins, Colorado. Over four days, we engage in panel discussions, technical brewery tours, networking, and small working group sessions that help you better understand and prepare for the challenges of brewery operation. Tickets are on sale now.

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  1:12:14
• 414: Hill Farmstead at 15—A Conversation with Shaun Hill

  Few breweries in the 21st century have been as influential as Hill Farmstead (https://hillfarmstead.com) on American craft beer. This rural Vermont brewery, built on the family property just outside Greensboro Bend, captured the beer world’s imagination upon opening in 2010, and enthusiasts have flocked there from all corners of the world ever since. Their IPAs helped to change the trajectory of the style, and their saisons—trademarked as Farmstead Ales—have received numerous honors, including a Beer of the Year nod from Craft Beer & Brewing in 2018 (https://beerandbrewing.com/the-best-18-beers-of-2018/). Founder Shaun Hill has a reputation as a philosophically driven brewer who isn’t afraid to speak his mind on a broad swath of subjects, and in this episode he covers a wide range: changing Edward from an IPA to pale ale 10 batches in defending hazy beer in the early 2010s while making contributions to the development of mouthfeel and texture making the jump from Conan to London Ale III yeast using New Zealand hops effectively the origin of the term “Farmstead Ale” early iterations of the brewery business plan with a focus on Brettanomyces beers finding a Hill Farmstead voice in mixed-culture saison acid contributions from Chad Yakobson’s Brett strains building beer that maintains peak flavor at 10 years in the bottle process refinements while getting back on the brewdeck during the pandemic intentional sustainability in the brewery balancing consciousness and presence in a demanding brewery environment developing a manufacturing philosophy weighing needs of the self versus feeding the business machine employing a “best known way” philosophy rather than standard operating procedures reassessing what creativity looks like 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 North America and beyond. With our 24/7 service and support, your brewery will never stop. Remote monitor your chiller for simple and fast access to all the information you need, and gain peace of mind your operation is running smoothly. Berkeley Yeast (https://berkeleyyeast.com). Berkeley Yeast bioengineers ordinary strains and make them extraordinary—enhancing the flavors you want and eliminating the ones you don’t. Visit berkeleyyeast.com to learn more and start brewing with science on your side. Old Orchard (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer): As breweries expand beyond beer into other segments like mocktails and CBD beverages, Old Orchard is here to help. We can formulate custom blends featuring specialty ingredients. More information and free samples are waiting at oldorchard.com/brewer. Indie Hops (https://indiehops.com) Lórien seamlessly combines traditional elements of European noble hops with an elegant twang of American modernity. Learn more about Lórien and the rest of Indie’s varieties at www.indiehops.com. Indie Hops — Life is short. Let’s make it flavorful. Steel Chill Cups (https://SteelChillCups.com) Steel Chill-Cups are the perfect promotional tool! Crafted from 100% recyclable steel and proudly made in the USA. Discover how Steel Chill-Cups can “Put your brand on every pour”—visit SteelChillCups.com today! Arryved (https://www.arryved.com) Not only does Arryved offer a world-class POS built specifically for breweries, but they also provide Arryved Brewery Management, e-commerce, and more to help breweries scale and thrive. Visit arryved.com to learn more. Paktech (https://www.paktech-opi.com) With a minimalist design, durable functionality you can rely on, and custom color matching, PakTech helps brands stand out while staying sustainable. Trusted by craft brewers nationwide, they offer a smarter, sustainable way to carry your beer. To learn more, visit paktech-opi.com Brewery Workshop (https://breweryworkshop.com) If you’re launching a brewery or acquiring an existing one, consider our brewery workshop and new brewery accelerator, September 14 through 17th in Fort Collins, Colorado. Over four days, we engage in panel discussions, technical brewery tours, networking, and small working group sessions that help you better understand and prepare for the challenges of brewery operation. Tickets are on sale now.

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  1:38:08
• 413: Hop Scientists Megan Twomey and Ryan Christian Share the Latest on Virus-Free Hops

  At the turn of the 21st century, it wasn’t uncommon for a hop grower focusing on alpha varieties to replant a field every 25 to 50 years. While the plants in the field inevitably contracted viruses, the impact of those viruses on alpha-acid development and overall yield was manageable. In today’s environment, however—with new varieties bred to be high-performance, high-aroma, well-oiled machines—the same viruses have an outsized effect, and a field’s lifespan may be just a quarter of what it used to be. Yet many growers have been extending the productive lives of those fields by planting virus-free rhizomes and plugs—plants grown from cuttings taken from portions of other hops plants where viruses can’t travel. In this episode, we talk with scientists and hop breeders Megan Twomey of Latitude 46 (https://latitude46.com) and Ryan Christian of Yakima Chief Ranches (https://yakimachiefranches.com) for perspective on how viruses affect hops, how virus-free plants are produced, how long plants can remain virus-free, and more—and how all of that ultimately affects what’s available to brewers. Through the conversation, they touch on: different viruses that affect hops how viruses affect lupulin production in modern hop varieties viral impact in producing genetically true-to-type but phenotypically out-of-spec hops “cleaning up” hops to create virus-free plants how and now not to monitor fields for viruses field dynamics from new plantings over the first few years how viral stress impacts plants and their flavor and aroma expression yield benefits from virus-free plantings 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 North America and beyond. With our 24/7 service and support, your brewery will never stop. Remote monitor your chiller for simple and fast access to all the information you need, and gain peace of mind your operation is running smoothly. Berkeley Yeast (https://berkeleyyeast.com). Berkeley Yeast bioengineers ordinary strains and make them extraordinary—enhancing the flavors you want and eliminating the ones you don’t. Visit berkeleyyeast.com to learn more and start brewing with science on your side. Old Orchard (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer): As breweries expand beyond beer into other segments like mocktails and CBD beverages, Old Orchard is here to help. We can formulate custom blends featuring specialty ingredients. More information and free samples are waiting at oldorchard.com/brewer. Indie Hops (https://indiehops.com) Lórien seamlessly combines traditional elements of European noble hops with an elegant twang of American modernity. Learn more about Lórien and the rest of Indie’s varieties at www.indiehops.com. Indie Hops — Life is short. Let’s make it flavorful. Steel Chill Cups (https://SteelChillCups.com) Steel Chill-Cups are the perfect promotional tool! Crafted from 100% recyclable steel and proudly made in the USA. Discover how Steel Chill-Cups can “Put your brand on every pour”—visit SteelChillCups.com today! Arryved (https://www.arryved.com) Not only does Arryved offer a world-class POS built specifically for breweries, but they also provide Arryved Brewery Management, e-commerce, and more to help breweries scale and thrive. Visit arryved.com to learn more. Probrew (https://www.probrew.com) Missed the ProBrew booth and their incredible product animations at CBC 2025? You can now experience them all right now at ProBrew.com! See how our advanced solutions can take your brewery to the next level! ProBrew, Brew YOUR Beer! Brewery Workshop (https://breweryworkshop.com) If you’re launching a brewery or acquiring an existing one, consider our brewery workshop and new brewery accelerator, September 14 through 17th in Fort Collins, Colorado. Over four days, we engage in panel discussions, technical brewery tours, networking, and small working group sessions that help you better understand and prepare for the challenges of brewery operation. Tickets are on sale now.

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  1:09:17

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