Master Brewers Podcast

This week, we continue our draught line cleaning discussion with Keith Lemcke.Special Guest: Keith Lemcke.

Draught beer line cleaning is a critical factor in the service of excellent draught beer. Cleaning your system frequently ensures beer quality but increases the cost of service due to beer lost when preparing the lines for cleaning. Throughout the industry, there is debate over the "best practices" in draught cleaning, including what defines a "clean" draught system. With the ever-increasing selection of draught beers, it is imperative not only to the brewer but all the way to the consumer that the beer provided as draught is representative of the beer provided by the brewer. The challenges of clean beer lines have never been more evident than today. Many of the draught beers on the market come with active yeast cultures, wild yeast cultures, and bacteria, all part of the flavor mix. These organisms can contaminate draught lines for the next beer to be tapped on those lines. Additionally, the intrusion of contaminant microorganisms from various sources and breweries needs to be eliminated and controlled within draught systems to ensure that the beer poured is exactly as intended.Special Guest: Keith Lemcke.

It is well known that hop-forward beer styles exhibit tropical fruit aromas. These aromas are conferred by a range of hop-related volatile compounds, including polyfunctional thiols such as 3-sulfanylhexan-1-ol (3SH) and 4-methyl-4-sulfanylpentan-2-one (4MSP). These compounds are present at relatively high concentrations in hops and are extracted into beer during dry-hopping. Polyfunctional thiols are also abundant as non-volatile glutathione and cysteine conjugates in hops, and to a lesser extent can be found in barley (and therefore, malt). These conjugates are cleaved into amino acids and free thiols by enzymatic activity of yeasts, thus bound precursors may represent an important pool of tropical fruit flavor in beer, particularly in beer styles where dry hopping is minimal. In order to successfully liberate this pool of flavor, yeast with strong carbon-sulfur ß-lyase activity are needed. In wine research it has become evident that only a small number of commercial Saccharomyces cerevisiae starter cultures possess this capacity. High-activity strains may release 10-30x higher concentrations of free thiol from the same amount of available precursor, relative to low-activity strains. This variation has been linked to a range of inactivating mutations in the carbon-sulfur ß-lyase encoding gene, IRC7. In this study we have catalogued several additional mutations in IRC7 that are found in brewing strains of S. cerevisiae. Based upon known mutations that affect wine strains we compare predicted IRC7 activity for various brewing strains, and actual measurements using a model substrate. Furthermore, we show that one of the mutations only found in brewing strains inactivates IRC7. Overall, the data show that brewing S. cerevisiae strains vary widely in their potential to release polyfunctional thiols from conjugated precursors, and that efforts to extract maximum flavor from malt and hops should include consideration of yeast strain.Special Guests: Chris Curtin and Karen Fortmann.

Master Brewers is dying to pay for your education; it's part of what we do.Special Guests: Jeremy King, Jim Mellem, Justin Ang, Mike Perine, and Stephen Bernard.

Could beer infected with diastaticus be rescued by killer yeast?Special Guest: Nicholas Ketchum.

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.

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.

The 2020 World Brewing Congress is almost here! Have you registered yet?Special Guest: Keith Villa.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Biotransformation has become a buzzword in the brewing community, with many brewers even performing dry hopping at certain specific times to hit what is considered to be the “biotransformation sweet spot.” Academic literature does not support these claims. With the aid of enzymes developed for the wine industry, two experimental IPA beers were brewed: one with an enzyme preparation aimed at hydrolyzing glycosides and the other with a β-lyase preparation aimed at releasing bound thiols. Triangle tests for each treatment were carried out by a panel of over 25 participants, composed of brewers and judges, and showed that both beers were significantly different from the control, yet preference was overwhelmingly toward the no-enzyme IPA control beer. Furthermore, the descriptive analysis carried out by the same panel showed a clear trend toward both enzyme beers being less tropical/fruity and more herbal and/or citrusy, the exact opposite of the purported benefit of biotransformation.Special Guests: Leandro Meiners and Mati Cavanna.

Does increasing the whirlpool trub carryover by 20% significantly affect beer quality? That's what Hayley & Tom set out to determine at Stone's Richmond, VA brewery.Special Guests: Hayley Goodwin and Tom Boudreau.

Our friends from OSU join us to talk about a peer-reviewed paper comparing hop pellets, CO2 extracts, and spent hop material in kettle hop additions.Special Guests: Daniel Sharp, Karl Vanevenhoven, and Tom Shellhammer.

Today, we bring you the first episode of Plantopia - a brand new podcast, produced by our very own host & producer, for APS (one of Master Brewers sister scientific societies).

Three different perspectives on the realities of producing hand sanitizer.Special Guests: Dave Rathkamp, Derik Reiser, and Joel Moore.

Now that we've got some historical COVID-19 sales data, Ross is back with insights on the new normal.Special Guest: Ross Ackermann.

Eric Jorgenson joins us to talk about his approach to microbiology and his quick reference guide of significant bacteria found in the brewery environment.Special Guest: Eric Jorgenson.

This week on the show, our friends from Appalachian State University join us in Calgary to talk about their work evaluating koji as an alternative to traditional malting.Special Guests: Brett Taubman and Tom Williams.

This week, we take a break from technical brewing to talk about the new realities of selling beer during a pandemic.Special Guest: Ross Ackermann.

New information from OSU regarding how hop kiln temperature impacts hop quality.Special Guests: Lindsey Rubottom and Tom Shellhammer.

David Kapral joins us to talk about why it's critical to have thermostatic air vents and vacuum breakers on your steam jackets, and what happens when you don't.Special Guest: David Kapral.

Jordan Kelly joins us in Calgary to talk about Odell Brewing Company's low-cost lactic acid bacteria propagation system, as well as how they dialed-in and scaled their process.Special Guest: Jordan Kelly.

Peter Watts joins us in Calgary to talk about a bunch of new malting barley varieties coming out of Canada.Special Guest: Peter Watts.

Tom Shellhammer joins us from the 2019 Master Brewers Conference in Calgary to shed some light on the inefficiencies of dry hopping.Special Guest: Tom Shellhammer.

Joe Walts joins us to talk about his TQ paper and experiences managing water chemistry in the brewhouse.Special Guest: Joe Walts.

Kim Syring from Surly Brewing joins us in Calgary to talk about her outside the box controlled spoilage studies to determine micro tolerance limits.Special Guest: Kim Syring.

Ross Koenigs from New Belgium sits down with us in Calgary to talk about his poster and quest to better understand hemp flavor in beer.Special Guest: Ross Koenigs.

Two presenters from the hops technical session during the 2019 Master Brewers Conference in Calgary discuss the use of beta acid products in haze stabilization, as well as some practical aspects of using hop oils in the brewery.Special Guests: Horace Cunningham and Margaux Huismann.

Our friends from Saint Arnold Brewing Company in Houston describe how they reduced lauter times, decreased their grain bills by 5%, and increased average brewhouse efficiency from 89.3% to 95.5%.Special Guests: Drew Russey and Eddie Gutierrez.

Our friends from Escarpment Labs (EP102) discuss the impact of inoculation rate on Norwegian kveik yeast fermentation.Special Guests: Iz Netto and Richard Preiss.

Our friends from a "large" craft maltster and a "large" craft brewer get together to talk about craft malt, winter barley, AMBA's guidelines for all-malt brewers, and more.Special Guests: Dave Kuske and Tim Matthews.

This week on the show, a topic that we should all be considering: sustainability. Amy (Johnson) Dragon describes how she went about reducing the solid waste that Genesee Brewing Company sends to the landfill.Special Guest: Amy (Johnson) Dragon.

This week on the show, we get a glimpse at life inside a brewer's yeast supply lab. You'll hear about tips for ordering yeast, how to better align expectations with reality, and of course, when to blame the maltster.Special Guests: Jasper Akerboom and Travis Tedrow.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. diastaticus is a beer spoilage yeast, with contamination leading to off-flavors, over-attenuation, and over-carbonation, potentially causing gushing beer, exploding packages, or non-compliance with Alcohol by Volume reporting. Many diastaticus yeast are commercially available, high-attenuating strains, but wild strains have also been isolated in beer. Regardless of the source of contamination, re-fermentation of finished beer by diastaticus is caused by the secretion of a glucoamylase. In finished beer, glucoamylase breaks down unfermented dextrins, creating newly fermentable carbohydrates. Outside of PCR-based genetic screening, there exists no easy method for detection of diastaticus contamination by the brewery quality control lab. Matt Linske joins us live from the 2019 Master Brewers Conference to discuss his evaluation of Farber Pham Diastaticus Medium (FPDM) for the enrichment and detection of diastaticus, and provides tips for effective use of FPDM in the brewery.Special Guest: Matt Linske.

Doug needed an affordable solution for growing up yeast in the brewpub environment, so he got crafty.Special Guest: Doug Hindman.

An effort supported by a professional perfumer to establish a universal sensory language for hops.Special Guest: Georg Drexler.

The Lallemand Brewing team joins us to talk about their new bioengineered, lactic acid-producing Saccharomyces cerevisiae (ADY).Special Guests: Chaz Rice, Eric Abbott, and Molly Browning.

If OSHA shows up at your brewery tomorrow, are you ready?Special Guests: John Olaechea and Nicole Reiman.

An elite group of brewers working behind the scenes to improve hop quality in the US.Special Guests: John Mallet and Tom Nielsen.

What if you could postpone buying new fermentors by reducing variability during fermentation? This week on the show, you'll hear about how this was accomplished at New Belgium while eliminating inaccurate measurements like yeast cell counts & viability.Special Guest: Peter Bouckaert.

A diverse group of commercial brewers work together to chase down the source of extract loss in a hypothetical brewhouse. Special Guests: Emily Rivera, Jay Pemberton, and Victor Rini.

Dr. Michael Lewis has trained thousands of brewers since launching the UC Davis Brewing Science program in 1962. We talk about his journey, his love affair with stout, "extreme beer," why you're using the wrong beer glass, and the responsibilities we all have as brewers.Special Guest: Michael Lewis.

Tips for improving your process steam system from a longtime Master Brewers district officer, contributor, and course lecturer, Steve Huffman.Special Guest: Steve Huffman.

It's no secret that yeast needs zinc for healthy fermentation, but how much and where/when should you add it? What happens when you add too much zinc? Microbiologist Joe Kinney of FX Matt Brewing Co. joins us to help you get the right amount of zinc into your fermentations.

What if you had a brewery bot that monitored for things like out of spec fermentations, glycol reservoir temp & level, or CIP temps & times, and sent your team alerts by text message? This week on the show, Sam McElwee explains how to leverage big data in small breweries.Special Guest: Sam McElwee.

Ann Spevacek & Eric Ritchson from Pizza Port Brewing discuss water usage and their journey to wastewater compliance.Special Guests: Ann Spevacek and Eric Ritchson.