Master Brewers Podcast
Science
Master Brewers Association of the Americas (MBAA)
Each week, thousands of brewers download The Master Brewers Podcast to hear interviews with the industry's best & brightest in brewing science, technology, and operations. The show is known for featuring technical deep dives, a bit of brewing history, cutting edge research, hard lessons learned, important industry contributors, and no fluff. If you make beer for a living, this show is for you. Thank you, sponsors!
Total 300 episodes
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Episode 267: Effect of pasteurization on bright and hazy IPAs
Episode 267: Effect of pasteurization on bright and hazy IPAs
A thorough test of an age-old debate, conducted on modern beer styles Special Guest: Ali Schultz.
30:1228/11/2022
Episode 111: Burst Bottle Detection & Mitigation
Episode 111: Burst Bottle Detection & Mitigation
From a consumer safety standpoint, glass shards from broken bottles present one of the most serious risks that a brewery may encounter. In order to mitigate the considerable risk to consumers, any brewery that runs a glass bottle filler should develop and implement a formal burst bottle mitigation procedure for their packaging department. Members of the Craft Brewers Glass Quality Group describe the basic outline of such a procedure and resources to enable breweries to develop their own burst bottle mitigation program. Special Guests: Ben Bailey, Shawn Theriot, and Tim Lozen.
39:1221/11/2022
Episode 266: NA Production for the Craft Brewer
Episode 266: NA Production for the Craft Brewer
Mitch Steele has advice for craft brewers who want to produce non-alcoholic products. Special Guest: Mitch Steele.
37:4514/11/2022
Episode 265: Measuring Sessionability
Episode 265: Measuring Sessionability
Boston Beer determines how to accurately measure sessionability before releasing a new brand. Special Guest: Micaela Kraft.
29:2007/11/2022
Episode 264: Nuts!
Episode 264: Nuts!
What happens when an allergen is grown on the farm next door? Special Guest: Wade Begrow.
35:0831/10/2022
Episode 109: Timing is Everything
Episode 109: Timing is Everything
Sierra Nevada studies the impact of dry hopping at different stages of fermentation. Special Guests: Maria Moutsoglou and Will Cayler.
40:0924/10/2022
Episode 263: Gene Editing for Brewers
Episode 263: Gene Editing for Brewers
This week on the show, Gene editing for brewers... and where things might be headed for barley & hops. Special Guests: Steve Strauss and Tom Shellhammer.
01:02:0417/10/2022
Episode 262: T90 Shelf Life Study
Episode 262: T90 Shelf Life Study
What's the actual shelf life of the hops in your cooler, and what happens if you keep them there for a few more years? Special Guest: Mark Zunkel.
41:1510/10/2022
Episode 261: Optimizing Lab Props at New Belgium
Episode 261: Optimizing Lab Props at New Belgium
Is your brewery just doing things the way they've always been done, or is someone like Paige optimizing processes to uncover new efficiencies and tremendous savings? Special Guest: Paige Lesondak.
34:3803/10/2022
Episode 172: What’s The Buzz? Non-alcoholic Beer Production
Episode 172: What’s The Buzz? Non-alcoholic Beer Production
There are lots of different approaches to producing NA beer. Justin McKellar walks us through the tradeoffs of each method. Special Guest: Justin McKellar.
53:0826/09/2022
Episode 260: Beer & Health
Episode 260: Beer & Health
You and I both know that beer has a lot of nutritional value, but are we prepared to speak intelligently about that? How do we get consumers to look past beer's stereotypes and click-bait headlines? Special Guest: Glen Fox.
51:3619/09/2022
Episode 259: Cannabaceae Creep
Episode 259: Cannabaceae Creep
The quest to determine the origin of hop creep takes an interesting twist. Special Guest: Matt Cottrell.
41:2112/09/2022
Episode 258: Sustainability of the American Hop Industry
Episode 258: Sustainability of the American Hop Industry
The popularity of heavily-hopped beer styles has put USA hops front and center, but threats are looming; wildfire, climate change, water availability, the loss of hop farming families, and the ongoing shift from public to private hops. Hop growers Darren Gamache (VGF) and John Segal (Segal Ranch), master brewer Karl Ockert, and hop consultant Eric Sannerud joined John Bryce on stage during the 2022 Brewing Summit to discuss these topics and more. Special Guests: Darren Gamache, Eric Sannerud, John Segal, and Karl Ockert.
01:23:4405/09/2022
Episode 107: Troubleshooting Acetaldehyde
Episode 107: Troubleshooting Acetaldehyde
When Madtree Brewing Co. expanded from a 15 bbl brewhouse to a 100 bbl brewhouse, they experienced intermittent acetaldehyde spikes in one of their brands. Becca Ransohof & Trent Leslie walk us through the troubleshooting process that resolved the issue. Special Guests: Becca Ransohoff and Trent Leslie.
24:3429/08/2022
Episode 257: ISTT
Episode 257: ISTT
What is ISTT water and what can it do for us? Special Guests: Carl Halterman and Jeff Gunn.
27:2222/08/2022
Episode 256: Eureka!
Episode 256: Eureka!
The discovery of new alpha and beta acids. Special Guest: John Paul Maye.
27:2015/08/2022
Episode 255: Yeast Stress
Episode 255: Yeast Stress
Graham Stewart discusses the mechanics of yeast stress during the 2019 Master Brewers Conference in Calgary Special Guest: Graham Stewart.
25:1708/08/2022
Episode 254: Sustainability of Hops
Episode 254: Sustainability of Hops
OSU probes the sustainability of hops, from kiln cycles to double dry hopping. Special Guests: Lindsey Rubottom and Tom Shellhammer.
53:1225/07/2022
Episode 253: CIP Fundamentals
Episode 253: CIP Fundamentals
Oliver Meinhold takes us back to the basics of cleaning & sanitation in the brewery. Special Guest: Oliver Meinhold.
52:4718/07/2022
Episode 252: Wastewater at Mother Road & pFriem
Episode 252: Wastewater at Mother Road & pFriem
Like it or not, you're in the wastewater business. Special Guest: Campbell Morrissy.
01:10:0811/07/2022
Episode 105: Wort Aeration
Episode 105: Wort Aeration
Do you know how much DO is in your wort? What percentage of injected oxygen is solubilized? Derek Dawson set out to answer these questions at Modern Times Beer. Special Guest: Derek Dawson.
30:5404/07/2022
Episode 250: Is Hop Terroir a Marketing Construct and/or a Biophysical Reality?
Episode 250: Is Hop Terroir a Marketing Construct and/or a Biophysical Reality?
A recent Master Brewers Technical Quarterly paper explores the answer. Special Guests: Aaron Staples, Alec Mull, Alex Adams, Rob Sirrine, and Scott Stuhr.
43:4520/06/2022
Episode 089: The Six-rowification of North American Two-row (Part 3: What you can do about it)
Episode 089: The Six-rowification of North American Two-row (Part 3: What you can do about it)
The previous episode explained how and why North American 2-row barley evolved to take on 6-row traits. This week Joe Hertrich explains why that's problematic for all-malt brewers and what can be done about it. Special Guest: Joe Hertrich.
53:4313/06/2022
Episode 088: The Six-rowification of North American Two-row (Parts 1&2: history, how & why)
Episode 088: The Six-rowification of North American Two-row (Parts 1&2: history, how & why)
Since 1972 North American 2-row barley has slowly but steadily evolved into something that has more in common with 6-row than traditional European 2-row barley. Find out why this is great news for adjunct brewers and problematic for all-malt brewers. Special Guest: Joe Hertrich.
01:01:0806/06/2022
Episode 249: Malt Silos
Episode 249: Malt Silos
Things to consider before making the transition from bagged to bulk malt. Special Guest: Tim Roberts.
40:3230/05/2022
Episode 248: Mashing
Episode 248: Mashing
The author of one of the latest publications from ASBC & MBAA joins us to talk about Mashing. Special Guest: Evan Evans.
41:2123/05/2022
Episode 247: Malt
Episode 247: Malt
Our friend, Dr. Yin, returns to discuss his new Malt book and the 2021 barley crop Special Guest: Xiang Yin.
57:5116/05/2022
Episode 101: The Yeasts of Tomorrow
Episode 101: The Yeasts of Tomorrow
Stijn Mertens and Jan Steensels talk about what's happening inside one of the world's most advanced yeast labs. Special Guests: Jan Steensels and Stijn Mertens.
32:1209/05/2022
Episode 246: Putting the Stank in Dr. Dank
Episode 246: Putting the Stank in Dr. Dank
How Wicked Weed made a beer smell like cannabis, without using cannabis. Special Guests: Joe Pawelek and Ross Hunsinger.
49:1802/05/2022
Episode 245: Romp of Otters
Episode 245: Romp of Otters
A collaboration between OSU's Barley Project Lab, Admiral Maltings, and Seismic Brewing explores the possibilities for achieving Maris Otter flavor in newer barley varieties, bred for better agronomics & brewhouse performance. Special Guests: Campbell Morrissy and Curtis Davenport.
35:4325/04/2022
Episode 244: Dialing in Haze
Episode 244: Dialing in Haze
To what extent does yeast strain selection & dry hop timing put the haze in your hazies? Special Guests: Keith Lacy and Laura Burns.
49:2918/04/2022
Episode 052: Let Your Process Evaluate Your Malt - Part 2
Episode 052: Let Your Process Evaluate Your Malt - Part 2
Joe Hertrich continues discussing how to establish your own criteria for malt performance on your specific recipe, process, and equipment rather than relying on theoretical "good" values on a malt COA. He explains how to track brewhouse yield, lauter performance, and attenuation vs. beta glucan. Special Guest: Joe Hertrich.
28:1511/04/2022
Episode 051: Let Your Process Evaluate Your Malt - Part 1
Episode 051: Let Your Process Evaluate Your Malt - Part 1
Fan favorite, Joe Hertrich, is back with an extremely practical approach to evaluating malt performance based on his experience at breweries of drastically different sizes over a 50-year period. Special Guest: Joe Hertrich.
29:3504/04/2022
Episode 243: Terrified of Being Torrified
Episode 243: Terrified of Being Torrified
BSG's adjunct professor & head comedian explain the difference between terms like rolled, flaked, toasted, micronized, and torrified; How it's all made, what's "mash ready," what's not, and why. Special Guests: Allen Young and Ashton Lewis.
51:4928/03/2022
Episode 242: Brewing Purposefully with Wood
Episode 242: Brewing Purposefully with Wood
How our guest uses wood in brewing, how Louis Pasteur ruined beer, and how maybe when the liquid in a barrel can't become a beer, it can get another purpose. Special Guest: Peter Bouckaert.
33:2721/03/2022
Episode 098: Dry Hop Creep
Episode 098: Dry Hop Creep
Luke Chadwick (Bell's), Andy Farrell (Bell's), Tom Shellhammer (OSU), and Jason Perkins (Allagash) take a deep dive into the phenomenon known as Dry Hop Creep. Special Guests: Andy Farrell, Jason Perkins, Luke Chadwick, and Tom Shellhammer.
39:3114/03/2022
Episode 241: Mash Filters
Episode 241: Mash Filters
How & why to operate a mash filter Special Guest: Jason Platek.
34:1807/03/2022
Episode 240: Understanding the Risk of Can Pressure Failures
Episode 240: Understanding the Risk of Can Pressure Failures
Have you ever wondered if you're pushing the limits of how much pressure your cans can handle? A Master Brewers Past President joins us to discuss a chart he designed to keep you out of trouble. Special Guest: Jim Kuhr.
38:5328/02/2022
Episode 239: Yeast Propagation at Urban Chestnut
Episode 239: Yeast Propagation at Urban Chestnut
How yeast propagation works (both in the lab & in the brewery) at Urban Chestnut Brewing Co. Special Guest: Florian Kuplent.
49:5321/02/2022
Episode 084: Brewing Hoppy Beer with CRISPR Instead of Hops
Episode 084: Brewing Hoppy Beer with CRISPR Instead of Hops
As reported in Nature Communications (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-03293-x), Charles Denby used CRISPR-Cas9 (https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/articles/update-crispr) to successfully engineer brewers yeast (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/20/science/craft-beer-hops.html) to produce linalool and geraniol. We interview both Charles and Bryan Donaldson (Lagunitas) who oversaw the sensory analysis for this groundbreaking study. Special Guests: Bryan Donaldson and Charles Denby.
48:1614/02/2022
Episode 238: Winter Barley
Episode 238: Winter Barley
An exciting, new 2-row winter variety coming out of Virginia Tech, the advantages winter barley brings to growers, maltsters, and brewers, the challenges ahead, and how you can get involved. Special Guests: Ashley McFarland, Nicholas Santantonio, Trey Hill, and Zach Gaines.
01:04:4607/02/2022
Episode 237: Packaging with Speise
Episode 237: Packaging with Speise
How & why Resident Culture conditions with speise. Special Guest: David Fuhrer.
36:3231/01/2022
Episode 236: Sustainability at Drake's
Episode 236: Sustainability at Drake's
How Drake's Brewing Co approaches sustainability. Special Guest: Hal McConnellogue.
01:04:2724/01/2022
Episode 096: Efficacy of Sanitizers in the Brewery
Episode 096: Efficacy of Sanitizers in the Brewery
Elliot Parcells & Josh Pohlmann put together some experiments to better understand if the sanitizers used at Bell's Brewery were doing their jobs.
25:1817/01/2022
Episode 235: Flavorings That Go BOOM in the Night
Episode 235: Flavorings That Go BOOM in the Night
Everyone is doing it. Are you doing it safely? Special Guest: Mark Jaeggi.
33:3910/01/2022
Episode 234: New Year's Resolution
Episode 234: New Year's Resolution
2 real-life brewery horror stories and 3 guys who hope you'll make a new year's resolution to take brewery safety seriously. Special Guests: Brian Faivre and Eric Moore.
32:0203/01/2022
Episode 069: Diastaticus - Part 2
Episode 069: Diastaticus - Part 2
Over-carbonation. Exploding bottles. Lawsuits. Super-attenuation caused by diastaticus contamination is a hot topic in the brewing industry. We bring you interviews with brewers, yeast suppliers, and independent microbiologists to talk about detection, prevention, and more. Whether your strategy is to keep diastaticus out of your brewery altogether or to manage it alongside other Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains lacking the STA gene, you're guaranteed to learn something from these interviews. Special Guests: Andy Tveekrem, Matthew Peetz, Matt Linske, Michelle McHugh, Sylvie Van Zandycke, Tobias Fischborn, and Wade Begrow.
35:3527/12/2021
Episode 068: Diastaticus - Part 1
Episode 068: Diastaticus - Part 1
Over-carbonation. Exploding bottles. Lawsuits. Super-attenuation caused by diastaticus contamination is a hot topic in the brewing industry. We bring you interviews with brewers, yeast suppliers, and independent microbiologists to talk about detection, prevention, and more. Whether your strategy is to keep diastaticus out of your brewery altogether or to manage it alongside other Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains lacking the STA gene, you're guaranteed to learn something from these interviews. Special Guests: Andy Tveekrem, Matthew Peetz, Matt Linske, Michelle McHugh, Sylvie Van Zandycke, Tobias Fischborn, and Wade Begrow.
29:1120/12/2021
Episode 233: Deconstructing Le Petit Prince
Episode 233: Deconstructing Le Petit Prince
Franco-Belgian style table beer & how Jester King brews their version Special Guest: Jeffrey Stuffings.
49:3513/12/2021
Episode 091: How a Chiller System Works
Episode 091: How a Chiller System Works
How brewery chillers work, troubleshooting tips, common mistakes, and easy preventative maintenance to keep it running for years to come. Special Guest: Damon Reed.
35:4206/12/2021