The BrewDeck Podcast

Just in time for the winter months and dark beer season; Dr. Axel Göhler, CEO of BestMalz based in Germany, is here to talk about the new roasted malts. Axel shares information on why BestMalz’s roasted malts are very special. Then, Cory Hebert, Head Brewer at Oddwood Ales based in Austin, TX; and Josh Fryauff, Head Brewer at Separatist Beer Project in Easton, PA, share their experience brewi...

If you’ve ever found yourself thinking about starting your own brewery, you’re not alone. But what all goes into planning a successful new brewhouse? Today’s guest, Aaron Justus, takes a deep dive into all of the work involved in starting a new company and brewhouse planning. Aaron started as a keg washer and worked his way up to brewmaster at Ballast Point. In September, he st...

We are proud to partner with our friends at Yakima Chief Hops (YCH) to support and celebrate the Pink Boots Society (PBS) for their 5th Annual Pink Boots Hop Blend! With over 2,500 members worldwide, the PBS assists, inspires, and encourages women in the fermented beverage industry to advance their careers through education.  Today on the podcast, YCH (Kelly Lohrmeyer & Tiffany Pitra) and...

Today’s guests are Rodrigo Plancarte, Regional Sales Manager (Mexico and Central America) at Yakima Chief Hops , and Marko Guevara, Commercial Director at BeerMex . They share the current landscape of craft brewing, challenges and hurdles that brewers face, regional beer styles, and hot spots for craft beer in Mexico and Central America. Have suggestions or questions for future episodes? Email us...

In this episode, The BrewDeck team celebrates the Halloween season with a series of spooky, scary, and strange short stories from their experiences in the brewing industry. Today’s guests are Country Malt Group sales reps Geoff Fischer, Tim Roberts, CJ Penzone, Zach Grossfeld, John Egan, and Grant Lawrence. Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/thebrewdeck/message

Today’s guests, Kyran Flett and Don Moore from Canada Malting Company, talk about Canadian barley harvest 2021, North America’s crop update, elevator system benefits, and regional malts. Key Points From This Episode: Canadian Barley Harvest: How size and production compare to other countries. General Crop Update: Similar production challenges around the world due to weather. Production Quality: Wh...

Across the nation, the brewing industry is uniting to raise funds for critical pediatric cancer research. The National Pediatric Cancer Foundation’s signature beer, Rising Hope IPA, has become a seasonal favorite in nearly every state. Coupled alongside the bold Hope Roast Coffee, Rising Hope is the signature program for Brewing Funds the Cure. Currently, it is limited to one brewery per state. Co...

Beer is considered food and should be treated that way. Whether you are homebrewing or making thousands of barrels a year, it ends up in people’s bodies. So, parts of the production process, packing, holding, and transporting beer, are regulated. Today’s guests are Jan Landry, Food Safety Manager at Canada Malting Company, and Steve Harrah, Quality Services Manager at Country Malt Group. They talk...

Today we're going to switch it up a bit and talk more about homebrews and recipe formulation. We celebrate our podcast birthday today, so it's time for some cake, beer, and good conversation.  Our guests have 50 plus years of combined knowledge working in the brewing industry and are plugged into the latest craft beer topics. Oh, and remember, next Friday is Hawaiian shirt day. So, you know,...

In Yakima Valley, born and raised Trellises are where they spend most of their days Chilling out, maxing, relaxing all year  With a beautiful view of Mt. Ranier When a couple of guys grabbed their harvesting gear Started making all the bines disappear Getting instantly frozen, YCH cheered, "You're being frozen, shipped, and used in fresh hop beers." Fresh hops; once reserved for those breweri...

What do millet, buckwheat, sunflower seeds, and hemp have in common? They are all non-cereal grains malted at Colorado Malting Company in Alamosa, Colorado. The obscure malts can be added to a traditional grain bill or singularly to produce gluten-free beer and spirits.  Today's guests, brothers Josh and Jason Cody , take farm-to-tap to a new level as the only brewery in the world where every...

In this episode of The BrewDeck, we speak with experts from three exceptional malt companies discussing the science behind Munich Malt as well as the high-quality Munich Malt options available from each maltster. First up is Teri Fahrendorf, Malt Innovation Center Manager at Great Western Malting , followed by Betsy Roberts, Quality Manager from Briess Malt & Ingredients and Jessica Görick, Te...

Barley is not an easy crop to grow and creates a lot of stress about color, weather, and premium over feed. Today’s episode is all about Barley and features a Barley crop update from Ryan Dodd, Director of Grain at Canada Malting;  Dustin Camphouse, Grain Field Representative at Great Western Malting; and John Egan, Territory Manager for Country Malt Group.

Smoothie Sours are an emerging infamous beer style.  They’ve been around for a few years and have grown in popularity among craft beer consumers. The style consists of a soured beer with the addition of lactose (milk sugar) and different fruit purees combined to make a malt beverage big on fruit flavor and aroma with an added sour kick to enhance the flavors. The resulting beer tastes a lot l...

Cold IPA is a newer term for a style of beer that aims for a crisper IPA coined by Kevin Davey , Brewmaster at Wayfinder . Today Kevin joins us on The BrewDeck to help us learn more about what sets this IPA style apart. We kick off the discussion, hearing a little more about Kevin’s background, and then dive right into how he came up with the idea to mix his favorite parts of an IPA and put them a...

Our guests weigh in on the essential attribute of pilsner malt, their favorite pilsner malt, hop, and, in their opinion, a pilsner malt all brewers out there should try! Each of our guests dives deep into these questions, giving advice on many different malts and hops on their radars, some of which are household favorites, and others a little more niched! They also sign off with some of the most e...

For breweries of a specific size, the question of silos will arise at some point or another. To help us get to grips with this critical yet intensive and expensive step, we are joined by Jack Paulson from Newleaf Equipment Solutions to share the vast amount of wisdom that he has gained from over two decades in the industry.  Jack takes us through some of that journey, looking back at landmark...

Maintaining a high standard of cleanliness is essential to brewing beer, and many brewers could produce a better product by taking sterilization more seriously. Today we have Dana Johnson and George Allen from Birko on the show to share their expertise on best practices for sterilization in the brewing lifecycle. Dana is Technical Director of Craft Brewing and Distilling at Birko, and George is th...

Dextrin malts are specially made to boost your beer’s body, taste and mouthfeel. To dive into the secrets of brewing with these malts, we’re joined by Mike Heinrich, Sales Manager at Great Western Malting, local expert Bob Hansen of Briess Malt & Ingredients Co, along with Dirk Schneider and Tom Lembrick of BESTMALZ in Germany. We open our conversation with Mike, talking about Great Western Ma...

The highest quality beer can only be made when there is a connection between farmers and brewers.  Today we talk about the importance of this connection while also hearing insights into hops growing and beer brewing from today’s guests; Yakima Chief Ranches CEO Jason Perrault and supply chain ‘hoperations’ manager Joe Catron , and Bale Break Brewery co-owners Kevin Smith and Kevin Quinn .&nbs...

Today we welcome Eddie Douglas onto the show to talk about the new Sassy varietal known as Malt 2.0. As the commercial director for Bairds Malt, Eddie comes with a wealth of knowledge and shares a variety of details on what makes Bairds’ barley so sensational. He tells us how care is taken from the very beginning of the barley’s life cycle, starting from the seed to its germination and beyond. The...

Today we sit with Tim Matthews of CANarchy Craft Brewery Collective (Oskar Blues, Cigar City, Deep Ellum, Perrin, Squatters, Three Weavers, and Wasatch) and Ira Leibtag , founder of Cholaca . Tim and Ira teamed up to successfully create a tasty, refreshing beer with the addition of cacao, and later, coconut. To kick things off, Tim shares the origin story of the pair’s success. Sitting in a coffee...

Today we sit with James Loughran from Loughran Family Malts to talk about the art of farming and preparing barley. According to some, this cornerstone ingredient of craft beer takes a tremendous amount of care, planning, and even magic.  We open the show by asking James about the challenges and rewards of farming this important grain. After learning about the finer nuances of the grain’s jour...

With the ability to complement nearly every style of beer, crafting with fruit is how top breweries are creating some of their most innovative brews. Today we speak with Oregon Fruit Products Director of Brewing Sales Chris Hodge about the benefits of putting fruit in your beer.  After host Toby Tucker opens the show with a fruit medley of low-hanging puns, we explore Chris’s history in the b...

Non-alcoholic beer is certainly having its moment in the U.S. The Dry January and “sober-curious” movements have piqued many people’s curiosity about non-alcoholic beer. Athletic Brewing Company is a leader in this segment of the market. John Walker, the company’s co-founder and head brewer joins us to shed light on the business and non-alcoholic beer generally. We kick off by hearing about his tr...