October 25, 2022

269: GABF Gold! Deadwords and Wye Hill Talk Winning with Light Lager and Hazy Pale Ale

1 hour 3 minutes

In this special GABF Gold edition of the podcast, Greg Winget of Wye Hill Brewing in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Alex Sarames of Deadwords Brewing in Orlando discuss their specific (and often unconventional) approaches to their respective gold medal–winning beers.

Winget and Wye Hill won gold with Luminous Beings, a hazy pale ale that uses a variety of current techniques to maximize flavor expression. He discusses:

brewing with 100 percent craft malt

mash-hopping for thiol precursors, character, and as a pH buffer

employing an unusually long whirlpool spin and soak cycle

fermenting at cooler temps with Cosmic Punch

two-stage dry hopping to avoid over-saturation

slow and measured transfers

the importance of soft water

packaging on a very small but low-DO canning line

Meanwhile, Sarames and Deadwords won gold with Bridge, an American light lager with an unusual hop choice. He discusses:

selecting Rahr North Star Pils for its light character

single-infusion mashing

using Vista as the sole hop in the beer

120-minute boils to drive off DMS precursors

switching to BSI’s Andechs Lager strain for fermentation

using the RO system to strip down and rebuild water

maintaining a clean facility

And more!

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