October 17, 2025

441: Cask Ale Elegance and Understatement with Bill Arnott of Machine House

1 hour 10 minutes

It can be difficult to articulate how to make simple beers extraordinarily well—much comes down to ingredient quality, training and discipline, and the hundreds of small choices a brewer makes throughout the brew day and through fermentation and packaging. At Seattle’s Machine House, founder Bill Arnott will tell you that he doesn’t do anything special, yet the cask ales he brews are favorites of brewing peers thanks to a dogged focus on English-style beers and a dedication to serving them well.

In this episode, Arnott discusses:

building a more authentic and satisfying approach to cask ale in the Pacific Northwest

battling the “warm and flat” caricature of English-style cask ale

taking a contextual approach to yeast with different strains for different beers

Timothy Taylor yeast versus the Fullers strain for different expression

brewing fresh hop cask ale

successful fermentation in unitanks with minimal temperature control

cask and can conditioning for staying power in the beer

achieving the right amount of astringency with brown malt

making excellent beers with a somewhat “primitive” process

And more.

This episode is brought to you by:

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