November 07, 2025

444: Mike Foniok of the Establishment Takes an Ultramodern Approach to Mixed-Culture Fermentation

1 hour 6 minutes

Sheesh! The Establishment (Calgary, Alberta) has built a reputation over the past few years for taking an unconventional, experimental approach to mixed-culture brewing—as well as many other styles—and they’ve brought home numerous awards to prove it. The 2025 World Beer Cup gold medal for Belgian-Style Sour Ale may be the biggest of them all, despite the unabashedly modern approach to the mixed-culture blend: Erlton Street 5 includes a component that's essentially barrel-aged hazy IPA, right down to the Dynaboost dip-hop. They’re not afraid of calculated risks, and they love seeing where new ideas and techniques take them—because, as Foniok says, “Beer first, ask questions later.”

In this episode, Foniok discusses:

using advanced hop products in mixed-culture beer

bench-trialing potential dry hops

working around the mixed culture and dealing with Pediococcus ropiness

brewing with high hop loads to suppress excessive acid production

blending over multiple days to challenge and ultimately verify the blend

using aged hops that have moved past the cheesy stage

promoting fast fermentation for Saccharomyces strains in the mixed culture

blending a fermented component with a hazy-IPA-ish grist

bench-testing hops for improving dry-hop selection

And more.

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