Max Shafer joins me from Roadhouse Brewing to discuss achieving the perfect IPA balance, using new hop products and perfecting your Hazy IPA.

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Topics in This Week’s Episode (35:18)

This week I welcome back Max Shafer from Roadhouse Brewing in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Max was previously a brewer at Grand Teton brewing. Max sits on the Hop Research Council, is the Idaho ambassador to the Hop Quality Group, and associate member of the American Malting Barley Association. Max is a graduate of the Siebel Institute and has over 10 years as a professional brewer.

We start with a short discussion of some of the new beers and offerings at Roadhouse Brewing where they continue to innovate.

Max starts the technical discussion with a discussion on hop balance, and what he means by the proper hop balance for a Hazy IPA.

We talk about boil hops which lay the foundation for bitterness, and how his boil hop additions have evolved into a single 60 minute addition combined often with a shorter 20 minute addition.

Max next moves on to whirlpool additions, and we discuss the use of pellets here as well as some of the new hop products like Dynaboost and Incognito.

Next we discuss dry hopping and why pellets are still important here. He also talks about concentrated hop products like Subzero Hop Kief and Abstrax. We discuss the use of isomerized hop products and aroma additions for final tweaking of a beer as well.

Max tells us how he works backward from a finished beer to try to determine the best place to tweak hop balance – be it in the boil, whirlpool or dry hopping. He also makes extensive use of his small pilot brewery.

We next talk about gravity in the context of Hazy IPAs and how there seems to be a sweet spot in terms of the ideal gravity to balance out a Hazy IPA.

Max discusses drinkability as well as the push to lower gravity beers.

He tells us where to visit Roadhouse as well as their website (linked above) and how you can get their products.

He also gives us his closing thoughts.

Sponsors

Thank you to our sponsor Craft Beer and Brewing Magazine for sponsoring this episode. I encourage you to subscribe to their great magazine!

Also check out BeerSmith, BeerSmith Web, BeerSmith Mobile software and the DVDs John Palmer and I filmed – How to Brew with Malt Extract and How to Brew All Grain are available now. You can subscribe to the BeerSmith newsletter for free to get some great articles on home brewing.

iTunes Announcements: I launched a new video channel for the BeerSmith podcast on iTunes, so subscribe now! At the moment it will only feature the new widescreen episodes (#75 and up). Older episodes are available on my revamped Youtube channel. Also all of my audio episodes are on iTunes now – so grab the older episodes if you missed any.

Thoughts on the Podcast?

Leave me a comment below or visit our discussion forum to leave a comment in the podcast section there.

Subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes

You can subscribe to the audio or video using the iTunes links below, or the feed address

Audio feed on iTunes – (direct: http://beersmith.com/content/feed/podcast)

Video feed on iTunes – (direct: http://beersmith.com/tv/category/podcast/feed/ )

Audio podcast on Google Play here

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the blog and my newsletter (or link at the top of the page) – to get free weekly articles on home brewing.

Brewing author Denny Conn joins me this week to discuss brewing Trappist style Abbey ales including their history, ingredients and brewing techniques used.

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Topics in This Week’s Episode (37:50)

This week I welcome Denny Conn. Denny is a nationally ranked certified beer judge. He is also co-author of the books Simple Homebrewing, Experimental Brewing and also Home Brewing All Stars (All Amazon Affiliate Links).

We start with a discussion of Denny’s 630 batches of beer over a period of 28 years, and how he is brewing a lot of Trappist/Abbey style Belgian ales now.

Denny provides some of the rich history of Trappist ales which originated in Abbeys primarily around Belgium.

We discuss how the International Trappist Ale association now enforces the term Trappist Ale as only applying to a small number of approved Trappist abbeys. So we now instead use the term Abbey ales or perhaps beers brewed in the Trappist style.

Denny explains the basic styles which are single, dubbel, tripel and quad, though there are variations of each.

Denny discusses how these ales often vary by region and color.

We next move to ingredients and how to brew these styles, starting with the malt bill. Denny explains why he prefers to use primarily Belgian pale malts along with a substantial portion of sugars. We also discuss the tradeoffs between simple sugars and expensive Belgian candi sugars.

Denny explains how these beers are simply hopped, often using local hops and also why they are sometimes more bitter than they appear.

We discuss brewing yeasts and Denny provides his favorite yeast to use.

We discuss brewing techniques and in particular how the mash profile is important for achieving a high attenuation in these styles which makes them more drinkable.

Denny provides advice for brewers looking to make the perfect Belgian ale.

He also gives us his closing thoughts.

Sponsors

Thank you to our sponsor Craft Beer and Brewing Magazine for sponsoring this episode. I encourage you to subscribe to their great magazine!

Also check out BeerSmith, BeerSmith Web, BeerSmith Mobile software and the DVDs John Palmer and I filmed – How to Brew with Malt Extract and How to Brew All Grain are available now. You can subscribe to the BeerSmith newsletter for free to get some great articles on home brewing.

iTunes Announcements: I launched a new video channel for the BeerSmith podcast on iTunes, so subscribe now! At the moment it will only feature the new widescreen episodes (#75 and up). Older episodes are available on my revamped Youtube channel. Also all of my audio episodes are on iTunes now – so grab the older episodes if you missed any.

Thoughts on the Podcast?

Leave me a comment below or visit our discussion forum to leave a comment in the podcast section there.

Subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes

You can subscribe to the audio or video using the iTunes links below, or the feed address

Audio feed on iTunes – (direct: http://beersmith.com/content/feed/podcast)

Video feed on iTunes – (direct: http://beersmith.com/tv/category/podcast/feed/ )

Audio podcast on Google Play here

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the blog and my newsletter (or link at the top of the page) – to get free weekly articles on home brewing.

Jared Williamson joins me from Shlafly Brewing in St Lous, MO to discuss Shlafly, their strategy for lower alcohol beers and trends in Craft Brewing.

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Topics in This Week’s Episode (26:28)

This week I welcome Jared Williamson. Jared is the head brewer at Shlafly Brewery in St Louis MO. Jared has nearly 20 years of brewing experience as a professional brewer, and leads recipe development and ingredient innovation at Shlafly.

We start with a brief history of Jared as a brewer, and how he became head brewer at Shlafly.

Jared explains his Pale Ale and new IPA non-alcoholic (NA) beer offerings and why he thinks NA beer is an important emerging market segment for craft brewing.

We discuss the methods he used to create non-alcoholic beer including high mash temperatures and managed fermentation. He also talks about the changes he had to make to adopt existing recipes to NA beer.

Next we discuss his line of 3% beers which are targeting more casual brewers or those who want to be able to drink a few beers without all of the alcohol. This is another part of Shlafly’s strategy to adopt to the changing beer market.

Jared shares some of the changes he had to make to create his 3% beer lineup.

He shares his advice on those looking to make lower alcohol beers at home.

We talk about the rapidly changing Craft beer market and pressures on many craft breweries as the market has declined since COVID.

Jared discusses his Winter beer offerings including Winter Stout, Oatmeal Stout and Coffee Stout.

He shares where to find Schlafly beers and also their location.

Jared provides his closing thoughts.

Sponsors

Thank you to our sponsor Craft Beer and Brewing Magazine for sponsoring this episode. I encourage you to subscribe to their great magazine!

Also check out BeerSmith, BeerSmith Web, BeerSmith Mobile software and the DVDs John Palmer and I filmed – How to Brew with Malt Extract and How to Brew All Grain are available now. You can subscribe to the BeerSmith newsletter for free to get some great articles on home brewing.

iTunes Announcements: I launched a new video channel for the BeerSmith podcast on iTunes, so subscribe now! At the moment it will only feature the new widescreen episodes (#75 and up). Older episodes are available on my revamped Youtube channel. Also all of my audio episodes are on iTunes now – so grab the older episodes if you missed any.

Thoughts on the Podcast?

Leave me a comment below or visit our discussion forum to leave a comment in the podcast section there.

Subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes

you can also subscribe to the audio or video using the iTunes links below, or the feed address

Audio feed on iTunes – (direct: http://beersmith.com/content/feed/podcast)

Video feed on iTunes – (direct: http://beersmith.com/tv/category/podcast/feed/ )

Audio podcast on Google Play here

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the blog and my newsletter (or link at the top of the page) – to get free weekly articles on home brewing.

John Palmer joins me this week to discuss brewing smoked beer styles including Grodziski, Rauchbier, Rauchweizen and two recent collaborations he did with local breweries.

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Topics in This Week’s Episode (26:28)

This week I welcome back John Palmer. John is the author of the top selling book How to Brew as well as Water and Brewing Classic Styles (full disclosure: Amazon affiliate links used for books). John joins me this week to talk about water in beer.

We start with a short discussion on John’s current brewing projects.

Next we dive into the Grodziski, which is a historical Polish beer style made with smoked malt. John tells a bit about this style.

We next discuss smoked base malts and the history behind smoked malts. Prior to the 1700’s, almost all malts were dried and kilned over wood, but malting evolved significantly with the introduction of coke fired malting in the 1700’s and introduction of lighter malts including pale malt.

John talks about some of the other major beer styles that use smoked malt including Rauchbier, Rauchweizen, Rauchbock and Smoked Altbier.

John talks about two smoked beer collaborations he did recently starting with Smoked Altbier. We discuss the recipe and also how it turned out.

Next we move to a Grodziski collaboration beer that John did including the grain bill and hop schedule. Again John tells us how this turned out.

John shares some of the lessons he learned from his smoked beer collaborations.

John shares his closing thoughts.

Sponsors

Thank you to our sponsor Craft Beer and Brewing Magazine for sponsoring this episode. I encourage you to subscribe to their great magazine!

Also check out BeerSmith, BeerSmith Web, BeerSmith Mobile software and the DVDs John Palmer and I filmed – How to Brew with Malt Extract and How to Brew All Grain are available now. You can subscribe to the BeerSmith newsletter for free to get some great articles on home brewing.

iTunes Announcements: I launched a new video channel for the BeerSmith podcast on iTunes, so subscribe now! At the moment it will only feature the new widescreen episodes (#75 and up). Older episodes are available on my revamped Youtube channel. Also all of my audio episodes are on iTunes now – so grab the older episodes if you missed any.

Thoughts on the Podcast?

Leave me a comment below or visit our discussion forum to leave a comment in the podcast section there.

Subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes or BeerSmith Radio

You can listen to all of my podcast episodes streaming live around the clock on our BeerSmith Radio online radio station! You can also subscribe to the audio or video using the iTunes links below, or the feed address

Audio feed on iTunes – (direct: http://beersmith.com/content/feed/podcast)

Video feed on iTunes – (direct: http://beersmith.com/tv/category/podcast/feed/ )

Audio podcast on Google Play here

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the blog and my newsletter (or link at the top of the page) – to get free weekly articles on home brewing.

Gordon Strong joins me this week to discuss the new BJCP Mead Style Guideline revisions as well as some of his favorite mead styles.

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Topics in This Week’s Episode (51:52)

This week I welcome back Gordon Strong. Gordon is President Emeritus and highest level beer judge in the Beer Judge Certifcation Program and author of the books Modern Homebrew Recipes and Brewing Better Beer (Books links are paid Amazon affiliate links).

We start with a discussion of the BJCP Cider guidelines updated last year as well as a few of Gordons recent projects.

Next we dive into the updated BJCP Mead style guideline that Gordon is currently working on and planning to publish shortly. He explains his goals for the new update.

The guide is divided into four major sections starting with traditional meads. We talk about the traditional mead categories as well as varietal meads and some of Gordons favorite varietals.

Gordon next discusses changes to the fruit mead (Melomel) category and we discuss the expansion of Cyser to include other pomme fruits.

We discuss the fruit mead categories, along with Ken Schramm’s noble fruits though Gordon explains why many tropical fruits also work well with mead.

We talk about spiced meads which covers a wide variety of spices. Gordon tells us why many “winter” spices work well with mead.

Finally we have the specialty mead category which covers meads that don’t otherwise fit in the main categories. Gordon also discusses wood and barrel aged meads which have become popular.

Gordon provides his closing thoughts.

Sponsors

Thank you to our sponsor Craft Beer and Brewing Magazine for sponsoring this episode. I encourage you to subscribe to their great magazine!

Also check out BeerSmith, BeerSmith Web, BeerSmith Mobile software and the DVDs John Palmer and I filmed – How to Brew with Malt Extract and How to Brew All Grain are available now. You can subscribe to the BeerSmith newsletter for free to get some great articles on home brewing.

iTunes Announcements: I launched a new video channel for the BeerSmith podcast on iTunes, so subscribe now! At the moment it will only feature the new widescreen episodes (#75 and up). Older episodes are available on my revamped Youtube channel. Also all of my audio episodes are on iTunes now – so grab the older episodes if you missed any.

Thoughts on the Podcast?

Leave me a comment below or visit our discussion forum to leave a comment in the podcast section there.

Subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes or BeerSmith Radio

You can listen to all of my podcast episodes streaming live around the clock on our BeerSmith Radio online radio station! You can also subscribe to the audio or video using the iTunes links below, or the feed address

Audio feed on iTunes – (direct: http://beersmith.com/content/feed/podcast)

Video feed on iTunes – (direct: http://beersmith.com/tv/category/podcast/feed/ )

Audio podcast on Google Play here

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the blog and my newsletter (or link at the top of the page) – to get free weekly articles on home brewing.

Dr Chris White and Nick Impellitteri join me this week to discuss yeast genetics, biotransformations and thiols in beer.

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Topics in This Week’s Episode (51:42)

This week I welcome Dr Chris White and Nick Impellitteri. Chris is President of White Labs Inc, at top provider of brewing yeast worldwide and 2015 winner of the AHA Governing Committee award for a lifetime of achievement in brewing. He is also the author of the book “Yeast” which is the ultimate reference on brewing yeast.

Nick is a biomaterials scientist and genetic engineer who started Yeast Bay in 2013 in the Bay area, a provider of unique brewing yeasts produced in collaboration with White Labs.

We start with a brief discussion with returning guest Chris White about some of the new projects going on at White Labs.

First time guest Nick Impellitteri tells a bit about his story and how he got started as founder of The Yeast Bay. Nick is involved in a collaboration with White Labs where many of his yeasts are produced by White Labs for craft breweries worldwide.

Chris starts by describing a project he worked on several years ago to map the genetic family tree for 96 brewing yeast strains and what we’ve learned from that.

Nick talks about his new lager strain Cream City Lager Yeast and how he is evaluating new yeast strains using modern genetics.

Chris explains how we’re just starting to map specific yeast genes to individual flavors and aromas in beer.

He also describes some interesting results comparing genes from two of the worlds most popular lager yeast strains: Saaz and Frohberg and how one largely dominates large lager production.

Chris discusses the STA1 gene which can in some cases cause diastaticus. Chris tells us why STA1 is important but also the limitations.

Nick explains how biotransformations are really important for many IPA styles. There are two major types of biotransformation important in the process: Terpenes and thiols and Nick tells us about terpene biotransformation of hop aroma compounds like Geraniol and Linalool. Terpenes can be bound or free.

Chris explains the biotransformation of thiols, including both bound and free thiols, and how yeast plays a major role.

Chris tells us why yeast genetics plays an important role in thiol transformation in the form of the IRC7 gene. Again the presence of the gene is not enough, as it must be activated.

Chris tells us about his new yeast strain WPL077, Tropicale Yeast Blend which takes a natural approach. Tropicale is not a genetically modified yeast, but is instead carefully selected to free thiols and produce tropical fruity flavors in a finished beer. This approach is different than many competitors who are using genetically modified yeasts.

Nick joins in to talk about projects he is working on to genetically engineer new yeast strains, along with certain advantages and disadvantages that come from the approach.

Chris and Nick both provide their closing thoughts.

Sponsors

Thank you to our sponsor Craft Beer and Brewing Magazine for sponsoring this episode. I encourage you to subscribe to their great magazine!

Also check out BeerSmith, BeerSmith Web, BeerSmith Mobile software and the DVDs John Palmer and I filmed – How to Brew with Malt Extract and How to Brew All Grain are available now. You can subscribe to the BeerSmith newsletter for free to get some great articles on home brewing.

iTunes Announcements: I launched a new video channel for the BeerSmith podcast on iTunes, so subscribe now! At the moment it will only feature the new widescreen episodes (#75 and up). Older episodes are available on my revamped Youtube channel. Also all of my audio episodes are on iTunes now – so grab the older episodes if you missed any.

Thoughts on the Podcast?

Leave me a comment below or visit our discussion forum to leave a comment in the podcast section there.

Subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes or BeerSmith Radio

You can listen to all of my podcast episodes streaming live around the clock on our BeerSmith Radio online radio station! You can also subscribe to the audio or video using the iTunes links below, or the feed address

Audio feed on iTunes – (direct: http://beersmith.com/content/feed/podcast)

Video feed on iTunes – (direct: http://beersmith.com/tv/category/podcast/feed/ )

Audio podcast on Google Play here

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the blog and my newsletter (or link at the top of the page) – to get free weekly articles on home brewing.

Richard Yi joins me from Brooklyn Cider House to talk about Cider, the growing Craft Cider industry and how you can make your own cider at home.

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Topics in This Week’s Episode (54:23)

This week I welcome Richard Yi. Richard is a second generation Cider maker working for his family’s business Brooklyn Cider House. He specializes in creating ciders with international influence from American heirloom and other rare apples and fruits.

Richard starts by telling us the story of Brooklyn Cider House and how he started the business with his father.

We discuss the history of cider, which was once literally on every table in America in the 1700’s and 1800’s, and how cider fell from grace when prohibition hit.

We talk about some of the major types of cider as well as the wide diversity of cider styles now bring made.

Richard highlights his work in wild, barrel aged and sour ciders which is a bit of a specialty area. We discuss how he has been able to apply many sour beer techniques to ciders.

Craft cider is one of the few alcoholic beverage categories still growing. Richard provides his thoughts on the rise of Craft Cider in the US and why it is growing in popularity.

He shares some of the challenges cider makers have in educating consumers about craft cider and the wide variety of cider styles available.

I ask about heirloom apples, which have different characteristics including more tannins and acidity than typical “eating” varieties. We talk about heirloom apples and some of the challenges getting them grown in quantity.

Richard provides a brief overview of how an average brewer can use existing equipment to make cider at home. He recommends using baking apples that are freshly squeezed instead of working with juice.

We talk about some of the interesting ciders he has been working on.

Richard provides his location, how you can buy Brooklyn Ciders and also his closing thought.

Sponsors

Thank you to our sponsor Craft Beer and Brewing Magazine for sponsoring this episode. I encourage you to subscribe to their great magazine!

Also check out BeerSmith, BeerSmith Web, BeerSmith Mobile software and the DVDs John Palmer and I filmed – How to Brew with Malt Extract and How to Brew All Grain are available now. You can subscribe to the BeerSmith newsletter for free to get some great articles on home brewing.

iTunes Announcements: I launched a new video channel for the BeerSmith podcast on iTunes, so subscribe now! At the moment it will only feature the new widescreen episodes (#75 and up). Older episodes are available on my revamped Youtube channel. Also all of my audio episodes are on iTunes now – so grab the older episodes if you missed any.

Thoughts on the Podcast?

Leave me a comment below or visit our discussion forum to leave a comment in the podcast section there.

Subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes or BeerSmith Radio

You can listen to all of my podcast episodes streaming live around the clock on our BeerSmith Radio online radio station! You can also subscribe to the audio or video using the iTunes links below, or the feed address

Audio feed on iTunes – (direct: http://beersmith.com/content/feed/podcast)

Video feed on iTunes – (direct: http://beersmith.com/tv/category/podcast/feed/ )

Audio podcast on Google Play here

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the blog and my newsletter (or link at the top of the page) – to get free weekly articles on home brewing.

Dr Charlie Bamforth, Professor Emeritus from the University of California at Davis joins me this week to discuss his long career in professional brewing and academia.

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Topics in This Week’s Episode (58:41)

This week I welcome back Dr Charlie Bamforth, Professor Emeritus from the University of California at Davis. Charlie specializes in the study of the wholesomeness of beer including beer perception, polyphenols, foam stability, oxidation and flavor stability.

Charlie gives a brief overview of some of the projects he has been working on this last year as well as his upcoming books.

Today we dive into Charlie’s long career which started at BRF in England in 1978. He tells us about the BRF and some of the research he did there.

In 1983 Charlie moved to Bass in Burton and then later Preston Brook. We discuss some of the changes moving to a large brewery as well as some of the work Charlie did there.

In 1991, Charlie moved back to BRF, but his job took on more of a global role. We discuss some of the topics he worked on.

Charlie also started working as a visiting professor at Heriot Watt. We talk about what drove him to begin teaching.

In 1999 Charlie moved to California to begin teaching full time at UC Davis. Charlie was instrumental in expanding their brewing programs there into a world-renown school.

We talk about the University Extension program and Continuing education program at UC Davis and his role.

Charlie also became an honorary professor at the University of Nottingham. We discuss this role.

While Charlie retired from UC Davis in 2018, he has continued to consult at Sierra Nevada as well as work on books and many side projects. We discuss some of these.

Charlie talks about the dozens of books he has written as well as some of the courses he has recorded.

Finally we discuss his lifetime fascination with soccer and soccer goal-keeping.

Charlie gives us his closing thoughts as well as thoughts about where brewing might go next.

Sponsors

Thank you to our sponsor Craft Beer and Brewing Magazine for sponsoring this episode. I encourage you to subscribe to their great magazine!

Also check out BeerSmith, BeerSmith Web, BeerSmith Mobile software and the DVDs John Palmer and I filmed – How to Brew with Malt Extract and How to Brew All Grain are available now. You can subscribe to the BeerSmith newsletter for free to get some great articles on home brewing.

iTunes Announcements: I launched a new video channel for the BeerSmith podcast on iTunes, so subscribe now! At the moment it will only feature the new widescreen episodes (#75 and up). Older episodes are available on my revamped Youtube channel. Also all of my audio episodes are on iTunes now – so grab the older episodes if you missed any.

Thoughts on the Podcast?

Leave me a comment below or visit our discussion forum to leave a comment in the podcast section there.

Subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes or BeerSmith Radio

You can listen to all of my podcast episodes streaming live around the clock on our BeerSmith Radio online radio station! You can also subscribe to the audio or video using the iTunes links below, or the feed address

Audio feed on iTunes – (direct: http://beersmith.com/content/feed/podcast)

Video feed on iTunes – (direct: http://beersmith.com/tv/category/podcast/feed/ )

Audio podcast on Google Play here

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the blog and my newsletter (or link at the top of the page) – to get free weekly articles on home brewing.

Chris Graham joins me this week from MoreBeer to discuss home brewing equipment types and options for upgrading your brewing equipment.

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Topics in This Week’s Episode (50:25)

This week I welcome back Chris Graham from MoreBeer, a top supplier of brewing equipment and ingredients. Chris is the President of MoreBeer, and has taught at the Siebel Instutute and also served on both the Brewer’s Association Board of Directors and the American Homebrewer’s Association Governing Council.

Chris gives us a short overview of what is new at MoreBeer.

We start with a discussion on Flash Brewing which is perhaps the simplest method for brewing beer and requires the least equipment. We covered this topic in more detail on Episode #309. Chris describes the equipment and basic methods for Flash Brewing.

Next we discuss Extract brewing which gives you flexbility over your recipes, but can still be done with very little equipment. Even a smaller pot on the stovetop, bucket for fermentation and bottles to store the beer is enough.

We discuss the general trend towards smaller batches in brewing and changes post-COVID.

Chris next introduces all grain brewing using relatively inexpensive All-in-one Brew in a Bag (BIAB) systems which have become very popular. These smaller systems in many cases have sophisticated features like temperature control and pumps, but are compact and easy to use. Moving to all grain also gives you full control over the brewing process and enables just about any beer to be brewed.

We discuss some of the pros and cons of a BIAB style all in one system, along with some of the more advanced features on some models.

Chris next moves up to a three vessel system which is used for all grain and mirrors the basic vessels on a larger pro size system. These systems often blur the lines between home and professional equipment, and in fact many small nano-breweries use large homebrew system three tier systems for brewing.

Chris talks about temperature control, pumps and the difference between a RIMS and HERMS system for heating the mash.

We talk about home brewing pumps which are required as systems get larger and some of the features to look for in a home brewing pump.

We briefly discuss pro brewing systems and what might be added in terms of automation as the systems move from large home brewing equipment to commercial sizes.

Chris discusses fermenters and some of the options available from a simple plastic bucket to a pressurized stainless conical. We’ve seen a lot of advancement in this area especially at the homebrew level.

Chris provides his thoughts on where home brewing is going next as well as his closing thoughts.

Sponsors

Thank you to our sponsor Craft Beer and Brewing Magazine for sponsoring this episode. I encourage you to subscribe to their great magazine!

Also check out BeerSmith, BeerSmith Web, BeerSmith Mobile software and the DVDs John Palmer and I filmed – How to Brew with Malt Extract and How to Brew All Grain are available now. You can subscribe to the BeerSmith newsletter for free to get some great articles on home brewing.

iTunes Announcements: I launched a new video channel for the BeerSmith podcast on iTunes, so subscribe now! At the moment it will only feature the new widescreen episodes (#75 and up). Older episodes are available on my revamped Youtube channel. Also all of my audio episodes are on iTunes now – so grab the older episodes if you missed any.

Thoughts on the Podcast?

Leave me a comment below or visit our discussion forum to leave a comment in the podcast section there.

Subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes or BeerSmith Radio

You can listen to all of my podcast episodes streaming live around the clock on our BeerSmith Radio online radio station! You can also subscribe to the audio or video using the iTunes links below, or the feed address

Audio feed on iTunes – (direct: http://beersmith.com/content/feed/podcast)

Video feed on iTunes – (direct: http://beersmith.com/tv/category/podcast/feed/ )

Audio podcast on Google Play here

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the blog and my newsletter (or link at the top of the page) – to get free weekly articles on home brewing.

This week author Randy Mosher joins me to discuss how your senses and brain work together to create the overall flavor and impression from beer and other beverages.

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Topics in This Week’s Episode (52:51)

This week I welcome back Randy Mosher. Randy is the author of the books Mastering Homebrew, Radical Brewing, and Tasting Beer. (Full disclosure: Amazon affiliate links to books) He’s also partner in two breweries near Chicago Five Rabbit and Forbidden Root.

We start with a short discussion of Randy’s new website which is at RandyMosher.com. We also briefly talk about his previous book on Tasting Beer and upcoming book “Your Tasting Brain”.

We begin this week’s topic with a discussion of “multimodality” and how that describes the operation of our brain and senses.

Randy describes our main senses used in detecting flavor which are taste, smell and touch. We explore how the raw inputs from the senses are rapidly combined and distilled automatically by the brain.

He explains how smell, taste, and mouthfeel are all combined together to create the perception we call flavor and how a lot of information is distilled down along the way.

We talk about the brain’s overall architecture and how that architecture significantly affects the way we perceive the world.

Randy tells us about how the brain uses shortcuts and mental models to distill down a complex world and also to deal with an overload of information coming into our somewhat limited brains.

We discuss how these factors along with memories and mental models play into our overall perception of flavor.

Randy discusses judging beer and how it takes serious concentration as well as experience to be able to break down complex flavors into individual tastes and smells. In some sense a judge is trying to break down the simplification made by the brain.

We discuss how the cognitive and even unseen mental models play a significant role in flavor perception. Small things like words, background music, sounds, mood, lighting, and sight all can change our perceived flavor.

Randy discusses “the wierd stuff” and how sometimes simple inputs create complex perceptions in the brain or create outcomes we do not expect.

He shares where to find more about his upcoming book – mainly through the website RandyMosher.com

Randy shares his closing thoughts.

Sponsors

Thank you to our sponsor Craft Beer and Brewing Magazine for sponsoring this episode. I encourage you to subscribe to their great magazine!

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