271: Brooklyn’s Grimm Artisanal Ales Apply a Yeast-Driven Approach to Brewing

Joe Grimm of Grimm Artisanal Ales would like to dispel some myths about hazy IPA. “No matter what some brewers say, hazy IPA is one of the hardest styles to make, because it’s never good enough. I’m never happy with the beer.”

That never-satisfied attitude has driven the husband-and-wife brewing duo to explore different methods of making compelling hazy beer, from top-cropping yeast to employing a Brasserie de la Senne–inspired approach to tank geometry, and pushing their yeast strain far, far past normal generation limits (they were on the 275th generation at the time the podcast was recorded). In this episode, they discuss that thoughtful approach to fermentation in hazy IPA as well as their less-conventional approach to spontaneous inoculation, and their evolving method for using fruit in wild and spontaneous beers.

Along the way, the two discuss:

the challenge of opening with extremely limited funds, contract brewing at places around the Northeast

learning from the design of various breweries in which they brewed

applying lessons on tank geometry for Belgian beer to their tanks for IPA

top-cropping London Ale III for healthy yeast

adjusting recipe parameters as yeast evolves

maintaining haze while minimizing astringency

brewing spontaneous beer without a coolship

blending wild and spontaneous beer

using carbonic maceration in fruit for better flavor in fruit beers

And more.

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