This week on Fuhmentaboudit!, Mary Izett travels back in time to the 2013 Belgium Comes to Cooperstown festival and plays a recording of a private tasting with Brewery Ommegang’s Michael McManus. Michael is the Innovation Manager at Ommegang. Tune in to hear Michael explain the taste profile of pink peppercorns in brewing. Find out why it’s often difficult to brew a Belgian-style hoppy beer. Learn more about the signature Ommegang yeast strain, and how they use it in their Fade to Black stout. How does Ommegang support local hop growers? Tune in to learn about Ommegang’s 100% brettanomyces beers! Finally, Mary wraps up the show by answering some listener fermentation questions. This program has been brought to you by GreatBrewers.com.

“There’s a reason why most IPAs use a very clean yeast strain; you need to let the hops shine. It’s a little bit more of a challenge to brew a sessionable, drinkable Belgian hop-forward beer.” [5:30]

— Michael McManus on Fuhmentaboudit!