276: Kyle Carbaugh of Wiley Roots Explores the Outer Limits of Flavor in Fruit Beer and Barrel-Aged Stout

If you’re going to make a kettle-acidified fruit beer, make it well. For Wiley Roots cofounder and head brewer Kyle Carbaugh, that means everything from using rustic unmalted wheat from a farmer friend to creating their own fruit pureés from fresh whole fruit. After all, you can’t drive novel, engaging fruit flavor that stands out if you do things the exact same way as every other brewer out there.

In this episode, Carbaugh discusses their fruit beer program as well as their barrel-aged stout program, which produced one of Craft Beer & Brewing’s Best 20 beers in 2022. Along the way, he also touches on:

moving past “if you brew it, they will come”

creating transition beers to get people into more “advanced” styles

developing the fruit-beer category with different brands that explore everything from leaner fermented fruit profiles to sweeter smoothie approaches

designing a brewhouse with kettle-acidification in mind

blending purée and juice concentrates for well-rounded fruit flavors

creating purée from whole fruit with a commercial food processor and masticating juicer

stabilizing fruit beers at various pH levels

building heft in stouts with additional fermentables

adjusting during the aging process for better barrel-aged results

And more.

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