The Escarpment Labs Podcast

Are your yeast nutrients giving your fermentation precision support, or are they overloading your kettle with heavy metals and unpredictable mineral shifts?

Many commercial worts are naturally deficient in zinc (<0.15 ppm), leading to sluggish fermentations and yeast stress. However, many off-the-shelf nutrients were originally formulated for wine or distilling rather than beer—sometimes adding massive doses of calcium or unwanted pro-oxidant metals like iron and copper.

In this episode, Mark and Richard open up the laboratory vault to share findings from a multi-brewery study evaluating 47 samples across 16 commercial craft breweries.

We break down:

• Precision Zinc Delivery: How Yeast Lightning reliably lifts zinc deficient worts (+0.125 ppm avg. increase) straight into the ideal 0.2-0.3 ppm sweet spot.

• Heavy Metals & Shelf Life: How excess iron (>0.15 ppm) in competing nutrients triggers Fenton reactions, driving premature lipid oxidation and cardboard off-flavours in packaged beer.

• Electrolyte & FAN Balance: Delivering vital cofactors like potassium and magnesium without triggering drastic, unwanted water chemistry shifts or lowering free amino nitrogen.

• The Future of Precision Nutrition: Where yeast nutrition research is heading next—from amino acid profiling to custom wort management.

  
  

Featured in this Episode:

Why do yeast pitch rates vary so drastically between brewing shifts, even when everyone is using the same hemocytometer?

Manual microscopic cell counts are standard practice, but they take time, carry operator bias, and can fall short when slurry densities change across strains. If you've ever faced stalled fermentations or batch-to-batch flavour shifts, inconsistent pitching volume might be the hidden culprit.

In this episode, Mark and Richard are joined by Nick Brown (Brewing Sales Specialist at Aber Instruments) and Matt Cummings (Brewmaster at Equals Brewing) to explore capacitance technology — a real-time method for measuring viable yeast biomass directly in the line or tank.

We cover:

• The Limits of the Scope: Where manual cell counts, slurry weight, and optical density fall short in a fast-paced production cellar.

• The Science of Cell Capacitance: How live yeast cells with intact membranes act like tiny rechargeable batteries under a radio-frequency field, and why trub, dead cells, and hop debris are completely ignored.

• Real-World Production at Equals Brewing: How switching from manual sampling to automated, real-time dosing saved labour and tightened fermentation timelines.

• SOPs for Success: Best practices for multi-strain handling, sensor calibration, and proactive yeast health monitoring.

  
  

Featured in this Episode:

• Aber Instruments — Including products for cell counting, pitching, and cropping.

• For a more manual approach, check out our FREE Cell Counting Guide.

• To download our comprehensive Yeast Management & Repitching Guide, click here.

Why does a beer taste squeaky clean at final gravity, only to turn into a slick, buttery mess three weeks after it hits the can?

Diacetyl and its sneaky, odourless precursor (alpha-acetolactate) remain every brewer’s absolute worst quality control nightmare—especially during peak production season when cellar turns are tight. While dropping ALDC enzyme into the fermenter has become standard practice, relying on it as a silver bullet without fixing underlying yeast nutrition can leave your beer vulnerable to hop creep and post-packaging spikes.

In this episode, Mark and Richard break down the complete cellular biochemistry of diacetyl prevention, ALDC limitations, and cellar-tested QC checks.

We explore:

• The Precursor Trap: How alpha-acetolactate hides in clean-tasting beer and oxidizes into buttery diacetyl after packaging.

• Yeast Nutrition as Defence: Why Free Amino Nitrogen (FAN), zinc, and magnesium suppress precursor formation at the source.

• The Limits of ALDC: How hop creep, bacterial spoilers, and low pH can overwhelm your enzyme insurance policy.

Why do some bottle-conditioned beers carbonate perfectly in two weeks, while others stall out, develop mousy off-flavours, or turn into dangerous bottle bombs?

Relying on exhausted or stressed primary yeast after a high-gravity or low-pH fermentation is a gamble. In this episode, Mark and Richard break down the cellular science and step-by-step protocols behind reliable bottle conditioning. Moving past simple sugar additions, they explore how living yeast acts as a powerful antioxidant engine that protects beer from oxygen and cleans up lingering off-flavours.

In this episode, we cover:

• Re-Yeasting Strains & Myths: Why Champagne yeast (like EC-1118) won't over-attenuate your beer, and how targeting 1 x 10^6 cells/mL ensures uniform carbonation.

• The Acid Shock Protocol: How to build a 48-hour acclimatization starter to condition high-ABV or low-pH (<3.5) sour beers without killing your yeast.

• Natural Oxygen Scavenging: Leveraging active re-fermentation to metabolize dissolved oxygen, protect delicate hop aromas, and clean up mousy THP off-flavours.

• Commercial Packaging SOPs: Priming syrup calculations, homogeneous blending, and managing warm conditioning temperatures (18-22ºC).

Featured in this Episode:

• Check out our article, "Best Practices for Bottle Conditioning", on our Knowledge Base, and the packaging guides on the Milk the Funk Wiki.
• Learn more about the products mentioned: Voss Kveik, Hornindal Kveik Blend, LalBrew House Ale, and LalBrew CBC-1.

What does it take to oversee the yeast, science, and flavour profile of one of the world's most recognizable lagers?

In this episode of the Escarpment Labs Podcast, Richard sits down with Willem Van Waesberghe, Global Master Brewer at Heineken. Together, they trace the profound impact Heineken has had on global lager brewing, starting with the fascinating history and genetics of the legendary Heineken A-yeast strain.

Willem also takes us behind the scenes of two groundbreaking projects: the development of H41—a unique lager brewed using Saccharomyces eubayanus, the rare mother strain of lager yeast—and the Heineken Studio, where his team experiments with innovative blending techniques and mixed fermentations.

If you’re interested in scaling a clean lager, fascinated by wild yeast genetics, or curious about how legacy brands push the boundaries of modern brewing, this conversation will bridge historic scale with cutting-edge experimentation.

We're back with Part 2 of our interview with Master Cicerone & Keeping Together founder, Averie Swanson! In this episode, Richard and Averie get granular on recipe development, fermentation mechanics, and beer style philosophies.

They explore Averie’s renowned approach to brewing Saison, what it means for a mixed-culture specialist to approach "clean" beers, and the technical realities of managing Brettanomyces and Lactobacillus. Plus, they break down their recent collaboration brew and discuss fascinating biotransformation interactions—like how lactones influence hop aroma in mixed-fermentation environments.

Featured in this Episode:

• To learn more about the effect of lactones on biotransformation, download our Brewer's Guide to Yeast Flavour & Biotransformation.
• For advice on mixed fermentation, visit our Knowledge Base article, Mixed Fermentation and Sour Beer Advice.
• Check out our saison, sour, and clean beer strains available for purchase at escarpmentlabs.com

At Escarpment Labs, we love connecting with beer’s brightest minds to help brewers make better, more impactful beer. In Part 1 of this two-part interview, Richard sits down with Averie Swanson—celebrated brewer, Master Cicerone, and founder of Keeping Together Brewery and Beverage Garden in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Averie shares her journey from Chicago to Santa Fe, detailing the triumphs and obstacles of opening a unique beverage space centred on connection, thoughtful brewing, and community. She dives deep into her philosophy on house cultures, the realities of brick-and-mortar execution ("it’s hard when everything goes right"), and how to design a hospitality concept that truly reflects its surroundings.

Is decoction mashing a timeless secret to world-class lager brewing, or just an outdated, energy-draining waste of brewhouse time?

As lager brewing continues its massive resurgence in craft beer, many brewers hit a wall with thin mouthfeel, poor head retention, sluggish cold fermentations, or stubborn off-flavours. While it's easy to blame the yeast, the real problem might actually be hiding back in the mash tun.

In this episode, Mark and Richard break down a landmark Czech brewing study by Enge et al. (2005) to explore how boiling physical portions of your mash fundamentally changes wort chemistry, yeast health, and final beer drinkability.

We unpack:

• Natural Yeast Fuel: How decoction acts as a brewhouse nutrient engine, driving Free Amino Nitrogen (FAN) up to 207 mg/L to prevent cold fermentation stalls.

• Thermal Cell Rupture: The physical mechanism behind boiling mash fractions to unlock bound proteins and starches.

• Cleaning Up Off-Flavours: Why triple and double decoctions significantly reduce fusel alcohols, suppress unwanted esters, and cut acetaldehyde nearly in half (6.0 mg/L vs. 10.7 mg/L in infusion).

• Finding the Sweet Spot: Weighing the energy costs of a 3.5-hour triple decoction against the practical efficiency and sensory benefits of a modern double decoction.

Whether you're team single-infusion or a traditional step-mash diehard, this episode will change how you look at lager wort preparation.

Featured in this Episode:

• Check out the research: Technological Aspects of Infusion and Decoction Mashing (Enge et al., 2005)
• Read our companion blog post: Does Decoction Mashing Actually Do Anything? (Plus Free Decoction Volume Calculator)
• Our full Lager Collection can be found here.

What happens when you bring the world's most dedicated fermentation rebels into one room?

In this special monologue episode, Richard takes the mic solo to share his recent experience at Carnivale Brettanomyces—the legendary Amsterdam festival dedicated entirely to wild, funk-forward, and alternative fermentations.

Far from a typical corporate trade show, Carnivale operates with a fiercely independent, "punk-rock" ethos. Richard explores why this hyper-niche gathering is so vital to the global brewing community. We trace the historical significance of the homebrew market as the original sandbox for craft beer innovation and discuss the immense power of finding and maintaining your specific "tribe."

Most importantly, Richard makes a case for why commercial breweries must prioritize and fund experiments that aren’t immediately viable for the bottom line if they want to survive and innovate long-term.

If you’ve ever felt like your creative brewing spark is getting bogged down by production schedules and core brand KPIs, this episode is a rallying cry to get weird, stay curious, and keep fermenting on the fringe.

Featured in this Episode:

• For more information Carnivale Brettanomyces, visit https://wildegist.nl/

It’s official: wheat beer summer is in full swing, and sales for Hefeweizen, Witbier, and Belgian yeast strains are up a whopping 40% in 2026.

But these styles require a masterfully delicate touch. In this episode, Mark and Richard tackle the "Holy Trinity" of wheat beer flavour drivers—Citrus, Banana, and Clove—and show you how to move past guesswork to orchestrate absolute balance in the cellar.

Whether you want to drop an intentional banana bomb or keep your Witbier's crisp citrus notes from being buried under a mountain of heavy phenols, we break down the precise chemical and process levers you need to pull.

In this episode, we unpack:

• The Isoamyl Acetate Equation: The exact relationship between glucose, leucine (FAN), and the metabolic flux that drives classic banana esters.

• The Bio-Citrus Route: How to leverage the biotransformation of geraniol-rich hops rather than just leaning on orange peel additions.

• Universal Ester Levers: How underpitching by 10–20%, raising temperatures, and restricting oxygen alter your ester-to-phenol ratios.

• Temperature Suppression: Why keeping things cool (17–18°C) is actually the best way to let delicate citrus profiles shine.

Featured in this Episode:

• Check out our full Knowledge Base Article: Controlling Esters in Wit and Weizen Yeasts
• Check out our German and Belgian strain collections at escarpmentlabs.com