This weeks guest Tanya Kondratyuk who is the quality manager for Northern Monk Brew Co, Tanya is going to guide us through everything you need to know to build a lab from nothing. We will discuss 

• What pieces of equipment do all breweries need? 
• What do you need to start building a lab from nothing? 
• Where can you buy affordable lab equipment from? 
• What are the most common mistakes made in quality? 

Chapters 

02:45 - Intros
16:31 - The key aspects of quality in every brewery
21:56 - What are the pieces of equipment every brewery should have 
35:01 - How to learn how to use these equipment
38:29 - Tanya's top 3 pieces of equipment for a shoestring budget
40:16 - What lab equipment can you DIY?
42:33 - Where is the best place to buy second hand equipment? 
51:08 - How can you check your equipment is reading correctly?
01:01:39 - How to start a sensory program as a small brewer
01:10:51 - Common mistakes breweries make with quality
01:17:02 - Consumer complaints 


Link to ASBC 'The Brewing Science Laboratory' mentioned in the show: https://my.asbcnet.org/ASBCStore/Product-Detail.aspx?WebsiteKey=c6851855-80ea-47cf-9f71-647744bd0529&iProductCode=96360

Why do breweries contract brew? 
What should you look for in a contract brewery partner? 
What is a service level agreement and should you have one?
Is it harder to be a contract brewer or have your beers made for you? 

This episode's guest is Francesco Lo Bue an experienced brewer who has been on both sides of the contract brewer experience. 

Chapters

02:18 - Intros
02:47 - Francesco's experience being the contract brewer
06:15 - What are the most important aspects to look for in a contract brewery partner
08:37 - How should you manage the customer/brewery relationship? 
10:35 - How to successfully make your beer at another brewery
24:51 - How to have your beer brewed in another country
28:53 - How you can improve your own beers by contract brewing
33:11 - What are the reasons people contract brew?
35:48 - What are reasons people brew for other people? 
37:45 - What are the difficulties in brewing other peoples beers?
38:59 - Is it harder to brew other brewers beer or have your beer brewed at other breweries
43:29 - Round-up and goodbyes


Episode sponsor is Zevero, they help breweries like DEYA, Gipsy Hill & Tiny Rebel measure, report and reduce their breweries carbon emissions. Check them out at www.zevero.earth 

Should I leave my job?

It’s a question many brewers face, and in this episode of The Modern Brewer Podcast, we dive deep into it. Myself, Chris Lewington and guest Horacio Colombo explore the good and bad motivators for leaving a job, how to make the leap, and top tips for acing that next brewing industry interview.

This episode was recorded live, offering a fresh format compared to our usual style, so you’re in for something different!

Key Topics Covered:

- What are the main reasons for a brewer to leave their job?
- The pay/skills gap in the brewing industry
- When it’s time to move on and when it’s not
- How to gracefully exit your current role
- Essential tips for nailing that brewery interview

Timestamps:
02:43 - Intros
04:03 - Main reasons for a brewer to leave their job
10:43 - The pay/skills gap in the brewing industry
15:15 - When should a brewer leave their job?
28:03 - What shouldn't make a brewer leave their job?
36:06 - How to leave your job like a pro
45:28 - How to ace a brewery interview
50:00 - Goodbyes

Sponsor: Special thanks to our sponsor, Jack Coomber, a Digital Marketing and Ecom Consultant. 🔗 Connect with him on LinkedIn

🎧 Tune in for insights on when and how to make your next career move in the brewing industry!

We learn from expert data analyst Tristan Mobbs why, how and when we should collect data to better our brewery's processes.

We also learn:
•⁠  ⁠How to stop wasting time
•⁠  ⁠How to learn to manage your data quicker.
•⁠  ⁠A failed former business adventure of ours

1:35 - The back story 
5:00 - Tristan’s career to date
9:27 - Factors to consider before collecting data
11:43 - How to organise data
15:34 - How to structure data
19:24 - How to analyse data
24:23 - How to visualise data
27:12 - Common mistakes with data
36:30 - AI and data collection

🔗 Tristan Mobbs - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tristanmobbs/

🔗 Chris' LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-lewington/ 

🔁 Brewing Trade - https://www.brewingtrade.com/

It's the hottest topic in the brewing industry right now. But how many of us can recite all the fundamentals right now?
 
In this episode we have with us Chris Terry a brewing sustainability expert who delivers carbon literacy training all around the world with his company 86-Carbon. 

By the end of this episode you will understand every brewery based sustainability fundamental.

3:21 - Why is sustainability an important topic?
7:26 - What is carbon zero?
8:32 - What is carbon offsetting? 
11:32 - So what are kilos of CO2 equivalent or CO2e?
12:35 - What is green washing?
14:48 - What is scope 1, 2 and 3
21:26 - Can one brewery can make a difference?
30:04 - what are the threats of sustainability?
34:50 - What can breweries action on sustainability? 
37:25 - My top tips for brewers.

Thank you to our sponsor Brewing Trade, a platform to not only buy high quality hops direct, but also sell your over contracted ones!

🔗 Chris' LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-lewington/ 

🔁 Brewing Trade - https://www.brewingtrade.com/

The rub & sniff is the staple of every hop assessment we do. 

But are there questions we can ask our hop farmer or merchant as well as the rub and sniff that will better understand the hops you are assessing? 

This episode is with Henry Smith formally the youngest hop farmer in Europe and a generational hop farmer. 

02:26 - The rub & sniff
10:55 - Alpha Acids and hop quality
14:08 - The hop manufacturing process
19:30 - The 3 tier kiln system
22:41 - Cold storage
24:49 - Hop pellet process
38:07 - How important is country, climate and soil?
43:55 - Hop growing technology and analytics
46:04 - Hop diseases and it’s regionality 
48:44 - The future of hop growing
51:04 - What questions should you be asking to get great hops?

Thank you to our sponsor Brewing Trade, a platform to not only buy high quality hops direct, but also sell your over contracted ones!

🔗 Chris' LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-lewington/ 

🔁 Brewing Trade - https://www.brewingtrade.com/

Cleaning in place (CIP) is one of the most important aspects of craft brewing. 

With CIP expert Belinda Jennings we hit every key aspect you must know to build and optimise your breweries CIP programme. 

Could you save time, water and money by optimising your CIP programme? 

0:00 - Welcome and introduction
8:55 - Descaling and your water
10:48 - Sanitising
16:36 - Sterilisation
20:30 - Ventilation of CO2
27:25 - Mechanical Action 
33:18 - Chemical Concentration
36:32 - Temperature
41:51 - The golden rules of CIP
43:28 - Validating the 4 principles
51:16 - Standard operating procedures 
54:40 - ATP testing
59:15 - Testing carbonate levels and CIP troubleshooting
1:05:14 - Enzymes
1:09:05 - Conclusion and round up

Episode Sponsor: 86-Carbon 
www.86-carbon.co.uk4:45 - Picking the right chemical for the job

Everything you need to know about contracting hops with Zoltan Sivo from Yakima Chief Hops. What is hop contracting? Why do we do it? How do we nail it? 

Find out how to secure your breweries' hops for the future.

00:10 - Welcome to the first ever episode
02:41 - What Hop buying options are there? 
05:36 - Are there differences in quality between contracting and spot market?
08:33 - Hop Contracting 101
25:18 - What to do if you over contract your hops?
30:22 - Hop contract flexibility
36:22 - Contractual obligations from the supplier
42:29 - Is there a buyer hierarchy?
46:54 - What is good vs bad quality? 
51:21 - Hop purchasing collectives
54:37 - Summary

Episode Sponsor: Kersia Chemical Group

A podcast dedicated to making you a great brewer rather than getting you to make great beer! 

In this super short episode, you get to know why the podcast was born, how the structure will look going forward and two listens to the awesome tune made by Horacio Colombo.