Master Brewers Podcast

Episode 359: Brewing Yeast Volume 1: Yeast Fundamentals and Propagation

04 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

A discussion with the authors of a new book about yeast.Special Guests: Bill Maca and Florian Kuplent.

Episode 241: Mash Filters

27 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

How & why to operate a mash filterSpecial Guest: Jason Platek.

Episode 358: Lager Sensory at von Trapp

20 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

How von Trapp uses sensory to lock in lagers.Special Guest: Jack Van Paepeghem.

Episode 236: Sustainability at Drake's

13 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

How Drake's Brewing Co approaches sustainability. Special Guest: Hal McConnellogue.

Episode 357: Dark Beer

06 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What’s the secret to brewing award-winning dark, malty beers?Special Guest: Ryan Fields.

Episode 232: 074 (US Vista)

30 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The hotly anticipated release of the USDA public hop breeding program's 1st tropical aroma bomb. What it took to finally get here, what the future...

Episode 356: Carlsberg's New Barleys

23 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

How serious innovation at Carlsberg is changing the outlook and timeline for barley breeding.Special Guest: Birgitte Skadhauge.

Episode 230: Under Pressure

16 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Using the dissolved CO2 content of active fermentations to control your process. Special Guests: Andrew MacIntosh and Karen Fortmann.

Episode 355: Micro Stabilization with Chitosan Fiber

09 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

An option for microbiological stabilization that might not be on your radar.Special Guests: Audrey Carpenter and David Brown.

Episode 260: Beer & Health

02 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

You and I both know that beer has a lot of nutritional value, but are we prepared to speak intelligently about that? How do we get consumers to look p...

Episode 354: Hop Selection

23 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Behind the scenes at hop selection with insights from Russian River, Breakside, Ghost Town, Haas, and Yakima Chief Hops.Special Guests: Ben Edmunds, B...

Episode 242: Brewing Purposefully with Wood

16 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

How our guest uses wood in brewing, how Louis Pasteur ruined beer, and how maybe when the liquid in a barrel can't become a beer, it can get anoth...

Episode 353: Dialing in PUs with Yeast Ascopores

09 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Just how much pasteurization is actually needed for your NA products?Special Guest: Grzegorz Rachon.

Episode 015: Simplifying the Understanding of Malt COAs

02 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Industry veteran Joe Hertrich talks about what matters most on your malt Certificates of Analysis.Special Guest: Joe Hertrich.

Episode 352: Modern West Coast IPA at Breakside

26 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Recipe, process, and key considerations when brewing modern West Coast IPA.Special Guest: Ben Edmunds.

Episode 238: Winter Barley

19 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

An exciting, new 2-row winter variety coming out of Virginia Tech, the advantages winter barley brings to growers, maltsters, and brewers, the challen...

Episode 351: Training in the Brewery: A Food Safety Fundamental

12 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

How Two Roads approaches training in the brewery. What to train, who trains, how to prove it, and how to make it stick on the floor. Special Guest: Je...

Episode 243: Terrified of Being Torrified

05 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

BSG's adjunct professor & head comedian explain the difference between terms like rolled, flaked, toasted, micronized, and torrified; How it's all mad...

Episode 350: Russian River's CO2 Surplus

29 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How would like to be in the position of figuring out how to sell your excess CO2 rather than just accepting the price, quality, and availability from ...

Episode 235: Flavorings That Go BOOM in the Night

22 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Everyone is doing it. Are you doing it safely? Special Guest: Mark Jaeggi.

Episode 349: Nontraditional Yeast for NA Beer

15 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

An analysis of every commercially available non-alcoholic yeast strain. Special Guests: Andrew Maust and Scott Lafontaine.

Episode 234: New Year's Resolution

08 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

2 real-life brewery horror stories and 3 guys who hope you'll make a new year's resolution to take brewery safety seriously. Special Guests: Brian Fai...

Episode 348: Sustainable Stabilization

01 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Lagunitas approach to sustainable stabilization Special Guest: Sam Thompson.

Episode 229: Is Hop Creep Caused by Microorganisms?

24 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Are we one step closer to understanding the origin of Hop Creep? Special Guest: Charlie Bamforth.

Episode 347: PFAS in Beer

17 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Linkage between Municipal Water and Brewing Location on PFAS in beer. Special Guests: Emanuele Sozzi and Jennifer Hoponick Redmon.

Episode 233: Deconstructing Le Petit Prince

10 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Franco-Belgian style table beer & how Jester King brews their version Special Guest: Jeffrey Stuffings.

Episode 346: N2 Generation at pFriem

03 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What happens when there’s not enough CO2 available for your brewery? Special Guest: Campbell Morrissy.

Episode 226: Stainless Steel

27 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Understanding stainless steel alloys, corrosion, vacuum failures, and more. Special Guest: Ashton Lewis.

Episode 345: Dialing in FAN at Hendler Family Brewing

20 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What happened when a brewery started measuring FAN and how you can do it too. Special Guest: Damase Olsson.

Episode 222: The Top 10

13 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week on the show we count down the greatest hits that breweries take when OSHA shows up. Special Guests: Brian Godfrey, Dana Johnson, and Gary Ni...

Episode 344: Biases in sensory

06 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Learn about the many forms of bias in sensory, and some practical takeaways you can put into practice right away. Special Guest: Jen Blair.

Episode 225: Cold IPA

29 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What it means, where it came from, and how it's made. Special Guests: Andy Morrison, John Harris, and Kevin Davey.

Episode 343: Brewing Lager at Heater Allen

22 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The keys to brewing lager at Heater Allen Brewing. Special Guest: Lisa Allen.

Episode 221: The Best of Both Worlds

15 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How to get away with a mid-fermentation dry-hop AND harvest healthy yeast for repitching. Special Guest: Jessica Young.

Episode 342: Canning Essentials

08 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Filling, seaming, and hygiene for your canning line. Special Guests: Grant Smith and Kyron Zawodny.

Episode 217: Dry Hopping & Yeast Health

01 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Why dry hopping & yeast health are at odds with each other, what to look out for, and how to make the best of this challenging combination. Special Gu...

Episode 341: So, You Want To Open A Kitchen?

25 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

12 years of lessons learned, trials & tribulations, points to consider if you're thinking about opening/adding a kitchen. Special Guest: Abby George.

Episode 215: Hops & Foam

18 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever noticed that the more you dry-hop, the worse your foam is? Special Guest: John Paul Maye.

Episode 340: Communicating How Genetic Engineering Works to Consumers

11 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Worried about how consumers will react to your GMO beer? Special Guest: Nick Harris.

Episode 200: Reconsidering the Congress Mash

04 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Should the numbers on your malt COA be produced from a mash that's more similar to your brewery mashes? Did you know that's already happening when you...

Episode 339: Alternative Grains and Sugars

28 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Millet, canary seed, amaranth, chia, einkorn, farro, fonio, teff, purple corn, agave, birch sap, and more. Special Guest: Aaron Hyde.

Episode 214: Analysis of Commercial NEIPAs

21 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Our friends at Hopsteiner continue to unlock the secrets of New England IPA Special Guests: Christina Schmidt and Martin Biendl.

Episode 338: Cost Savings Through Analysis

14 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Analytical strategies for craft brewers. Special Guest: Spencer Grimm.

Episode 049: Breathe, Breathe, Breathe, Scream

07 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Kerry Caldwell suffered severe injuries from an accident in the brewhouse. She was airlifted and overcame the 34% chance of survival calculated by the...

Episode 337: CIP Flow Rates – when “rules of thumb” break

30 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What’s your optimal flow rate during CIP and what happens if you don’t hit it? Special Guest: Travis Audet.

Episode 220: Consistent Fermentations

23 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How to keep your brewery from becoming condominiums. Special Guest: Bill Maca.

Episode 336: Financial Literacy for Brewers

16 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Could open-book management transform your brewery? Special Guest: Audra Gaiziunas.

Episode 210: Benchmarking Sustainability

09 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

3 different perspectives from breweries large & small. You'll hear about the BA's Benchmarking tool, other resources to support your sustainability jo...

Episode 335: RVA

02 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Should you be paying more attention to fermentable sugars instead of total extract? Special Guest: Trevor Cowley.

Episode 203: Cloudy with a Chance of Production

26 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Our friends at Highland Brewing talk about the network of people, tools, forecasts, and workflows that build their production schedule. Special Guests...

Episode 334: Haná

19 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What happens when you resurrect an old world landrace barley variety and give it to a bunch of brewers in CA? Special Guests: Colin Johnston and Josh ...

Episode 207: Spent Hops Disposal Dilemma

12 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How The Matt Brewing Company deals spent hop material & other things you wish you knew before you built a brewery. Special Guest: Jim Kuhr.

Episode 333: Six Irish Brewing Yeasts

05 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Effects of regional location on the genotype and phenotype of historical Irish brewing yeast Special Guest: Daniel Kerruish.

Episode 216: Profiling 34/70

28 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What happens the world's most popular yeast strain gets fermented at different temperatures and pitch rates? Special Guest: Anne Flesch.

Episode 332: Substitutes for the Substitutes of the Substitutes

21 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The last of the three-part series of Technical Quarterly articles providing insights to the upcoming MBAA publication The Inspiring and Surprising His...

Episode 224: Can Liner Quality & Testing

14 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week on the show, something that most brewers new to canning never consider but can make or break a brewery. Special Guests: Hannah Krieg and Viv...

Episode 218: Including Fermentation in Your Beer Recipe

07 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Why you need a fermentation recipe just as much as you need a recipe in the brewhouse. Special Guest: Tim Faith.

Episode 331: How USDA ARS Funding Affects Your Brewery

31 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What’s going on with the recent funding cuts to barely & hops research, and how does that affect your brewery? Special Guests: Alicia Adler, Ashley ...

Episode 330: Brewery Plant Integration & Automation

24 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How automation enabled one of today’s largest craft brewers to grow to scale. Special Guest: Kevin Martini.

Episode 204: Confined Space Entry

17 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Is your brewery prepared to rescue a team member from an FV or other confined space? Do you train & practice rescue regularly or do you plan to just w...

Episode 329: Brewery Supply Chain

10 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A former chair of the BA’s supply chain subcommittee has advice for navigating today’s challenges. Special Guest: Mitch Steele.

Episode 201: Wort Separation

03 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Perhaps the most practical guide to wort separation on planet earth. Special Guest: Travis Audet.

Episode 328: Hitting Quality Targets

24 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What NIR analysis of roughly 200 beers at UC Davis can tell us about hitting quality targets. Special Guests: Glen Fox and Sarah Suriano.

Episode 327: Creep Control

17 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Understanding the enzymes that drive hop creep and a novel potential control strategy. Special Guest: Matt Cottrell.

Episode 199: The Yeast Hunter

10 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Remember learning about Kveik back on episode 102 (https://www.masterbrewerspodcast.com/102)? This time, we catch up with the man who tracked down the...

Episode 198: Bierkrieg: Follow the Money

03 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The guy who explained how we narrowly avoided an American Reinheitsgebot on episode 174 (https://www.masterbrewerspodcast.com/174) is back with more s...

Episode 326: THP

27 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How mousey off-flavor is formed in beer and how it can be measured. Special Guests: Glen Fox and Paulina Streimikyte.

Episode 209: How Bells Brewery Significantly Reduced its Electrical Bill & Carbon Footprint

20 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The story of how Bell's brewery reduced its electrical consumption 5% while growing production more than 3%. Special Guests: Kate Martini and Walker M...

Episode 325: Controlling t2N

13 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Practical strategies for controlling trans-2 nonenal in your brewery. Special Guest: Eric Samp.

Episode 202: The Omission Story + New Gluten-Free/Reduced Regs

06 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The father of the gluten-removed beer category joins us to discuss recently updated federal regulations that may affect your gluten-free or gluten-red...

Episode 324: Flavor Stability

30 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What New Glarus prioritizes to maximize flavor stability. Special Guest: Dan Carey.

Episode 197: A History of Brewing Innovation

23 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We look back at the last 70 years of innovations in brewing, we look forward to what the future holds, and we hear a pint full of great anecdotes from...

Episode 323: Brewing Fittings

16 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Why Brewers Should Consider Alternatives to Tri-Clamp Special Guest: Travis Audet.

Episode 145: Investigating the Factors Impacting Aroma, Flavor, and Stability in Dry-Hopped Beers

09 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We dig into a couple of peer-reviewed papers from the Master Brewers Technical Quarterly (https://www.mbaa.com/publications/tq/Pages/default.aspx) tha...

Episode 322: Survival of Pathogens in Non-Alcoholic Beers

02 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A study of 50 NA beers hunts for human pathogens. Special Guest: Grzegorz Rachon.

Episode 196: Goose Island's Wild Yeast Chase

25 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In 2018 Goose Island was plagued with a wild yeast contamination identified in post centrifuged products. This is how we systematically sought root ca...

Episode 321: Infusion Malts

18 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The creator of infusion malts joins us to explain what they are and why they're special. Special Guest: Cristal Peck.

Episode 190: Variation in Starch Structure

11 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Did you know that the gelatinization temperature of your malt could be as low as 136F or as high as 154F? Charlie Bamforth's successor joins us to tal...

Episode 320: Mixed Culture Fermentations

04 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The John Rowley approach to sour & funk Special Guest: John Rowley.

Episode 194: Metallic Off-flavor in Kettle-Sours

28 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The story of how Creature Comforts Brewing tracked down and eliminated metallic off-flavor in kettle-sours. Special Guest: Spencer Britton.

Episode 319: Science Over Bias

21 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

You've seen the headlines. Is the US government really about to change its recommendations for alcohol consumption? Special Guests: Brian Crawford and...

Episode 188: Impossible Beer

14 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

More engineered brewers yeast strains capable of "impossible" feats. Special Guest: Charles Denby.

Episode 318: IoT Autoclave

07 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How affordable automation can free up resources and improve quality in breweries of any size. Special Guest: Matt Cottrell.

Episode 102: Kveik

30 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Richard Preiss discusses his work with genetically unique yeast used to produce Norwegian farmhouse beers known as kveik. Special Guest: Richard Preis...

Episode 317: Practical Safety Considerations for Low or No-Alcohol Beer

23 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How Two Roads Brewing keeps its customers safe…alcohol or not. Special Guest: Karen Stangl.

Episode 192: PPE in the Brewery

16 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Employer responsibilities, hazard assessments, finding the right safety glasses, the pitfalls of respiratory protection, employee buy-in, and more. Sp...

Episode 316: Consumer Testing

09 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How to tap into the power of consumer testing for even the smallest of breweries. Special Guest: Tessa Schilaty.

Episode 186: CO2 Systems & Quality

02 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A Master Brewers member requested an episode about CO2 systems, CO2 quality, and best practices. Here it is. Special Guests: Dave Thomas, Eric Meyer, ...

Episode 315: Hop Gene Editing at OSU

26 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

An update from the fast-moving world of gene editing, as it relates to hops. Special Guest: Chris Willig.

Episode 189: Long Term Yeast Storage

19 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

For smaller brewers, yeast management can be a challenging prospect. Many mid-size to small breweries attempt to make a wide range of beer styles that...

Episode 314: Pasteurization At Goose Island

12 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

An overview of the options for pasteurizing beer, and how pasteurization works at Goose Island. Special Guests: Gus Grosenbaugh and Michael Owens.

Episode 185: Filler Cleaning Meets Quality at Surly

05 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Filling equipment within a brewery is ironically one of the best places for microbial growth to thrive. There are nooks, crannies, and blind spots tha...

Episode 313: Omics

29 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What's the buzz in omics all about and how can it help you make better beer? Special Guests: Glen Fox, Harmonie Bettenhausen, and Laura Burns.

Episode 174: WHAT IS BEER?

22 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Inspiring History and Legacy of American Lager Beer is envisioned to be a nine-volume series of books covering the history of the American lager b...

Episode 312: Foam

15 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A deep dive on beer foam with a couple of familiar guests, one of whom literally wrote the book on foam. Special Guests: Ashton Lewis and Charlie Bamf...

Episode 182: De-skunking Beer

08 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Just when you thought light-struck flavor in beer was permanent... Special Guests: Catherine Villa and Keith Villa.

Episode 311: Preventing Heat Illness in the Brewery

01 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A couple of experts offer tips to help your brewery beat the summer heat. Special Guests: Nick Donofrio and Rissa Spalding.

Episode 310: Identifying and Eliminating Pectinatus in a Craft Lager Facility - A Sensory Case Study

17 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

If you have the same canning line as Jack, you might want to listen up. Special Guest: Jack Van Paepeghem.

Episode 191: Too Much Noise!

10 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Noise exposure may not be on your brewery's radar, but this is an area in which an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Special Guest: Jonath...

Episode 309: Predicting and improving complex beer flavor through machine learning

03 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Can chemical analytics be used to predict what a sensory panel will taste? Can machine learning be used to improve a beer? Special Guests: Kevin Verst...