
Craft Beer & Brewing Course
Elevating International Lagers with pFriem
Josh Pfriem, cofounder and brewmaster of Oregon’s pFriem Family Brewers, details the thinking and process behind the brewery’s delicate, award-winning lagers inspired by traditions in Mexico, Japan, and beyond.
5 chapters · 19 lessons · 1h 4m
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Your instructor

Josh Pfriem
Cofounder and Brewmaster, pFriem Family Brewers
Since its 2012 founding in Hood River, Oregon, pFriem Family Brewers has become one of the most consistently decorated breweries in the United States, with numerous medals from the Great American Beer Festival, World Beer Cup, European Beer Star, and more. Best known for its range of consistently excellent lagers—including its flagship pFriem Pilsner—what’s driven the success is a potent combination of meticulous brewing and reverence for traditional European styles. In recent years, however, pFriem has looked beyond Europe for lager-brewing inspiration, including Japanese- and Mexican-style lagers brewed with rice and maize, respectively.
Course contents
5 chapters, 19 lessons, 1h 4m of video
Chapter 1
Introduction
Chapter 2
The Lager-Brewing Process at pFriem
- International Lagers and the Pilsner Malt Base7:05
- Hops, Water, Yeast, and the Step Mash4:34
- Lauter, Boil, Whirlpool, Fermentation, Spunding, and Lagering7:55
- Dialing In pH, Sulfur, Clarity, and Carbonation5:04
Chapter 3
Brewing with Adjuncts
- Which Mash Adjuncts, and How Much?6:58
- Adjuncts, Hops, and Pilsner Malt: Balancing the Delicate Flavors6:32
- How to Cereal Mash: The Basics
- The Cereal Mash at pFriem, Step by Step6:00
Chapter 4
Fine-Tuning
- Trial and Error, and Promoting Foam in Adjunct Beers6:02
- Fine-Tuning “Naked” Beers: Hop Products, Shelf Stability, QC, Clarity, and Service11:37
Chapter 5
Parting Thoughts, Further Reading, Listening & Recipes
- Thank You, and Happy Brewing0:31
- Podcast Episode 82: pFriem Family Brewers’ Josh Pfriem: Nuance and Subtlety is the Key in Everything from Pilsner to Wood-Aged Sours
- Pick Six: Josh Pfriem’s Magical, Mystical Mystery Tour
- Homebrewing, Rice & Easy: Brewing a Crisp Rice Lager with Extracts
- Recipe: pFriem Japanese Lager
- Recipe: pFriem Mexican Lager
- Bonus Recipe: pFriem Kölsch-Style Ale
- Bonus Recipe: pFriem Lemon Zest Farmhouse Ale