“There can be a stand-offishness of, ‘These are complex flavors, you may not be ready for this,’” says Mike Schallau of Chicago’s Is/Was. “And I’m like, ‘Why?’ You can make those things, but if that’s everything you make, that’s why you don’t get to make that much saison, I guess. I want people to drink the beers, and I want them to drink a good amount of them.”
In a post-pandemic era when craft beer is contracting, it’s counterintuitive to bet big on saison—but Schallau’s strategy is to make these beers with today’s drinkers in mind. To that end, while he pays respect to tradition with yeast, grain, and hops, he uses modern techniques, contemporary approaches to water chemistry, and more, to make saisons that even a hazy IPA drinker can love.
In this episode, he shares his approaches to:
- refined, minimal fermentation choices
- achieving the best expression from Omega’s OYL-042 saison strain
- building “rusticity” through grain choice
- fermentation with no head pressure
- avoiding wheat in saison to control phenolics
- using large amounts of low-alpha hops
- pushing chloride over sulfate for a rounder flavor
- adding sugar during fermentation
And more.
G&D’s new Elite 290 Micro-series is built for brewers who care about sustainability and performance. It runs on a natural refrigerant with near-zero global warming potential (GWP), has a compact footprint, and features variable-speed fans for efficiency. We’ve chilled beer for more than 3,000 breweries across North America, and with 24/7 support and remote monitoring, your cold side stays dialed in—day or night. Get the details on natural-refrigerant technology at gdchillers.com/podcast.
Berkeley Yeast just launched Dry Tropics London! Our best-selling liquid yeast strain, now with all the ease-of-use benefits of dry yeast. Dry Tropics London delivers the soft, pillowy mouthfeel and juicy character you’d expect from a top-tier London-ale strain, but with a serious upgrade: a burst of thiols that unleashes vibrant, layered notes of grapefruit and passion fruit. A lot of brewers love the clean passion fruit you get from Tropics, but they don’t want every IPA to be a tropical-fruit bomb. At the dry-yeast price point, you can pitch and ditch without breaking the bank. Or, you can co-pitch with your house strain to adjust the intensity of the notes. And with nationwide free shipping, there’s never been a better time to try Dry Tropics. Order now at berkeleyyeast.com and experience the ease and impact of Dry Tropics London Yeast.
This episode is sponsored by PakTech—delivering craft-beer multipacking you can trust. Our handles are made from 100 percent recycled plastic and are fully recyclable, helping breweries close the loop and advance the circular economy. With a minimalist design, durable functionality you can rely on, and custom color matching, our carriers help brands stand out while staying sustainable. Trusted by craft brewers nationwide, we offer a smarter, sustainable way to carry your beer. To learn more, visit paktech-opi.com.
Oregon hop country is heaven to world-class lager varieties, and Indie Hops is proud to have introduced Oregon’s newest lager hop, Lórien, in 2022. Lórien is in a growing list of beers that have found their way to the podium and—more importantly—into the hearts of lager lovers across the country. Discover Indie Hops Lórien. (Side effects may include rampant festivity, sales bumps, and exceeded expectations.) Indie Hops—Life Is Short. Let’s Make It Flavorful.
This podcast is sponsored by the Midea 50/50 flex—the industry’s first dual-compartment three-way convertible freezer. The 50/50 Flex is designed to flex with your life. It can convert to all fridge, all freezer, or half and half with just the touch of a button. Plus, with reversible doors and adjustable storage compartments, you can stay organized no matter your food-storage needs. The 50/50 Flex is also designed to maintain a stable temperature even in non-climate-controlled spaces. So it’s perfect for your garage, man cave, or wherever you need a little more space. Maybe use all 20 cubic feet as a beer fridge! Check out Midea.com/us/ for more information on how to take your beer storage to the next level.
The beyond-beer space is booming, and Old Orchard is here for it, supplying breweries with fruit ingredients for all your beverage needs: low-/no-alcohol, hard lemonades, seltzer, cider, and more. We have supplied hundreds of industrial customers across 49 states, including nationally and internationally loved brands, so you’ll be in good company. More information and free samples are waiting at oldorchard.com/brewer.
You know the pain all too well. You’re guessing at market trends, left in the dark about how your liquids are performing on the shelves. You can’t tell whether your distributors are actually executing the objectives you gave them. You’re losing out on critical revenue opportunities. And that’s because access to data is controlled by a single antiquated solution, limiting who can benefit from it, creating little room for innovation in the industry. But now there’s a faster, more real-time, and value-packed way to get the full picture instantly and strengthen your distributor partnerships. It’s time to regain control of your data, sales, and operations. Introducing Orbit by Encompass. Orbit Data & CRM connects your production performance directly to the wider beverage market. Orbit Data provides real-time visibility into retailer data, sales, and inventory so you can make faster and clear decisions. It’s also a CRM for your supplier sales team that brings total transparency to your distributor relationships, keeping them accountable to what they need to sell and how. Orbit empowers producers to drive decisions with accurate data, discover new profit streams, and pivot faster than ever before. Go to encompasstech.com/launch-orbit for more details.
Running a brewery means juggling a lot—managing production, serving guests, selling online, and keeping everything moving behind the scenes. That’s where Arryved comes in. What started as a point-of-sale system has grown into the technology your brewery runs on—built specifically for the teams behind great beer. Unlike generic systems, Arryved brings together taproom service, online sales, brewery management, payments, reporting, and growth tools into one complete platform. So instead of bouncing among systems, you can brew, serve, and sell—all in one place. Visit arryved.com to learn more.
Brewing has always been about creativity—but at scale, it’s about control. For more than 100 years, Haas has worked with brewers to push what’s possible with hops. And today, that means more control over flavor, efficiency, and consistency. Our advanced products help you get more out of every brew—more flavor where you want it, less waste in the process, faster tank turns, and results you can count on—batch after batch, year after year. From next-generation pellets, such as LupoCORE and LupoMAX, to innovations such as Incognito and Euphorics, our products fit seamlessly into your process—from the hot side through fermentation to the cold side. Advanced hop products are just one of the ways Haas is growing the future of brewing. Learn more at johnihaas.com.