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Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine Podcast

Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine Podcast

By: Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine
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Listen to the podcast for those who make and drink great beer. Every week we talk to professional brewers and industry experts about practical brewing advice, in-depth coverage of brewing trends that matter to you, and tips for getting the most out of your homebrew.© 2026 Unfiltered Media Group, LLC Art Cooking Food & Wine
Episodes
  • 485: Mike Schallau of Is/Was Is Brewing New World Saison For Modern Drinkers

    485: Mike Schallau of Is/Was Is Brewing New World Saison For Modern Drinkers
    Jun 5 2026
    “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 choicesachieving the best expression from Omega’s OYL-042 saison strainbuilding “rusticity” through grain choicefermentation with no head pressureavoiding wheat in saison to control phenolicsusing large amounts of low-alpha hopspushing chloride over sulfate for a rounder flavoradding sugar during fermentation And more. G&D Chillers 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 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 unleash 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. PakTech 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. Indie Hops 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. Midea 50/50 Flex If you’re like many podcast listeners, you’ve got a lot of beers at home, and your regular fridge is at capacity. Enter the Midea 50/50 Flex—the industry’s first dual compartment three-way convertible freezer. Here’s what all that means for you: options! The 50/50 has the power to be all freezer, all fridge, or a little bit of both. But you’ll probably want to use those 20 cubic feet as a massive, garage-ready beer fridge. You can also change which side the door is on or how you want the shelves to be arranged—the 50/50 totally flexes to fit your life. Plus, it’s designed to maintain a stable temperature even in non-climate-controlled conditions—so you can crack a cold one even on the warmest days in the man cave. Take your garage to the next level! Check out Midea.com/us/ to get more info about this game changer today. Cheers! Old Orchard 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. Encompass You know the pain all too well. You're guessing at market trends, left in...
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    1 hr and 17 mins
  • 484: Matt Gallagher of Half Acre and Suncatcher Believes Small Can Be Sustainable

    484: Matt Gallagher of Half Acre and Suncatcher Believes Small Can Be Sustainable
    May 29 2026
    To some, Chicago’s Suncatcher must appear to be a typical neighborhood brewery. The bar is classic Midwest, salvaged from a midcentury tavern. The patio is expansive and inviting, thanks to the plant nursery next door. And the beers come without clever names—just the style, often defined by color, spelled out in plastic letters pressed into the sign board. But when you consider that it was the cofounder of Half Acre who designed and built this neighborhood brewery, it takes on a different meaning. The simplicity that Matt Gallagher has infused into Suncatcher extends from the environment to the beers themselves, and while he’s back on the brew deck as the sole brewer, he’s chosen to intentionally limit himself. But that doesn’t mean sacrificing quality or flavor—in fact, by simplifying, he’s able to focus on what the brewery needs to be, and what the beers need to be, and nothing more. In this episode, Gallagher discusses: designing Daisy Cutter so you could smell it from the other end of the barearly challenges in sourcing the hops they wantedthe vastly improved growing and processing conditions for today’s hopstesting the thesis that a small brewery can be sustainablebuilding simple beers with beautiful and expressive ingredientsfocusing on hospitality and service as much as the beer itself G&D Chillers You know the pain—warm fermenters, stressed yeast, and that sinking feeling when the repair quote lands in your inbox. With refrigerant regulations changing and the cost of obsolete refrigerants skyrocketing, sometimes the fix costs more than the unit’s worth. G&D Chillers is there to help, whether you're a small brew pub or large full-scale production brewery. Don’t throw good money at bad equipment. Invest in a solution that grows with your brewery—and keeps your tanks cold when it counts. Big thanks to G&D Chillers for supporting this podcast since 2019, reach out to them at gdhillers.com/podcast to learn how they can support your next six years of growth. Berkeley Yeast 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 unleash 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. PakTech 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. Indie Hops 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. Midea 50/50 Flex If you’re like many podcast listeners, you’ve got a lot of beers at home, and your regular fridge is at capacity. Enter the Midea 50/50 Flex—the industry’s first dual compartment three-way convertible freezer. Here’s what all that means for you: options! The 50/50 has the power to be all freezer, all fridge, or a little bit of both. But you’ll probably want to use those 20 cubic feet as a massive, garage-ready beer fridge. You can also change which side the door is on or how you want the shelves to be arranged—the 50/50 totally flexes to fit your life. Plus, it’s designed to maintain a stable temperature even in non-climate-controlled conditions—so you can crack a cold one even on the warmest days in the man cave. Take your garage to the next level! Check out Midea.com/us/ to get more info about this game changer today. Cheers! Old Orchard If your brewery is using fruit juice concentrates, purees, and blends, then why not source everything from a one-stop shop? Old Orchard might be best-known for flavored blends, but if you need ...
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    1 hr and 14 mins
  • Episode 483: Cultural Collaboration and Brewing beyond the Main Strains with Suncatcher and Goldfinger, in Partnership with Omega Yeast

    Episode 483: Cultural Collaboration and Brewing beyond the Main Strains with Suncatcher and Goldfinger, in Partnership with Omega Yeast
    May 26 2026

    One of the key features of craft beer today, that doesn’t get enough press, is just how much information brewers have at their fingertips. While companies that serve the industry test and provide information about the performance of their products to brewer customers, it’s the two-way flow of information back from brewers to those companies that supercharges the learning cycle and helps everyone make better beer. In this episode, produced in partnership with Omega Yeast, guests Matt Gallagher of Half Acre and Suncatcher, Tom Beckmann of Goldfinger, and Laura Burns and Jonathan Moxey of Omega Yeast, explore this topic and more, looking at interesting ways brewers can add character but also hone and shape their beers, beyond the eight main strains that see so much use in the brewing world.

    In this episode, the brewers discuss:

    • building house character across different style beers
    • harnessing the knowledge base of brewers around the country
    • variations in common strains from different sources and in different formats
    • intentionally selecting more expressive but flexible house yeast
    • unusual applications of yeast that have produced fascinating beers
    • thiol expression in lager beer
    • “Fartbomb”-style lager
    • underrated lager strains for West Coast IPA
    • krausening hoppy lager

    And more.

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    1 hr and 9 mins
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