Carrying the weight of history and expectation poses a particular challenge for some European brewers, but nowhere is that more apparent than in the world of Belgian brewing. How, in the face of changing technology and consistently variable ingredients, does a brewer stay true to the ideas behind the classic recipes that underpin the core beers that their brewery produces? Over the past two decades, these are exactly the questions that St. Bernardus (https://www.sintbernardus.be) brewmaster Wouter Dely and sales and marketing manager Marco Passarella have had to face.
In this episode, they discuss:
Adjusting classic recipes to today’s modern brewhouse reality
Working with barley that varies year-to-year by adjusting step mash times and temperatures
Using Belgian candi sugar in brewing abbey-style beers
Maintaining healthy fermentations using techniques like drauflassen (https://beerandbrewing.com/dictionary/KU8vZ0OyWJ/)
Fostering ester production by limiting head pressure in cylindroconical tanks
Using different temperature glycol in fermenter jackets through the course of the fermentation
Time as an ingredient in brewing
The mechanics of bottle conditioning
And more.
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