Podcast 173: Marcus Baskerville of Weathered Souls Brews Beautiful Stouts

The cofounder of Weathered Souls and creator of the Black is Beautiful initiative discusses his thoughtful approach to crafting stouts that both express his viewpoint and appeal to his own palate.

Jamie Bogner Feb 12, 2021 - 5 min read

Podcast 173: Marcus Baskerville of Weathered Souls Brews Beautiful Stouts Primary Image

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It’s been a busy and momentous year for Marcus Baskerville. The co-owner and head brewer of San Antonio’s Weathered Souls Brewing made national news with his Black Is Beautiful initiative in 2020. To date, more than 1,200 breweries in all 50 states and 22 countries have participated in the open-source collaboration to raise funds and awareness for diversity and racial justice. However, well before that initiative, Baskerville already had developed a strong reputation among fellow brewers and Texas drinkers for his characterful stouts and other beers.

In this episode, Baskerville lays out his approach to brewing, including:

  • Developing a distinct flavor point-of-view when brewing established styles
  • Building stout grists that minimizes roast and smoke flavors
  • Counterintuitive balancing of base stouts with adjuncts
  • Building caramel midtones in stouts while keeping specialty malts under control
  • Creating body with high mash temps and flaked oats, plus long boils and maltodextrin (but no lactose)
  • Managing fermentation in imperial stouts
  • Adjunct processing for vanilla, marshmallow powder, coconut, and more
  • The impact of various bourbon flavors on barrel-aged stouts
  • Best barrel preparation practices, including soaking to rehydrate

Baskerville also reflects on how the Black Is Beautiful project has evolved over the past months, how to help brewers be relevant to Black drinkers, creating allies within the industry, and the importance of positivity.

This episode is brought to you by:

G&D
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This episode is brought to you by Crisp Scottish Pale Ale Malt. Crisp Scottish Pale Ale Malt is the workhorse of many a brewery and is at home in a variety of beer styles. Crisp sources the lowest-nitrogen spring barley from farmers in Fife up to Moray. During malting, high cast moistures and a balance of optimal germination time and temperature results in an even, well-modified malt with a rich color and balanced sweet, malt flavor which is ideally suited to ale brewing. Visit BSGCraftbrewing.com for more information on Crisp Scottish Pale Ale Malt, or call 1-800-374-2739.

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“ABS Commercial is excited to be a part of today’s Podcast! ABS is a full brewery outfitter offering brewhouses, tanks, keg washers and small parts. As a part of ABS Commercials on going give back campaign, they will be giving away an ABS Keg Viking Keg Washer in June, so make sure to periodically check the ABS Commercial Facebook page to find out when the contest opens up and how you can enter to win a Keg Viking!"

Jamie Bogner is the cofounder and editorial director of Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine®. Email him at [email protected].

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