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East Brother Beer in Richmond, California, makes its living by nailing classic styles, including an oatmeal stout in the core range. Naturally they also brew IPA—Gold or Red, take your pick—but their top two sellers are Bo Pils and Red Lager. Their seasonal lager series includes a maibock, Baltic porter, pre-Prohibition lager, and festbier—no wonder head brewer Paul Liszewski’s customized California license plate says “LAGER.”
While its sneakily hop-forward yet balanced Bo Pils is beloved by local drinkers, it also gets respect from peers—including a Great American Beer Festival silver medal in 2019. Chris Coomber and Rob Lightner founded East Brother in 2016; Liszewski joined up in 2017. He says that Bo Pils is still essentially the homebrew recipe that Coomber perfected in his own kitchen—any changes since then have mainly been process tweaks and fine-tuning. (For more about brewing that beer, see Liszewski’s Brewer’s Perspective.)
In this episode, Liszewski digs further into the brewery’s lager program and its approach to brewing consistent crowd-pleasers. Among other topics, he goes deep on Bo Pils—which accounts for about 40 percent of the brewery’s production—as well as Pre-Prohibition Lager, whose classic recipe includes six-row craft malt from Admiral Maltings in Alameda, California, in conjunction with flaked maize. As with the Bo Pils, they didn’t forget the hops—it gets a helthy portion of Cluster to the tune of 38 IBUs.
Tune in for lager talk and much more.
This episode is brought to you by:
G&D Chillers
Born in the Pacific Northwest from a lot of hard work and singular goal, G&D has become the best damn chiller company in the world. Like you, G&D never settles—they are relentless and strive to be better every single day because they take pride in the work they do. They are craftsmen who know that "good enough" just won’t cut it. Visit G&D Chillers at the CBC, Booth #3011! Or reach out directly at GDChillers.com.
This episode is brought to you by Rahr North Star Pils. A new base malt to set your compass by. Rahr North Star Pils is crafted for brewers looking for a domestic pilsner malt with low color and low modification. North Star Pils carries overtones of honey and sweet bread, supported by flavors and aromas of hay and nutty character. Suitable for any beer style, but particularly craft brewed versions of classic lagers. Let Rahr North Star Pils guide your craft by visiting bsgcraftbrewing.com, or contact us at 1.800.374.2739.
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