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Black Caddis began as one of Preston Theony’s homebrew recipes, but rather than create a take on an existing style, he started with the flavor he wanted to achieve and built a recipe to realize it. Now, after brewing the beer commercially at Wren House for the better part of the past decade, he’s still not done experimenting with the recipe or the process, including the fermentation itself. More recently, he’s moved the beer from a Kölsch yeast to lager fermentation using the 34/70 strain, aiming to amplify the “clean, cutting characteristic” that Theony seeks. It’s dark, in the 4 percent ABV range, and sold in one of the hottest regions in the United States—so drinkability is paramount.
Likewise, Theony has never stopped tinkering with their core hazy IPA, despite Spellbinder’s gold medal at the 2020 GABF. With the caveat that anything he mentions doing in this podcast is subject to change, this is just a snapshot of where they are at this brewing moment. With that said, through the conversation, he touches on:
- switching to lager fermentation with a shorter lagering time to give Black Caddis porter more edge
- layering Carafa, C-120, Carafoam, and chocolate rye malt for broad flavor in a small beer
- hyper-focusing on pH throughout the brewing process
- reducing whirlpool hops and boosting dry hops to improve drinkability
- using Galaxy as a bridge between Citra and Mosaic
- dry hopping early, and capping the tank
- approaching awards season as a time to reflect and improve beers
- evaluating competition feedback
And more.
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Are you struggling to source affordable citrus ingredients due to market fluctuations? Try Old Orchard's flavored craft juice concentrate blends, which mimic straight concentrates at a better price point and with a more reliable supply. Old Orchard's citrus flavored blends include Blood Orange, Grapefruit, Lemonade, Lime, and Tangerine. To learn more and request your free samples, head over to oldorchard.com/brewer.
Streamline efficiency with Omega Yeast’s Diacetyl Knock Out series. The DKO series is comprised of 8 familiar yeast strains engineered to knock out the formation of diacetyl before it starts. The strains you know, now better. Available now for made-to-order pitchables at any volume. Contact Omega Yeast today at omegayeast.com.
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Some brewers want their water profile to be that of their city and that sounds great ... except for one factor: Depending upon the city and day, the water quality can vary 40 to 50 percent. So a Monday brew can taste very different from a Thursday brew. Savvy brewers know that since beer is like 95 percent water, the best method is to start with the same water every time. Reverse Osmosis gives you that power. Visit US Water Systems.com for a free expert analysis.