Brewers, I’ve found, are stubborn people. Tell one they can’t do something, and, as Marcus Aurelius said, “the obstacle becomes the way.”
Many moons ago, a fellow brewer told me I could ferment lagers warmer if I put them under pressure—but they also said, “It’s like microwaving a steak—it will cook, but it won’t taste right.”
That sounded familiar. I’d heard that very analogy used to describe direct additions of lactic acid to Berliner weisse—exactly what I’d done to mine, and it won Best of Show. So, I decided to add “pressurized fermentation” to my list of brewing dogmas to test.