AAB 025: The Fun and Science of Fruit Beers

All About Beer

In the early days of craft beer, fruit was added to beer to offer something to people who didn’t like beer. These beers were typically made with syrups added to a beer and not a lot of thought went into them. Today, breweries are embracing fruit and building beers around them. The fruit is the focal point of the flavor and with increased scientific knowledge of how to work with fruit, brewers are pushing and pulling levers - microbes used to ferment the beer, when they add the fruit and how much and for how long - to bring forward all the right flavor chemicals. Modern fruit beer is bursting with flavor.

Guests

Bret Kollmann Baker is a founder and the COO of Urban Artifact in Cincinnati, Ohio. Urban Artifact is the countries largest fruit beer only brewery, using over 1,000,000 pounds of fruit per year. With degrees in chemical engineering and brewing science, Bret has been able to help build out a brewery dedicated to handling massive amounts of fruit puree. In addition, Bret is the Beer Ambassador for Les Vergers Boiron, helping them reach more professional breweries with their fruit purees. In his free time, writing, hiking, and working on the Brew Skies podcast are his pursuits of passion.

5 years ago, Steven Smith-Hay started Vault City Brewing after experimenting with heavily fruited, mixed fermentation sour beers and spotting a niche with huge potential in an otherwise crowded market. As a keen home brewer, Steven saw the accessibility of Vault City’s signature style as an opportunity to reach avid craft beer fans and non-beer drinkers alike. He has since seen the company grow from just two full-time employees to nearly 30 across Vault City’s brewery and its two bars. Steven’s past life as an IT consultant seems a world away in 2023, which makes for a good story about boring day jobs and exciting hobby-turned-career opportunities that may have otherwise remained a daydream.

This Episode is Sponsored by:

Estrella Galicia
Estrella Galicia is an independent, family-owned brewery in northwest Spain, founded in 1906.

Estrella Galicia Cerveza Especial is a world class lager, brewed using the finest Spanish malts, locally cultivated Galician hops and the best brewing practices, in a state-of-the-art facility in A Coruna. Recognized around the world for quality and exceptional character. Estrella Galicia is “A beer like no other.”

Yakima Valley Hops
Looking for an easy hop sourcing experience? Yakima Valley Hops offers the finest quality hops from right here in our Valley and premium growing regions around the world. Get the hops you need when you need them, with ultra-fast shipping and awesome customer service. With a full line of liquid hop products and all your favorite varieties, no contracts are needed to brew with the best. Shop now at YakimaValleyHops.com.

• Hosts: Don Tse and Em Sauter
• Guests: Steven Smith-Hay, Bret Kollmann Baker
• Sponsors: Estrella Galicia, Yakima Valley Hops, All About Beer
• Tags: Brewing, Fruit, Fermentation, Ingredients, Coconut, Environment, Barrels

The following music was used for this media project:
Music: Awesome Call by Kevin MacLeod
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/3399-awesome-call
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Artist website: https://incompetech.com

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