167: Adam Robbings of Reuben’s Brews Reflects on the Brewing and Business Impacts of 2020

Reuben’s Brews’ Adam Robbings has always been a thoughtful and mission-driven brewer, who focuses as much on building a business that delivers on the promise of “craft” as he does on compelling beers that fit within the craft category. That approach to brewing has been a successful one, with GABF and FOBAB medals and a Craft Beer & Brewing Beer of the Year earned all in the space of the past year.

In this episode, Robbings dives into the theory and practice around popular Reuben’s beers like Three Ryes Men barrel-aged rye barleywine and Triple Crush hazy triple IPA. Along the way, he touches on:

• The growth and importance of “variants”
• This year’s developed “No man’s land” in ABV
• The growth of interest in west coast IPA
• Reuben’s approach to their award-winning Three Ryes Men barleywine
• How barrel age impacts finished beer
• Choosing competition categories for barrel-aged beers based on flavor gestalt rather than production methods
• Building specialty beers with a consumer focus for drinking occasions
• The resurgence of pumpkin beer
• Scaling recipes to different sized brewhouses
• Bench testing new hops crops to gauge changes year over year

“There’s a whole lot of game theory behind competitions,” says Robbings. “It’s not just ‘the best beer wins.”

*This episode is brought to you by: *

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