264: Cannonball Creek’s Relentless Pursuit of Improvement

Golden’s Cannonball Creek has won a GABF medal every year since they opened in 2013, and they’ve done so across a wide range of styles—from German-style pils to Belgian-style blonde, stout, and cream ale. But the thing they’re most passionate about, and have won the most medals for, is lower ABV hop-forward beers. Their American pale ale, Featherweight, and session IPA, Trump Hands, have together collected five GABF medals and three World Beer Cup medals (including four golds), but if you think Cannonball Creek is content to rest on their success, you’d be mistaken.

Instead, Hutchinson and Lee employ a practice of constant improvement, and take it to quite the extreme. They’re constantly tweaking recipes, no matter how many accolades a beer has earned, and that change isn’t driven by a lack of performance in competition—winning beers are just as likely to see changes as any other.

In this episode of the podcast, which coincides with the 40th anniversary of the Great American Beer Festival, Hutchinson and Lee discuss:

• finding balance in small hoppy beers
• staying intentionally small to brew beers they’re passionate about
• modernizing malt bills over the past decade of brewing
• the gap between hop utilization calculations, lab tested IBUs, and perceived bitterness
• making winning beers without selecting hops
• evolving recipes as ingredients and contexts change
• mitigating hop creep with ALDC
• the traits of highly effective award-winning brewers

And more.

“We are constantly changing our beers, including those that have been successful in competition,” says Hutchinson. “We have beers that have won gold medals, that we have changed significantly, almost completely, and they’ve won again after that, too.”

This episode is brought to you by:

G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): G&D Chillers’ Engineers are committed to green technology design, while developing a more energy efficient chiller for the brewing industry. Contact G&D Chillers today at gdchillers.com

Probrew (https://www.probrew.com) ProFill can fillers use rotary, true-counter-pressure-gravity filling and seaming technology to run at speeds of 100 to 300 cans per minute with less than 30 parts per billion DO pickup and less than 1% product waste at the filler. Email ProBrew at ContactUs@probrew.com today!

Old Orchard (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer): Think outside the purée box and let your brand stand out with Old Orchard's craft concentrate blends. To join the core of Old Orchard's brewing community, learn more at oldorchard.com/brewer

American Canning (https://americancanning.com): American Canning provides packaging supplies at competitive prices in order quantities catered to craft. For a smooth packaging experience, also consider their ultra-compact, single operator canning machines. Learn more about their ecosystem of solutions at americancanning.com.

ABS Commercial (https://abs-commercial.com): ABS Commercial is a full-service brewery outfitter, proud to offer brewhouses, tanks, and small parts to brewers across the country. Contact one of their brewery consultants today at sales@abs-commercial.com to discuss your brewery project.

Perfect Puree (https://perfectpuree.com/beer): Craft the perfect pour with superior fruit from The Perfect Purée. But don’t just take our word for it, experience flavor first-hand by curating your own complimentary sample box at perfectpuree.com/beer. Samples are complimentary for brewing professionals only.