321: Chris Baum of Varietal is Hyperfocused on Hops

When you live and work in Yakima Valley, hops become a way of life. They’re second nature, omnipresent, and a constant topic of conversation—after all, many of the patrons of craft breweries in the Yakima Valley are the same folks who grow, process, study, and sell them. As such, Varietal Beer’s focus on brewing with hops has picked up momentum as fans flock to their taproom—about 30 minutes south of the city of Yakima—to drink their subtle, nuanced, and beautiful IPAs and fresh hop beers.

The industry has noticed, too, with two recent GABF silver medals in juicy strong pale and fresh hop categories circa ’21 and ’22. In this episode, Baum discusses:

• designing hoppy beers that aren’t confrontational
• brewing IPA with 100% craft malt, and barley varieties that complement certain styles
• balancing and achieving bitterness and structure in IPA
• manipulating pH to soften bitterness
• balancing cryo hops with “American Noble” low-alpha hops
• the beauty of Comet hops
• differences in brewing with fresh-kilned hops and pelletized T-90’s
• fresh hop brewing process

And more.

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