412: Colt Carpenter of Pax Verum Sources Intentional Ingredients for Nuanced Beers

Over the past two years, five beers that Lapel, Indiana’s Pax Verum sent to Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine for review have scored 95 or above. That naturally piqued our interest, so when we planned our Craft Brewers Conference itinerary we made sure to visit the hip outpost an hour north of Indianapolis. Head brewer and co-owner Colt Carpenter cut his teeth working in a homebrew shop before making the jump to the world of professional brewing, and his embrace of high quality and diverse ingredients tracks with that experience of assisting home brewers with their own ingredient choices. Now, he embraces everything from traditional English styles and European lagers to cutting-edge IPAs, but always with a slight contemporary edge.

In this episode, Carpenter discusses:

• building a wider understanding of and familiarity with beer ingredients by working at a homebrew shop
• sourcing ingredients intentionally with flavor in mind
• designing robust porter around a specific specialty malt
• managing challenges with craft malt like increased friability and seasonal variation
• focusing on freshness while managing color swings with specialty malts
• avoiding over-oxygenation
• cool pooling IPAs with flowable hop products
• building depth in hoppy beers without T-90 pellets
• finding hop lots that meet flavor goals, without selecting
• unique flavors and aromas from Michigan-grown varieties

And more.

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