143: New Anthem's Aaron Skiles on Learning Through Problem Solving with Hazy IPA

Wilmington, North Carolina’s New Anthem Beer Project has become a force in the world of hazy IPA through their creative and meticulous approach to ingredient quality and process integrity. In this episode, Aaron Skiles breaks down their approach, from ingredient sourcing and evaluation, working with vendors to improve ingredient quality and pinpoint ideal hops lots, building a muscle memory in the team’s olfactory systems for consistency when rubbing hops, making the difficult decision to not make beloved brands when a season’s hop quality isn’t up to expectation, mixing different lots of the same hop to build depth and character, and more.

The conversation turns to process, as Skiles discusses the challenges of Australian hops like Galaxy and Vic’s Secret, why they’ve moved away from cryo hops, using unusual hops for bittering, why higher IBUs make for better hazy IPAs, their move to later dry hopping at cooler temperatures in more frequent additions of smaller amounts, hops creep horror stories, and the haze stability that comes from pushing lower mash and boil pH levels.

New Anthem is making some of the most captivating hazy IPAs in the world right now, and this episode is a glimpse into what makes them special.

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