205: Jeremy Grinkey of The Bruery Puts His Faith in the Blend

Jeremy Grinkey worked in wine for the better part of a decade before joining The Bruery in Orange County, California. That winemaking background still informs the way the director of brewing operations and the Bruery itself make beer. From their club-focused sales approach—with special access for their best customers—to the focus on blending and the use of wine grapes as an ingredient, the influence is palpable.

In this episode, Grinkey discusses:

• Their process of developing new beers and growing them as they move through the various “tiers,” from special events through smaller and then larger clubs
  
• Putting faith in barrels and the aging process
  
• Developing a sensory-based understanding of how barrel-aged beer will evolve with time
  
• The freedom to let things go and to make beers what they can and should be
  
• The difficulty in forecasting brewing for barrel-aged stock years before a beer’s release
  
• Leaving space and place for sweetness in beer design
  
• The technical process behind wine-beer hybrids
  
• Using fermentation aids as well as heat to your advantage
  
• Bottle-conditioning to amplify funk
  
• The changing tastes for high-gravity beers
  

And more.

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