Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine Podcast3 Okt 2025

439: Ben Howe of Otherlands Manipulates pH and Process in Pursuit of the Perfect Franconian-Style Lager

Ben Howe’s brewing career reads more like that of a chef than a typical brewer—stints in Denmark, brewing jobs on both the East and West coasts, weeks spent interning at breweries that intrigued him—but one fateful visit to the Zehender brewery in Monchsambach opened his eyes to Franconian lager and inspired a nearly decade-long quest to understand the beer and its mechanisms of flavor. More recently at Otherlands, he’s pushed boundaries of accepted brewing dogma, mashing with pH levels far past any sensible range in an effort to build color and flavor—and the things that shouldn’t work still obviously do work.

In this episode, Howe discusses both his traditional methods and modern concessions, including:

learning from Will Meyers and Megan Parisi at Cambridge Brewing
capturing Franconian-ness in long-boiled lager beers
old-style vs. new-style German lager brewing
kräusening to carbonate rather than spunding before terminal
never raising the temperature for a diacetyl rest while using ALDC to control precursors
finding color with only pilsner malt
hardening water for lager brewing with calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate, and gypsum
mashing above 5.8 pH
maintaining atmospheric pressure for yeast during fermentation
boiling large amounts of low-alpha hops for a long time to build flavor and texture

And more.

This episode is brought to you by:

G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): For years G&D Chillers has chilled the beers you love, partnering with 3,000+ breweries across North America and beyond. Remote monitor your chiller for simple and fast access to all the information you need, and gain peace of mind your operation is running smoothly.

Berkeley Yeast (https://berkeleyyeast.com). Berkeley Yeast bioengineers ordinary strains and make them extraordinary—enhancing the flavors you want and eliminating the ones you don’t. Visit berkeleyyeast.com to learn more and start brewing with science on your side.

Old Orchard (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer): Every beer menu could use a refresh button on the fruit flavors. Old Orchard's latest craft juice concentrate blend additions include Fruit Punch, Guava, Kiwi, and Pomegranate. More information and free samples are waiting at oldorchard.com/brewer.
Indie Hops (https://indiehops.com) Celebrating 16 years of delivering compelling new hop varieties along with classics that thrive in Oregon’s terroir, Indie is the original source for Strata, Luminosa, Lórien, Meridian, and their newest variety Audacia. Release your creativity with the magic of pure, uncut Oregon hops from Indie. Indie Hops — Life is short. Let’s make it flavorful.

Five Star Chemical (https://fivestarchemicals.com) Looking for a powerful, no-rinse sanitizer that gets the job done fast? Meet Saniclean PAA Pro from Five Star Chemicals. This EPA-registered, PAA-based acid sanitizer is tough on beerstone and perfect for everything from kegs to packaging lines. Learn more at fivestarchemicals.com.
Canoe Wild Rice (https://breweryworkshop.com) Brewers, have you ever considered brewing with North America’s only Ancient Grain—Wild Rice? Joe at Canoe Wild Rice has a stockpile of this unique roasted grain ready to ship to you. Send Canoe Wild Rice an email at joe@canoewildrice.com or give the office a call at 1-800-626-3809

Prairie Malt (https://prairiemalt.com) For over 50 years Prairie Malt has been producing high extract malts forged from the fertile soils of Saskatchewan. Stop by the Roadhouse & Melvin booth at GABF to sample some award-winning beers produced with excellent malts and learn more at prairiemalt.com.

Sennos (https://prairiemalt.com) The Sennosystem platform delivers real-time fermentation control and predictive insights, while the SennosM3 modular in-tank sensor delivers continuous, real-time monitoring. Turn your tank into a smart tank. Order your SennosM3 at sennos.com.

Briess Malting (https://BrewingWithBriess.com) Briess offers the largest product line of specialty malt and is continuing to innovate. New malts include Heritage Gold and Lighthouse Munich. Check out why so many craft brewers trust Briess for their specialty malt at BrewingWithBriess.com.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(491)

491: Brewing Scientists Tom Shellhammer and Cécile Chenot Are Changing How We Think About Older Hops

Over the past two decades, the amount of hops sitting in cold-storage warehouses has more than doubled. While the volume of those stocks is inching back down from its peak in 2022—and while it’s impor...

10 Jul 1h 13min

490: Mike Stein and Pete Jones of Lost Lagers Look Back at American Brewing Over the Past 250 Years

Mike Stein and Pete Jones are brewing buffs and historians based in the Washington, D.C., area, and the intersection of those two interests has proven to be fertile ground over the past decade. Throug...

3 Jul 1h 14min

Episode 489: The Post’s Nick Tedeschi Brews Flavorful Low-ABV Beers for Great Times with Great Food

For Nick Tedeschi, a great beer evokes memories, and the beer lineup at any of the Post’s five Colorado locations is designed to feel familiar, whether you’ve ordered one there or not. Like the food a...

26 Jun 1h 5min

488: Wynn Whisenhunt of Wondrous Makes Better Beer by Doing Less

When Wynn Whisenhunt launched Wondrous in the compact Bay Area town of Emeryville, California—wedged between more well-known neighbors Oakland and Berkeley—he brought with him big ideas about what it ...

19 Jun 1h 12min

487: Ben Allgood and Brady Jones of Geisthaus are Finding their Brewing Identity by Focusing on Lager

For brewing industry veterans Ben Allgood and Brady Jones, the chance to open their own brewery in Sacramento, California—Geisthaus—meant endless possibility, but they chose to intentionally limit the...

12 Jun 1h 21min

486: Predicting Brewhouse and Cellar Issues before They Happen, in Partnership with Brightly Software

In this special episode, we talk about efficiency and managing assets in your brewery, as well as proactive and preventive approaches that extend the lifespan of your equipment and reduce equipment do...

10 Jun 49min

485: Mike Schallau of Is/Was Is Brewing New World Saison For Modern Drinkers

“There can be a stand-offishness of, ‘These are complex flavors, you may not be ready for this,’” says Mike Schallau of Chicago’s Is/Was. “And I’m like, ‘Why?’ You can make those things, but if that’s...

5 Jun 1h 16min

484: Matt Gallagher of Half Acre and Suncatcher Believes Small Can Be Sustainable

To some, Chicago’s Suncatcher must appear to be a typical neighborhood brewery. The bar is classic Midwest, salvaged from a midcentury tavern. The patio is expansive and inviting, thanks to the plant ...

29 Mai 1h 14min