128: Matt Tarpey of The Veil Will Brew With Anything

The Veil Brewing Company’s Matt Tarpey has never been afraid of risk. From early career moves that took him around New England to brew with some of the country’s more influential brewers, to a stint interning at Cantillon on a trip that was ostensibly also his honeymoon, he has constantly sought out new opportunities to learn, no matter how challenging that might be. In 2015, the itinerant brewer settled down back in his home state of Virginia to launch The Veil Brewing Co., and brought that same spirit of constant learning with him. Today, The Veil isn’t afraid to get weird, while also paying deep respect to tradition—a dramatic tension that isn’t lost on Tarpey. They will use, and have used, just about any ingredient you can think of, in a beer—both to create exciting experiences for their customers who expect it, and to push themselves as brewers.

In this episode, Tarpey discusses that brewing history and the experience of working with everyone from Tod Mott to Jean Van Roy and Shaun Hill, brewing with non-traditional ingredients like Oreos, Nutella, and activated charcoal, how they learn and experiment and dial in processes around strange ingredients, spontaneous fermentation in an urban setting, the impact on ingredients in wild beers, building a house flavor through blending a single stock of aged hops, letting palates drive the blending ship, using fruit in sour beer, and more.

“Life’s too short to just be serious. We’re focused on everything we do—even the Oreo beers—we’re super focused and constantly tasting and trying to incorporate the character with different ratios. We’re focused on everything that we do, but… it’s balancing the serious and the fun. We love the delicate beers, but we also love the wild and crazy beers.”

Note: Even at an hour and a half run time, this episode is an abridged version of the entire conversation. Craft Beer and Brewing Magazine® subscribers have access to a bonus portion of the conversation where Tarpey discusses the mental anguish of customer feedback, building an approach to lager brewing that isn’t tied to traditional styles, The Veil’s multifaceted approach to brewing IPAs, and more. Subscribe now for access at beerandbrewing.com.”

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