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 and the environment, the intention is comfort, with beers designed to tuck into the experience rather than define it. But that doesn’t mean they can’t stand out on their own, and the World Beer Cup and Great American Beer Festival medals they’ve won—for dry stout, amber lager, cream ale, and malt liquor—speak to just how impactful these beers can be when made with care and intention.

In this episode, Tedeschi discusses:

• medal-winning malt liquor with robust but refined flavor and low finishing gravity
• using the Andechs strain for expression and personality
• brewing single-infusion lagers with character
• consistently executing on fundamentals
• tweaking amber lager with locally produced Munich malt
• unexpected food-and-beer pairings
• selling beer through the food
• brewing 3.3 percent ABV beer with body and fullness
• using newer American hops with Noble-like qualities, such as Adeena

And more.

This episode is brought to you by:

G&D Chillers
A quick word for the brewers out there staring down a broken chiller. You know the pain—warm fermentors, stressed yeast, and that sinking feeling when the repair quote lands in your inbox. With refrigerant regulations changing and the cost of obsolete refrigerants skyrocketing, sometimes the fix costs more than the unit is worth. G&D Chillers is there to help, whether you’re a small brew pub or large full-scale production brewery. Don’t throw good money at bad equipment. Invest in a solution that grows with your brewery—and keeps your tanks cold when it counts. Big thanks to G&D Chillers for supporting this podcast since 2019. Reach out to them at gdhillers.com/podcast to learn how they can support your next six years of growth.

Berkeley Yeast
Berkeley Yeast just launched Dry Tropics London! Our best-selling liquid yeast strain, now with all the ease-of-use benefits of dry yeast. Dry Tropics London delivers the soft, pillowy mouthfeel and juicy character you’d expect from a top-tier London Ale strain, but with a serious upgrade: a burst of thiols that unleash vibrant, layered notes of grapefruit and passion fruit. A lot of brewers love the clean passion fruit you get from Tropics, but they don’t want every IPA to be a tropical-fruit bomb. At the dry yeast price point, you can pitch and ditch without breaking the bank. Or, you can co-pitch with your house strain to adjust the intensity of the notes. And with nationwide free shipping, there’s never been a better time to try Dry Tropics. Order now at berkeleyyeast.com and experience the ease and impact of Dry Tropics London Yeast.

PakTech
This episode is sponsored by PakTech—delivering craft-beer multipacking you can trust. Our handles are made from 100 percent recycled plastic and are fully recyclable, helping breweries close the loop and advance the circular economy. With a minimalist design, durable functionality you can rely on, and custom color matching, our carriers help brands stand out while staying sustainable. Trusted by craft brewers nationwide, we offer a smarter, sustainable way to carry your beer. To learn more, visit paktech-opi.com.

Indie Hops
Oregon hop country is heaven to world-class lager varieties, and Indie Hops is proud to have introduced Oregon’s newest lager hop, Lórien, in 2022. Lórien is in a growing list of beers that have found their way to the podium and—more importantly—into the hearts of lager lovers across the country. Discover Indie Hops Lórien. (Side effects may include rampant festivity, sales bumps, and exceeded expectations.) Indie Hops—Life is Short. Let’s Make It Flavorful.

Midea 50/50 Flex
If you’re like many podcast listeners, you’ve got a lot of beers at home, and your regular fridge is at capacity. Enter the Midea 50/50 Flex—the industry’s first dual-compartment three-way convertible freezer. Here’s what all that means for you: options! The 50/50 has the power to be all freezer, all fridge, or a little bit of both. But you’ll probably want to use those 20 cubic feet as a massive, garage-ready beer fridge. You can also change which side the door is on or how you want the shelves to be arranged—the 50/50 totally flexes to fit your life. Plus, it’s designed to maintain a stable temperature even in non-climate-controlled conditions—so you can crack a cold one even on the warmest days in the man cave. Take your garage to the next level! Check out Midea.com/us/ to get more info about this game changer today.

Old Orchard
If your brewery is using fruit-juice concentrates, purees, and blends, then why not source everything from a one-stop shop? We might be best-known for flavored blends, but if you need 100 percent purees or concentrates, then we can likely help—even with options not listed on our website. Let us know what you need at oldorchard.com/brewer.

Briess Malting
Briess Malting has been supplying craft brewers with the highest quality base and specialty malts since the early 1980s. As Briess celebrates their 150th Anniversary this year, they are proud to remain a fifth-generation, family-owned company. They love to support the creativity and passion in craft brewing that results in amazing beers. All Briess malts are made in America, so you can count on a reliable supply chain. Barley is sourced from 300 growers in the Bighorn Basin of Wyoming and Montana. Plus, technical support is available through their Center of Malting Excellence. With 150 years of malting expertise, check out why so many craft brewers trust Briess for their specialty malt at BrewingWithBriess.com.

Arryved
Running a brewery means juggling a lot—managing production, serving guests, selling online, and keeping everything moving behind the scenes. That’s where Arryved comes in. What started as a point-of-sale system has grown into the technology your brewery runs on—built specifically for the teams behind great beer. Unlike generic systems, Arryved brings together taproom service, online sales, brewery management, payments, reporting, and growth tools into one complete platform. So instead of bouncing between systems, you can brew, serve, and sell—all in one place. Visit arryved.com to learn more.

John I. Haas
Brewing has always been about creativity—but at scale, it’s about control. For more than 100 years, Haas has worked with brewers to push what’s possible with hops. And today, that means more control over flavor, efficiency, and consistency. Our advanced products help you get more out of every brew—more flavor where you want it, less waste in the process, faster tank turns, and results you can count on—batch after batch, year after year. From next-generation pellets, such as LupoCORE and LupoMAX, to innovations such as Incognito and Euphorics, our products fit seamlessly into your process—from the hot side through fermentation to the cold side. Advanced hop products are just one of the ways Haas is growing the future of brewing. Learn more at johnihaas.com.