371: Victor Novak of Figueroa Mountain Builds Modern Beers on Traditional Foundations

Victor Novak has been racking up medals at major competitions for decades now. Through stints at significant Philadelphia and southern California breweries, he’s made his mark on the development of contemporary beer styles while also working with a number of younger brewers who’ve done significant work themselves. Now, as director of innovation for Figueroa Mountain in Westlake Village, California, he’s blending the many beer avenues he loves—lager, fruit, and more—to build a robust program with beers that even non-beer-lovers can enjoy.

In this episode, Novak covers:

• adjusting chloride-to-sulfate ratios in dark lagers
• building easy-drinking dark beers with pilsner malt, rice, and small amounts of roasted malts
• limiting Munich malt to avoid astringency
• single-infusion mashing with modern malts
• managing sulfur production with Augustiner lager yeast
• the differentiating factors in award-winning lagers
• dialing in pH in either pale and dark lagers to optimize hop or malt expression
• biotransformation with lager yeast in West Coast pils
• creating a perception of sweetness (without actual sweetness) in tart fruit beers
• Choosing Lactobacillus strains for the intended level of acidity
• adding top-notes to fruit flavors for aromatic punch
• working terpenes into hop-forward and nonalcoholic beers

And more.

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