378: Mark Hunger and Steven Pauwels of Great Lakes Brew Distinctive Craft Lager, Under Pressure

Great Lakes in Cleveland is an American craft beer institution—a brewery that got its start in the late ’80s, when the concept of smaller breweries still seemed foreign to most drinkers. Now, 36 years later, the scale is much larger than it was in those early days on the seven-barrel pub system—yet some of those early brands persevere. While those beers inevitably evolve amid shifts in scale and tastes, the core ideas that inform them haven’t changed.

In this episode, longtime brewmaster Mark Hunger and co-CEO Steven Pauwels, the former brewmaster at Kansas City’s Boulevard, talk about that evolution as well as new developments in hop-forward beers. Along the way, they touch on:

• brewing lager with proprietary yeast for a signature brewery flavor
  
• using pressurized fermentation and warmer temperatures for faster lagers
  
• using automation while double-checking with human testing
  
• adding a touch of dryness and drinkability through sparge pH adjustment
• using sulfur as a tool for flavor and shelf stability
• Oregon-grown Mt. Hood hops for American lager character
• evaluating Munich malt for their annual Oktoberfest beer
• using public variety hops such as Triumph, but not Centennial, in Midwest-style IPA
• brewing filtered, clear IPA with London Ale III yeast
  

And more.

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