204: For Julian Shrago of Beachwood Brewing, There Are No Additives, Only Ingredients

Julian Shrago is not afraid to ruffle feathers. The outspoken brewmaster for Beachwood Brewing (Long Beach, California) has cultivated an intense persona, but that passion and focus is evidenced in the beers they brew and the awards they’ve racked up over the past ten years, including 19 GABF medals and 9 World Beer Cup medals.

In this episode, he discusses:

• Beachwood’s flavor-first creative process
• Building predictive sensibilities around recipe development
• The evolution of West coast IPA in general, and the particular evolution of Beachwood’s IPAs
• The cross-pollination between New England and West coast IPA brewing techniques
• Bittering contribution from dry hopping
• Creating a saturated wall of flavor in IPA
• Using acidity to temper bitterness
• Setting up biotransformation precursors through hop choice and terpenes
• Building expressive balance in dark beers with coffee

and more.

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