013 | How a Chemist Engineers Better Beer | Chris Ragan

Chemistry | Brewing | Coaching | EvolutionBy day, Chris works in chemistry. By night, he brews with precision and patience under the name Big Beaker Brewing 🍺🧪. What started in 2020 as a curiosity became a disciplined pursuit of better beer, refining process, dialing in fermentation, and chasing flavor with a scientist’s mindset.But this conversation goes beyond the mash tun. We talk about coaching his son’s football team and the subtle politics that come with leadership, pivot into evolution and how he thinks about origins through a scientific lens, and close with the vision of one day opening a brewery of his own.It’s a wide-ranging dialogue about craft, conviction, and building things that matter.Chapters:00:00 | Show Introduction06:03 | Brewing Begins During Covid12:24 | First Batches And Learning Curve18:38 | Taste Preferences And Beer Styles24:30 | Draft Beer Vs Bottle Experience31:00 | Scaling Equipment And Brewing Process37:20 | Craft Beer Exploration And Palate Development44:10 | What Makes A Great Beer50:54 | Losing Sight Of Your Why56:26 | Scottish Ale Breakdown And Tasting1:03:14 | Ingredients And Flavor Engineering1:10:28 | Brewing And Evolution ExplainedSubscribe for honest conversations about the ideas shaping culture, business, and our world around us.👉 https://www.youtube.com/@HoldThisThoughtPodcast?sub_confirmation=1