#127 | Basil Lee – Back to Basics

When America sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold… We’ve all probably heard that saying, or at least a variant of it. In beer, it’s no secret that many US brewers appreciated and were often inspired by classic British styles. And in turn many brewers in the UK, Europe, and beyond have been galvanised by the wealth of creations to emerge from modern US brewing.  One such outfit operating in that landscape is Finback. Founded in 2011, Finback Brewery is born from a passion for brewing and experimentation. After a long search combing through back streets, along canals, under bridges and industrial no-mans lands, the team found a space in Queens in 2013.  Finback would go on to release its first beers brewed in Queens in January of 2014 and the brewery is proud to call Queens home, being part of the diverse and rich culture of the borough. Basil Lee, if the co-founder of Finback, a business that continues to brew exceptional beers through iteration and rotation deploying a variety of hops, ingredients, and techniques as a creative journey in bringing unique beers to the consumer.  With a previous career in design, Basil brought strong training in process and collaboration in building Finback as an engaging beer experience. And with that in mind, we invited Basil to deliver the keynote address at our 2023 Brewers Congress. In this episode, Basil discusses how the industry has evolved in the decade Finback has been in business. He looks at the ways consumer tastes have changed and why, 10 years in, he feels that much of beer and brewing is now about going back to basics.