166: Josh Grenz of Verboten on Designing Stouts and Barleywines for Barrel Aging

Anyone can put beer in a barrel, but brewing compelling (and award-winning) barrel-aged beers requires a more conscious approach to design, brewing, and fermentation. Verboten’s Josh Grenz knows a thing or two about the subject, having won bronze at both GABF and the World Beer Cup, as well as 2018 and 2020 golds at the Festival of Barrel-Aged Beers (FOBAB), for three separate barrel-aged beers. In this episode, Grenz talks through their process around brewing barrel-aged stouts and barleywines, from the earliest considerations of recipe design for complexity and interest to their intense hopping regimen that helps the aging process, and using flavorful malts like Special B to insure that aging and oxidation occur in pleasant ways that develop compelling flavors. He discusses successful high gravity fermentation (from yeast choice to mash strategies and enzyme assistance), adjusting base recipes for different finishing barrels, and designing adjunct strategies for subtlety. It took years for Grenz to attempt to brew barrel-aged beers, as the deep respect he had for the category intimidated him. But by carefully planning the approach through nuanced choices to ingredients and process, he’s found a winning strategy. *This episode is brought to you by: * G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): Nearly 2,000 breweries across the US, Canada & Mexico partner with G&D Chillers. Innovative, Modular Designs and no proprietary parts propel G&D ahead as the premier choice for your glycol chilling needs. Breweries you recognize—Russian River, Ninkasi, Jacks Abby, Samuel Adams, and more—trust G&D to chill the beer you love! Call G&D Chillers to discuss your project today or reach out directly at Gdchillers.com BSG (https://bsgcraftbrewing.com/): BSG is partnering with Leopold Bros. to bring a new line of small-batch, handmade malts to brewers and distillers. Leopold Bros. is a family owned floor malting operation and distillery and 2020 James Beard Award Finalist, located in Denver, Colorado. Since brothers Scott and Todd Leopold first opened their doors in 1999, they have created everything from classic unfiltered lagers to a number of spirits, including a wide array of whiskey styles. Learn more about the upcoming malt line by going online to BSGCraftbrewing.com, or contact BSG at 1.800.374.2739. Quantiperm (https://quantiperm.com): Tired of the trial-and-error carbonation processes? Then look at our innovative automated carbonation systems for precise carbonation. These systems handle wide flow ranges to accommodate all your beer, wine, soda, or cider styles. You can even carbonate and directly send the product to a packaging line without tankage! Besides carbonation, QuantiPerm offers robust and economical systems for nitrogenation and water deoxygenation. All our systems have an easy-to-use graphical user interface with reports and graphs that you can pull up on your mobile device. Visit quantiperm.com for more information. ABS Commercial (https://www.abs-commercial.com): ABS Commercial is excited to be a part of today’s Podcast! ABS is a full brewery outfitter offering brewhouses, tanks, keg washers and small parts. ABS wanted to do something fun for the craft beer industry, and gave away an ABS Keg Viking Keg Washer LIVE this past December 7th. Congratulations to Lazy Horse Brewing & Winery in Nebraska who are the new proud owners of a Keg Viking! To make sure you’re on the list for future giveaways, go to www.abs-commercial.com, click on “Keg Viking” page and fill out the contact form to stay in the know!