252: 10 Barrel’s Tonya Cornett Takes a Layered Approach to Fruit Beer

Tonya Cornett marks her brewing experience in decades, but the head of R&D for 10 Barrel in Bend, Oregon, isn't resting on any laurels. She’s earned every right to cruise, with many GABF and World Beer Cup medals under her belt—including three at the World Beer Cup earlier this year—but she continues to challenge herself and her team to find new and better ways to express flavor in beer. One of her favorite styles, and one she’s earned wide acclaim for, is quick-soured fruit beer. Under their Crush brand, 10 Barrel now sells these beers across the country, and Cornett’s small brewery and R&D team are constantly working ahead, creating new iterations with different fruits and ingredients for 10 Barrel’s pubs in Bend. In this episode, she discusses how she’s made this “simple” style much more difficult to make, from varying grain bills based on the fruit, to using different yeasts, and including one fruit in multiple forms to capture all of its flavor. Along the way, she covers: the change over time in their Lacto culture brewing quick-soured beers in two stages as blender batches using wheat, oats, and dextrin malt to build mouthfeel and keep the beers from drying out varying pitch rate based on the current state of the culture and production calendar carefully measuring total acidity rather than just pH using hops that complement fruit and acidity managing sulfur production and controlling diacetyl layering purée, freeze-dried fruit, juice, concentrate, extracts, and more to build a whole fruit picture using adjacent fruits as well as spices to amplify the expression of a primary fruit And more. G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): G&D stands above the rest as the only chiller manufacturer that engineers your glycol piping for free. G&D also stands alone as the only chiller manufacturer with an in house team of installers and engineers, with 30 years of real world, field labor experience in breweries, wineries and distilleries. Contact G&D Chillers today at gdchillers.com Probrew (https://www.probrew.com) The Alchemator from ProBrew uses proprietary membrane technology to strip the alcohol from the beer without sacrificing all the elements – like flavor and color - that make the beer great! Are you ready to Brew Like A Pro? Check out www.probrew.com to learn more. Old Orchard (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer): Looking for innovation in your next beverage break-through? Think outside the purée box and let your brand stand out with Old Orchard's craft concentrate blends. To join the core of Old Orchard's brewing community, learn more at oldorchard.com/brewer Fermentis (https://fermentis.com): Working on a new sour beer? Fermentis is now offering an expanding range of dry bacteria for the production of sour beers. To learn more about how Fermentis can improve the quality of your fermentation, visit Fermentis.com. Country Malt Group (https://countrymaltgroup.com/the-brewdeck-podcast/): Three new roasted malts from BestMalz: Chocolate, Black, and Black Malt eXtra! Roasted in a gentle fluidized bed process to create smooth de-bittered flavors. BestMalz products are available exclusively through Country Malt Group, contact CMG to try a free sample today! Arryved (https://www.arryved.com): Arryved mobile point of sale powers places with personality. No contracts and no monthly fees make Arryved a no brainer for your craft business. Go to Arryved.com/cbb to set up a free, customized demo.