The Zen master of brewing

I recently decided to go back through The Brewing Network's Sunday Session archive and start from the very beginning- and I laughed my ass off until I met Brian Hunt, the owner and brewer of Moonlight Brewing Company. He just turned my world on its axis, 180 degrees.

Brian engaged the original crew, and the original listeners, on a touch of controversy regarding brewing and brewing to style, or should I say not brewing to style.

I will echo Jon Plise's comment that homebrewers should brew to style in order to understand flavor and how different ingredients/steps/temperatures affect what you're trying to accomplish. (Not that I am any kind of expert, far from it; but, I have read thousands of pages of brewing publications and listened to hundreds of hours of fairly high quality podcasts about brewing.)

Brian is a complete and total advocate of brewing what tastes good to you, and not pigeon-holing yourself into a style. That kind of philosophy completely goes against the grain of what it means to be an American homebrewer; an opinion that I share with the Brewcasters.

How he reached this 10th level of beer-godliness is beyond the scope of my post. What is within, though, is a feeling that once you get your system and process dialed in, you should go ahead and branch out. If you're into North American competition, go ahead and brew to style; but use that knowledge and mish-mash of flavors to inspire your own special brew.

It's worth your while to listen to the episode, from late 2005. While you're at it, listen to the show from the following week, they interview Dan Gordon, of Gordon Biersch, who is the polar opposite of Brian Hunt. An excellent contrast,as Gordon adheres to the Reinheitsgebot.

- Posted using BlogPress from my mobile

Location:My car