Small variances in temperature and ingredients can create big differences in taste.
NC Teaching Brewery’s latest small batch brews are offering tasters a chance to sample the differences for themselves.
The new releases include nine brews crafted by semester Brewmaster and Brewery Operations Management students in August while they were in their first and second semester. They were created as the students participated in yeast trials for Lallemand Inc.
Different beers were brewed using three different lager yeasts, which were tested and brewed at three different temperatures.
Bearing the NC Teaching Brewery’s Small Batch label, the beers will be sold in cans, indicating the type of yeast used and temperature the beer was fermented at, offering a taste of what nearly identical beers are like, considering these differences.
“It’s quite technical and educational,” said Brewmaster Professor Jon Downing. “People can compare the brews and taste the difference for themselves to see what they think.
“They can experience the kind of thing a brewer goes through when they’re analyzing to see what they want to make, how they want to brew it.”
The trials offered valuable experience for the Brewmaster students who participated, Downing noted.
While the students typically experiment with using different yeasts with different beer types to compare results, Downing said the yeast trials for Lallemand gave them a much more detailed experience.
It took two days to make the beers, and four weeks for them to age in fermenters. The brews were canned over a week period during the first week of October.
The new Small Batch Brews featuring the three different lager yeasts at different temperatures are expected to be available at the Teaching Brewery retail store during the week of October 17, while quantities last.
A global leader in the development, production and marketing of yeast, bacteria and specialty ingredients, Lallemand Inc. has been a long-time supporter of the Teaching Brewery, donating ingredients as well as funds for a scholarship granted to student winners of Project Brew.
