beer-making | make eat simple

A brewer is a chef. It takes knowledge of your ingredients and skills with your equipment to create a fabulous feast. Same goes for beer brewing. You must know your tools, your ingredients, and the science behind their reactions and interactions. Nick Heppenstall, head brewer of Odin Brewery in Seattle, Washington has perfected this science into a tasty art-form of craftsman beers.

With a background in biochemistry, Nick heads up the recipes for all beers coming out of Odin Brewery. His mission is to brew a beer that pairs perfectly with the right kinds of food, and to do this, the beer must have the right density levels of water to sugars, a balanced pH level of acids, and a comfortable temperature with the right carbonation.

“Consistency is my first priority. I believe in keeping things simple. If I can do something simple and good, it’s easier for me to make it better.”

Water, grains and the essential hop flowers are key ingredients to crafting a fine brew; three ingredients combined into a myriad of concoctions to intensify certain aspects of flavor. Next add nutmeg, orange peel, extra sugar, or a compound called amylase to discover sweet palettes, higher alcohol percentage or a drier taste.

“My experience in microbiology has been absolutely valuable to my understanding of brewing beer. Anyone who want’s to brew good beer should study microbiology.”