One of the most ignored, or rather overlooked, ingredients in beer is water. We often take for granted how much of an impact water has had on brewing history, as well as current quality considerations and plant management decisions. Our world is roughly 71% water, and beer is more than that, around 90 to 95 percent water.

The chemistry, components, and processing methods of this key ingredient matter, a lot. And in this episode, we dive in to this complex and fascinating subject.

The current American craft has itself been a part of a persistent cycle, the rise and fall of craft beer. This is just another phase in the overall craft beer story. BUT, there are things that brewers have chosen to pursue that may be the actual root cause of their cycles. This podcast uses the sources to really look at what may be the cause of the shrinkage and what could be done to pull out of it. It focuses on the realities, and proposes a path forward.

While this is not the narrative that we as brewers here, this might be the narrative we need to find a path forward and to come out of this cycle stronger than ever.

In this episode of Brews and Bevs podcast, our hosts dive into discussing the workhorse of the brewery. Yeast is more than just an ingredient, it might be the most valuable employee. The right environment, the proper food, and the ideal hygiene of yeast all contribute extensively to how well this single celled employee performs its work.

This subject is extensive and what we discuss and cover here is just a general overview. There is so much more to share on this topic. Look for more as we work through presenting the broad knowledge catalog that is being developed at Solon Consulting.

Today on this Brews and Bevs episode, our hosts discuss malt and adjuncts, the agricultural products that make the foundation of beer possible and are by definition what make beer, well, beer. Our hosts cover the history, the reasons adjunct became formal or rather present a lot more more frequently, and the key components for brewers to look for when using malt and adjuncts. While this episode covers only a portion of the information that can be shared about malt, it covers key aspects that need to be top of mind for all brewery owners and operators.

In this episode of Brews and Bevs, our hosts dive into one of the most underrated topics in brewery plant management, safety. Safety is a non-negotiable, and it is honestly one of the must crucial aspects of brewery operations. A safe environment keeps our employees working, mitigates risks physically and financially, and ensures consistent and quality beer.

Plant safety is something that everyone needs to be aware of, no matter your position in the brewery and your role. The safer the workplace, the greater the beer.

Even if we do not acknowledge it, engineering is engrained in every single aspect of industrial manufacturing. In brewing, the controls and instrumentation commonplace in the modern brewing facility are absolutely crucial in providing and guiding the best practices that make the best beer.

There is a lot of controversy around the impact of healthier lifestyle practices on the alcohol industry. And while wine has spent a lot of time at the top of the "best of the worst" alcoholic drinks, this session brings that concept into question as well as the studies that have driven the culture of non-drinkers for health reasons. While no one can question that excessive drinking is bad, the teetotaler approach may also cause the missed opportunity of a very nutrient and vitamin rich beverage, beer.

As breweries and brewers adapt to the new reality of healthier lifestyles, perhaps it is time to reassess the conversation and get ahead of the narrative, and share the real story about what beer is.

This hour long episode demonstrates the depth of information possible with our extended knowledge summaries. These episodes dive fully into any subject. While this episode covers a plethora of subjects, other extended episodes will be intensive reviews of individual topics and domains.

The components of beer are extremely complex and worth intensive deep dives on their own. This overview provides a solid and detailed discussion of a lot of various building blocks and ingredients.