NOLADrinks Show – 1-14-19 – Winter Beers and the Role of Yeast in Brewing with Sal and Matt

On this edition of The NOLADrinks Show with Bryan Dias, we’re talking seasonal winter beers as well as an in-depth discussion on the role of yeast in brewing. We visit with our resident beer experts, Matt Horney and Sal Mortillaro at Old Rail Brewing Co.

Pictured above from left – Sal Mortillaro, beer judge and writer, Bryan Dias of NOLADrinks, and Matt Horney of Old Rail Brewing Co.

NOLADrinks Show – 1-14-19 – Winter Beers and the Role of Yeast in Brewing with Sal and Matt

It’s a quick show open due to the length of our featured interview. We celebrate the Saints’ victory over the Eagles in the playoffs and a couple other bits.

We then head over to Old Rail Brewing Co. in Old Mandeville across the lake from New Orleans for our featured interview. Matt Horney, Old Rail’s brewmaster and a certified beer judge, and Sal Mortillaro, a certified beer judge and beer writer return to the show. Shout-out to Sal who passed his Grand Master beer judging exam with the Beer Judging Certification Program, making him one of about 65 out of 8,000 or so certified beer judges on the planet!

In our chat, we discuss seasonal winter beers including a discussion of porters and stouts. We also talk about barley wines and try some interesting examples of what might be considered atypical seasonal expressions.

On previous episodes of the show with Sal and Matt, we’ve discussed some of the key components of beer such as water, malt, and hops. This time around, we have an in-depth discussion of yeast and the critical role it plays in brewing. In fact, as these guys say, along with water, it is beer’s most important ingredient.

Our discussion includes approaches to using different strands of yeast, including “house styles” versus creating true-to-form traditional styles. We also talk about generational use and more! Matt and Sal stick around for “Another Shot with NOLADrinks” where we get further into the topic. This segment is brought to you by Top Taco New Orleans and NOLA Agave Week.

Pictured at left – Barley Wine in a stainless steel tank at the brewery.

We close things out with our “Parting Shot” talking about the virtues of patronizing your local breweries. The map below shows the location of Old Rail Brewing Co. You can subscribe to, stream, and download The NOLADrinks Show podcast using the links and player at the top of this post.

Cheers, You All!

~ Bryan