Attenuation is the consumption of sugar by yeast.  More attenuation means less residual sugar which generally means a drier beer … or does it?  A lot of factors come into play in how much attenuation a beer will undergo and that is only somewhat related to how dry or sweet that beer will be perceived by the drinker.

On this episode of the All About Beer Podcast, we talk with a Master Cicerone about how attenuation is related (or not) to dryness and we speak with a brewer about how he thinks about attenuation in recipe development.

Guests

Jen Blair is a Master Cicerone and National BJCP beer judge. She is the Exam Manager for the Cicerone Certification Program and co-host of False Bottomed Girls, a podcast about beer and brewing. She is a judge for the Great American Beer Festival, Festival of Barrel-Aged Beer, and World Beer Cup. Her work in training and empowering people historically excluded from beer judging and other beer spaces has earned her recognition as a Good Beer Hunting 2021 Signifier as well as inclusion on the VinePair 50, Wine Enthusiast Future 40, and Imbibe’s Top 75 lists.

Founder of the largest independently owned professional wild beer program in the southern USA, Brandon Jones is a renowned proponent of the art and science of funky fermentation. In 2010, Jones launched the Embrace The Funk blog to dispel misinformation about sour, funky, and wild beer styles. His Yazoo Brewing Funk Fest is the longest, consecutively running sour, funky and wild beer festival/education seminar series in the USA.

In 2023 Brandon launched a new line of ciders called Painted Porch: a base, imperial and cherry. These 3 core ciders pride themselves on using a local Nashville yeast strain and a specific blend of Northeastern USA apples and Tennessee apple juice.

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This Episode is Sponsored by:

Estrella Galicia is an independent, family-owned brewery  in northwest Spain, founded in 1906. Estrella Galicia Cerveza Especial, a world class lager is brewed with the finest malt and locally cultivated Galician hops in a state-of-the-art facility in A Coruna. Recognized around the world for quality and exceptional character. Estrella Galicia is “A beer like no other.”