Brandon Judd: German Techniques, North American Beers

Everyone else is dry-hopping the heck out of everything. Brandon Judd is still asking whether it's drinkable.

Troy sits down with Brandon Judd, Brewmaster at Avling Brewery - Toronto's brewery, restaurant, and rooftop farm all under one roof in Leslieville. Brandon's path to beer ran through freelance journalism, restaurant bartending, and Toronto's early craft scene at Indie AleHouse before a personal-challenge move to VLB Berlin, one of the world's most respected brewing institutions. From there it was off to Godspeed Brewery for their startup before finally landing at a new brewery, Avling, in 2018. He's spent seven years at Avling, building traditional lagers, barrel-aged mixed fermentation beers, and rooftop-grown ingredients like marigolds and pineapple sage into beers designed to work as hard at the dinner table as they do on their own.German techniques, North American beers - and a brewer still chasing the beer he hasn't made yet.What's in this episode:

• The road from freelance journalism and Indie AleHouse to VLB Berlin, and why “tradition is a good guide, but it shouldn't be a religion”
• What German brewing school really changed: less an engineering degree, more a new way of solving problems
• Assisting in Godspeed's beer program from poured concrete up, and the brew day that convinced he could go out on his own
• Avling's rooftop farm: brewing with marigolds and pineapple sage, and the limits of “100% Ontario”
• A year into new ownership at Avling, and a deep dive on his beers
• Rapid Fire: the business decision he'd redo, his favourite beer he's ever brewed, and what he's still trying to prove to himself after all these years

Thank you for tuning into the #BetweenTwoFermenters podcast. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on whichever platform you get your podcasts at and be sure to follow GreatLakesBeer on all social channels. greatlakesbeer.com. Supporting local never tasted soooo good!Hosted by Troy Burtch, Between Two Fermenters, a podcast brought to you by Toronto's Great Lakes Brewery where craft beer and conversation collide straight from the tanks to your ears.