100 March/April 2022(^15) // LAUREN WOODS LIMBACH, 51, WOOD CELLAR DIRECTOR AND BLENDER AT NEW BELGIUM BREWERY,
FORT COLLINS, COLORADO //
JULIANA BROSTE (STILLS)
Watch the complete MADE HERE
video series on YouTube.
For our sour beers, first we brew barley, hops, and water, and add yeast to ferment.
Then we filter and transfer the liquid into barrels. Here, our 24-year-old house culture
transforms the golden, toasty lager into a tart and fruity sour beer. Lactobacillus bacte-
ria convert sugars into lactic acid, while Brettanomyces wild yeasts produce a wide range of funky
flavors. Once that’s ready, I blend barrels to hit volume and quality specification and create a base.
Then, art melds with science as I use this base as a canvas, adding fruits, flowers, tea, herbs, and
spices; blending in other beers; or aging in different spirit barrels. The possibilities are endless.
HOW
IT’S
MADE
I
STARTED AT NEW BELGIUM
Brewing in 1997 as an assistant.
I worked my way up through var-
ious positions and eventually
earned my certification in sen-
sory science. I developed our
sensory science program, train-
ing individuals to evaluate our beers
by breaking them down into chemical
attributes and determining if they’re
true to brand and free of off-f lavors.
We humans are the most sensitive
tasting machines, but we’re f lawed
by our subjective likes and dislikes.
When I walk in the wood cellar to
taste through a set of barrels, I use my
science background and training but
also bring in a human element. I’m
looking to evoke a response from the
drinker, to ask for their full attention,
to wow them. I do this by building
complex and sometimes unexpected
layers to each glass, and even each sip.
Every beer I create comes from an
experience I’ve had—my infatuation
with the violet f lower, my obsession
with Italian Amaro digestifs, my
five-year sourcing hunt for Physalis
peruviana (a.k.a. golden gooseberry).
My job is to push the boundary
and definition of what beer is. I am
terrified the whole way through mak-
ing a beer, until I open and taste it.
Then I am elated.MADE HERE