
87: Modist Brewing’s Keigan Knee: Brewing Otherwise Impossible Beers Using a Mash Filter
Explicit content warning
06/14/19 • 54 min
Mash filters are common in commercial brewing—most large-scale commercial breweries use them—but they’re far, far less common in craft brewing. While most breweries use them to maximize efficiency, Modist Brewing (Minneapolis, Minnesota) cofounder and head brewer Keigan Knee has pushed in a different direction, using them to produce IPAs with no barley (only wheat and oats) or pushing the percentage limits on alternate grains like spelt. The result is unique-tasting beers that surprise and delight. In this episode, Knee discusses the mash filter process and unique design considerations, the finer points of malt in designing hoppy beers, layering cryo and T-90 hops of the same variety on top of each other for heightened effect, locking in flavors using cryo hops on the hot side, designing fruited beers to finish at the same gravities as that fruit, and wood prep processes for foeder-aged lagers.
This episode is brought to you by:
CraftBeer.com (http://craftbeer.com): This episode is brought to you by CraftBeer.com, whose mission is to tell the stories behind America’s small and independent breweries and the cities and businesses that support them.
Ss Brewtech (https://www.ssbrewtech.com): The founders launched Ss Brewtech with a very clear goal to advance brewing equipment design, performance, and quality to the very highest standards in the industry. With a team that draws upon strong functional backgrounds in brewing science, mechanical engineering, industrial design, supply chain, and manufacturing, Ss Brewtech has the people and skill sets you would want and expect from your supplier of pro brewing equipment. Head over to SsBrewtech.com for more information on their brewhouses and brewing gear.
BSG (http://bsgcraftbrewing.com): Great beers are made from select ingredients. With BSG, you’ll bring the world to your brewhouse with an unparalleled and diverse selection of ingredients, from across the globe to just down the road. Our dedicated customer service team and industry experience provides you with the assistance you need in every step of the way. Let BSG be your supplier of choice for products essential to making great artisanal beverages, so you can stay focused on your craft. For more information, visit us as bsgcraftbrewing.com, or contact us at 1.800.374.2739.
G&D Chillers (http://www.Gdchillers.com): As the brewing industry’s premier choice for glycol chilling, G&D Chillers has set the standard on quality, service, and dedication to their customer’s craft. For 25 years G&D has led the way on innovative solutions that match their brewing customers immediate and future needs. With a wide selection of custom built chillers; G&D offers the Nano chiller, the perfect solution for Nano breweries all the way up to their larger capacity units like the Vertical Air Chiller, built for higher volume operations. Contact G&D Chillers today for your chiller sizing needs at 800.555.0973 or reach out online at Gdchillers.com
Mash filters are common in commercial brewing—most large-scale commercial breweries use them—but they’re far, far less common in craft brewing. While most breweries use them to maximize efficiency, Modist Brewing (Minneapolis, Minnesota) cofounder and head brewer Keigan Knee has pushed in a different direction, using them to produce IPAs with no barley (only wheat and oats) or pushing the percentage limits on alternate grains like spelt. The result is unique-tasting beers that surprise and delight. In this episode, Knee discusses the mash filter process and unique design considerations, the finer points of malt in designing hoppy beers, layering cryo and T-90 hops of the same variety on top of each other for heightened effect, locking in flavors using cryo hops on the hot side, designing fruited beers to finish at the same gravities as that fruit, and wood prep processes for foeder-aged lagers.
This episode is brought to you by:
CraftBeer.com (http://craftbeer.com): This episode is brought to you by CraftBeer.com, whose mission is to tell the stories behind America’s small and independent breweries and the cities and businesses that support them.
Ss Brewtech (https://www.ssbrewtech.com): The founders launched Ss Brewtech with a very clear goal to advance brewing equipment design, performance, and quality to the very highest standards in the industry. With a team that draws upon strong functional backgrounds in brewing science, mechanical engineering, industrial design, supply chain, and manufacturing, Ss Brewtech has the people and skill sets you would want and expect from your supplier of pro brewing equipment. Head over to SsBrewtech.com for more information on their brewhouses and brewing gear.
BSG (http://bsgcraftbrewing.com): Great beers are made from select ingredients. With BSG, you’ll bring the world to your brewhouse with an unparalleled and diverse selection of ingredients, from across the globe to just down the road. Our dedicated customer service team and industry experience provides you with the assistance you need in every step of the way. Let BSG be your supplier of choice for products essential to making great artisanal beverages, so you can stay focused on your craft. For more information, visit us as bsgcraftbrewing.com, or contact us at 1.800.374.2739.
G&D Chillers (http://www.Gdchillers.com): As the brewing industry’s premier choice for glycol chilling, G&D Chillers has set the standard on quality, service, and dedication to their customer’s craft. For 25 years G&D has led the way on innovative solutions that match their brewing customers immediate and future needs. With a wide selection of custom built chillers; G&D offers the Nano chiller, the perfect solution for Nano breweries all the way up to their larger capacity units like the Vertical Air Chiller, built for higher volume operations. Contact G&D Chillers today for your chiller sizing needs at 800.555.0973 or reach out online at Gdchillers.com
Previous Episode

86: Russian River Brewing’s Vinnie Cilurzo: Brewing Sour Beer with Old World Tradition and Contemporary Innovation
In part two with Vinnie Cilurzo, he discusses the story of Simcoe, open fermentation for everything from Pliny the Elder to STS Pils, the impact of tank geometry, the origins and stages of their sour and spontaneous brewing program, de-barreling sour beer without worry about oxygen exposure, the impacts of aged hops, controlling acidity with temperature, macerating with dried fruit, grape processing methods for their wine-beer hybrids, his secret stash of not-commercially-available Brettanomyces strains, and more.
This episode is brought to you by:
Ss Brewtech (https://www.ssbrewtech.com): The founders launched Ss Brewtech with a very clear goal to advance brewing equipment design, performance, and quality to the very highest standards in the industry. With a team that draws upon strong functional backgrounds in brewing science, mechanical engineering, industrial design, supply chain, and manufacturing, Ss Brewtech has the people and skill sets you would want and expect from your supplier of pro brewing equipment. Head over to SsBrewtech.com for more information on their brewhouses and brewing gear.
American Homebrewers Association (https://www.homebrewersassociation.org): This episode is brought to you by the American Homebrewers Association, an orgnization dedicated to homebrewing and the worldwide community of homebrewers.
BSG (http://bsgcraftbrewing.com): Great beers are made from select ingredients. With BSG, you’ll bring the world to your brewhouse with an unparalleled and diverse selection of ingredients, from across the globe to just down the road. Our dedicated customer service team and industry experience provides you with the assistance you need in every step of the way. Let BSG be your supplier of choice for products essential to making great artisanal beverages, so you can stay focused on your craft. For more information, visit us as bsgcraftbrewing.com, or contact us at 1.800.374.2739.
G&D Chillers (http://www.Gdchillers.com): As the brewing industry’s premier choice for glycol chilling, G&D Chillers has set the standard on quality, service, and dedication to their customer’s craft. For 25 years G&D has led the way on innovative solutions that match their brewing customers immediate and future needs. With a wide selection of custom built chillers; G&D offers the Nano chiller, the perfect solution for Nano breweries all the way up to their larger capacity units like the Vertical Air Chiller, built for higher volume operations. Contact G&D Chillers today for your chiller sizing needs at 800.555.0973 or reach out online at Gdchillers.com
Next Episode

88: Allagash Brewing’s Jason Perkins: Belgian Tradition Meets American Creativity in Everything from Wit to Spontaneous and Funky Beers
Over his two decade tenure at Allagash, Jason Perkins has made a mark on the world of brewing. The Portland, Maine brewery is best known for their Belgian-style beers, from the iconic witbier Allagash White to their groundbreaking forays into spontaneous fermentation with the Coolship Resurgam series. In this episode, Perkins discusses mash and process regimens for haze stability, the impact of various inputs on ester production in Belgian yeasts, controlling time and temperature for more consistent results in spontaneous beer, blending strategies for sour beer, adding fruit in horizontal tanks to improve contact and extraction, working with Brettanomyces, and more.
This episode is brought to you by:
CraftBeer.com (http://craftbeer.com): This episode is brought to you by CraftBeer.com, whose mission is to tell the stories behind America’s small and independent breweries and the cities and businesses that support them.
Ss Brewtech (https://www.ssbrewtech.com): The founders launched Ss Brewtech with a very clear goal to advance brewing equipment design, performance, and quality to the very highest standards in the industry. With a team that draws upon strong functional backgrounds in brewing science, mechanical engineering, industrial design, supply chain, and manufacturing, Ss Brewtech has the people and skill sets you would want and expect from your supplier of pro brewing equipment. Head over to SsBrewtech.com for more information on their brewhouses and brewing gear.
BSG (http://bsgcraftbrewing.com): Great beers are made from select ingredients. With BSG, you’ll bring the world to your brewhouse with an unparalleled and diverse selection of ingredients, from across the globe to just down the road. Our dedicated customer service team and industry experience provides you with the assistance you need in every step of the way. Let BSG be your supplier of choice for products essential to making great artisanal beverages, so you can stay focused on your craft. For more information, visit us as bsgcraftbrewing.com, or contact us at 1.800.374.2739.
G&D Chillers (http://www.Gdchillers.com): As the brewing industry’s premier choice for glycol chilling, G&D Chillers has set the standard on quality, service, and dedication to their customer’s craft. For 25 years G&D has led the way on innovative solutions that match their brewing customers immediate and future needs. With a wide selection of custom built chillers; G&D offers the Nano chiller, the perfect solution for Nano breweries all the way up to their larger capacity units like the Vertical Air Chiller, built for higher volume operations. Contact G&D Chillers today for your chiller sizing needs at 800.555.0973 or reach out online at Gdchillers.com
If you like this episode you’ll love
Episode Comments
Generate a badge
Get a badge for your website that links back to this episode
<a href="https://goodpods.com/podcasts/craft-beer-and-brewing-magazine-podcast-8497/87-modist-brewings-keigan-knee-brewing-otherwise-impossible-beers-usin-275913"> <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/goodpods-images-bucket/badges/generic-badge-1.svg" alt="listen to 87: modist brewing’s keigan knee: brewing otherwise impossible beers using a mash filter on goodpods" style="width: 225px" /> </a>
Copy