Brewing is in the family for Broken Strings founder Charles Frizzell. His grandfather spent the better part of his brewing career at Puerto Rico’s Corona, and he grew up hearing the stories. Today, Frizzell brews very different beer, and at a very different scale, than his grandfather did. Yet doing it right is a matter of family pride.

Like many Florida breweries, Broken Strings is unapologetic about brewing flamboyant, flavor-forward beers, indexing first and foremost for customer happiness. Still, Frizzell is guided by a primary directive, no matter what style he’s brewing: to make beer that he’s proud of.

That mission gets tested when he brews their house Kölsch—via three decoctions—on their small three-barrel system. It’s tested even more when brewing creative “soda sour” beers based on soft drinks. Figuring out how to reconstruct the flavors—but with natural ingredients and in a way that works with the acidity, alcohol, and malt inherent in beer—is a true culinary challenge.

In this episode, Frizzell discusses how he builds and brews these flavor-forward beers, including:

strategically balancing extracts with fruit and purée, to maximize intensity without tasting and smelling synthetic
kettle-souring for clean and accessible acidity
how to get the most from pricey fruit and spices
using hop products to maximize yield on a small system
brewing like a chef

And more.

*This episode is brought to you by: *

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218: Broken Strings’ Charles Frizzell Believes That More is More in Flavor-Forward Beers

Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine Podcast