113: John Rowley of Rowley Farmhouse Ales on Nuance and Character in Sour Beer

Three years ago, homebrewer and professional chemist John Rowley and his partner (chef Jeffrey Kaplan) launched Rowley Farmhouse Ales as a brewpub with a particular focus on sour beer. This past October, they brought home three medals (gold, silver, and bronze) in different sour beer categories at the Great American Beer Festival, and that medal count locked up Small Brewpub of the Year honors for the young brewpub. In this episode, Rowley details their signature brewing process, from live Lactobacillus souring (no boil) to their unexpected Saccharomyces selection, water treatment and composition, building an maintaining a house sour culture, understanding pH and titratable acidity, and more. The methods they use are sometimes unconventional, such as pre-acidifying the mash of their gold medal-winning Gose “Meier” with cut up lemons, but Rowley isn’t afraid to tackle labor-intensive processes if they yield better-tasting beer. From the high desert of Santa Fe, New Mexico, Rowley continues to produce small batches of thoughtfully constructed, and this episode dives into those elements that make their beers stand apart. This episode is brought to you by: G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): As the brewing industry’s premier choice for glycol chilling, G&D Chillers has set the standard on quality, service, reliability and dedication to their customer’s craft. For 25 years G&D has led the way with innovative solutions for the craft brewing industry. Contact G&D Chillers today at 800.555.0973 or reach out online at Gdchillers.com. Mention Craft Beer and Brewing podcast and you’ll receive up to $1000 worth of glycol with the purchase of any new G&D chiller unit. Tavour (https://about.tavour.com): Tavour makes it possible to access and discover the highest-rated craft beers from all over the world through the free mobile app. Twice a day you get access to a new limited beer from an independent craft brewer. Imagine sipping a Vanilla Ice Cream Stout from Wild Leap Brewing in Georgia or Juicy Bits IPA from WeldWerks in Colorado. Join the independent beer community today and get $10 in beer money with code “brewing”. Clarion Lubricants (https://www.clarionlubricants.com): Clarion Lubricants, balancing barley and hops is your expertise, food-grade lubricants is ours. The team at Clarion knows that when it comes to making great beer, you’re the expert, and when it comes to supplying food-grade lubricants backed by service-oriented professionals, they're the experts. Clarion will work with you to create an efficient lubrication program that helps protect your brewery. To speak with an expert dial 1-855-MY-CLARION (855-692-5274) or visit clarionlubricants.com. Clarion Lubricants. The expert that experts trust. Oktober Can Seamers (https://oktoberdesign.com/podcast): Whether you’re a full-scale production brewery, a taproom, or a homebrewer striving for the ultimate setup, Oktober Can Seamers has THE small-scale canning solution. They’ve proven that breweries increase revenue through to-go sales with Oktober Can Seamers, and everyone loves to sell more beer. You’re only a few clicks away from selling more beer, just head over to oktoberdesign.com/podcast (https://oktoberdesign.com/podcast) and use offer code “jamie” to save $50 on any can seamer purchase.