Welcome to Quality-Focused Pro Brewers, the podcast dedicated to helping professional brewers master the art and science of brewing high-quality beer.
Every fortnight, we delve into essential topics like brewery quality systems, maximising beer shelf life, dissolved oxygen, brewing water chemistry, CIP, Yeast Husbandry, lab and more.
Designed for those planning, building, or running a craft brewery, our episodes provide actionable insights to enhance your brewing processes.
Join us as we share expert knowledge and practical tips to ensure your beer is always at its best.
Want a hand identifying the key levers for your next Hefeweizen?
Comment HEFEWEIZEN CHEAT SHEET below or scan the QR code to grab the Hefeweizen Flavour Cheat Sheet.
You can tick every classic Hefeweizen box—ferulic acid rest, warmer fermentation, yeast stress, copied water profile—and still end up with a beer that is technically fine but just doesn’t belong together.
Maybe it is a clove bomb. Maybe the banana has drifted into bubblegum. Maybe it drinks tart and thin when you wanted soft and rounded.
In this episode of Quality Focused Pro Brewers, Hendo unpacks the wheat beer myths that lead brewers to chase individual process levers instead of designing one balanced expression in the glass.
You’ll learn:
Why a ferulic acid rest is a tool for a clove-forward result—not a compulsory wheat beer ritual
Why banana ester is part of a coordinated fermentation system, not a magic dial
Why copied water profiles from all-barley beers can miss the mark in a high-wheat mash
Why the proof is in the finished beer, not just the number you hit on brew day
How to identify the dominant mismatch between your intended beer and the one in your hand
How to make one purposeful process change at a time, rather than changing everything and learning nothing
Chapters:
00:00 Why wheat beer rituals do not guarantee a balanced beer
01:22 Set the sensory target before you change the recipe
02:30 Ferulic acid rest: do you need it?
04:05 Banana ester: stop treating it like a magic dial
06:44 Wheat beer water chemistry
10:09 Diagnose common Hefeweizen issues
11:54 How to tweak your recipe with purpose
13:35 Build repeatable understanding with your brewing
Get My Free Guide - "The Pro-Brewer Quality & Consistency Checklist" - https://bit.ly/3f6ryQB
SOCIALS
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rockstarbrewerInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/rockstarbrewer
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DISCLAIMER: This video and description may contain affiliate links or product recommendations, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. This helps support the channel and allows us to continue to make videos like this. Thank you for the support!
1 Sept 2026
Fizzy But Flat: The Surprising Reason Your Hazy IPA Loses Its Head | QFPB E053
If you want a copy of the Beer Foam Fault Finder, comment FOAM FAULT FINDER below and I'll send it to you.
A hazy IPA can pour with plenty of fizz—and still lose its head fast.
In this episode, Hendo unpacks the difference between foam formation and foam stability.
Carbonation and serving conditions are worth checking, but they are only the starting point. Durable foam is a systems outcome, shaped by the balance of contributors in the beer and the process history behind it.
You’ll learn:
Why visible bubbles and lasting foam are not the same thing
Why carbonation and serving conditions should be checked before jumping to a culprit;
How malt-derived foam contributors, process history and hop-related variables fit into the bigger picture; and
How to investigate a head-retention problem without changing every lever at once.
Dry hopping is not automatically the villain when it comes to head retention, and there is no single magic fix for every hazy IPA. The useful shift is to rethink how you think about foam stability in this beer.
This episode is for serious home brewers and professional brewers who want a clearer, more methodical way to think about foam without relying on guesswork.
Chapters
0:00 Intro: Fizzy but no head?
1:47 How carbonation and serving conditions affect beer foam
5:04 Foam formation vs foam stability
7:13 Foam stability: Positive and negative factors
8:18 Mash and boil variables
9:28 Dry hopping: A variable, not the villain
11:45 A more methodical investigation mindset
Get My Free Guide - "The Pro-Brewer Quality & Consistency Checklist" - https://bit.ly/3f6ryQB
SOCIALS
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rockstarbrewerInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/rockstarbrewer
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DISCLAIMER: This video and description may contain affiliate links or product recommendations, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. This helps support the channel and allows us to continue to make videos like this. Thank you for the support!
18 Aug 2026
The Truth About Beer Oxidation: Hot Side vs Cold Side | QFPB E052
If you want the Dry Hopping SOP, comment DRY HOP SOP below and I’ll send it over.
Your hazy IPA smells incredible after dry hopping… then just a few days later the aroma is gone.
Most brewers assume they need more hops, a different variety, or another dry hop charge. But the real problem usually isn't the amount of hops—it's understanding how hop aroma actually works.
In this episode of Quality Focused Pro Brewers, Hendo explains the two completely different families of hop aroma compounds—thiols and terpenes—and why each requires a different brewing strategy.
You'll also learn why dissolved oxygen destroys hop aroma faster than most brewers realise, how dry hop timing affects biotransformation, and why one well-managed dry hop often outperforms multiple additions.
In this episode you'll learn:
Chapters
Homebrewer, planning to open a brewery or already running one? In just 60 days, you can build a quality system that brews consistent, world-class beer 👉 https://youtu.be/NZy7pdDhyEI (https://youtu.be/NZy7pdDhyEI)
🎯 Want the Free 5-Step Brewery Quality Checklist?
Visit 👉 https://rockstarbrewer.com/guide (https://rockstarbrewer.com/guide)
DISCLAIMER
This video and description may contain affiliate links or product recommendations. If you click on one of these links, I may receive a small commission. This helps support the channel and allows us to continue producing content like this. Thank you for the support!
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
516,828
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
2 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 46 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
37
Social presence
91
YouTube
93
Engagement
0
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