363: Jeremy Pryes of Idyll Forest and Pryes Brewing Explores the Wide Range of Flavors in Everything from Midwest IPA to Spontaneous Beers

At last year’s Festival of Barrel-Aged Beers in Chicago, a relative newcomer grabbed both the silver and bronze medals in the Wild Beer Mixed Culture with Fruit category, immediately sending the crowd to flood the pouring table with requests for tastes. The brewery brand—Idyll Forest Artisan Ales—is the wild, mixed-culture passion project of Pryes Brewing cofounder Jeremy Pryes. The small production facility he’s built about 20 minutes from the main brewery is his culture and flavor laboratory. Despite founding the brewery over a decade ago, Pryes still spends time on the production brew deck and then makes time for his acid-forward labors of love, but the long days are worth it for Pryes. There are too many ideas to try, too many experiments to work out, and too much to learn to slow down now. In this episode, Pryes discusses both their classic approach to “Midwest IPA” as well as the wild path he’s forging with Idyll Forest. Along the way, he touches on: their slow and intentional growth from alternating proprietorship to large beer hall the fundamental tenets of classic Midwest IPA challenges in selecting Simcoe with a more classic flavor profile how drinkers’ palates have evolved over the past decade changing yeast strains, making drier beers with no caramel malt, and finding balance through lower bitterness differentiating West Coast–style IPAs from Midwest IPAs through hop choices building common lanes for Idyll Forest’s wild, spontaneous, and mixed-culture beers the narrow IBU window between bacterial party time and lockdown pre-acidifying or not, depending on flavor intentions decisions and process around fruit additions using carbonic maceration of grapes to improve flavor expression articulating beer-blending goals through writing avoiding vanilla in certain fruited mixed-culture beers And more. Note: After we recorded this episode, Pryes went on to win a World Beer Cup bronze for Soirée, which had also won bronze at FOBAB. This episode is brought to you by: G&D Chillers ( https://gdchillers.com ) : At G&D Chillers they always strive to Build Great Chillers. Partner with them as you Build Great Beer. Choose G&D Chillers on your next Expansion or Brewery start up and receive 1 free year of Remote control and Monitoring of your new G&D Chiller! ProBrew ( https://www.probrew.com ) By partnering with ProBrew, brewers can fill and seam their canned product at ranges from 100-600 cans per minute. Our unique filling process also ensures low dissolved oxygen pickup and focuses on product quality during the entire process. Visit probrew.com or email us at contactus@probrew.com . Old Orchard ( https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer ) : Berry Blend, Blood Orange, Lemonade, and Tart Cherry are the latest additions to our lineup of flavored craft juice concentrate blends. To learn more and request your free samples, head over to oldorchard.com/brewer Omega Yeast ( https://omegayeast.com ) : Streamline efficiency with Omega Yeast’s Diacetyl Knock Out series. The DKO series is comprised of 8 familiar yeast strains engineered to knock out the formation of diacetyl before it starts. The strains you know, now better. Contact Omega Yeast today at omegayeast.com. ABS Commercial ( https://abs-commercial.com ) . ABS Commercial are proud to offer brewhouses, tanks, keg washers, and preventative maintenance parts to brewers across the country as well as equipment for distilling, cider-making, wine-making, and more! Contact them today at sales@abs-commercial.com to discuss your customized brewery needs. Yakima Chief Hops ( https://hopandbrewschool.com ) . Interested in all things hops and beer? Join Yakima Chief Hops on Aug. 28-20th for Hop & Brew School, a one-of-a-kind educational experience in Yakima, Washington, the heart of hop country. Register at hopandbrewschool.com. Use code CBB10 for a 10% discount off your tickets. Craft Spirits & Distilling Podcast ( https://spiritsanddistilling.com/podcasts/ ) : If you’re a distiller or curious about it, check out the Craft Spirits & Distilling podcast. Click on the link and subscribe from your favorite podcast platform. Support Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine Podcast