About this episode

Wynn Whisenhunt discusses his approach to brewing at Wondrous, emphasizing the importance of simplification in creating great beer.

When Wynn Whisenhunt launched Wondrous in the compact Bay Area town of Emeryville, California—wedged between more well-known neighbors Oakland and Berkeley—he brought with him big ideas about what it would take to make great beer. After growing up around well-known homebrewers like Mike “Tasty” McDole and Jamil Zainasheff, studying brewing in the Siebel-Doemens program, and working at breweries of various scales like Lagunitas and Sante Adairius, he had both the theoretical knowledge and first-hand experience in its practical application, but the first few years of running his own brewery, writing all the recipes, and brewing all the beer taught him the most important lesson of all—the best beers are made by subtraction more than addition. Understanding exactly what each beer needs, and eliminating ingredients or techniques that don’t serve that goal or that cause excess intervention, is the real key to taking beers from good to great. In this episode, Whisenhunt discusses both Wondrous Hell—for which he won bronze at the 2024 Great American Beer Festival—and his related approach to West Coast IPA like the 98-rated Single Cuff . Along the way, he touches on: designing Hell with…

People in this episode

Guest: Wynn Whisenhunt

Topics covered

• brewing techniques
• beer production
• West Coast IPA
• simplification in brewing
• Great American Beer Festival

Keywords

• Wynn Whisenhunt
• Wondrous
• brewing
• West Coast IPA
• Great American Beer Festival
• beer techniques
• simplification

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Wondrous, Lagunitas, Sante Adairius, Great American Beer Festival

Products: Wondrous Hell, Single Cuff

Places: Bay Area, Emeryville, Oakland, Berkeley

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