BYO Nano Podcast
The Nano segment is a bright spot within craft brewing with the majority of new breweries opening up falling into this small-scale, hyper-local segment working on brewing systems five barrels or under. Each month on this podcast learn the business, marketing, and brewing strategies targeted for this smaller-scale sized brewery needs. From strategies to maximizing taproom sales to forecasting brewery budgets to brewing great beer in small spaces, you’ll learn from craft beer experts and fellow Nano brewers the tips and strategies for success to improve – or launch – your small brewery. New episodes will be added to this page each month in addition to all major podcast platforms. Please email any questions, thoughts, and feedback on the BYO Nano Podcast to [email protected]. You can use the player provided here to listen to episodes or subscribe to this show through a variety of popular podcast platforms linked just below. Cheers!
Episode 67 – Improving your Beer Quality
Sensory analysis, setting up a lab for QC tests, and understanding your raw ingredients are all paramount when it comes to improving beer quality. We talk with two experts – Lindsay Barr and Ashton Lewis – who are here to help you level up beer quality in a small-scale brewery.
Guests:
Lindsay Barr is the CSO and Founding Partner of DraughtLab Sensory Software where she helps food & beverage companies use tasting technology to make products that people love. After earning a Masters in Food Science from UC Davis, she began her career at New Belgium Brewing Company managing the Sensory and Consumer Research program. Along with her work at DraughtLab, she teaches Sensory for the Master Brewers course at UC Davis and the Siebel Institute and judges global beer competitions. During her career, she has published numerous groundbreaking techniques to lower the barrier-to-entry into sensory science and continues to be passionate about making sensory accessible for all businesses. She currently lives in San Francisco and can be found running or lounging in Golden Gate Park, sailing, or playing around in the Castro.
For the last 29 years Ashton Lewis has worked for Brew Your Own Magazine as technical editor and “Help Me, Mr. Wizard” columnist. His day job since December 2016 has been with RahrBSG where he is currently Manager of Training and Technical Support. Prior to working in the world of ingredients, Ashton was the Staff Master Brewer and Brewing Group Sales Manager for the Paul Mueller Company living in the world of custom stainless steel. He was also a partner in the Springfield Brewing Company (SBC) in Springfield, Missouri, and SBC’s master brewer from 1997 to 2019. Ashton holds a B.S. in Food Science from Virginia Tech (1991) and a M.S. in Food/Brewing Science from UC Davis (1994), and is currently the MBAA District Great Plains Technical Chair. In his spare time, he enjoys music, cooking, homebrewing, talking about beer, and playing with Excel.
Do you have a question about starting or growing your nano brewery? Email us: [email protected].
The BYO Nano Podcast Episode 67 is sponsored by:

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Interested in more information on the Nano Brewing segment of the craft beer industry? Then check out the links to our other Nano Brewing content available below:
With Nano+ Membership, Nano brewers (and aspiring nano brewers) will find the resources they need to be more successful running small craft breweries. Advanced homebrewers can continue to build deeper technical knowledge. Nano+ Membership is your all-access pass to byo.com, including over 1,200 hours of on-demand workshop videos and four years of past NanoCon Online seminar videos covering both the business and brewing side of running or launching a taproom-focused, small-scale craft brewery.
Subscribe to our free monthly BYO Nano Newsletter. Links to articles on both the business and brewing sides of running a small-scale craft brewery will be emailed to you each month. Click here to start your free email Nano Newsletter subscription.
For the last eight years, we’ve hosted an annual NanoCon event with big ideas for small-scale craft brewing. Join us online on Friday, October 24 for a full day of live brewing and business strategies taught by experts for your taproom-focused, small-scale craft brewery. Register now to save $100!