The Business of Brewing Beer: Safety & Quality with Ivan Dedek

Episode Summary

In this episode of Food Tech Talk: Supply Chain Insights from Farm to Fork, host Lydia Adams is joined by Ivan Dedek, Brewmaster/Food Scientist at Meier’s Creek Brewing Company.

Find out how and why Ivan followed his passion for brewing and let it lead him into the industry away from his previous life in finance. If you’re someone with similar dreams, Ivan’s is a voice that you’ll want to pay heed to: get educated, know all your equipment, and start with a humble attitude are just some of the pearls of wisdom he has for newcomers to the industry.

For Ivan, quality is consistency, and achieving that consistency is really a case of chasing the numbers. Ivan explains all the various KPIs that they use at Meier’s Creek to measure their success, keeping pH levels consistent and ensuring that there’s no microbial ingress at any stage.

Technology is a big point of discussion as Ivan explains how far the industry has come. Oxygen, he explains for example, is one of the biggest concerns for brewers, far more than pathogens, but with current technology, Ivan tells us that most brewers can now keep a firm grip on oxygen levels.