All language subtitles for Tomorrows.World.Today.S08E02.1080p.WEB.h264-FREQUENCY_track3_[eng]

[narrator]
On "Tomorrow's World Today,"
we explore the cutting-edge

advances that are shaping
four different worlds.

The world of inspiration,
where the wonders of

the natural world amaze
and inspire us.

The world of creation,

where ideas come to life
from traditional arts.

The world of innovation,

where ideas and inventions
move us all forward.

The world of production,
where innovations

are mass produced
to improve our lives.

From Inventionland World
Headquarters, here's your host,

George Davison.

The brewing industry's recently
seen incredible innovations,

transforming how beer is
made and enjoyed.

But tradition dates back
thousands of years.

You see, it all began with
ancient civilizations like

the Sumerians and the Egyptians,
who brewed beer in clay pots

using simple techniques
and natural ingredients.

Now, if you fast forward to
the Middle Ages when monks

refined their brewing methods,
beer became an essential part

of life in
European monasteries.

Today, though,
beer has evolved dramatically,

with high-tech breweries and
advanced brewing techniques.

Now, as we look toward
the future, we see that

the rise of craft brewing has
spurred creativity, leading to

unique brews
and flavor combinations

we may have
never imagined.

You see, the science of
how flavors are explored

and brought to life in
laboratories offers us a chance

to see and taste
a piece of that future.

The creative process
behind beer brewing,

marketing, and flavoring is
truly an art form,

and it involves
a blend of science,

tradition, and innovation.

From experimenting
with unique ingredients

and brewing techniques,
to crafting compelling
brand stories

and designing eye-catching
packaging, every single step

reflects a dedication
to craft and creativity.

So I'm gonna send Greg to
the world of production to

explore the innovative spirit
and creative journey behind

one company's seasonal beers.

Stay tuned as we take
you behind the scenes of

the brewing process,
where every sip tells a story.

From innovative brewing
techniques to renewable energy

solutions, breweries are having
a positive impact on

the environment
and crafting some unique

and delicious beers.

I'm at the Elysian Brewing
headquarters in Seattle,

Washington, to explore how one
particular beer has brewed up

a community festival with
its roots in sustainability.

Let's head inside now.

We're gonna talk with
Joe Bisacca and Dave Buhler,

the founders of Elysian Brewing.

-Hi, Joe.
-Hey, how are you?

-Great, nice to meet you.
-Nice to meet you.

So, Joe, I am curious to find
out about the beginnings
of Elysian.

What inspired you to create
this whole brewing company?

So, I was a home brewer.

My partner, Dick, was a brewer
over at Pike Place Brewery.

Dave was a beer sales guy.

And all of us loved beer,

and kind of wanted to do it
on our own.

It came from love of beer,
which I think most breweries

kind of started the same way.

For us, I think it was that
opportunity to explore a little

further, to break
the boundaries, to kind of try

some things people haven't
tried before, just sounded fun.

Right, and that's one of
the things that Elysian is
known for.

Like, you brought a lot of
groundbreaking beers

and flavors to the market.

[Joe] For me,
brewing's like baseball.

If you strike out 70% of
the time, you're an all-star,

one of the best in the biz.

That opportunity to invent
something new, to kind of

create new beers, some new
styles and things,

that was huge for us.

That lack of fear to try new
things, to explore a little bit.

You may fail,
but you learn from it.

Right, do you think that's one
of the things that has really

helped with the evolution of
the company, that attitude?

[Joe] Absolutely, not only in
the beers that we brew,

but also graphically,
we've always had internal

artists create all our stuff,
so I try to inspire art as much

as we inspire beer with
the whole thing -- you know,
events too.

[Greg]
Right, which is one of the main
things I'm here to learn about

today, which is the Great
Pumpkin Beer Festival.
-[Joe] Sure.

So I'm gonna head downstairs,
David's down there,

and he's gonna tell me all
about the actual creation of

the pumpkin beer.
-He's right down here.

OK!

-Hey, David.
-Hi, Greg.

-Nice to see you.
-Good to see you.

So, this is the perfect setting
for me to ask a question

that's just been
burning in my head.

What prompted you to create
a pumpkin beer
in the first place?

Well, in the late '90s,
we had opened

a second location, and we had
a small pilot brewery.

Our assistant brewer,
Marcus, decided,

"I'm gonna
brew a pumpkin beer."

And no one said,
"Eh, don't do that."

So we brewed our first beer
using the type of pumpkin meat

that you would buy
in the store,

and we brewed four barrels,
which is 31 gallons per barrel,

so 124 gallons of pumpkin beer
-- that was year one.

Put the beer on tap at our pub.
People loved it.

Year two, we did
double the amount.

We took it
to a beer festival.

We had a line really long,
sold out of the beer
really fast.

So the next year, we took it up
to our main brewery.

At that point, it was
a 20-barrel system,

so five-fold growth,
and that's the beginning.

[Greg] Well, and now
you actually brew different

varieties of the pumpkin beer.

It's not just the one that
you started with.

Well, batch 1,000 ended up
being the Great Pumpkin.

So we needed to brew
something special.

And once again, Marcus --
when I said, "It's batch 1,000,

what do you want to brew?"
And he said, "Double Night Owl."

So having now two pumpkin beers
started the ability to do more.

And we were already
doing festivals.

We were doing a winter beer
festival, a Belgian festival.

So we did
a pumpkin beer festival.

What were some of the biggest
challenges in creating
a beer like this?

Because that was
really new at the time.

Well, in the beginning,
we were buying pumpkin meat

from the store --
we were going like you would

buy pumpkin meat
in a can for your pie.

We now use 75,000 pounds
of pumpkin puree per year,

so we contract out
to farmers years in advance.

So the supply chain side
of it has gotten more intense,

but it's still working with
farmers, and we love to do that.

Wow, so as all of this has
grown, now you even have
the festival around it.

The festival has grown
the same way,

organically, serendipitously,
and it is huge.

Thousands of people, lots of
beers, lots of harvest beers.

It's kind of pumpkin mayhem.

[Greg] Excellent, well,
I'm gonna go find out more
about that mayhem from

Dan-o, your cellar master.
Thanks a lot, David.

You're welcome.
Cheers.

[Greg] I'm talking to
cellar master Dan-o Beyer

at Elysian Brewing about
their Great Pumpkin
Beer Festival.

So Dan-o,
let's go back a little bit.

Tell me a little bit about
the history of

the Great Pumpkin
Beer Festival.

You were there basically
from the very beginning.

Yeah, I was there for
the first one.

We had four pumpkin beers,

and that was already
kind of ridiculous.

So we invited
four friends' breweries,

and that first festival
was just eight beers.

And then the boss was like,

"Figure out how to put
this beer in a pumpkin."

So we've done that since
the first year.

[Greg] Tell me about
that evolution -- how has
that process taken place?

[Dan-o]
Well, I mean, it's just grown.

We've taken it from inside
the restaurant out to

the loading dock,
out to part of the parking lot,

the whole parking lot,
and now we host it at
the Seattle Center.

Wow, and the pumpkins
have grown as well.

Yep, I'll be filling a pumpkin
anywhere between 15

and 1,700 pounds this year.

[Greg] Are you surprised
that a pumpkin can hold
that much beer?

[Dan-o] I've always had
great faith in

the structural integrity
of a pumpkin.

Wow, well, tell me a little bit
more about the evolution of
the festival itself.

To grow that much, there's got
to be a lot more involved than
just beer.

Yeah, I mean, now our spent
grain farmers show up

and have an info booth.

We have other vendors
and other beverages available.

So there must be a bigger
opportunity, then, for

community engagement.

In the last several years,
we've always been involved

with a nonprofit.

This year, it's presented
by The Vera Project.

What do you think sets
the Great Pumpkin Beer Festival

apart from other festivals?

I mean, definitely
the harvest vibe.

It's, you know,
it's a very themed event.

Having such a centerpiece,
like a giant pumpkin full of

beer that everyone's waiting
with anticipation to tap.

Excellent, okay.
Let's get on out of here.

Cheers.

Next, I met with innovation
brew master, Chris Murakami,

to discuss the brewing process.

Hey, Chris.

-Hey, Greg, how you doing?
-I'm doing great.

-So, Chris, walk me through
the basics of

a brewing process.

Absolutely, yeah, we all start
with malted grain, so either

malted barley or malted
wheat, traditionally.

That goes through our mill,
which is right behind us,

that cracks the grain open,
and then it drops into

our mash tub,
which is right behind us.

This is where we mix it with
water, we keep it at a nice,

warm temperature, and this is
kind of the key process

that I think separates brewing
from a lot of other alcohol

fermentations, where
you're keeping it at a perfect

temperature, time,
hydration rate,

that the enzymes that naturally
occur in that malt break

the starch down to sugar,
and that sugar is what

eventually our yeast will
consume and turn into alcohol

and carbon dioxide.

So if you were making wine
or making a cider,

those already have sugars in
them from the fruits that
you're using.

With this, you're making
the sugars from scratch.

Correct, yeah.

You know, you have apples,
which already have sugar in

them, you have your grapes,
so you basically just crush it,
get the juice out.

You can add yeast,
and then you're off
to the races.

But with beer, we have,
again, the multigrain.
It's all in starch.

It's kind of entwined sugars,
if you will.

They're really all locked up
and bound to each other.

And so the, again,
the process of mashing is to

basically free up those sugars,
break them apart, make them

accessible for our yeast
to consume.

Now, when you make a flavored
beer, say, because we're

talking a lot about your
pumpkin beer, all of those are
-Yeah.

natural ingredients, as well.
-That's right, yeah.

Whenever possible,
source natural fruits,

fruits or vegetables,
or whatever we're gonna put

into our beer, and so
pumpkin beer is no different.

We get pumpkin puree,
and it's grown down in

Corvallis, Oregon.

We get a pumpkin juice
concentrate that comes from

Eastern Washington here.

Our malt's actually made out of
Vancouver, Washington.

So a lot of our ingredients are
coming from local sources,

as well as we're trying to
source the natural fruit

anytime it's possible
and avoid chemicals

or essences when possible.

As you work through
your brewing process here with

Elysian, how much of this is,
in your estimation,

traditional brewing and what's
new, what's the innovations

that you're using?
-[Chris] Well, really,

brewing has changed
surprisingly little

over the thousands of years
that it's existed.

So again, we're pretty much
using the same four ingredients,

of course, when we innovate
and do pumpkin beers

or something like that,
but the process has really

remained unchanged.

What has changed is
the technology that's allowed

us to brew more efficiently,

more consistent and sustainably.

So, for example, heating beer
or heating the wort, I should

say, to make beer, has been
around since the beginning
of brewing.

That's what's made it safe to
drink for a thousand years

and made beer
a very safe product.

We're just using
a steam kettle.

We're not using chemicals
to have to add to kill any

pathogens or any harmful
bacteria that might be already

present in the water
or our ingredients.
-[Greg] Great.

Well, I know that you have some
other innovations that are

a part of your bottling
and packaging process.

-So can we go take
a look at that?
-Absolutely.

-Let's go.
-All right.

All right, Greg, I'd like to
show you one more thing before

we hit packaging here.

I'd like to introduce you
to our quality manager.

-This is Morgan Hazard.
-Hi, Morgan.

Hi, Greg.
Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you too.
Looks like you're having
a good time here.

We're sampling Great Pumpkin.

This is our final sensory
before packaging.

I'm excited -- so tell me
what's going on in this vat.

Well, Greg, these are
our break tanks.

So basically
it's finished beer.

It's already been fermented,
clarified, and carbonated.

Now it's really just waiting
for packaging.

So there's no process going on
in here.

This is all just getting ready
to head out to the bottling

and packaging center.

As you'll notice, this red
line, this hose that's coming

out from underneath is going to
our keg line,

and that's what
we'll be adding to next.

Now this is all beer that is
ready to drink.

-That's correct.
-Ready to drink.

Which brings us to
our next...

So we're ready to drink it,
all right.

-Yeah.
-Absolutely.

-The most important step, right?
-[Morgan] The most important.

And this is actually
Great Pumpkin Beer.

-Correct.
-This is Great Pumpkin.

This is one of our beer,
our pumpkin beers.

It's an imperial pumpkin beer,
clocks in at 8.4%,

but again, tons of pumpkin,
lots of natural spice.
-Right.

-Well, cheers.
-Cheers.

That is like fall
in a glass.

[Greg] I'm discussing Elysian
Brewing's bottling and canning

process with Morgan Hazard,
Quality Assurance Manager.

So Morgan, what do you think is
the most important thing to be

aware of when
you're in the bottling

and canning process?

Reducing the amount of
dissolved oxygen in our beer.

Well, how do you do that?

Both the bottle and can line
utilize counter-pressure

filling, which purges the can
or bottle with CO2,

pushes oxygen out,
and then fills with beer.

[Greg] So why is that
so important?

I mean, there's
oxygen everywhere.

Well, it reduces our shelf life
and causes the beer to taste

old and oxidized.
-Nobody wants that.

Nobody wants that.

Well, I mean, I'm amazed at how
much science is really involved

in the brewing of beer,
and I'd like to get a little
bit more specific about it,

maybe look at pumpkin beer
in particular.

Yeah, let's go over to
the pilot brewery where we're

actually brewing
a pumpkin beer right now.

-Lead the way.
-All right.

Well, Greg, I'd like to welcome
you to our pilot brewery here.

This is our one-barrel
innovation system.

So it's the smallest brewery
that Elysian runs,

but it's where we experiment
with a lot of

new recipes and ingredients.

So you get inspiration from
just about anywhere, like a lot

of employee inspiration,
as well.

And this is where you try
that out.

What's Brian working on
right now?

[Chris] Brian is actually making
a pumpkin beer for us right now

called Absolutely Chuffed,
and it's kind of loosely

inspired by a cake recipe,
actually, he saw on TV.

[Greg] All right --
now, but Morgan,

you actually have
a recipe that's gonna be brewed

for Pumpkin Fest, as well --
tell me about that.

It's called Porter Pie,
and it's a pecan,

tassie-inspired beer named
after my daughter,

who's nicknamed Porter Pie.
-Wow, that's excellent.

Now, there's a lot of science
involved here.

What are some of the different
disciplines that come into play

in the brewing process?

[Morgan]
So we've got microbiology,
chemistry, food science,

and that's just the short list.

Now, say this recipe of yours
is gangbusters.

Everybody at Pumpkin Fest
loves it.

Now you wanna scale that up
into production.

You need to get that into all
of your pubs and your regular
distribution system.

What do you do to make
that happen?

Well, we're gonna first look at
things like consumer feedback,

rate of sale at our pubs,
kind of employee enthusiasm,

and does this fit in with
Elysian's portfolio?

If it meets all these metrics,
then we'll take that recipe,

we'll start working on scaling.

But the biggest thing we gotta
look at is are the raw

materials sustainable?

Can we actually provide raw
materials for years to come if

this recipe actually
does scale?

So you have to deal with all of
your suppliers, including local

farmers and the folks that
you work with in the community

to make sure that
you can make that happen.

Well, I want to find out
more about that.

-I know you've got to go.
-I do.

-Well, good luck
with your pumpkin beer.
-Thank you.

I'm sure it'll be a big hit.
Let's get on out of here.

All right, let's go.

So, Chris, you mentioned using
local sources for

your raw materials,
and these are them.
-That's right.

These are some of them.
Yeah, this is a lot of our malt.

In fact, a lot of our malt that
we use here at the brewing

process is malted
in Washington.

Of course, Washington is known
as a huge hop growing region

too, so we're
extremely fortunate.

It's just right over
the mountains in

eastern Washington.

I mentioned that our pumpkin
for our pumpkin beers is grown

down in Corvallis, Oregon.

So really a lot of our raw
materials are coming from

within the state or one state
away, and that really helps

reduce our carbon footprint

in terms of shipping
our raw materials to us.

That's really just a function
of where you're

located geographically.
-That's right.

Now I've heard about this
concept called

circular brewing --
explain that to me.

Yeah, we have a very cool
partnership here.

Essentially, our spent grain is
sent to a dairy farm here,

and that's fed to
the dairy cattle.

Of course, that becomes manure,
and then that is eventually

turned into compost.

And that compost is actually
used by some local farmers here

to grow these giant pumpkins
that we feature at

the Great Pumpkin Beer Festival.

And we take a couple of those
giant pumpkins, cut them open,

and fill them with beer.

So it's a really great way to
reduce waste and work with

local farmers and partners here
in the area.

In fact, Leann Krainick,
who runs the Krainick Dairy,

is here, and you're gonna
meet her now.

Great.

So, Leann, tell me a little
bit about your partnership
with Elysian Brewing.

We have a dairy farm about
35 miles southeast of here,

and we collect all of Elysian's
spent grain and yeast,

and we take it home,
and we feed it to our cows.

Wow, now, this would typically
be waste, but you're making

a really good use of it.

Exactly, and as you learned in
the brewing process,

Greg, they take all the starch
and the carbohydrates to make

beer, but what's left over
is spent grain,

and it's 20% protein.

There's one other thing in
here, and that's yeast.

And because cows have
a four-chambered stomach,

yeast acts as a probiotic,
and so it helps them

digest their nutrients.
-That's excellent.

Now, let's talk a little bit
more specifically about

the Great Pumpkin
Beer Festival.

That's kind of
why we're here today.

Do the cows get to
enjoy the festival?

They really do,
but they enjoy it the day after.

So after the festival,
we bring home all the giant

pumpkins, and we put them out in
the field, and the cows get to
enjoy them as a treat.

-[Greg] So it's a win-win for
everybody, including the cows.
-[Leann] Absolutely.

All right, well, I'm heading
off now to talk to Kean Mervis.

He is the president of Elysian
Brewing to talk more about

community engagement around
the festival and how

everybody wins.
-Great.

[Greg] I'm talking to Elysian
Brewing President Kean Mervis to

explore how brewing is
a circular process.

-Hey Kean.
-Hey, how's it going?

It's going great, man.
This has been a really
good day.

Yeah, thank you so much for
coming out and spending time

with my team and telling
the story of Elysian.

I've heard nothing but great
things about the conversations
you guys have had.

Yeah, everybody has been really
awesome today.

And I was just speaking to
Leann, and she was telling me

about how Elysian has partnered
with her dairy farm and how

beneficial that has been for
both of you, especially in

the concept of the circular
brewing concept

that's so important to you.

Now, when it comes to that kind
of community engagement

and getting involved with
the folks in this area,

how important is that to you?

Creating a sense of belonging
is something that's super

important to everything we do
at Elysian, and Pumpkin Fest is

an amazing example of that.

We've had the pleasure of
growing it from a small

brew pub event, all the way to
a 7,000-person event down in

the middle of the city at
the Seattle Center under

the Space Needle.

[Greg]
I was talking to Dan-o earlier,
and he was saying that he's

been around for the Pumpkin
Fest from the very beginning.

Now, he's not the only employee
that you guys have that's been

here for a couple of decades.
-Yeah, Dan-o's not the only one.

Of course,
our founders who you've met so

far, have been here for
our entire 28-year history,

but several employees have been
here for over 20 years.

And that sense of community is
something that we believe is

really important to everything
that we do, and we believe it

rubs off on events like Great
Pumpkin Beer Fest or on

the beers that our consumers
are enjoying across the U.S.

Absolutely, that's excellent.

Well, I've got to get back to
Pittsburgh, and I guess you're

heading that way too, because
you're gonna hook up with

George at Inventionland.
-Yeah, I am.

-Let's get out of here.
-Sounds good.

Hey, Kean, welcome
to Inventionland.

Thanks, I'm happy to be here.

Well, hey, what
a great team you have.

They sent me these pictures,
and I thought, I have a lot of

questions about this,
because I think it's some kind

of kitchen, isn't it?
-Yeah, this is like our kitchen.

It's an innovation-experimental
brewing system that we use to

work on some
of our innovations.

And you can see here, Brian has
some samples out in the front

here where he's testing
different parts of the brewing

process throughout the day to
make sure that we're

hitting our specifications.
-Interesting.

All right, so you have
an R&D kitchen.

How about this one?

Because that vessel in
the middle caught my attention.

I'm just curious,
what's going on here?

Yeah, so Dan-o and Brian are
getting ready to add some

ingredients to some of
our secret recipes that

we unveil at Pumpkin Fest.

So you're not gonna let me know
what's going on in there?

Sorry, you'll have to come to
the festival to find out
what they are.

All right, so then share with
me what you think is gonna

happen to the brewing industry,
let's say in tomorrow's world.

For us to be ready for
tomorrow's world in brewing,

we need to listen to
our consumers and make sure

that we're brewing the right
beers that they wanna drink
in the future.

And we need to invest in
the circular brewing process to

make sure that we hit
our sustainability goals.

Sustainability goals,
I like that.

Well, everybody,
thanks for tuning in.

And that's another edition of
"Tomorrow's World Today."

So Kean, you wanna check out
some more innovation

in Inventionland?
-Yeah, let's do it.

And remember, tomorrow's world
is where inspiration

and creation drive
innovation and production.