MicroBrewr 056: Applying organic chemistry to brewing, with Golden Road Brewing.

MicroBrewr 056: Applying organic chemistry to brewing

Nadia Vazirzadeh had only a bachelor’s degree in biology, zero knowledge of beer, when she started working on the quality control team at Golden Road Brewing, Los Angeles, California.

“I knew I wanted to do something the rest of my life that I loved,” she says. “I still had people trying to convince that, ‘Don’t you want to be a doctor? What’s beer really doing for anybody?’ I take pride in what I do in the beer industry. I think it’s really important. I really like what I do and this alone is really fulfilling to me.”

As part of her job to make sure that the brewery brings consistently great beer, her daily duties are:

  • Check gravities
  • Get yeast for new batches of beer
  • Use the alcolyzer
  • Conduct grist analysis
  • Check IBUs
  • Put together sensory tasting for staff
Nadia Vazirzadeh, at Golden Road Brewing, convinced the 7 brewers into dressing up like Snow White's 7 Dwarves for Halloween.

Nadia Vazirzadeh, at Golden Road Brewing, convinced the 7 brewers into dressing up like Snow White’s 7 Dwarves for Halloween. Source: Facebook.

Nadia recommends reading about what you’re working with and reading about other breweries. “Everybody does something different,” she says. “Read. That’s really my main recommendation.”

Brewery specs:

Kettle size: 50 BBL.

Size and quantity of fermentation tanks: 16, 300-BBL fermenters, including some conversion tanks.

Size and quantity of bright tanks: 3, 200-BBL.

Annual brewing capacity/last year’s production: About 30,000 BBL in 2014.

Square footage: 32,000 sq. ft.

Years in operation: 3.5 years (founded 2011).

“I knew I wanted to do something the rest of my life that I loved.” [Tweet This]

 

Listener question:

From Pour & Beerded: How did you get yourself to make the leap to go all in or nothing? Especially if you quit a decent job…

Book recommendation:

Check out the entire list of recommended books, click here.

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An upcoming beer style:

Sour beer

Other resources:

You can reach Nadia Vazirzadeh and Golden Road Brewing at:

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2 replies
  1. Noelle Gillies
    Noelle Gillies says:

    I never thought that biology majors could use their skills in brewing, but now it seems obvious. Hope for biology grads out there!

    Reply

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