Francisco Estremera

Design of Experiments is a very powerful tool to explore the relationship between variables and a group of measured responses. For beer Formulation Development, Mixture Experimental Designs can be used to explore the impact of different base malt on the flavor, appearance, aroma and mouth feel of the final beer.  In this presentation, we will explore a DoE with four different base malts resulting in nine different beers using predetermined proportions of base malts, leaving the variables of yeast, hops, mashing temperature, and batch size as constants. The results were analyzed using Minitab 17.  The results were used to formulate two commercial beers available on tap at Muskellunge Brewing Company.

Biography:

Francisco Estremera holds a Master’s Degree in Industrial Pharmacy from the University of Puerto Rico.  Frank started his career in the Pharmaceutical Industry as a Packaging Line Operator in the early 1990s.  After finishing his Master’s Degree, he became an R&D Product Development Scientist at Mova/Alara Pharmaceuticals in Puerto Rico.  He spent 7 years in this field, reverse engineering pharmaceutical branded products to deliver generics. He then spent 8 years in Pharmaceutical Commercial Manufacturing such as Ivax Pharmaceuticals, Barr Labs (Teva Pharmaceuticals), and Patheon Pharmaceuticals in Cincinnati.

In 2009, Frank began Homebrewing and immediately realized the common denominator between pharmaceutical and beer formulation development. After many years of self-study, he began to apply Design of Experiments to beer recipe development. In 2014, Frank started the journey to become a commercial brewer, establishing Muskellunge Brewing Company in June of 2018 with over 20 unique recipes.  The award-winning brewery earned a gold medal for the Sturgeon Russian Imperial Stout and a bronze medal for Judy’s Bock, traditional Bock beer, in the 2020 US Open Beer Championship.