# This is Modern Alchemy

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-beer-craft-homebrewing-podcast-7057278/this-is-modern-alchemy
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-beer-craft-homebrewing-podcast-7057278/this-is-modern-alchemy.md
Podcast: [The Beer Craft, Homebrewing Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-beer-craft-homebrewing-podcast-7057278)
Published: 2026-04-30T01:30:00+00:00
Episode link: https://b367848b-fa6d-4674-b5f1-5594c96afd52.libsyn.com/this-is-modern-alchemy
Audio file: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/traffic.libsyn.com/secure/b367848b-fa6d-4674-b5f1-5594c96afd52/TBC_Ep66_s2_e18.mp3?dest-id=4745927
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-beer-craft-homebrewing-podcast-7057278/episodes/this-is-modern-alchemy
Duration seconds: 3201

## Resource

The ancient alchemists never figured out how to turn lead into gold, but they did help crack open the door to modern chemistry, laboratory science, and the very human habit of asking, "What happens if I put this with that?" Which, honestly, sounds a lot like brewing. In this episode of The Beer Craft, Ben and Andrew look at beer through the lens of old alchemy: taking base materials, applying heat, time, transformation, and a little misplaced confidence, then hoping something amazing comes out the other side. We still haven't figured out how to turn lead into gold, but malt, hops, water, and yeast can get us pretty close. Want to go deeper into the actual ingredients behind the magic? BYO's Beer Ingredient Bundle includes workshop replays on yeast, water, malt, and hops from brewing experts. https://byo.com/product/byo-beer-ingredient-boot-camp-bundle-2023-includes-4-online-boot-camps/?ref=84 Affiliate link. Helps the show, costs you nothing. "Twisted" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ "RetroFuture Dirty" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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## Transcript

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