Brewer Magazine Q&A: Lauren Appleman, Cape May

This is a part of a continuing series of Q&As with brewers from across the U.S.
Brewer Magazine will share business and personal insights from Brewmasters, Head Brewers, Brewing Managers and others each weekend to help you, a fellow brewer, Brewmaster or brewing manager get to know each other better in the industry and learn more to better develop your own brand.

Lauren Appleman, Lab Manager, Cape May Brewing — Cape May, New Jersey

BREWER: What is a lesson learned within your position that sticks with you to this day?
APPLEMAN: As I’m still relatively new to the industry, I learn lessons almost daily, but I would also say that if you aren’t learning you aren’t growing. The biggest thing though is probably not anything that will even help you make better beer: you have to learn to roll with the punches. I can leave one day thinking that I have everything planned for the next day and then show up and learn that everything has changed.

BREWER: What have you added to your brewery lately that’s unique or making your business more successful?

APPLEMAN: We recently added an Orbisphere 3100 dissolved oxygen reader. This allows us to get quicker, more accurate results when testing the levels of dissolved oxygen in our packaged beer. Lower levels in the package help our beer to stay fresher longer. We have also been using Invisible Sentinel for a few years now. It’s a great tool for breweries of all sizes to ensure that your product is free of beer spoilage organisms. The great part about this technology is that it is easy to use — anybody can run it after some quick training — and a full-fledged lab is not required.

Read more Q&As from Cape May with Jimmy Valm and Brian Hink. If you would like your brewery to be a part of the weekly Brewer Magazine Q&A, contact Brewer Magazine Editor, Jon Sicotte, at [email protected].