Mikkeller Names New Head Brewer at Warpigs Denmark

Exciting news from Mikkeller:

A few months ago Kyle left his position as Head Brewer at Warpigs to seek new adventures in the beer world leaving the position as Head Brewer open for a new super star. There are many crazy good brewers in the beer world at the moment but in our minds there were only one obvious choice.. Lan-Xin!

Lan-Xin has been brewing alongside Kyle for many years and with here unbelievable talent and creative mindset it was only natural that she would take the next step. We sat down with Lan-Xin to hear a little bit more about the future at Warpigs.

BEING THE NEW HEAD BREWER AT WARPIGS, WHAT IS AT THE TOP OF YOUR PRIORITY LIST?

You know, we’ve spent the last two years trying to build the best brewpub in Europe (and hopefully someday, the world). That will always be the highest priority for me; continuing to brew quality beers, tweaking recipes and experimenting all the time.

2. MOVING FORWARD, IN WHICH DIRECTION DO YOU WANNA TAKE WARPIGS BEER-WISE AND IS THERE ANYTHING YOU WANNA DO DIFFERENTLY FROM WHAT YOU’VE BEEN DOING SO FAR?

A lot of what I like to do is to refine things. So if we make a half decent hoppy beer today, how do we make the next batch better. The way we barrel age beers, is there something that we haven’t done before that we can try. That sort of thing. We already brew a lot of experimental beers with lots of interesting ingredients. I’d like to continue doing more of that in a more structured, science-y way. Wait, did I lose a little credibility because I used the word ‘science-y’?

WE HAVE ALREADY SEEN A LOT OF COOL COLLABORATIONS BEING MADE BETWEEN WARPIGS AND OTHER BREWERIES. IN RELATION TO THAT, ARE THEIR ANY BREWERIES IN PARTICULAR THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO WORK WITH SOME DAY?

It’s true! We’ve had an amazing number of collaborations. All with some of the nicest, most well respected people in the industry. We’ve exchanged a lot of good ideas, learned a lot and even forged some friendships along the way. Having said that, in addition to more collaborations with other brewers, I think I would also like to work with someone not in the brewing industry at all. Early on when Warpigs first opened, we did a series of beers that we brewed with chefs. Chefs have a completely different focus than brewers but it’s still related to pleasing the senses. I thought it was an amazing time because suddenly, your area of focus had expanded.

ANY CHANCE WE WILL BE SEEING THAT FAMOUS RASPBERRY & CREAM OF YOURS AGAIN SOME DAY?

Interestingly enough, it’s on tap at Warpigs right now. I brewed another batch of it and I think this one actually comes pretty close to that first home-brew batch I made some years ago.

DO YOU HAVE ANY SPECIAL BREWS COMING UP IN THE FUTURE?

We’re always working on something new and crazy. There is one project I’ve been meaning to work on that involves barrel aging. Stay tuned!