Reading a beer magazine at a brewery while drinking beer (@ Live Oak in Austin)
About Nathan
Nathan Rice is a professional craft brewer in Washington, D.C. For almost two years, he has been the lead brewer at 3 Stars Brewing Company, handling hot-side wort production, inventory management, team leadership, and recipe design. While serving in this capacity, production output at the brewery almost doubled and the sales territory expanded into Maryland and Virginia based on interest and excitement over the kinds of beers 3 Stars is creating. Yeast harvest and propagation techniques set up by Nathan have resulted in saving the company thousands of dollars.
Nathan also instituted and curated the sour and barrel-aging program at 3 Stars, resulting in overwhelming positive public and critical review.
After moving to central Texas, Nathan began work as the Head Brewer at New Braunfels Brewing Company, a small brewery that focuses 100% on wild fermented and sour ale production. There he helped streamline the brewing process and increase efficiency while also dramatically improving the quality and consistency of the packaged beer.
Currently, Nathan is the Head Brewer at Maverick Whiskey in San Antonio, Texas where he channels his love for traditional well-made beer into creative takes on well known styles.
Prior to becoming a full-time brewer, Nathan was a professional beekeeper for the US Department of Agriculture. His work focused on finding the cause of colony collapse disorder and pollination impact in the US. Nathan's bee work has been published in numerous articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals.
Nathan's strong science background helped him institute and set up a quality control lab at 3 Stars to help screen for possible beer infections and also develop techniques to capture wild yeast for the sour program.
Nathan believes that attention to detail and focus on production methods helps lay a strong foundation for world-class recipe design and beer experimentation.
Doin' the Brewin'
In the below video, filmmaker and designer Emily Ragle interviews Nathan early in his homebrew career and they discuss techniques and his passion for the craft.