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Good Beer Hunting — Arts
Good Beer Hunting

Award-winning interviews with a wide spectrum of people working in, and around, the beer industry. We balance the culture of craft beer with the businesses it supports, and examine the tenacity of its ideals.

Copyright: © Good Beer Hunting LLC

Latest Episodes:

Announcing The Gist by Sightlines Sep 18, 2024

We're coming to you today to bring you up to speed on some things we’ve doing since our hiatus.

One of the ways we’ve refocused our efforts is on our Sightlines.news brand. If you’re not already aware - Sightlines.news is our industry leading insights platform for the beverage alcohol and functional beverage industry. It’s a subscription-only newsletter and consultancy run by myself, and two voices I know you’re familiar with - Bryan Roth and Kate Bernot.

You can subscribe to Sightlines at Sightlines.news, or now you can follow our weekly brief in audio form by subscribing to The Gist by Sightlines, our new podcast weekly summary, available wherever you listen to podcasts. It has its own dedicated feed - it won’t be published here. So you should probably pause and go search for that and subscribe now before you forget. It’s called The Gist, by Sightlines. Here's the link to Spotify and Apple Podcasts

We’ve been building Sightlines in the background for a couple years now, getting our product-market-fit tuned in just right. What I mean by that is - we’ve know there’s a desperate need for new perspective on the business side of alcohol and functional beverage - everything from the future of IPA to energy drinks to hydration to cannabis - it’s a wild wild world out there and not everyone is a billion dollar company with an insights and marketing department who can discern what’s happening and why.

Well, that’s where the ingenious data analysis and insights development if Sightlines comes in - making sense of a seemingly senseless world of beverage that’s usually inundated with anecdote and narrative that doesn’t really hold up under scrutiny - and costing small companies a fortune, not to mention the opportunity costs of missing the mark time and time again.

But how do companies sift thought all the data to make decisions about what’s next? Well, at Sightlines, we’ve found a way to level-set with our audience to provide the most critical information - often counter to the prevailing narratives - about what’s driving certain trends, categories, and value chain decisions. Some things are inherently consumer-driven, as they always have been. The pursuit of flavor, function, and feeling in peoples lives through beverage is timeliness even as it’s constantly changing. But in regulated industries, consumers don’t always get what they want - and producers have to navigate a world of legal grey areas, retailer priorities, and wholesaler consolidation that both stifles competition and creates unexpected white space.

Sightlines is exceptionally good at helping companies navigate all that, with what we call actionable insights. It’s not research for research sake - it’s insights that help you make decisions about what’s next for you and your most important audiences.

So, first of all, you should subscribe - there’s a monthly and yearly subscription package that gets you multiple reports a week in your inbox. And if you’re wondering if it’s for you - let me tell you, everyone from Boston Beer to Beat Box, to Martinelli’s Apple Juice, to Reyes rely on Sightlines to stay ahead of the competition. But small producers like Highland Brewing in Asehville, Allagash Brewing in Portland Maine, and 503 distilling in Portland Oregon rely on Sightlines to accelerate their growth. Wineries, distilleries, THC companies, and RTD and FMB producers all look to Sightlines for the uniquely cross-category insights we can deliver.

Some have even brought us into their innovation process to partner on their portfolio optimization and pipeline development.

And this week, for those of you who voraciously consumer podcasts as part of your knowledge gathering process, we’ve launch The Gist by Sightlines, a new podcast series you can find wherever you listen to podcasts (Here's the link to Spotify and Apple Podcasts) where Kate and Bryan and myself break down our recent reporting to give you a sense of what we’re working on and why.

If you want to get the insights, you’ll need to subscribe to the newsletter on Sightlines, but if you need another way to keep up, this podcast called The Gist by Sightlines will be a great weekly listen and keep you up to speed. Here's the link to Spotify and Apple Podcasts

Finding The Joy Of Craft Beer Jul 20, 2024

Despite alarming headlines and loud proclamations that “craft beer is dead,” that’s only part of the story—and not a particularly accurate one, at that.

Industry insiders can get bogged down in the depressing details (even we’ve been guilty of it at one time or another). But reporters Kate Bernot and Beth Demmon decided to see how and where the heart of craft beer still beat, and went to the 2024 Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival in Paso Robles to find out.

It turns out, the craft beer industry can’t just be measured by Circana numbers or market share. Websites and social media don’t paint a full picture, and after talking to a bunch of festival attendees, they realized there’s a whole lot of love and life still left to consumers passionate about the beverage, the people, and the community. Craft beer loves to talk about how it brings people together, and based on their observations, it still can.

In this episode, you’ll hear from both Beth and Kate, as well as a number of attendees interviewed at the festival, on why they decided to spend their time and hard-earned money on an afternoon under the California sun. The beer itself plays a part of it, sure. But there’s so much more that keeps people coming back. This is finding joy in beer.

The Hunt For Craft Beer's Cool Jul 18, 2024

Beer is having a hard time these days. Category-wide, sales are down and interest just isn’t the same it used to be. But what if the enthusiasm that got us to this point—excitement that helped lead to almost 10,000 small and independent breweries scattered across the country—is still just as palpable now as it was one, two, or 10 years ago? It’s just a matter of looking.

In this special episode of the Good Beer Hunting podcast, beer enthusiasts from around the country explain why for them craft beer still means friendships, new experiences, and most of all, something cool at a time when there’s a feeling that it might be anything but.

EP-421 Kevin and Britt Templin of Templin Family Brewing Jul 16, 2024

Brewing is famously a science and an art. There are loads of technical aspects a skilled brewer should nail down to create something special, but there’s also a point where you just have to give up some autonomy. Or, at least accept it’s OK to play a little for some R&D. One of the most important things people in American craft beer have learned in recent years is how this also applies to their customers. A diverse menu that may expand beyond just beer is becoming table stakes and creativity in what kind of styles and flavor experiences you offer—in or outside of beer—can matter more than ever. You can control your taplist, but you also have to be flexible to what you hear and learn from people sitting at your bar.

In this episode, we explore this idea and what it means to grow a business and expectations with Kevin and Britt Templin of Salt Lake City, Utah’s Templin Family Brewing, also known simply as TF Brewing. Since opening in 2018, TF Brewing has become known for its lager program, including its award-winning flagship, Granary kellerbier. The brewery has also earned recognition at the World Beer Cup, where in 2024 it won gold medals for its coconut-guava berliner weisse and Squirrel Juicy IPA. There are other medals from the Great American Beer Festival and WBC, but that hasn’t stopped Britt, Kevin, and their team from expanding their menu and listening to what customers are telling them they’re interested in drinking. The science of their beers has been stellar and the art of refining what that means for drinkers continues to evolve.

You’ll hear us talk about what it takes to feel OK about making these changes—which for TF Brewing has included a new wine program and successful cocktail menu—along with what it means to be a growing brewery in 2024. The value the Templins place on their staff and how those people help the brewery succeed is high. By the time this conversation wraps, you’ll have an understanding of how “family” isn’t just in the name of the business, but how they want to make people feel. Even in that, there’s a science to running a brewery that’s a business, but an art to creating a space that promotes imagination, community, and closeness.

EP-420 Eeva and Trace Redmond of Elder Piper Beer + Cider Jul 13, 2024

It’s a classic question asked first in a novel, then in music, and often as a half-joke pop culture reference: Can you go home again? People change over time, but of course, places do, too. What we’ve previously experienced in our hometowns and where we grew up can feel distant for a very good reason. Time and experience changes us all, whether we like it or not. But in this episode, we’re going to explore what it means to lean into this question and ask instead, “what does it feel like to be home, again?”

Working through this with me is Trace and Eeva Redmond, a couple who in recent years took years of experience working in beer and returned to Eeva’s home town of Petoskey, Michigan where they’ve opened Elder Piper, a brewery and cidery located along the shores of Little Traverse Bay on the upper portion of the state’s mitten shape. As brewer, Trace brings brewing experience that includes stops at Michigan’s Founders and Roak Brewing, as well as North Carolina’s Highland Brewing. Eeva has worked in a collection of hospitality and communication roles in beer as well, including positions at Roak Brewing, Sierra Nevada, and Highland.

Why open a brewery now, at a time when we hear about so many closing? That’s where we start our conversation, but it leads us to many other ideas and reflections about what it means to start a business in a city of 6,000, especially when it’s the place where you grew up. As you’ll hear, community connection has been pivotal to Eeva and Trace, and their story offers something of a roadmap of what it takes to launch a new, neighborhood-focused brewery in today’s market.

EP-419 Matt Kwasniewski of Big Timber Brewing Jul 11, 2024

West Virginians take a lot of pride in their state. As well they should—it’s one of the most stunningly gorgeous destinations in the United States, albeit one that can be hard to get to, thanks to the same mountainous spectacle that draws people there in the first place.

Matt Kwasniewski is a West Virginia native, as well as the owner and head brewer of Big Timber Brewing in Elkins, West Virginia. It’s the largest craft brewery in the state, with an annual output of around 6,000 barrels last year, positioning them solidly in the “microbrewery” category. He says that West Virginia’s rural location, small population, and generally blue collar workforce makes it an unlikely place for craft beer to thrive. But the state is much more than how it’s defined by outsiders. Kwasniewski has seen the craft beer industry grow from 10 to around 32 breweries in the past 10 years, and for residents, that’s a lot.

In this episode, Kwasniewski walks us through the state of West Virginia, both as a local and as a brewer, and what he wishes more people knew about the relatively undiscovered Mountain State. For instance, they have some of the purest water anywhere in the country—ideal for brewing Big Timber beers like lagers, IPAs, and their award-winning porter that took gold at the 2024 World Beer Cup. He’s not interested in expanding much further than his home state, and why should he? He wants to be the beer of West Virginia, and you can hear him explain why and how he plans to do that.

On Becoming Hawk Jul 09, 2024

# On Becoming Hawk

Hi there - this is Michael Kiser, founder and publisher of Good Beer Hunting. I’m coming to you today with a difficult message—but a simple one.

Good Beer Hunting—after nearly 15 years, and at least 10 of that that I would consider serious years—is going on a platform-wide sabbatical. It’ll be indefinite. It might be permanent.

We have some ideas for what the future of Good Beer Hunting might look like—and soon I’ll be working on that vision with the counsel of my colleagues to see where it takes us. But the earliest vision is so drastically different than what GBH currently is, that the only way to get to the other side is to make a clean break. We’ve got to clear out the cache. We’ve got to quiet everything down for a bit and see what it all sounds like on the other side of that silence.

We’re shutting down our various content streams—the podcast, the website, social—ending a sort of always-on feed of content that’s been, for many of us writers, editors, and artists, our life’s work. And for most of us, our best work.

This thing that started as my personal blog would go on to be published in the annual Best American Food Writing, and win multiple Saveur blog awards before I had the courage to start publishing other voices beyond my own. It began as a way to pursue my curiosity for beer, combining the beauty I saw in it with the strategic implications of a new wave of culture and industry the world over. Good Beer Hunting came from a simple idea and simpler execution of a blog and grew into an international publication covering unique stories from countries all over.

With every major shift, from one editor in chief to another, it would morph into something that felt beyond any reasonable ambition. Eventually winning awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, Imbibe Magazine, more than 100 awards from the North American Guild of Beer Writers, and most recently nominated for 6 James Beard Awards and winning 3 of them. If I consider what it would mean for us to achieve something beyond all that, I’d have to believe in a truly insane fantasy.

In the many years of running a beer publication that took us to the top echelon of all publications —literally taking podiums next to the New York Times, Washington Post, and The New Yorker—we’ve had to build and sustain an organization that simply doesn’t have a roadmap for survival in 2024’s media landscape. And to be clear, it never did.

From day one, I vowed to not try and make GBH profitable, because the media world already showed that to achieve profitability was to welcome a certain kind of death—and often a shameful one. Chasing advertisers and clicks with listicles and promotions—and as a result, never creating anything of real value to anyone but the advertisers. It was a fool's errand, and one we didn’t follow. By not hunting down ad revenue and declining offers over the years, Good Beer Hunting was able to remain a personal project in a way, even as our ambitions continually grew and results showed what an impact our stories and contributors made on the world of beer and beyond.

Instead of trying to manage our costs with advertising, we’ve been able to form longstanding partnerships with companies like Guinness, which has helped mitigate at least some of financial losses we took on every year. We also launched an experimental subscriber community called the Fervent Few, which took a meaningful chunk out of the debt and paid its dividends by connecting readers and fans from all over the world during the loneliest parts of the pandemic. But in reality, even these things combined didn’t cover the gaps as we continued growing.

The challenge of expanding GBH during its rapid growth phase came from my own pocket, which kept our editorial team independent and in control. But it also guided us to this moment. Paying for writers, designers, and editors was a budget pulled from my own strategic consultancy called Feel Goods Company, which was no small thing. Each year, the costs sometimes crested over $100,000 that weren’t covered by underwriting partners like Guinness or subscribers from the Fervent Few. And in the last couple years, costs went far beyond that. For years, I put other important things in my family’s life on hold to continue supporting GBH’s growth and ambitions.

As a father of three kids—and sometimes the only one working—that decision wasn’t made lightly. I exhausted myself making the consulting business uncommonly successful in order to keep both things afloat and growing. And as costly as that was in a financial sense, I’ve never regretted the decision to do it—and I never took a dime. In fact, there was one year when we more or less broke even, and with the small amount left over we gave the editorial team, including our freelancers, a surprise end-of-year bonus. More like a tip really.

Good Beer Hunting is the longest I’ve ever done anything, and it’s also the best thing I’ve ever done. And it existed entirely because I wanted it to.

But outside of anything I wanted it to become—my own pride and ambitions for GBH don’t really compare to the awe I feel when I look at what people like Austin Ray, Claire Bullen, and Bryan Roth helped it become. Our three successive Editors in Chief over those 10 years—each of whom shaped a new generation of Good Beer Hunting into an image that only they could have. Each of whom provided the shoulders for the next to stand on. And the countless writers and artists who were drawn to their leadership and the level of execution in our collective work—who gave us some of their own best work.

I’m thinking of Kyle Kastranec from Ohio, the first writer other than myself, who wrote a feature for GBH, setting a high bar. I’m thinking of Charleston’s own Jamaal Lemon who won a James Beard award for GBH alongside other winners and nominees like Stephanie Grant, Teresa McCullough, Chelsea Carrick, and Mark Dredge.

I’m thinking of people like Matthew Curtis, our first editor in the UK who turned the lights on in an entirely new country for us, and Evan Rail who kept turning on lights in dozens of countries since as our first International editor. Emma Jansen, and Ren Laforme who joined our editors team in the last iteration, rounding out some of the most ambitions and wide sweeping storytelling we’ve ever produced. Kate Bernot, who leveled up our news reporting to create an unmatched source of access to explain to readers why things matter in beer and beverage alcohol, which is now a growing stand-alone business unit in Sightlines.

What felt like a fluke at first, has become something I can confidently own. We produced industry-changing, internationally-recognized, and James Beard Award winning material…consistently.

I’m also often reminded of the smaller things we’ve done—like the blogs and short stories we wrote—about the politics and personal traumas of the way we eat, drink, and relate to each other in our families, in our communities, and against the injustices so many people face in an industry that’s ancient and profoundly immature at the same time. It’s an unlikely place for a beer publication to have a voice —but GBH has always built its scope around the perspectives of the individual souls who occupy space within it rather than narrowing down a profitable and popular slice of the beer conversation and reduced them to it.

Mark Spence unpacked his Midwestern anxieties around family and food, Lily Waite and Holly Regan opened a door to discuss non-binary and transgender issues, Jerard Fagerberg and Mark LaFaro took big risks to focus us all on the dangers and costs of alcoholism, David Jesudason and many others captured our attention with stories of harassment, racism, labor abuse, and more that so many readers told us were critical and prescient and more importantly, helped. These stories helped people.

Over the years, we’ve had readers cry as they recounted what a story meant to them. We’ve had others scream and curse at us for the same. Some even went on the record as sources to ensure our reporting had the substance it needed to make an impact. Careers were started and ended because of the stories we wrote. Those stories had the same effect on ourselves. We’ve had writers put something heartbreaking or inspiring into the world only to have it wake something up in them and want to do more—take even bigger swings —and find a voice within them that carried them far beyond Good Beer Hunting.

And ultimately, that’s where my heart is today.

This week, I was struggling to find the words to describe what I was going to do with Good Beer Hunting—what comes next. I knew what the move was, and why, and I knew it was time—but I didn’t have the poetry for it—so I couldn’t quite feel it yet.   On a long drive to rural Michigan to pick up my son from summer camp, I was listening to an episode of my favorite podcast, On Being. And I heard Azita Ardakani and Janine Benyus, two biomimicry specialists who have a way of describing the natural world with a stunning relevance. They said:

“Life is just so full of vitality and so much ON and being alive and then it’s not.”

“…What is the difference between something that’s alive and something that’s not? It seems that with the holding on to life —there’s also a feeling of once it’s gone, the letting go—like a body breaking down—but it doesn’t really. I mean, not for long. What happens is a tree falls and eventually becomes a log. Eventually grows a fungus and you think of it as breaking down—it is no longer a tree. But then a mouse comes along and it's the end of the fungus. And that material—thats’ where the reincarnation comes in —that fungus becomes mouse.

“And then a hawk comes along and the material—that material of that mouse becomes hawk. There’s this circulation—called metabolism. It’s catabolism—then it gets anabolized up into a new form. The grief is brief because transformation happens almost right away—it gets transformed.”

Now, GBH isn’t dying and it’s not wasting away. The truth is it’s still sort of thriving in its own manner of being. It’s a tree taller than I ever imagined. But success can kill an organization—I’ve seen it a hundred times in the companies I’ve worked for, companies I’ve consulted on—big and small. It’s all proportionate. How far away from the roots does that beautiful canopy get before it surprises itself with its own extended weight? How much life force does it expend trying to prop itself up at the expense of something new?   There’s never an objectively right time—but there is a good time. A time not informed by reactionary fear and loathing - but by guts, love, and ambition for something new.   So I’ve decided it’s time to take the tree down.  If I look back over the past few years I can see that Good Beer Hunting will be that fallen tree for many. It’ll be a source of nutrients for many a mouse that becomes hawk.

But the truth is, GBH has been the start of a kind of upward anabolism for some time now. Jamaal Lemon recently took a dream editors job at the Institute of Justice. Stephanie Grant has launched her own community project called The Share. Before that, Matthew Curtis started Pellicle Mag in the U.K. Lily Waite opened a brewery. So many GBH writers have gone on to write books, start podcasts, and create platforms of their own, it’s astounding. And what I’m describing right now isn’t something that started with GBH—indeed, GBH has been a recipient their upward anabolism from the lives they’ve lived—each bringing their own energy and nutrients here and nourished us with lifetimes full of curiosity, learning, and love for their craft.

The risks in starting something like Good Beer Hunting are myriad. Financial risk is everywhere—but I’ve happily and defiantly borne the brunt of it for many years. There’s personal risk—in media, everything you put out into the world has a way of coming back to you in unexpected, and often dangerous ways. And it does. There’s opportunity risk—if this thing fails, and if it takes a long time to fail, what opportunities might you have missed out on in the meantime? But to me, the biggest risk of all is it just not mattering. Not being relevant. Missing the mark. Today, I feel satisfied that Good Beer Hunting matters.

I have so many people to thank—and so many feelings to share that are best relayed one-on-one. It’ll take me many months and years to pass along those sentiments to individuals who took that risk with me and succeeded.

I’m not going to the final word on all this.

My experience of GBH is singular—being the sole source of continuity over those 15 years. But so much of what’s defined GBH have been the perspectives and voices of those who’ve invested their talents in it over the years. So before our final sign-off this summer, you’ll hear reflections from leaders, contributors, partners and friends of Good Beer Hunting as well. This is part of the grieving and metabolizing process.

There are a few more episodes of the podcast to share still, and a few remaining stories we’ve been working on that you’ll see this month and maybe into August. If you want to stay up to date on future plans, sign up for the newsletter.  This episode—along with all podcast episodes over these many years—was edited by Jordan Stalling. And it was scored by my friend, soulmate, and composer, Andrew Thioboldeax, who himself has been along for the ride for over a decade.  Aim true, pour liberal folks—have a great rest of the year.

EP-418 Luke Bauer of Snake River Brewing Company Jul 09, 2024

The definition of “local” can be quite different when the nearest urban regions are hundreds of miles away. That’s certainly the case in Jackson, Wyoming, where (quote-unquote) neighboring cities like Boise, Idaho; Denver, Colorado; and Bozeman, Montana all require a few hours in the car, if not on a plane, to get there.

But it’s precisely that sense of remote grandeur that attracts millions of visitors to the Jackson Hole region every year. Where do they go when they want a good, local, craft brew? To Snake River Brewing Company, of course, which is the oldest operating brewery in the state and celebrates 30 years in business in 2024. In this episode, Snake River’s director of sales and marketing, Luke Bauer, describes what brought him to Wyoming nearly 20 years ago, and what kept him coming back after working in Texas, Alaska, and Colorado. In addition to his role at Snake River, he’s also on the board of the Wyoming Craft Brewers Guild, and shares a first-hand account of how the state’s craft beer industry has grown, changed, and evolved, especially post-pandemic.

By his account, Wyoming is a unique place, but also one that’s full of surprises. He believes there’s a lot more experimentation than outsiders might initially expect from the local beer scene, and explains the big differences in style from one side of the state to the other. (Hint: one side sticks more to traditional or maltier beers, while the other embraces trendier styles like IPAs.) Snake River Brewing has managed to rack up awards at the World Beer Cup, including their most recent Bronze medal for Zonker Stout, as well as at the Great American Beer Festival, and many more over its 30-year tenure. It goes back to their mission statement: “The world doesn’t need another beer, but a better beer.” Let’s hear about the beer and beyond.

EP-417 Jon Renthrope of Cajun Fire Jul 06, 2024

We’re squarely in the midst of political season—presidential debates have begun, campaigning has kicked into high gear, and November elections are closer than we think. Amongst it all, there’s an adage this episode’s guest once shared that likely sounds true, whether your a deep-in-the-weeds politico or fair-weather voter: If you want to make the biggest impact in politics, you go into business.

Well over a decade ago, Jon Renthrope did just that, opening up Cajun Fire Brewing in his hometown of New Orleans. Enticed by what he found in the world of homebrewing, Jon took a degree in politics from the University of Florida and spun it into a career in beer, which led to the launch of his brewery 12 years ago. And it’s through his company he’s working to marry the ideas of community impact with work through local organizations like The 100 Black Men of Metro New Orleans, as a cultural ambassador, and by working with the National Black Brewers Association.

In this conversation, you’ll hear Jon talk about what it means to start Cajun Fire in the place he grew up and deepen already strong roots. He’ll share how he’s been influenced by family—notably his grandmother—and how that history lingers today. We also discuss his brewery’s lineup of beer and why you won’t find an IPA leading the way among Cajun Fire customers. Jon didn’t go into politics, exactly, but he is using his business in all kinds of ways to connect and impact people around him.

EP-416 Kristen Sumpter of Red's Beer Garden Jul 03, 2024

It's easy to find examples of what success in entrepreneurship looks like. There are dozens of TV shows, thousands of books, and millions of blog posts that are meant to share tips, secrets, and let us into the minds of people who've made it in all kinds of business. But the fact of the matter is that the only ones who can truly understand what it's like—the many failures that typically come with a breakout win—are the people who've taken a leap of faith without any idea of how their attempt to launch a product or start a business will turn out. You're as likely to be built up as broken down on this journey.

In this episode, we spend a lot of time talking about entrepreneurship with my friend, Kristen Sumpter, who co-founded bar and bottleshop Red’s Beer Garden with her husband, Ed. We’ve gotten to know each other through a group she co-founded with past podcast guest Sara Kazmer, which includes several women entrepreneurs who live in the Atlanta area. For almost two years, I've listened as Kristen has shared the waves of triumphs and tribulations of building a beloved local hangout.

In our conversation, we explore Kristen's journey from that initial spark of inspiration to the day-to-day realities of running a successful business. You’ll hear her talk about the importance of community, embracing vulnerability, and prioritizing self-care amidst the entrepreneurial hustle. Kristen also shares how she’s able to show up as her authentic self on Instagram and how long she’s been obsessed with hot dogs, a staple of the food menu at Red’s.

EP-415 Whitney Petty of Thunderpussy with Caitlin Braam of Yonder Cider Jun 29, 2024

Thunderpussy is a band that elicits an immediate, visceral reaction. Even their NSFW name is unapologetic, brash, and controversial, and that’s exactly how they like it. The Seattle-based rock band launched in 2014 with founding members Whitney Petty on guitar and Molly Sides on vocals, and today, their all-women lineup also includes bassist Leah Julius and drummers Lindsey Elias and Michelle Nuno. We have Whitney with us on the podcast to talk about the band’s origins and journey over the past 10 years, which culminated with a collaborative release with Yonder Cider.

Caitlin Braam is the founder and CEO of Yonder Cider and The Source, Yonder’s sister company that provides custom pressing, juicing, and fermenting solutions for cideries around the United States. She joins Whitney to talk about Yonder’s first collaboration with a band—what they expected, what surprised them, and how the whole thing shook out. Thunderpussy happens to be the favorite band of Yonder’s head cider maker, Monique Tribble, and the release was an opportunity for everyone to fangirl out on one another with delicious results.

You’ll hear about how both women-led groups have strategically avoided dealing with male energy in their often overpoweringly masculine fields of music and alcohol, and how even acknowledging that aspect has changed over the years. Whitney shares her excitement to dive deeper into the world of cider, and echoes the same joy that I think a lot of new cider drinkers are surprised to find once they give it a chance. I wouldn’t listen to this conversation with kids in the room, so grab some headphones, and maybe a cider, and listen in.

TG-017 The One With Celebs Jun 27, 2024

What a long, strange trip it’s been for the Miramar brewing facility that once housed Ballast Point and, after changing hands more than a few times, is now the centerpiece of West Coast brewing operations for Athletic Brewing Company. In this episode of the Gist, lead Sightlines news reporter Kate Bernot joins me, Beth Demmon, to talk about the United States’ 10th largest craft brewery’s plans both here and abroad, as well as inflation’s lingering hold on on-premise brewery sales and the business side of celebrity alcohol investments.

EP-413 Kemet Coleman, Elliott Ivory, and Woodie Bonds Jr. of Vine Street Brewing Jun 15, 2024

There’s something special about when talent, vision, and respect are all wrapped up in a relationship. These attributes can provide people deeper meaning and drive which make dreams more attainable. Accomplishing a goal can be daunting on your own, but when you have partners who push you to be better—and complement each other in meaningful ways—that’s when whole new opportunities can come to life.

These ideas are at the core of this conversation with three co-founders of Kansas City’s Vine Street Brewing. The business earned national attention last year as Missouri’s first-ever black-owned brewery and from day one has backed it up with beloved beer and offering a space that quickly became a new and exciting part of the city’s downtown life. Located in the historic Jazz District of Kansas City, you’ll find all kinds of community connections stemming from the brewery, from beer collaborations, to music and film events, and more.

Joining me to talk about what this means are Kemet Coleman, Elliott Ivory, and Woodie Bonds Jr. Each has taken different paths to this moment, but their shared connection—whether it be brewing backgrounds with Woodie and Elliott or Kemet’s ability to bring people together—has allowed Vine Street to not just grow in its first year, but become a celebrated part of the Kansas City beer scene. What you’ll hear from them offers a lot of tangible examples of what it looks like when talent, vision, and respect turn into something you can see, feel, and taste. And as the trio prepares for their second year in business, these things also offer them plenty to reflect on and use as motivation for Vine Street’s future.

TG-016 The Gist—The One With The Rumors Jun 13, 2024

Listeners of The Gist know we’re all about the stats. But today, we’re dishing out numbers with narrative, from Anchor Brewing's out-of-nowhere yogurt angel to speculation about a potential Boston Beer Company sale and wine’s latest numbers and what they really mean. I’m Beth Demmon with Kate Bernot, and this is The Gist.

EP-412 Nicole Oesch of Kismetic Beer Company Jun 08, 2024

So much has changed in craft beer since I became a fan more than a decade ago. One of the most intriguing things I’ve noticed as someone who loves being in taprooms is how many new breweries are moving away from the industrial look that was once ubiquitous in craft beer. For me, the shift represents a second wave, a move towards standing out instead of running with the pack.

In this episode, we talk to Nicole Oesch, co-owner of Kismetic Beer Company, a brewery that looks more like a swanky cocktail bar than a taproom, to learn what made her want to differentiate her brewery from everyone else. Where did she get the idea for building a space with jewel-tone shades of purple and turquoise, leather wrapped booths, and geometric artwork decking the walls? You’ll hear Nicole talk about how she focuses on comfort and beauty and how it makes it unique in a crowded market, offering customers something that other breweries in the area might not. She shares the importance of going beyond making great beer and how she used her own personal preferences to build an authentic brand that connects with local beer drinkers and engages with people outside of beer’s usual scope. Nicole also talks about how one of those personal preferences—drinking low ABV beers—led Kismetic to brew with tea, which helps them reduce sugar, and as a result alcohol, without impacting the final taste of their product.

EP-411 Jay & Ciara Jones of Woven Water Brewing Company Jun 01, 2024

“The thicker, the better” sounds like something I would say about my thighs, but not necessarily about beer. But that’s exactly how Woven Water Brewing Company describes their infamous “fusion” concoctions, which are smoothie-style sours with flavors like peanut butter and jelly, banana split, and peach orange pop ice cream. That’s not all they brew, but this type of eye-catching beverage is what has put the Tampa brewery on the map and what owners Jay and Ciara Jones say keep them in business.

In this episode, I chat with both owners, who launched the brewery with Nicole and Eric Childs in August 2020, and have since assumed complete ownership. You’ll hear them describe their “adapt or die” mentality, and why despite Jay’s initial reluctance to brew what some might call “hype” beers or hard seltzers, they quickly realized it’s what people want to drink, so why not give it to them? It’s a refreshingly pragmatic approach to business, and they’re having fun with it, even hosting a tap takeover of the gloopiest, gloppiest beers from around the country in a celebration they call Gloop City, which is now in its third year.

But all silliness aside, this conversation is a look at a brewery that was poised to launch at the start of the pandemic, and what they had to do and change in order to open in what they believe is the best craft beer scene in the country. They share what worked, what didn’t, what they would do differently if they had to do it all over again, and what they hope to accomplish in the future. Jay and Ciara say they’re investing in a few key areas: their people, their community, and in their ability to grow and change. That sounds like a solid plan to me. So, let’s hear about it, right now.

TG-015 The One With Hot Singles May 30, 2024

It’s almost summertime, and the living’s easy, especially if you’re a beer brand heading into the biggest sales season of the year. In this episode of The Gist, Sightlines reporter Kate Bernot shares her insights into a few ways taprooms and breweries are attracting people back on-premise, plus a sneak peek at some upcoming Sightlines reporting about events, sales, packaging, and much more. We also discuss Bud Light’s boycott comeback and what the numbers show, plus Gallo’s expansion from wine to beer and RTDs in a quest for total beverage presence. I’m Beth Demmon, and you’re listening to The Gist.

EP-410 Rachel Li, Charles Denby, and Nick Harris of Berkeley Yeast May 25, 2024

If you're a beer fan, it's likely you know about the core ingredients in every recipe: hops, malt, water, yeast. Even if you're not an enthusiast, you may have at least heard about a hop varietal every now and then. But it's that last item—the yeast—that is getting renewed and extraordinary scientific interest as companies forge into a new frontier of fermentation.

In this episode, we're joined by the three founding members of Berkeley Yeast, all scientists who came together with the goal of pushing the microorganisms to new levels in order to create new flavors in beer. Whether it's recreating the taste of hops or adding nuances of fruit—the kind of yeast this company is making has the ability to not just alter our beer, but our perception of what's possible in the brewing process.

One brewer from San Francisco's Cellarmaker Brewing once said that Berkeley Yeast is "messing around at a level that’s just so far beyond what anyone else is doing," while another from Monterey's Alvarado Street Brewery said once that “It’s mind-boggling how these flavors could be created with no fruit.”

Joining me to talk about it all are Rachel Li, Charles Denby, and Nick Harris, who launched their startup from origins at UC Berkeley and in recent years have rapidly become a trusted source for brewers around the country looking to push the boundaries of what their fermentations can do. We'll hear about how and why they started the company, the kinds of yeast they're creating, and most importantly, why now is the moment this is all happening and changing the minds of brewers. Because your taste buds are next.

EP-409 Rachael Hudson of Pilot Brewing Company May 18, 2024

Some people know early on they’re destined to be their own boss. Rachael Hudson is one of these people. She’s the co-owner and head brewer at Pilot Brewing Company in Charlotte, North Carolina, a small brewery that’s made big waves in her local scene and beyond since opening in 2018. Since then, the business has racked up accolades at the Great American Beer Festival, the US Open Beer Championship, and the North Carolina Brewers Cup Competition, including being named North Carolina Brewery of the Year for 2023.

But for as nice as the awards are, Rachael says opening a brewery isn’t about fame (and it’s definitely not about money). It’s more about being an outlet for her ability and desire to teach curious consumers about what it is they’re consuming. She’s an Advanced Cicerone who plans to take the Master exam again later this year, as well as a national and international beer judge and co-host of the False Bottomed Girls podcast with Master Cicerone Jen Blair. Needless to say, she knows what she’s talking about, and she’s passionate about sharing her knowledge with absolutely anyone who will listen.

In this episode, Rachael shares when and how she knew she had to go into business for herself and why education is such a critical part of what Pilot offers to the community. She also talks about her “less is more” mentality when it comes to recipe development, and how their ESB tends to outshine even their IPAs. Pilot probably isn’t going to get much bigger, but that’s not what Rachael wants anyway. She’d rather focus on perfecting what they put out and keep figuring out ways to show other people that they too can turn their passion into a profession.

TG-014 The One with the Spring Slump May 15, 2024

Spring hasn’t sprung for craft beer yet this year. It’s more like a belly flop into a deflating pool filled with the ghosts of profitable years of yore and future hopes for a better summer. But rather than languish in low numbers, beverage alcohol companies big and small are dabbling in new products, new segments, and really anything they can to stay afloat. In this episode of The Gist, I’m joined as always by Sightlines reporter Kate Bernot to talk about first quarter numbers for 2024, innovation across segments, and what BrewDog may be up to after CEO James Watt stepped down as CEO. I’m Beth Demmon, and you’re listening to The Gist.

TG-014 The One with the Spring Slump

EP-408 Jen Price of Crafted for Action and CraftBeerCon May 11, 2024

“If you can see, you can be it.” I believe this adage is a great example of the value of diversity in all aspects of life. Seeing someone who looks like you in spaces where most don’t is an unspoken invitation that you belong there too. When I started dipping my toe into Atlanta’s craft beer scene, Jen Price was the first Black woman that I encountered. I was immediately intrigued by her and might have stalked her Atlanta Beer Boutique profile on Instagram before I even had my own beer account. Over the years, I have had the pleasure of following Jen’s journey (and writing about it). In 2020, she came so close to opening the Atlanta Beer Boutique, a concept she had worked on for years but ultimately had to put on pause after the pandemic pushed everyone into their homes. Along with a place to buy and drink beer, the Atlanta Beer Boutique would also allow Jen and others to host educational workshops.

But as you’ll hear in this episode, Jen turned her lemons into lemonade with her newest venture, Crafted for Action, an organization focused on providing real solutions for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the beer community. That’s primarily done through its signature event, CraftBeerCon, a hybrid conference combining a diverse array of participants, engaging panel discussions, and interactive workshops. With CraftBeerCon now in its third year, I thought it was the perfect time to share Jen’s journey with you in her own words.

You’ll hear her describe how she transitioned from building the boutique to creating one of the most diverse beer conferences in the United States, welcoming a host of BIPOC and women panelists and attendees. We dive into the different aspects of the conference and what participants can expect this year. As Atlanta natives, we couldn’t end our conversation without talking about a city that we love so much and what it is that makes it special in general and how it relates to beer.

TG-013 The Gist—The One With The Boogeyman May 01, 2024

Bongs, beer, and boogeymen—on this episode of The Gist, we kick things off with cannabis. Then, Sightlines reporter Kate Bernot shares her insights from the 2024 Craft Brewers Conference in Las Vegas. We’re also joined by special guest Paige Latham Didora, who chats with us about non-competes and the FTC’s recent ban on them. What does it mean for the beer industry? Keep listening to find out.

OT-001 Orchard To Table: A Celebration of Pacific Northwest Cider Apr 27, 2024

This is a special episode hosted in collaboration with the American Cider Association—a great way to bring you an episode with audio from an event dedicated to cider in the culinary space. While you will hear my voice now, this conversation is led by Leah Scafe of Stockpot Collective in Portland, Oregon. Leah worked with the Cider Association to host the roundtable discussion called “Orchard to Table” during the organization’s annual CiderCon event in January 2024.

With Stockpot Collective, Leah produces unique food and beverage events, and leads conversations that are specific to the needs and interests of food and beverage producers, which is what we’ll enjoy in this recording of Orchard to Table, a celebration of Pacific Northwest cider and Portland’s culinary community. Along with Leah, we’ll hear from three Oregon-based, James Beard-nominated chefs and sommeliers on why they love pairing, cooking with, and celebrating cider:

Brent Braun of Portland’s OK Omens, a co-owner of that James Beard-nominated restaurant, a Food & Wine Magazine Sommelier of the Year, and co-founder of Post Familiar Wine.
Katy Millard of Portland’s Coquine, a chef and co-founder of the award-winning Coquine, a multi-year James Beard Award nominee and finalist, and StarChef Rising Star Award recipient.
Nate Ready of Hood River’s Hiyu Wine Farm, a James Beard Award semi-finalist, former Master Sommelier, farm owner, and alone with making wine at Hiyu, is cider maker for his Floreal line of brands.

CL-141 Reverence for the Irreverent — Brewing Magic at Brujos Brewing Apr 24, 2024

Magic takes time, patience, and intention. So does brewing. The two concepts intertwine fantastically and theatrically in Jeff Alworth’s Signifier for Good Beer Hunting, titled “Long Live the Sorcery — Brujos Brewing in Portland, Oregon.” In the piece, he delves into the magical world of Brujos, a business that officially opened in March 2024, but has been percolating for a decade under the creative vision of owner and brewer Sam Zermeño.

What started as a brand and hobby picked up steam on social media around 10 years ago, when Zermeño was still a homebrewer in Southern California with a penchant for making malty beers and an appreciation for what he calls “witchy shit” and the occult. Once he got some professional brewing experience under his belt—or, wizard robes, which seems more likely—and moved to the Pacific Northwest, things began to settle into place. It wasn’t an accident, and it wasn’t magic, but it was definitely a journey that deserves its own story. When Alworth decided to write about it, he says it was that slippery concept of “authenticity” that drew him to write about Zermeño’s vision and the Brujos dream finally realized.

In this conversation, Alworth and I talk about how and why this story feels a lot different than much of the cynical, business-oriented beer writing that’s pervasive in media today. He talks about how, despite being in a city proudly full of weirdos, Brujos takes it to a whole new level, and how it still just works. We talk about the dichotomy of the sacred and profane, the beauty of ritual, and magical realism that serves as a foundation for the brewery. As I say later in the episode, it’s a nice story about good people doing cool things.

EP-407 Hillary Barile of Rabbit Hill Farms & Malthouse and Craft Maltsters Guild Apr 20, 2024

Hillary Barile isn’t sure what she’d call herself first: a farmer or a maltster. In reality, she’s both, working as a fifth generation farmer at Rabbit Hill Farms & Malthouse in Shiloh, New Jersey. There, she and members of her family produce barley and other crops, as well as run a small-scale malthouse that supplies ingredients for breweries and distilleries. And, as president of the Craft Maltsters Guild Board of Directors, she works to educate and grow the craft malt community across North America and beyond.

So why, and how, did she make the jump from farming pottoes to investing in the agriculture and future of craft malt? It started with homebrewing, of course, with aspirations of opening a brewery to diversify and solidify her farm’s finances. But, as she explains in this episode, the business plan never got that far. As for what’s next, she says the breweries prioritizing local craft malt can tell unique stories that still reach the hearts of drinkers, giving them a small, but sufficient shield against difficult economic forces. We also discuss the many definitions of the word “sustainable,” and the efforts she’s making to ensure generations to come will still have the opportunity to nurture the land her family has cultivated.

TG-012 The One About Last Year Apr 18, 2024

It’s time for the Brewers Association’s annual report for 2023. Who came out on top? Who’s new to the list and how did they get there? What on Earth is going on with draft sales, and what new data is still to come from the upcoming Craft Brewers Conference? All this and more is next, on this episode of the Gist.

EP-406 Michael Duckworth of True Anomaly Brewing Company Apr 13, 2024

You’ve heard the joke—four scientists walk into a bar, and hilarity ensues. But have you heard the one about a few NASA employees opening a brewery? It’s not a setup. It’s how True Anomaly Brewing Company in Houston, Texas actually started, when four friends and homebrewers decided to trade in the final frontier for a shot at making their own beer.

Michael Duckworth is co-founder and CEO of True Anomaly, which was recently named Brewery of the Year at the Texas Craft Brewers Cup for the second year in a row. Now in their sixth year, True Anomaly specializes in making wild and sour beers, but in a lager-focused state like Texas, they brew plenty of clean beers as well. They’ve been recognized for both with medal wins in competitions like the World Beer Cup and Great American Beer Festival. And now, they’re preparing to open a much larger second location later this year, which you’ll hear about, and plan to up their output from around 1,200 barrels to around 2,000 by the end of 2024.

All this begs the question: how did a bunch of NASA nerds pull this off? Well, according to Michael, the four founders took a methodical, scientific approach to the business plan and applied an artistic sensibility to making the beers themselves. Wild beer can be unpredictable, but it’s that freedom from expectation he says makes each day a fun and unique surprise. In this episode, he also talks about the potential he sees in the Houston craft beverage scene, why they implemented inclusivity as part of their operations from day one, and why you might see an astronaut or two hanging around the brewery on the weekends.

EP-405 Maddee McDowell of The Tasting Alliance Apr 06, 2024

What happens when a respected name in wine and spirits tries to make a move into the beer world? Does their experience translate into a new category, or do they have to build a reputation from the ground up? Does the beer industry welcome interlopers, or view them with skepticism and confusion? And if they’re asking to judge your beer at a new competition, does anyone show up?

These are all questions I asked myself when I was invited to judge at The Tasting Alliance’s second ever beer competition in December 2023. I, like some others in and around beer, had never heard of the group, or only knew them for their wine and spirits competitions that take place in San Francisco, New York, and Singapore.

In this episode, I talk to Maddee McDowell, vice president of The Tasting Alliance and the person who handles the logistical organization of their beer competition. You’ll hear about what it was like for me to participate in judging, but also what The Tasting Alliance hopes sets them apart from other competitions. Maddee shares what the biggest category of entries was (it’s shockingly not IPAs), some of the differences between running wine and spirits competitions versus beer, and how they’re trying to build relationships in the beer community to gain a wider diversity of palates at the judging table. We also talk about how the competition changed from year one to two, and how many entries she, somewhat optimistically, hopes to receive in year three.

The competition doesn’t end once medals are announced, McDowell assures us. And at the very least, The Tasting Alliance’s experience is another way for us to better understand competitions and what it takes to make them happen.

TG-011 The One With the Sincerest Form of Flattery Apr 04, 2024

It’s a consumer’s world—we’re just living in it. Maybe that’s just how it seems nowadays, based on the number of new products on shelves and who’s putting them there. In this episode of The Gist, lead Sightlines reporter Kate Bernot and Beth Demmon (that’s me) take a look at what products Tilray has released since going on a brewery-buying bonanza last August. We also talk about what sort of vibes Kate saw at the recent Illinois Craft Brewers Convention, and finally, what’s the latest buzz on BuzzBallz after Sazerac announced their plans to acquire the one-in-a-million brand success story. All this and more is coming right up, right here on The Gist.

EP-404 Natalie Thurman of Trace Brewing Mar 30, 2024

So often, when you listen to these episodes, you hear conversations with people far along in their experience with beer, wine, spirits, or other alcoholic beverages. We’ve had our share of brewers and owners who have been in the game for a decade or more. And in this conversation, we’re invited to hear from Natalie Thurman, an up-and-coming brewer discovering what it means to go pro, create recipes, and learn all the time.

Natalie was a homebrewer before she was brought on as a vocational brewer at Pittsburgh’s Trace Brewing. Over a six-month period from summer 2023 through the end of that year, Natalie worked alongside and learned from a variety of staff at Trace, picking up tips, tricks, and an education that will guide her in brewing for years to come. It’s all new—Natalie is a clinical research professional and registered nurse who’s spent more than 10 years working in healthcare—but as you’ll hear in this chat, there’s a lightness and excitement at work in her life through beer.

While we talk about her beginnings in homebrewing and building an interest in beer, I invite you to really hear the way Natalie talks about finding herself through her homebrewing and her work at Trace. Spending time at a brewery and meeting industry peers has seemed to unlock something special for her, and it’s an opportunity you’ll hear she’s not taking for granted. This is a chance to hear what it sounds like to start something new and why it’s so meaningful. It’s an opportunity to hear about how the joy of homebrewing becomes the joy of professional brewing and all that’s to come for Natalie and those in her orbit.

EP-403 Neil Fisher and Skip Schwartz of WeldWerks Brewing Mar 23, 2024

Fluffernutter and Oreo Marshmallow pastry stouts. Kettle sours brewed with "obscene amounts" of fruit. A cream cheese rangoon gose. Depending on your level of curiosity and adventurousness, these beers may sound exciting or challenging, but they also have two things in common: They’ve been made by Colorado’s WeldWerks Brewing and they’re fun beers made with serious intent.

In this episode, we get into some of the technical ideas, philosophies, and search for dialed-in joy with Skip Schwartz, WeldWerks’ head brewer and Neil Fisher, founder and owner of the company. What makes brewing and beer fun these days? There are lots of answers, and as you’ll hear both explain, it could be from the never-ending tweaks to make a beer as perfect as possible or finding ways to connect with new drinkers who would otherwise turn away from a beer.

Some of the more wild beers created by WeldWerks have gotten attention over the years, but it’s their flagship hazy IPA, Juicy Bits, that put this brewery on the map and has allowed WeldWerks to expand into 26 different markets this year. The runaway success of Juicy Bits has helped the business gain notoriety beyond Colorado, build out its brewhouse, and set a goal of modest growth as many companies in craft beer are focused on just staying flat with their production.

So, maybe you’ve tried some of WeldWerks’ outlandish beers at their taproom or during a major industry event like the Great American Beer Festival, or maybe you’ve had their signature IPA and one of its variants. Allow Skip and Neil to give you some background on what it means to connect with drinkers today and learn how their approach to beer is setting them up for 2024 and beyond.

CL-140 Malts, Monoculture, and Money—The Future of Barley in North America Mar 20, 2024

Some people nerd out about beer in general. Others go wild for water profiles, hop varieties, or yeast strains, but in Don Tse’s experience, not enough people are paying attention to malted barley. It’s something he’s been passionate about for a decade, and a topic he finally gets to explore in-depth in his first piece for Good Beer Hunting.

In that Critical Drinking op-ed, titled “Fight the Power — How Craft Malt Is Central to Taking On Beer’s Industrial Complex,” Don explains how the barley of today shouldn’t be the barley of yesterday. Typical crops are bred to resist disease and blight every few years. But in North America, barley that’s now widely planted has been around for three decades and is the main source of what’s used for malt in beer recipes. Why? Well, it takes time, money, and a lot of buy-in to change a monoculture crop like barley. That change is finally coming, thanks to investments from researchers at Cornell University, breweries like Allagash, and other forward-thinking farmers ready to make malt craft again.

In our conversation, you’ll hear Don talk about why it took so long for him to pursue this passion project, why as a Canadian he’s focused on American farmers, why he’s so stoked on things like protein levels and output, and what sort of potential and future he sees in the North American barley industry. He doesn’t expect people to be as nuts about the subject as he is. But he hopes that we’ll all start to care, at least a little, to keep moving craft beer and our shared agricultural future looking bright.

EP-402 Ryan Lavery, Founder & President of Widowmaker Brewing Mar 16, 2024

The story of homebrewing and craft beer is intertwined. Ask many craft brewery owners how they got their start, and you’ll probably hear about their homebrewing days—how it sparked their love of beer and eventually led them to turn their hobby into a career. However, homebrewing is only one part of going pro, and there are many more skills needed to open and run a brewery.

Ryan Lavery, owner of Widowmaker Brewing, got his start brewing beer in his garage. A series of serendipitous moments, including a Craigslist ad, eventually led him to open his own brewery in Braintree, Massachusetts in 2017, and another location in Allston-Brighton, a neighborhood in Boston in 2023. Both locations reflect Ryan’s love for music with his second location being described as a place with “intergalactic, spacey, stoner rock” vibes. In this conversation, Ryan shares how he didn’t really know anything about opening a brewery and how those first decisions—like how they set up the brewhouse—still affect him and his team today. You'll hear Ryan discuss the distinction between the opening of his first taproom and the second one, as well as how the brewery discovered its identity and how that knowledge influenced the design of both locations, starting with the second. We also spend a little time talking about the special places he’s visited in Atlanta while on business for the brewery, including a previous podcast guest, Todd DiMatteo, and his brewing company, Good Word Brewing.

TG-010 The One With The Fighting Spirit Mar 13, 2024

Modelo Especial continues to absolutely dominate as a lager, but is it so successful that we can call it the new domestic lager of choice? On this episode of The Gist, I’m joined as always by Lead Sightlines reporter Kate Bernot, along with special guest, freelance writer, and Good Beer Hunting contributor Jerard Fagerberg to talk about how Constellation Brands has grown Modelo to a 200 million case brand and what that means for the domestic beer category at large. Plus, we look at the latest c-store numbers—specifically, how cider is performing—and why combining “low” and “no” alcohol options into one group doesn’t really make much sense. I’m Beth Demmon, and you’re listening to The Gist.

FFT-25 Matt Manthe from Odd Breed Brewing Mar 05, 2024

Next up in our series of interviews from the 2023 Foeder for Thought festival, Kate Bernot is talking to Matt Manthe from Odd Breed Brewing in Pompano Beach, Florida.

Most of the locations of the brewers we speak to at Foeder for Thought come from far and wide, and usually from places with more mild climates than Florida has to offer. So Matt and Odd Breed adapt their process and expectations to that reality, working with yeast strains and styles that provide the nuanced results they’re looking for. He also talks about what it takes to help grow the audience for these beers in Florida, which is a younger scene that markets like California or the Northeast.

One of the methods Matt enjoys most is fresh hopping his wild ales for a somewhat hybrid style of IPA and wild and sour beer that is delighting his fans.

FFT-24 Aaron Kleidon of Scratch Brewing Mar 05, 2024

In this episode of the 2023 Foeder for Thought festival, I’m talking to Aaron Kleidon of catch Brewing in Ave, Illinois, one of the country’s most obscure and isolated brewers, that also happens to be one of the most welcoming and casual visits among the class of brewers you might consider a destination brewery.

Tucked away in far southern Illinois, Scratch has made a name for itself with foraged ingredients, ancient methods of brewing, such as hot stone and campfire heating, as well as a culinary program at the brewpub that delivers a similarly-minded approach to cooking.

We talk a lot more these days about the connection between agriculture and brewing, but in this conversation with Aaron, you’ll hear something more akin to a naturalist or a conservationist obsessed with his land and the surrounding forests, and how he makes world class beers from those unlikely resources.

FFT-23 Trevor Rogers from de Garde Brewing Mar 05, 2024

In this episode of the 2023 Foeder for Thought festival, Kate Bernot is talking to Trevor Rogers from de Grade Brewing, a geographical outlier like many of these producers, based in Tilamook, Oregon. de Garde was part of the avant garde in American wild ales, founded in 2012 with his partner Linsey, considered by many to be one of, if not THE first producer of these styles of beer in the US.

Part of the legend of de Garde comes from its methods of collecting wild yeast along multiple locations in the Pacific Northwest coastal region, and that influenced a generation of wild ale producers across the US who were looking for the courage to try these traditional Belgian methods in untested areas of the country.

FFT-22 Brandon Boldt of Primitive Beer Mar 05, 2024

After taking a short break for a St. Pete-style rain to pass through, the crowd at Foeder for Thought gathered in the courtyard at Green Bench again, dried off some seats and got a beer to listen to our second chat featuring Brandon Boldt from Primitive Beer in Colorado.

A well-respected and novel producer of wild ales, Primitive is perhaps more widely known for their packaging style, putting uncarbonated wild ales into a bag and box serving package. These still beers provide a profoundly different drinking experience—without the carbonation, the flavors and textures move over the palate entirely differently than a beer in a thick glass bottle with those highly pressurized tiny bubbles.

Since me and Brandon spoke at Foeder last year, they closed up shop in Longmont Colorado and starting making a big move to a new location—in an annex at New Image Brewing in Wheat Ridge Colorado.

FFT-21 Zach Adams of Fox Farm Mar 05, 2024

We’re kicking off our 2023 Foeder for Thought episodes with Zach Adams of Fox Farm in Salem, Connecticut. Like many craft brewers, Zach was a home brewer, but unlike most home brewers, he competed at the top of the game in the Boston Beer Longshot challenge and won.

Riding that boost of confidence, he and his partner bought a 1960s dairy barn and renovated it to create a humble but beautiful destination for what would quickly become one of the ties premier beer destinations.

That confidence turns to some measure of humility however when we talk about his venture into wild and spontaneous brewing where he feels they’ll still finding their way and making a name.

FFT-20 Khris Johnson of Green Bench Brewing Mar 05, 2024

Unless you’ve been listening to older episode of the GBH Podcast, you may not have heard my voice in awhile. I’ve been working on some new projects this past year or so that I’m excited about, but if there’s one thing that pulls me out of semi-retirement each year, it’s the Foeder for Thought festival in St Petersburgh Florida every March with Green Bench Brewing Company, and here we are again on the cusp of that annual gathering of wild and spontaneous beer producers gathering.

This year its on Friday March 8th, and in the run-up to that event where I get to sit down and chat with a few leading producers in the category about their trajectory and the future the envision. I’m releasing last year’s talks as a way to sort of get people excited again and remind them of some of the aspects of Foeder for Thought that make it so special.

First of all, it’s a small event but there’s some serious work and care put in that makes it fantastic. Khris Johnson and his team at Green Bench pull out all the stops for this thing. They get Web’s City Cellar, their companion bar, primed and ready to welcome fans of wild and spontaneous beer to what I consider one of the best beer bars in the country. And I’m certainly not alone in the opinion—this year the James Beard Awards nominated them for the Outstanding Bar category. That’s big time stuff.

It’s going to be a fantastic time - and I hope to see you there.

Now, let’s talk about 2023’s lineup of guests that you’ll hear in these episodes, hosted by myself and Good Beer Hunting’s Kate Bernot.

We’re talking to folks from de Garde Brewing in Oregon, Fox Farm Brewery in Connecticut, Off Breed Wild Ales in Pompano Beach Florida, Primitive Beer in Colorado, and Scratch Brewing in far Southern Illinois.

As per usual, it was an inspired lineup of beers and the producers behind them. All connected through their love of wild and spontaneous beer making, but also unique in their own rights—serving unique audiences and geographies, adapting to the realities of climate change and a shifting market, and finding their own way even as they hold the ancient traditions of these beers in a kind of reverent state.

RV-002: Measurements, Bias, and Their Impact on Beer Science and Community Building Mar 02, 2024

This episode is one of a three-part series recorded as part of the Rare & Vintage Beer Tasting, an annual event held in Durham, North Carolina that brings brewers and beer lovers together from all over the country. Along with a beer festival, Rare & Vintage also hosts beer industry professional development conversations each January. The combo acts as a fundraising and awareness effort for the Michael James Jackson Foundation, which funds education and career advancement for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color in the brewing and distilling industries.

For this year’s event, I moderated three discussions, and in this episode, you’ll hear me in conversation with three panelists talking about measurements, bias, and how these things impact the making of beer and how we bring people together for beer. Joining me are:

Nicole Steinhilber, laboratory operations manager for Charleston, South Carolina’s Edmund’s Oast Brewing.
April Dove, founder of Tha CommUNITY, a collaborative beer initiative that partners with breweries to offer a blueprint on how to attract Black drinkers to taprooms.
Jen Currier, cellarmaster at Wicked Weed Brewing and head winemaker at its spin-off winery, Vidl Cellars.

The experience between all three of these industry pros gave us fodder to get nerdy about lab work, ingredients, and more, but it also allowed us to look at big picture challenges facing beer today, most notably how to better welcome new drinkers into the fold. After you listen to this episode, make sure to check out the other two, which includes a panel discussion about bias in sensory and a keynote conversation with my Good Beer Hunting colleague and friend, Jamaal Lemon.

RV-001: Big Ideas and Storytelling with Jamaal Lemon Mar 02, 2024

This episode is one of a three-part series recorded as part of the Rare & Vintage Beer Tasting, an annual event held in Durham, North Carolina that brings brewers and beer lovers together from all over the country. Along with a beer festival, Rare & Vintage also hosts beer industry professional development conversations each January. The combo acts as a fundraising and awareness effort for the Michael James Jackson Foundation, which funds education and career advancement for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color in the brewing and distilling industries.

For this year’s event, I moderated three discussions, and in this episode, you’ll hear me in conversation with my Good Beer Hunting colleague, Jamaal Lemon. Jamaal has written some of the most celebrated work published at GBH, which includes a 2023 James Beard Award for his story, Come Hell or High Water — Oysters, Brewing, and How the Come Yahs & Bin Yahs Could End Sea Level Rise in Charleston. He’s been a contributor to Good Beer Hunting since 2020 and also writes the blog, Bootlegger’s Baby for us, which focuses on Jamaal’s ruminations on fatherhood and family.

During our talk at Rare & Vintage, Jamaal was welcomed as a keynote speaker, so we engaged in a discussion that would inspire conversations between brewers for the whole weekend. We talked about big ideas, storytelling, innovation in beer, and more. You’ll hear us talk about where Jamaal gets his ideas, why he cares about stories of the water, and much more. After you listen to this episode, make sure to check out the other two, which include panel discussions about bias in beer sensory and science with some of the smartest minds in beer as well as a discussion of how to build inclusive language for how we talk about beer.

RV-003: Building Inclusive Lexicons for Beer Mar 02, 2024

This episode is one of a three-part series recorded as part of the Rare & Vintage Beer Tasting, an annual event held in Durham, North Carolina that brings brewers and beer lovers together from all over the country. Along with a beer festival, Rare & Vintage also hosts beer industry professional development conversations each January. The combo acts as a fundraising and awareness effort for the Michael James Jackson Foundation, which funds education and career advancement for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color in the brewing and distilling industries.

For this year’s event, I moderated three discussions, and in this episode, you’ll hear me in conversation with three panelists talking about how language and culture have built the lexicon for beer and what we can do to change and enhance it all. It’s a spiritual connection to a James Beard Award-winning story Good Beer Hunting published in 2022, in which Mark Dredge explored how flavor wheels and tasting tools should evolve to speak to a global collection of beer drinkers. To build on the ideas you may have read about in that story and share new ones, joining me were:

Breeze Galindo, director of operations for the Michael James Jackson Foundation and founder of MiLuna Brewing.
Lindsay Barr, co-founder of DraughtLab Sensory Software.
Rafael D’Armas, brewer at Brookyln’s Kings County Brewers Collective, also known as KCBC.

As you listen to the back-and-forth between these three, you get to hear practical, scientific, and philosophical approaches to how we can all think differently about the way we describe and talk about beer. The importance of this, as you’ll hear, is a necessary step to acknowledge how diverse beer is becoming—even if it’s been slow—but how much the language we use is going to matter next year and long after that. After you listen to this episode, make sure to check out the other two from Rare & Vintage, which includes a panel discussion about bias in measurement, brewing, and more, and a keynote conversation with my Good Beer Hunting colleague and friend, Jamaal Lemon.

TG-009 The One with the Pivot Feb 28, 2024

If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it a thousand times—beverage companies are going to have to expand their offerings not just to grow, but to survive at all. In this episode of The Gist, lead Sightlines reporter Kate Bernot joins me, Beth Demmon, to take a big look at 2023 and what the numbers mean for 2024, why diversification is the word of the year, and what a brewery buying into CBD could signal to the rest of the industry. This is the Gist.

EP-401 Jen Blair of Under the Jenfluence Feb 24, 2024

In my time in and around the beer industry, I’ve heard too many people underestimate the Cicerone Certification Program, a worldwide standard for recognizing people who are experts in beer sales and service.

While I haven’t taken it myself, I understand the rigorous studying that’s required to pass the written and tasting exam to become a Certified Cicerone, just the second level of a four-part process to become a Master Cicerone. And even those who take the test seriously aren’t guaranteed to pass it the first time. But don’t take my word for it, let’s hear from an expert.

In this episode, Jen Blair, who recently became a Master Cicerone—the highest level of certification and a title just 28 people in the world hold today—shares details from her almost decade-long journey to reach this pinnacle. If you’re interested in becoming a Cicerone, this episode is for you. But even if you’re not planning to take these tests, you’ll learn so much about what it means to explore beer, its history, and all the sensory experiences it can provide. There’s a personal side to it all, too, and you’ll hear from Jen about the importance of learning from your mistakes, honoring deadlines, and creating realistic schedules. As a straight-A student, Jen thought she knew how to study for the Cicerone tests, but realized that to pass even the first level exam she had to go beyond memorization and fully master the material. Throughout the episode, Jen shares some of the shifts in mindset she had to make to cross the Master Cicerone finish line, including relearning how to learn and strengthening her weak areas instead of ignoring them, like memorizing commercial styles despite disagreeing with the requirement. Listen in until the end to hear about the inspiration behind her newsletter, get tips on palate training and health, as well as what Jen is focused on now that she’s completed her Cicerone journey.

EP-400 Julia Astrid Davis of Burke-Gilman Brewing Feb 17, 2024

In this episode, we’re talking about process. And it’s not just in context of the brewing of beer, but everything that leads up to it, what happens during, and how a brewer can get better after. Helping us get into the detail of it all is Julia Astrid Davis, the head brewer and zygurmatrix at Burke-Gilman Brewing Company in Seattle.

And if you're going to talk to a brewer about all these intimate aspects of their job, Julia is a great example of someone you should listen to. Over the course of her career she's brewed at companies small and large, from Denmark to Chicago and now Seattle. Her stops include Goose Island, Lagunitas, and Empirical Brewery, all in the Windy City, and has now been at Burke-Gilman for three years. That’s a who’s who list of barrel-aging and hop-forward breweries and in this conversation you’ll hear how Julia’s time at each place has helped build an understanding and appreciation for the process of brewing, experimentation, and constant improvement to dial-in recipes and drinking experiences.

We’ll also talk about inspiration, collaboration, and why it’s important for a brewer to always think about how to get better. Through it all, is the idea of process.

TG-008 The One with a Whiskey River Feb 14, 2024

It’s only February, but beverage companies are already setting the stage for the rest of 2024 with new products, big investments, and… TV ads? Today, Kate Bernot and me, Beth Demmon, recap the best and most blah Super Bowl commercials, discuss the potential of high and low ABV products, and you’ll hear from Drinkways Editor Emma Janzen about the economic outlook for spirits this year. This is the Gist.

EP-399 Jess Griego of Bosque Brewing Feb 10, 2024

When it comes to careers, longevity is hard to come by. Most surveys and job-focused websites will tell you Americans find a new job roughly every three-to-five years. The average American worker changes some aspect of their career—if not their entire professional focus—multiple times over their life. So, when you find someone who’s really committed to the people they work with and those they work for, you know something must be going right.

Such is the case for Jess Griego, now the chief operations officer and co-owner of New Mexico’s Bosque Brewing, which has nine different locations in the state. A decade ago, Jess started with the brewery as a server and has worked up through a variety of jobs, also becoming an equity partner in 2019. But her roots aren’t just with the company, they’re interwoven in New Mexico itself as a native, college graduate, proud resident, and a co-lead for the state chapter of the Pink Boots Society. Jess has also taken her longtime focus on local to a national stage, where she’s a newly elected pub brewery representative to the Brewers Association’s board of directors.

For as much as beer industry pros tout “local” as core to what they do, that often means locally-produced products. In this conversation, we get about as local as we can get as Jess reflects back on her years with Boseque, what inspires her as a leader, and what it takes to oversee a rapidly expanding brewery today. Growth is hard to come by for beer these days, but Jess and Bosque offer a unique example of what happens when you play the long game, in your career and in your business plan.

EP-398 Sarah Real and Mike Dell'Aquila of Hot Plate Brewing Company Feb 03, 2024

Sometimes when dreams get put on hold for too long, they can fade away and become nostalgia for what never was. But in the case of Sarah Real, her dream of starting a brewery was never far from her mind, and when she was finally able to open Hot Plate Brewing Company in Pittsfield, Massachusetts earlier this year with her husband and co-founder Mike Dell'Aquila, it had been many years in the making.

As one of the few Latina-owned brewpubs amongst the nearly 10,000 total breweries in the United States, the pair is acutely aware of what representation means and what responsibilities they feel come along with it. According to a 2021 survey by the Brewers Association, just 2.2% of brewery owners across the country identify as “Hispanic, Latina -o, or of Spanish Origin.” In this episode, Mike talks about how they try to offer multiple access points for consumers through the beers they make and how Hot Plate cultivates a safe, welcoming community for anyone who may not feel represented or seen in the current craft beer industry. A storyteller by trade, Mike crafts the narratives and Sarah brews the beer in a unique partnership that seems to suit them both.

However, Sarah and Mike both admit that while it was, at times, a struggle to start the brewery, now that it’s open, they’re ready to welcome everyone through the front door. They talk about their backgrounds, their passions, and the future they’re already building together—the dream finally realized.

EP-397 Theresa McCulla, formerly of the Smithsonian Institution Jan 27, 2024

American craft beer is old enough to have “good old days,” which means it's no stranger to retirements or its best and brightest moving on to new careers. In October 2023, Theresa McCulla announced she’d conclude seven years of work with the American Brewing History Initiative at the Smithsonian Institution, wrapping up an effort that saw her collect artifacts, design exhibits, interview nearly 100 icons of American brewing, award-winning stories, and more.

Theresa’s departure leaves a distinct void—her job was literally to trace the history of beer's ups and downs through all kinds of change–global pandemics, industry trends, demands on behalf of the marginalized, climate change, and of course the beginnings, middles, and occasional ends of important breweries and people who made American craft beer what it is. Without her and the American Brewing History Initiative, our risk of forgetting will be that much greater.

So, before she could move on to her new position as curator at candy giant Mars, Incorporated, I sat down with her for one last interview. A symbolic exit interview.

TG-007 The One with the $1 Billion Bust Jan 23, 2024

It’s a new week with new news, but you already knew that. In this week's episode of The Gist, Sightlines reporter Kate Bernot talks with me, Beth Demmon, about Drizly’s billion-dollar bust, cider’s rising star, and… beads? BEES! Hat tip to Arrested Development for that one. This is the Gist.

EP-396 Shanleigh Thomson of Shan.Ferments Jan 20, 2024

People who work in beer arrive from all kinds of professional backgrounds and even different career trajectories. But once they’re in beer, it’s less common to find examples of those who will be true chameleons, working across businesses that make, move, or sell beer, or even for companies that just handle the raw ingredients that go into making it. That’s what makes this conversation particularly special.

Shanleigh Thomson has been a food scientist, brewer, and sales rep for distributors and companies that provide malt and hops. She's worked as a consultant and analyst. She's also a beer fan, which means that this wide range of roles and expertise gives her a unique vantage point for how she does her job, shares well-informed points of view, and applies a variety of education that ranges from advanced degrees in food science to business and brewing. She splits her time between Canada and the U.S., which means the scope of her understanding and work offers us a good perspective, too, all of which she’s combined in the last two years to run her own consultancy business, Shan.Ferments.

In this episode, we’ll talk about all this and how we can learn from what Shanleigh has picked up over the years. But in addition to hearing how her professional life has brought this together, there’s also time in our chat to reflect on the personal impact a changing industry has left on her. Beer in Canada is facing many of the same challenges as the U.S., as prices and competition increase and a camaraderie that was easy to find 10 years ago is harder to come by. For someone who’s spent a career focused on so many different aspects of the business of beer, what happens when the shine wears off? And what’s at stake for us should we lose professionals with an array of ideas and expertise like Shanleigh? Let’s find out.

CL-139 Small Town Sober—Shining A Light On Arkansas’ Dry Counties Jan 17, 2024

Football and beer tend to go together without much thought. But in places like Pope County, Arkansas, alcohol is noticeably absent from tailgate coolers, plastic Solo cups, and concession stands. That’s because the area, which is home to Arkansas Tech University, is also one of the state’s 29 dry counties, where access to alcohol is restricted thanks to political influence, conservative mindsets, and tradition left from the time of Prohibition.

In his first piece for Good Beer Hunting titled “No Blitz — How Arkansas Tech University Fans Tailgate in a Dry County,” freelance writer Brian Sorenson portrays a small, but proud slice of the American South, where sports like football dominate much of the culture. That culture, he says, lags behind the more liberal coastal areas of the United States, but that doesn’t mean it’s less worthy of attention. In our conversation, he describes his hope for readers and listeners to set aside their notions of what they think Arkansas is like, and to instead experience it through fresh eyes and open minds.

You’ll hear about his background in beer, football, writing, and the state of Arkansas, where he grew up used to rowdy sports fans fueled by alcohol. For this story, he was fascinated by the idea of separating the two, and shares some of the surprises he came across while writing the piece. It’s an insider’s look at seemingly contradictory ideologies, and it’s likely you’ll walk away with a new framework from which to view a different, but beautiful, way of life.

EP-395 Beth Demmon of The Beer Drinker’s Guide to Ciders Jan 13, 2024

When I tell people that I’m really into beer, a quarter of the time someone mentions cider despite the two being vastly different. These interactions have always left me feeling helpless because I lacked the knowledge to educate them about the differences, and I certainly couldn’t guide them to a beer style that would be similar to cider. The extent of my cider knowledge was extremely limited—until I read fellow GBH contributor and podcast host Beth Demmon's book “The Beer Lover's Guide to Cider.”

In fact, she addresses this common mixup in the first line of her book “Cider is not beer.” Cider is more like wine than beer because it’s created from fruit whereas beer is a combination of malt, hops, and yeast. Despite their differences, Beth is able to draw a connection between beer and cider to show us how vast the world of cider really is, encouraging us to look beyond what we might find in our local grocery store. Much like many of us had to do in the early days of craft beer when shelves were stocked with domestic Lager and other mass-produced beers.

In our conversation, we talk about Beth’s inspiration for the book, which includes a trip to CiderCon, an annual conference organized by the American Cider Association. Beth also shares how she approached writing the book and how she was able to lean on her community for help. But what I love most about our conversation is how she draws parallels between those initial days of craft beer and the current state of cider here in the United States. For those of us who have explored all corners of craft beer, cider offers a new landscape of flavors, producers, and techniques to dive into, so let’s jump right in.

TG-006 The Gist—The One With The Juice Jan 10, 2024

It’s a new year and things are already shaking up in the beer world, first with Asahi’s entry into brewing in the United States, plus Coca-Cola subsidiary Red Tree’s big plans for 2024. Looking outside of beer, Kate and I preview what Sightlines has planned for CiderCon, the annual cider industry conference kicking off January 16, 2024 in Portland, Oregon. Keep listening for all that and more, right here on The Gist.

EP-394 Julie Wartell, editor of Craft Breweries & Cities: Perspectives from the Field Jan 06, 2024

When scouting locations to open a new brewery, quite a few things are left to chance. What’s available to lease, in the right price range, in the right area, at the right time? Data sometimes comes into play, but then again, sometimes, it’s just vibes.

Julie Wartell, a continuing lecturer at the University of California, San Diego and co-editor of the academic text titled “Craft Breweries and Cities: Perspectives from the Field,” believes that statistics and scientific measurements should play a larger role in these types of decisions, as well as affecting many more perceptions and beliefs about craft beer’s influence on its surroundings. How does the presence of alcohol impact things like public safety, gentrification, or the economics of a community, and what’s the difference between breweries, bars, and other alcohol-centric establishments? Why are there so many resources for technical brewing, but almost none about the social science of the beer industry itself? These are the questions that led to the text, which she hopes more breweries, business owners, residents, beer enthusiasts, and government employees will use to examine the reasoning behind the decisions they make, and perhaps even improve the way we think about craft beer as a cultural force.

In this episode, Julie and I talk about what breweries contribute to cities, and how she uses maps and data to draw scientific conclusions that may not always correlate with public opinion. She shares her professional background as a crime analyst, as well as her personal passion for beer, and how she’s managed to find overlaps between the two through her work and research. Even as someone who writes about, analyzes, and enjoys beer, I found myself realizing that I, too, have some impressions of beer at large that are much more emotionally-charged than data-driven. It’s humbling, if not fascinating to see things from her point of view, and there’s plenty to learn from someone who’s been doing this for 30 years.

EP-393 Nikki West of Ciders From Mars Dec 30, 2023

In the world of cider, Nikki West says the nerdier you are, the cooler you are. That’s probably the scientist in her talking, but she’s not wrong. As an agriculturally-based product, cider is inextricably tied to the earth, which is one reason why West decided to move from an academic career in geosciences to launching Ciders From Mars in Staunton, Virginia. It wasn’t a huge leap, scientifically speaking, but it was definitely one that changed the trajectory of their life.

In our conversation, West and I discuss the pros and cons of a formal education in fermentation, and how the Cider Institute of North America helped her transform a garage operation into a tasting room in the Shenandoah Valley, the heart of Virginia apple country. We also talk about the seismic shift it took to jump from geology to ciderology, and the overlaps between the two endeavors, as well as why they decided to plant an orchard in order to (eventually) use apple varieties not readily found elsewhere. As someone with Celiac disease, West says cider is an ideal alternative to beer, as well as less filling, without the stuffy culture or high ABV of wine—basically, nature’s most perfect drink, and one she hopes more people discover in the years to come.

It may be called Good Beer Hunting, but in this episode, we’re Good Cider Hunting.

EP-392 Todd DiMatteo of Good Word Brewing Dec 23, 2023

From the moment I stepped into Good Word Brewing in Duluth, I was impressed. The space is a take on old-world style with warm wood and plush booths—it's comfortable, cozy, and looks like it’s been there for decades even though it's fairly new. It's a place where you can settle in for a long while, and you'll want to because the food and beer are so exceptional that lingering is a pleasure.

Todd DiMatteo, the owner of Good Word, has been at the helm since its opening in 2017. We first met in 2019 when I was working on a story highlighting the city of Duluth, and over the years, I continue to be impressed by his dedication to quality, community, and hospitality. It shows up in every aspect of the business, but especially his Lagers, which are clean and crisp and have enough flavor to keep your palate engaged without overdoing it.

With their sixth anniversary approaching, I thought it would be a good time to catch up with Todd and reflect on everything he's been able to accomplish over the years. You'll hear him share some of his stumbles along the way and how he keeps himself engaged as a brewer. We also talk about why so many of the beers on his menu are decocted, how he balances his beer descriptions for beer geeks and novices, and his approach to beer events.

TG-005 The Gist — The One In The Rearview Mirror Dec 20, 2023

2023 is drawing to a close, so it’s time to take a look back at the year to see what happened, what’s happening, and what might happen in the coming months. This is the Gist with Kate Bernot and me, Beth Demmon, where we examine the biggest stories happening in beer and beyond so you know everything you need to know. It’s time for The Gist.

CL-138 Something Else Entirely—A Place For Third Culture Kids Dec 20, 2023

In Korean folklore, dokkaebi are tricksy creatures who love to eat, drink, and challenge humans to wrestling matches. They tend to create mischief, but generally not mayhem, and can bring you luck—if you remain on their good side. This same sense of playfulness is evident at Dokkaebier in Oakland, California, an Asian-inspired craft brewery that encapsulates not just the name, but the spirit of dokkaebi in every beer they make.

In her first story for Good Beer Hunting, Maloy Luakian describes how her own Pan-Asian identity informed her experience at Dokkaebier, and how she was able to feel a sense of nostalgia through familiar flavors presented in an unfamiliar medium. Her story, titled “Supernatural Creatures And Blended Cultures — Dokkaebier’s Story Of Shapeshifting,” describes the brewery’s history, goals, and cultural influence as one of the only Asian-owned breweries in the United States, as well as founder Youngwon Lee’s background as a third-culture kid, with roots in South Korea, Guam, and the United States.

In this conversation, she defines what third culture is and what it means to her, how the idea of authenticity in food and drink can keep tradition alive as well as inspire innovation, and how the beer cultures in Asia and the U.S. are influencing one another in fresh and exciting ways. It’s clearly a very personal story, and she admits that she wasn’t sure where it was going to end up. We’re lucky to have it on Good Beer Hunting, and it’s a pleasure to talk about it right now.

EP-391 Trevor Nearburg of Beerburg Brewing Dec 16, 2023

How many times have you heard some version of the phrase “beer brings people together?” We get it: eating and drinking with others is an ancient and deeply human way to connect with our communities, and beer plays a huge role in that. It’s such a foundational idea that gets thrown around so much that honestly, I’ve sort of forgotten it means anything.

But after talking with Trevor Nearburg, owner and brewer at Beerburg Brewing in Austin, Texas, it’s the first time in a long time that the concept has actually made sense to me in a new and relatable way. You see, Trevor’s not just a brewer. He’s a forager, herbalist, vegan, and dare I say aspiring poet, discussing concepts like ethical and intentional living as universal responsibilities that each and every one of us owes to the land upon which we exist. It’s the process of gathering, tasting, creating, and sharing with one another that brings us together, and it’s that foundation that drives him rather than the beer itself.

Of course, beer still plays a huge role at Beerberg, and his rotating portfolio of both classic and esoteric styles redefine not just what beer is, but how it’s made and where it comes from. In this episode, Trevor shares his journey of intentional living and brewing, and how he uses the world around him to inform what he makes and how it changes with the seasons, weather, and other climate events across the sometimes harsh Central Texas landscape. I laugh a lot in this conversation—how could I not, when he’s openly lamenting about the acorn harvest this year or waxing nostalgic about a particularly great yield of mugwort? I hope you laugh too, and learn something new about what it means to make beer in the same way Trevor aspires to exist in nature: without ego or judgment.

CL-137 On Thin Ice—Ready to Die & Ready to Live Dec 13, 2023

By definition, the realization that you’ve experienced a close brush with death can’t come until after you’ve survived, but sometimes you might realize you’re already standing on thin ice, left to wonder how you’re going to stay alive.

We hope these moments in life are few, if at all, but when they do occur, reliving them with the safety and clarity of hindsight can teach us lessons about ourselves that we may otherwise never know.

In his piece “Melting Away — Ice Fishing on LSD While Your World Dissolves,” a story published as part of Good Beer Hunting’s Olly Olly series in collaboration with Oskar Blues, writer and photographer Mark LaFaro describes his venture onto a frozen lake in Minnesota and what brought him there in the first place—the end of a partnership for him and the dawning of a new era for his friend Finney, who recently became a new parent. Beginnings and ends like these can feel similarly rudderless and isolating, something Mark and Finney found out during what ended up being a more treacherous outing than they originally anticipated. In this conversation with Mark, he told me he’d do it all again, maybe with a bit less LSD and definitely with some more safety precautions. He also talks about how despite the fact that fishing is closely tied to drinking, how the two alcohol-free friends managed to still open their horizons and hearts to one another during a terrifying, but somewhat necessary catharsis for them both. The two friends danced on the edge of life and came back to tell the tale, and we’re fortunate to hear all about it.

EP-390 Isaiah Smith, Josie Footman-Smith, and Isaac Smith from Our Culture Brewing and Fenwick Broyard from Creature Comforts Dec 09, 2023

Last year, while attending the Georgia Brewers Conference, I heard a DEI presentation from Isaiah Smith, the CEO of Our Culture Brewing Co, Fenwick Broyard, vice president of culture at Creature Comforts Brewing Co., and Tracy Bardugon, then a taproom manager at Fire Maker Brewing who now works at Elsewhere Brewing.

You might think once you’ve heard one DEI talk, you’ve heard them all, but I found this one to stand out because it detailed the importance of creating an inclusive environment before injecting diversity into it. Instead of focusing on bringing in diversity first, make sure your brewery is inclusive and ready to accept more diverse employees. The trio also detailed during the talk about the value of collaborating beyond the brewhouse—connecting different departments within a brewery with each other to share knowledge and best practices. Since then, I haven’t looked at brewery collaborations the same.

What’s so valuable about this idea is that breweries in planning like Our Culture can benefit from years of experience from a brewery like Creature Comforts, one of the biggest craft breweries in Georgia. I was excited to learn how their ideas became action—in May 2023 Creature Comforts created a brewing residency program where the Our Culture team was partnered with a counterpart at Creature Comforts.

I recently had a chance to join both breweries in Athens where they shared their experience of creating this partnership and how it was beneficial to both parties. First, you’ll hear from Jossette Footman-Smith, co-owner and head of operations and community engagement at Our Culture Brewing, and Issac Smith, co-owner and head of brewing operations, as they share how Our Culture got their start.

Then, you’ll hear from Isaiah Smith and Creature Comforts’ Fenwick Broyard about the residency program, and what they learned along the way. We also dive into the story behind their collaboration beer, “Seeds Take Up the Soil,” a sweet potato Ale that is a great representation of the beers Our Culture is planning to bring to market, focused on highlighting flavors of the African diaspora.

TG-004 The Gist—The One With The Beef Dec 07, 2023

It’s a new week and that means new drama, news, and more on this episode of The Gist, with Kate Bernot and me, Beth Demmon. We bring you the latest beer world news with all the context—and the tea—you need to know on what’s happening right now. This is the Gist.

EP-389 Lauren and Joe Grimm of Grimm Artisanal Ales, Physica Wines, and Lala’s Brooklyn Apizza Dec 01, 2023

Look around beer today and it’s easy to find lots … beyond it. Breweries are making hard seltzer, canned cocktails, wine, or opening up restaurant extensions. Whether it's over the counter at a taproom or in a store, the challenges to sell beer have never been more unique and plentiful as people can now choose to drink just about whatever they want in a variety of formats, flavors, and experiences.

Which is part of the reason why the growth of New York City’s Grimm Artisanal Ales shouldn’t come as a surprise. The company was started a decade ago focused on beer, but the curiosity of its founders, Lauren and Joe Grimm, has helped it expand beyond it. Just over a year ago they launched Physica Wines, a wine-making spinoff focused on low-tech, spontaneous fermentations with regionally-sourced grapes and other fruit. Then more recently, it was Lala’s, a New Haven-style pizzeria. All three businesses and their products share a similar passion and purpose and represent what Lauren and Joe see as natural extensions of their past decade of work.

If you’re a beer fan, you may know Grimm as a once-nomadic brewery making beers beloved by enthusiasts, whether IPAs for Wild Ales. But in this conversation, we’ll get into what drives Lauren and Joe’s interest in doing more beyond beer and how they go from experimenting with food and beverage at home to serving their creations for customers.

SL-038 Over a Barrel—Beer Fests Evolve as Tickets Sales Waver Nov 29, 2023

When we talk about what they appreciate about beer, it’s not uncommon to hear them mention the people; the “community.” And in a very tangible way, there are few examples for how this appears than at a beer festival. All over the country, almost all year-round, you can find examples of packed event halls, convention centers, and even parking lots where enthusiasts and novices alike mill about, sampling different beers. But more recently - and certainly partially because of the COVID pandemic - these festivals have hit a rough patch. For some of the most prominent beer fests, interest isn’t as high as it used to be and ticket sales are just a little tougher.

In Canada, the annual Windsor Craft Beer Festival was canceled due to lagging sales while it easily sold out during its heydays of the mid-2010s. Similarly, The Oregon Brewers Festival was canceled this year after organizers shared that higher costs, lower attendance, and extreme weather were making it harder to stay a successful event. Last year, the Great American Beer Festival cut its ticket numbers by 20,000 across multiple sessions after years of more challenging sales.

So what is the state of these special events? Let’s dive into it with Sightlines reporter Kate Bernot…

EP-388 Grant Gillon of Kinship Brewing Nov 25, 2023

If you follow me on Instagram, you know my love for beer is only rivaled by my love for cooking. Cooking is not only a therapeutic experience but a creative outlet . When I'm not in the kitchen, I'm probably watching cooking shows. Without a doubt, MasterChef is my favorite, and I've been hooked since its first season.

I was delighted this year when two people from the beer industry impressed the judges enough to earn white aprons and compete for the title of MasterChef. I was beyond ecstatic when Grant Gillon, a sales rep from Kinship Brewing Co, made it to the finals and eventually won the competition. He rose above his competition by showcasing his Italian heritage and his passion for beer.

Grant and I share a love for cooking and beer, and we both believe that craft beer has a place in the world of fine dining. In this episode, we delve into what meal or menu prep looks like when beer is involved. You'll hear Grant share two of the most significant lessons he learned from cooking in the MasterChef kitchen. He also provides tips for learning how to cook with beer and offers advice on getting your kids involved in the kitchen. But the common thread in our conversation? His love for Iowa.

CL-136 The Water Keeps Flowing — Change & Community On The Salmon River Nov 22, 2023

Communities can be built through mutual joy just as easily as through shared struggle, and in the rugged landscape of the American frontier, it can also be built through necessity of survival. Along the banks of the Salmon River, the small town of Stanley, Idaho, embodies these ideals of wonder and respect for nature, but residents’ way of life is changing, in sometimes unexpected and unwelcome ways.

In her piece titled “Dancing In The Dust — Idaho’s River Runners Navigate a Changing American West,” a story published as part of our Olly Olly series in collaboration with Oskar Blues, freelance writer and environmental advocate Claire Barber takes us on a journey down the river and through the town, capturing the heart and spirit inextricably tied to the rushing waters that literally keep the region alive.

In this episode, Claire describes when she first heard about Stanley and what drew her there to document the spirits of adventure, as well as isolation, in the nearly off-the-grid utopia. She also talks about the changes she witnessed first-hand and what gave her hope in spite of the challenges Stanley faces. People come and go, but the river will always remain, and her ride down the rapids provides a glimpse both into the past and towards the future. Let’s take a ride with her, right now.

EP-387 April Dove of Tha CommUNITY Nov 18, 2023

There are many movements throughout the craft beer industry shining a light on the importance of diversity and seeking ways to create more inclusive environments.

One of these movements is Tha CommUNITY, a multi-brew initiative led by April Dove. Since its launch in 2021, April has brewed 11 beers with breweries in and around Charleston, South Carolina, while providing breweries with a blueprint on how to attract Black drinkers to their taprooms.

In this episode, April shares the unlikely story of how Tha CommUNITY got its start. We discuss the challenges of bringing Black people into the craft beer scene. While it's challenging to create a checklist of things to guarantee an inclusive, diverse taproom, April shares her approach to planning releases for her beers, which includes creating a familiar atmosphere for people who haven't set foot in a taproom before. We'll also explore her takeaways from beer school and how the Brewer's Association mentorship program is helping her take Tha CommUNITY to the next level.

TG-003 The One About Maturity Nov 16, 2023

From a declaration of maturity to mergers and acquisitions, cannabis, craft share, and beyond, it’s been a big week in beer. Let’s get the heart of what’s going on right now on The Gist, with Kate Bernot and me, Beth Demmon.

EP-386 Vivian Ward of The ExBeerience Nov 11, 2023

For a while now, it has been my mission to cover the stories of Black women in the craft beer industry doing incredible things. Many of us started as casual drinkers and transitioned into the craft beer scene with the aim of bringing more diversity into it.

So, when Vivian Ward came to my attention, I knew I had to talk to her about The ExBeerience, her initiative focused on creating opportunities for beer lovers of all experience levels to learn about and enjoy beer through tastings, guided brewery tours, and more.

Listen in to hear Vivian talk about how The ExBeerience got its start and how her inaugural ExBeerience bottle share almost didn't happen. We discuss how diversity is the future of the craft beer industry and why it's essential for its growth. Vivian also emphasizes the importance of breweries creating inclusive spaces but also reaching out to the diverse communities they aim to attract. Let’s hear how Vivian is working to diversify taprooms in St. Louis.

CL-135 Secret Handshakes & The Spirit of Chicago — The Story of Malört Nov 08, 2023

There’s a masochistic element to drinking Malört, the bitter liqueur beloved by Chicagoans and reviled by others. But beneath its herbaceous and citrusy intensity, it represents much more than a challenge to your palate. To drink Malört is a rite of passage—entrance to a secret club you have to earn your way into through a tongue buckling finish and nearly a century of history.

In his piece for Good Beer Hunting, Chicago-based freelance writer and culture journalist Josh Terry unpacks the storied spirit as only a Chicagoan could. That piece, titled “Stormy, Husky, Brawling — Chicago's Divisive Spirit Jeppson’s Malört Is For Everyone Now,” explores the core of Malört’s history, after its invention during the 1930s, but before its hipster revival in the 2010s. In this episode, we’ll talk about what it was like to dive into the endlessly debated, but deeply meaningful spirit, one that he says isn’t as bad as everyone thinks. He describes the first time he tried Malört and the rules he has about drinking it now—rule one: never drink it alone—and what he wished he could have expanded on in the piece.

We also discuss Josh Noel’s forthcoming book about Malört, how photographs and social media helped create hype in the digital age, and why this bitter spirit is more popular than ever. I’m not sure Malört is for everyone, but it definitely holds a special place for lots of people. Let’s hear from one of them—right now.

EP-385 Averie Swanson of Keeping Together Nov 04, 2023

My guest needs little introduction. Averie Swanson is well-known in the craft beer industry for her work at Jester King Brewery—a brewery in Austin, Texas renowned for their farmhouse ales. She’s also one of 19 Master Cicerones in the world, and the founder and beer maker behind Keeping Together.

Averie is here to talk about one of the most romantic beer styles in craft beer—Saisons. Though IPAs have long reigned in the American craft beer scene, many of us share a deep love for this rustic farmhouse ale, its origins, and the beer’s ability to express a vast range of nuanced flavors.

In our conversation, you'll hear Averie share her Saison philosophy. She also touches on the history of Saisons and how that history connects to some of the style's characteristics. Averie talks about why she prefers stainless steel over oak, and we discuss the idea of keeping the “farm” in farmhouse ales. We also share our favorite food and beer pairing experiences, and finally, Averie gives us an update on what we can expect from Keeping Together in the next year.

TG-002 The Gist — The One with the Feds Nov 02, 2023

Ready to hear about why the Federal Trade Commission is not happy with Total Wine, what’s selling and what’s stalling at convenience stores right now, and whether we’re headed for an NA beer bubble? Keep listening—it’s time for The Gist with Kate Bernot and me, Beth Demmon.

SL-037 New Graft — Non-Alcoholic Offerings Expand into Cider Nov 01, 2023

It doesn’t matter if you’re an avid drinker or someone who’s never had a drop—there’s a good chance you’ve seen or heard about the growth of non-alcoholic beer, wine, or spirits in the last year or two. Businesses like Athletic Brewing Company have reached pop culture status, appearing in TV shows and movies, showing up in magazines like GQ, and probably debuting at social events near you, at parties or weekend cookouts with friends. In this episode, we’ve got another player entering the game: non-alcoholic cider.

With Good Beer Hunting contributor Beth Demmon, we’re going to explore what that means and why non-alc cider is happening now. There’s a good chance we haven’t yet reached an apex of non-alcoholic options from alcoholic beverage makers, so maybe the appearance of hard cider-gone-soft shouldn’t be a surprise. But then again, isn’t that … juice?

Let’s get a sense of what we’re talking about and why it matters…

EP-384 Rosa and John Paradiso of The Daily Beer Bar Oct 28, 2023

In this conversation, we’re talking about hospitality. It’s a bit of an audio-based extension from what Sightlines reporter Kate Bernot has covered on GoodBeerHunting.com, telling the story of a widening gap that breweries are navigating between those who go wide—trying to find success by flinging beer as far as they want and need to for sales—and those who stay narrow by focusing on their neighborhood, city, and what can sell locally. A theme that runs through it all—whether a company decides to go wide or narrow—is the kind of connection they seek with consumers. What matters to a business? What matters to a customer? And how does it all come together?

To explore these questions, we’re talking with Rosa and John Paradiso, co-owners of Durham, North Carolina’s The Daily Beer Bar, which serves coffee, some food, and has a curated and special tap list of rotating beers. As you’ll hear, the creation of this space had long been a dream for John, and how he and Rosa talk about it will be rooted in themes of hospitality and why this is so important for a small, privately-owned business in today’s drinking landscape. In Durham like so many other fast-growing American cities, people can choose to drink just about whatever they want in plenty of different locations or atmospheres, so why choose The Daily Beer Bar? Why pick a place that’s meant to kind of, sort of, feel like a home?

The answers you hear aren’t likely unique to just Rosa and John, but to many other small business owners across the country. So, together, let’s get a better understanding of how and why hospitality matters in 2023 and the way one beer bar is thinking about it.

CL-134 From Reader to Leader — GBH’s New Drinkways Editor, Emma Janzen Oct 25, 2023

The practices of writing and editing, while similar, each require very specific skill sets that nudge against one another, but remain deeply individual in practice. The greatest writers rely on talented editors to shape their voice, and the best editors are those who can spy potential within a story and help tease it out as part of a collaborative effort. The results are mostly enjoyed by readers and listeners, but the creators themselves have to enjoy the process of putting something into the world that did not exist before. Otherwise, what’s the point?

Emma Janzen has known for a long time that her path pointed towards editing, by way of writing for many years. Now, she has the chance as the new drinkways editor for Good Beer Hunting. Her role, in her words, is to develop, assign, and edit stories that are not about beer, which may strike some listeners as odd. After all, it’s called Good Beer Hunting. But those who know, know that we’ve always been much more than “just beer.” Emma is going to help nurture that spark of curiosity and—hopefully—fan the flames of discovery through storytelling and exploration.

In this conversation, Emma reveals what initially drew her to Good Beer Hunting and why what she witnessed as a reader cultivated her desire to be an official part of the team. You’ll hear about the stories she’s worked on, the ideas she has, and the discussions she hopes take root in future features. We also talk about what it’s like to be a freelancer at this particular moment in time and how the pandemic’s isolation helped her realize the importance of in-person connection, for both personal and professional growth. It’s not our first conversation on the podcast, and I don’t think it’ll be our last.

EP-383 Marco Ortega of The Black is Beautiful Documentary Oct 21, 2023

Before it became a worldwide beer campaign, the phrase 'Black Is Beautiful' was a positive affirmation in my childhood. I had previously written about it on GoodBeerHunting.com in the essay, Colorism, Black Pride, and the Black Is Beautiful Initiative. Then, in June 2020, the saying also became the name of an international collab beer as an initiative created by Weathered Souls Brewing’ Marcus Baskerville, raising more than $5 million across 1,601 partner breweries that sent proceeds to organizations that support equality and inclusion.

Now, the initiative enters into a new phase, supporting the National Black Brewers Association's work in developing and growing Black brewers nationwide. Thanks to documentary filmmaker Marco Ortega, we get a glimpse into what this initiative meant for so many people and how Baskerville is evolving it beyond the project's initial goals.

I had a chance to sit on a panel for the film with Ortega, and I knew I had to share his inspiration and passion for the film with you. In this episode, you'll hear how much admiration Ortega has for the way Baskerville is driven to help his community. We go behind the scenes to explore what it takes to make a film and along the way, Ortega provides advice for aspiring filmmakers. He also shares the emotional rollercoaster he considers a part of his creative process and talks about the unlikely celebrity who encouraged him to pursue his dreams.

TG-001 The One With the Vibes Oct 19, 2023

The latest beer news, product developments, and what constitutes a “five-alarm fire” for distributors—at least, according to distributors.

It’s all here in The Gist, a new Good Beer Hunting podcast with Kate Bernot and Beth Demmon, where you’ll get a breakdown of why the latest happenings in beer matter and the context around it all.

This bite-sized show gives listeners quick, quippy, and expert insight into the big stories happening in the U.S. beer scene and beyond. Join Beth and Kate every other week for colorful commentary and delightful debate from two of your favorite and familiar GBH voices.For our first episode, Beth and Kate unpack:

Distributors’ fears about beer’s decline (and if those fears are a tad sensationalistic—hint, they are, according to Beth)
Why inviting new consumers from overlooked communities is no longer a moral imperative (it’s a financial one too),
How Gen Z is redefining the entire drinks category through Clip Art-esque products. Will it work? Who knows!

CL-133 Write Like You Talk — Advice & Experience From GBH’s Newest Editor Oct 18, 2023

Becoming a journalist today seems more treacherous than in any other time in history. With notions like “alternative facts” on the rise, media companies slashing budgets and jobs, and more divisiveness among readers than ever before, who on earth would sign up to work in media?

Ren LaForme would, for one, and he has no regrets about it. In fact, he’s added a new position to his CV as the new North American beer editor for Good Beer Hunting. He’s been on this podcast before to talk about his role as the managing editor at the Poynter Institute, a non-profit journalism school, research organization, and fact-checking site based in St. Petersburg, Florida. But in this episode, you’ll hear from him as part of the Good Beer Hunting team, what his experience has been like so far, and why he decided to assume more responsibility in an already challenging media landscape.

He also shares plenty of wisdom from his time working in media, with tips and advice for aspiring journalists, as well as a few words of caution. But despite a sometimes bleak outlook, Ren believes there will always be a very human need to communicate with one another, regardless of what shareholders value or trolls believe. Let’s hear from Ren, right now.

EP-382 The Value of Community — Discussing GBH’s Compound Interest Series Oct 14, 2023

Every successful small business owner has to raise the bar if they’re going to compete. And for many, that means raising money, too. In this special episode, we’re talking about a series of articles that has appeared on Good Beer Hunting called “Compound Interest.” The stories written by Jerard Fagerberg are profiles devoted to founders who aligned their growth, fundraising, and community—and who keep their numbers up as they keep craft beer flowing. The stories are told in collaboration with SMBX, a marketplace for issuing and buying small business bonds.

In this episode we bring you a collection of GBH writers, including Jerard, Sightlines reporter Kate Bernot, and publisher Michael Kiser. We’ll talk about the origins of this series, why these stories matter, and the unique people and ideas Jerard has come across as he’s reported for Compound Interest over the past year.

Take a look behind the curtain to learn more about GBH storytelling and finding stories that resonate from business leader to readers and listeners like you.

SL-036 Running On Empty Oct 11, 2023

For years now, practically any industry has dealt with the threat of burnout. It was a problem before the COVID pandemic, became a bigger issue during 2020 and 2021, and has lingered since, as people try to find work-life balance that helps them find time to feel relaxed, recharged, or just happy. The challenges related to burnout are particularly harsh in hospitality, where staff at your favorite bar, restaurant, or brewery have to deal with high-pressure situations, unruly guests, long hours, and more. If you’re one of the millions of people who’ve watched the TV show, “The Bear,” and the chaos-inducing stories of restaurant staff, you’re also familiar with what can lead to burnout and its consequences.

In this episode of our podcast, Good Beer Hunting reporter and community editor Stephanie Grant takes us along for a series of conversations to better understand how burnout impacts people who work in beer. The causes are common—it’s those intense work environments and sometimes low pay—and we hope that hearing stories from those who’ve faced burnout and who are trying to combat it gives you a deeper understanding of how burnout impacts people.

You may have experienced burnout yourself at some point. You probably know someone who has. So, let’s learn a little bit more about what this issue is, why it needs to be addressed, and how we can better understand it.

SM-010 The Rise and Fall of the 1970s' Biggest Kegger Oct 07, 2023

What does it take to throw a party for ten thousand of your closest friends? A party that brings famous music acts from all over the country to your stage? A party with unlimited beer. And more than that, a party that brings in serious cash for a good cause.

With enough planning, funding, and support from your community, you might pull it off. But to throw a party like that eight times in a row, you need more. You need the right historical moment.

From 1972-1979, students at the University of Montana at Missoula threw the biggest kegger the Treasure State had ever seen. Known colloquially as the Aber Day Kegger, it was an outdoor concert bash fueled by up to a thousand beer kegs…and an unofficial substance or two. It drew in young music fans from all over Montana, the Pacific Northwest, and as far away as Los Angeles. The kegger helped more than one music group on their way to stardom. And most importantly, the organizers raised tens of thousands for the university library and local causes.

They also irritated a large swathe of Missoulians who looked at the kegger and saw only youthful impropriety, drunk driving, and a stain on a good university's reputation. Ultimately, the party couldn't last forever.

But the rise and fall of the Aber Day Kegger was decided in more places than Missoula's proverbial town square. Its fate was the product of a surging youth drinking culture, shifting minimum drinking age laws, predatory beer marketing practices, some old-fashioned greed, and–for a moment there–a national boycott movement. Shifts in these winds made the kegger possible, and they unmade it just as readily.

EP-381 Eno Sarris of The Athletic Sep 30, 2023

This is a special edition of the podcast where we let you peer behind the curtain. Our guest, baseball writer and beer enthusiast Eno Sarris, is the subject of a profile you can read on Good Beer Hunting. As part of the reporting for that story, I recorded one of our interviews to share with you—it’s a way for you to hear from Eno more of what makes him the person he is today, as well as gain a better understanding for some of the ideas and themes you read about in the piece itself.

Eno is one of the leading journalists covering baseball today, currently for The Athletic. His skill set is unique in the way he uses statistical analysis to tell stories about players and the sport, and it’s the same kind of thinking that put him in a unique position with beer. During the 2010s, he was a lead writer for a website, BeerGraphs, a beer-focused spin-off of FanGraphs, a renowned baseball publication. But along with his bonafides and expertise in baseball and beer, he’s also a charming and interesting person. In this conversation you’ll hear about his upbringing in Jamaica, Germany, and the U.S., and how baseball was central to the way he connected with others. You’ll also get a sense of how and why beer became part of his passion and career.

We recorded this chat during the summer in the midst of the baseball season, so some of the references to All-Star players will be time-stamped to that moment. But the ideas and stories Eno shares are evergreen, and will help you appreciate him and his work even more.

CL-132 Luck, Poetry, and Baseball—How Eno Sarris Changed The Game Sep 29, 2023

There’s a certain magic to baseball, filled with myths, heroes, and the power to make people feel that anything is possible. It’s no wonder it’s called America’s greatest pastime, or why players like Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, and Mickey Mantle are household names, familiar even to those who don’t closely follow the sport. But sometimes it’s those off the field who are the myth makers, the legend builders, and the magicians keeping our hearts aligned to the game, which is, of course, much more than just a game.

For his first feature in several years, Bryan Roth, Good Beer Hunting’s managing editor, news editor and podcast co-host, pens a sprawling account of Eno Sarris, the iconic writer and baseball analyst known for his sharp statistical study as well as his unflagging optimism and convivial attitude, punctuated often with a smile and a laugh. Bryan spoke to around a dozen sources for the piece, each clamoring to sing Sarris’ praises as both a gifted analyst and profoundly pleasant human being.

With so many people eager to chime in with so many nice things to say, I wondered—do people love the person, or the personality? Turns out, they are one and the same, and it’s that very lack of pretension that has endeared Sarris to the hearts of readers and listeners around the world. (Plus, he drinks beer. What’s not to like?)

In this episode, we’ll talk about both baseball and beer, how Sarris has unequivocally changed both for the better, and how our personal connections to the sport and the beverage continue to inform, surprise, and delight. Whether you’re a baseball fan or not, this is a story about hope and how positivity maybe can change the world.

EP-380 Mandy Naglich, Author and Certified Taster Sep 24, 2023

Flavor is much more than what something tastes like. It’s aroma, mouthfeel, and flavors all mixed together to create a sensory experience that has the power to transport us through time and space. It’s unique to each person, yet universal in scope; shared on some level by every human who ever existed.

In this episode, my guest is Mandy Naglich, a previous Good Beer Hunting contributor and author of “How To Taste: A Guide to Discovering Flavor and Savoring Life.” She’s an Advanced Cicerone, a Certified Taster—yes, that’s a real thing—and drinks educator who helps people dig into flavor to discover just how far our senses can go. Mandy says that anyone can be a capital-T “Taster”, explains what “supertasters” really are, and describes how familiarity with things like wine, beer, cider, or even sake can expand our notions of flavor through practice and group discussion.

You’ll hear what drove her to dial into the world of flavor, when and why her book came to be, and the differences between craft beer, cider, and chocolate as they relate to existing guidelines and critical analysis. She won’t teach you how to taste like her—simply, how to taste like you. With her guidance, we can all appreciate our senses a little bit more. So let’s hear from her.

EP-379 LP O’Brien of LP Drinks Sep 16, 2023

If you’re an avid watcher of Netflix, you may have caught this episode’s guest on the hit series, Drink Masters, a reality-style competition based in the world of cocktails. LP O’Brien was the inaugural winner of the show, which she joined after years of a successful career in bartending, cocktail creation, and a host of hospitality roles. Her career was objectively already impressive before Netflix came calling, and being named as the “Master” of the show’s title simply added more excitement around her insight, expertise, and passion toward beverages.

In this conversation, you’ll hear LP talk some about how the show impacted her and what she's been up to since, but mostly, you’ll hear us share stories about … stories. And also what it means to say “yes,” “no,” and the power of taking control of your own schedule. Part of this is necessary for LP these days, as she runs a consulting company, LP Drinks, and has partnered with the creation of other businesses, from one focused on wellness and health among hospitality pros to a canned cocktail brand. When we connected, LP had just wrapped a multi-day pop-up event in New York City as part of her company, Bodega Culture, which celebrates the distinctive features and emotional significance these stores hold for people.

It’s hard to define someone as a “rising star” when they’re already held in high regard, but LP is one of the beverage world’s experts you’re sure to see and hear more from in the future. However high her star may be already, there’s still momentum upward, and you’ll get to know her better in this conversation.

EP-378 LaTreace Harris of The Beery Godmother Sep 02, 2023

Beer is a treasure trove for anyone who wants to be a lifelong learner. From a historical perspective alone, there are thousands of years of brewing to discover and explore. If you ever get bored of that, you can switch to incredible discoveries around yeast and hop varieties. There’s a wealth of knowledge to be had for anyone, and it can be particularly useful by breweries as a way to educate customers and strengthen those relationships in the process.

But how can breweries pass on that information in a fun and compelling way? Beer education consultant LaTreace Harris, also known as The Beery Godmother, believes that in order to stand out, breweries need deliberate and well-crafted beer education programs.

What those programs look like will be as unique as each brewery, but as you'll hear in our conversation, LaTreace walks us through the key components of what she thinks are best practices. We also talk about her series, Beer Fact Fridays, where every week she shares a snippet of beer knowledge on Instagram, and LaTreace shares about her own process for continuing beer education and what she's currently studying.

CL-131 Life, Death & Lagers — Resilience in the Deep South Aug 31, 2023

The American South means a lot of things, to a lot of people. But one thing is for certain—there’s no place like it in the world.

For his first feature in Good Beer Hunting, freelance journalist Owen Racer wrote about this place, its people, and how beer fits into it all. During a year as a resident of New Orleans, Owen tapped into the food and drink scene, researching its illustrious history, shared traumas, and steps towards the future, often through the unexpected lens of beer. In our conversation, he discusses why Lager is so specifically tied to both the culture and the climate of the Gulf Coast, what misconceptions beer still faces in the area, and the hurdles that have held the beverage back, until now.

In this episode, Owen and I talk about his process and emotional connection of reporting as an outsider and temporary resident of an area beloved by many and misunderstood by even more. You’ll hear about the surprises he faced, the Southern hospitality he felt, and, of course, the beers he drank. Let’s hear about his year on the Gulf, and how it changed him for years to come.

Strong Feelings in collaboration with National Black Brewers Association Aug 26, 2023

This episode is a special one for us. It brings together voices of people who were in Nashville for the 2023 Craft Brewers Conference as a spiritual sequel to a 2018 episode we called "Strong Feelings." Our goal then and now is simple: To capture the feelings of a particular moment in the beer industry and encourage people to share ideas, inspiration, and what they think matters—or maybe needs to change.

To help with creating this episode, I was joined by Kate Bernot at a bottle share party hosted by the National Black Brewers Association. We partnered with two board members from the association to chat with attendees and gather their thoughts and feelings: Jon Renthrope, CEO and brewmaster of New Orleans' Cajun Fire Brewing and Alisa Bowens-Mercado, owner of New Haven, Connecticut's Rhythm Brewing. Over the course of the night, each of us took turns with the microphone, engaging with people and their strong feelings about topics that ranged from how to attract new customers to craft beer, discussing the people who represent the future of craft beer, who they admire, and more.

Consider this as a beer version of speed dating. Each person picked a card at random that had a topic to talk about—which you'll hear—and then shared their response. What came of it all offers us a unique moment in time with perspectives that tell the story of craft beer in spring 2023. Along with the responses, you'll also hear the voice of Kate Bernot, who will share excerpts from a Sightlines story about the National Black Brewers Association. Combined, the live voices from the NB2A’s party and Kate’s reporting will give you a sense of place and importance of the organization and what it can achieve.

First, we’ll turn it over to some of the people from the bottle share. This is Strong Feelings, made in collaboration with Jon Renthrope, Alisa Bowens-Mercado, and the National Black Brewers Association.

EP-377 Monique Gray of Momentum Cider Aug 19, 2023

It’s not breaking news to say there aren’t many women owners across beverage alcohol, or to say there are even fewer Black women in ownership positions. That’s why when a company helmed by an African-American woman does launch, it’s essential to explore who they are, what they’re doing, and how we can understand their endeavors to help move industry cultures forward.

Monique Gray is the founder of Momentum Cider, a fledgling cider brand out of Long Beach, California, and the recipient of the inaugural Creator Launchpad Grant from Beer Kulture and Women of the Bevolution. Both organizations aim to provide resources through mentorship, scholarships, grants, opportunities for collaborations, and much more in order to improve equity and accessibility in beer and beyond.

Monique is relatively new to cider, but she’s unabashedly passionate about its history, traditions, and place on contemporary shelves and menus. As a lifelong entrepreneur, she decided to transition from a career in wellness into cider after falling in love with the beverage and discovering a passion to share it with others. She sees herself as a pioneer in the space, with a goal to open the first Black woman-owned cidery in California.

In this episode, you’ll hear how (and when) she plans to accomplish that goal, using the resources and connections from the grant, as well as other local organizations and partnerships like an upcoming collaboration with Benny Boy Brewing. You’ll hear Monique describe what it was like to receive the grant and why she takes the responsibility of this opportunity very seriously. A guiding principle of her career has been the ability to ask “Why not?” when trying something new, and so far, it’s paid off. Let’s hear how, right now.

CL-130 From Stone to Tongue—Exploring Minerality of Earth and Beer Aug 16, 2023

At what point do creative pursuits become exercises in futility? When does the lack of success become failure, and when does it serve as a reminder in the value of pursuing a breakthrough? How can we look to the Earth as a guide towards unpredictability—and what does beer have to do with any of this?

In his piece titled “From the Pores of Earth—The Impractical Alchemy of Stone Fermentation,” a story published as part of our Mother of Invention series in collaboration with Guinness, writer Jerard Fagerberg explores the short-lived trend of stone fermentation. He speaks with several brewers who participate in the obscure and wildly labor intensive practice to find out not only how, but why they pursue an ancient method in contemporary times. In our conversation, you’ll hear even more about when and why he pursued this story—not just to shine a light on a relatively odd way of brewing, but his journey through the story and whether or not his curiosity was ultimately satisfied through the process.

Humans don’t tend to spend a lot of time exploring minerality as a flavor. But those who do remain very passionate about it, and at the very least, it’s a sensation worth being aware of. The Earth gives us a lot to be thankful for, and I, for one, am grateful for the chance to understand her, even just a little bit more. Let’s hear from Jerard, right now.

EP-376 Cha McCoy of The Communion Aug 12, 2023

It's easy to get lost in the world of craft beer. I liken it to falling in love with someone. For years, craft beer was the only thing I could think of, but eventually I came up for air and realized there’s a world of wine and spirits out there. But instead of diving into the history or stories behind my favorite bottles, I find myself fascinated by the influencers, tastemakers, and educators in the beverage space.

One of those people is Cha McCoy, a sommelier, public speaker, and beverage programmer. Cha first crossed my radar in 2021 via email for a social media campaign she was working on for Cherry Bombe Magazine where she served as the publication's first beverage director and editor. To my surprise, I ran into Cha a year later at the Charleston Wine + Food Festival, where she served as the event’s beverage director. Since then, I have followed her career and the incredible moves she’s made with interest and adoration.

Along with consulting for a list of prestigious clients like the James Beard Foundation, Cha last year opened The Communion, a wine and spirit shop in Syracuse, NY. The brick-and-mortar location feeds into her mission to make wine more accessible by connecting local vineyards with people who are often excluded from the conversation. Before opening the shop, Cha traveled the world hosting wine dinners, and that’s only a small portion of Cha’s accomplishments.

In our conversation, I wanted to understand what makes Cha the powerhouse she is. You'll hear how she's driven by her love of teaching others, and how moving to Italy and experiencing the “la dolce vita” or “the sweet life” gave her the space to figure out what she loved. She also talks about how an engineering degree still applies to her career in wine. While the wine world is different from craft beer, you'll notice some similarities between the two as you listen to our conversation.

CL-129 Nostalgia, Authenticity, and Heritage — Exploring the Global Path of Today’s Spirits Aug 09, 2023

Once upon a time, supporting independent makers in food and drink was paramount for conscientious consumers. To these shoppers, a common goal was to avoid anything with a whiff of global corporate ownership. But today, the goal posts have shifted in a slightly different direction, with customers often focusing on aspects like seasonality, sustainability, and staying as close as possible to the source.

This emphasis on hyper localism isn’t quite as one-dimensional as it seems, or so says writer and academic Dr. Anna Sulan Masing. In a story for Good Beer Hunting titled, “People, Place, and Produce — How Agriculture, Secondary Ingredients, and Trade Routes Define Spirits’ Identities,” Masing looks at the tangible and historical influences on spirits and explains how certain ideas of what a spirit is today can often leave out where it actually comes from. She encourages readers to look to our past to understand our future, and how time, space, and travel all inform the products we consume, regardless of how local we think they are.

In this episode, we discuss the power and danger of wielding the idea of “authenticity,” and what the term even means in the first place. You’ll hear how it took years for her to piece together the threads of an idea to report this story, as well as the challenges—and surprises—she faced throughout her research. We’ll talk about how history and heritage informs innovation and how those ideas of authenticity can be an ever-evolving concept, shifting from one person to the next. Even if you don’t fancy yourself a beverage historian, none of us can escape the local or global systems that nourish us. So let’s explore them, head on, and as a collective group.

EP-375 Doug Constantiner of Societe Brewing Company Aug 05, 2023

We’ve all heard the stories of homebrewers following their passion into professional brewing. There’s an engineer or a lawyer who homebrewed for years and after lots of encouragement, decided it was time to give it a go. But how many Wall Street investment bankers turn down lucrative salaries to open a brewery? There’s at least one in San Diego, and it’s Doug Constantiner from Societe Brewing Company.

Doug is one of those people that is accomplished and humble, always ready with a smile, a pint, and a listening ear. Being a part of the San Diego craft beer community is to be a part of a world-class industry, and sometimes egos or ambition can sour the experience. That’s not what you’ll hear today. Instead, Doug describes the steps he and the other leaders at Societe take to keep their mission simple: treat others how you’d like to be treated, and focus on the beer.

Of course, it’s never just beer. We also talk about how he tries to lead by quiet example by building bridges and open lines of communication that he believes may be a key to improving the world. Later on, we’ll discuss the split Societe faced when co-founder Travis Smith left the company in 2019, and how that difficult separation changed the future of the brewery just before the pandemic changed the world’s entire way of life. There have been ups and downs, highs and lows, but some things remain the same: Doug’s commitment to quality in beer, joy in life, acceptance of people, and love of family. Let’s hear from the banker turned brewer, right now.

EP 374 - Ayla Kapahi of Borderlands Brewing Jul 26, 2023

People in the beer industry often tout the aspiration of using the drink as a way to “build community.” What they typically mean is that interacting over a beer is meant to be some kind of equalizer, allowing humans to connect in a better way. In this episode we meet someone who has taken this idea to heart, acting as one of the most prominent community builders in the Arizona beer scene for several years.

Ayla Kapahi is the director of brewing operations for Tuscon’s Borderlands Brewing, but is so much more. She’s started professional development organizations, including co-founding the Southern Arizona chapter of the Pink Boots Society, which focuses on developing talent and skills among women and non-binary individuals. Ayla also helped launch Las Hermanas, an annual collaboration beer made with female brewers from both sides of the U.S./Mexico border. On the brewing side of things, she’s focused on using ingredients and flavor experiences unique to the Southwest as a way to give Borderlands beer a truer sense of home.

All these effomjmjrts are part of an ongoing desire to connect people. And as you’ll hear from Ayla, while she’s had a hard time defining what success means for her career so far, it’s these examples that help her stop and realize the impact she’s able to have, relationships she’s created, and how much more she can do in the future. We all work to find the “why” in our lives—what drives us and inspires us—and you’re about to learn how finding a career in beer helped Ayla find hers, and is encouraging others to do the same.

EP-373 Dashawn Agbonze of Mastry’s Brewing Jul 22, 2023

We’ve all set professional goals at one point or another, even if it’s just thinking back to the time as a kid you wanted to be an astronaut or athlete or president of the United States. For us adults, some of that imaginative whimsy fades once we actually start our working lives, but the desire to find something special isn’t ever fully lost. In this episode, we’re going to talk hopes and dreams, and how for one brewer, a drive to learn also meant opportunities to excel.

Dashawn Agbonze is head brewer at Florida’s Mastry’s Brewing and despite more than a decade of experience in the industry, never received formal education to pair with years of training. That’s changing as a recipient of the Sir Geoff Palmer Scholarship Award for Brewing from the Michael James Jackson Foundation for Brewing & Distilling, which has him back in the classroom to enhance his brewing knowledge as he continues to hone his craft.

Throughout our conversation, Dashawn will describe what led him to this moment, which started in a dishpit at a brewpub and took him across the country in search of new experiences that would get him brewing and also some awards along the way. With discipline from time in the Navy, Dashawn is focused on fine tuning his skills and—above all—keep learning. This is a chance for you to hear the personal history of what it takes to chase a dream and find it, but never settle with the knowledge you have.

CL-128 A Burgeoning Oasis In A Stifled State — Crafting Community in Chattanooga Jul 19, 2023

When it comes to alcohol in Tennessee, whiskey is king. But craft beer is slowly starting to become part of the state’s identity, and in Chattanooga, the brewing scene is finally coming into its own. In his first piece for Good Beer Hunting, writer Drew Pitt, a Chattanooga transplant by way of Los Angeles, explores the history, legacy, and challenges beer has faced in the city and gives us a glimpse towards the future.

Drew’s piece, titled “Rebirth and Reinvention — As Chattanooga Grows and Changes, Local Beer Follows Along,” started as an idea for our Gas Station Week series, but eventually transformed into an insider’s look at a new and exciting brewing scene in southern Tennessee. We talk about how Tennessee isn’t exactly positioning itself as a welcoming state for people, especially the queer community, but why he believes Chattanooga can act as a beacon of acceptance, using beer as a conduit for connection. Bars and breweries have often been historically safe spaces for people oppressed by intolerance, and Drew hopes his home continues to innovate and include everyone who crosses into the state.

EP-372 Chelsey Rosetter and Ben Farber of Benny Boy Brewing Jul 15, 2023

I have a confession. I have a vested interest in getting people excited about cider through beer. I even wrote a book about it called “The Beer Lover’s Guide to Cider,” which comes out in September and aims to translate existing beer knowledge and appreciation as a way to inspire readers to explore a new-to-you beverage in cider. Luckily, I’m not the only one with this mission, and today, you’ll hear from two others who are also on this journey.

Benny Farber and Chelsey Rosetter opened Benny Boy Brewing in 2022 as Los Angeles’ first brewery-slash-cider house, tank bar, and beer garden in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood. Their goal was—and still is—bringing people in with promises of craft beer, but having them leave with eyes opened to the wonders of cider. As a longtime homebrewer and cider maker, Benny knew that by uniting the two beverages in one space, he’d be able to introduce guests to the drinks that have inspired him and allow him to pass that passion along to others. Using Old World methods and a New World vibe, they’ve done well for themselves over their first year, but continue to have their sights set on building a bigger, better world for both cider and beer.

In this episode, I talk with Benny and Chelsey about how two Midwest kids ended up in the City of Angels as partners in life and business. They walk me through a day in the life for each of them and what they do when they feel stretched too thin, which, as entrepreneurs with lofty goals, can happen a lot. You’ll hear about what it was like to raise money to launch their business—including how long it took—and what they think people with big dreams should know about building a legacy, including the difference between confidence and cockiness, and the importance of finding trusted supporters to guide you in the right direction.

SL-035 Beer's Money Back Guarantee Jul 13, 2023

The past year has been a hard one for most beer categories. With the exception of imports—particularly those from Mexico—volume growth hasn’t been easy to come by. That’s led companies to release new brands and packaging formats, but there are only so many ways a brewery can find new avenues to sell more beer. So, in recent months, you may have noticed another tactic: rebates.

Offering money back isn’t new in beer. The largest companies have provided rebates when shoppers buy large packs of Bud Light, Miller Lite, or Coors Light for years, but some craft breweries are exploring this space as a means to boost sales that have otherwise slumped.

Which begs the question: How does all this work? Along with Kate Bernot, Good Beer Hunting’s Sightlines reporter, we’re going to explore what’s going on in beer and why rebates can be an attractive option for breweries. As you’ll come to learn, it’s not just about selling more beer, but also finding a way to get your personal information, which can be priceless.

EP-371 Chantel Columna of Novel Strand Brewing Jul 08, 2023

Like most of my beer friends, I first met Chantel Columna on Instagram. Our online conversations eventually led to an in-person meeting when a work trip brought Chantel to Atlanta in 2021. We enjoyed beers while diving into a conversation about the beer industry and life at large.

Last year, my husband and I traveled to Denver. I knew I couldn’t leave the city without visiting Novel Strand Brewing Company, the brewery Chantel, along with her husband, Tamir Danon, and Ayana Coker, opened in 2018. Again, this meetup led to a deep conversation about culture and life.

With a great selection of beers and a focus on Tamir’s Israeli and Chantel’s Dominican culture, it's no surprise to me that last year, Hop Culture named the brewery the best in the country for those very same things and more. Novel Strand doesn’t shy away from injecting their culture into thei r brewery. I was reminded of this passion when I ran into them at this year’s Craft Brewers Conference, and we continued our easy flowing conversation over incredible Lagers.

After sharing great talks with Chantel, it was hard for me to keep her compassionate and endearing energy from you. In this episode, we’ll talk about the business of beer with a key focus on her work as general manager for Novel Strand. How does she approach this role? What’s a North Star that guides her in work and life?

We also share our experiences with entrepreneurship and what we've both learned along the way.

CL-127 Legacy, Heritage, and Family — How To Live Forever Through Food Jul 05, 2023

Family recipes, passed down through generations, are one of life’s greatest blessings. In my house, it’s a salsa recipe, started in earnest by my mother, fiddled with endlessly by me, and one that I plan to pass down to my son. For Good Beer Hunting community editor and cooking enthusiast Stephanie Grant, it’s her grandmother’s recipe for red rice, an evolved version of the West African staple jollof, and one that she had to seek out in order to nurture a connection to her Gullah-Geechee identity.

In a story for Good Beer Hunting titled “Hidden Heritage — A Search for Culture, Heirlooms, and My Grandma’s Red Rice Recipe,” Stephanie describes the culinary treasures of past generations and how they shaped her love and longing to understand the people who came before her. In this episode, you’ll hear her talk about how she’s been writing this story since childhood, and what it’s meant to her to see Black Southern culture be honored in kitchens and cookbooks as a long overdue legacy.

You’ll also hear how her search for red rice began, how it ended, and where it’s going, as she continues to put her own touch on food and history, which is something she says all generations are born to do in order to keep traditions alive and accessible. Food is a link to our past, present, and future, and it’s something we can all look to as a common tie even in divisive times.

EP-370 Tony Rahí Jaquez Moreno of Outsider Brewing Jul 01, 2023

For many of us, beer is a passion. It’s something that tastes great, brings us together with loved ones, and provides small details we can fret over in an endless quest to best understand everything that goes into the beverage. It can also be a lifeline.

In this episode, you’ll learn why a job in beer became so pivotal for Tony Rahí Jaquez Moreno, who came to the U.S. at 19 to study at the University of Nevada, but turned away from a career in mechanical engineering to immerse himself in malt, hops, water, and yeast. Known as “Tony J” to friends as well as fans of his hip hop, he’s now a multi-hyphenate brewer, marketer, taproom manager, and more for North Carolina’s Outsider Brewing. He’s also a recipient of the Sir Geoff Palmer Scholarship Award for Brewing from the Michael James Jackson Foundation for Brewing & Distilling.

As we learn from Tony about what drew him to beer, you’ll better understand his love of art and science, how he approaches brewing, and how a truly unique set of equipment at Outsider helps him communicate with drinkers. You’ll want to pay close attention to how we describe this patented setup, which lowers barriers for casual beer drinkers and enhances a taproom experience for enthusiasts. In both cases, it allows Tony to connect with customers to literally show them a brew day in process and share why they should care more about what ends up in their glass.

CL-126 Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, No Booze — On Sobriety & Cutting Back on Consumption Jun 29, 2023

The phrase “sober curious” is picking up steam in beverage alcohol circles—perhaps most notably in the craft beer industry. More non-alcoholic products, sober events, and shared conversations regarding our collective consumption habits are taking place than ever before, but a stigma remains. If you’re not drinking, why are you even in a beer space to begin with?

That’s exactly what today’s conversation is about. I’m joined by writers Jerard Fagerberg and Mark LaFaro to discuss Jerard’s sober-curious column “Let Go or Get Dragged” and Mark’s recent piece on Good Beer Hunting titled “Tapped Out — The Problematic Culture of Overdrinking in the Alcoholic Beverage Industry.” Neither writer shies away from sharing personal, sometimes very raw experiences with alcohol consumption, in an attempt to destigmatize moderation and sobriety as well as provide resources for those interested in cutting back.

This episode is part of a series exploring both personal and cultural shifts regarding alcohol, where we discuss the evolving vocabulary around sobriety—or steps towards it—and unpack the core reasons why people congregate around beer in the first place. As someone who still works behind the bar, Mark reveals some ugly truths about what breweries expect from consumers (spoiler alert: It’s not always in the individuals’ best interest), as well as where they both find support in a sometimes judgemental landscape. You never have to explain why you’re not drinking, or even drinking less, but whether you’re curious about minimizing or eliminating alcohol from your diet, listening to those who have been through it before is a great foundation on where you can begin.

EP-369 Josh Merced of Northern Arizona University Jun 24, 2023

Over the last decade, one of the aspects of beer and brewing I've admired the most has been an increased attention from the world of academics. Wine has long been a centerpiece for research, but it feels like college faculty are now catching up thanks to a better understanding of the social, cultural, and community side of beer. There is a ton to be learned beyond the science of making beer and in this conversation, we'll get insight on how space and place inspire one professor. It may be summer, but we're heading back to campus with Josh Merced.

Josh is a geographer by education, with a Ph.D from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and teaching experience at Florida State University, UNC-Greensboro, Middle Tennessee State University, and come this fall, he'll be newly appointed at Northern Arizona University. At each stop, his research has had important crossover with craft beer, most recently teaching the class “Geographies of Craft Beer and Breweries” in Tennessee. If you’ve ever sat in a brewery or thought about how cities and landscapes impact who drinks craft beer and why, Josh will clue you in on valuable findings throughout our chat. From locations to music to our own lived experiences, it may come as no surprise that these all impact the way we come to interact with beer—or not at all. Josh will explain why this is particularly important for us to understand and change.

You don’t need to have a stack of highlighters or visit a bookstore to benefit from this educational opportunity. I hope that getting to know Josh and his work puts him on your map as someone to follow that will help you form deeper understandings and new questions about what craft beer offers and how we can consider what might change to offer more to more people.

EP-368 Sara and Sam Kazmer of Elsewhere Brewing Jun 17, 2023

Back in 2019, my husband and I traveled to Cuba, and as part of our entry into the country, we had to book a cultural experience. We chose a tour around the city of Havana, visiting different local spots while learning about the history and present day struggles of the country. Our tour ended at our guide's grandmother's house, where she served us rum and coffee. It was a beautiful experience that encouraged me to continue to get off the beaten path whenever I travel.

My friends Sara and Sam Kazmer champion getting off the beaten path. The couple met at a bar while traveling in Florence, Italy, so it's no surprise that seeing the world has become part of their lives and business. Since then, Sara and Sam have visited several continents before opening Elsewhere Brewing in Atlanta in 2020. You can hear all about their story in episode 298 of this podcast.

In this episode, we talk about their recent trip to Patagonia, Argentina, where they led a group of people with their friend, Richard, as a guide. After reading a post on Instagram from Sara recapping the trip, I knew I had to have her and Sam on the podcast to share their experience.

You'll hear them talk about why it's important to create trips that allow them to connect to people and culture in a deeper way. They also aren't shy about sharing the difficulties of balancing their duties as hosts with the desire to disconnect and recharge or how a language barrier and fluctuating inflation made planning this trip much harder than they anticipated. Stay tuned to the end where they divulge their next destination, which sounds like a dream.

CL-125 Love, Loss & Grief — Remembering John Stoner Jun 15, 2023

As a former resident of Richmond, Virginia, and with family and friends still there, I visit the city fairly frequently. But seeing it through the eyes of someone else and hearing them describe places like the James River, Ardent Craft Ales, or Mekong made me long to go back. But the story you’ll hear about today isn’t a typical travel piece: Rather, it’s a bittersweet exploration of the city, an ode to a friendship that ended too soon.

In her first story for Good Beer Hunting, titled “Share What You Have — Seeing Richmond, Virginia, Through the Eyes of John Stoner,” writer and cartoonist Em Sauter takes readers on a uniquely personal journey to memorialize her friend John Stoner, a Richmond beer fixture and early supporter of her own work at Pints & Panels, her visual beer education and art business. John died unexpectedly in 2021, sparking a wave of grief Em couldn’t help but ride until she decided to honor his legacy and friendship by visiting his town to remember him as he was and to explore what he meant to her.

In this episode, you’ll hear how writing the story acted as a therapeutic balm for her, a way to sit with her feelings and memories as her own life moves forward. I’m sure you can relate to the idea of having online friends—and especially online beer friends—whose lives may or may not ever come in direct contact with you, but help shape your experiences in unexpected ways. In the end, it’s kindness that Em hopes people share with one another. That, and a love of beer.

EP-367 Becky Clark and Sean White of Little Fish Brewing Jun 10, 2023

Whether food or drink, there’s so much that goes into process. That could mean how a brewer combines hops, malt, water, and yeast to get the flavor of a beer just right, or how a chef takes even more ingredients to build a dish with cascading tastes on every bite. In this episode, process and place come together in a unique way from a brewery in Ohio.

Little Fish Brewing Company doesn’t just have a curious head brewer in co-founder Sean White, but also a James Beard Award-nominated executive chef in Becky Clark. And whether through their beer or restaurant menu, you’ll hear in this conversation common themes of appreciation for a place—Athens, Ohio—and process that makes local agriculture a key component of experiencing what Little Fish has to offer. While we start by discussing what it means to explore food and beer pairings, you’ll also hear how and why Becky and Sean care about the process of what they do and how they hope it shows up whenever someone takes a sip of Little Fish beer or a bite of their food.

It’s clear that Becky and Sean think about their home as key to what they’re building at Little Fish, and as you listen to what they share you’ll gain a better understanding of what the brewery and a college town in Ohio may offer you, too.

EP-366 Eric Pham of Prison City Brewing Jun 03, 2023

Many of the people who work in the craft beer industry got their start because they were passionate about the liquid in their glass. Eric Pham, head brewer and innovation brewer at Prison City Brewing in Auburn, New York, is one of those people.

After feeling unfulfilled at his desk job, Eric's fiancé suggested he look for a job in the beer industry since they spent many of their weekends visiting breweries. Eric found his way into beer in 2018 as a warehouse assistant at Lamplighter Brewing Company, with roles at Trillium Brewing Company, Tree House Brewing Company, and Other Half Brewing Company. Each role would eventually prepare him for a leadership position at Prison City.

In our conversation, he’ll describe this journey from his early days at the company to becoming a head brewer. One of the valuable lessons he learned along the way is that there's no magic in big breweries like Trillium or Tree House, but simply a team of people working hard to get a pint in your hands. We also talk about his Michael Jackson Fund Scholarship and what he hopes to learn, but more importantly, how he hopes his moment in the spotlight will help him encourage other BIPOCs to join the beer industry.

EP-365 Michelle Vanderwalker and Sean Umstead of Kingfisher Cocktail Bar May 27, 2023

For years, spirits have taken up a larger share of alcohol consumption across the U.S. Almost exclusively stealing sales from beer, this trend has been boosted by increased interest in cocktails. Whether making them at home, buying them canned and ready to drink, or going out to a bar or restaurant, America’s cocktail culture is thriving as drinkers search for new flavor experiences. In this episode, we’re going to explore a few aspects of why.

Durham, North Carolina’s Kingfisher bar was among this year’s semi-finalists for a James Beard Award in the Outstanding Bar Program category. Considered one of the highest honors a food or drink-focused business can receive, the nomination came as a testament to the unique agricultural and gastronomic focus created by co-owners Michelle Vanderwalker and Sean Umstead. Along with a dedicated list of year-round cocktails built off southern fruit and vegetables, Kingfisher also experiments with the idea of time and place through special collections like its "Biome Series," a way to explore terroir through spirits through themes of different environments. A "Desert" cocktail includes yucca flower, a "Prairie" sunflower shoots and sunchokes, or "Marine" with its oyster shells and caviar.

But that’s the drinking part of what Kingfisher offers. As you’ll hear in the first part of our conversation, creating a sense of space at Kingfisher is pivotal to a drinking experience. Similar to how people may see drinking at a brewery taproom an immersive opportunity with beer, Michelle will walk us through why so much detail goes into building somewhere people want to drink cocktails and what that conveys when they sit down at the bar.

Spirits and cocktails are thriving all over the country and don’t show any loss in momentum. With Michelle and Sean, you’ll get a peek into why from their corner of the Southeast.

EP-364 Josh Kopp & Chrissie Pinney of Hana Koa Brewing Co. May 20, 2023

Beer has never been “just beer.” It can divide as well as it can unite. Some efforts to use beer as a force for good have resulted in initiatives that call for an end to sexual violence, raise money for lifesaving medical research, and even promote literacy.

Among those leading the charge to use beer as a force for good are the duo behind Hana Koa Brewing Company in Honolulu, Hawai’i. Head brewer Josh Kopp and director of operations Chrissie Pinney launched Hana Koa in 2019, and from day one, focused on goals of sustainability, community building, and social good. Their most ambitious initiative, called Shine a Light, supports survivors of sexual assault and seeks proactive change to prevent sexual violence from occuring in the future. In this episode, you’ll hear from Chrissie and Josh as they outline the brewery’s origins, their own backstories, and how their upbringings led them to want to do good wherever they can, using the brewery as a conduit to make the world a better place.

In the conversation you’re about to hear, we do discuss things like rape, assault, and other potentially triggering topics, so please use caution when listening. But you’ll also hear how the pair balances a responsibility to their community with self-care and where they manage to find joy, even when carrying heavy burdens of trauma and struggle. Chrissie says beer is much more than a beverage, and I tend to agree with her.

CL-124 Discovery in What’s Not There — Finding the Great Outdoors While Searching for Bigfoot May 17, 2023

I recently learned that California has 461 recorded Bigfoot sightings. That’s second only to Washington State, but far more than the mythical creature’s presumed home turf in British Columbia, which counts a mere 134 sightings since 1924. But how many sightings can be credited to the power of suggestion? Or were they all real instances that just so happened to occur to true believers? We may never know, but that’s not really the point. You can believe, or not believe, but staying open-minded to the possibility of unexplained mysteries is something humans should all strive for, according to freelance writer Jacqueline Kehoe.

In her piece titled “Our Wilder Selves — The Hunt for Sasquatch in Middle America,” a story published as part of our Olly Olly series in collaboration with Oskar Blues, Jacqueline documents her own quest to find the creature known as Sasquatch and Bigfoot in the woods of Iowa. You’ll hear about what she finds, what she didn’t, and what she hoped to discover in the first place. We talk about cryptids and aliens and mythical monster folklore, but also about the magic behind humanity’s connection with nature and how to find catharsis in the wilderness.

Society has tamed itself, pulling further away from what was once an untamed landscape. But there are pockets still out there, if only we look outside our own perceptions.

EP-363 Paul Schneider of Cinderlands May 13, 2023

Today’s guest, if we’re speaking in beer years, is a lifelong friend. But what feels like a lifetime really only started around 2011 in Chicago when Good Beer Hunting, at the time just a personal hobby of mine, was basically unknown outside of a small community in Chicago. At the time, Paul Schneider was still a history teacher in the burbs homebrewing and volunteering at small start-up breweries around the area.

We met at a Goose Island First Thursday event, which was a loosely defined monthly occasion where fans got together in the Seibel Institute room in front of the Clybourn Brewpub. We would share dark Goose Island beers, home-brews, and other sought after bottles. It was truly the glory days of the 2nd wave of craft beer kind of thing.

The timeline is too full of milestones between then and now, but here’s a quick look at Paul’s career in craft beer:

after volunteering around town, he got his first real gig at Solemn Oath in Naperville—as one of their first employees.
he went on to fill a broad role there between operations, special creative projects, some brewing and marketing
he left to sign on as a founding brewer as a partner in a brewery in Pittsburgh that he initially consulted on and then was offered the role once they realize the multi-faceted talent and experience he brought
that led me and Paul to work together in an official capacity for the first time, as GBH signed on to the project to help define the brand and trajectory of the brewery with Paul and the Warden family, for what would become known as Cinderlands

Since then Paul has become a brewer’s brewer, making precise Lagers, exquisite Saisons, as well as crowd-pleasers like their sought-after Tartshake series.

Paul’s unique perspective as a brewer, and also a student and former teacher of history, gives him a view on humanity and how beer fits into it that is uncommonly balanced. There’s an auteur in him of the finer elements of brewing. But there’s also the practical business person who knows better than to push back against the demands of the market. In fact, rather than be mutually exclusive as so many small operators often see these seemingly opposing forces—he seems to elegantly align the two to create opportunities for himself and others that are truly satisfying as a creator.

And that’s not to say that holding that line is easy. It’s a position that’s maintained through a constantly shifting, reflective, informed effort to navigate a very human marketplace that can be both high-minded, hype-driven, and incredibly fickle at times.

The history of beer is like the history of all things fashionable. And the present is no exception.

Paul was in town for a collaboration release with his friends at Solemn Oath, and a bit of a homecoming. So we took the moment to catch up on some of these threads and open some bottles for friends and peers at the studio. We were also finalizing plans for our latest collaborative project—Cindi’s Hard Mountain Tea—which is launching at PNC park in Pittsburgh as I speak.

SM-009 Frontline Frenemy — Alcohol's Backhanded Role in the American Civil War May 06, 2023

In the runup to the American Civil War, the number one political issue on everyone’s minds was…slavery. Of course it was. But it's easy to forget that the number two issue was alcohol. Back then, like today, debates over drinking boiled down to a few key points: who should drink what—and in particular what kind of liquor—how much, when, and what that drinking said about a person’s character.

When American drinkers, usually men, marched to war in the Union and Confederate militaries, the politics of alcohol enlisted with them. It’s the subject of a new book by Missouri Southern State University professor Megan Bever called “At War with King Alcohol: Debating and Drinking Masculinity in the Civil War.”

Her research reveals the many ways alcohol intersected with the war: as medical cures, an escape from the whiplash of combat and boredom in military life, as big business for opportunistic civilians, as a thorn in the side of temperance reformers, and as an ongoing point of discourse among leaders on both sides.

For this episode, I sat down with Megan to talk about this history and the deeper issues it laid on the table. When booze seeped into both Union and Confederate encampments—and it did by the barrel—it raised some big questions. If a soldier drinks, does that make them a coward? Can they perform their duty? Are they even a “real man”?

And in civilian life, contention also raged as to whether distilling whiskey or brewing beer meant entrepreneurs provided a valuable service or acted as profiteers stealing resources from the war effort.

Running through it all was the debate about whether “King Alcohol,” as some called it, was a tool for victory, or another insidious enemy to fight.

CL-122 A Sip Of The Big Apple — A Brief History of NYC’s Beer Bars May 03, 2023

New York City is, in almost all respects, on the cutting edge, the vanguard of the very cultures we consume through fashion, art, music, and food. But when it comes to the craft beer scene, the city that never sleeps seems to have done just that—slept on the industry’s development and growth, until, of course, they joined the party, which is still going strong.

In her latest love letter to New York, titled “Vagabond Shoes Longing to Stray — Through Years and Boroughs, for the Beer Bars of New York,” writer Courtney Iseman pens more than an ode to the people (and places) that shaped the city’s craft beer bar scene. It’s an encyclopedia of knowledge, punctuated with first-person accounts, recollections, and memories, all seen through a haze of looming nostalgia from her impending move away from the area for the very first time. She taps a dozen or more voices, each lending unique insight into the city’s growth, evolution, and future as part of the country’s overall craft beer scene.

It’s a long but fascinating read, which lends itself to today’s conversation about her process, motives, emotions, and future plans as they relate to her relationship with the city and beer itself. We discuss that though there’s plenty about beer to feel discouraged about, sometimes it’s looking to the past that helps us rediscover how we got here and why we came in the first place.

EP-362 Peter Kiley of Monday Night Brewing Apr 29, 2023

Creativity of all kinds fascinates me. I love seeing artists work and watching their final products take form. But most of all, I love to hear them talk about their processes, their frustrations, their joys. No matter the medium—design, food, or in this case beer—I like to glimpse the way their minds influence their work. Those moments of visibility bring a level of understanding of the creative process that I couldn’t get to on my own.

When I worked at Monday Night Brewing here in Atlanta, I had the pleasure of spending time with several creatives. Among them was Peter Kiley, the brewery’s brewmaster. On several occasions, a conversation about the latest beer release would turn into a deep dive into topics about life, creativity (or “producing,” as you’ll hear Peter call it), and beer culture.

Earlier this year, Monday Night dropped a spirit line, including gin, vodka, bourbon, rye, and an agave spirit. Hearing about this new venture, I wanted to talk to Kiley to hear his thoughts on this new realm. How did this transition differ from when he left the wine world to pursue brewing? In our conversation, we dive into his 16-year career making alcohol, why he likes to use the word “passion” sparingly, and his views of people who think they know it all.

CL-121 Full Tank - How a Maine Gas Station Became a Craft Beer Pioneer Apr 17, 2023

Sometimes, hidden gems remain hidden for a reason. Those in-the-know may jealously limit access to outsiders; other times, it’s simply because surprises can blossom in the most unexpected places. When it comes to craft beer, our hidden gems tend to be places like old-school beer bars or hyper-local destinations that remain off the radar of tourists. But occasionally, entire subcultures have been built in the most unlikely of places—and that’s what we decided to spotlight in our newest series, Gas Station Week.

Gas Station Week is a celebration of the unconventional and a look into the roadside stands, convenience stores, and yes, gas stations that have influenced entire communities of beer lovers across the country. Kicking off our Gas Station Week series is the story that inspired it all. In his piece titled “The Gas Station That Changed Everything — Swett’s Tire & Auto in Bangor, Maine,” writer Nic Stevens describes how 30 years ago, craft beer wasn’t just a novelty in Central Maine. It was nonexistent—that is, until one discerning entrepreneur saw its potential. Eventually, the beer shelves at Swett’s Tire & Auto, a gas station strategically located on the Interstate 95 corridor, directly spawned a brewery, a beer bar, and helped develop a tight-knit homebrew scene and number of independent breweries, all with deep ties to the local community.

Nic stumbled across the story, literally. In today’s conversation, he describes his unorthodox approach to uncovering stories such as this by hopping on public transportation and relying on the kindness of strangers to take him in as he explores the United States in search of the next great hidden gem. Since folks in Maine aren’t typically known for embracing outsiders—that is, anyone from outside of Maine—Nic says telling this particular tale wouldn’t have been possible through conventional journalistic methods. We’ll discuss his approach, as well as his discoveries that didn’t make it into the final draft and why he thinks this story couldn’t have happened anywhere else.

EP-361 Shibli Haddad of Arroyo Shell Apr 15, 2023

What if I told you one of the best places in the country to find the coolest, freshest craft beer is in Pasadena, California? That probably wouldn’t surprise. But what if I also told you that when you go to find the latest releases from Humble Sea or Trillium, or even a bottle of Cantillon, you could also fill up your gas tank a few dozen feet from that refrigerator door?

In this episode, you’re going to meet Shibli Haddad, who owns and runs a Shell gas station that has become one of the most important beer stores in the U.S. Not only does Shibli stock some of the most sought-after beer from across America, but he brings a clear passion for connecting with people because of it. You’ll hear him describe the way he talks to customers to learn about them and what would be exciting to find in his store, how he tracks trends, and why it’s important to offer special beer at an accessible price. He came to run the store because of his dad, started stocking unique beer because of his sister, and has become a part of California beer culture because of his commitment to forming relationships with his customers.

This conversation is part of Good Beer Hunting’s coverage for Gas Station Week, a series of stories, essays, and podcasts meant to highlight how people all over can find unique beer experiences in typically unexpected places. Make sure to visit goodbeerhunting.com for more voices that highlight this corner of the beer world.

EP-360 Nicole Oliver of Edmund's Oast Brewing Co Apr 08, 2023

Science has always been intimidating to me. I was never good at memorizing the periodic table or combining an array of chemical compounds to get a desired—and safe—mixture. Despite the challenges that lasted from middle into high school, I still found it all fascinating, the act of testing and discovery and using specialized equipment that can provide meaningful answers to all kinds of questions. And in this episode, we’re talking about it all in relation to beer.

Our guide will be Nicole Oliver, the laboratory operations manager at South Carolina’s Edmund’s Oast Brewing Company. She is an actual scientist and helps to oversee quality control at one of the Palmetto State’s fastest-growing breweries. And it’s not just her ability to help her colleagues create better beer that makes her role fascinating, but the way she’s doing it in an evolving beer market where it’s not just about making sure a Blonde Ale is brewed to perfection. Nicole has to collaborate with brewers to ensure that fruited Sours or pastry-inspired beers taste just as perfect and have the kind of shelf stability that other companies sometimes ignore, packaging beer in cans that may cause the package to swell, grow, and sometimes explode in a puree mess.

If your favorite brewery cares about its beer, it should have a quality control program. Not every business has the financial ability to have a full-time scientist to lead the work, but it’s pivotal work that improves everything about the brewing process. And as you’ll hear from Nicole, it can be nerdy and fun and exhilarating and meaningful. For her, her colleagues, and drinkers.

CL-120 David Neimanis On The Magic (And Misconceptions) Of Non-Alcoholic Spirits Apr 05, 2023

Non-alcoholic spirits, beer, wine, and beyond have finally graduated from punchlines to premium products in their own right, filling up store shelves and restaurant menus in greater numbers than ever before. But as writer David Neimanis explains in his latest piece for Good Beer Hunting, there’s still a long way to go for many of these products—non-alcoholic spirits in particular—to achieve their potential as legitimate and valuable alternatives to the status quo.

That piece, titled “Spirited Away — The Brands, Bartenders, and Bottle Shops Paving the Way for Non-Alcoholic Spirits,” which was published on February 4, 2023, looks as some of the pioneers of the industry, including makers who aim to create an entirely new space for their fresh takes on alcohol-free spirits, as well as those attempting to recreate signature spirits, such as gin or tequila, for drinkers who seek a familiar burn without the backfire.

Both approaches have their benefits, but in today’s conversation, you’ll hear David unpack his own fascination with botanicals, who he sees as leading the NA charge, and why these developments are something to be excited about. He’ll explain some of the regulatory differences between standard spirits versus their non-alcoholic counterparts, and how he hopes that one day, consumers will perceive the value of each with equal respect. Today’s discussion is the first of what we hope will be several conversations around the rise of non-alcoholic options across beverage alcohol, so stay tuned for more discussions with other writers and explorers of the NA space.

SL-034 Does Cider Have a Problem? Or an Opportunity? Apr 01, 2023

The question at the center of this episode is simple: Does hard cider have a problem or an opportunity? The answer may be a little bit of both, with your own perspective making the glass of Angry Orchard or 2 Towns or Hudson North slightly more than half empty or half full. So, while we may not have clear-cut answers by the end of the episode, you will hear from a few different perspectives about this challenging and hopeful and evolving time for American cider.

To explore all this, you’ll hear from some great voices. In part one, we chat with Ryan Burk, a long time American cider pro who started out at Michigan’s Virtue Cider before spending years as head cider maker for Angry Orchard, the largest cider company in the country. He now leads formulation and sensory strategy for Feel Goods, Good Beer Hunting’s parent company that’s a full-definition studio that builds beverage brands. (Ryan is also a colleague of mine at Feel Goods, where I work as an analyst.)

After we set the stage with Ryan, we travel to Chicago for a conversation with Good Beer Hunting contributors Ruvani de Silva and Beth Demmon. The three of us were in attendance at this year’s American Cider Association conference and gathered for our own reflections on the state of cider and what we started to see and hear on our first day at the event.

EP-359 Soham Bhatt of Artifact Cider Project Mar 29, 2023

When you think about beer or wine or spirits or any alcoholic beverage “beyond” these categories, what do you think of? Is it flavor? Friends? Or maybe just a vibe? It’s that last thing that I got stuck on recently thinking about cider and its place amongst all these options. For years, cider has been a steady 1(ish)% of the beer category in the U.S., where it’s classified. But at a time when some segments are trying to tread water, like wine or beer, that steadiness seems … pretty good.

And in the context of trying to consider what it all meant, I came across Massachusetts’ Artifact Cider Project. If you head over to their website at ArtifactCider.com, you’ll find the company actually does sell its cider on vibes. One cider is for "late night bonfires" while another is meant for "brunch and beach." There's even a cider named Wolf at the Door that carries the vibe of "fight not flight," adding a layer of mystery to whatever that may mean to you, dear drinker.

Anyway, while in Chicago for the annual American Cider Association conference, it was a great excuse to seek out Soham Bhatt, co-founder of Artifact, and someone who I came to learn has an insatiable curiosity. It’s that trait that led him to cider and as you’ll hear, drives what he and the Artifact team continue to do in search of all kinds of drinkers. In this conversation we get philosophical about how hobbies turn into careers and what it takes to convince people to pick cider over other alcohol options. Along the way, you’ll also get an appreciation for Soham’s never-ending quest to learn more—whether that’s about cider, movies, people, or just about anything else. Whenever you last picked up a cider, be it for a search for flavor or something a friend just handed you, Soham’s perspective will help you think about all this in another way. How vibes matter in the pursuit of something new.

CL-119 David Nilsen On His Craft Beer Origin Story, Thanks To Great Lakes Brewing Mar 29, 2023

Spring is a time of emerging, reawakening, and growing beer sales after the category’s typical winter lull—at least for most breweries. But Ohio’s largest brewery, Great Lakes Brewing Company, goes against that seasonal wisdom: Its slow season happens in the warmer months, while winter is its annual highpoint. What gives?

That’s just one of the questions writer and photographer David Nilsen attempts to answer in his latest piece titled “Lore of the Lakes — Great Lakes Brewing Company, Cleveland, Ohio,” which was published on February 1, 2023 as part of Good Beer Hunting’s Signifier series. Inspired by his own coming-of-age story as a beer drinker from Ohio, he dives into the brand’s history, legacy, and future, all of which seem tied together by two big questions: Just who is Great Lakes, and who is it becoming?

Today, David and I discuss how his story evolved from love letter to detailed look at the brewery’s operations and iconic beers themselves, like the beloved Christmas Ale that’s released each October. He doesn’t shy away from Great Lakes’ struggle to define itself in the face of a changing industry, and where it had to look to find inspiration. That inspiration is leading the brewery in interesting, and sometimes unexpected, directions, none of which are off-limits to the historic brand as it attempts to balance legacy and innovation. While the story of a beloved craft brewery and its cherished releases can often seem romantic, David reveals how the struggles behind the scenes aren’t always quite so charming. But there’s still plenty of beauty in each word and picture, so come on a journey to the shores of Lake Erie and hear all about it.

CL-118 Stephanie Grant Says We All Need To Get Outside Mar 22, 2023

Experiencing the uninterrupted beauty of nature should be easy, and in theory it is—for some. As writer Stephanie Grant explores in a new story, going camping can feel like an insurmountable barrier reserved for the wealthy and white. But she hopes that’s changing, thanks to organizations like Outdoor Gear and Beer, which are building a more inclusive beer community for people of color and Black campers who simply wish to enjoy the majesty of the great outdoors.

In her Olly Olly piece titled “Unplugged Under the Stars — How Black Beer Organizations are Diversifying Camping,” published on March 1, 2023, Stephanie discusses resources for Black campers both in and out of the beer world, outlining the many reasons why they may not feel comfortable camping or out in nature at all. Nick and Amanda Brooks of Outdoor Gear and Beer help break down some of common fears and hesitations for the uninitiated, acting as expert guides before and during the camping process. Stephanie learned first-hand how their guidance gives people a new perspective—it’s one she gained herself on a recent trip, one that took her dreams of camping and made them a reality.

In today’s conversation, Stephanie reveals how her expectations for the trip compare to her experience, and why she continues to feel strongly pulled to nature. It’s an instinctively human feeling, but one that can be out-of-reach for certain people due to time, money, or fear. Fear plays a big role in both the piece and our discussion: Stephanie talks about how it robbed her of years of potential outdoor enjoyment, how to conquer it through knowledge, and the difference between things like fear of bears and fear of people (because sometimes, it’s the people who are the most unpredictable).

Olly Olly is all about getting outside, finding freedom in the possibilities of the Earth. What possibilities does Stephanie see?

EP-358 Jesse Epstein of Shmaltz Brewing Mar 18, 2023

At some point in your life, you’ve probably been told that you’re not supposed to talk about religion or politics in certain settings. Especially when you meet someone for the first time. In this episode, we’re breaking that rule. As much as it may be one, at least.

This conversation combines the secularness of beer with values of Judaism as our guest walks us through why this is a balance that will bring something new and exciting to the industry. Jesse Epstein is a rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion and the new owner of Shmaltz Brewing. The brand was founded in 1996, retired in 2021, and right at the end of 2022 came back to life after Epstein bought the rights to one of the longer-tenured craft beer brands in the country. While Judaism has always been a part of Shmaltz’ schtick, Epstein plans to deepen that connection even more through his own education and work and commitment to caring for others and social justice.

A homebrewer-turned-owner, Epstein is brand new to the professional world of beer, but his vision for what he wants Shmaltz to become is rooted in who he is, the values he’s learned from family and his synagogue, and an interest for exploring what a Jewish beer brand can accomplish in 2023 and beyond. His hope is that one pint at a time, he can provide a reason for drinkers to consider how they can be a part of repairing the world through human connection. Join me in getting to know Jesse over the first 15 minutes of our conversation, which will give lots of context for why religion and politics becomes center to the rest of what we talk about, and what he wants to do with beer.

CL-117 Rachel Hendry Unpacks 500 Years Of Champagne’s Influence Mar 15, 2023

Everybody loves bubbles. What’s not to love? They’re fun, they pop, and they taste amazing—especially in drinks like Champagne, or what the French writer Voltaire called “the most glorious expression” of French civilization. In her first piece for Good Beer Hunting, writer and wine enthusiast Rachel Hendry explores Champagne’s history as a status symbol as well as its influence on other beverages—specifically, beer.

That piece, titled “Traditional Method — Exploring Champagne’s Influence on the Brewing Industry,” was published on January 4, 2023 and covers 500 years of history, evolution, and the ongoing significance of the luxurious beverage, one that some beer makers (you’ll find out who) believe they can outshine. I’m not sure that’s the case, and neither is Rachel.

In our conversation today, she’ll reveal when and why she decided to pursue writing about the opulent world of Champagne and how her original idea transformed into a sprawling exploration of the celebratory bubbly. We’ll hear about when Champagne went from still to sparkling, how a demand for wartime wood changed the structural integrity of glass bottles—which helped stabilize Champagne’s volatility—and what fascinates her about the wine, which remains out of reach for the average person on an average day. We go from high to low, beer to wine, and beyond. Take a walk on the sparkling side with us, right now.

NG-006 — The Evolution of SoCal Cerveceros Mar 11, 2023

Nearly all of the stories you read and interviews you hear from Good Beer Hunting include professionals in beer. But one of the wonderful things about this beverage is you don’t have to be a working pro to make and enjoy it. And like other areas of the industry, there’s a growing collection of people who’ve embraced homebrewing that bring demographics and backgrounds historically underrepresented in beer. That’s a space we’re exploring in this episode thanks to Ray Ricky Rivera, the journalist behind one of Good Beer Hunting's Next Germination stories—a series produced in partnership with Guinness—that focused on the SoCal Cerveceros, the largest Latino homebrew club in the country that’s also been dubbed “one of the most important homebrew clubs in the world.”

As a member of the group, Ray brings a unique perspective to his story you can find on goodbeerhunting.com and one you’ll get a sense of here. Instead of recapping what was written, however, we’re going to share with you three acts to represent growth and change in homebrewing, with a highlight of what’s next. First, you’ll hear from Julia Herz, executive director of the American Homebrewers Association, to learn about the hobby and priorities for the organization. Then, Ray will take us to a SoCal hangout, where we’ll meet a couple members, learn about their involvement, and listen in during their brew day. Lastly, we’ll catch up with Ray to hear about the ongoing impact SoCal Cerveceros has on its members and local beer lovers in California.

This is the audio companion to “‘I See You’ — The Evolution of SoCal Cerveceros,” stories for our Next Germination series, produced in partnership with Guinness. First, we visit with Julia Herz of the American Homebrewers Association.

EP-357 Julia Herz of American Homebrewers Association Mar 04, 2023

This conversation is all about stories. Tales of recent history and childhood memories. Recalling inspiration from others and happy accidents. Joining me to stroll down memory lane is Julia Herz, someone who has provided plenty of people in and around beer their own mental souvenirs to cherish.

Julia is a longtime fixture in beer, having served for years as a de facto “face” of craft brewers’ trade organization, the Brewers Association. She was part of a round of COVID-influened layoffs in 2020, but is now back with the Brewers Association’s sister group, the American Homebrewers Association, serving as executive director. Julia’s connections, relationships, and impact runs deep in American beer, and you can get a good sense of that as well as reflections on a temporary career change in Good Beer Hunting podcast episode 286 which features a conversation with Julia and GBH colleague, Beth Demmon.

But in this episode, you’ll hear Julia talk about her own appreciation for homebrewing, some of what her organization is up to, and share stories of the many things that led her to where she is today. Including a chance encounter with the Homebrewers Assoication’s original founder that feels uniquely perfect to her journey.

NG-005 Next Germination — The Brown Gradient Beer Wenches Transform Utah Beer Feb 25, 2023

Representation in beer matters for everyone—the more people means more ideas means better experiences—but as you’ll soon hear, it holds particular weight for Ruvani de Silva. She’s the journalist behind one of Good Beer Hunting's Next Germination stories—a series produced in partnership with Guinness—that focused on a diverse group of women who showcase breweries and the beer community in Utah.

Ruvani will provide you with the background and a proper introduction, but here’s a sample of Ruvani’s writing that helps set the stage for what to expect in her story and what you’ll experience in this podcast.

In her profile, Ruvani writes of the Brown Gradient Beer Wenches: “The energy the foursome exudes as a group is visible; it reminds me of the electric sparks of a band delivering a set so tight the members’ connection feels telepathic …They are luminous in each other’s presence—and they know it.”

We hope these conversations offer a little extra light for you, too.

CL-116 Chelsea Carrick on Promises, Politics, and The Price of Beer Feb 22, 2023

Climate change. Drought. Lack of clean water. We hear about these issues all the time, but how much do we see them? Do we feel them? And are we really doing anything about them?

In her latest piece for Good Beer Hunting, Mexico City-based freelance writer Chelsea Carrick talks about some of these problems; specifically, how they are affecting the beer industry in Mexico in real time. That piece, titled “Waiting for the Rain — How Drought in Northern Mexico Impacts the Country’s Beer Industry,” which was published on January 12, 2023, explores the historical inequity of water access between the United States and Mexico, how the water-intensive beer industry contributes to economic instability, and how shifting the issue from North to South might not have the favorable results the country’s president hopes for.

In today’s conversation, Chelsea and I talk about the evolution of her piece, as well as what we can do as consumers to limit the destructive aspects of food and drink production as a whole. As individuals, climate change can feel insurmountable. But we shouldn’t, and can’t, ignore the environmental injustices that will affect us all at one point or another, no matter how far we bury our heads in the sand. Protecting the Earth is everyone’s problem, and everyone’s responsibility. Let’s hear about the balances she’s made and the choices we’ll all face.

EP-356 Jesse Valenciana, Journalist, Author, and Cook Feb 18, 2023

When I’m doing prep for the interviews you hear on this podcast, I try to look across digital footprints for insights that help me gauge a person, their personality, and the kinds of questions I should ask. It’s all based on instinct and hope that my own impression from a distance gives me enough to offer you a meaningful conversation that introduces someone new or helps you gain a deeper appreciation for someone who’s familiar.

Sometimes, the idea of a person I’m researching matches exactly who they are in our conversation, and that’s the case with Jesse Valenciana. As you’ll hear right away, the trail of breadcrumbs he leaves on social media and with his professional connections make it clear he cares deeply for his loved ones and his heritage.

Jesse most recently worked as director of marketing for Kentucky’s Against the Grain Brewery—his time there ended after we recorded this podcast as part of budget cuts at the brewery. So, if you hear us talking about Against the Grain in the present tense in this conversation, that’s why. Jesse says it’s onward and upward for him and his career, however, which also includes a varied skill set: he’s also a food and beverage journalist, author, cook, and a person who seems to always consider how his past connects to his present in these roles.

In this conversation, you’ll learn about all this, from his childhood visiting family in Mexico to how those roots shaped his personality and relationships, including the way his history and culture helps him view America’s craft beer industry. After years of working in beer, Jesse shares the way he’s been shaped by his own passions, microaggressions from others, and why it matters to the way he does his job now and in the future.

EP 355 - Cecile Macasero and Dina Dobkin of Fort Point Beer Company Feb 11, 2023

You’re used to hearing about beer, but in this conversation, we’re pairing that topic with food. Brewpubs and beer-focused bars and restaurants across the country all have their particular takes on menus that incorporate the two. What you’ll hear momentarily shares philosophy and strategy around what people can expect from California’s Fort Point Beer Company, which features full-time culinary director Cecile Macasero.

Cecile has worked at prestigious restaurants recognized with James Beard awards and Michelin stars. He’s organized menus for staff at Google. And as you’ll hear, the things he’s learned elsewhere have helped him conceptualize what food can provide to beer lovers when they visit Fort Point and what it means to create dishes that try to capture the spirit of San Francisco.

Along with Cecile, we’re joined by Dina Dobkin, co-owner and chief brand officer at Fort Point, who sheds additional light on the ideas and processes to create a special on-premise experience for people who visit the brewery to drink and eat.

Together, Cecile and Dina explain why it’s important to have a component of food at a taproom, how their family histories from outside the United States have shaped their own appreciation for food, and how beer and food can find a fun middle ground between what’s interesting and what’s easy to love.

SM-008 Beer For All or None: The Busch-Lasker Controversy of 1922 Feb 04, 2023

It was 1922, and August A. Busch, Sr. needed a break. A long one. It turns out that running a gigantic brewing company like Anheuser-Busch during Prohibition was kind of stressful. And so, being the patriarch of one of the country's wealthiest family dynasties at the time, Busch did what dynasts do: he treated the word "summer" like a verb.

On May 15th of that year, Busch boarded the SS George Washington, a passenger ship about half the size of the Titanic, bound for a three-month retreat at the family's country estate in western Germany. Now, we could all get a cheap laugh at the elitist image of Anheuser-Busch's president leaving his titan brewery so a luxury liner can whisk him away to his personal castle on a German hillside, but I urge you to resist the temptation. If you'd had the run that Busch had so far, you'd need a vacation too.

Prohibition in the United States, which banned the manufacture, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages nationwide, had been in effect for over two years now–which meant the beer that had built the Busch family's empire was illegal.

Many of the nation's thousand-ish breweries simply closed, but Anheuser Busch was one of the few that tried to survive in a post-beer country. And so far…it wasn't going well. The brewery was millions in the red, the products they made to replace beer weren't cutting it, and the government was failing spectacularly to contain the growing hordes of moonshiners and bootleggers across the country.

But if you're going through hell, keep going. Whether it was pure faith or rational assessment, Busch believed that Prohibition wouldn't last forever. Even so, it was clearer every day that fighting the 18th Amendment would be a marathon, not a sprint. Which brings us back to the George Washington.

Busch boarded and the ship set sail, but the George Washington was barely underway when Busch saw something shocking. As soon as the ship passed into international waters, and out of U.S. jurisdiction, the ship's staff threw open cabinets full of liquors, wines, and beer, and opened up a bar. Actually, they opened five bars, all over the ship. And because American alcohol producers, like Busch, had all been put out of business, the booze was entirely foreign in origin–even the so-called "Old American Moonshine Whiskey."

As you might imagine, this made Busch a little angry. The George Washington, like many American passenger liners at the time, wasn't just some ship. It was owned and operated by the United States Shipping Board, a government agency. In other words, the government that was enforcing Prohibition on Americans was also slinging drinks on the side.

August Busch wasn't about to take this lying down. The United States government had become, in his words, the "biggest bootlegger in the world," and everyone was going to know about it.

In this episode, the strict impositions of Prohibition draws a once and future titan of the brewing industry, Busch, into a very public feud with Albert Lasker, an advertising guru turned reluctant chairman of the Shipping Board. Their battle over the right to sell alcohol at sea delighted a sensationalist media, put a finger on the scales of the 1922 congressional midterm elections, spurred a Supreme Court case, and laid bare the strange politics of the Prohibition era. As Prohibition expanded the size and reach of the U.S. government, it also kindled political conflicts that went far beyond the morality of drinking beer. In fact, Prohibition laid bare the complications involved in implementing, adapting to, or coping with high minded social concepts. Whether that idea is a controversial moral creed like banning alcohol, or a hopefully straightforward ideal like democracy, the devil will always be in the details.

EP-354 Rafael D'Armas of Montclair Brewery Jan 28, 2023

What does a banana taste like? I want you to take a moment to consider it, whether you like them or not. As you think about unpeeling the fruit and taking a first bite, do you imagine something sweet? Maybe the texture is mushy. Is there a scene playing out in your mind? I promise this question isn’t for nothing, and in this conversation, you’ll eventually hear how one skilled brewer thinks about eating a banana he can only find in memory.

Get ready to meet Rafael D’Armas, who came to homebrewing and the beer industry through a career that started in political science and international relations. Originally from Venezuela, you’ll hear how politics, history, and culture shaped his early assumptions of what he wanted to do for work, and then how a friend and some beer changed his mind. Rafael started in beer at New York City’s Bronx Brewery through an internship program made possible with Beer Kulture, a nonprofit working to foster a more inclusive beer industry, and is currently a brewer at Montclair Brewery in New Jersey. This fall, it was announced he received the Michael Jackson Foundation’s Sir Geoff Palmer Award for Brewing to attend the prestigious Siebel Institute of Technology, which has trained generations of some of the best brewers in the world.

But all that is just background for the person you’ll come to understand Rafael to be as we talk about his home country, what it was like trading political science research for beer, what “innovation” means when it’s made personal … and bananas, of course. This is a chance to get to know an up-and-coming brewer who has unique and deep ideas of what beer can be, and how he wants to be a part of change.

NG-004 Next Germination — Lost in Translation Jan 21, 2023

Past is prelude, as they say, and it’s always interesting to find foreshadowings of our contemporary beer culture deep in the history books. Take monastery breweries, for example, which are some of the oldest beer makers in the world, with a tradition going back a thousand years or more. But not all monastery breweries date back quite so far. In fact, new ones are still opening up today—not often, of course, but at least occasionally, as at Mount Saint Bernard Abbey in Leicestershire, England, which only started brewing its beer, called Tynt Meadow, in 2018.

In this episode, I’m talking to the beer writer Mark Dredge, who published a Signifier, “The More You Master Something, the More Free You Feel,” about the new monastery brewery at Mount Saint Bernard Abbey on October 19, 2022. But that’s not the only story Mark has done for us recently. His article “Lost in Translation — How Flavor Wheels and Tasting Tools Can Evolve to Speak with Global Beer Drinkers” was published on August 18, as part of our Next Germination series, made in partnership with Guinness.

If monastic brewing has centuries of backstory, then the topic of “Lost in Translation”—tasting notes, and the way we describe flavors in beer—is a much newer practice. As Mark explains, the comparative language we use to describe flavor mostly originated in the wine world in the 1970s. His story explores this evolution, and also questions how relevant those words and terms are for someone on a different continent, or in a different culture.

In this episode, we delve into both of Mark’s recent stories, and explore the possibility of updating flavor wheels and tasting tools for more modern—and more diverse—audiences. We also discuss monastic brewing, the rigors of monastic life, and Mark’s abiding interest in running, which leads into another article he’s been working on for us.

NG-004 Next Germination — A Land of Rice and History Jan 14, 2023

One of the wonderful and unique things about food and beverage is the ability to transcend time. Something with a long history and personal past can be made and shared today, connecting points in time in ways we never might have expected. In one of Good Beer Hunting's Next Germination stories—a series produced in partnership with Guinness—reporting from Anna Sulan Masing plays the part of time machine. For her piece, "A Land of Rice and History," she traces the background and cultural connections of tuak, a drink brewed from rice native to Malaysia.

Tuak is rooted in ritual and memory and in this episode, you'll hear from Anna, the people making tuak lovingly referred to as "aunties," and business leaders trying to find ways to expand understanding of tuak and the opportunities for modern drinkers to enjoy it. We start with something that goes back into Anna's own background and highlights what can be next for herself and others.

EP-353 Natalie Rose Baldwin and Ben Edmunds of Breakside Brewery Dec 31, 2022

You don’t have to be an in-the-weeds beer enthusiast to figure out there can be a whole lot of ways to make a beer. Just look at any taplist. There are different ingredients, fermentation options, ABVs, and plenty more spaces in which a brewer can play. When seeking any kind of flavor experience—guided by tradition or new ideas—there can be an endless array of choices to make.

In this conversation, we meet with two of the beer world’s smartest minds to learn more about the research and development of beer at one of the country’s leading craft breweries. At Oregon’s Breakside Brewery, collaboration and innovation come together for Ben Edmunds, the company’s brewmaster, and Natalie Rose Baldwin, Breakside’s R&D brewer. Inspired by food, other beverages, and nature, the pair will share with us how they translate ideas from out in the world into a glass of beer and why it’s important to think about ingredients instead of just flavor.

When it comes to creating a new beer, what does innovation mean today? And where do successful brewers look to consider what’s next? In a world full of Pastry Stouts and New England IPAs that can all feel sort of familiar, it’s brewers like these that get to run with fun, weird, and unique combinations of ingredients that can offer new experiences and ideas of how and when we can enjoy a beer.

CL-115 Anaïs Lecoq Shouldn’t Have To Keep Waiting Dec 28, 2022

If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? And if French women scream at the top of their lungs for acceptance, respect, and change, does anyone listen? That’s the question freelance writer Anaïs Lecoq set out to answer in her piece for Good Beer Hunting titled “Pas Encore — French Women Are Sick of Waiting for Their Beer Revolution,” which was published on October 20, 2022.

In the piece, Anaïs describes the pervasive avoidance the French beer scene has towards conversations about sexual harrassment, violence, and assault when such conversations are initiated by women. When they do occur, they almost always end in litigation, ensuring that the current culture of fear, trauma, and repression continues to be the status quo. In fact, in our conversation today, she says the entire reason she wrote the piece is due to the fact that despite publishing an open letter signed by hundreds of women working in the French beer scene, they were met with virtual silence and apathy. What will actually get people to listen and make change, she wonders? I find myself wondering the same thing.

You’re about to hear what she thinks it will take, as well as a recent bombshell she hopes might trigger a #MeToo movement similar to the one Brienne Allan instigated in the United States in 2021. However, Anaïs’ hope is clouded by pessimism when we discuss how even those efforts, once promising, have fizzled. Actions may start with words, but they shouldn’t end there, and she describes what actions need to be taken in order for the fledgling French beer scene to grow in such a way that everyone is valued. Let’s listen to what has happened, what’s happening, and what she thinks is about to happen.

Empire State of Mind: Launch event at Villages Taproom, London Dec 24, 2022

Sometimes it feels like everything that can be said about beer has been said. But then something comes along that fundamentally changes the way we think about a style, or our culture. For me, that recently took place with David Jesudason’s GBH story, Empire State of Mind – Interrogating IPA’s Colonial Identity.

Today’s hop-forward beers are so divorced from the original 18th century IPA that it’s rare to even hear the acronym spelled out – India Pale Ale. And until now, I’d never given much thought to how the marketing of IPA could reflect our modern understanding of empire – or lack thereof.

Empire State of Mind combines personal storytelling with historical reporting, and in the space of a few thousand words, IPA goes from a symbol of craft beer’s revolution to one of colonialist invasion, exploitation and erasure. The article was mostly born out of David’s frustrations at having to educate himself about this important and dark part of British history.

CL-114 Jacopo Mazzeo Keeps Coming Back Dec 21, 2022

What’s new is old and what’s old is precious in a small corner of southern England, where writer and journalist Jacopo Mazzeo takes us on a tour of the wild and sprawling New Forest National Park. In his latest piece for Good Beer Hunting titled “Curiouser and Curiouser — In Search of Brewing Novelty In England’s Ancient New Forest,” which was published on October 13, 2022, he explores the ancient landscape with a local’s eye, sharing the natural beauty and growing beer scene through personal experience, community connection, and research into the nearly thousand-year history of the region.

In today’s conversation with Jacopo, he shares how the COVID-19 pandemic forced him to look closer to home for travel inspiration, which led to fortuitous results. Growing up in Italy, the countryside wasn’t as accessible to him as it is in the United Kingdom, the country he’s made his home over the past 11 years. That’s why he treasures the nearby New Forest, a historical area he continues to be drawn to time and time again. He talks about that draw of nature, as well as why he keeps coming back to experience the growing craft beer scene first-hand.

He’ll also share a few insider tidbits that didn’t quite make it into his final piece, as well as where he’s headed next as the world slowly continues to reopen. (I’ll just say his upcoming trips to Lebanon and the Seychelles sound deliciously libatious.) Let’s start our journey into this rustic wonderland, right now.

EP-352 Joe Mettle and Roger Apollon, Jr of Entrepreneurship and Equity in Brewing Dec 17, 2022

One of my favorite things about hosting this podcast is the chance to meet people and discuss who they are, not just what they do in the world of beer or beverage alcohol. It’s really important for me to showcase the humans who make up these industries, what makes them think, and what makes them special.

In this conversation, our two guests do the heavy lifting to introduce themselves. Their voices and experiences will help guide you to consider what it means to be a black man in beer, an entrepreneur and visionary, and each a better half of a dynamic duo. There’s Joe Mettle, an author and educator, and Roger Apollon Jr., a musician, educator, and co-founder of Four City Brewing Company. Located in New Jersey, both are also the minds behind an educational startup that is helping to launch new ideas and careers.

Together, Joe and Roger started Entrepreneurship and Equity in Brewing, a training program that offers Black, Indigenous, people of color, and other underrepresented people an opportunity to learn the business of beer. Their program was launched with the hope of helping others find greater appreciation for beer, the potential for a new career, and most important, advancement in the beer industry.

In recent years, many organizations, events, and efforts across beer have worked to lift up people long underserved and less seen, and Entrepreneurship and Equity in Brewing—which you’ll also hear referred to as “EEB” in our chat—is another example of grassroots work creating change. I’ll let Joe and Roger take it from here so you can learn what makes them tick and why their work deserves our attention and admiration.

CL-113 Megan Eaves On The Incomparable Wild Of Africa Dec 14, 2022

You can’t fully understand the awe-inspiring nature of an African safari until you’ve experienced it for yourself, or at least so says freelance writer and journalist Megan Eaves. In her first piece for Good Beer Hunting, she inches readers closer than ever to the majesty, fragility, and sometimes violent necessities of life in the bush in her longform feature titled “Life Stays Close to the River — Solar Beer and Wildebeest in the Serengeti,” which was published on October 5, 2022.

Through her words and photos, Megan brings readers on a special journey, and shares how beer brewed in this remote place is more than just a drink. It’s a lifeline to clean water in a parched land, and an economic addition to an area that’s heavily dependent on tourism for the survival of most, if not all, of its inhabitants. She paints a vivid portrait of life, death, and rebirth in this fragile region, one that doesn’t just deserve our attention and awe, but requires it for its preservation.

We’ll take her experience even further in today’s conversation. Megan shares additional memories from the 14-day sojourn into the heart of the Serengeti, including a bloody encounter with a pride of lions and one unlucky elephant. From the dizzying spectacle of the night sky to the haunting sound of 100,000 migrating wildebeests, Megan’s experience becomes our experience, and one we’re lucky to peer into.

SM-007 Women's Work: What the Story of a 17th-Century Brewster Can Teach Us About 21st-Century Brewery Ownership Dec 07, 2022

In July 2022, Miller Lite hosted an event in Philadelphia where the brand released a special-edition can. It used beer history to convey a simple message: "There's no beer without women."

The can celebrated Mary Lisle, a woman who owned and operated a brewery in the early 1700s. According to Miller Lite–and many of the books and articles you might find on American women's beer history–Lisle was the first documented woman brewery owner in colonial American history.

Celebrating Lisle was a way to spotlight the countless ways women have sustained, elevated, and even saved the American brewing industry. That was true in colonial times, and it’s true now. The acknowledgement is overdue: women's contributions are regularly diminished or overlooked entirely among beer’s commonly-accepted narratives.

This history isn't just dusty trivia that's nice to know. It helps us understand why statistically few women, especially single women and women of color, own breweries today. It helps reveal the social and economic barriers behind those statistics as the injustices they truly are. Putting Mary Lisle's story on a beer can, especially one as high profile as Miller Lite, helps do that. And we're fans.

…but…

Mary Lisle wasn't the earliest known woman to own a brewhouse in colonial North America. That's a misconception that just happens to get repeated a lot. The messy history of the early colonial beer trade actually contains lots of evidence that women brewed and sold beer professionally before Lisle–so many that we don't personally know who was first! But rather than worry about firsts or historical nitpicks, we're going to focus on another woman brewery owner: Sarah Frankes.

Frankes brewed beer for her own tavern in 1670s Boston, some 50 years before Mary Lisle took the reins in her own brewhouse. Again, Frankes wasn't the first any more than Lisle was, but we chose her because her life and career reveal not just her own contributions to American beer, but those of her entire generation. They also reveal the omnipresent, shapeshifting barriers that women brewers have faced since America's earliest days.

This episode is a conversation about what we've found, and what it means today.

We spoke to several women across the U.S. who own, or hope to own, their own breweries. Even though there are plenty of differences between Sarah Frankes' 17th century world and our own, their stories overlap in places. The past and present barriers hindering women in the beer trade have more in common than they should.

EP-351 Ale Sharpton of Cruisin' for a Brewsin' Dec 03, 2022

If you’ve spent a significant time in the beer community, then you probably have heard the name Ale Sharpton. Back when I was a fledgling beer writer and looking for a mentor, I stumbled across Ale’s work and immediately knew I needed to meet him. One unanswered email later, which I still tease him about, and we finally met at the inaugural Dames & Dregs Beer Festival.

Since bombarding him with questions on how to break into the industry, Ale has been in my corner supporting me as I find my own way in beer. And he continues to serve as a model of what you can accomplish in the beer industry, through his partnership with New Belgium Brewing on the ongoing Piano Keys collaboration, as well as his involvement in the newly founded Leaders of the Brew School (a collective of BIPOC brewers, beer industry pros, and enthusiasts).

Despite being a transplant, one thing’s clear: Ale Sharpton loves Atlanta and its growing beer scene as much as this local. You can see it in the way he’s repped this city for more than a decade. In how he makes it a point to support the people and breweries that make up its beer community, or in how he uses every chance to give back to the city through his charitable contributions. You’ll hear him talk about how the beer city he dreamed of is blossoming now, where his journey into the industry has taken him so far, and how he turned a beer collab with New Belgium into an opportunity to donate to Black-owned nonprofits.

CL-112 Lana Svitankova Wants To Taste Everything Nov 30, 2022

The concept of “beer-flavored beer” doesn’t actually exist—at least not universally. One person’s disgusting is another person’s delicious, and a lot of it has to do with your upbringing, culture, and culinary traditions. With this in mind, writer Lana Svitankova calls beer an opportunity to experience “liquid nostalgia,” a concept that she explores in-depth in her latest piece titled “Sour, Salty, Umami — The Ukrainian Brewers Transforming Pickling Traditions Into Beer,” which was published on October 12, 2022 as part of Good Beer Hunting’s Critical Drinking series.

In the piece, Lana delves into the relatively young beer industry in Ukraine, which has experimented with pickle beers and other culinary-inspired styles in ways places like the United States have only begun to explore. From tomato beers to those inspired by gazpacho or borscht, these beverages have the ability to connect drinkers with the past as well as the very land around them, a land that remains under threat to this day.

We’ll talk about that ongoing conflict, as well as Lana’s ability to find joy not just in beer itself, but in the strength, courage, and resilience of the beer community as it grapples with survival as well as the human need to experience comfort and cheer. She describes her favorite anecdote she’s told thus far, which involves oysters and a personal redefinition of what beer is, as well as the very specific food-inspired beer she’s holding out for an intrepid brewer to make. Finally, Lana breaks down individual preferences not just in what we eat or drink, but the music we listen to, the art we love, and the way we experience the world around us. Chaos can be as gorgeous as a symphony, and with an open mind, the possibilities for new sensations are endless.

EP-350 Colleen Quinn of Greater Good Nov 26, 2022

In recent years, there’s a good chance you’ve read, heard, or watched news about the incredible rise of non-alcoholic brands. A company like Athletic Brewing—one of the fastest-growing breweries in the country—or non-alc wine appearing in the latest TV revival of Sex and the City. There are examples galore, but the truth is that even as these sub-segments of non-alcoholic options grow rapidly, they remain a literal fraction of today’s alcohol market. And the opposite, high-end ABV side of things is also showing lots of strength.

In this episode, we talk with Colleen Quinn, CEO at America's first brewery to exclusively focus on beer and seltzer at 8% ABV and up, Greater Good Imperial Brewing Company. Based on a recent analysis for Good Beer Hunting’s Sightlines+ subscriber news section, we found that somewhere between 8-10% of craft beer sold in retail carries an ABV around 8% and up, a share that has basically tripled from five years ago and continues to grow. If we have products offering something for non-alcoholic occasions, Greater Good is working to position itself at the other end of the spectrum as the brewery people turn to for big, bold flavors in beer.

Colleen's beer industry experience that led her to the Massachusetts-based company started with Craft Brew Alliance—a consortium of beer companies from across the country—before a short stint with Anheuser-Busch after the company bought Craft brew Alliance in 2020. After running her own consulting firm, Colleen is now at the reins of Greater Good, which grew its production by +66% between 2019-2021. Simply put, this brewery is positioned to capitalize on an established trend in a unique way and has lots of room to run.

What does that mean for how the company accomplishes a goal of being the leading producer of big beer in the U.S.? That’s for Colleen to explore and us to learn.

CL-111 Hollie Stephens Is Running Out Of Time Nov 23, 2022

The Earth is burning—so why don’t more people care? It turns out, one way to get people’s attention is to let them know that if things don’t change (a lot, and soon), we might not have beer for much longer.

In her piece titled “Seeds of Change — The Promise (and Challenges) of New Brewing Grains,” which was published on September 28, 2022, freelance writer Hollie Stephens explores the world of experimental and sustainably oriented grains like Kernza and Salish Blue, which agricultural scientists hope will change the face of craft beer and the ingredients that it’s made from. As a writer who often covers topics like sustainability and climate change, Hollie describes a sense of growing fear she feels as she learns more about the agricultural side of things. But in today’s conversation, she also shares a sense of optimism due to the ingenuity and passion of people working to make the world not just a better place, but one that simply continues to exist.

Today, you’ll hear about her initial discovery of experimental grain growing programs and why she decided to dive into their origins, scientific importance, and their effects on craft beer. We also discuss the ways that we as consumers can help incentivize brewers to invest in this developing technology. As it turns out, things are changing whether we like it or not, so time is of the essence if we hope to keep up. Hollie says it’s a wonderful time to be a beer drinker, but only if we collectively commit to understanding and engaging with where that beverage we all hold dear comes from, and where it might be going next.

CL-110 Courtney Iseman Found Her Family Nov 17, 2022

How many of us have dreamed of opening a “third space”—as in, a social space that isn’t our home and isn’t our workplace—whether it be a collective art studio, a bookstore-slash-gallery, a coffee shop with live music—or perhaps a beer bar with shelves upon shelves of vinyl records? Well, the Maestro family did just that, and they did it well.

In Courtney Iseman’s piece titled “Better on Vinyl — BierWax in Brooklyn and Queens, New York,” which was published on Good Beer Hunting on September 21, 2022, she dives deep into BierWax’s history, origins, pandemic struggles, and unique place in New York City beer history. She encourages visitors to head to BierWax to discover something new, whether it be beer or music, and leave with a sense of welcoming community that serves to engage and inspire.

In today’s conversation about her piece, we’ll talk about how Chris and Yahaira Maestro created an extension of their home, how they became living proof of a dream realized, and why there simply aren’t more places like their bar out there. We’ll also discuss how it is possible to like your job, how Courtney found a new family at BierWax, and the ways in which authenticity and intention can help nurture a warm, inviting space that remains an all-too-rare outlier in the beverage scene. If you’ve ever nurtured a still-unrealized dream, this is the conversation that may encourage you to finally go for it. This is Courtney Iseman on BierWax.

EP-349 Nicki Werner of Jefferson Beer Supply Nov 12, 2022

When people think of South Dakota, beer doesn’t likely come to mind. Maybe Mount Rushmore. Probably agriculture. But in this episode, we’re exploring what it means to be a part of building a culture and knowledge for beer in a state where that’s still sort of new.

We’re chatting with Nicki Werner, director of brewing at Jefferson Beer Supply in Jefferson, South Dakota, a city with a small population and until just recently, a lack of exposure to homegrown beer. Nicki opened the business with her partner and Jefferson native, Anthony Roark, and together the pair are showing how a commitment to education and community can grow something unique in places where the idea of “craft beer” is still new. Light Lager may dominate the minds and taste buds of local residents, but Nicki’s skill in the brewhouse is working to introduce customers to pastry Sours, Imperial Stouts, and Hazy IPAs.

As you’ll hear from Nicki, it takes a holistic effort to pull it off, and it helps to also find inspiration from peers that show how connecting to the place where you live and work can be translated to the way you make and sell beer.

EP-348 Reggie Duvalsaint — Ballpark Vendor Extraordinaire Nov 05, 2022

So … what did you do over your summer vacation? It’s a classic question so many of us would answer whenever returning to school each fall, and if Reggie Duvalsaint was sitting in a circle with peers to recap, he’d have a hell of a story.

This summer, Reggie crisscrossed the country to work at baseball stadiums in every corner of the U.S. As a ballpark vendor, he sold beer and food to fans. And as an astute social being and with a good business mindset, he also took note of what people became excited about and why ideas of “local” can drive sales.

So, in this conversation you’ll meet Reggie, hear about his one-of-kind journey to visit 30 ballparks, and pick up some inside tips of what people were eating and drinking while out to a ballgame. It’s a fun snapshot to a moment in time with a tour guide who spent months compiling experiences and knowledge. With that, he hopes to inspire others to find excitement with whatever they may want to accomplish, whether that’s with travel, meeting new people, or just finding an excuse to do something new and different.

CL-109 Oliver Gray Finds His Place Nov 03, 2022

There’s an inherent tension in making art. The best art comes from a deeply personal place, but also speaks in a universal register. That's not to say all art is for every person, but when the artist can successfully weave specific, individual moments into the grand themes of life, the results can be sensational.

In his column for Good Beer Hunting called “This Must Be The Place,” writer Oliver Gray shares glimpses of his life through the lens of beer: sometimes directly, other times more esoterically. His lyrical observations about finding his place as a beer lover, father, partner, and friend remind me of songwriting, in that there may or may not be an obvious answer at the end, but it sure has a beautiful flow.

Today, Oliver and I discuss how he evolved from a nonfiction writer to a blogger to a columnist, as well as why he shifted from his own outlet to Good Beer Hunting. You’ll hear which writers and artists inspire him, as well as why he thinks certain things simply matter in the way that they do. We’ll also dive into what struck me specifically in his latest entry called “Boxed Up,” which pinpointed the freeing, but chaotic, experience of moving.

Oliver describes his short, poetic entries as comfort food, a descriptor with which I agree wholeheartedly.

Scott and Whitney Selix of Lua Beer Oct 22, 2022

In this episode we’re taking a trip to Des Moines, Iowa, where Whitney and Scott Selix share with us stories of their hospitality careers and what it means to create an innovative tap list at Lua Brewing. It’s that latter piece that caught my eye when I first came across Lua, with a lineup that includes traditional German and English beers alongside various hazy IPAs and slushee Sours.

If like me, you may not know a lot about the brewing scene in Iowa, and Whitney and Scott offer context of being part of a growing beer culture where you can introduce a drinker to new styles with something like an English Mild, but you also have to provide access to something fun and different—like a “Blue Razz Electrolyte Sour” that as it turns out, wasn’t the first take in Des Moines on that collection of flavors and ideas.

As partners at Lua and in life, let’s get to know a little more about this brewery and what it means for Whitney and Scott to make something special in a burgeoning market.

This is Lua Brewing’s Whitney Selix, president and co-founder, and Scott Selix, director of operations and co-founder.

CL-108 Matt Osgood Is Tied To History Oct 19, 2022

Lager might be having a moment, but as a whole, craft beer drinkers don’t always reach for the easiest beer on the menu. Instead, the newest, most intense, biggest beers on the block tend to get the most attention. But sometimes—often—the best beer is actually the familiar one, the favorite, the old reliable. Sometimes, it’s Narragansett.

In his story “Hi, Neighbor — Narragansett Lager’s Return to Ubiquity,” writer Matt Osgood manages to tie the Red Sox, the movie “Jaws,” and the iconic ’Gansett Lager into one historical romp through the brewery’s origins, influence, evolution, and impact on today’s craft beer culture. As you listen, we’ll talk about why he tends to write about singular beers and breweries through a historical lens, what he wished he could have explored more in his piece, and why this story couldn’t have happened anywhere but New England. We’ll also unpack how Narragansett manages to balance nostalgia with modern-day beer culture, and why this unassuming “hipster” beer is enjoyed by everyone.

Beer doesn’t have to be a challenge to drink, and today’s conversation is as easy as popping open a cold Ganny and crushing it like Quint. Don’t get the reference?

EP-347 Jasmine Mason and Ashley Johnson of Cider Jawns Oct 15, 2022

It’s time to talk apples. Or, at least, how apples fit into all the other flavors you might experience when you pop open a bottle or can of hard cider. To help with this journey, we’re chatting with Jasmine Mason and Ashley Johnson, a pair of cider lovers and entrepreneurs behind the Cider Jawns. As to what a “jawn” is exactly we’ll get into during the conversation, and along with some Merriam-Webster definitions, Jasmine and Ashley will share with you insights into what feels exciting to today’s cider drinkers.

For some, it’s finding a kind of hard cider that surprises, whether dry or sweet. For others, it’s about the flavors that can be added on top of an apple base to create something fun or different. But regardless of your level of experience with cider, Jasmine and Ashley will give us a good barometer of what’s working in today’s market and for who, and how they like to use that to guide the way they think about and make cider.

From the jump, it’s easy to hear and understand Ashley and Jasmine’s enthusiasm for cider and how they’re working to carve out a space for themselves and others. And by the end of this conversation, you’ll also know how they hope to take that effort further in the future.

CL-107 Jerard Fagerberg On Letting Go With Intention Oct 12, 2022

Like many craft beer enthusiasts entering their late 30s and early 40s, I’ve found the booze real estate in my refrigerator is starting to shrink. First, I started adding cans of LaCroix knockoffs from ALDI. Then I swapped a few beers for some hard kombuchas, followed by regular kombuchas. Right now, I’ve got cans of fruited sparkling tea, and recently I realized that the only alcohol I have left in the house are samples for work.

I am, like thousands of others, beginning to dabble in reducing my alcohol consumption. The motivations for doing so are myriad, whether it be intentionally for health, economically because of inflation, or for any number of other reasons. These shifts, once cast as secrets among craft beer fans, became much more openly discussed when longtime beer writer Norman Miller announced he was giving up alcohol for health reasons in 2018, along with his beer column, “The Beer Nut.” It was a revolutionary admission, and one that resonated with fellow beer writer Jerard Fagerberg, among many others.

In the first piece for his new column, Let Go Or Get Dragged, Jerard speaks with Norman four years after that announcement of his sobriety. You’ll hear clips from Jerard and Norman’s conversation today, as well as Jerard’s inspiration for the column, his personal drinking history, and his approach to sobriety. We’ll also discuss the pros and cons of non-alcoholic beer, and the societal movement that’s seeing more Americans embrace being sober-curious. This isn’t a critique on the beer industry itself: Rather, it’s a holistic look at how alcohol shapes our lives, our culture, our minds, and our bodies.

EP-346 Liz Preston of Prestonrose Farms Oct 08, 2022

This statement shouldn’t come as a surprise: Beer is agriculture. With ingredients that come from the ground there are so many ways a region, climate, and growing practices can impact the flavors of our beer. And in this episode, we learn a bit about how something like craft malt can make a difference for a brewer trying to not only offer something that tastes unique, but brings story and connection to the earth and people.

Liz Preston is an owner, farmer, brewer, and chef at Prestonrose Farm and Brewing in Paris, Arkansas, so you can imagine her understanding and appreciation for all things agriculture runs through everything she does. Along with hearing a little about her background as a scientist and lab manager, you’ll gain an appreciation for the ways Liz considers the nuance and importance of farming and the way that moves from the people who grow something from the ground to an ingredient used to make her beer. You’ll also gain a better understanding for what it takes to create beer in the South during a time when temperatures are a little bit hotter, rain can be slightly more sparse, and climate change impacts the way Liz thinks about the cycle of what we grow and how.

In this conversation you’ll hear about what it takes to grow a brewery in Arkansas and what it’s like being part of an in-state industry that’s working to change perceptions of what beer can be.

CL-106 Jonny Garrett Wonders “What Is Beer?” Oct 05, 2022

Around the world, the craft beer community disagrees on a lot of things, but one big schism is over what beer actually is. Is it a rigid adherence to historical methods and styles? Or could it also be over-the-top, avant-garde experiments that are as far from tradition as it’s possible to be while still remaining liquid? At Omnipollo Brewing, it turns out beer can be both.

In his latest piece titled “Lead Us Not Into Temptation — Omnipollo Brewing in Stockholm, Sweden,” writer and filmmaker Jonny Garrett goes headfirst into the wacky world of Omnipollo, a brewery best known for its outrageous Pastry Stouts and iconic aesthetic. But being known for one thing hasn’t kept them from branching out—even if they’re not quite sure where they’re going. Today, Jonny reveals what it was like to have his own preconceptions about what beer is challenged by Omnipollo, and how brewing Pastry Stouts emulates the artistry of baking actual pastries. He describes Omnipollo as “tearing up the rulebook” of beer, with outlandish—and yes, delicious—results.

We also talk about how filming, photographing, and even writing about the art of others is an art form in itself, rife with challenges that can often yield something entirely new. Finally, we’ll touch on that Yellow Belly controversy: what it was like to hear about it firsthand from Omnipollo’s founder and brewer, their intent, the impact, and how context changes over time and in different places. Beer is always more than just beer, so let’s talk about it.

CL-105 Matt Osgood Isn’t Sure What To Do Oct 04, 2022

Right now, a lot of things seem really bad. There are microplastics embedded in all of our bodies—including millions of bodies now stripped of autonomy, thanks to the Supreme Court. Wildfire season is heating up (literally), everything costs more than it used to, and it’s hard to escape this pervasive feeling of existential dread permeating every corner of our lives which, unfortunately, also includes beer.

In his piece titled “Slow-Dancing in a Burning Room — The Cost of Climate Change on Beer’s Favorite Crop,” published on May 12, 2022, Matt Osgood shares insights from farmers and scientists about the impending changes hops face in light of what he calls the “unbiased chaos of natural disaster.” It’s dire out there, he explains, but he believes the best chance for beer lies solely in the hands of human ingenuity mixed with technological advances.

Today, Matt and I discuss our collective responsibilities as beer drinkers and journalists, but also as citizens of the world—a world that seems like it’s changing no matter what we do. But by claiming our power as individuals, we retain the hope that our children and our children’s children stand a fighting chance of not just existing, but enjoying Earth’s bounty, including craft beer. All of these issues are intertwined, and it can feel like playing whack-a-mole when making decisions. But this push and pull of human restraint against human destruction only continues to gain importance, making conversations such as these crucial for the future of beer, people, and Earth. Let’s dive in.

EP-343 Kindsey Bernhard of Austin Beerworks and Boys Are From Marzen Oct 01, 2022

When we think about beer and brewing, it’s easy for our minds to wander toward the person making the beer we drink. Brewers create a little bit of magic combining art and science, and because of that, are often considered the backbone to a business that makes and sells beer. Sometimes, they can even be thought of as rock stars with engaging personalities and thoughtful approaches to what it means to make beer.

But there are so many more people we may miss when we think about beer as an industry.

In this conversation, we’re chatting with Kindsey Bernhard, director of hospitality for Austin Beerworks, and also a background of all sorts of skills and expertise. Kindsey has worked as a bartender and before her role with Austin Beerworks, was taproom manager for Hi-Wire Brewing's location in Louisville, Kentucky. She's also a peer in media, having written for Porch Drinking and hosting her own podcast, Boys Are From Marzen, which showcases women and non-binary people who work in beer.

When we connected, Kindsey had just recently moved to Austin to begin her latest job, so you’ll hear about what it’s like to transplant as part of pursuing new career goals and what’s caught her eye as a new resident of Austin, Texas. We’ll also talk about the variety of skills she’s learned and displayed as a person working in beer and how her passion for the industry has driven her to better understand career goals and finding balance in her life.

Kindsey is one of many amazing people working for a brewery who doesn’t make the beer, and I hope you’ll come away from this chat with an appreciation for her and the behind-the-scenes effort she embodies.

Martyn Cornell of Zythophile.co.uk Sep 21, 2022

Okay, maybe it’s not Harry Styles or Bad Bunny, but writing about beer history is, relatively speaking, kind of hot right now. Writers at a number of publications are unearthing cool stories about the origins of beer glassware, influential breweries, and obscure beer styles. There are Twitter and Instagram accounts dedicated to beer in art, vintage beer advertisements, and other visual aspects of brewing history. And here at Good Beer Hunting, we have our own series of history-focused articles and podcasts, Source Material.

While a new generation of writers might be just starting to focus on beer history, some of the most influential voices in the field have been doing it for quite a while—and they’re still going strong. In this episode, I’m talking to one of the strongest: Martyn Cornell, who has published his beer blog, Zythophile.co.uk, since 2007, though he started writing about beer much earlier. In 1988, Martyn was a founding member of the British Guild of Beer Writers. Over the years, he’s won numerous awards from the Guild, including Beer Writer of the Year.

In our talk, Martyn and I discuss beer writing and why there are so many errors and mistakes in beer history. We talk about how he does his research, as well as his books, including “Amber, Gold & Black” and “Strange Tales of Ale.” We discuss his recent article, ‘Tishonest Prewers’ and Lager Bier Operas — Uncovering the True Origins of American Lager Brewing, which Martyn wrote for our Source Material series. I also ask Martyn about the changes in beer culture that he’s seen over the years, and his take on the current status of Cask Ale in the U.K.

NG-002 Next Germination — A Black Woman Made This Beer Sep 15, 2022

HBCUs—or Historically Black Colleges and Universities—have long been important institutions in the Black community. The first HBCUs were established before the Civil War to provide higher education opportunities to Black high school graduates, and since then have continued to grow. Today, there are 101 HBCUs in the nation.

Over the years, HBCUs have graduated many prominent leaders, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr; US Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall; Oprah Winfrey; Toni Morrison; and the first female, first Black, and first Asian-American vice president, Kamala Harris. HBCUs have given birth to many leaders across society, including the beer industry.

This is the landscape in which Atinuke Akintola Diver’s recent piece is set. “‘A Black Woman Made This Beer’ — How Historically Black Colleges and Universities Shaped a Generation of Black Women Brewers” was published on May 11, 2022 as part of our Next Germination series (made in partnership with Guinness). Tinu’s story draws a connection between the many Black women brewers working today and the HBCUs they attended, and explores the role of these institutions as essential incubators of Black brewing talent. She noticed this connection after researching her feature-length documentary “This Belongs to Us.” (If you want to learn more about her documentary, I recommend listening to the podcast she recorded with her main subject, Briana Brake, and host Bryan Roth.)

In this episode, we talk about the importance of giving Black women their flowers, our love of storytelling, why a complete beer history includes the contributions of Black people, and where Tinu’s beer journey has taken her so far.

CL-104 Lana Svitankova is on a mission for Ukraine Aug 10, 2022

As a writer, photographer, translator, and the first Certified Cicerone in Ukraine now living in Switzerland, Lana Svitankova wears a lot of hats. One of them is to capture moments through her photography and to share them with the world. Another is to collect memories and enshrine them through her storytelling. But one particular hat is that of an ambassador, on a mission to immortalize a beer from her homeland of Ukraine.

Ukrainian Golden Ale isn’t an official beer style—yet. But Lana believes that it’s unique enough to warrant inclusion in style guides across the world, despite some skeptics. No, it’s not the most exciting beer ever brewed, she admits. But with more eyes than ever fixed on Ukraine, people are beginning to take an interest in her quest. That being said, Lana remains adamant that this beer style shouldn’t be considered for anything other than its own merits, explaining that the campaign for recognition has been going on for years. Still, it’s heartening to know the world supports these efforts.

Today, we’ll hear about those efforts, as well as Lana’s work as a photographer. COVID robbed her of her ability to capture pictures of people—her preferred subject—but slowly and surely, that pendulum from isolation to socialization is swinging back once more. Beer is meant to be temporary, but photographs last forever.

Denise Ford Sawadogo of Montclair Brewery Aug 07, 2022

I first learned about Montclair Brewery during Black History Month. Since opening in 2018, the brewery has honored prominent Black figures—from Harriet Tubman with its Tubman Railroad Strawberry Pale Ale to Chadwick Boseman with its Boseman Wild Ale.

I had the chance to talk with Denise Ford Sawadogo, the co-owner and founder of Montclair Brewery, for an article I was working on for the New Brewer. While speaking to her, I was amazed at how much the couple’s backgrounds showed up in their work at Montclair Brewery—Denise’s family is from Jamaica and her husband, Leo, is from West Africa. Their culture appears in the music, programming, and of course, the beers they brew. It’s a great reminder of the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and how exposure to other cultures can increase our knowledge of the world around us while also teaching us something about ourselves.

In our conversation, we talk about how the brewery’s story began in Montclair, New Jersey, and the beautiful neighborhood which it’s named after. Denise also shares how the couples bring their culture into the brewery, including the inspiration behind their Black History Series. We also talk about our moms, their entrepreneurial spirit, and how we learned never to give up on our dreams.

CL-103 Emma Janzen Bears Witness in Oaxaca Jul 27, 2022

The first time I connected with Emma Janzen off social media happened last year when she, very graciously, offered to help guide me in the early stages of my book proposal. Since then, she’s continued to mentor me through the harrowing process of actually writing a book. She’s also made big career moves; recently published her latest book, “The Bartender’s Manifesto” with Toby Maloney and the bartenders at noted Chicago bar The Violet Hour; and even picked up a James Beard Award for her previous book, “The Way of the Cocktail,” co-authored with Chicago bartender Julia Momose.

Throughout that time, she’s also continued her work as a journalist, editor, photographer, and storyteller. Emma published an almost painfully beautiful personal essay for Good Beer Hunting titled “Slow, Reflective, Quiet — Meditations on Mezcal in San Baltazar Guelavila,” on May 18, 2022. The story, which was born out of a straightforward press trip, evolved into something that resonated deeply within her soul, which in turn created an opportunity to tap into her voice as more than just a witness to creation.

In today’s conversation about her piece, Emma shares what it was like to break out of a more journalistic mindset in order to experience what was happening to and around her, the importance of balancing a generational legacy of artistry with increasing global awareness and demand, and what’s at stake as mezcal marches towards a fork in the road, where one way leads to commodification and the other honors time and tradition. That story culminates with a feeling of optimism—or at least, I hope it does.

Bonus: In the latter part of the conversation, Emma mentions a Spotify playlist that helped center her thoughts at the end of her trip to the heart of Oaxaca. If you’re curious about the vibes, here’s a link to said playlist.

Pittsburgh Mixed Culture Festival Jul 18, 2022

Today’s episode is a preview of a festival coming up in Pittsburgh on July 30th called Mixed Culture. GBH is intimately involved as partners on the branding and content side of the festival—and that’s in large part because the people behind it are both clients and long-time friends of ours at Cinderlands Beer Co. This festival is a sort of “coming of age” moment for their whole crew. On the back of so many big wins—launching their second and third locations, reinventing the Foederhouse to make exquisite wood aged and mixed culture beers, and taking a medal this year for Gregg, their saison, I couldn’t be more proud of what these folks have accomplished. And their brewer Paul Schneider is a personal friend of mine and we both fell into beer around the same time in Chicago going to bottle shares and tagging along at breweries until we could get our foot in the door. Of all the brewers who we worked with for our Uppers & Downers festival, no one took the assignment more seriously than Paul did when he was brewing at Solemn Oath in Naperville, Illinois. He’s probably made more coffee beers than any other brewer on the planet.

EP-341 Sarah Flora of Flora Brewing Jul 12, 2022

Expertise is an easy thing to pin down … or is it? There’s the oft-cited 10,000 hours that it takes to become an expert. Or there’s a dictionary we could pull from a book shelf or mobile device to look up a definition. Or maybe we just know it when we see it in action. There are all sorts of experts who share all sorts of expertise with the world, and whether they know it, like it, or claim it, it’s inspiring. We could turn to Google any time we want, but there’s something special—and perhaps necessarily human—about not relying on a manual or book and finding expertise from another person.

In this conversation, we hear from Sarah Flora, a homebrewer with a large following across social media and YouTube, an award-winning podcast, and by all means, an expert. She connects people across the globe with tips and insights on the homebrewing process, beer reviews, and light-hearted reflections on what it means to exist in the beer and homebrewing worlds. Throughout this chat, we connect these things to how Sarah approaches educating herself and others, the value of taking risks, and why it’s valuable to have loved ones giving you a little push when you need it.

Sarah was part of Good Beer Hunting’s 2021 Signifiers—an annual collection of people GBH celebrates who shape the future of the beer industry. It’s Sarah’s expertise that puts her in that position, and a drive to learn and improve that will help you understand the “how” and “why” she inspires others. The thousands of interactions Sarah gets on Instagram posts or YouTube videos every week are basic measurements of her impact, but as you learn more about her as a person as we talk, you’ll likely find an even greater appreciation for how she uses her skills to make being an expert delightfully human.

CL-102 John Harry Knows This Land Is Not Our Land Jul 06, 2022

Sometimes, we can make the mistake of thinking history only applies to things that happened long ago. But as Wisconsin-based beer historian and writer John Harry reminds us, events that happened in our lifetime can still resonate and help inform our collective understanding of yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

In his piece titled “Racism in a Can’ — How One Beer Epitomized the Native American Struggle for Treaty Rights,” which was published on April 14, 2022, John describes how one beer, which was inspired as a fundraiser for a white supremacist initiative against Native American rights, changed Wisconsin forever. That beer, known as Treaty Beer, ultimately lost money and steam, but the stain of its racist agenda is still felt in the area today. In fact, in our conversation, John reveals how hard it was to get anyone to speak with him for this story, how he came across Treaty Beer, and why he decided to research its place in regional history. We also talk about how in reality, cancel culture is actually just consequences and accountability, and why education is key to understanding fundamental human issues.

John explains that despite a history of repeated oathbreaking by the United States government, especially towards its Indigenous population, any treaty made in good faith between two sovereign nations is just as legitimate as any other. Beer history is never just about the beer, and there’s plenty of work to be done to continue questioning, fighting, and improving.

NG-001 Next Germination — Keeping Neurodiversity In Mind Jun 25, 2022

Welcome to the first episode in our Next Germination series, produced in partnership with Guinness.

For those of you that have been reading and listening to Good Beer Hunting for years, you know how important the underwriting we receive is. Alongside hundreds of paying subscribers, whom we call the Fervent Few, our underwriters enable us to pursue big, ambitious projects. And no one has been more supportive and continuously so than Guinness. Years of support has helped us build an unprecedented editorial team in beer. This team has claimed dozens of awards over the years, including the North American Guild of Beer Writers awards, which we won roughly half of all those awards last year. The Society of Professional Journalists award. And this past weekend, a James Beard award.

All this momentum and continuity would not be possible—not even close—without the support of the folks at Guinness.

And today marks yet another step in that collaborative journey with the Next Germination series.

When we were scoping out the themes and ambitions for this two-year stretch of underwriting, nothing was more important to Guinness and our team than extending that long table of beer to include more people who have traditionally been marginalized from the industry and its culture, which is often prone to a monoculture.

For a brand that’s known and loved around the world, in countries like Ireland the UK of course, but also Nigeria, the Caribbean, and the U.S. where they built their latest production facility and taproom in Baltimore, Guinness’ future is directly dependent on the growth of beer drinking audiences, and the increasingly diverse and equitable spaces and cultures that surround it.

This series—called Next Germination—reflects our editorial team’s desire to continue our own mission of helping beer drinking audiences get smarter, more impassioned, and inspired about the world’s most popular drink.

It’s a perfect alignment in both mission and ambition.

So what exactly is the Next Germination?

Well, we believe the beer world is so much more than its homogenous stereotypes. Today, a new and diverse generation of drinkers, change-makers, and doers is continuing to push for progress in every direction. Their aims are varied, but their shared emphasis on equity, community-building, and access has deep reverberations that go beyond the liquid in your glass.

So together with Guinness, The Next Germination is a series of stories and podcasts that celebrates the people making beer brighter and broader—and transforming its future for the better.

In this first episode, I’m talking to Beth Demmon, one of our best writers and hosts about her first piece that kicks off the series - called “Keeping Neurodiversity in Mind — How Two Groundbreaking Breweries are Making Beer Spaces More Accessible”

We both rely on our limited experience as parents of neurodiverse children as a way in to appreciating and articulating the experience of neurodiverse beer drinkers, and how the industry has an emerging opportunity - especially in its hospitably sector - to broaden its approach to a wide array of audiences with specific needs that could help center them in the future of beer.

EP-340 Daniel Muñoz + Jeremy Grinkey of Everywhere Beer Jun 19, 2022

Does the world really need another craft brewery? Honestly, no—but Daniel Muñoz and Jeremy Grinkey think the world just might need their brewery, which is coming very soon to the city of Orange in Orange County, California. It’s called Everywhere Beer, but they’re not just stopping at beer. The two co-founders, along with their partners Stefan Weber and Keith Pumilia, hope to create a space that’s comfortable, welcoming, and approachable for everyone in their community, something that unfortunately still remains a relative rarity across the craft beer industry.

In today’s conversation, Jeremy, Daniel, and I discuss the future of Everywhere, but also their pasts. Listeners might know of Jeremy as the long-haired and long-bearded director of production at The Bruery, or as @Sour_Jesus on Instagram. Both of them are veterans of the wine industry as well as The Bruery, where their partners also worked before banding together to form Everywhere. What led four guys to leave The Bruery to start their own? As it turns out, lots of things, including a shared need to write their own legacies instead of perpetuating someone else’s; the search to find their own voices as artisans; a pandemic-inspired realization that our time on Earth is finite (so get busy living); and finally, a desire to expand representation in a mostly white culture. How do four dudes in Orange County plan to accomplish that? You’ll just have to keep listening.

You’ll also hear about the ups and downs of finding their space, which beer styles and breweries inspire them, what consumers they hope to attract, which types of beers to expect (as well as beverages outside of beer, like wine, hard seltzer, and maybe even craft soda), and why they feel philanthropy is a crucial element to supporting their local community. The sky’s the limit: Or at least, their 20-tap system is. Everywhere Beer is tentatively slated to open in August 2022. Let’s hear about how they’re going to make that happen and where it will go from there.

CL-101 Anthony Gladman Rejects The Hype May 29, 2022

Some people call it boring brown beer, but others think of it as liquid from heaven. In a love letter to what’s arguably the most British of beer styles, writer Anthony Gladman covers the history, meaning, and future of Best Bitter in his piece titled “Don’t Call It a Comeback — Taking Stock of Best Bitter’s Moment in the Spotlight,” which was published on April 6, 2022.

In today’s conversation, Anthony and I talk about the early, uncertain days of the COVID-19 pandemic, which spurred a collective return to familiar flavors, with beer being no exception. He found that comfort in a can of Best Bitter, brewed collaboratively between Boxcar Brewery and Mills Brewing. Unbeknownst to him at the time, that beer ultimately led him down this path of exploration into what the Best Bitter actually is, where it comes from, and how it shapes the identities of brewers over generations, even in the face of inevitable evolution. The style is currently at a crossroads, one where allegiance to history and tradition is butting up against changing demographics and contemporary craft beer culture. But despite those changes, it’s still a beer style that means something to many, if not most, British drinkers.

Today, you’ll hear about that shared experience, what makes a Best Bitter a Best Bitter, what Anthony loves about the easy-drinking style, and his musing on where tradition may be headed. Don’t let the name fool you—there’s a loving sweetness in the soul of every cask pour of Bitter.

SM-006 Worth Saving: Brewery Records and the Future May 21, 2022

Breweries love to talk about what they bring into the world. In other words, their beer. Breweries tend to talk less about what they leave behind. Their focus is on the next batch of beer, not the last one. In a lot of ways that makes perfect sense...but if you want to keep track of your business, your favorite brands, or the industry as a whole, a forward focus can also leave a blindspot. Breweries imprint upon the world with more than just their beer. They forge facilities with both equipment and character. They create all sorts of physical objects like tap handles, labels, cans and bottles, coasters, merch, and so on.They create terabytes of information: websites, graphics, brew logs, TikTok videos, and recipes to name a few. Even more gets created in their name by other entities, from government to Google. Most romantic of all these are the memories, relationships, ideas, and inspirations that breweries create. They both affect us individually and ripple out into communities. On and on it goes. A brewery's imprint today is expansive, it's redundant...and it's fleeting.Of all the stuff I just mentioned, very little of it is built to last.Beer gets consumed. Virtually all brewing facilities eventually close, even the wildly successful ones. Websites get taken down. Merch wears out or gets thrown out. Computer files get lost or deleted. And unless we record our memories somehow, they'll inevitably fade with us.

All this to say: as time passes for a brewery–or anything else in this world–what's known becomes limited to what's left. Imagine what gets lost in a year. Imagine what gets lost in a hundred.

EP-339 Paula de Pano of Rocks + Acid Wine Shop May 18, 2022

While beer is in the name of this podcast, we explore all kinds of beverage alcohol with our guests. In recent episodes, we’ve talked about alcohol-infused coffee, agriculture, filmmaking, and more. If you follow alcohol industry news—or just stroll through your local grocery or liquor store—you know hard seltzer and canned cocktails increasingly take up space on shelves and in conversations. All of which is to say, the entirety of alcohol matters more every day as people explore new options, flavors, and expand their own understanding and expectation of how they enjoy and connect to whatever is in their bottle, can, or glass.

These themes are what led me to Paula de Pano, an advanced sommelier, wine educator, and entrepreneur behind Rocks + Acid Wine Shop, a new bar and store in North Carolina. Paula is a longtime industry vet with an education in culinary arts from the Culinary Institute of America—that’s the “CIA” you’ll hear mentioned in this interview—and she is opening this new venture with a focus on ways to court all kinds of drinkers. Wine can kind of feel stodgy at times given its history and pop culture status as a drink of choice for older, more affluent people, but Paula is making distinct choices about how to stock wines and interact with customers that seem necessary to reach a wider audience. She’s taking a unique stance on who she buys wine from and why, and even the physical layout of Rocks + Acid is meant to provide an atmosphere where education feels welcomed, not forced.

The past 20 years has offered narratives of beer’s decline, spirits’ rise, and wine’s … consistency. It hasn’t really lost volume or sales, but it has faded a bit in terms of attention, especially for younger drinkers. So, while we talk about and see the evolution of alcohol into all sorts of flavored concoctions that line store shelves, Paula is looking to make wine more familiar, welcoming, and exciting for all.

CL-100 Kate Bernot Keeps It Twisted May 01, 2022

What were you drinking in the early 2000s? When we look back on trends and data, there’s a good chance it was a flavored malt beverage along the lines of Zima, Mike’s Hard Lemonade, or the star of today’s story: Twisted Tea from Boston Beer Company.

In her exuberant and extremely thorough piece titled “Spill It — Twisted Tea’s Unpredictable, Unparalleled 21-Year Success Story” journalist Kate Bernot unpacks everything there is to know about the cult favorite: its experimental origins, its shockingly consistent sales numbers, and the brand’s plans for future expansion in order to bring the gospel of boozy tea nationwide. Not that it needs to sell itself too hard—Kate describes Twisted Tea’s unusually fervent consumers, who’ve remained loyal for two decades and are showing no signs of straying.

In today’s conversation, we share stories about our own experiences with the brand and how craft beer’s tunnel vision can sometimes make us unaware of successes outside our own spheres. She also shares some of her insight into the when, where, why, and how of Twisted Tea’s origin—and wonders why it’s so hard to get the full story from its creators. If there’s one thing to take away from our discussion, it’s to have an open mind when it comes to what you drink. You may be surprised at what you’re missing.

EP-339 Greg Browne of Art History Brewing Apr 24, 2022

Today’s guest has been a bit of a ghost int he GBH machine for more than a decade - since our founding really - and he’s someone I think about every time someone asks me how GBH got started - and as you’ll discover shortly, he had no idea.

Greg Browne was the brewer at a brewpub in Chicago’s NW suburbs - a place called Mickey Finn’s. He was known for brewing a hefeweizen - a recipe he inherited from his predecessor when he took over as head brewer.

More importantly, for me, he was the host of a weekly Beer School at The Map Room in Chicago - a midday gathering on Saturday’s where guests would enjoy some bread and cheese and learn about beers in a thematic way - and the themes were whatever happened to be on Greg’s mind that week.

It’s an incredible memory for me - from a time when I’d only had a smattering of craft beer experiences to rely on - and I hardly considered myself a fan of beer in any particular way. It was just causal and sometimes interesting fun. Most of my bar experiencers a the time involved $1 off specials of Blue Moon and some Golden Tee. Not exactly sophisticated stuff - but it was kind of the Chicago way.

Map Room - and Greg Browne’s beer school painted an entirely different picture however. And I’m forever indebted to that moment when he served me my first Saison Dupont. That’s the beer that inspired GBH - and Greg is the one who created that moment, unbeknownst to him.

But that’s not the real reason we’re talking today - that’s a story we could have shared at any point in in past decade really. Today I’m talking to Greg because for the first time in a long time, I saw his name pop up as part of a new brewing project called Art History, and it recently started supplying two fantastic beers to Chicago’s Hopleaf Bar. As far as I know the sis the first time Hopleaf has ever had a house beer. The venerated tap list there is a target for anyone trying to make a name for themselves in Chicago’s beer scene. Brewers host parties just to celebrate getting on tao there for the first time if they’re lucky enough to make the list at all. So for Greg to have a new gig - and so quickly become a mainstay on that list as a pair of house beers - is an unprecedented achievement.

And for this episode, I reached out to Michael Roper of Hopleaf for his perspective on all that.

It was a sign for me that it was finally time to get Greg on the podcast, share this story with him, and hear so much more about his own. It takes us deep into Chicago’s craft brewing past - and paints pa picture of the future that I’m very excited about.

CL-099 David Jesudason bellies up to the 'color bar' Apr 24, 2022

The color bar may be Britain’s most shameful secret—even though it’s not so secret after all. In journalist David Jesudason’s intensely researched and deeply personal new piece titled “Breaking the Color Bar — How One Man Helped Desegregate Britain’s Pubs (and Fought for an Anti-Racist Future),” which was published on March 16, 2022, David shares the story of Avtar Singh Jouhl, a British Indian activist, communist, and beer lover who was instrumental in bringing awareness to and dismantling segregated drinking spaces in Britain.

In this conversation, David and I unpack his process for approaching the piece: how his personal experiences and identity help him tackle thorny topics like racism, what he didn’t learn from the history books (and what he took upon himself to discover), which current events led him to write this, and how Britain continues to deny its legacy of racism both yesterday, today, and tomorrow through the residual effects of imperialism and nationalism. You’ll also hear a clip from Avtar himself, sharing his own experience in his own voice, as a part of living history.

This is a good time to remind anyone who still thinks beer isn’t political how wrong they are, and how far we still have to go to ensure safe, inclusive spaces for all. Join us, right now, to hear about how one extraordinary man made an enormous impact in the fight against racism in Britain, what didn’t make it into the story, and what comes next, both in and out of beer.

EP-337 Tara Hankinson and LeAnn Darland of Talea Beer Company Apr 16, 2022

There is a lot of calculated nuance in today’s beer industry. You have to be purposeful in your business plan, consider who you’re selling to and where, and what your company stands for. Good beer is the table stakes, and these are differentiators that help create a successful business. It’s not easy to carve out a niche, but it is possible, when you see all this nuance.

In this conversation we meet Tara Hankinson and LeAnn Darland of Talea Beer Company. The pair are the co-founders and co-CEOs for the Brooklyn-based brewery, which has built its early success on attracting previously underserved consumers and creating a unique atmosphere at their taproom to appeal to all. You’ll hear them cite statistics and anecdotes as we chat, and their background in non-beer industries gives them a valuable perspective on new ways to differentiate themselves. I know it’s cliché to talk about how an outsider can bring new ideas and perspectives to old industries, but in a market where space is at a premium, both on shelves and in people's minds, Tara and LeAnn recognize what they can do to create something special and expand their reach across New York City.

You’ll get to hear about what first brought them to this moment and even what they see as important next steps for themselves and the future of the business. All of what happens between is intentional, thoughtful, and works to establish itself within this complicated nuance that allows a company to make connections that can create lifetime customers.

CL-098 Jerard Fagerberg Wants To Talk About Money Apr 13, 2022

Who wants to talk about money? We’re going to. I’m joined today by Jerard Fagerberg to talk about his piece titled “Pour Clean, Like the Source — CA Draft Tech in Oakland, California,” which was published on Good Beer Hunting on February 18, 2022.

In this piece, he outlines the creation, evolution, and expansion of CA Draft Tech, a sanitation service for taprooms, bars, and restaurants across the Bay Area. With the help of SMBX, an alternative financing company that allows consumers to invest directly in local businesses, CA Draft Tech was able to grow their business outside a bank’s traditional loan structure.

It was Jerard’s first time exploring the niche world of hospitality financing, but it’s probably not the last. He describes the research and writing process as a challenge, but a necessary one in order to demystify finances and introduce a level of transparency not often seen when discussing that big elephant in the room—money. You’ll hear from Jerard about how the story took shape, how to best discuss the business of beer without ignoring the very real human element, just what bonds are, how SMBX taps into communities in order to elevate businesses, and why this model is well-suited to the high-capital, low-margin world of hospitality.

One note for listeners: This story was published as part of Good Beer Hunting’s Compound Interest series, underwritten by SMBX, which highlights different ways small businesses can get the funding they need; all of the businesses profiled in this series have worked with SMBX to achieve part or even all of their funding. And on that note, we have our own bond offering on the platform for anyone interested in investing in Good Beer Hunting’s future.

FFT-019 Tomme Arthur of The Lost Abbey Apr 06, 2022

The long-awaited return and continuation of Foeder for Thought - GBH’s collaboration with Green Bench Brewing Company in St Petersburg Florida. GBH’s Founder, Michael Kiser, hosts a series of talks with wile ale producers from around the world in front of a live audience.

Episodes from 2022:

FFT-013 Khris Johnson of Green Bench Brewing Company

FFT-014 Tim Adams of Oxbow Brewing Company

FFT-015 Jeffery Stuffings of Jester King Brewery

FFT-016 Christian Gregory of 3 Fonteinen

FFT-017 Pierre Tilquin of Gueuzerie Tilquin

FFT-018 Jason Perkins of Allagash Brewing Company

FFT-019 Tomme Arthur of The Lost Abbey

FFT-018 Jason Perkins of Allagash Brewing Company Apr 06, 2022

The long-awaited return and continuation of Foeder for Thought - GBH’s collaboration with Green Bench Brewing Company in St Petersburg Florida. GBH’s Founder, Michael Kiser, hosts a series of talks with wile ale producers from around the world in front of a live audience.

Episodes from 2022:

FFT-013 Khris Johnson of Green Bench Brewing Company

FFT-014 Tim Adams of Oxbow Brewing Company

FFT-015 Jeffery Stuffings of Jester King Brewery

FFT-016 Christian Gregory of 3 Fonteinen

FFT-017 Pierre Tilquin of Gueuzerie Tilquin

FFT-018 Jason Perkins of Allagash Brewing Company

FFT-019 Tomme Arthur of The Lost Abbey

FFT-017 Pierre Tilquin of Gueuzerie Tilquin Apr 06, 2022

The long-awaited return and continuation of Foeder for Thought - GBH’s collaboration with Green Bench Brewing Company in St Petersburg Florida. GBH’s Founder, Michael Kiser, hosts a series of talks with wile ale producers from around the world in front of a live audience.

Episodes from 2022:

FFT-013 Khris Johnson of Green Bench Brewing Company

FFT-014 Tim Adams of Oxbow Brewing Company

FFT-015 Jeffery Stuffings of Jester King Brewery

FFT-016 Christian Gregory of 3 Fonteinen

FFT-017 Pierre Tilquin of Gueuzerie Tilquin

FFT-018 Jason Perkins of Allagash Brewing Company

FFT-019 Tomme Arthur of The Lost Abbey

FFT-016 Christian Gregory of 3 Fonteinen Apr 06, 2022

The long-awaited return and continuation of Foeder for Thought - GBH’s collaboration with Green Bench Brewing Company in St Petersburg Florida. GBH’s Founder, Michael Kiser, hosts a series of talks with wile ale producers from around the world in front of a live audience.

Episodes from 2022:

FFT-013 Khris Johnson of Green Bench Brewing Company

FFT-014 Tim Adams of Oxbow Brewing Company

FFT-015 Jeffery Stuffings of Jester King Brewery

FFT-016 Christian Gregory of 3 Fonteinen

FFT-017 Pierre Tilquin of Gueuzerie Tilquin

FFT-018 Jason Perkins of Allagash Brewing Company

FFT-019 Tomme Arthur of The Lost Abbey

FFT-015 Jeffery Stuffings of Jester King Brewery Apr 06, 2022

The long-awaited return and continuation of Foeder for Thought - GBH’s collaboration with Green Bench Brewing Company in St Petersburg Florida. GBH’s Founder, Michael Kiser, hosts a series of talks with wile ale producers from around the world in front of a live audience.

Episodes from 2022:

FFT-013 Khris Johnson of Green Bench Brewing Company

FFT-014 Tim Adams of Oxbow Brewing Company

FFT-015 Jeffery Stuffings of Jester King Brewery

FFT-016 Christian Gregory of 3 Fonteinen

FFT-017 Pierre Tilquin of Gueuzerie Tilquin

FFT-018 Jason Perkins of Allagash Brewing Company

FFT-019 Tomme Arthur of The Lost Abbey

FFT-014 Tim Adams of Oxbow Brewing Company Apr 06, 2022

The long-awaited return and continuation of Foeder for Thought - GBH’s collaboration with Green Bench Brewing Company in St Petersburg Florida. GBH’s Founder, Michael Kiser, hosts a series of talks with wile ale producers from around the world in front of a live audience.

Episodes from 2022:

FFT-013 Khris Johnson of Green Bench Brewing Company

FFT-014 Tim Adams of Oxbow Brewing Company

FFT-015 Jeffery Stuffings of Jester King Brewery

FFT-016 Christian Gregory of 3 Fonteinen

FFT-017 Pierre Tilquin of Gueuzerie Tilquin

FFT-018 Jason Perkins of Allagash Brewing Company

FFT-019 Tomme Arthur of The Lost Abbey

FFT-013 Khris Johnson of Green Bench Brewing Company Apr 06, 2022

The long-awaited return and continuation of Foeder for Thought - GBH’s collaboration with Green Bench Brewing Company in St Petersburg Florida. GBH’s Founder, Michael Kiser, hosts a series of talks with wile ale producers from around the world in front of a live audience.

Episodes from 2022:

FFT-013 Khris Johnson of Green Bench Brewing Company

FFT-014 Tim Adams of Oxbow Brewing Company

FFT-015 Jeffery Stuffings of Jester King Brewery

FFT-016 Christian Gregory of 3 Fonteinen

FFT-017 Pierre Tilquin of Gueuzerie Tilquin

FFT-018 Jason Perkins of Allagash Brewing Company

FFT-019 Tomme Arthur of The Lost Abbey

EP-336 Kate Bailey of Hand & Heart Apr 02, 2022

It’s been nearly one year since craft beer began to face its biggest reckoning against sexism, racism, and toxic work culture to date. In that time, there has been some progress, but there has also been a growing polarization between those making calls for change and those making accusations about an out-of-control cancel culture.

In the midst of this ongoing controversy and debate, Kate Bailey from Hand & Heart has been working to establish a first-of-its-kind foundation for reconciliation and progress within hospitality. As a consultancy that aims to improve business operations by advocating on behalf of workers, Hand & Heart developed the Mikkeller Reconciliation Program and the BrewDog Affected Workers Registration Platform in order to acknowledge, document, and hopefully reconcile issues to the satisfaction of affected workers and leadership at both businesses.

These efforts have come with a significant amount of challenges: emotionally, legally, and financially. Some of those witnessing the challenges have raised some questions. How does this work? Who’s paying the bill? Are there any guarantees of a safe and satisfying outcome? I spoke with Kate Bailey and ask some of these questions, although it’s important to note that since our first conversation recorded here on March 29, 2022, several new developments have come from both Hand & Heart as well as BrewDog in the ever-changing controversy. In a statement made by Hand & Heart on April 2, Kate does clarify that payments were made by Mikkeller to Hand & Heart for mutually agreed upon services rendered as part of the Reconciliation Program. In a similar statement made in response to BrewDog on April 1, Kate explains that although Hand & Heart’s preliminary efforts towards reconciliation do not hinge on any promise of financial compensation, if a business were to opt into an individually tailored program, fees associated with carrying out the services would be agreed upon and expected as with any consultancy agreement. As of today, there are no current negotiations between Hand & Heart and BrewDog. Either way, at no point are victims or accusers expected or required to pay Hand & Heart for their services.

In this conversation, you’ll hear Kate explain her investigative background and when it dovetailed with beer, how she’s able to facilitate between victims and breweries as a third-party, the risks this business model assumes, and her take on what real leadership looks like. We also discuss that despite the impossibility of a one-size-fits-all solution, the effort towards healing is a crucial, yet relatively new model for the craft beer industry. Kate says people don’t want revenge—they want accountability. And she wants to help build that, despite the numerous challenges and criticisms that she, and many other activists, face when demanding responsibility from anyone upholding toxic systems.

It’s a high stakes process—and safety is top of mind for Kate every step of the way. Find out exactly what she does to ensure safety and establish credibility, how she aims to facilitate a two-way dialogue that requires trust on both sides to accomplish a mutually beneficial—if not sometimes uncomfortable—path towards positive change, and why she remains hopeful at the possibility of redemption, even when the evidence gives her no reason to believe. This doesn’t end wrapped up neatly with a bow. But what ever does?

CL-097 William Costa on the Subculture in the Subtropics Apr 01, 2022

Craft beer is starting to show up in places where many of us have never been, and maybe never even thought about visiting. The small South American nation of Paraguay could be considered fairly remote by most standards: Paraguay is fully landlocked, roughly in the middle of the continent, bordered by the much larger countries of Brazil, Argentina, and Bolivia. Its capital, Asunción, is fairly off-the-radar compared to popular South American tourist destinations like Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires. And yet even in Paraguay, good beer is really starting to make waves, as the writer William Costa reported in his recent story for us, “Mother of Cities — Subtropical Wanderings in Asunción, Paraguay.”

Paraguay’s location makes for some interesting dynamics. As a landlocked country, going to the beach for relaxation or swimming means heading to a river, not the ocean. While Asunción is mostly Spanish-speaking, Paraguay actually has two official languages: Spanish and Guarani, which is the only Indigenous language to be spoken by the majority of a non-Indigenous population in the Americas. And distinctive local ingredients, including yerba mate, cassava flour, and the medicinal herbs known as pohã ñana, are now starting to show up in Paraguayan beers.

In this episode, I talk to Costa, a long-term British resident of the country. We discuss beer, his article, snack foods, and even talk about some unique sounds from his daily life in Asunción, Paraguay.

EP-335 Alessandra Agrestini of The Italian Grape Ale Beer Challenge Mar 26, 2022

As far as we can tell, many of the earliest beers ever made were actually beer-wine hybrids, brewed out of both grain and fruit. Fast-forward 10,000 years or so, and beers made with grapes are once again in fashion. Sometimes called “Oenobeers,” after oenology, the science of winemaking, Grape Beers or Grape Ales are becoming more popular in a lot of beer regions, especially in Italy and other wine-loving countries.

In this episode, I’m talking to Alessandra Agrestini, the president of the jury at a new tasting competition, the Italian Grape Ale Beer Challenge, which took place near the end of 2021 in Turin, Italy. (Full disclosure: I served as one of the competition’s international judges.) Alessandra has been active in beer judging and beer education in Italy for quite a while — she and I first met at the Birra dell’Anno beer competition some 10 years ago.

In our conversation, we discuss beer-wine hybrids, the current Italian beer scene, and beer travel, as well as beer education, food and beer pairings, and Italian Pilsner. We also touch on the notion of styles, and wonder if it’s right to call all modern beer-wine hybrids “Italian” Grape Ales, regardless of where they are made. There is some justification for that claim: Italy probably produces more Grape Ales than any other country. The competition’s website has a map showing more than 220 Grape Ales from over 130 breweries in Italy. However, Italy wasn’t the first country to create modern beer-wine hybrids. Not all Grape Ales in Italy are produced in the same way, and there are wide variations in strength, color, flavor, aroma, acidity, and sweetness, which makes it hard to argue for Italian Grape Ale as a style unto itself.

If you’re interested in learning more, check out the website ItalianGrapeAle.org. The competition is open to entries from around the world, so if brewers you know make a great Grape Ale, Grape Lager, Oenobeer, or some other beer-wine hybrid, tell ’em to send it in this fall. And after this interview finishes, stick around for an update with the names of the competition winners.

CL-096 Alexander Gates on the Archipelago of His Beer Journey Mar 24, 2022

There’s a difference between idols and mentors. The allure of idols is their unattainability—their preciousness fueled by the impossibility of a first-hand connection. Mentors, on the other hand, spark curiosity and encourage personal growth by sharing their experience with others. Mentors, often selflessly, help shape the future, and ensure the traditions they hold so dear remain intact for generations to come.

That’s exactly why writer Alexander Gates decided to profile Cindy Goldstein, a national BJCP judge and fierce advocate for craft beer in Hawaii. In his piece titled “Finding Her Own Route — A Honolulu Brewery Crawl with Cindy Goldstein,” which was published on February 2, 2022, he outlines Cindy’s extensive background in science, homebrewing, judging, and community-building, and how her efforts have helped shape the small but ever-changing Hawaiian craft beer scene.

In today’s conversation about that piece, Alexander and I discuss what it’s like writing about a mentor (and why people should seek out their own), why he decided to share her story, how Hawaiian beer is better than ever—despite the pandemic’s massive disruption to tourism and the supply chain—and his own judging experience through the Beer Judge Certification Program. You’ll hear how beer unites the chain of volcanic islands, thanks in no small part to Cindy’s tireless and ongoing efforts, and what he’s hoping to see as in-person beer classes, events, and competitions begin to awaken once more.

EP-334 Jeff Alworth of Beervana Mar 19, 2022

If you’re a beer enthusiast, you’ve likely come across Jeff Alworth at some point. The longtime blogger, journalist, author, and podcaster is one of the most valued in the country, and his research and storytelling is nearly unmatched. This isn’t meant to be hyperbole, as the reason Jeff and I are talking on this episode is because we got to catch up as he traveled the country to promote the second edition of his book, The Beer Bible.

We sat down outside at Asheville, North Carolina’s Zillicoah Beer Company, to talk about his book and his own education and growth as a journalist and human. In the first half of this conversation you’ll learn about what went into creating The Beer Bible and then recreating new parts of it for its new edition, and on the back half we chat about what it means to explore ideas of beer today, whether that’s the hops that go into a beer, or the way we think about styles.

And if you haven’t yet read, heard, or met Jeff, I hope this conversation is a worthy introduction to someone who is kind and meaningful in their work and how they move in the world. We can learn a lot about beer by reading and listening to Jeff’s work, but I hope this episode helps you appreciate him as a person as well.

CL-095 Adrian Tierney-Jones lets an arrow loose through time Mar 11, 2022

JW Lees’ Harvest Ale is not a beer to drink casually, and it’s not one to speak casually about, either. As an icon of British brewing, this Barley Wine is described by journalist Adrian Tierney-Jones as elegant, eloquent, and contemplative in his piece titled “The Arrow of Time — How JW Lees’ Harvest Ale Has Defined British Brewing for Decades”, which was published on February 16, 2022.

As a longtime freelancer who writes about beer, pubs, and travel, Adrian has a unique perspective on Harvest Ale, in that he’s had a front-row seat to this beer’s evolution over the decades. He’s also been witness to how it’s stayed the same—a paradox we discuss in today’s podcast. We talk a lot about time: How flavors deepen, how appreciation for history changes, and why there may never be another beer like Harvest Ale, thanks to FOMO beer culture and social media. He walks listeners through the JW Lees vertical tasting he attended while researching this story, which featured bottles dating back to the ’90s, and reminisces about the styles and beers of bygone days that have influenced today’s craft beer culture.

There’s a time and a place to hold onto beer, but it’s always a good day to savor one. I recommend taking a look at your stash right now and selecting something special to pair with this podcast. As Adrian says, “Beer is fascinating.”

FU-001 Foeder for Thought is on, and SMBX is in the house Mar 10, 2022

GBH Co-Founder and Creative Director, Michael Kiser returns with of one of our favorite festivals with Greenbench Brewing in St Pete, Florida, and a new kind of fundraising that helps you invest in the future of GBH and our industry.

EP-333 Zahra Tabatabai of Back Home Beer Mar 05, 2022

For all the power that memory provides us, its the connection to our senses that’s the most visceral. While we can close our eyes and picture loved ones or a perfect summer day, it’s the moment we smell a bag of candy or taste the right combination of spices that the past rushes back to life. Our eyes and ears can tell us about the present, but our nose and taste buds can be our time machine.

In this episode, we explore what it means to chase flavor memory with Zahra Tabatabai, founder and CEO of Back Home Beer, a fast-growing company based in New York City rooted in her family’s past. Zahra started homebrewing in order to recapture past tastes from her grandfather’s days of homebrewing in Iran as a way to bring those memories back for her family. A hobby soon became more, and now her Sumac Gose and Persian Lager act as ways to recapture the ingredients and flavors of the past.

As you’ll hear in this conversation, at the core of Zahra’s journey is her grandfather, Gholam-Reza, who was better known by his familial nickname of “baba joon,” a term of endearment that translates to “father dear.” Join me and Zahra as we talk about what led her to this moment, the speed of which her beer flies of shelves in New York and now Washington, D.C., and what it means to look back in time to bring something special into today.

CL-094 Anthony Gladman Believes The Time Is Ripe Mar 03, 2022

There are some artistic endeavors that occur against all odds. Perry, or cider made with pears, is one of those things. Perry pears are hard to grow, hard to ferment, and sometimes hard to explain. But when all the elements of time, energy, climate, effort, and care come together, the end result can be otherworldly.

In his piece titled “Madness and Bitter Fruit — Making Perry in the Shadow of May Hill,” writer Anthony Gladman dives into the relatively unknown world of perry, and how ancient seeds have helped create a contemporary cult following around this marvelous and mythical drink. He admits that you have to be a bit of a nerd to really get into perry, but once you do, there’s no turning back.

In today’s conversation, we talk about who’s making perry (and why many people don’t), how perry’s PR problems have created confusion about what it actually is, the importance of preservation in the face of climate change, and how this fragile fruit may hold the key to our past and our future. If you can (legally) partake, this conversation and article are best experienced with a bit of cannabis influence, and, of course, with a nice pint of perry as well. We only scratch the surface of what there is to know, but it’s a great place to start.

EP-332 Amin Anjedani, Sam Madani, and Kai Drewry of BOMANI Cold Buzz Mar 03, 2022

Walk down the right aisle at your grocery or convenience store and you might come across an alcoholic version of just about anything. Hard seltzer is an obvious. Hard kombucha is gaining traction. Hard yerba mate? You bet. It should be no surprise that hard coffee is now a category worth tens of millions of dollars.

In this episode, we meet the people behind one of the companies carving out a corner of this increasingly successful—and interesting—hard coffee space. We meet Amin Anjedani, Sam Madani, and Kai Drewry of BOMANI Cold Buzz, a 5.7% alcohol-infused cold brew. The trio are friends who have identified this percolating space and have created a premiumized version for a category once monopolized solely by Pabst Blue Ribbon Hard Coffee.

How can this space exist? How is this not Four Loko 2.0? These are things we'll learn about as the three co-founders give insight on a continued evolution of beverage alcohol. We're at a point where consumers can find just about anything to fit their mood or occasion—with or without alcohol—so it actually makes perfect sense that in 2022, we should be talking about what's next for alcohol-infused coffee.

EP-331 Dave Infante of Fingers Newsletter Feb 28, 2022

In this episode, we’re talking about dads. Their influence on us, the things they taught or didn’t teach us, and how we do or don’t follow in their footsteps. That’s actually a small part of this conversation with Dave Infante, but perhaps the most surprising and fun piece of it all. Come for the dad talk, stick around for a reflection on alcoholic milk, labor relations, journalism, and more.

It’s an eclectic lineup of topics, but if you’re familiar with Dave, it may not be surprising. As a two-time James Beard Foundation award winner, he’s earned one of the highest recognitions for journalists covering food and beverage. He’s currently a writer-at-large for VinePair and the reporter behind Fingers, an alcohol-focused newsletter that covers the space where booze and culture connect. Dave’s archive of stories spans clickbait on Thrillist about hating IPAs to investigative pieces uncovering the crowdfunding finances of BrewDog.

If there’s something culturally-relevant that’s taken place in beverage alcohol, Dave has likely been on it, and you’ll get the chance to better understand his work and motivations in this conversation. You’ll also get to learn about his dad.

EP-330 Shyla Sheppard + Missy Begay of Bow & Arrow Brewing Feb 26, 2022

The world is full of misconceptions like “Deserts are only barren wastelands,” or “women don’t brew beer,” or even “Native Americans no longer exist on the land that was once wholly theirs.” But after six years in business, Missy Begay and Shyla Sheppard of Bow & Arrow Brewing in Albuquerque, New Mexico, are used to defying these kinds of falsehoods and mistaken expectations. As the first and only Native-woman-owned brewery in the United States, Bow & Arrow is a pioneering steward of the land, drawing inspiration from and using ingredients that pay homage to Indigenous traditions, ancestral influence, and the rich cultural abundance of the pair’s Native heritage. Partners in both business and life, Shyla and Missy share a commitment to increasing access to craft beer, as well as increasing visibility of Native culture through each brew. That includes the collaborative initiative called “Native Land,” which aims to acknowledge the contributions and history of Native American people in the United States.

Today, you’ll hear from Missy and Shyla about when they decided to open a brewery, how their local community supported them before and during the pandemic, how Albuquerque’s unique location allows for a diverse mix of locals and travelers, how New Mexico is shaping the craft beer culture at large, and what success means to them as part of this family-run business that they call a labor of love. Of course, we’ll also talk about the beers themselves—how sustainability in water and foraged ingredients shapes their recipes, how seasonality determines which ingredients are used, and how they balance delicate flavors with the wild beauty and bounty the land provides.

EP-329 Brienne Allan of Brave Noise Beer Feb 19, 2022

Brienne Allan became a household name in the beer industry last year, when she inadvertently sparked a reckoning against sexism in beer that quickly went global. Her face and words were featured everywhere from Imbibe to the Boston Globe, Eater, right here at Good Beer Hunting, and her Brave Noise initiative with Ash Eliot was named Brewbound’s Cause of the Year for 2021.

But now that nearly a year has gone by, what’s changed? For starters, Brienne left her home at Notch Brewing in Salem, Massachusetts, something she’d never envisioned doing until she became a worldwide phenomenon. Part of that decision was due to the sudden, and often scary, visibility she had to confront as a public face of social justice and change, which forced her to quickly figure out who she could talk to and who to trust. But even in the darkest times, she describes pockets of joy and hope that shifted her perspective about craft beer, but ultimately kept her within its space in order to keep driving positive change.

Today, Brienne and I talk about the past year—what she’s learned, how she’s changed, what she wants people to know, and what she’s looking forward to. Later in the conversation, we’re joined by her fiancé and partner Michael Fava, who shares his reaction to the reckoning as well as some of their future plans as business owners. You’ll hear an exclusive announcement about that business (yes, it involves Lagers), and why we shouldn’t expect the name Brienne Allan to go away anytime soon. We finish with a conversation about the current reconciliation plans for Mikkeller, which she calls a “huge breakthrough” as the first-of-its-kind effort to acknowledge, apologize, and atone for past sins. The dust hasn’t settled yet, but with the help of people like Kate Bailey, Fanny Wandel, Ash Eliot, and more, Brienne’s path forward is becoming slightly more clear.

Changing the Channel — Why Beer TV Ads Are Declining Feb 10, 2022

From talking frogs to Bud Light loving dogs and Will Ferrell unexpectedly shilling Old Milwaukee, there's a long history of beer advertisements that have found cultural relevance. Viewers across the country see these commercials every week during sporting events and reality TV shows. But as fewer people drink beer and more cut the cable cord, what's next for this segment of advertising?

That's the question at the core of Kate Bernot's story on Good Beer Hunting that explores what happens when overall minutes of beer ad airtime decline and all kinds of entertainment fills up our days. And in this conversation, Kate and I explore the ins and outs of why beer brands advertise on TV today and the reason big beer companies still see this avenue as an important way to connect with people, whether customers or distributors or retailers.

What if beer commercials are no longer just about trying to sell more beer in a literal way? And how can you measure cultural impact if it doesn't show up in sales? Saying "Dilly Dilly" can only take you so far.

SL-032 Speed Bumps — Exploring Beer Distributors' Campaign Against Human Trafficking Feb 03, 2022

“For the past two years, the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) has conducted an awareness and advocacy campaign to combat human trafficking, an initiative whose focus and scale are unprecedented in the organization’s history.”

That’s from the start of Kate Bernot’s story on Good Beer Hunting about a worthwhile cause to fight a global problem of trafficking here in the United States. But as you’ll read and as you’ll hear in this conversation, there’s far more understanding to what it all means. And that’s before we get to the many unknowns, which include unanswered questions about why the Association and some of its supporting organizations can’t or won’t provide details of how this effort came to be, and how they’re quantifying success. Human trafficking is not a cause directly related to the beer industry. But industry professionals and elected officials say beer distributors have the ability to be on-the-street “eyes and ears” and are uniquely positioned to help.

So what does this all mean, exactly, when one of the largest trade organizations in beverage alcohol makes human trafficking a priority? And what are the questions we still want to learn more about? That’s in this conversation.

CL-093 Ruvani de Silva Wants Texas Beer To Be Even Bigger Jan 30, 2022

Whether you’re speaking with her directly or reading her words, Ruvani de Silva seems to emit an effortless effervescence that’s both passionate and genuine. Her enthusiasm for her adopted home state of Texas is obvious, and her curiosity about the people moving it forward is heartfelt, which leads her to reveal compelling truths about beer and beyond.

In her latest piece for Good Beer Hunting, titled “Capturing the Flavor of Texas — Community Cultures Yeast Lab in San Antonio, Texas,” which was published on December 15, 2021, Ruvani describes how an encounter with the duo behind the San Antonio-based yeast lab galvanized her to dive into the world of clean foraged yeast propagation and what it means for the future of Texas terroir. Calling it one of the hardest projects she’s ever undertaken, Ruvani’s story explores both the science and art of cultivating hyper-local yeast from the Lone Star State, and how Community Cultures is redefining Texas craft beer in real time.

Texans are fiercely proud of their land and people, and this story is no exception. If you read Ruvani’s feature and are now listening to this conversation about it, you might be surprised to find out that Texas ranks 47th in breweries per capita, according to the Brewers Association. (I know—I was surprised!) But as Ruvani describes it, the state of Texas craft beer is “dynamic, diverse, and inclusive,” which are powerful words for a growing industry. And, thanks to the work of Texans like Ruvani and Community Cultures, the craft community at large has front-row seats to what’s happening right now.

EP-328 Audrey Gehlhausen and Chris DellaBianca of Billy Goat Hop Farm Jan 29, 2022

If you’ve gone on a brewery tour or listened to someone wax poetic about what goes into a beer, you may have heard this phrase: “Beer is an agricultural product.” It’s a simple statement, but one that’s repeated because it can often get lost. We most often exist around beer’s final state—an alcoholic liquid dispensed from a tap or poured from a bottle or can. No wonder we aren’t actively thinking about what happens before we take that first sip.

In this episode, we’re taking a chance to step back in that timeline with Audrey Gehlhausen and Chris DellaBianca of Billy Goat Hop Farm, a 32-acre, family-owned farm in Montrose, Colorado, where Audrey and Chris harvest hops like Cascade, Chinook, Comet, and more. They’re responsible for one of the core ingredients in beer that provides a host of aromas and flavors. But we’re not just talking about all that, as Audrey and Chris’ connection to beer through farming raises a range of other important topics that touch climate change, labor, and running a business.

While I’m certainly guilty of not overthinking each beer I’m drinking, I love knowing the value of interactions like this. To pause and think about how beer touches so much before it hits the side of your glass. Beer is an agricultural product, and in this conversation, you’ll get another opportunity to learn why.

EP-327 Becky Ryman + Logan Ackerley of Wallenpaupack Brewing Jan 08, 2022

There’s a brewery with a funny name hidden away in Pennsylvania’s Pocono mountains that’s slowly growing into a local powerhouse. Named after a nearby lake, the beer from Wallenpaupack Brewing Company is good—I can attest to that—but it’s the way this business is setting itself up for the future in the middle of Yuengling Country that caught my eye, and brings owner, Becky Ryman, and head brewer, Logan Ackerley, to your ears.

In this episode, we’re going to hear from Becky and Logan about what it takes to establish a brewery in a place mostly known for transient vacationers, how they build a tap list to smartly incorporate traditional styles and contemporary trends, and what the future holds for a brewery that has rapidly added staff and increased production. This summer, the Wallenpaupack team also celebrated the opening of a second space called “The Wake Zone,” a 6,000-square foot space designed to house interactive indoor golf and sports experiences along with a taproom.

All together, it’s a very modern approach to what it takes to excite drinkers in a taproom, on store shelves, and ensure ongoing success. This conversation is a great timestamp for this business and what it takes to succeed in beer, and I hope it also offers a better understanding of what Wallenpaupack represents outside a funny-sounding name for those not in the know.

CL-092 Emily Monaco Goes Digging in the Land of Terroir Jan 06, 2022

Emily Monaco’s latest story starts off with a very loaded concept, that controversial T word: terroir. This romantic, albeit somewhat undefinable term, has been synonymous with wine—and especially French wine—for generations. But now, as French beer continues to come into its own, the tastes of right here, right now are being emphasized by a number of breweries, but one in particular: Deck & Donohue.

Not that Deck & Donohue would use the word “terroir” to describe its mission. In Emily’s piece “Liberté, Égalité, Authenticité — Deck & Donohue in Paris, France,” which was published on November 24, 2021, she takes a deep and deeply personal look at what makes this opinionated, locally driven brewery tick. Accompanied by a collection of arresting photographs by Eileen Cho, the piece looks at the brewery’s beginning, its goals, and its future as a hyper-local producer of artisanal beers that relies on as many organic and France-sourced ingredients as it possibly can.

In today’s conversation about the piece, Emily reveals her own entry and evolution in beer, and when this particular story began to take shape in her mind. We discuss how French craft beer culture has seen beer evolve from mostly an aperitif to a legitimate beverage to pair with food. We also look at how the history and tradition of winemaking differ from the more forward-looking beer scene, how the United States has influenced French beer (and how it hasn’t), and even where to find the best chai in Paris. But most poignantly of all, she reveals what else she learned in her research for this story, and how it has inspired a number of other stories she hopes to share in the future.

EP-326 Chris Leguizamon of Pure Project Jan 04, 2022

Genuinely nice people seem to be harder than ever to come by. But Chris Leguizamon, otherwise known as “Chris The Beer Educator” on Instagram, is one of them. As the education program manager at Pure Project in San Diego, California, Chris is in charge of teaching both his coworkers and consumers about the joys of craft beer, coffee, and mead—a role he takes very seriously, but always manages to do with his trademark ear-to-ear smile.

Chris has been a fixture in San Diego’s craft beer scene since 2014, and as one of only two Advanced Cicerones in the county as well as a Certified BJCP judge (with his eye on a National ranking), he’s easily one of the most knowledgeable folks in the local industry. But where he stands out goes beyond his positive attitude and almost inescapable enthusiasm for the beverage. It’s his absolute willingness to share everything he knows with anyone who wants to hear it.

In our conversation today, you’ll hear from Chris — his journey into beer, his identity as a first generation Colombian-American, why he does what he does, and the value of formal beer education, as well as where those programs need to evolve to engage with the next generation of aspiring beer experts from all backgrounds. The conversation wraps up with both of our takes on the global collaboration, Brave Noise: how we feel about it, what we hope comes from it, and the urgency of listening to the voices who so desperately need to be heard.

EP-325 Noah and Peter Bissell of Bissell Brothers Dec 17, 2021

Today’s podcast was inspired by a single tweet, or more accurately a reply to tweet, from Bissell Brothers cofounder Pete Bissell. It came in response to a post about a new Good Beer Hunting article entitled Making it to a Million — How Allagash Helped Grow Maine’s Grain Economy.

It was a story about the remarkable fortunes of a handful of grain farmers and maltsters in Maine, who have benefitted from Allagash’s drive to include more local grains in their beer. It’s a wonderful example of a brewery doing something not because it’s easy, but because it’s right – something the myth of craft was built on. But as the article made clear, Allagash were not the only Maine brewery pursuing the strategy. Bissell Brothers were also name checked, and Pete’s brother Noah actually quoted. Still, Pete wanted to make it clear that local grain wasn’t little aside for the brewery, or some kind of corporate responsibility box ticked. It was a passion of theirs, and their contribution to Maine grain’s rise is perhaps as big as Allagash’s.

That fact, coupled with Pete’s little moment of Twitter defiance, gets to the heart of Bissell Brothers. On the surface they seem like another haze-focused brewery – complete with a world-famous double IPA, a killer brand identity and lines around the block every other weekend. While that’s all a source of pride to Pete and Noah, it’s only the start of the Bissell story – something the brewery struggles get across.

In this podcast I sit down with Pete and Noah to talk about the brilliant fact that their flagship beer, Substance, is 97% Maine grain, but more so about everything that surrounds that choice – the positives such as the impact on sustainability and local business, but also the negatives such as higher costs and accepting the fact that many customers simply won’t know or care. We reflect on the beer industry as a whole in the light of COVID and widespread condemnation of its working culture, and consider how marketing has become so reductive that doing the wrong thing is getting easier, while explaining how you do the right thing is only getting harder.

EP-324 Will Rogers of Charles Faram Dec 15, 2021

Hops are in Roger’s blood. He grew up on a hop farm and, after a few years in IT, came back to that world to work for Farams. In our conversation you’ll get a real sense of the pride he takes the business, as well as his deep knowledge of hops as both an agricultural plant and a beer ingredient. But most of all you’ll hear his passion for British hops, which its fair do not inspire the same level of excitement that many new world varieties do. That though, might be about to change.

We start by talking about the challenges of this year’s harvest, which has been affected by adverse and unpredictable weather, only to be released to a market with much lower demand as many brewers are still working through their stock of 2020 and even 2019 hops after the disruption of COVID.

These crises could not have come at a worst time for the UK hop industry, which Rogers says is at its lowest ebb – and even a make or break moment. Some hop growers are considering turning their fields over to more reliable crops, and with just 59 growers left in the UK it would only take a few quitting to reach a critical mass that destroys the industry. Rogers, however, sees a lot of cause for optimism.

We talk about the renewed excitement around traditional british beer styles and their ingredients, as well as taking a deep dive into Faram’s hop breeding programme that has seen the release of seven new varieties design to offer up the high aroma, high alpha qualities of American hops – but all grown in British soil, British sun and rain, and without the use of irrigation.

Throughout our talk it becomes clear that British hops have a lot to offer the world of modern brewing if it can survive this moment to rebrand itself and create its own space.

EP-323 Melissa Hidalgo, Dr. Beer Butch Dec 05, 2021

Melissa Hidalgo might be the smartest beer person I know. She has a Ph.D in Literature from U.C. San Diego; is currently a professor of women’s, gender, and ethnic studies at California State University, Long Beach; and, if she wasn’t busy enough with her work in academia, she’s also a longtime beer writer who often goes by the pseudonym Dr. Beer Butch.

Melissa has been writing about beer for over 10 years, but it was a pint of Guinness that started her beer journey well before that. As a Los Angeles native, she was an early organizer of queer spaces in her local community, helping to form a beer education social club called Queers and Beers, as well as a blog called Butch’s Brew, all with the intent of taking up space in what was then, and could still very well be considered, an extremely white, cis, male beer scene.

As a freelance writer, Melissa mostly writes about beer for L.A. Taco, but her desire to tell stories about people, history, and culture transcend food and drink. In our conversation today, you’ll hear her tell her own experience and journey into beer, the prejudices she’s had to overcome in order to explore the industry she loves, what’s changed over the years (as well as what hasn’t), who inspires her, and the preciousness of human connections through a shared passion.

CL-091 Catie Joyce-Bulay Asks The Million Malt Question Dec 04, 2021

If you’re a voracious fiction reader like I am, your biggest impression of Maine may come from Stephen King novels. But the United States’ northeasternmost state is far more than pet cemeteries and telekinetic prom queens. It’s also home to some of the country’s highest-quality grain growers and maltsters, many of whom are based in an area that’s long been used for another crop: potatoes.

In her piece titled “Making It to a Million — How Allagash Helped Grow Maine’s Grain Economy,” writer Catie Joyce-Bulay dives into this world of farm-to-pint malting and how Allagash Brewing Company’s pledge to use 1 million pounds of grains grown and malted in Maine by the end of this year has helped spur new infrastructure and symbiotic relationships throughout the local industry. As a resident Mainer, she explores the importance of that hyper-localism pervasive among her tight-knit brewing community, and how mutual respect and a shared commitment to quality binds those tilling the earth to those brewing our beer.

During this conversation, Catie discusses what it’s like to live, work, and drink in Maine, a place that fiercely protects its own, but embraces those who share their sense of rugged individuality. We talk about how the slow growth towards using solely Maine-grown grain is a welcome corrective to our current culture of instant gratification, what she wishes she could have expanded on in her piece, how using GPS in rural Maine may lead you to some unexpected places (and snacks), and what to pair a can of Allagash White with. (Hint: it’s everything.)

EP-322 Naveen Pawar and Adam Leibowitz of Mighty Squirrel Brewing Nov 20, 2021

In today’s alcohol marketplace, it’s all about the pivot. You better be able to change on a dime when it comes to what you make, where your brands are sold, and how you think about growth. But well before the COVID-19 pandemic brought all these things into focus, Mighty Squirrel Brewing Company created its own reinvention, turning itself from a company making a sport-focused, protein-enriched beer in 2015 to one of the most successful Hazy IPA producers in the country by 2018.

The beer that's gotten them to this point is Cloud Candy New England-Style IPA, which this year has made as much in chain retail stores as the iconic Pliny the Elder from Russian River Brewing. The meteoric rise of Cloud Candy is the impetus to talk with co-founder Naveen Pawar and Adam Leibowitz, director of sales and marketing, and you’ll hear the story of bringing it to life and what it means to complete with a New England-style IPA in New England, where hop heads reign supreme. Along the way you’ll get to hear about what it means to be among the fastest-growing breweries in the country, and how to try and not be seen as a one-hit wonder.

Cloud Candy may have put Mighty Squirrel on the radar for many beer lovers—it certainly did for me—but what you’ll hear from Naveen and Adam give broader context to what it means to be a company making beer in 2021, and the importance of always evolving for yourself, your staff, and the people who sell and buy your beer. And if you haven’t yet heard of Mighty Squirrel, know it won’t be long until this rapidly-growing business catches the eye and taste buds of beer drinkers across the Northeast.

SM-005 That Dog Won’t Hunt: Charleston Beer’s Past, Present, and Future Nov 20, 2021

In summer 2021, Jamaal Lemon, Brian Alberts, Mike Stein, and Peter Jones worked together to publish Tek Cyear uh de Root, an article series that explored the way beer history and culture merged with systems of racial oppression in the 19th-century Charleston Schützenfest. In that series we mentioned an even earlier example of the same phenomenon, a brewery owned by Edmund Egan in the 1770s.

Egan’s brewery ran on the labor of six brewers, two coopers, and seven other Black workers, all enslaved, but most historical representations of Egan minimized this fact so much that bringing it up again started some conversations. One of the biggest breweries in both Charleston and South Carolina is Edmund’s Oast Brewing Company which, you guessed it, is named after Edmund Egan.

SL-031 Cutting America Off — The Controversial Researcher reshaping Our Drinking Habits Nov 18, 2021

Back in the summer of 2018, Good Beer Hunting readers were introduced to a name that stuck with me for years: David Jernigan. He’s one of the country’s leading researchers in the area of alcohol use and policy and at the time, was acting as an expert for a government task force in Maryland looking at potential alcohol reforms. In reporting for Sightlines, his name was mentioned by sources who also said words like “prohibition” or “temperance.”

That connection will make better sense to you after this conversation with Sightlines reporter Kate Bernot, who explains how a modern academic is seen by some to have a connection to a generations-old movement to limit Americans’ choice in how and when they consume alcohol. From Jernigan’s point of view, however, he’s simply using his research and platform to lead studies that might encourage greater responsibility toward ourselves and others.

In Kate’s profile of Jernigan and his work, which you can read on Good Beer Hunting, she shares how Jernigan has worked for decades to impact government decision making while potentially stretching research beyond clear conclusions to earn attention from media and politicians.

Who is David Jernigan and why should you care? Let’s find out.

CL-090 Helen Anne Smith Wants More For The Hospitality Industry Nov 17, 2021

Buzzwords like “craft,” “ethical,” and “sustainable” seem to be everywhere in hospitality. But do those terms actually mean anything, and if so, how do they relate to the most important resource of all: people? Burum Collective founder and writer Helen Anne Smith explores this strange and sometimes intentionally dissonant question in their first piece for Good Beer Hunting, titled “Last Call — The Human Sustainability Crisis at the Heart of the Hospitality Industry,” which was published on September 29, 2021. In it, they explain how resource sustainability, while crucial, often disregards the human element, and what consumers and employees alike need to do about it. In this podcast conversation, Helen reveals how they’re channeling emotions like cynicism and anger to push for a better industry for everyone, how to harness a sense of powerlessness and turn it into action, the importance of intersectionality when making necessary demands, and how we all need to collectively work together to ensure the safety and survival of the most vulnerable among us. This isn’t a conversation for you to listen to, lament, and set aside. I encourage you to sit with the discussion and think about what you can do to make the hospitality industry a better, most just, more liveable, and more equitable place.

EP-321 Cortni McKenzie of Many Faces and Good Road Cider Nov 06, 2021

In this episode we’re going to chat about the present and look back in time. You’re going to get to meet Cortni McKenzie, an aspiring beverage alcohol professional who got a taste of what it’ll take to excel in the industry this past summer and continues to put in the work to establish herself this fall and beyond.

Earlier this year, Cortni was part of the Many Faces Initiative, a North Carolina-based internship program that provided mentorship and immersive training for people of color interested in pursuing careers in beer and other alcohol categories. The program was started by Town Brewing and included four other businesses, each with their own intern. After a ten-week period at Charlotte's GoodRoad CiderWorks, Cortni continues to work there and has also launched her own business called Cortly Crafted, meant to help people and businesses find unique drinks and drink experiences. In this conversation you’ll hear Cortni share stories about her experience entering the beverage alcohol workforce and a capstone project where she created pop-up shops that offered new ways to create more inclusive events for people of all backgrounds and interests.

One of the special things about hosting the Good Beer Hunting podcast is an ability to meet new people and hear about how their experiences shape what’s happening in real time in alcohol industries. Cortni is part of that change, and when you meet her, you get an important perspective that reminds us of the excitement that comes with creating something new.

EP-320 Aaron Hosé, One Pint at a Time Nov 02, 2021

Earlier this year, I had the honor of moderating “The Art of Storytelling: Highlighting Important Stories” at Crafted for Action, a four-day, hybrid conference for craft beer lovers. One of the members of the panel was Aaron Hosé, an Aruban-born filmmaker who has been working in the biz for over 20 years. Though the panel was virtual, I had a chance to meet some of the speakers in person at the opening event here in Atlanta. That’s where I met Aaron Hosé. He was actually the first person I ran into at Atlantucky Brewing, where the opening was happening.

We quickly fell into a conversation about the film that he was premiering at the conference. It was easy to see how passionate he was about the story he was telling about Black people in the beer industry and the difficulties they experienced opening their own breweries. It took me mere minutes to ask him to join me on this podcast, even before I viewed the film. Once I saw the film, I was captivated by the stories and mildly amused at seeing some of my friends and acquaintances in the film. The Black beer community seems small when you know almost everyone on the screen.

In our conversation, we talk about the film and the inspiration behind creating it. We discuss the importance of going with the flow, and how people of color should tell their own stories--the topic of our panel at Crafted for Action. Aaron also shares how he gained the trust of his interviewees and what he wishes he could change about the film.

SL-030 Beyond Beer — Will a Global Outcry Have Lasting Impact on Mikkeller? Nov 01, 2021

Over the past several months, Good Beer Hunting reporter Kate Bernot has been at the forefront of covering allegations of sexual harassment, bullying, and unsafe working conditions at Mikkeller, a Denmark-based brewery with bars and brewpubs all over the world, including a prominent location in San Diego. Kate’s coverage has included stories on protests at the brewery’s Copenhagen headquarters and stories from former employees who alleged instances of inappropriate workplace behavior and silence from leadership. Most recently, Kate has written about how these previous storylines came together ahead of the company’s Mikkeller Beer Celebration Copenhagen, one of the most prestigious beer festivals in the world, from which dozens of breweries withdrew in opposition, and eventually garnered an apology from Mikkeller.

In this conversation, Kate will recap all this and more, and give you insight into what it’s been like to report on an evolving story. This is an opportunity to better understand what it takes to write about all of what’s happened to, with, and toward Mikkeller since this summer, and get a better understanding of the context behind it all.

EP-319 Blake Enemark, Tailgunner Brewing Company Oct 23, 2021

There are a lot of parallels between good music and good beer, from the similarly creative processes of conceptualizing new beers and writing new songs to the way independent makers are fighting for their place at the table in two industries that are dominated by massive corporations. Beer media and music publications have a lot in common, too.

Although I mostly write about food and drink nowadays, I got my start by writing music reviews for the San Francisco Bay Guardian while playing guitar in an indie band in the city. Several beer writers, actually, started out as music writers. And more than a few brewers, publicans, and brewery owners had early careers in the music industry.

In this episode, I talk to Blake Enemark, head brewer at Tailgunner Brewing Company in Calgary, Alberta. Before he became a brewer, Blake played guitar in a band called We Are the City, touring in a van from show to show and recording a bunch of cool songs. Since he left the band, he’s become an award-winning brewer who spent a couple of years working with Mike Lackey at Great Lakes Brewery in Ontario, followed by gigs at breweries like Last Best and OT Brewing in Calgary. We met at the Central European Brewers Conference in Budapest, Hungary, where Blake was giving a presentation on modern IPA techniques. (Interestingly, he says that one of his most popular beers at Tailgunner is a Czech-style pale lager, a style that is close to my own heart.) We talk about music and brewing, what the two fields have in common and what sets them apart, as well as Blake’s influences, from brewers he never brewed with (but was inspired by) to mentors like Luc “Bim” Lafontaine of Godspeed Brewery in Toronto.

By chance, we’re speaking at the Hungarian Rock Museum, which is filled with vintage guitars, musical equipment, and photographs of people rocking out.

CL-089 Gloria Rakowsky Searches For Truth Behind The Bar Oct 20, 2021

There are more than half a million bartenders working in the United States, although it’s a pretty safe bet that those numbers have changed in COVID’s wake. Still, that’s a heck of a lot of people mixing cocktails, pouring beers, and popping bottles for guests, all while also acting as therapists, entertainers, and occasionally bouncers for the mere privilege of serving us. But where do we form our collective expectations about the role of bartenders? In her latest piece for Good Beer Hunting, freelance writer Gloria Rakowsky describes her early introduction to the sometimes-illustrious position from places like The Love Boat and Cheers. Her piece, titled “Do It With Flair — The Changing Role of the Bartender in Pop Culture,” unpacks how society views the people between us and the drinks we love through a cultural analysis of movies, television, and other influences that have redefined the role over the years. As a writer who also serves beer at a local brewery in her hometown of Syracuse, New York, Rakowsky’s perspective as both observer and participant gives her a unique insight into what it means to serve. During this podcast conversation, she discusses a range of topics from how to differentiate empowerment from exploitation, the disconnect between who we’re shown as icons of hospitality versus who’s actually behind the bar, and how society has influenced our perception of bartending as either a glamorous end goal or temporary stepping stone.

EP-318 Emma Inch of the British Guild of Beer Writers Oct 16, 2021

Producing and hosting a weekly local radio show likely isn’t how most beer writers get their start—but that’s exactly where Emma Inch’s career in beer began. With a passion for rockabilly music, which she saw as an outlet from the stress of her day job as a mental health crisis worker, Emma went from hosting club nights to approaching her local radio station with a show idea. Then a few years later—as she began noticing a change in her local beer scene in Brighton, England—she pitched an idea for a new show, and in late 2015 Fermentation Beer and Brewing Radio began. Initially a live monthly radio show with a local focus on the beer scene in and around Brighton, Emma later decided to continue producing the show as a podcast instead. As she puts it, with most podcasts sought out rather than stumbled upon, as radio programs often are, this enabled her to not only broaden her geographical scope (from Brighton to the rest of Britain and beyond), but to narrow her focus and take a deeper dive with the stories she was telling. And in 2018, Emma’s storytelling skills won her the U.K.’s highest accolade for a beer writer: the Michael Jackson Gold Tankard for Beer Writer of the Year. When I ask her to take us back to that moment, her memories are a bit fuzzy. Not from alcohol, but from the rather tough bout of sinusitis she was battling at the time. But when I ask her to reflect on how the win has impacted her career since, she rapturously reels off a list of the incredible opportunities it brought her way. We also discuss the impact of her win on the industry more broadly, and what it means to be a queer woman taking home the top award in a space still dominated by straight white men. And with Emma’s recent election as Chair of the British Guild of Beer Writers, the organization behind the awards that recognized her work, she tells us how she’s keen to bring further focus to issues of diversity, representation, and equity within the beer writing community. From looking forward to her newest role, we then take a look back at her longest-standing one. Alongside her current career as a drinks writer, audio maker, and podcast consultant, Emma is a part-time university lecturer in social work. We explore how that role—then and now—has influenced her perspective on the beer world, her approach to her work, and the stories she chooses to tell.

SM-004 ‘Every Can Counts’ — Boycotting Coors in Colorado, the Castro, and Beyond Oct 13, 2021

Conversations around beer often focus on what to drink: I had this great beer the other day. Here's something you might like, or a brewery worth supporting. Fewer conversations focus on what not to drink.

But that’s exactly what happened on a spring day in 1974, between a Teamsters union leader named Allen Baird and a gay leftist activist named Howard Wallace. Wallace ran into Baird outside a supermarket in the Castro, San Francisco's queer neighborhood, and they started talking about Coors beer, which at the time was one of the most sought-after brands in the Western United States. But they weren’t talking about drinking it—on the contrary, Baird was there to protest it.

The two were taking part in one of American history's longest conversations about what not to buy. More than that, the unlikely alliance they formed would rejuvenate an iconic consumer movement that joined organized labor with civil rights groups of all stripes.

These were the Coors boycotts of the late 20th century, and they were a big deal. Confined neither to Coors' hometown of Golden, Colorado nor San Francisco, the boycotts were a nationwide phenomenon that swept from the brewery’s gates through California, Montana, Utah, Kansas, Illinois, Ohio, New York, Connecticut, and many more places in between. Officially, the boycotts lasted over 30 years, from 1957 through 1987.

And for some, they never ended. Reverberations and reminders of the boycott's legacy endure even to the present day. That’s because the boycott merged the motivations of underrepresented community groups, labor unions, and leftist organizations, transcending single issues to become a shared cause. For everyone involved, it was about much more than just beer.

Note: During this episode, we inaccurately refer to LGBTQIA+ rights activist Harvey Milk as the first openly gay person elected to Congress. Instead, Milk was the first openly gay elected official in California's history, when he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in early 1978. He was assassinated later that year while serving in that role. We apologize for the error.

EP-317 Hoby Wedler, Ph.D. Chemist and Entrepreneur Oct 10, 2021

Every now and then, I get to host an episode where the conversation has very little to do with beer or other kinds of beverage alcohol. This is another one of those opportunities as we hear from Hoby Wedler, an organic chemist with a Ph.D. from UC-Davis, an entrepreneur, teacher, and genuinely positive guy. If I had my way, I’d likely put that last description first for sake of what Hoby radiates out into the world.

He was recently named to Wine Enthusiast’s “40 Under 40 Tastemakers” for his work in wine research and education, which is where you may have come across his name, but Hoby has been recognized many times for the contributions he’s made to science and beverage. He’s been blind since birth and as a sensory expert, regularly takes others on journeys through their own imagination to more fully appreciate what each of their senses can provide and help them discover. You’ll hear in our conversation why this matters and the richness it brings Hoby and those he meets.

This is not an episode about beverage alcohol, although we do talk a bit about wine. It’s more an exploration of happiness and not just existing in the world around us, but finding excuses to be consumed by it in the best ways. So whether or not you’ve heard of Hoby or heard him talk, I invite you to join us, consider what makes these next moments great for you, and experience today’s sounds and tastes a little bit differently, with a little more adventure, and a lot more positivity.

This is Hoby Wedler, chemist, sensory expert, and entrepreneur.

CL-088 Doug Hoverson Lives On Native Soil Oct 07, 2021

Every inch of the land now known as the United States of America actually belongs to someone else. Some call them Native Americans. Others prefer American Indians, First Nations, Indigenous Americans, or use other monikers to describe the multitude of tribal identities that have been used, abused, and exploited throughout the generations by (mostly) white imperialist settlers.

But these invaders didn’t simply erase history—they repackaged it with a new narrative, one that leverages ancient connections between the earth and its peoples for advertising purposes. History teacher and beer historian Doug Hoverson unpacks this widespread practice and beer’s role in it for his latest piece for Good Beer Hunting, titled “Chiefs, Maidens, and Image-Making — A History of American Indians in Beer Advertising,” which was published on September 22, 2021.

Here, Hoverson and I discuss how his historical expertise and Midwestern roots led him to explore this phenomenon, as well as how other industries—such as professional sports—have finally begun to address the problematic nature of Native caricatures in advertising and beyond. He describes how Prohibition spawned a new wave of strangely puritanical marketing and how his research ultimately led him to tackle this project. You’ll hear what lies we’ve been told not just through advertising, but through history itself, and how the inescapable snare of white supremacy continues to emphasize tradition over collective improvement.

It’s a complex conversation around a complex topic. But history buffs, beer drinkers, advertisers, and all Americans can learn something about ourselves, our communities, and our current social situation by looking at the past with fresh eyes. Let’s look back together.

EP-316 Amber Rosado of Mason Jar Oct 02, 2021

If you’ve gone job hunting in the past 15 years, you may have sought out new professional challenges, a different geography, or more money, but there’s an ever-important part of the process for many that seeks out a harmonious crossover of personal and professional. I know I’ve looked for some semblance of that, where I don’t want my job to define who I am as a person, but I do want who I am as a person to influence how I go about my job, and ultimately, how much I may enjoy it. On a hunt to feel fulfilled, it’s perhaps inevitable, and in a healthy way, it’s needed, too.

In this conversation, we’re lucky to hear from Amber Rosado, who has tracked a career path from restaurant server into the beer industry, and now as brewer at North Carolina’s Mason Jar Lager Company. At every step, she’s sought a deeper connection to what she does through who she is—using her personality, family history, and culture—and also found ways to bring along loved ones for the ride.

If you’re a beer enthusiast and have friends or family in your life who don’t feel the same passion but like to turn to you for ideas, inspiration, or guidance for what to drink, you’ll enjoy Amber’s stories of using new found skills and experiences to help those closest to her. Or maybe you’ve reflected recently on your own career path and how you strive to find ways to create excitement and meaning, in which case you can probably relate to how Amber has seemed to find her place in beer instead of other areas of hospitality or beverage alcohol.

Most of all, one of the things I appreciated hearing from Amber is the perspective of someone who has come of age as a drinker and a professional at a time when the stodgy rules of categories and what to drink when are blurring and being reshaped. Amber’s family may have guided her in what she enjoyed before, but it’s her hands-on work, a love for beer, and a pursuit of new ways to create flavor that drive her today. This conversation is going to be meaningful to you like it was for me because of how all of these things come together—Amber’s past and present creating a new and exciting future as a part of the beer industry.

EP-315 Laura Garcia, Brewer from Baja Sep 26, 2021

Throughout my freelance beer-writing career, one person’s name has continued to pop up as someone to pay attention to. That person is Laura Garcia, a brewer who has worked across the state of Baja California, but primarily in Baja’s capital city of Mexicali, which also happens to be her hometown. But this isn’t a story about how I know Laura. It’s a story about why you should. Hailed by many as the best brewer in Baja, Laura worked her way from beer lover to beer judge to brewer and beyond. The pandemic interrupted her career trajectory, but she hasn’t let that dampen her enthusiasm for the craft. In fact, she’s using this time and space to reflect on what she wants for herself, for her beer community, and the Mexican craft beer scene at large. During the course of our conversation, Laura reveals how Mexicali’s scorching heat and surprisingly early brewing history helped launch the area’s now-thriving craft beer industry. She talks about how the region’s sometimes limited access to resources, coupled with her community’s willingness to share everything, has led to a tight-knit bond not seen in many other places in beer. We, of course, discuss how the United States—and San Diego specifically—have influenced the Baja beer scene, but also how its ability to accept that influence without compromising authenticity has led to amazing results. Laura also pushes back against misconceptions about Mexico in general, and invites listeners to experience the best of Mexicali without fear, with plenty of recommendations for the city’s ridiculously underrated food and drink scene.

CL-087 Theresa McCulla Helps Reconstruct a Life Sep 24, 2021

As the curator of the American Brewing History Initiative at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, Theresa McCulla has access to some of the United States’ most treasured brewing artifacts. It was the uncovering of one such artifact that led her to explore the life of Patsy Young, an enslaved woman, brewer, wife, and mother who fought for her freedom (twice) and who left an indelible legacy on the narrative of American brewing.

In her first piece for Good Beer Hunting, titled “Patsy Young — American Brewer, Fugitive From Slavery,” which was published on September 15, 2021, McCulla unpacks the realization that there is no single part of American history that the stain of slavery has not touched. We discuss her role as a historian and her responsibility for sharing the stories many have worked hard to erase, as well as how writing for a different sort of audience was a welcome challenge, if not also an academic duty. It’s only through analyzing history that we have any chance at informing the present, regardless of how difficult or traumatic the past may be, and she doesn’t flinch when faced with that inescapable truth.

Is there a happy ending for Patsy Young? It’s hard to say. But McCulla likes to think so. Let’s find out why.

EP-314 Vik and Viv Nayar of Two Robbers Sep 18, 2021

I’ve found myself adding some qualifiers to interview requests lately, ensuring people that while I create stories, analysis, and podcasts for Good Beer Hunting, the interests of myself and the publication extend far beyond what the name may suggest. If you click around goodbeerhunting.com or scroll through our podcast archive, you get the idea—we focus on so much more than just beer.

That’s the way of the beverage alcohol industry these days, and why we’re talking to Vikram and Vivek Nayar in this episode. The pair are behind Two Robbers, a regionally-focused hard seltzer company that represents an ever-increasing portion of the category. There’s a good chance you know about White Claw, Truly, or Bud Light hard seltzers, but there are dozens of others who have found success by setting themselves apart from the most mass-produced examples on the market.

What you’ll hear in this conversation is a reflection on current narratives of hard seltzer and what it means to build a company in a category that has completely changed beverage alcohol. Whether or not you’re a hard seltzer fan, the context and insight from Vik and Viv will help you better understand what it’s like for businesses in this rather new segment. And whatever headlines you may see, know that hard seltzer is wildly outpacing growth of beer, wine, and spirits in retail, which is why discussions like this can be so helpful to understand realities from within the industry.

CL-086 David Jesudason Sets Sail on the Myth of IPA Sep 15, 2021

What is an IPA? Most drinkers around the world would probably identify IPA as the flagship style of the modern craft beer movement. As its popularity has grown, it has become known for a bunch of different—and often contradictory—characteristics. A modern IPA is either bitter or not bitter; pale, white, or black; very strong, sessionable, or nonalcoholic. But while IPA in all its forms is loved around the world, relatively few drinkers would be likely to name the drink’s intimate connection with the history of colonial exploitation. In this episode, I talk to David Jesudason, the author of a recent article, “Empire State of Mind — Interrogating IPA’s Colonial Identity,” that ran in our Critical Drinking series. In this conversation, we discuss David’s article and his take on the history of IPA, or India Pale Ale, to use its full name. We talk about mercantilism, extractive capitalism, and the East India Company, a massive corporation which maintained its own private army to protect its lucrative businesses during the British occupation of India. We talk about beer advertising and beer labels, and we discuss the prevalence of colonial-themed décor in modern British culture, including plantation shutters, and what seems like a widespread nostalgia for colonies and empire there.

EP-313 Emma Janzen, Author Sep 11, 2021

The intersection between digital media and the more slow, meandering works of book authorship is one that, on its surface, might not seem to be well populated. But these days, to be a writer at all means being a lot of different things. You might work across channels, platforms, industries, styles, digital and print, freelance and newsroom, and all that mode switching is a lot. It’s just, a lot.

The folks I’ve seen handle it really well tend to think and work in big phases - blogging or freelancing for a year and then diving into book writing for another year - reemerging some time later to ramp up their speedy output again. It’s an ebb and flow kind of thing, even if the changes aren’t so clearly defined as they might like.

And underneath all this is the need to have a personal life that feels more continuous and permanent in some way. Some sort of arc of the author’s own story and interests that might never make it to the page or the browser, but certainly serve as a sort of invisible-to-the-reader backdrop for the things they write about most often. These things can be world-shaping, and perspective-creating and often, lost in the rigamarole of just trying to keep up with the work.

Today’s guest, Emma Janzen, has been through all that - and this past year she’s found herself taking a big step back and weighing it all - sifting through the things that bring her joy and those things that maybe just ping her inbox, insufferably, with little value or meaning.

She’s written full-length books and worked as a digital editor, often at the same time, and most recently found a collaborative process she really enjoys. All while navigating a pandemic and it’s many disruptions - some welcome, some not - to the path she was on.

I’m sitting down with her on a farm in Michigan near where she’s been living, writing, and gardening. You’ll hear the airiness and insect-laden sounds of the farm itself as we share a couple pints from River St John brewery on-site - which if you haven’t been is a remarkable place full of saisons and freshly harvest vegetables, and on this particular day, a dead-of-summer sun that just wouldn’t quit. If sweat made a sound - you’d hear it.

CL-085 David Neimanis Isn’t (Just) Bitter Sep 09, 2021

Where does inspiration end and innovation begin? When it comes to contemporary takes on established traditions, that line can seem a bit blurry at times. But in David Neimanis’ piece “The Architecture of Brooklyn Amaro — What it Means to Make Amari in the New World,” which was published on August 19, 2021, he expertly explores that line, its lineage, and what the future holds for American-made amari. In our conversation, Neimanis describes what led him to write about amaro, and Brooklyn-made amaro specifically. He’s looked to the past before for Good Beer Hunting, but his passion for his home borough is evident throughout this piece, thanks in part to his ability to meet with subjects in real life once more, after a year where so many in-person events and tastings have been stifled. We talk about who inspires him as a writer, what attracts him to the bitter spirit, how balance coupled with bitterness can create unexpected flavor sensations, and what qualities he looks for in his glass. By exploring the tension between tradition and innovation, local versus global, and the various philosophies swirling together in this modern-day spirits renaissance, Neimanis doesn’t just talk about what it means to make amaro in Brooklyn—he shows us.

SL-29 Aww, Ship — Companies Thrive in Distribution’s Legally Grey Area Sep 08, 2021

There’s a lot of change taking place in beer and broader beverage alcohol, but you might not notice it. It’s not the form of sales shifting for hard seltzer or Mountain Dew announcing an uncaffeinated, alcoholic version of the soda, but in the quiet space of distribution.

Alcohol sales are broken out into three traditional tiers—the producer (tier one) who makes it, distributors (tier two) who move it, and retailers (tier three), who sell it. These are broad brushstrokes, but are a key part of the painting Kate Bernot is going to create for you in this episode. Kate, Good Beer Hunting’s Sightlines reporter, has recently had a series of stories focused on what’s happening around shipping beer and other products, and we’re going to spend a good chunk of time talking about a very grey area that’s allowed some shipping companies to do business in a space of uncertain legality.

Here’s why this podcast matters to you, whether you’re a drinker, business owner, or legal pro: there is a jockeying for power you may not see, with ramifications that you may not know until later, about a future that is increasingly blurry as drinks and drinks businesses explore new ways to make a buck. What you hear from Kate will matter to you, whether you’re thinking about it now or seeing it later.

And with that in mind, I should also note that Kate and I are doing this kind of deep dive regularly for Good Beer Hunting’s Sightlines+ newsletter, which is an extension of our newsy Sightlines coverage and has a goal of combining objective data and reporting to help industry pros make informed decisions about managing a portfolio, access to market, and more. You can learn more at goodbeerhunting.com/sightlines-premium.

CL-084 Matt Osgood says They're the Nicest People Sep 01, 2021

Finding good, honest people making good, honest beer isn’t as easy as craft beer has led us to believe. But every once in a while, a truly singular brewery—shielded by geography and rooted firmly to the land—reveals itself, putting forth artistry in liquid form while also providing a safe, beautiful, and intentional space for everyone who stumbles across its path.

Fox Farm Brewery is one such place. In his latest piece for Good Beer Hunting, titled “Degrees of Intent — Fox Farm Brewery in Salem, Connecticut,” Matt Osgood explores the unique utopian vision that founders Zack and Laura Adams have for their small New England operation, along with the cosmic coincidences that helped pave their way. By harnessing genuine curiosity and a sense of discovery, the family-run brewery remains a rare example of craft beer actually living up to expectations of humanity, where the beer is revered but the people are paramount.

As Matt explains in this podcast conversation, everyone’s stories matter to somebody, and we all share memories of family, community, and communion through food and drink. He describes what drew him to Salem in the first place, and what will likely keep him coming back. We explore the overlaps between beer and wine, however esoteric, and how spontaneity tinged with intent can yield delectable results. And we also talk about what else he’s working on, why he loves profiling people, and where he’s going next.

EP-312 Manny Valdes of Cruz Blanca Aug 28, 2021

Every once in awhile I like to have someone on the podcast who I’ve been talking to or working with for awhile.

It’s not always easy to know when the right time is — I have to keep my eagerness in check. Often for a long time. Whether it’s the state of their business, or a major transition, or as market factors shift around it — I try to look for a sweet spot where the guest has learned enough about who they are and what business they’re in, but also started to develop their own vision for what the future might hold. It’s a moment where I see them sort of settle in to a groove. And the challenge is to get them to reflect on what that settling in moment is all about.

Today’s guest, Manny Valdes of Cruz Blanca in Chicago is someone I’ve consulted with over the past couple years off and on and he’s sought some perspective on all that. He’s a master at soaking up different perspectives and gradually, patiently, synthesizing his own.

Indeed, much of the work we’ve done has often felt like a slow-drip conversation between friends over a late dinner. And I’ve walked away with more intriguing questions than I had answers.

Manny falls outside the lines of how I’d describe most brewery and brewpub owners. While he’s a good operator and focused on the details, he clearly spends most of his time observing, imagining, and listening to the stories people tell about his brand. He factors it all in.

And while he’s spent a lot of time the past couple years trying to articulate who Cruz Blanca is - lately he’s seemed less…concerned. Or less…exacting about that. He’s been more playful and reclined in a way. And that, for me, was an indication that something was shifting and maybe positively so. And I wanted to talk to him about it.

Cruz Blanca has a particular history in Chicago - which we’ll get into. It was founded alongside Rick Bayless, a renowned Chicago chef who is largely credited with making Mexican food in the Midwest an accessible cuisine (that’s a very complicated thing to say, and those are my words, not Rick’s or Manny’s). And over the years, Rick brought that culinary mindset to craft beer as well, back when he created Marisol with Goose Island, a sort of citrusy, spiced wheat ale that’s a bit of a legend in Chicago.

Then he partnered with Constellation Brands to produce Tocayo - a beer that was supposed to fit into that Blue Moon area of the market - and was intertwined in some complicated ways with the Cruz Blanca brewpub in the beginning - but mostly just because of the timing. Tocayo and Cruz Blanca shared a sort of launch story - even if they were separate ventures.

So it’s important to clarify - I’m not sitting down with Rick Bayless, the chef and restauranteur today. I’m sitting down with Manny Valdez, Rick’s longtime partner in Frontera Foods, and the person who imagined and launched and is now independently building Cruz Blanca. A brewery with a story all its own - and mostly still ahead of it.

EP-311 Charlotte Cook of Coalition Brewing Aug 21, 2021

The last few months in the British beer industry have been tumultuous. Inspired by the brave work of Brienne Allan, Britshbeergirl – real name Siobhan Buchanan – used her instagram platform for British beer people to tell stories of sexism, sexual harassment and exploitation in the industry. Scandals rocked several much loved small breweries as well as some of the UK’s biggest – including BrewDog.

My guest today, Charlotte Cook, started her career there, and while she left nearly seven years ago she is still affected by the experience – feeling strong enough about the situation at the Scottish brewery to be a signatory for Punks With Purpose, a campaign group focused on holding BrewDog’s owners and directors to account and ensuring positive change.

Long before that though, Charlotte – now of Coalition Brewing – has been vocal about the exploitation of workers in the beer industry, and a keen advocate of unionisation. Her outspoken nature has resulted in her being interviewed on BBC Radio, and has also inevitably got her embroiled in several online spats. As is so common with grassroots movements, she never intended to become a voice for the industry but has found herself in the role because she refused to stay quiet. We talk about how that responsibility lies with her, how she deals with the abuse she receives, and what solutions there are to the problems that plague the brewing scene.

We also talk about the profoundly different breweries she’s worked at during her 10 year career that also includes stints at Pohjala, Cloudwater, Hammerton and Trumans, as well as her new role as head brewer at London’s Coalition, the first time she’s joined a brewery at the very beginning of its journey.

CL-083 Anthony Gladman Deconstructs Decoction Aug 19, 2021

As much as craft beer places value on authenticity and artistry, it’s not always an industry that likes looking backwards. Instead, the search for innovation—innovation in beer styles, in brewing techniques, and in the raw materials of beer—is what propels it forward. That means many older ways of doing things have been left by the wayside. On the malt side, with technological and agricultural advancements continuously improving crop yield and efficiency, are old-school brewing methods like decoction mashing even necessary anymore?

Anthony Gladman thinks so. And he’s not alone. In his piece for Good Beer Hunting titled “Pillars of Tradition — How a New Generation of Brewers Returned to Decoction Mashing,” which was published on July 20, 2021 as part of our Age of Rediscovery series made in partnership with Menabrea, Gladman dives into the deeply historical Lager brewing tradition, and what it means to the current roster of brewers around the world. He admits there aren’t a ton of people devoted to decoction mashing today. But those who are often find themselves with beer that transcends the day-to-day and approaches true greatness.

In this podcast conversation, Gladman and I discuss the elusive definition of “drinkability” and what it means to him. We talk about the difference between “craft beer” and “crafted beer”—and there is a difference. We also unpack the perception of preciousness in brewing, and how it’s not the same as honoring time-tested traditions honed over generations. He reveals what led him to explore this largely under-discussed (but very appreciated) brewing technique, and the regret that he felt when COVID prevented him from sampling the work of modern-day decoction masters on their own turf. It’s a little bit of wanderlust, a dash of technical brewing talk, and a lot of fun.

EP-310 Phil McFarland of Canopy Growth Aug 14, 2021

Today’s guest is a rare revisit action with a previous guest - Phil McFarland from episode 25 - when he was on the even of shutting down what had been one of Chicago’s premier craft beer bars. The advertising career that gave way to his life as a craft beer bar operator was about to give way to something new - as he took on the sales director role at one of Chicago’s premier craft breweries, Half Acre, just as it was making a step change in its growth and ambition.

That was then. Now, we’re meeting Phil after another big transition as he traded that role for one in Cannabis. And in this new role of Director of Innovation Acceleration, a lifetime of skill and experience is coming to bear on an industry with an unprecedented opportunity in the US - rapidly legalizing, evolving, and expanding, cannabis is a rare new frontier for beverage and packaged goods.

How does Phil’s background in advertising, retailing, and sales direction parlay into the future of Cannabis?

Well, we’ll try to connect the dots for you.

SM-003 Lager Beer & Public Health Part 3: Name Your Poison Aug 10, 2021

What’s in beer today? Unless you’re a brewer, do you know? I mean, do you really know?

Usually, Western beer is made up of water, hops, a malted grain like barley, and yeast. That’s the standard answer you’ll get from books, articles, even podcasts. There’s even a famous law in German history, called the Reinheitsgebot, which decreed that proper beer could only contain those four ingredients. But few brewers outside Germany stick to that rule 100% of the time.

When we want to get a little technical, we’ll talk about extra ingredients that are added for flavor or some other reason—everything from rice and corn; to herbs and spices; to chocolate, coffee, and the occasional jelly doughnut…hmm, maybe some rules are there for a reason.

But if something else was in there…some other ingredient whose purpose you didn’t immediately recognize, maybe with a name that’s hard to pronounce…could you tell?

Would you care?

Do you have a right to know?

Today’s episode is all about Americans whose food was changing so fast they struggled to keep up. Then beer changed too, so people wanted answers. And they got them. From brewers both reassuring and duplicitous. From temperance reformers and consumer activists with axes to grind, from newspapers acting as little more than gossip brokers, and from state and federal governments mulling over a Reinheitsgebot of their very own.

The name of the game was adulteration, and it went on for more than half a century.

This is “Name Your Poison,” the third and final episode of our debut series, “Lager Beer, Governing Bodies,” which looks at strange ways public health debates waded into a sea of American lager during the 1800s.

If you haven’t already, check out Parts 1 and 2 of this series, where we explore 1850s arguments about whether lager beer could intoxicate a person, and simultaneous paranoia about whether deadly diseases like cholera could be caused by beer.

As we’re about to see, debates over adulteration were fueled by the same mix of legitimate fear and paranoia, fact and propaganda, and political jockeying that bore out those other issues. But adulteration dialed everything up to eleven.

CL-082 Courtney Iseman Paints A Picture Aug 04, 2021

What is art? Throughout the course of human existence, critics, academics, and common people have all attempted to unpack the meaning and value of art as part of society, as well as its role as a reflection of the current discourse. Art can be political. It can be reflective. It can be a weapon. And it can be history in itself.

In her latest piece for Good Beer Hunting, titled “Gin Lane vs. Beer Street — How One Artist Captured a Pivotal Century in Our Drinking History,” published on July 1, 2021, writer Courtney Iseman takes a look at how art has shaped the way we perceive and interact with alcohol from as early as the 17th century up to the present day, specifically focusing on 18th-century Europe.

For our podcast conversation, we talk about how beer was positively perceived by the middle and upper classes of the time. Working-class people, meanwhile, faced hand-wringing and public outcry for imbibing what was once considered a cheap and debaucherous beverage: gin. Iseman shares where she found the inspiration to dive into this piece after seeing an exhibit of Dutch masters at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Calling the writing process a “fever dream,” she wonders aloud about the 18th-century artist William Hogarth’s motives for creating the groundbreaking and not-so-subtle pair of prints that gave the piece its title.

We explore how alcohol plays into class lines and how consumption habits have evolved over the centuries. We also look at how both alcohol and art can divide as much as they can unite. She describes how the story unraveled—and how there’s still more to tell.

SM-002 Governing Bodies Part 2: ‘The Devil’s Chloroform. Jul 24, 2021

What happens when politics and public health intermix? We’ve spent the last year learning all too well that, unfortunately, just about anything can happen. And that’s always been the case.

In the mid-1800s, when lager beer was still pretty new to the United States, Americans had to figure it out where it fit into a society that wasn’t much newer. The country was growing, it was urbanizing, it was incorporating new ethnicities and communities, and it was redefining morality almost by the day. All of these things came with public health challenges that were just as new. It didn’t take long for beer to get tangled up in the maelstrom.

We’re kicking off the Source Material podcast with a 3-part series looking at some of the ways lager beer paired with questions of public health in 1800s America. In Part 1, we talked about a wave of legal battles that washed over the US during the 1850s as old ideas about drunkenness mixed with new American communities, new politics, and new drinking habits. Now, we’ll look at how those same factors led many Americans to associate lager beer with disease. During the cholera outbreaks of 1849 and 1866 in the United States, lager could be either the cause of, or solution to, a deadly epidemic.

This is Lager Beer, Governing Bodies Part 2: ‘The Devil’s Chloroform.”

CL-081 Holly Regan is a Trip Jul 21, 2021

Holly Regan believes that we are all surrounded by opportunities to have transcendent experiences. As humans, we’re often prone to looking inward, thanks both to our egos as well as our desire to seek solace from the chaos and noise of the world. But when we’re able to tap into the beyond, through whatever means available, we have the potential to commune with each other, ourselves, and all creation beyond our sometimes-limited scope of perception.

If this sounds a little woo-woo, that’s okay. Holly admits they’re a bit of a hippie, but that doesn’t make them wrong—far from it. In their piece “Psychedelic Pints — Finding Oneness Through Beer and Other Drugs,” which was published on June 23, 2021 on Good Beer Hunting, they manage to tie together the universality of seeking cosmic consciousness with how individual identity can influence the journey, as well as how the human experience can be shaped by mind-altering substances—from beer to hallucinogens—in both intentional and unintentional ways.

In this conversation with Holly, they describe why—and how—they were called to write this piece, which they describe as the most challenging one they’ve ever attempted. In fact, in writing it, Holly found their own future transformed in ways they could have never imagined. The mere ritual of writing in and of itself opened them up to a new path: perhaps bringing the entire concept of oneness full circle. We discuss where (and how) they find God in every living thing; how ceremony and ritual can change people’s lives under the right circumstances; how trust, vulnerability, and an open mind can yield incredible results; and even what they consider the meaning of it all. It gets heavy at times. But by talking about what makes life worth living, Holly reveals their own personal truths and invites others to partake in the possibilities.

EP-309 Jess Keller Poole and Shawna Cormier of Seattle Beer School Jul 17, 2021

While I cover the beer and beverage alcohol industries, I started from a simple place as an enthusiast. I was excited to drink different beers, then it was fun to homebrew, and eventually write about all those experiences. But for many people - perhaps most - beer is just beer. I can't tell you how many times I've had discussions with friends and family who ask about "beer flavored beer," and they're in the majority.

So, what does it mean if we get the chance to share that passion and educate others? What kind of difference does that make for them, us, and the beer industry as a whole? In this conversation, Shawna Cormier and Jess Keller Poole give us some ideas and answers. The pair are the founders of Seattle Beer School, an events and education company, as well as long-time hospitality professionals, certified experts, and more. Perhaps above all else, they're passionate about beer and what it means to people. That enthusiasm is likely to rub off as you hear them describe why it's important to share that love, how you can talk to people to get them excited about beer, and how all this may be more important than ever as the industry works to become a more welcoming and inclusive space for all.

Whether we realize it or not, beer connects to many aspects of our lives outside a bar or taproom, and Shawna and Jess offer all of us an important way to explore what that means through history, appreciation, and enthusiasm.

CL-080 Gabby Pharms Keeps It Neat Jul 15, 2021

The overlaps between beer and whiskey are plentiful. Both rely on craftsmanship and quality ingredients, and share certain production methods in common. Modern makers in either category have the luxury of looking at tradition while pushing the boundaries of innovation for the future. But it’s the differences between the two that keep things interesting. Single malt whiskey producer Stranahan’s in Denver, Colorado is one such modern maker, one that’s helping to define the budding American single malt whiskey category against Scotch and other international players. A visit in 2018 led writer Gabby Pharms to dive into their process, history, and position as Colorado’s first new legal whiskey distillery since Prohibition for her latest piece in Good Beer Hunting titled “Whiskey and the Mile High City — The Distillery Making Single Malt in the Rocky Mountains,” which was published on June 16, 2021. In our conversation about her piece—which was written for our Beer and a Shot series, made in partnership with Miller High Life—Gabby reveals what led her to spotlight a producer who she feels is at the forefront of an American spirits revolution. Not only does their early entry into the category position Stranahan’s at the vanguard, but their literal mile high location also serves to shape their products in a unique way. In our conversation, Gabby discusses how she prefers her single malt whiskey (neat, or perhaps with one cube) and which beverages she tends to pair with barbecue (it’s not Light Lager, as I incorrectly presupposed). She also muses on what the future holds for American whiskey makers, finds some silver linings in the wake of COVID, and believes there’s truly a whiskey for everyone. If American single malt whiskey has a cheerleader, it’s Gabby Pharms.

Tek Cyear uh de Root — Part 3 Jul 12, 2021

You’re listening to a special-edition, three-part podcast series about Charleston’s Schützenfest, a mid-19th-century German gun and beer festival that initially was a diverse and welcoming environment, but which gradually evolved into a site of white supremacy. In our first two episodes, we delved deeper into both the history of the fest itself and the kinds of beer you might see around Charleston in the 19th century. Now we’ll take a more contemporary view by talking to people living in, advocating for, and brewing in Charleston today. First, I speak with a childhood mentor of mine, Mr. Sammy Backman. Mr. Sammy isn’t a brewer. He runs Backman’s Seafood, and has spent more than 50 years fishing South Carolina’s coast. The same fundamental forces that transformed the Schützenfest have followed Mr. Sammy’s boats his whole life. But in turn, he’s thriving, and he’s taught me since my childhood about the indelible mark Gullah Geechee communities continue to make on Charleston life. Next, I catch up with KJ Kearney, host of Black Food Fridays on Instagram, who’s worked tirelessly to help Gullah Geechee communities be better recognized and included in the Holy City. On his Instagram series, KJ educates fellow Charlestonians about Black food traditions by preserving Gullah foodways and history. We talk about the power of food and beverage history to erode racial barriers, our love for (and our frustrations with) Charleston, and KJ’s work to make things better. Finally, I talk with Jaime Tenny of Charleston’s own Coast Brewing Company. She discusses her brewery’s need to better include new communities, and how much learning she still needs to do before that’s possible. As our conversation shows, many breweries don’t know how to foster authentic inclusion within their spaces, even if they do know that it’s on them to learn.

Join us in finishing our journey through the Schützenfest, Charleston, and the centuries-long work of racial oppression. Here’s 60-year Charleston native—and part of my village—Mr. Sammy Backman.

Tek Cyear uh de Root — Part 2 Jul 11, 2021

You’re listening to a special-edition, three-part podcast series about Charleston’s Schützenfest, a German gun and beer festival that initially was a diverse and welcoming environment in the mid 19th century, but which gradually evolved into a site of white supremacy. In our first podcast, we spent a lot of time exploring how African-Americans were excluded from the Schützenfest and later the craft beer industry. Now we explore a simple question: “What were they drinking at the Schützenfest, and what were those excluded from the Schützenfest drinking?” We have Mike Stein and Peter Jones, president and CEO of the Lost Lagers beverage research consultancy, respectively, to help answer that question. Mike and Peter were also researchers for the three-part editorial series that went out on Good Beer Hunting this week—if you haven’t already, give those stories a read. In this episode, they’ll talk about indigenous ingredients, enslaved brewers, and some of the first Guinness beer to reach the United States. After this, tune into Part Three of this podcast series, where I meet up with Mr. Sammy Backman of Backman Seafood, KJ Kearnery of Black Food Fridays, and Jaime Tenny of Coast Brewing Company, to talk about the influence of exclusion in Charleston and in their respective industries.

Tek Cyear uh de Root — Part 1 Jul 11, 2021

Charleston, South Carolina:, a city with a villainous history and a place I call home. From the palmetto-lined streets to the many saltwater creeks and whiffs of pluff mud, The Holy City is a place of geographic charm with a history rooted in exclusion and racism. It’s also the subject of this three-part podcast series, which explores a lesser-known chapter in the city’s past. The Charleston Schützenfest, a shooting competition and community festival transplanted from Germany, was held every year at the German Rifle Club’s grounds on the banks of the Ashley River beginning in the 1850s. The fest was a place where German-Americans used their culture to help negotiate both local and national inclusion, and Black Charlestonians were initially welcome to join in. But white supremacists soon began using it too, and by the 1870s the Schützenfest was the premier expression of militant racism in Reconstruction-era Charleston. This gun and beer festival was held just outside the Wagener Terrace section of the city, where around six breweries operate today. It could very well be the blueprint for how modern-day exclusion operates within Charleston’s beer spaces. The event allied the Gullah Geechee people—formerly enslaved West Africans—and German immigrants during a time of social and political upheaval, but eventually it drove them apart. Lost potentials like these still reverberate in taprooms across the country today—calling forth false assumptions like: “Black people don’t drink beer” or, “Going to breweries is some white-boy shit.”

Mus tek cyear uh de root, fa heal de tree is a Gullah Geechee proverb denoting the importance of addressing potential problems and issues in their infancy. In writing about the Schützenfest, we tried to better understand the roots of Black exclusion from 21st-century beer spaces. For the full story, check out our three-part article series, published on Good Beer Hunting this week, where we recount the origins and evolution of the fest; discuss the resurgence of white supremacy in Charleston after the Civil War; and celebrate the parades, food, fishing, and myriad other ways Black Charlestonians have thrived even while enduring racial oppression. Together, both the editorial and podcast series explore the lineage of the city’s suppression of African-American advancement socially and economically, and reveal how the Schützenfest’s legacy still shapes Charleston’s beer spaces today. Reading all three parts will give you the foundation and historical context to break down these constructs yourself. Then join us for three podcast episodes that go even further. In the first episode, Brian Alberts expands on the vast research compiled for this project, explains a little more about the Schützenfest, and shares some ways the story goes even deeper than we could fit into the written series. In the second, historians Mike Stein and Peter Jones walk us through the types of beer we would have seen in 1800s Charleston, and how they fit into our broader story. And in the third episode, we head to Charleston to get a contemporary point of view: Mr. Sammy Backman of Backman Seafood, KJ Kearnery of Black Food Fridays, and Jaime Tenny of Coast Brewing all speak on the influence of exclusion in their respective industries, and how they want to move forward to make Charleston's food and beer scene even better.

EP-308 Amy Todd of Zymology Labs Jul 06, 2021

Through her business—Zymology Labs, based in Essex Junction, Vermont—Amy offers analytical testing, training, and consulting for the fermented beverage industry. And she’s working to expand the conversation on beer quality in both producer and consumer circles.

Although Amy spends much of her time in her own lab space, she’s no stranger to brewery environments. She was a keen homebrewer in college, and the “What’s Brewing?” and food science courses she took during her chemistry degree led to her lightbulb moment: that she wanted to pursue a career in beer quality. After a course and apprenticeship with the American Brewers Guild, she got her start in the cellar at Burlington, Vermont’s Magic Hat Brewing Company before ultimately running their lab. It was there she started wondering what smaller breweries did without the same access to equipment that she had, and the idea for Zymology Labs was born.

Despite the name of her business, Amy is quick to remind us that quality isn’t just about the lab. She actually prefers the term “quality program,” as it indicates that there are many processes breweries can have in place to help monitor their product without requiring their own lab setup.

Passionate about demystifying what a quality program entails and how to set one up, Amy talks us through some of the basic steps any brewery can take to get started. We also discuss the difference between a quality program and a sensory program, and how they complement each other.

We then turn our attention to some of the quality issues that have hit industry headlines of late, ranging from ABV mislabeling to exploding cans. Amy helps to shed some light on what causes these issues, how they can be prevented, and how prevalent they actually are.

You’ll hear Amy stress that quality isn’t just about preventing things from going wrong. It’s about making sure as many elements of the brewing process as possible go right, so brewers can provide a consistent product for their customers. And if quality’s not a priority for your brewery? As Amy says, there are thousands of other breweries out there for consumers to choose from.

CL-079 David Nilsen Builds a Bridge Between Beer and Chocolate Jul 01, 2021

Intangible, hard-to-define terms like “local,” “craft,” and even “ethical” remain debatable within beer spheres, but they’re far from limited to one industry. Longtime beer writer and more recent bean-to-bar chocolate expert David Nilsen touches on these topics and more in his newest piece for Good Beer Hunting, titled “Cacao, Brewing, and the Price of Nostalgia — Toward a Better Future for Chocolate Beer,” which was published on June 8, 2021.

In this episode, David and I discuss the preconceived notions Western consumers tend to have about chocolate, including where it comes from, how it should taste, and the often unknown—or at least overlooked—human cost behind each exquisite bite. Chocolate is far from just a one-dimensional snack found at supermarket checkout lines and in Halloween buckets. Instead, it can be as varied, complex, and multifaceted as malt or hops to beer drinkers, and the many cultural overlaps between beer and chocolate may surprise you. They certainly surprised me, as did the often-invisible, but pervasive human rights violations that exist in the cacao supply chain.

In our conversation, David explains the hard truths behind what it takes to transport goods from the global South to the U.S. and how we can all be more informed, more ethical, and more responsible consumers. He defines what “bean-to-bar” really means, and how his personal interest in beer dovetailed into exploring the world of chocolate. He also discusses how the chocolate industry was literally built on the backs of enslaved people, how those human rights abuses continue today, and how a small group of global producers are shaping the future of the industry in response to that. And in addition to those in-depth topics, we’ll hear David talk about what makes him happy, and how the shared flavors of chocolate and beer can spark the imagination.

EP-307 Keyatta Mincey-Parker of A Sip of Paradise Garden Jun 23, 2021

I first heard about Keyatta Mincey-Parker from Donnie, a wine buyer at my local bottle shop. As Donnie rang up my purchases, she told me how Keyatta had created a community garden for bartenders during the summer of 2020, aptly named A Sip of Paradise Garden. The garden’s mission is to provide a healthy and safe space for bartenders to recharge, and during the height of the pandemic, the space quickly became popular.

My interest was piqued, and I found myself diving into Keyatta’s story. I learned that she fled Liberia with her family when she was 12 years old, and how she adapted to her new home in the U.S. while holding her culture close to her heart. I was impressed by how Keyatta wove her love of family into her work, and how her desire to improve her community shined through all her accomplishments, whether it was giving bartenders a space for a respite during an incredibly tough year or providing young women in Liberia with alternatives to sex work.

In this episode, we discuss Keyatta’s love for family, and the incredible strength her mother showed as they fled Liberia in the ’90s. We also talk about the complicated feelings of receiving recognition and accomplishments as a Black woman. She shares how she came up with the idea for A Sip of Paradise Garden and how everything came together magically in the midst of a pandemic. But if there’s one thing you need to know about Keyatta, it’s that she’s committed to thriving no matter what life throws at her.

CL-078 Michael Stein Goes to the Dark Side Jun 16, 2021

Over the past couple of decades, brewers and beer historians have recreated a growing number of formerly lost beer styles, like Grodziskie, Merseburger, Horner Bier, and others. Many of those styles come from the traditional brewing regions in Europe. But almost any country with any brewing history at all has its own lost beer styles. Sometimes, those recipes are completely indigenous. Sometimes they were imported from other places and subsequently modified in the new country, becoming their own unique types of beer.

Today I’m talking to Michael Stein, the author of a recent piece from our Source Material series, “A Lager Darkly — In Search of Culmbacher, One of America’s Great, Extinct Beers,” published on March 17, 2021. In his story, Michael explores the largely forgotten Culmbacher beer, originally from what is now the German state of Bavaria, but which grew in popularity in the United States in the 19th century, apparently changing substantially in the New World.

As we discuss, Culmbacher was once very common in America, though it disappeared almost completely during Prohibition, and never regained its previous status. But as we hear in this episode, a recipe discovered in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History has been re-brewed, allowing modern beer lovers to taste something that has been extinct for most of a century.

CL-077 Beth and Kate are Processing Jun 11, 2021

If you follow news in the beer world, May 2021 became synonymous with the word “reckoning” as a wave of stories about sexual harassment, assault, and inappropriate behavior toward women were shared from across the country and world. Massachusetts brewer Brienne Allan was the catalyst for this, first sharing her own experiences on Instagram, then asking other women for their own stories, and amplifying their voices. This started on social media, but quickly became national news for industry publications, newspapers like the Boston Globe, NPR affiliates around the country, and beyond.

Two of the writers who have extensively covered this story and its fallout are my colleagues at Good Beer Hunting, Beth Demmon and Kate Bernot. In this episode of our collective series, we’ll hear from both of them about what it means to report on these kinds of stories, how to tell them fairly and accurately, and the toll it takes as someone who has to synthesize all of these traumas and relay them to readers in a journalistic way.

You can read numerous stories by Beth and Kate right now on Good Beer Hunting, and there will be more in the future as reverberations continue to impact the industry and the way people and businesses seek to do better to protect others.

EP-306 Tom Cook + Sam Pecoraro of Von Ebert Brewing Jun 06, 2021

What does it take to succeed in one of the country’s most competitive markets for craft beer? That’s at the core of this conversation with Sam Pecoraro and Tom Cook of Portland, Oregon’s Von Ebert Brewing. As founder of the brewery, Tom has become acutely aware of changes necessary for his business, which has included a rush to get beer into cans, and then get those cans into grocery stores as more drinkers have shifted purchase behavior to chain retail due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sam, head brewer for the company, has a lot to live up to—and that’s from his own doing and the skill of his team. Von Ebert has been recognized numerous times in the last two years for their innovation and specific beers, including a medal at the Great American Beer Festival for their Nothing Noble IPA, a challenging feat in the most-entered category at the annual competition.

All of these things come into play for how Sam and Tom see their business now and in the future, and in our conversation you’ll learn how they’re using the things that they’re learning now to make sure they can continue to be a mainstay in Portland. And as you stick around, you’ll hear us banter about whether that future includes a comeback for English Mild, a malt-forward, low-ABV beer that is far more at home in the drinking culture of the U.K. than with the hop-mad IPA drinkers of the U.S.

How can a business compete in a beer-loving city? What’s the next style we could be drinking in bars and taprooms? Answers are coming.

SM-001 Lager Beer, Governing Bodies Part 1: Overruled May 29, 2021

Today, lager beers represent the comfort zone for most American beer drinkers…and a stereotyped monolith for many craft breweries to rebel against. But 170 years ago, lagers were both the outsider and the trendsetter. Their arrival caused ongoing debates over what beer was, what it should be, and the role alcohol ought to play in American social life, to take a sharp turn. This debate was anchored in beliefs about beer and public health that were simultaneously centuries old, and ever-evolving. Beer was at one time or another compared to poison, called to testify in court, and blamed for epidemics…and that’s just the beginning.

We’re kicking off the Source Material podcast with a 3-part series looking at some of the ways lager beer paired with questions of public health in 1800s America. We’ll begin with a basic question: can lager beer make a person drunk?

The answer may seem obvious today, but in the 1850s it seemed like that question could only be settled in court. Let’s explore why in Lager Beer, Governing Bodies Part 1: Overruled.

CL-076 Jonny Garrett shines a light in the dark May 27, 2021

In times of crisis, people tend to turn to the comfort of familiarity, whether it be revisiting the family recipes they enjoyed as a kid or just attempting to relive some idealized version of the good old days. Over the past year, between quarantines, lockdowns, and political strife, nostalgia has made a big comeback, in everything from the music we’re listening to, to the very beers we drink. I’d be lying if I said I haven’t been reaching for more of my tried-and-true favorites during the pandemic. If the world is crumbling around me, at least the last thing I’ll taste will be the predictable deliciousness of a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale with a soundtrack of glorious ’90s pop to accompany it. But there are more beers from the recent past to rediscover, and none more ripe for such examination than the humble Black IPA. Underappreciated by the masses but beloved by brewers from all over, the Black IPA has always been polarizing. Jonny Garrett dives deep into the history of the misunderstood style, its origins, evolution, and surprising (albeit small) comeback over the past year in his piece titled “Darkest Before the Dawn — The Unlikely Return of Black IPA,” which was published on Good Beer Hunting on April 6, 2021. By “comeback” I mostly mean people waxing poetic about the style, but there have also been a handful of enterprising masochists who refuse to let it go the way of the Brut IPA. Bless them for it. In this conversation, Jonny and I will discuss exactly who is asking for Black IPAs, how examining the style for this story sparked some surprising positivity for him personally, and what it was like talking to beer icons brewing at powerhouses like The Alchemist and Firestone Walker. We’ll also talk about how Hazies and Black IPAs were both born in the same small corner of Vermont, how their paths diverged so completely, and why it’s so important to relish the small joy found in a glass of good beer.

EP-305 Tiffanie Barriere of the Drinking Coach May 22, 2021

Tiffanie Barriere is the epitome of southern hospitality—warm, kind, and welcoming. She’s just the person you’d want as your drinking coach, which is fitting: The Drinking Coach is a moniker given to her by a friend, and it eventually became the name of the Instagram account where she shares stories of uncelebrated Black people throughout history, with a cocktail alongside. Tiffanie is more than an incredible bartender—she’s a teacher, a mentor, and a historian, using her platform to shed light on long-forgotten stories. Tiffanie started her journey at One Flew South, the first upscale restaurant in Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. She worked as the beverage director at the restaurant for seven years, during the time when it was recognized as the “Best Airport Bar in the World” at Tales of the Cocktail. Now, as an independent bartender, Tiffanie is getting her own recognition for her contributions to the bartending and service world. Earlier this year, she was featured on the cover of Imbibe Magazine’s 75 People to Watch issue, and most recently announced her involvement in the Jubilee project, a venture by award-winning food and nutrition journalist Toni Tipton-Martin. In our conversation, Tiffanie and I talk about what sparked her interested in service and how it grew into a passion. She shares the difficulties of striking out on her own as an independent bartender, and also talks about inspiration, and why she is her ancestors' wildest dreams come true.

CL-075 Bailey Berg Drinks Beer In The Last Frontier May 19, 2021

How does one survive in a place where temperatures regularly hit negative 30 degrees Fahrenheit, if not below that? A toasty Barleywine might hit the spot, but in the 49th state of the Union, residents are just as likely to pick up a classic IPA or Vienna Lager as they are an Imperial Stout. How, why, and when did Alaska, of all places, become a beer destination? In Bailey Berg’s first piece for Good Beer Hunting, titled “Way Up North — Exploring the Growing Beer Scene in Fairbanks, Alaska,” which was published on April 27, 2021, the Anchorage resident explores the rise and embrace of local craft beer in one of the vastest frontiers on Earth. There are fewer than a million people across the entire state, but the amount of independent breweries continues to rise, thanks to a streak of independence, ingenuity, and adventure that tends to define those who call the severe, but beautiful, landscape their home. In our first podcast conversation together, Berg enlightens me to the spirit of entrepreneurship required to thrive in the burgeoning beer scene in Fairbanks, why being the first to accomplish something specific holds such sway when you’re on the edge of the world, how unique obstacles—like the mere access to ingredients like water—force brewers to squeeze every last bit of use out of what they have available, and why Alaskans are going to do what they like to do relatively free of outside influence. She’ll also tell me how much a pint of beer costs at the literal end of the road, and how common it is to see wild moose wandering around the streets. (It’s apparently a lot more common than I realized.) I strongly encourage listeners to scroll through her photographs within the article during this conversation: She captures snowpacks and sled dogs, the pints and the people, all framed beneath the mystical emerald serpent of the aurora borealis twinkling across the night sky. Let’s travel together to the Land of the Midnight Sun with Bailey Berg.

EP-304 Mary MacDonald and Rob Fullmer, Association of Brewers Guild Professionals May 15, 2021

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been countless stories of how individual people and businesses have adjusted, learned new things, and survived. At Good Beer Hunting we’ve had a collection of audio and written stories specifically asking what these transitions meant for state brewers guilds, the organizations that act as advocates and lobbyists for craft breweries across the country. In May 2020, we had a podcast that looked at survival for these groups in the moment, and in this episode, we get something of an update by way of a new organization to … help these organizations.

We’re chatting with Mary MacDonald and Rob Fullmer about the Association of Brewers Guild Professionals, a new group with the goal of providing networking, educational, and professional development opportunities to advance state brewers guild executive directors and their teams. Mary leads the state guild in Ohio and Rob in Arizona, and in this conversation you’ll learn about why this new super team-up was necessary, what issues are most pressing to advance legislation that can benefit craft breweries, and the forces making advocacy difficult in a legal and political landscape that has shifted dramatically during the pandemic.

What goes on in state capitals and behind closed doors doesn’t always sound as exciting as the latest Hazy IPA or other new release, but the anecdotes and insight you’ll hear from Mary and Rob showcase what’s happening right now that can support or even save your local breweries.

CL-074 Maurizio Maestrelli is Drinking in Italy’s Garden May 12, 2021

Italy is definitely not what anyone would consider part of Europe’s traditional brewing heartland: In terms of beverages, the Southern European country is mostly known for its amazing wines, which complement its world-class cuisine. But since the mid-90s, Italy has developed a relatively small but dynamic brewing scene, which originally started in the country’s north, before spreading throughout the Italian peninsula. Brewers like Agostino Arioli at Birrificio Italiano—not far from Lake Como, north of Milan—have inspired beer makers in the U.S. and the U.K. to make their own Italian-style Pilsners, after Birrificio Italiano’s Tipopils. Other Italian brewers have experimented with the country’s native wine grapes, resulting in Italian Grape Ale, one of Italy’s first “native” beer styles to gain international attention. In this episode, I talk to Maurizio Maestrelli, one of Italy’s leading drinks writers and the author of a recent article, “Grape News — How a New Generation of Italian Brewers Created Italian Grape Ale,” that ran in our Mother of Invention series, created in partnership with Guinness. We discuss the history of Italian Grape Ale and the origins of the Italian craft beer boom, including some of the leading figures of Italy’s beer renaissance, like Teo Musso at Birra Baladin and Nicola Perra at Birrificio Barley. We also talk about Italy’s other “indigenous” beer style, Chestnut Ale, and the rich relationship Italians have with food of all kinds. As Maurizio notes, Italians don’t just think of “citrus” as a flavor. Instead, they’ll say they’re identifying the aroma of lemon or chinotto, citron or bergamot. Italian brewers who make Italian Grape Ales will say that beers using the same type of grape can have very different grape flavors, if those grapes were merely grown on different parts of the same island. While recording this podcast, we did experience some technical difficulties with a bit of noise that comes in and out—we apologize for that. If you’re interested in how Italy has embraced good beer—and created several good beer styles of its own—I think you’ll find the discussion worth your while.

EP-303 Jules Gray of Hop Hideout May 08, 2021

Jules Gray describes herself as “someone that likes to keep busy.” Not only is she the founder of Hop Hideout—one of the U.K.’s first drink-in bottle shops, which opened in Sheffield, northern England, back in 2013—she’s also the organizer of Sheffield Beer Week; the Indie Beer Feast beer festival; and Indie Beer Shop Day, a new initiative she launched during the pandemic to celebrate independent beer retailers across the country.

Initially a standalone retailer in the back of an antiques center in Sheffield’s Abbeydale neighborhood, Hop Hideout relocated in March 2019 to a brand-new food hall in the city center. Just one year later, Jules’ business had to evolve yet again, in response to COVID-19.

In a way, she was lucky: As Hop Hideout’s previous location was outside of the city center, Jules had begun offering mail orders and Sheffield home delivery years before, and she had all the systems in place (and a loyal local customer base) to help weather the pandemic. But despite the advantages of her new site in terms of location, footfall, and trade, not having her own brick-and-mortar space meant not qualifying for any initial government grants. As a result, she couldn’t control access to her own business, as she had to work within the hours set by the food hall.

Despite these challenges, she lights up when she talks about her local deliveries and how important they were, not only for her customers and their sense of social connection, but also for her own mental health. It’s clear that for Jules, her business is about a lot more than beer: It’s about connecting with her customers and celebrating not only the local beer industry, but the city more broadly.

Full of pride for Sheffield, her adopted home, Jules shares what she loves most about the city; what inspired her to start Sheffield Beer Week and its associated festival, Indie Beer Feast; and why it should be on all of our must-visit lists once lockdown lifts. She also reminds us of the importance of independent retailers to the broader beer ecosystem, and discusses how her new initiative, Indie Beer Shop Day, celebrates the positive role such outlets play as centers of guidance, education, and discovery.

CL-073 Michael Kiser believes in you May 05, 2021

Working in media today feels weirdly similar to trying to navigate the Fire Swamp in the classic 1987 film The Princess Bride. Success is possible, but the path is surrounded by quicksand, Rodents of Unusual Size, and numerous other obstacles along the way. It’s tenuous at the best of times, and damn near impossible under trying circumstances—like during a pandemic, for example. It requires ingenuity, a propensity for risk, and a bit of gut feeling.

Good Beer Hunting operates a little differently than many other media companies, in everything from the stories we tell to the revenue streams that support those stories. But if you’re looking for a complete history of GBH, this isn’t that podcast. In this conversation with Michael Kiser, co-founder and creative director, we focus on some of the meatier pieces GBH has published that, at first glance, fall outside most people’s expectations of beer media. Exploring subjects like non-disclosure agreements, concepts like hyperreality, historical deep-dives, and other topics far from the clickbait-esque model of contemporary media has positioned GBH as a … I’ll say unique figure in beer conversations.

Michael and I discuss who we think is reading GBH and why; how conversations and beer culture have changed over the years, and how they’ve also stayed the same; our role in media and the beer industry at large; why making people mad is inevitable, and why it’s sometimes important; how balancing heady—and crucial—topics like racism against more lighthearted narratives sparks surprising, and sometimes dangerous, responses from readers; what stories have surprised him; and the ones he still wants to tell.

SL-028 U.S. Goes All-In on RTDs, is the U.K. SOL? May 03, 2021

You may have read or heard industry pros or journalists like me throw around these acronyms lately—FMBs and RTDs. They stand for flavored malt beverages—that’s the FMB—and ready-to-drink cocktails—the RTD. In layman terms, they’re the industry stand-in for what we all see on store shelves as hard seltzer, alcoholic tea, or canned cocktails from the likes of Cutwater Spirits or Fling Craft Cocktails. And most important, whether we’re talking about FMBs or RTDs, both categories are wildly successful, making boatloads of money, and are changing ideas and expectations in the beverage alcohol industry.

So in this episode of the podcast I’m chatting with fellow Sightlines reporters Kate Bernot and Jonny Garret to better understand the impact of these kinds of drinks in the U.S., where Kate is based, and the U.K., where Jonny will explain to us why hard seltzers haven’t yet become a world-changing thing like they have in the states. We’re talking data, research, and stories from both their reporting to give better and broader context on what has the potential to be one of the biggest industry stories of this summer in both countries.

This kind of analysis is part of the insights we share with Good Beer Hunting’s Sightlines Premium newsletter and expert community. Sightlines Premium is an extension of our newsy Sightlines coverage, which has a goal of combining objective data and real-world anecdotes to help industry pros make informed decisions about managing a portfolio, how and where they should focus their access to market, and more.

If you’re leading a company in the beer or alcohol space, Sightlines Premium is for you. And this will give you a sense of the kind of direct advice and consultation we offer in our weekly newsletter and online community. For more information, visit goodbeerhunting.com/sightlines-premium.

This is the GBH Sightlines team of myself, Kate Bernot, and Jonny Garrett. Listen in.

If you liked what you heard in this episode, consider learning more about Sightlines Premium and what we offer industry decision makers. You can find information about our weekly subscriber newsletter at goodbeerhunting.com/sightlines-premium.

EP-302 AJ Cox, Brewer and Anthropologist Apr 27, 2021

In beer, even the heaviest intellectual conversations around topics like racism or worker exploitation tend to hit a natural barrier after a couple of pints. That slow fizzle doesn’t happen when you speak to A.J. Cox. In fact, her obvious passion for human rights only increases the longer the conversation goes on.

Cox is a brewer and pro-union academic with an affinity for Marxism and social justice. She’s worked in beer both in the United States as well as Ireland, where her tenure at Heaney Brewery was interrupted by the onset of COVID-19. Her research relating to social anthropology extends across the globe, focusing on the history of labor, how today’s inequities have evolved from said foundations, and how that all relates to the beer industry.

Our conversation for this podcast touches on many of her points of passion and expertise. We discuss how low pay exacerbates inequality and contributes to a continued lack of diversity within the craft beer industry, how consent differentiates between sexuality and sexism (and how they relate to influencer culture), and the ways that neoliberalism contributes to the economic stranglehold of capitalism. We’ll also touch on how the perceived value of certain jobs in beer can create disparities of access, how non-disclosure agreements (or NDAs) can harm efforts to reduce sexual harassment or discrimination, what Marxism really means, and what to expect if you follow her on social media. (Don’t worry—it’s mostly dogs and beer.)

CL-072 Katie Mather and The Dream Turned Reality Apr 21, 2021

Have you ever dreamed a dream so perfect, so grand, so utopian that it seems impossible to turn into reality? Katie Mather has—but unlike most people, she transformed her vision into something tangible.

The pastoral landscape of Clitheroe, a village in northwestern England, provided an ideal backdrop for Mather’s dream to crystallize. Despite the copious amounts of lemons the pandemic dealt out, Mather and her husband, Tom, decided to make lemonade in the form of a Lilliputian shop and bar-in-progress that focuses on simple, high-quality drinks and small bites. They dubbed it Corto: a hat tip to a Spanish beer tradition that encourages a midday sip and snack, because doesn’t everyone deserve a small respite from reality? In her first piece for Good Beer Hunting, titled “The Bar at the End of the World,” published on March 24, 2021, Mather shares how, when, and why the two decided to create a space for community, camaraderie, and craft beer, even as she grappled with a positive COVID diagnosis last fall. (Don’t worry—she’s better now.)

Just a quick note for listeners: There are a few moments of brief audio breaks while Mather is talking. Do not change the channel—it’s us, not you. (It turns out Wi-Fi in the middle of nowhere can be a bit spotty.) But I promise, small hiccups aside, this conversation has the potential to transport listeners to an idyllic land, full of promise and flavor. Throughout the discussion, she reveals the inspiration of the pair’s blossoming oasis, shares their goals (both during and post-pandemic), the value they find in sourcing artisanal food and drink to share with their small community, and how opportunities disguised as dead ends can bring forth some of the sweetest outcomes.

FF-028 John Gross Knows Your Runtime Apr 15, 2021

Welcome to a Fervent Few episode of the Good Beer hunting Podcast

The Fervent Few is our subscriber community - made up of 100s of beer fans, professionals, and curious readers from around the world who directly support our editorial with their monthly contributions and help form a direct connection between our editorial and creative teams.

We share stories, meet up for special events, and create fun gear for beer fans.

You should join - visit goodbeerhunting.com/ferventfew to learn more and join the club.

Today’s guest is John Gross haling from Austin, Texas, and he leads our Fervent few movie channel. His background as a critic and content director for Alamo Drafthouse Cinema makes him a helluva curator.

EP-301 Stacey Ayeh, founder of Rock Leopard Brewing Apr 10, 2021

While Rock Leopard is relatively new to the scene, Ayeh is not. He’s worked in the alcohol industry since 2002, when on a trip to Sweden he discovered Kopparberg cider. Seeing its potential he persuaded the company to let him be the UK agent, launching a brand that went on national prominence. Sadly larger distributors saw its potential too, and without an exclusivity agreement Ayeh was forced aside. That was the first of several setbacks that have come to plague Ayeh, but never define him.

After frustrating experiences at controversial start-ups like London Fields Brewery and Magic Spells, he finally struck out on his own, determined to have complete control over his career. He founded Rock Leopard back in 2017 but spent years learning to brew himself, refining his recipes and getting feedback from the industry. Unfortunately, many retailers were resistant to buying his first few commercial contract-brewed beers and Ayeh suspects it had little to do with the liquid.

In this episode we talk through his early career before exploring the possible ageism and racism that made opening Rock Leopard so hard, and how cornering Paul Jones of Cloudwater Brew Co at a tap takeover changed everything for the brewery. We also look at how Ayeh’s experiences have led him to add a strong equal rights campaign element to his brand, something he admits to being much more passionate about than the excellent beers he now produces.

EP-300 Briana Brake + Atinuke Akintola Diver of This Belongs to Us Apr 04, 2021

The way we find and tell stories of beer is changing, and in recent years, what was once relegated to magazines, websites, and podcasts is becoming more common in film. As craft beer’s trajectory has gone more mainstream, the awareness of the industry and its collection of people and stories has made a longer form, visual format another powerful path to explore the many ways a pint connects to different aspects of our lives and culture.

In this episode, we’re exploring what that means, and two people from in front of and behind the camera. Tinu Diver has a background in writing, law, and documentary film, and her new project is “This Belongs To Us,” a documentary that follows the journey of Black women brewers in the U.S. South to explore how a craft and tradition that began in Africa became synonymous with white, male, blue-collar identity in the United States. You’ll also hear from Brianna Brake, who came to brewing with an education in computer science and law, and is now brewer and founder of North Carolina’s Spaceway Brewery and one of the featured women in Tinu’s film.

This conversation covers similar themes explored in This Belongs To Us, which was recently featured at the Sundance Film Festival. Tinu and Bri share their experiences and perspective of being Black, entrepreneurial women, the ways they’ve come to view the U.S. beer industry, and the many kinds of stories that are weaved between beverage alcohol, history, culture, and more. You’ll hear about all kinds of historical, systemic, and current barriers faced by Black-owned breweries and Black people, like those challenge Bri faced when she tried to secure funding for her brewery.

As production of This Belongs To Us enters its final act, there’s much Tinu and Bri are still wrestling with, and you’ll get a taste of what you can expect from the documentary in this conversation.

EP-299 Michelle McGrath of the American Cider Association Mar 28, 2021

As a total percentage of the beverage alcohol industry, cider hasn’t really changed much in recent years. It amounts to about 1% and has been successfully static. I know a lack of growth doesn’t really sound like a success, and 1% doesn’t sound like a lot, but trust me on this one.

Or, rather, trust Michelle McGrath. She’s the executive director of the American Cider Association and while it’s certainly her job to speak highly of the category and the success of her members, she’s bringing the data to back it up in this conversation about a category that often gets overlooked in a country more interested in narratives of hard seltzers, ready-to-drink, canned cocktails, spirits, or Hazy IPAs. But the maturation of cider as a category and industry is fascinating, especially as a drink that’s holding its own as so many other options have entered the market. Again, that 1% doesn’t sound thrilling, but wait until we put it in context of how hard things are for beer right now.

Aside from the story of cider as a pure agricultural product, there’s also another area worth our attention, and that’s the outsized role that small cider producers are playing. The largest, national brands are lagging, and these small and independent businesses have picked up the slack—which might sound familiar to the stories of the beer world we hear so often. 1% is a small number, but it feels a bit bigger when you learn about how it’s maintained.

When Michelle and I recently spoke, she just finished hosting the industry’s annual conference, CiderCon, so a lot of these things were fresh on our minds, and her’s was full of stories to give context to a category that may be just 1%, but according to Nielsen, has grown 10 times its size over the last decade.

EP-298 Sara Kazmer of Elsewhere Brewing Mar 20, 2021

Every brewery has a story, and along with the beer they brew, their narrative is what helps to set them apart. A great story can captivate and connect with consumers, and help build brand loyalty—something any business owner would love to have.

And when a couple opens a brewery together, there’s a good chance their love story will become a foundational part of the business’s identity. That was certainly true for Sara and Sam Kazmer, owners of Elsewhere Brewing Co. in Atlanta’s Grant Park neighborhood.

Their incredible, Lifetime-esque love story starts across the world, in a bar in Italy. Before they started out on their brewery venture, Sara suggested the couple travel the world, collecting experiences and knowledge that would later build out the story of Elsewhere, and influence their beer program, food menu, and the vibe of their brewery.

In our conversation, we’ll talk about how intentional Sara was with creating the story of Elsewhere. Sara shares how she wanted Elsewhere to stray away from the traditional industrial feel of other breweries to create a space that felt inviting to women and men alike. We’ll discuss the amount of detail that went into designing Elsewhere, from the handmade tiling to the plants decorating the space.

We’ll also cover the difficulties of opening and operating a brewery in the middle of a pandemic, how Sara’s experience working in taprooms helped prepare her for it, and insights into the craft beer scene in Atlanta. Keep an ear out, too, as Sara shares her plans for the brewery’s future post pandemic.

CL-071 Jennifer Jordan Hunts for Hops at the Edge of the Driftless Mar 18, 2021

Beer history has blossomed in recent years, as a new generation of researchers and writers have uncovered fascinating stories from the murky early days of brewing. Some of those discoveries have taken us to exotic locales, while others have illuminated overlooked stories right in our own backyards. And beer history is not just a field for enthusiastic amateurs. Academics and other professionals have been been digging through the archives to tell hitherto unknown tales from the world of beer and brewing.

In this episode, I talk to Jennifer Jordan, professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and the author of a recent piece on the historic hop industry in Wisconsin that ran in our “From Barons to Barrels” series. We discuss her research into hop farming in Wisconsin, as well as some the characters who helped create the industry, like Jesse Cottington, originally born in England, who went on to become the leading man of the profitable hop business in Wisconsin’s Sauk County in the 1860s. Professor Jordan’s research has also identified less prominent characters, like Ella Seymour, a young woman who recorded her observations about hop picking and other chores in a diary at the time.

If that sounds ephemeral, it is: by the 1880s, the once-massive Wisconsin hop trade disappeared completely. But as we discover in this episode, the evidence for it — in terms of archival evidence, the changed landscape, and even the plants themselves — still exist today… if you know where to look.

EP-297 Ben Self of West Sixth Brewing Mar 15, 2021

Have you heard the phrase “stick to beer”? It’s a version of an oft-cited phrase that people tell each other when one is veering away from their subject expertise. If you brew beer or write about the industry, you don’t need to share insight about other areas of life … let someone else who’s an expert do that. Stick to beer.

In this episode, we aren’t venturing far away from beer, but Ben Self’s background lends itself to it. He’s our guest as co-founder of Kentucky’s West Sixth Brewing, but what came before and even recent years is of interest, too. Ben recently completed a run as chairman of the Kentucky Democratic Party and began a political career years ago by co-founding a progressive tech firm that led him to work with Howard Dean and the Democratic National Committee.

This is relevant because while we don’t wade into hot button issues of politics, we do talk about what it means to win and lose and fight an uphill battle to turn a very red state blue. It may not be obvious right away, but you’ll hear me ask about how running a business can be similar when you’re trying to build trust with people you don’t know and convert customers to your brand in the same way a politician may want to find another vote.

So trust me when I say we do “stick to beer,” but there’s a host of other things that have influenced Ben’s worldview, and that overlap can be fascinating.

CL-070 Beth Demmon is riding a party wave Mar 10, 2021

Lately, the world has felt joyless. Even the weekends, which once offered a reprieve from the obligation of work, feel bland and gray when you’re stuck at home all the time. Saturday gives way to Sunday, and time melts into hours of couch-sitting, Instagram-scrolling, beer-drinking, and the occasional debate on what to eat for lunch. I long for a trip away from the mundane cycle my life has become.

Against this backdrop, reading Beth Demmon’s latest piece on Good Beer Hunting, “Riding the Party Wave — Pizza Port Brewing Company’s Swami’s IPA,” felt like the rare vacation from day-to-day life. It invites the reader to the sunny shores of San Diego, where Beth poses—and then answers—the question: What is the most San Diego beer? In the article, she makes a compelling case for Swami’s, a West Coast IPA created by Pizza Port Brewing Company in 1992.

Through interviews with legends in the California craft beer scene, Beth shows us how the legacy of Swami’s IPA still influences the beers we drink today—even if we’ve never personally traveled to San Diego. The article feels light and refreshing, offering a break from the heaviness of this moment in time.

In our conversation, Beth and I talk about why she posed this question in the first place, how she settled on Swami’s as the beer that best encompasses San Diego, and why it’s not Stone IPA. Throughout this interview, you’ll hear Beth express her love for San Diego—her adopted home—and her joy as she looks back on the many memories she’s had at Pizza Port Brewing Company over the years.

EP-296 Esthela Davila and Carmen Favela, Mujeres Brew House Mar 06, 2021

Women currently make up less than a quarter of all craft brewery owners in the United States, according to the Brewers Association’s survey on demographics within the industry. While conversations around the importance of diversity, inclusion, and equity continue to spark important change within beer, sometimes it can feel like it’s just that—talk. But pioneers within the industry who talk the talk and walk the walk do exist, and in San Diego, the women behind Mujeres Brew House are two of those trailblazers.

Carmen Favela and Esthela Davila launched Mujeres Brew Club in 2019 in an effort to empower women through beer education. Staggered by the immediate and overwhelming level of interest and participation in the events, these two knew they had stumbled on a large, underserved audience when monthly meetings regularly reached capacity. But when COVID-19 hit, their ability to provide that in-person community was challenged. When the pair had the unexpected opportunity to acquire a brewhouse of their own in San Diego’s largely Latinx Barrio Logan neighborhood, they jumped at the chance, thanks to the financial (and emotional) support of Carmen’s husband and business partner, David Favela of Border X Brewing.

Even with COVID-related delays and restrictions still in place, the accelerated timeline for Mujeres Brew House was largely due to the tight-knit community of women in the group, who eagerly volunteered to sweep, dust, paint, and pitch in in any way they could to make their new home as welcoming as possible. In our conversation, Esthela and Carmen walk me through the group’s origin, their trajectory and mission, and the importance of being a part of the Barrio Logan community (as well as the wider craft beer community). They also address how it feels to be recognized by outlets like Good Beer Hunting’s Signifiers and Imbibe’s 75, and who they look to for inspiration, even as they provide inspiration to so many others. Mujeres Brew House is women-led and women-centric, yes. But their doors are open to anyone willing to come, listen, learn, and drink some great beer.

SL-027 A full strength look at non-alcoholic beer Mar 03, 2021

We are well beyond the days of “Dry January,” but the conversation around the success and long term impact of non-alcoholic beer continues. The month long effort at the start of the year is meant to give people a break from alcohol intake, and non-alcoholic substitutes often play a big role. But what Kate Bernot and I have come to recognize in the past several months is that the narrative of booze-free beer is even bigger.

And that’s what we’re talking about in this episode as part of the conversations and insights we’ve been sharing as part of Good Beer Hunting’s Sightlines Premium newsletter and expert community. Sightlines Premium is an extension of our newsy Sightlines coverage, anchored by Kate and myself, with the goal of combining objective data and real-world anecdotes to help industry pros make informed decisions about managing a portfolio, how and where they should focus their access to market, and more.

So while Sightlines Premium runs the gamut of topics, Kate and I are laser-focused in this conversation, where we share findings from our own reporting about the non-alcoholic beer segment, and what we think it means for the industry moving forward. For example, our Sightlines Premium coverage of non-alc beer used data to explain its boom in 2020, and insight from experts like economist Lester Jones to give a full understanding of the category’s place and rise of the last couple years.

If you’re leading a company in the beer or alcohol space, Sightlines Premium is for you. And this will give you a sense of the kind of direct advice and consultation we offer in our weekly newsletter and online community. For more information, visit goodbeerhunting.com/sightlines-premium.

EP-295 James Calder of Society of Independent Brewers Feb 27, 2021

In today’s episode I’m talking to James Calder, Chief Executive of the UK’s Society of Independent Brewers.

SIBA, as it’s more commonly known, plays a similar role to the American Brewer’s Association, representing the interests of around 800 small British brewers who vote on how the organisation supports the industry and lobbies the government at its annual conference and trade show, BeerX.

Founded in 1980, its greatest victory came in 2002, when alongside CAMRA it successfully campaigned for the introduction of Small Brewers Relief, granting brewers of less than 5,000hl a year a 50% reduction on Britain’s notoriously high alcohol duty. It was well timed, coming a few years before the craft beer revolution took off, and since the policy came into effect more than 2,000 breweries have opened from a base of barely 400.

Despite this, and over forty years of fighting for the interests of small business, SIBA doesn’t have a very good reputation. Brewers are mostly split between ambivalence and active dislike of the organisation. Some saw it as a puppet for mid-sized breweries with different issues and very different agendas to small brewers, while others took exception to SIBA’s commercial side – a wholesaling business called Beerflex. While it was founded to give small breweries better access to large pub chains, it also meant the body was actively competing with those not part of the scheme.

When Calder was promoted from head of public affairs to chief executive in 2019 he was all too aware of SIBA’s issues, as well as the fact that SIBA membership was shrinking as a result. But before he could test, finalise, and enact his plan to revitalise the organisation he was hit by a triple whammy to crises – the prospect of a no deal Brexit, COVID-19 and finally, a part-reversal on SIBA’s finest hour – Small Brewers Relief.

Instead of turning the ship around, Calder has spent the last 18 months fighting fires that refuse to go out. But during this time he’s made sure that SIBA is more transparent in its dealings – regularly updating people outside its membership about the work being done. As a result, its day-to-day work in fighting for more freedom and financial support during lockdown has impressed many in the industry of late.

There’s a lot of work for Calder and his team still to do in building SIBA’s reputation and supporting its members through Brexit, SBR reform and COVID – but in this wide ranging conversation he’s keen to point out that there’s a bigger vision yet to come.

EP-294 Javier and Jose Lopez, Casa Humilde Cerveceria Feb 20, 2021

This week’s guest is a duo from Chicago who this past year, despite a pandemic, launched one of the city’s most exciting Mexican-inspired brewery concepts: Casa Humilde Cervenceria.

Chicago is perhaps uniquely focused on Mexican culture when it comes to beer. We’re the city that launched 5 Rabbit Cerveceria—the first Latin-inspired craft brewery in the U.S. who despite many early, and seemingly ongoing challenges, is still in operation on the far Southwest side. Cruz Blanca, a brewpub on Randolph Street originally launched in collaboration with Rick Bayless , the famous chef from Frontera, coco, and Topolobampo and others is known for it’s incredible food, cocktails, and increasingly getting the recognition it deserves for its beers, especially their wild and barrel-aged offerings.

But even in a mix like that, Casa Humilde has a unique point of view of what it means to be Mexican-inspired, and indeed Mexican, in craft beer in 2021.

They make fantastic lagers, both a corn lager and an amber. As well as beers that feature Mexican coffees, chocolate, and of course, the beers Javier and Jose themselves came of age with in the context of in Chicago, like haze pale ales and double IPAs.

Javier and Jose Lopez are two young founders focused on the intersection between the American craft scene they grew up in, and their culinary experiences stemming from an early age in Mexican families from which they take so much of their inspiration to explore beer, and far beyond.

There’s a big, winding conversation going on in the food world right now about what is, and isn’t considered “authentic” when it comes to the cuisine we would previously have called “ethnic” — and part of the conversation focuses on who benefits from, and who is held back by this idea of “authenticity.” Does the demand for authenticity protect those who have the primary experience with a cuisine? Or does it place an unfair burden on them as innovators, entrepreneurs, and ultimately box them in while white people are more free to explore ideas free of the tyranny of this so-called authenticity?

What Javier and Jose are doing with Casa Humilde highlights this tension for me—and the answers they’re producing in terms of their beers, where and how they’re sold, even a Micheleda, speak volumes for me about what’s at stake.

They’re also just really charming, ambitious, hard-working, and true to their name, humble brewers who represent the city of Chicago exceptionally well.

CL-069 Stephanie Grant Knows Black is Beautiful Feb 17, 2021

Stephanie Grant has an infectious positivity. You can’t help but enjoy watching her cook amazing meals on her Instagram stories; or celebrating Black women in beer in her newsletter, The Share; or scrolling through her vibrant photographs. Her projects and pursuits all seem to radiate joy. But Stephanie’s not afraid of getting real—far from it.

In her latest story for Good Beer Hunting titled “Beyond the Beer — Colorism, Black Pride, and the Black Is Beautiful Initiative”, which was published on January 27, 2021, she weaves together her personal experiences as a Black woman with the history and evolution of the Black is Beautiful movement. The result is a deeply affecting, personal, and informative story that readers of any background can appreciate.

As Stephanie points out in her piece, however, no white person will ever be able to fully understand the gravity of the phrase “Black is Beautiful,” and what it represents. So in this conversation, Stephanie tells us in her own words what that phrase means to her as a Black woman. She wants people to understand just how deeply racism is embedded in American culture, how early messages of racist inequality start for children, and how the concept of colorism continues to divide communities from within as a holdover from slavery. Despite the heavy nature of the conversation, she still relishes the strength she can draw upon from other Black women, and how she’s been able to find joy, even during a tumultuous year and while writing this raw account of her own journey to self-love.

During this conversation, we talk about the evolution and importance of language, how accountability is everyone’s responsibility, and why Black is Beautiful is so much more than just beer. Stephanie is optimistic, yet realistic. But above all, she’s ready to keep doing the work.

EP-293 Greg Avola, Untappd and Next Glass Feb 13, 2021

This week’s guest invented one of the most impactful things in American beer history —but it’s not a beer style, or a recipe, or a festival, or a piece of equipment—it’s an app.

Untappd grew from a side project for Greg Avola and his partner Tim Mather—one that they moonlighted for on weekends—to a leading social experience for beer geeks in a very short amount of time.

Basically you try a beer, you log the experience, and it keeps track of your history. You can share that experience with others, rate it, post pics, tag bars and breweries where you enjoyed it—each little interaction creates a massive web of crowd data over time.

Some producers find it fascinating and valuable. Others are haunted by it and think it’s ruining beer. Or maybe already has.

But it’s surely, like any software, largely what we make of it.

But what is Untappd itself made of?

This interview follows on co-founder Greg Avola’s recent exit from his role at the company—after it was acquired by Next Glass a few years ago, Greg’s role became less of a product engineer and tweaker, and more of a creative director, working across a lot of other roles, outlining new strategies, and integrating with the ecosystem of follow-on acquisitions like Beer Advocate, and most recently Hop Culture. With the intent to build a B2B and B2C ecosystem that enabled the rating, tracking, promotion and purchasing of the beers people find most interesting. Basically leveraging content to create a new sort of tier in the 3-tier system.

But it’s not without its challenges, both personal and professional.

In this conversation Greg talks a lot about what it’s like to be a founder of a small tech project that goes big. The burden that places on the individual, and how evolving in an acquisition environment is fraught with personal challenges.

But it also outlines how the scope of Untappd is shifting. Their numbers are down in the U.S. but growing rapidly abroad. Not unlike what happened with one of its predecessors, Ratebeer. And the other acquisitions, like Beer Advocate, haven’t really panned out the way it was imagined, leaving most of the creative and strategic onus on Untappd itself, a challenge it seems to have met with some renewed focus on content, events, and overall community-building in the past year.

In Greg’s open letter about his decision to step down, he was uncommonly transparent about his rationale, experiences, and hopes. And that’s the catalyst for us talking today—from one start-up founder to another. I think it’s critical that more people openly share the nature of the sacrifices people like Greg make to see their idea grow.

CL-068 Kristen Foster is Done with Dry January Feb 10, 2021

Kristen Foster has been a part of Good Beer Hunting’s Fervent Few community, as well as a contributor, since 2017. Since then, she’s written a number of pieces and published a lot of great photographs — especially her poignant and candid photos of people in and around beer.

Some of her recent Signifiers for Good Beer Hunting about Athletic Brewing Company and Notch Brewing also manage to capture that same candid honesty from people who’ve built two very different breweries. Athletic’s approach to non-alcoholic beer is literally redefining what beer is and what it can be, while Notch focuses on constantly perfecting classic styles that reach deep into European beer history.

In our conversation, Kristen talks about the differences between the two breweries and how she approached both stories, illuminating her process, personal experience, and how the beer industry itself continues to evolve.

We also talk about her first experience doing Dry January, what she foresees developing in the non-alcoholic beer scene, and what NA beers she liked during her month-long foray into intentional sobriety. (Hint: it’s Athletic.) Of course, as a seasoned travel writer and photographer as well, she shares her insight into what trips she had to put on hold due to COVID-19, how her local spots in Boston have weathered the last year, and where she wants to visit next. Finally, we talk cocktails — or at least, she does, while I try to keep up. Maybe if we’re lucky, one of these days we’ll be sipping tequila together in real life.

EP-292 Wright Thompson, Pappyland: A Story of Family, Fine Bourbon, and the Things That Last Feb 06, 2021

Depending on who you are and your connection to alcohol and storytelling, this interview can be different things to different people. It’s about a book, which is about bourbon (sort of), but also family and marketing and trying to find things that feel real. If you’re a beer enthusiast, you may connect with stories of people geeking out on bourbon and the niche communities that exist. If you work in beverage alcohol, there may be ideas of storytelling and branding that sound familiar. Or maybe you’d rather just listen as a complicated human like we all are, and follow along these threads and more, which trace the story of how Wright Thompson came to write a book about Pappy Van Winkle, the most desired bourbon on the planet.

Thompson is a familiar name if you’re a sports fan—he’s won awards for his coverage and written beloved profiles of Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan—but a common theme of many of the things he reports on is one of family and the depths of what that means in relation to history and culture.

We’re chatting because his new book, “Pappyland: A Story of Family, Fine Bourbon, and the Things That Last,” has brought all these things together to tell the story of Julian Van Winkle III and bourbon in America. You’ll hear us reference Julian often, and the important thing to know is that as a Van Winkle working in spirits, he’s on what Wright calls a quest to recapture the memories from his own past, of his family, and the bourbon they made. In the book and in this interview, these things get intertwined with ideas behind today’s bourbon, its marketing, and what it says about the human condition.

So, whoever you are, and however you find yourself connecting to bourbon, rare items like Pappy Van Winkle, Wright Thompson, or the deeper role booze can play in our lives, I hope there’s something that keeps you thinking about the memory quest we’re all on, just like Julian.

CL-067 Ruvani de Silva Shares Her Joy Feb 03, 2021

As someone who was born in the ’80s and thus is not a digital native, I’ve enjoyed making Internet friends since my parents first got a computer when I was in the fifth or sixth grade. I’ve spent countless hours in dial-up chat rooms, writing bad poetry on LiveJournal, carefully crafting my away messages on AOL Instant Messenger, and eventually networking on Twitter and Facebook, connecting with people from all over the world.

When I first “met” Ruvani de Silva in 2019, it was online. In fact, despite having talked numerous times for stories, as writing colleagues, and as Instagram friends, we’ve never met in real life. But chatting with her about her first piece for Good Beer Hunting—titled “A Rare Gem or a Llama in a Suit? — South Asian Women on Navigating (and Advancing) the Craft Beer Industry”, which was published on January 20, 2021—was the first time our conversation focused solely on Ruvani’s experiences as a South Asian woman in craft beer.

The idea to pursue this story coalesced for Ruvani during the pandemic, as it allowed her to finally have the time and space to ask the question: Where are all the other people in beer who look like me? As she took to social media to find other South Asian women who publicly enjoyed craft beer, she found that, although their numbers were small, their experiences in the industry united them in a way she’d never experienced before.

In the piece, the women she meets share a palpable sense of relief at having found one another. The story feels like it’s following a community and a camaraderie as they form in real time, thanks to Ruvani’s quest. And even though the members might be far from one another, their shared experience now binds them together, and allows them to claim and relish in their own space in beer.

In this interview, we discuss Ruvani’s upbringing in London and now, what it’s like being a Brown Brit in Texas. We talk about her entry into both beer and writing, as well as the catalyst for her piece. She also examines the difference between feeling overtly welcome in beer spaces and how that’s not necessarily the same thing as feeling unwelcome, and the challenges—and opportunities—she’s experienced as one of the only South Asian women in a given taproom.

This piece is joyful. It’s optimistic, it’s full of surprises, and it’s illuminating. Most of all, it’s honest—an unflinching, open look at what it’s like to be her.

EP-291 Lucy Do, The Dodo Micropub Jan 30, 2021

The word “community” is often overused in our industry. There’s our local community, the communities we’ve created around ourselves on our favorite social media platforms, or the craft beer community as a whole. But, these days, the more I hear the word, the less meaning I find in it. Are we actually choosing to connect, or do we simply happen to be in the same place at the same time?

Lucy Do found herself asking that same question earlier this year.

The purpose of Lucy’s business is—in her own words—“community and human connection.” And she provided that in spades at her West London micropub, The Dodo. She beams as she recalls a typical Friday night at The Dodo, poetically describing the sense of electricity in the air as conversation bubbled, cask beers were consumed, and new friendships formed.

But when COVID-19 forced her to close her doors back in March, she wondered if the community she’d built would survive without her venue as its hub.

From her initial panic in March, Lucy talks us through how she redesigned the business by creating opportunities anywhere and everywhere—from offering takeaway and local delivery of cask beer to designing at-home beer-and-food pairing kits, launching her own gin brand, and even working with the local council to open a pop-up in a large outdoor venue nearby.

Beyond the visible changes to the business as a result of the pandemic, you’ll also hear Lucy discuss the struggles that are less visible: her concerns for staff and customer safety, the challenge of navigating her team through such uncertainty, and above all, the mental health impact of these last few months.

Ever open and honest, Lucy’s desire to create meaningful connections with others has kept her going through these trying times. And, as you’ll hear, her community is stronger than ever.

CL-066 Will Hawkes Jumps On The Wagon Jan 28, 2021

In this episode, I’m chatting with Will Hawkes, a London-based journalist who’s been writing about beer since 2010. Over the past decade, Will has regularly contributed to publications like The Washington Post and The Daily Telegraph, but it was only last year when he wrote his first piece for Good Beer Hunting. Part of our Mother of Invention series, made in partnership with Guinness,“On the Wagon — The Innovations Behind the Non-Alcoholic Renaissance in British Brewing,” was published on our website on October 22, 2020.

Although this is his first time writing for the site, Will previously featured as a guest on the Good Beer Hunting podcast way back in 2017. For those of you who may have missed that episode, we start our conversation with a brief discussion of Will’s background in journalism, before turning our attention to his article.

Initially a skeptic of non-alcoholic beer, Will talks about how—when he pushed past his own prejudice and tried these beers—he noted a vast improvement in their quality in a very short period of time. That ultimately led him to write this piece on how they’re produced, detailing the three most common production methods used in no- and low-alcohol brewing in Britain today.

In our conversation, we discuss how these different production methods can impact the flavor of no- and low-alcohol beer, whether this sort of production information is of interest to consumers, and how accessible this information is—or isn’t—from each brewer. We also explore the expectations around these products, from things like pricing and availability to who’s consuming them now and who’s likely to in the future. Here’s Will.

EP-290 Kelly Moritz, Indeed Brewing Jan 23, 2021

Have we said “pivot” enough lately? What about “omnichannel,” or “innovation”? These words were all thrown around with abandon in 2020, as COVID-19 changed the way we interacted with and bought beer, and dramatically impacted how our favorite breweries did business.

In this conversation, we’re talking with Kelly Moritz about how Minnesota’s Indeed Brewing Company has done some version of all these things, and how it impacted her as she stepped into the role of chief operating officer amidst the pivoting and innovating that was demanded of so many of us last year. Kelly has been with the brewery since 2014 and spent most of her time there coordinating and managing Indeed’s marketing. She’s now overseeing something of an evolution for the company, which is exploring non-beer products like CBD seltzer and hard kombucha.

Starting a new job while your company is moving in different directions—and as you’re trying to figure out how to talk to new and old customers alike—feels like a rather 2020 storyline. But as 2021 unfolds, you’ll hear from Kelly about how she’s considering the successes of last year to help guide the Indeed team in the year to come. You’ll also hear about how her background as a writer and communicator is helping her through all of this.

What’s next for Indeed as it becomes as much a beverage company as a brewery? Let’s find out.

This is Kelly Moritz of Indeed Brewing Company. Listen in.

CL-065 Natalya Watson Bridges The Gap Jan 22, 2021

As a person who makes audio, I'm fascinated by the work that goes on behind the scenes. How does an interviewer ask questions? How do two people find a flow, establish trust, and ultimately uncover special moments and stories that might otherwise never get shared?

For me, doing audio work means leaning into my deeply curious side, and that's what's reflected in my interview with Natalya Watson. Natalya is a new addition to the GBH podcast team—she interviewed Miranda Hudson and Derek Bates from Duration Brewing, and you'll see more of her work on the podcast soon. Natalya has her own show, called Beer With Nat, where she interviews women in the beer industry about their careers. The goal is to demonstrate to others that there's a clear pathway into beer, and that anything they dream of doing is achievable.

The theme of accessibility runs through all of Natalya's work. She also hosts a Virtual Beer School, which helps folks prepare for their Cicerone exams. Many of the materials Natalya makes are free, and the cost for admission to her 12-week program is intentionally set so participants of any financial situation can still take part.

In this interview, we talk about all of these topics, but we also go one step further and examine why Natalya is drawn to the work that she does. She shares her own career history and how she developed a keen interest in communicating with others, and what this says about her as a person. I think towards the end we get a little meta, both reflecting on our interviewing styles—I admit, I am a person who likes to make big connections, and who tries to create ties between who we are and what we put out into the world. This conversation is both fun and fast-paced, vulnerable and reflective—in a way, it's reflective of everything I look for in an interviewing experience. Here's Natalya.

EP-289 Ren Navarro, Founder of Beer.Diversity. Jan 16, 2021

This is Beth Demmon, and you’re listening to the Good Beer Hunting podcast.

At the end of every year, it’s common for publications to put together roundups of notable people who’ve made their mark: who you should read, who you should listen to, who you should follow on social media, and so on. And every year, while those mentioned absolutely merit recognition for their work, some people also deserving of attention inevitably get missed. Any list covering the craft beer industry that doesn’t include Ren Navarro falls short (Good Beer Hunting’s end-of-year Signifiers included). The Canadian beer equity advocate is prominent in conversations on Twitter and Canadian outlets, and her tireless efforts to make beer a better place unquestionably deserve the support and attention of people everywhere.

As a queer Black woman who seeks to educate, enlighten, and engage, Navarro calls herself a “reluctant advocate” as one of the only people in her immediate area to consistently work towards a more equitable beer community. By calling for actions that incorporate intersectionality in diversity efforts and demanding accountability from peers in the craft beer space, she encourages individuals and breweries to embrace uncomfortable revelations that can drive improvement, despite the challenges and feelings these types of conversations may bring up. She mostly works alone, and while the pandemic has disrupted her ability to educate face-to-face, she’s grateful for the transparency and openness that virtual spaces allow for, giving people the opportunity to raise hard questions in a safe, judgment-free way.

In our conversation, we’ll talk about her role in craft beer, how Canada compares—and contrasts—with the United States when it comes to its beer scene, and how social justice movements took off last year and then stagnated. We’ll also discuss the importance of people speaking from within their communities rather than on behalf of a community, how one can earn the title of ally rather than bestow it upon themselves, how concepts like accessibility and inclusion remain closely related, and who she looks to as changemakers of the future. Keep an ear out for numerous new initiatives she has planned for 2021. Navarro knows that we can all do better and be better—now, it’s time to find out how. Listen in.

SP-003 Turning Hindsight Into Foresight Jan 14, 2021

Over the past year, Good Beer Hunting has maintained an ongoing, weekly newsletter and expert community under our Sightlines Premium banner. As an extension of our newsy Sightlines coverage—anchored by Kate Bernot and myself, Bryan Roth—the goal of Sightlines Premium is to combine objective data and real-world anecdotes to help industry pros from across beer and beverage alcohol make informed decisions about managing a portfolio, how and where they should focus their access to market, and more.

In this episode, you’ll hear myself, editor of Sightlines and Sightlines Premium; GBH founder Michael Kiser; and Sightlines lead reporter Kate Bernot. In our roundtable discussion, we’re focusing on six key storylines from 2020 that we see as impactful in 2021. This kind of analysis is an example of the work we’re doing on Sightlines Premium, but our back-and-forth also hits on the kinds of discussions even casual fans of beer may have heard in the last 12 months.

If you’re leading a company in the beer or alcohol space, Sightlines Premium is for you. Listen out for the kind of direct advice and consultation we offer in our weekly newsletter and online community. For more information, visit goodbeerhunting.com/sightlines-premium.

This is the GBH Sightlines team of myself, Bryan Roth, Kate Bernot, and Michael Kiser. Listen in.

Introducing the AltBrau Podcast Jan 09, 2021

What does it mean to be an outlier? Who are the people in beer taking small steps and hoping to make big changes? We're excited and thrilled to announce the relaunch of the AltBrau Podcast, now part of the Good Beer Hunting network of shows.

AltBrau is a show that explores the outliers in the world of beer. Join host and GBH contributor Tim Decker, a homebrewer and wild ale collaborator, as he talks with folks from various backgrounds who look at the food and beverage industry through a unique set of eyes. As an aspiring entrepreneur, Tim is always excited to explore various points of view and hopes you join along as he interviews people whose work and passions might indicate a more interesting future. Here's a sneak peek of the first episode with Mike Cruz of Tioga Sequoia Brewery. The AltBrau podcast will release new episodes every Tuesday starting January 12th! Find episodes of the AltBrau podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.

CL-064 David Neimanis on the Wonders of Super Punch Jan 08, 2021

Some of my favorite stories start small. Usually with a question, perhaps something you ponder passively before it takes you down a rabbit hole full of wild twists and turns, unexpected stories and delights.

David Neimanis had just such an inkling. He's a food and beverage writer, and wanted to know more about the surprising comeback of amaro, or bitter Italian liqueur, which, for decades, had fallen out of favor. Most of our parents probably didn't drink amaro, but our grandparents might well have. David decided to pull on the thread, and try to figure out why something like amaro would have skipped a generation.

A simple question ended up unfolding into an entire piece. David wrote about such generational drinking habits in his article, "The Rise of 'Grandpa Drinks' — Exploring the Old-Fashioned Roots of Modern Drinking Trends," published on our website on December 1, 2020. As part of the story, David delves into his own history with obscure, bitter, European liqueurs—recently, he found himself ordering Riga Black Balsam, which hails from Latvia, and which was a drink favored by his grandfather.

In this conversation, we talk about the nature of curiosity, and how simple questions often unfold in interesting and compelling ways. David didn't necessarily have a grandiose idea or theory about the new popularity of these drinks—he simply asked a question and followed the answers where they took them. His piece is highly inquisitive and honest, and isn't afraid to take a pit stop to explore an interesting tidbit along the way. The resulting story feels like following a winding road full of surprises. Here's David.

CL-063 Courtney Iseman Jumps Between Past, Present, and Future Dec 31, 2020

You've probably read some version of this article or headline over the past several months: "Here's a lesson we learned during the 1918 flu that we can apply to the current coronavirus pandemic!"

It makes sense that we want to look to history for answers to present-day problems—"history repeats itself" is an old chestnut for a reason. But for some, the inclination to look backwards extends well beyond the 20th century.

Courtney Iseman is a self-described history nerd, and noticed not just similarities between this current moment and the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, but also the 14th-century bubonic plague, which killed over half of the European population. Just like now, medieval responses to the black death were largely dependent on social standing—there were those who couldn't afford to not work, those who never left their homes, and those who got the hell out of Dodge, abandoning their homes for less-populated areas.

It helps to look to data and science when dealing with such a unique and scary moment as our current crisis, but it's also helpful to look to stories. Giovanni Boccaccio wrote The Decameron in what is now known as Italy during the height of the plague. The book is a collection of stories that reflected what local life was like at the time, told from the perspective of a group of friends who had fled Florence to escape the disease's devastation. As Courtney points out, you could replace these characters with any number of celebrities or influencers who escaped to their country homes following the spread of COVID-19—just think of today's "private island, all tested negative" memes.

In this conversation, we talk about Courtney's investigation into the subject in her recent piece, "The Plague Mirror — Recognizing Ourselves in Black Death-Era Italy Through The Decameron." Courtney uses The Decameron to show that history presents certain inescapable themes—but that past lessons can also provide a helpful blueprint for navigating contemporary crises. We also talk a little about her background as a writer before jumping in, but then we get right into it, tunneling our way through Boccaccio's illuminating book and then asking each other: What happens when this is all over?"

EP-288 Andreas Krennmair, Author of Vienna Lager Dec 26, 2020

News flash: 2020 has been a tough one. And yet despite the intense challenges, this year has seen several positive developments, even—and maybe especially—in the world of beer. For example, a couple of truly great books on brewing came out in 2020. The beer world has, slowly but surely, continued to address issues of equity, fairness, and representation. And, on a more personal note, quality Lager has continued its renaissance, despite the crucial issues of the past 11 months.

Andreas Krennmair is the author of one of the best beer books of the year, Vienna Lager, a fantastic history of the most famous beer style to originate in his home country of Austria. He also wrote an earlier book, Historic German and Austrian Beers for the Home Brewer, which introduced obscure, often extinct Old World beer styles like Mannheimer Braunbier, Merseburger Bier, and Horner Bier to English-speaking readers, along with recipes for how to brew them.

In this episode, I’m talking with Andreas about the history of Vienna Lager, which includes legendary names from European brewing like Gabriel Sedlmayr of the Spaten brewery in Munich, as well as Anton Dreher of the Klein-Schwechat brewery in Vienna, the inventor of Vienna Lager. (A side note: At one point I misidentify Andreas as being from Vienna himself, when he’s actually from Linz, Austria, as you’ll hear him explain. Apologies to Andreas for the mistake.) For this conversation I’m calling in from my home in Prague, Czech Republic, and Andreas is speaking from where he lives in Berlin, Germany.

Here’s Andreas Krennmair, author of Vienna Lager. Listen in.

SL-026 Changing The Narrative Dec 23, 2020

COVID-19 has changed a lot in our lives, including when and how we choose to consume alcohol. But there continue to be misconceptions about our beer-buying habits this year—and the beer styles that we’ve been gravitating to.

Low-alcohol beer has been a hot topic recently, but does the narrative around those products—one of crescendoing interest and growth—translate to reality? Over the last couple years on Good Beer Hunting, we’ve explored how sales have changed for higher-ABV beers, too, and in this episode we’re going to dig a bit deeper into how the mixed fortunes of these market segments are playing out during the pandemic.

A Thousand Words — Home Dec 19, 2020

In this series of the GBH podcast, we ask members of our team to enter the realm of audio storytelling. Most of us are familiar with the phrase, “A picture is worth a thousand words,” right? But now, we're challenging our contributors to actually write down those words, and to create pictures of the world around them as told in their own voices. With that in mind, you’re about to hear different stories read aloud by members of our editorial team. Think of each brief narrative as a snapshot of a moment, like an audio version of the b-Roll series on our website.

In this installment of A Thousand Words, we wanted to talk about home. In some way, everyone’s definition of home has changed this year. We asked our writers to share their thoughts on what their new normal looks like—and how their relationship to the spaces they inhabit and the places they love has morphed. From total lockdowns to recent moves, from newfound stillness to a house full of dogs, home has no one definition, no one spot you can pinpoint on a map. Instead, home is a relationship between yourself and the places and people that have made you who you are.

Each storyteller will introduce themselves before jumping into their own anecdote. We hope you can visualize every vignette, and immerse yourself in the pictures they’re painting for you.

This is A Thousand Words, a collection of audio stories. Listen in.

SL-025 No Relief for Small Brewers Dec 17, 2020

Welcome to the Sightlines podcast. I’m Jonny Garrett.

On July 21, barely three weeks after the U.K.’s hospitality industry and pubs came out of lockdown, the government announced it would be raising the amount of alcohol tax paid by small breweries. The backlash was immediate and furious, but it wasn’t only against the government. The anger was also aimed at a group of larger breweries that had campaigned for the tax rise.

Let that sink in for a moment: A group of businesses successfully campaigned for higher taxes within their own industry, specifically for up-and-coming competitors. To work out how it came to this, we need to take a step back.

It starts with a bill known as Small Brewers Relief (SBR), which was put into law in 2002. The bill gives all U.K. breweries smaller than 5,000 hectoliters (about 4,300 U.S. barrels) of annual production a 50% reduction in their alcohol tax. Beyond that volume, as the brewery grows, that reduction tapers off to zero.

Almost since the bill’s inception, some owners of breweries above the 5,000hl threshold have claimed the system gives small brewers an unfair pricing advantage. Meanwhile, those below see SBR as a lifeline without which new breweries would be unable to survive and grow.

After around five years of campaigning for reform and a two-year research project by the U.K. Treasury, the larger breweries—under an alliance called the Small Brewers Duty Reform Coalition—have won. The new rules mean small breweries will pay more tax starting at 2,100hl, which would immediately increase alcohol duty payments for around 150 existing businesses—by as much as £50,000 ($67,500) a year.

The Coalition believes the move will increase the price they can charge wholesalers for their beer, but they also say that it will encourage more growth among small breweries. They reason that starting the tax taper at a lower threshold—at 2,100hl—will remove what campaigners call the “cliff-edge” at 5,000hl, when duty payments suddenly start to escalate and making profit becomes significantly tougher.

Those small breweries, however, believe lowering the threshold will just limit their growth earlier, and see the move as a land grab by powerful brewing companies worried about the growth of craft beer beneath them.

In the wake of the news, several industry commentators called for drinkers to boycott the companies leading the charge for reform, including national brands like Timothy Taylor’s Brewery, Harvey’s Brewery, Wye Valley Brewery, and Hogs Back Brewery.

Beer can be political, and Small Brewers Relief has brought divisions within the industry into sharp focus, asking fundamental questions of who needs and deserves financial support in these difficult times: the historical, traditional breweries, or the new startups? How much should the state prop up private businesses? Is growth always the goal? And how sustainable is pricing in the industry, particularly around cask beer?

In this episode, we’ll talk to brewery owners on both sides of the argument, and will get the views of the economist who cowrote the academic paper that helped Small Brewers Relief come into being in the first place. You’ll hear how both sides have valid points to make—and that neither Small Brewers Relief nor any reforms of it have much hope of solving the industry’s underlying problems.

This is the Sightlines podcast. Listen in.

EP-287 Jamal Robinson, New England Brew Co., & Phil Pappas, CT Brewers Guild Dec 12, 2020

This week’s guest is a long-time industry friend of mine from back when he and I worked tougher to help launch Stony Creek Brewery in Branford, Connecticut. He had just left his sales gig at Blue Point Brewing, and I was only a couple of years into launching Good Beer Hunting’s studio and strategy practice.

With his energy and insight, we became fast friends.

Jamal Robinson is the sales director for a fast-growing powerhouse called New England Brewing Co., or NEBCO as you’ll hear him call it. And despite all his previous his growth and success, this year turned out to be a year of radical transformation.

And today’s conversation is about that transformation—but also where it’s lead in a very short amount of time.

Stemming from the social unrest following the murder of George Floyd and many others, Jamal, himself a Black man, started looking both within and without at the community. He looked towards the Connecticut community, the Black community, and the brewing community. And he started to share what he saw.

That lead to a series of conversations and conversions. I’ll never forget the moment Jamal called me to tell me that he finally found the words he needed to lead a conversation within the brewery—a conversation not about politics or activism, things that terrify many small business owners afraid to jump into the fray, but about community. And he found those words in an article by Kate Bernot, called “Say It Out Loud — Who Do Breweries Talk About When They Talk About ‘Community’?”

When Jamal told me that story, and the profound reframe it helped him bring to his team, we both got a bit emotional. But that was just the beginning.

Now he’s kicking off a scholarship program, with the help of his employer and the Connecticut Brewers Guild lead by Phil Pappas, who is also on this episode. They worked with Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut, to establish an endowment with the potential to fund a scholarship program that will outlive everyone involved.

In a year that saw some incredible new initiatives begin from powerful players like Dr. J Nikol Beckham of CraftxEDU and the Brewers Association, and Garret Oliver, the Brooklyn Brewmaster who started the Michael Jackson Foundation, in my mind, no one is punching above their weight quite as far as Jamal.

This is Jamal Robinson of New England Brewing Co. and Phil Pappasof the Connecticut Brewers Guild. Listen in.

CL-062 Holly Regan Will Not Be Erased Dec 10, 2020

We hear it all the time: Craft beer is a "community" where folks can come together to socialize, grab a beer, and let loose. But what happens when that "community" isn't as inclusive as it sounds—and when you're stuck watching the industry you love tout its openness while you encounter barrier after barrier to entry?

Holly Regan is a longtime writer, and in their first story for Good Beer Hunting—a critical, two-part piece called "All In the (Chosen) Family"—they ask the question: "Why are queer people continuously erased from craft beer—and how can that change?" Holly has a background in anthropology, and prior to writing this article series, they set to work developing a survey to collect data and stories from hundreds of respondents within the beer industry. The results illuminate the myriad struggles that queer folks experience in beer, and which the wider industry has failed to address.

The idea of erasure is key. It's easy to say something like, "All are welcome here," and proclaim a space to be inclusive. But Holly rejects that simplistic approach, and uses their survey's results to demonstrate that efforts to make beer a welcoming place must be continuous and proactive. In writing this story, Holly also recounts their own experiences with erasure, and how simply being well-intentioned is not enough.

Holly's piece is exhaustive and ambitious, as well as deeply personal. They cite the advice of Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love, as a source of inspiration: "Ideas are a disembodied, energetic life-form. They are completely separate from us, but capable of interacting with us ... Ideas are driven by a single impulse: to be made manifest. And the only way an idea can be made manifest in our world is through collaboration with a human partner."

This is Holly Regan. Listen in.

Note: At the end of the episode, Holly talks about a group they've started for queer folks in beer, The Rainbow Boots Interest Group, which you can learn more about here.

EP-286 Julia Herz, Consultant and Educator, HerzMuses Enterprises Dec 05, 2020

Julia Herz has been a notable figure in craft beer for nearly two decades. Much of that time was spent as the face of the Craft Beer Program at the Brewers Association. Her diminutive stature contrasts with her comparatively monumental influence in the industry: in that role, she was a familiar face at beer festivals and conferences like the Craft Brewers Conference and BeerNow Conference; she helped helm online publications like CraftBeer.com; and even wrote a 2015 book with Gwen Conley titled Beer Pairing: The Essential Guide from the Pairing Pros.

Like the rest of us, Herz was caught off guard by the arrival of COVID-19, and again when she and two dozen other BA employees were laid off in June. But rather than stagnate in what she calls “career, interrupted,” she hit the road to both coasts on a series of Vision Quests, visiting breweries across the United States in a safe (and socially distanced) way.

By navigating that unexpected hard left turn in her work, Herz embarked on a brand-new journey to consult, mentor, and educate through her new LLC, HerzMuses Enterprises. By leveraging her massive network of brewery owners and employees, she says her goal is to “teach and inspire,” as well as provide solutions to brands and causes that move her. From her behind-the-scenes perspective, she’s laying the foundation of her new venture with relationships in mind, and for the first time, on her own. I had the chance to sit down with Julia—masked, outside, and over a pint—at Second Chance Beer Company in San Diego to get the inside scoop on her state of mind before recording this podcast episode.

We talked about her past and future, her work as part of a national team and now as a solo artist, what it’s like to be on the ground during COVID, and how these Vision Quests have shaped her in surprising ways. I got to know what drives her, what changed her, and what she has planned next.

This is Julia Herz. Listen in.

CL-061 Beth Demmon (Attempts To) Untangle Work and Worth Dec 03, 2020

Who are you without work? If you went to a party and introduced yourself to someone new, what would you talk about if you couldn't ask them about their job?

Work is a tricky subject. We find so much validation in—and center so much of our identities around—the jobs we hold, but what happens when those jobs go away? Good Beer Hunting staff writer Beth Demmon explored this question and more in her latest piece, "Work, Worth, and Wreckage — When Your Job Is Your Life, What Happens When You Lose It?" which was published on our website on November 18, 2020.

In this episode, I chat with Beth about what it meant to write this story. Sure, the problem of deriving our self-worth from our work feels especially timely right now, but Beth's article goes beyond the present. She asks not only how we got here, but also looks at who is getting left behind when we equate professional success with personal value—particularly within the context of the beer industry.

What's exceptionally poignant about interviewing Beth is that she's not immune to these feelings, either. Not to be glib, but 2020 was supposed to be her year. And as the pandemic crushed opportunities and erased pathways, Beth herself had to contend with her own changing course—and figure out why it made her feel so goddamn awful.

Just a quick note, there are perhaps more curse words in this episode than usual, so you may want to save this for a moment when younger listeners aren't around.

EP-285 Lucious Wilson, Wedge Brewing Company Nov 28, 2020

I’m not making a radical statement here, as we enter the final weeks of 2020, when I say it’s been hard. Both for individuals and as a collective society. January always offers hopeful promises of new experiences and excitement, but by February of this year, things had already gone downhill thanks to COVID-19’s ill-fated arrival. That was before Americans had also rightfully turned their attention toward issues of social injustice this summer.

Time and time again, these themes and topics are addressed by telling the stories of the impacted people and businesses. That’s true in publications like Good Beer Hunting, all the way up to the mainest of mainstream media outlets, like CNN and USA Today.

But the reason these stories continue to get told—and why they still carry such meaning—are the humans behind the anecdotes. In this conversation, we’re going to hear about these topics and more in an oral history from Lucious Wilson. He first reflects on adjusting business plans during a pandemic, and then trying to process a season of protest after the killing of George Floyd.

Wilson is general manager for Wedge Brewing Company in Asheville, North Carolina, and he’s also a self-proclaimed “rebel” who likes to disc golf and skateboard. He’s spent a career in food and beverage that began well before Asheville was known as “Beer City, USA,” and he’s also a man inspired by the women in his life, like his wife and sister. Even when his employees and peers didn’t know what to do, or how to process all that 2020 changed in regards to doing business and interacting with the world, you’ll hear him talk about the importance of being a leader, and what it means to him to be able to inhabit a role like that.

As a brewery making about 1,000 barrels of beer a year, and primarily focused on its home market, Wedge Brewing is not a household name across the country. But my hope is that by joining me for this conversation with Lucious, you’ll have reason to celebrate one more person and business that’s worked hard to be their best in a shitty year. And maybe the stories you’re about to hear will offer you another human to root for, too.

This is Lucious Wilson of Wedge Brewing. Listen in.

CL-060 Gabrielle Pharms Orders Her Texas Bourbon Neat, Please Nov 25, 2020

Our Beer and a Shot series, made in partnership with Miller High Life, asks our contributors to get to know a city. Each piece brings together a bartender and a spirit to tell the story of a particular locale—and uses the relationship between the two to characterize residents' unique drinking styles and preferences. As a result, the reader gets to see into the heart of a place through an intimate lens—and discover a perspective that's otherwise the province of locals and longtime residents.

Freelance spirits, entertainment, and lifestyle writer Gabrielle Pharms contributed the latest entry to our Beer and a Shot series, and she brought together two things you might not necessarily associate with each other: Texas and whiskey.

Though whiskey is most commonly linked with states like Tennessee and Kentucky, the Lone Star State is becoming a key destination for the spirit—bourbon in particular.

For Gabrielle, who is a Houston native but now lives in Austin, this change is exciting. She’s a longtime whiskey fan, and was the person who, even in her early twenties, felt comfortable drinking bourbon neat. Her perspective reveals just as much about a state’s changing alcohol identity as it does the bartender and spirit she profiles—in this case, Kelsey Caudebec of The Tigress Pub and Milam & Greene Distillery.

Here’s Gabrielle.

EP-284 Susanna and James Forbes, Little Pomona Cider Nov 21, 2020

I’ve known one of today’s guests for a good few years. Susanna Forbes and I first met as drinks journalists at countless events around London. Back then, she was known as one of the hardest-working journalists out there, with plenty of awards and respect as evidence. So I had no idea that all along she had been planning to give up journalism for good. In this episode you’ll hear the full story of how she and husband James upped sticks and moved to Hereford in pursuit of their passion—cider making.

Under the name of Little Pomona Cider, they’ve quickly established themselves as one of the best producers in the country, making beautifully balanced ciders, perries, and other exciting fruit ferments using only wild yeasts and juice. That’s led to investment that bought them a huge new site on the same land as hop grower Brook House, where they hope to grow organically but with ambition—as long as nature and opportunity allow.

Along the way we look at the challenges of being a journalist-turned-producer, the battle that cider fights to be taken seriously and as independent from the beer scene, and the fact that cider really has a lot more in common with wine, and should be treated as such. We also go into the history of some of the culture, methods, and ingredients that make Hereford such a special cider region—a story that Susanna is very well equipped to tell, thanks to her former profession.

This is Susanna and James Forbes of Little Pomona Cider. Listen in.

CL-059 Samer Khudairi Becomes a Character in his own Story Nov 19, 2020

It’s hard to tell a story about yourself. And yet, I find I'm most moved by personal narratives—articles that provide a sneak peek into the life of the author. That’s one of the things I loved about Samer Khudairi’s first long-form piece for Good Beer Hunting. It’s called, “(Un)Holy Water — The Middle Eastern Voices Shaping the Global Beer Narrative,” and was published on November 12, 2020.

I saw an early draft of this piece, weeks ago, when Samer had just turned it in. It was distinctly different from the published version. Mostly that's because Samer wasn’t in that first draft at all. And that was on purpose.In this episode, I talk to Samer about what it means to tell a story that’s so connected to your sense of being, and what it means to put yourself on the line. A lot of the evolution of this piece happened behind the scenes—in conversations between Samer and other GBH writers, and in moments of reflection about the emotional weight this story carried.

Samer’s narrative starts with a question: He visits his grandfather, who talks about his great uncle’s work as a brewer, and asks why he doesn’t know more about his family's history in beer. He uses that lens to ask bigger questions, like: Why aren’t the stories of Middle Eastern brewers being told as widely as others? It’s challenging to be vulnerable, to pull your own stories out of your familial history and display them for others to see—but it was by getting close and putting everything out there that Samer was able to tell a story that connected to such a wide audience.

Here’s Samer. Listen in.

EP-283 Rob Brennan, Supermoon Nov 14, 2020

Today’s conversation is another one of those times when I feel profoundly grateful that I get to close the loop with someone that takes me back ten years or more—to when a seed got planted, or a relationship got established, and a decade later we’re able to look back and connect the dots on a story that would have been impossible to imagine playing out the way it did.

It’s a reminder for me that I get every so often of the importance of doing good, human, connective things with our work even, and maybe especially if, we don’t know how it’s going to effect someone.

But if we do get a chance to see the end result—or at least a milestone—it can be incredibly edifying and soul-confirming.

That’s not to say that what Rob Brennan of Supermoon Beer Company is doing is the end of anything—in fact, it’s just about to begin. But as you’ll hear in this conversation, so much of the way in which he tells the story of Supermoon involves telling the story of others, and how they were a kind of spiritual journey to where he ended up—even if many of the people in his life suspected it the whole time.

Rob’s journey to Supermoon takes place within a community of people that admired him. My own witness to his journey started at a home-brew party threw with some friends. It was a high concept affair that I’ve never really encountered the likes of since. And it showed how much Rob cares about the beer, but also the context and experience of that beer.

He came to Good Beer Hunting’s annual camping trip called Olly Olly, which we host with our friends at Camp Wandawega each fall—although certainly not this fall—in which he met the co-founding team from Penrose Brewing, Tom Korder and Eric Hobbs, and so began his inevitable journey into the professional side of brewing. He was a stop of the Joshua-Bernstein-inspired tour we hosted in Chicago called Homebrew-to-Pro, featuring people who had started breweries, or “gone pro” from their home brewing roots - like Jerry Nelson of Une Anne and Gary Gulley of Alarmist Brewing.

But after he cycled out of Penrose and moved north to Milwaukee, it started to seem like the vision for starting a brewery that most of us, his friends had, was maybe also cycling out. Maybe that’s just what we wanted for him—but it wasn’t what he wanted. Maybe we were gonna have to let it go and let him live his life.

But a couple months ago—something popped up on his Instagram that looked suspiciously like something that might become a brewery after all. And I can tell you that my heart skipped a beat. It’s about a week away from opening. And the beers are fantastic.

This is Rob Brennan of Supermoon, listen in.

One quick note before we jump in: this is being recorded during the now worst spike of the pandemic—so me and Rob were being extremely cautious—which means we recorded this outside in the cold, so you will hear some background noise here and there—a breeze, some chirpy birds, a contractor hammering down the street and a car or two driving down the alley we were next to. We did our best dear listener, so thanks for your generosity.

CL-058 Alicia Kennedy Longs for a Martini in a Nick & Nora Glass Nov 12, 2020

Welcome to the Good Beer Hunting Collective podcast, the show where members of our team interview each other to get a behind-the-scenes look at some of our favorite articles. I’m Claire Bullen, editor-in-chief here at Good Beer Hunting.

I spent the early days of this year's lockdown subscribing to a flurry of new and thrilling food-and drink newsletters, from Jonathan Nunn's Vittles and Dave Infante's Fingers to Rachel Hendry's J'adore Le Plonk and Katie Mather's The Gulp. My inbox has been full of exceptional writing ever since—and these days, there are few things I look forward to more than receiving a new missive from Alicia Kennedy.

I'm not alone in this sentiment. Kennedy's newsletter, From the Desk of Alicia Kennedy, has amassed over 10,000 subscribers in just half a year. Kennedy is a food and drink writer, as well as a former bakery owner, who's now based in San Juan, Puerto Rico after relocating from New York. She's got a book in the works about veganism and its relationship to capitalism, and has written for publications ranging from the Village Voice and the Guardian to Tenderly and Pellicle Magazine.

Whatever her subject—from the sustainability of spirits production and the commodification of chocolate to musings on ethical consumption—Kennedy writes with thrilling velocity and probing intelligence, illuminating unexpected connections between topics and fundamentally reimagining what food and drink writing can be. I was thrilled, then, to commission her recent piece for GBH, "Crisis Cava in a Colony, and Other Ways of Coping in Old San Juan," which captures Kennedy's lockdown experience, chronicles the drinks that she used to demarcate her time under quarantine, and shows how tourism to Puerto Rico has so often been at the expense of residents' well being. In this episode, we talk about the process behind this piece, the evolution of her newsletter, and how she'd like to see drinks writing grow and develop in the future.

This is Alicia Kennedy. Listen in.

EP-282 Miranda Hudson and Derek Bates, Duration Brewing Nov 07, 2020

I’m Natalya Watson, and you’re listening to the Good Beer Hunting podcast.

My guests today are Miranda Hudson and Derek Bates, co-founders of Duration Brewing, a progressive farmhouse brewery in Norfolk, England.

Bates—known mononymously to most—left his post as head brewer at London’s Brew By Numbers in late 2016 to set out on his own. He’d had an idea kicking around for years, but in 2017, he and his wife, Miranda, put their plan into action. Wanting to be a bit out of the way, they found a site among the ruins of a 12th-century priory in West Acre, Norfolk. But the rather challenging location required a year-and-a-half of planning before the build began in late 2018 and finally completed nearly a year later.

During this time, Duration began brewing collaboratively and nomadically with breweries across the U.K. and beyond. Not only did this approach get their beer out there, it got them out there, too. Miranda and Bates became familiar faces to members of the U.K. beer industry, many of whom got enthusiastically involved in following the pair and their progress, which was frequently documented on their website and social media.

Now that they’re finally brewing in their own facility, as of October 2019, the goal for this first year was, as you’ll hear, for Bates to have the chance to experiment. That wouldn’t just enable him to showcase his breadth as a brewer, the thinking went, but to discover which styles were a hit for the brewery, and to decide which journeys they wanted to take their drinkers on away from the Pale Ale and IPA monoculture, as Bates calls it.

But only five months after they settled into their brand-new brewery, COVID-19 hit. While it certainly hasn’t been the first year they were expecting—with a market too unstable to truly fine-tune their core range, and a destination brewery most are unable visit—they talk me through their initial response to the pandemic. They discuss the challenges (and triumphs) they’ve faced, from their wholesale model becoming essentially unviable overnight to how they were able to get their online shop up and running with the flick of a switch to why they’ve taken their brewery tours online, essentially welcoming drinkers into their “home,” as Miranda puts it.

Miranda and Bates aren’t just business partners: They’re life partners and parents, too. You’ll hear, in earnest, some of the challenges they’re up against at the moment. But you’ll also hear how they’re looking ahead. Not just beyond COVID, but five, 10 years down the line. Even during this incredibly difficult time for the industry, they’ve doubled down—expanding not only their capacity, but their team, too. They tell us about the breweries in the United States they’re inspired by, what sets Duration apart, and the legacy they’re looking to leave behind.

This is Miranda Hudson and Derek Bates of Duration Brewing. Listen in.

CL-057 Omar Foda Bridges the Gap Between Past and Present Nov 05, 2020

Today's guest is historian Omar Foda, author of the bookEgypt's Beer: Stella, Identity, and the Modern State. In this book, he traces the country's history through one iconic national beer brand: Stella (not to be confused with Stella Artois). Recently, Omar wrote an article for GBH called, "You Cannot Hate These People — Heineken, Nasser, and the Fight to Decolonize Beer in Egypt," similarly using a specific incident to highlight how decolonization changed everything for one Heineken-owned brewery.

What struck me about this article was how urgent the issues felt, which is noteworthy, since Omar wrote a historical account of an incident that happened over half a century ago. I felt like I was reading about something that was happening right now—and that's partially intentional on Omar's part. In this piece, he deftly bridges the gap between what's happened in the past and why we should care now. And in this conversation, we talk about how to make history relevant (Omar has done AMAs on Reddit before), how the lens through which we view history is always marked by our own experiences and interests, and why a disagreement at a brewery in Egypt over 50 years ago can shine a light on what's happening in our society today.

Here's Omar Foda. Listen in.

EP-281 Jeff Alworth, Beervana Oct 31, 2020

Today’s episode is the kind of conversation I’d typically have in a bar over a few pints with a friend—one in which we’d talk shop and inevitably start prognosticating about a brewery or a beer in a way that would bend each of our opinions into oblivion before we’d finally run out of stamina and order one last round.

Brewery Ommegang—what the hell is up with Brewery Ommegang? Over the past couple months we learned that the brewery’s CEO, Doug Campbell, was leaving. Next to depart was Brewmaster Phil Leinhart. Now, the foreseeable future for this history-making, Belgian-inspired brewery—which once brought us iconic beers like Hennepin—will now be devoted to a juicy, Hazy IPA called Neon Rainbows.

The Brewery Ommegang story has been one of total whiplash over the last few years, as it has adjusted to tumultuous U.S. market trends; its increasing physical isolation, compared to the taprooms now populating every corner of U.S. towns; and its sale to Duvel, alongside breweries like Firestone Walker Brewing Company and Boulevard Brewing Company.

A lot of gravity for that network of breweries is currently coming out of Kansas City. Now the question remains: Will it inevitably suck Ommegang out of its unique, idiosyncratic orbit? And if it does, what will be left of this once-legendary U.S. craft brewer?

To get to that, I wanted to talk to beer writer Jeff Alworth. He and I were both at the last—and seemingly final—edition of the annual festival called Belgium Comes to Cooperstown. And we spent most of that time together talking about the odd arc of the Ommegang story, and where it might go next. Organizers put the festival on hiatus after that most recent celebration, seemingly to take a moment and figure out how to evolve it in 2019. Well, it never quite got back on track—and with all the news, I found myself wishing I had a pub, a pint, and Jeff Alworth to talk to about it. This is Jeff Alworth, one of the country’s best beer writers. Listen in.

EP-280 Lars Marius Garshol, Author and Blogger Oct 24, 2020

Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of meeting Lars Marius Garshol for the first time. Before then, like much of the internet, I had followed along with Garshol's adventures via his eponymous website, Larsblog, where he has been documenting his beer travels and curiosities since the early 2000s.

Though he works as a software engineer, Garshol is particularly devoted to the subject of farmhouse brewing in Europe—so much so that he has written several books on the topic, including this year's award-winning release, "Historical Brewing Techniques — The Lost Art of Farmhouse Brewing." In his spare time, he also helps organize Norway's primary farmhouse beer festival, the annual Norsk Kornølfestival; collects yeast samples; and even collaborates with researchers on scientific papers.

His work is varied, but Garshol is probably best known for spreading the word about kveik, Western Norway's farmhouse yeast family, now celebrated across the world for its extraordinary abilities—and that's how I came to meet him. Lars was a major source for both of my long-form features on kveik and farmhouse brewing for GBH, the first of which came out in the summer of 2019, and the second of which was published last month. That most recent article arose out of a trip I took to Voss, Norway in February, and that's where Lars and I finally crossed paths, when I attended a talk he gave as part of a kveik symposium.

Today's conversation kicks off when I ask Garshol about this year's edition of the Kornølfestival, which was held entirely over Zoom. We also discuss his book, chat about why even seasoned beer drinkers might be perplexed by farmhouse beer styles like Vossaøl and Stjørdalsøl, and he sheds light on how vast the world of farmhouse brewing really is. There's a lot to dig into here—and a fair amount of jargon—but this conversation was illuminating to me in at least 10 different ways, and I hope it is for you, too.

This is Lars Marius Garshol, author and blogger. Listen in.

OL-013 Claire Bullen Reads, "The Land of Fire and Kveik — Farmhouse Brewing at the Crossroads in Voss, Norway" Oct 22, 2020

Today you’ll hear Claire Bullen read her story, “The Land of Fire and Kveik — Farmhouse Brewing at the Crossroads in Voss, Norway,” published on Good Beer Hunting’s website on September 30, 2020.

This is Claire’s second deep dive on kveik, the renowned farmhouse yeast family that originated in Western Norway. Claire’s first piece, “A Fire Being Kindled — The Revolutionary Story of Kveik, Norway’s Extraordinary Farmhouse Yeast,” which you can also hear her read out loud, is a technical exploration, uncovering the transformative power and heritage of kveik. In the story you’re about to hear, Claire actually travels to Voss, Western Norway to see kveik in action, and to experience first-hand just how important the tradition of farmhouse brewing is to the region.

Here’s Claire reading, “The Land of Fire and Kveik — Farmhouse Brewing at the Crossroads in Voss, Norway.” Listen in.

EP-279 Eugenia Brown, Black Beer Chick Oct 17, 2020

It’s really easy these days to think about the things that we’ve lost, whether it’s time with friends and family or the ability to exist in public spaces, whether we’d want to, or not. We are stuck at home, coexisting in our self-selected pods of people we can continue to see, but literally and figuratively, the world is more closed for us.

But that’s just one side of this coin. Granted, it’s digitally, but there are more opportunities to connect than ever, and even as news, politics, or our climate tries to defy our inner optimism, there is still hope. And it’s up to us to share that with others, and inspire them in any way we can.

There is an undeniable brightness that Eugenia Brown brings to the world of beer. She is upbeat, energetic, social, and perhaps best of all: hopeful. Through her organization and brand of Black Beer Chick, she’s working to celebrate, empower, and connect people who share a love of beer. Especially communities long ignored by a very white, very male U.S. craft beer industry. She is a black woman creating change, making a lot of friends, and embracing her growing role as someone many are looking up to.

You may have heard her name or social media handle in recent months as she launched a project known as the “Road to 100,” which is helping 100 women of color work toward certification in the Cicerone program, beer’s equivalent to wine’s sommelier program.

In our conversation, you’ll hear Eugenia talk about her own road to where she finds herself today. Once fearful of playing imposter in a community of beer professionals and fans, her trajectory has taken her about as far from that as possible. She’s empowering others, whether that’s from her home in Charlotte, North Carolina, or virtually with friends and fans all over the country.

Eugenia carries light and love wherever she goes, and maybe her source of hope will inspire you, too.

This is Eugenia Brown of Black Beer Check. Listen in.

EP-278 Collin McDonnell, Henhouse Brewing Oct 12, 2020

Today’s guest is a revisit with one of my favorite people. Collin McDonnell of Henhouse Brewing in Northern California.

It’s a bit of a long one, and if you follow GBH closely you probably already understand the nature of my admiration for Collin and the focus of our conversations—so I won’t belabor the intro here.

In short, we’re both business owners who often commiserate, support, and draw out of each other some of the more vulnerable and anxious parts of doing what we do. And our hopes for things being better than they are—whether that’s quality and freshness, culture and social justice, and the role that work, beer, and people play in our lives.

The context for today’s chat, of course, is the particular 2020 Collin and his team are facing—the pandemic, the fires, the weariness of it all—but that’s not to say this is bleak. At least, not to me. I find a certain hope against hope anytime I talk to Collin—and this was no different.

CL-056 Christopher DeWolf Plays Tug of War Oct 08, 2020

Welcome to the Good Beer Hunting Collective podcast, the show where members of our team interview each other to get a behind-the-scenes look at some of our favorite articles. I’m Evan Rail, international editor here at Good Beer Hunting.

As a longtime fan of Hong Kong action movies from directors like Tsui Hark and John Woo, I’ve often wondered about life in the city. With Hong Kong in the news over its ongoing protests and the tightening of Chinese rule, it was fascinating to read “City on Fire,” Christopher DeWolf’s recent article for Good Beer Hunting on craft beer in Hong Kong and the political situation there. Although the piece focuses on the city’s leading craft brewery, Young Master Brewery, it also brings up lots of other questions, including ideas about audience, and what it means to be a local flavor.

For example, if people in Hong Kong love a particular taste, spice, or type of food that is actually from mainland China, does that not eventually become a local flavor in Hong Kong itself? What would a Hong Kong beer actually taste like? How are breweries there dealing with the demonstrations in support of democracy? And how have things been affected by what was already a third wave of coronavirus infections?

In this episode, I talk to Christopher, a long-term Canadian resident of Hong Kong who is currently in Montreal. We discuss craft beer in Hong Kong, the political situation there, and even the city’s legendary street food scene, as well as the article Christopher’s working on next.

Here’s Christopher DeWolf.

EP-277 Latiesha Cook, Beer Kulture Oct 03, 2020

I’ve been downloading a lot of interviews lately by Brandi Miller, a writer, equity advocate, and minister, among many other things. On her podcast, Reclaiming My Theology, she begins every interview with a question that sounds simple, but gets complex answers: “How do you describe who you are?”

As humans, we can be many things: consistent or conflicting, led by personal or professional goals—there is no wrong answer to the question of how we construct our identity, both for ourselves and the world around us. And the way Brandi Miller leads into her conversations has impacted how I’m thinking about these Good Beer Hunting podcasts, and the people we talk to. That’s why, when you hear Latiesha Cook in just a few moments, we’re going to start by asking her that same question about describing herself. It’s one she’s been rightfully asking of the U.S. beer industry for the last few years.

As CEO and president of Beer Kulture, a nonprofit focused on equity and “changing the world one beer at a time,” Latiesha is an important voice, and offers a valuable point of view as a Black woman encouraging the very white, very male beer community to reassess and think about how it wants to describe itself. There are many social, cultural, and empathetic reasons to do this even before considering economic ones, like the business-focused idea of why it’s finally time to expand craft beer’s consumer base.

And the way Latiesha sees it, this movement and what she wants to accomplish with her team at Beer Kulture boils down to one, easy phrase: “Simply being human.”

So let’s turn it over to her, hear her story, and find out how she describes herself, and what she hopes to hear from the industry around her as it wrestles with the simple, powerful questions of what it is, and who it’s for.

This is Latiesha Cook of Beer Kulture. Listen in.

OL-012 Beth Demmon Reads, "Witch (Craft) Beer — How a New Wave of Brewers are Incorporating Magic into Beer" Oct 01, 2020

This is GBH Out Loud, and I’m Ashley Rodriguez.

Today you’ll hear GBH contributor Beth Demmon read “Witch (Craft) Beer — How a New Wave of Brewers are Incorporating Magic into Beer,” published on Good Beer Hunting’s website on October 31, 2019.

Did we plan to release a story about witches on Halloween? Yes, we did, but Beth’s story manages to go beyond stereotypes and explores the world of the unseen, and the spiritual forces that some brewers tap into to create their beer. Part of Beth’s fascination with witches, as you’ll hear her discuss, is primal. It’s the search for the unknown, and the belief that there are things around us we cannot always see or immediately understand—but which can have an outsize impact on our lives.

Here’s Beth reading “Witch (Craft) Beer — How a New Wave of Brewers are Incorporating Magic into Beer.” Listen in.

A Thousand Words — On Beer and Love Sep 26, 2020

Welcome to A Thousand Words, a special project by Good Beer Hunting. I'm Ashley Rodriguez.

In this series of the GBH podcast, we ask members of our team to enter the realm of audio storytelling. Most of us are familiar with the phrase, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” right? But now, we're challenging our contributors to actually write down those words, and to create pictures of the world around them as told in their own voices.With that in mind, you’re about to hear different stories read aloud by members of our editorial team. Think of each brief narrative as a snapshot of a moment, like an audio version of the b-Roll series on our website.

In this installment of A Thousand Words, we wanted to talk about beer and love. We asked our writers to recall moments from their lives when romance, heartache, camaraderie, and friendship intersected with beer. Like love, some stories are funny and some are painful. But they’re all complex, and they evoke feelings, moments, pangs of joy and sorrow that we’ve all felt before. And they all place beer at the heart of the narrative.

Each storyteller will introduce themselves before jumping into their own anecdote. We hope you can visualize every vignette, and immerse yourself in the pictures they’re painting for you.

This is A Thousand Words, a collection of audio stories. Listen in.

CL-055 Brian Alberts Gets into the Mash Tun Time Machine Sep 23, 2020

Today I’m chatting with one of the newer voices on Good Beer Hunting—Brian Alberts.

He’s not technically new—we published a story from him back in 2018 about the importance of preserving the historical record in breweries. That was sort of a one-off piece on a topic that until then we hadn’t really invested much in frankly: beer history. And the main reason for that was that so much had already been invested in beer’s history that GBH’s charter was really about trying to capture the zeitgeist. But over the years, thanks to people like Brian, my perspective on that history had evolved.

And seeing its relevance to the seemingly unprecedented movement of American craft helped me realize how little is really unprecedented at all. When we launched the From Barrons to Barrels series this past winter, Brian was the first person I reached out to discuss what was possible in the series. The stories were meant to be rooted in Midwestern beer history, but that doesn’t mean that it was meant to explore than history through conventional means.

Rather, we wanted to find a way of connecting some of those dots between past and present. And for us, that means through the various lenses of race, ethnicity, nationality, class, gender, and politics. When it comes to those things—alongside and interwoven with our beer—history really does repeat itself. Or at least, offers up the same songs but in a different key.

Now Brian has a few feature stories under his belt—including a look at the Munich Beer Riots of 1844, the reactionary alcohol policies and life under the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918, and the longstanding economic dependency between Milwaukee and Chicago brewers.

This is Brian Alberts, listen in.

EP-276 Tom Acitelli, Author of "Pilsner: How the Beer of Kings Changed the World" Sep 19, 2020

I’m Evan Rail, and you’re listening to the Good Beer Hunting podcast.

Pilsner, as a style, is currently “having a moment,” with cult breweries everywhere from Travis County, Texas, to County Durham in northeast England producing highly sought-after versions of the beer that was first brewed in the Czech town of Pilsen in 1842—and which was once the epitome, for many craft beer lovers, of the widely derided “fizzy yellow beer.” Formerly largely ignored in favor of Ales, especially variations on India Pale Ale, by earlier generations of beer fans, Pilsner, here at the start of the 2020s, is pretty close to the hot new thing. So how did that happen? And why did that happen? And what’s Pilsner’s backstory?

Tom Acitelli is the author of a new book, “Pilsner: How the Beer of Kings Changed the World.” A longtime drinks journalist, Acitelli also wrote “The Audacity of Hops: The History of America’s Craft Beer Revolution,” as well as books on wine and whiskey. You’ve seen his byline in The Wall Street Journal, Eater.com, The Washington Post, All About Beer (where he was the history columnist for several years), and most recently here at Good Beer Hunting, where his feature story, Grab and Go — How Imperialism Aided the Spread of European Beer, covered the historical connections between colonization and the appearance of European beer styles in Africa and elsewhere.

In this episode, I’m talking with Tom Acitelli about Pilsner, its backstory, the history of craft, as well as imperialism, the temperance movement, and the big picture of alcohol in America. It’s a wide-ranging conversation with one of the beer world’s best writers.

This is Tom Acitelli, author of “Pilsner: How the Beer of Kings Changed the World.” Listen in.

EP-275 Eurotrip: What We're Missing When We Can't Travel Sep 12, 2020

I’m Evan Rail, and you’re listening to the Good Beer Hunting podcast.

It’s September 2020, and the coronavirus pandemic is still raging on—and nowhere more obviously than in the United States, which has about 25% of the world’s reported cases, even though it is only home to about 4% of the world’s population. Because of that infection rate, for the first time in memory, U.S. citizens haven’t been able to travel to Europe, with almost all of the European Union countries currently closed to travelers coming from the United States. So when it comes to beer, what are we missing out on?

Although I’m originally from California, I’ve been living in Europe and writing about food and drink here for over 20 years. Normally, I’d spend a good part of my summer showing North American brewers and beer lovers around Prague, Czech Republic—my adopted hometown—or bumping into folks from back home at beer festivals and pubs in places like Brussels, Berlin, and Munich. I started thinking about what beer lovers really get out of a trip to Europe—what they’re missing out on, in other words, while the pandemic makes travel impossible, at least for now.

For this podcast I reached out to four friends in the U.S. who have spent quality time here in the Old World, including Joe Stange, managing editor of Craft Beer & Brewing magazine and the author of Good Beer Guide Belgium; and Annie Johnson, the 2013 American Homebrewers Association Homebrewer of the Year and a BJCP National Judge. I also talked to Aaron Johns, whose company, Taste Local Beer, used to run beer tours in Prague until he moved back to the West Coast a few years ago; and Good Beer Hunting’s own Jamaal Lemon, who toured across a bunch of European beer countries after winning a competition for bloggers from World of Beer in 2016.

I wanted to ask these folks what they missed about beer in Europe, and what they thought was valuable about their time here. I wanted to know what they learned and what they thought beer fans might miss out on if they just read an article or watched a video from Europe instead of traveling there themselves. Not to put too fine a point on it, but I wanted to know why this situation sucks.

CL-054 Stephanie Grant Tells a Tale of Two Cities Sep 10, 2020

I love interviewing Good Beer Hunting contributors in these Collective episodes, mainly because I get to learn behind-the-scenes stories that might otherwise have been left on the cutting-room floor. Hearing about our writers, their lives, and their sources of inspiration lends new context to their work—and makes their already-accomplished articles feel even more complete.

Today, I’m talking with Stephanie Grant, who wrote “Drinking While Black—The Isolation and Loneliness of Navigating All-White Taprooms,” published on our website on June 25, 2020. This piece has lived a lot of lives. It was first commissioned before COVID-19 effectively shut down taprooms around the country, and later had to adapt to the new, post-pandemic world. It morphed again after the murder of George Floyd, and subsequent nationwide Black Lives Matter protests. Ultimately, Stephanie's essay is intentionally dualistic, contrasting her experiences drinking in taprooms in Asheville, North Carolina—an overwhelmingly white city long known as "Beer City USA"—and the much more diverse city of Atlanta, where she's based.

That tension—and that pull between two totally different experiences—is no accident. Stephanie studied information design and communication, and thinks a lot about how people take in information. This shows up in her current work as a social media manager for Monday Night Brewing in Atlanta, and is especially important now, given how many breweries and brands are relying on social media to communicate with their customer base. Stephanie’s story is also personal—she’s used to highlighting others, and working behind the scenes, but this piece was a journey in telling her own story. We talk about finding the moment where you realize the most powerful story you possess is your own. Here’s Stephanie.

CL-053 Kate Bernot and Brian Alberts on the Temporality of Temperance Sep 05, 2020

Hey listeners—this week’s GBH Collective episode is a timely conversation between two of our writers who bring two very different perspectives to the site.

First up is Kate Bernot, our Sightlines lead reporter. Kate recently wrote a great story about the neo-Prohibitionist laws, policies, and sentiments that seem to be experiencing a groundswell of support during the pandemic.

In this conversation, she outlines exactly how goofy, yet unshakable, some of these ideas are when they reach the status of conventional wisdom. Have you seen a headline lately about how Americans are drinking insane amounts of beer during lockdown? Yeah, on average, it’s bullshit. But that’s not stopping the rhetoric. And, as Kate explains, those headlines add up to a kind of critical mass of truthiness—which starts influencing politicians and policymakers.

Next up, we have Brian Alberts, a scholar who writes about beer history for GBH. He explains why these repeated moments of Prohibitionist rhetoric appear throughout American history. He also describes why, instead of operating cyclically, these episodes are the result of a force meeting a counterforce—and both sides gaining strength at the same time.

Is temperance a war of attrition? Or will previous precedents point to likely future results? This conversation digs into the many factors influencing America’s long pattern of Prohibitionist tensions.

This is Kate Bernot and Brian Alberts. Listen in.

SP-002 Worth the Squeeze — Fruit Beer Adds Punch to Brand Portfolios Sep 02, 2020

Welcome to this episode of Sightlines. I’m Bryan Roth.

This podcast is part of our content for Sightlines Premium, an insights-driven professional community and subscription newsletter designed to help industry decision-makers grow their business. In this episode, you’ll get a snippet of that content, as we explore a style-specific case study of what’s working for breweries around the country.

Discussions of these timely and relevant topics are what drives our content on Sightlines Premium, and if you’re interested in what’s changing at breweries—or if you’re someone at a brewery making business decisions—our subscriber community is continually getting up-to-date market analysis and sharing expertise in our dedicated forum, and via video chats with fellow subscribers. If you like what you hear, learn more at goodbeerhunting.com/sightlines-premium.

Starting in 2019, fruit beers—a non-specific category comprising fruited and flavored brands—showed some of the strongest growth among beer styles in grocery, convenience, liquor, and other chain stores. This has become even more stark in 2020, as COVID-19 has accelerated brewing and sales strategies that are focused on easy-to-understand flavor experiences, like hop-forward beers … or beers featuring fruit.

Let’s be clear: In terms of raw dollar sales, nothing is even close to what IPAs sell in chain stores. But more and more, the pace of growth for fruit beers is becoming noteworthy. Listen in as we discuss.

EP-274 Felix Nash, Fine Cider Co. Aug 29, 2020

I’m Jonny Garrett, and you’re listening to the Good Beer Hunting podcast.

My guest today is Felix Nash, founder of the Fine Cider Co, a distribution company focusing on small-batch, natural ciders.

When you first meet Nash, he seems an unlikely fit for the fast, hard sell nature of alcohol distribution. But as you’ll likely hear during the podcast, there’s a steely grit and relentless positivity about him—both as important in distro as the ability to upsell or talk numbers.

His background sounds more like that of a producer—a fine arts degree, a eureka moment, a series of supper clubs that he used to try and convert his friends. But living in London meant only one route was open to him, and the remarkable trust placed in him by Tom Oliver of Oliver’s Cider has sent him on a journey he would freely admit is unlikely.

We talk about the start of the company, his relationship with some of the best cider makers in the world, his focus on fine dining customers, and of course the impact that COVID-19 has had on all of them. Cider was perhaps on the verge of having a moment in the U.K., of finding its own space after years of being an interesting aside to the worlds of craft beer and natural wine. Hereford, in particular, has gained a reputation for making exception natural ciders and was seeing plenty of growth and innovation in the months leading up to the outbreak. It would be easy to assume that momentum has gone with most of Nash’s customers closing for the summer, but he has found a way to make it work, keeping people talking and most importantly going direct to sell through some of his stock in time for this year’s vintage.

Nash gives some fascinating insights into a small industry with huge potential, and a young company at the start of a long journey—how inspiration is more important than education, how he hopes cider can learn from the mistakes of craft beer, and what the future of cider looks like post-COVID-19.

This is Felix Nash of the Fine Cider Co. Listen in.

OL-011 Claire Bullen Reads "A Fire Being Kindled—The Revolutionary Story of Kveik, Norway’s Extraordinary Farmhouse Yeast" Aug 27, 2020

This is GBH Out Loud, and I’m Ashley Rodriguez.

Today you’ll hear our editor-in-chief, Claire Bullen, read “A Fire Being Kindled—The Revolutionary Story of Kveik, Norway’s Extraordinary Farmhouse Yeast,” published on Good Beer Hunting’s website on July 31, 2019.

It’s interesting when an article exceeds its bounds, and when a story touches upon themes that end up being even more relevant months, or even years, after it was initially published. Norway’s kveik yeast, employed by farmhouse brewers across the western portion of the country for thousands of years, had nearly disappeared before it was rediscovered by the mainstream beer world. Now it’s gained international renown and is being used by some of the most prominent brewers around the world. As you’ll hear, Claire’s story is about this extraordinary family of farmhouse yeast, but it’s also about extinction, history, sustainability, and what it means for something to belong to a place, or a group of people.

Here’s Claire reading “A Fire Being Kindled—The Revolutionary Story of Kveik, Norway’s Extraordinary Farmhouse Yeast.” Listen in.

EP-273 Ren LaForme, Poynter Institute Aug 22, 2020

In today’s episode, I’m interviewing someone who—until this pandemic hit—I didn’t realize I would miss on a personal level.

We’ve only interacted a couple of times in person—and always at the Foeder for Thought festival, hosted by GBH and Green Bench Brewing Company in St. Petersburg, Florida. In the months following the cancellation of the festival back in March, I found myself paying more and more attention to Ren LaForme’s Twitter—and honestly, I think a big reason was that I was lamenting the loss of that once-a-year hang we’d get after a day hosting talks under the Florida sunshine. Walking off that stage and across the street to the Independent Bar, and having a few beers with Ren, was usually a great nightcap to an already stellar week.

Another reason I started paying attention to Ren’s Twitter was its level of nuance. I came to realize that he’d taken on a new role at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, and as a result, the content coming from its site, Poynter.org, had shifted in a direction that was increasingly applicable to me, and what GBH does.

Ren has long focused on the technology and tools of journalism as part of the institute’s ongoing public education. And more recently, he took over as Managing Editor, and shifted his focus to publishing stories about everything from the tensions among newsrooms and threats to the safety of journalists to equity in the pursuit of the craft.

So I don’t know. Maybe I was missing him. Maybe he was publishing some great content. Either way, the algorithm provides. And as a publisher myself, I wanted to hear more about some of these issues, and how journalists who are coming up in academia now are thinking about them.

This is Ren LaForme of the Poynter Institute. Listen in.

CL-052 Paige Latham Didora Defies Categorization Aug 20, 2020

Welcome to the Good Beer Hunting Collective podcast, the show where members of our team interview each other to get a behind-the-scenes look at some of our favorite articles. I’m Ashley Rodriguez, and I produce Good Beer Hunting's podcast.

In my past life, as a barista and coffee writer, one of the questions I struggled with was an essential one: what does it mean for coffee to be considered "specialty?" What makes the coffee from your local cafe different than what's in the can at your grocery store? Although there is a technical definition for "specialty" coffee, there are also a thousand other questions to ask. What do customers like? Which coffees grow well in an ever-changing global climate? How do ethics play into the definition?

Likewise, I imagine "craft beer" is equally muddy—difficult to define explicitly, but something that most beer drinkers can still identify on sight. In this episode, I talk to freelance writer Paige Latham Didora. Paige is based in Minneapolis, and recently wrote a story for Good Beer Hunting about Vine Park Brewing Company, the first Hmong-American brewery in the nation. Along with telling the story of Vine Park's founding—from its past as a contract brewery to its new lease on life after the brand was taken over by four Hmong-American entrepreneurs—we also talk about what it means to be a craft brewery. For example, the Beer Judge Certification Program recognizes 34 styles of beer, and while it's not an exhaustive catalog, roughly half the styles that are recognized are European in origin. Where does that leave beer styles from other parts of the world—like Asian Rice Lager, in this case—not just in terms of representation, but in regard to the identity or value we assign them?

Paige's article not only tells the story of an upstart brewery, but pushes the reader to think critically about how definitions are made, and what it means to be a craft brewer. But first, I spend a little time getting to know Paige better, learning what drew her to Vine Park and its founders, and talking about how to make a beer menu that's designed to serve a specific community. Here's Paige.

The Time Is Now Aug 15, 2020

It’s no exaggeration to say that the arrival of COVID-19 has completely upended the beer industry. Breweries large and small have had to radically change their approach in order to survive the pandemic. But these changes prompted a major question: why have beer businesses been so willing to overhaul the way things have always been when faced with economic issues, but so reluctant to address long-standing social issues within the industry, like its lack of inclusion and equity?

These imbalances came into sharper focus once the recent Black Lives Matter protests, sparked by the death of George Floyd, shone an even brighter light on the deep-rooted prejudices that oppressed people, and specifically Black people, have always faced in the United States. Neither the pandemic nor protests illuminated fresh injustices. Instead, they highlighted the inherent racism and cracks in the system, and made them impossible for anyone to claim ignorance of.

This led to the three-part series published on Good Beer Hunting: The Time is Now.

Part 1 of the series dives into the business of beer, which journalist Mike Jordan unpacks by explaining the long history of racial inequality in small business, and how it has significantly hindered non-white folks’ ability to gain footholds in entrepreneurship. Part 2 discusses the culture of beer, which former beer industry analytical chemist and equity advocate Toni Boyce unflinchingly examines before Part 3, which looks to the future of beer and what our responsibilities are in working towards a more equitable future. Dr. J. Nikol Jackson-Beckham, the diversity ambassador for the Brewers Association (or the BA) and the founder and executive director of Craft by EDU, leverages her vast experience of working towards that future in the final article.

If you haven’t read Parts 1 through 3, I encourage you to dive into those before listening to this podcast conversation. I’m joined by Toni and Mike, as well as Good Beer Hunting Editor-in-Chief Claire Bullen (who chimes in several times during this discussion) to discuss the piece in its entirety—what we learned, what we’ve experienced, and where we go from here. Dr. J. is currently on a sabbatical, so while she was unable to participate in the podcast, we reference her work and suggestions throughout the conversation.

This is Toni Boyce and Mike Jordan, listen in.

EP-272 Erik Lars Myers of Fullsteam Brewery Aug 08, 2020

I’m Bryan Roth, and you’re listening to the Good Beer Hunting podcast.

We talk a lot about successes in these episodes. Challenges overcome, exciting innovations, and new approaches. But it’s rare we focus on failures. In this period of worry about health and financial hardship for businesses, it’s inevitable the beer industry will be having more conversations than usual about things that go wrong. That idea is at the center of this episode.

In November 2017, we published a marathon conversation with Erik Lars Myers, then the founder and CEO of Mystery Brewing in Hillsborough, North Carolina. At the time, his early-2010s model of a rapidly changing portfolio of beers and taproom-focused sales was ever-so-slightly ahead of the time. I called him a futurist, but as life would prove, the future wasn’t set to include Mystery.

Myers closed the brewery in 2018 amidst a slew of equipment malfunctions, bad luck, and, as you’ll hear from him directly, some poor business decisions. His experience of losing a company he’d built—and built with people he came to love—was devastating. But as you’ll hear, those events may also have been affirming. In the strange way that life tends to weave together good and bad, the closure sent him on a new path he’s since come to appreciate.

Myers is back on the podcast this time as director of brewing operations for Durham, North Carolina’s Fullsteam Brewery. We won’t be talking about beer styles and recipes, but rather reflecting on what happened to him and how his experiences are being echoed today, at a time when the coronavirus pandemic is creating daily hardships for breweries all over.

As you listen to Myers and hear how things change for businesses, consider this. Failure is hard, it is unpleasant … and it hurts. But so often, in the end, it’s also tied to what we come to see as success. Or, at least, growth. I hope Myers’ story offers some context and affirmation that, even when things go wrong, and hard lessons are learned, that isn’t necessarily the end.

This is Erik Lars Myers of Fullsteam Brewery. Listen in.

CL-051 Jamaal Lemon Connects The Dots Aug 04, 2020

Welcome to the Good Beer Hunting Collective podcast, the show where members of our team interview each other to get a behind-the-scenes look at some of our favorite articles. I’m Ashley Rodriguez, and I produce Good Beer Hunting's podcast.

Jamaal Lemon is a writer, photographer, podcaster, and GBH contributor, and he wrote his piece, “Mutated Anxieties — Living (and Parenting) While Black in the Face of Law Enforcement and COVID-19,” in under an hour. It’s impressive enough to write a full-length article in such little time, but even more so because the connections Jamaal makes are incredibly deep and nuanced—between United States history, his own lineage, protests for civil rights, and the disproportionate effects of COVID-19 on Black people in America—it’s all in this story.

In this episode, I talk to Jamaal about what it took to write a piece that’s so personal, and we delve into his background as a storyteller and educator, and how teaching others about the world around you forces you to think differently about how to layer a story.

Building connections and talking in broad strokes to illuminate a point are strategies that naturally manifested in this story, and that’s in no small part because of who Jamaal is. Before we talk about his piece, we’ll start at the beginning, tracing his background in craft beer and how he got into writing and media. Here’s Jamaal.

EP-271 Pete Ternes and Polly Nevins of Middle Brow Beer Aug 01, 2020

I’m Ashley Rodriguez, and you’re listening to the Good Beer Hunting podcast.

A few months ago—right after the pandemic started changing our lives, and businesses across the United States began closing their doors—I wrote an article about some of my favorite local places. I wanted to know how they were adjusting to the unprecedented circumstances. Things felt so serious at the time, just days after shelter-in-place orders were announced, and before the word “quarantine” was an everyday part of our collective vocabulary. But here we are. It’s July 2020, and it doesn’t look like this situation has an end in the immediate future.

One of the places I visited was Middle Brow Beer Co., which is in my neighborhood of Logan Square, Chicago. I talked to one of the co-owners, Pete Ternes. And I remember him mentioning something about the coronavirus, and knowing that this would radically change the way we operate in the world. It seems almost prophetic, looking back at that conversation four months later. And it’s been fascinating seeing how Middle Brow, which is a small neighborhood brewery and pizza shop, has also evolved and adapted during that time.

Today I’m sitting with two of the partners at Middle Brow, Pete, who I mentioned above, and Polly Nevins. Middle Brow opened its brick-and-mortar retail space in January 2019, but has been brewing wild ales in Chicago for almost a decade. In a way, both its newness and experience are helping the business weather this tumultuous time. Because the space is new, the owners have also been able to change their business, shifting almost seamlessly from a vibrant restaurant and brewpub to a few different iterations of a to-go pizza place and community grocery store. The model evolves in real-time in response to the needs of the neighborhood.

The owners’ experience has also given them the confidence to brew wild and weird beers during a pandemic—beers that maybe benefit from having a bartender tell you more about them. Part of that is the trust they’ve instilled in their staff, and part of that comes from the trust they’ve built with their neighbors. Middle Brow doesn’t feel like a destination brewery—you wouldn’t see people lining up for the next hype can release. But what you will see is a business that takes its responsibility as a leader in the community seriously. They’ve recently announced a no-tipping policy to create wage equity among their front- and back-of-house staff, and have been clear on their political beliefs, including supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, donating food, implementing a “buy a loaf, give a loaf” bread program, and supporting local organizations working within their community.

This is Polly Nevins and Pete Ternes of Middle Brow Beer Co. Listen in.

SL-024 Can You Hear Me Now? — Trying to Talk Race and Beer Jul 30, 2020

The last several months have been tough for businesses and organizations across beer, as COVID-19 has forced locations to close, and as resulting financial hardships have become more serious every month. In recent weeks, U.S. beer—like much of the country—has also placed increasing emphasis on acknowledging issues of systemic racism and social injustice.

We’ve covered a host of these stories in the written version of Sightlines, and in this podcast, we’re focusing on one other piece of the puzzle. Lately, calls have resonated across social media and beer publications for greater transparency and action from the Brewers Association, a national trade group that represents “small and independent” breweries. Specifically, the focus has rested on the BA’s leadership, and we’re following the journey of a few key individuals who’ve struggled to get answers from Bob Pease, president and CEO of the Brewers Association.

We’ll hear from three people in this episode.

In the first half, we’re going to talk to Toni Boyce, a writer who’s covered the intersection of beer and race, and Bret Kollmann Baker, head of brewing operations at Cincinnati, Ohio’s Urban Artifact brewery. We’ll talk about what happened when they got the chance to talk to Bob, will discuss issues of race in beer, and air some grievances. In the second half, we’ll hear from April Boyce, a vocal beer enthusiast and Toni’s wife, who has spent most of the past month trying to get the Brewers Association and Bob Pease to interact with her on Twitter to no avail.

First, some backstory: Good Beer Hunting recently reported on the Brewers Association’s decision to lay off key staff, as well as its recent hire of a new general counsel, which included the publication of publicly available salary information for Bob Pease and others. That, along with what Toni and Bret saw as a less-than-enthusiastic response from the BA regarding racism and injustice following the death of George Floyd and nationwide protests, pushed Bret to post an angry response on Twitter that eventually led to Pease reaching out to schedule a phone call to talk about Bret’s reaction.

Bret, who is a white man, invited Toni, a Black woman, to the call because he didn’t think it was right for two white guys to hash out issues of race. That’s where we’ll pick things up.

This is the Sightlines podcast. Listen in.

UD-001 Recordings From Costa Rica Jul 25, 2020

I’m Michael Kiser, and you’re listening to the Good Beer Hunting podcast.

Ah, to be in the sunny mountains of Costa Rica again: travel seems like part of a future I’m not willing to get my hopes up about just yet. But surely, someday, we’ll all be back at it.

Like most of us, I haven’t been on a plane since this past March. But just prior to the lockdown, I had one of the most intense and educational travel experiences in some time. Just as we wrapped up our annual Uppers & Downers festival celebrating all things beer, spirits, coffee, and cocktails, I found myself on a flight to Costa Rica. Our destination was a tucked-away coffee farm in the mountains just outside San José.

With me were two friends: Ryan Knapp of Madcap Coffee in Grand Rapids, Michigan and Ryan Burk of Angry Orchard cider (specifically, their Innovation Cider House in Walden, New York).

Years ago, when Uppers & Downers first launched, these two collaborated to make a cider with cascara: the skin and fleshy part of the coffee fruit that’s traditionally discarded or used for fertilizer. The result was a delightful blend of fruit-forward cider and the tannic, hibiscus-like funk of the cascara.

For years, we’ve talked about this experiment becoming a real thing: a cider you can drink in a bar or buy off the shelf. A culmination of years of experimentation, relationship-building, and mutual education. And this trip was how it was all coming true. We were going to Costa Rica to source the cascara.

There’s only one farm in the country producing a food-grade cascara—a special process, all done indoors, where the fruit and skin are separated from the bean and are laid out on screens and stacked to dry into a kind of fruit leather. The organic coffee farm in question, Santa Lucia, is owned and operated by the Perez family. It was founded by the father, Ricardo Perez—who himself is a third-generation farmer—and more recently is run in cooperation with his youngest daughter, Mariana.

In this four-way discussion, we’ll talk about the history of the collaboration, the farm’s unique perspective, labor practices and equity across all three industries, and the ways in which an appreciation of each other’s crafts create a deeper meaning in the end product.

This is Ryan Burk, Ryan Knapp, and Mariana Perez. Listen in.

SP-001 The Shelf in the Sky—Digital Strategies for the New Retail Jul 18, 2020

Welcome to this episode of the Sightlines podcast. I’m Bryan Roth.

This podcast is set up a little differently than usual. It’s part of Good Beer Hunting’s content for Sightlines Premium, our insights-driven professional community, and subscription newsletter that helps industry decision-makers grow their businesses. Today, we’re going to hear from Andrew Emerton, specialty brand manager for New Belgium Brewing Company.

In this chat, Andrew and I are talking e-commerce, which has become a pivotal part of sales during COVID-19, whether it's online shops created by a nanobreweries or nationally known companies selling over delivery platforms like Drizly. Discussions of these timely and relevant topics are what drives our content on Sightlines Premium, and like previous COVID-19 coverage we’ve published in text form, we wanted to make a shortened, edited version of my talk with Andrew available to all as a way to help anyone who can benefit from the insight.

As part of New Belgium, Andrew has done plenty of research on what works, and best practices when it comes to selling beer online. That’s going to drive the highlights you’ll hear, as we touch on everything from creating a web shop, building a brand that resonates from real life to the digital world, and how price plays a factor in these sales. There’s also the matter of where to sell or promote, from app-based delivery services to Instagram.

If you’re interested in how this change is happening for breweries, or if you’re someone at a brewery making these decisions right now, Andrew’s insights are what you need to hear. And while this portion of my conversation with him is free in this episode, Sightlines Premium subscribers have access to the full, unedited version. As a member and ambassador expert for Sightlines Premium, Andrew is also a part of our subscriber community, sharing expertise on this topic and others in our dedicated community forum and via video chats with fellow subscribers.

If you like what you hear, learn more at goodbeerhunting.com/sightlines-premium. Future Sightlines Premium audio will be subscriber-only.

Alright, let’s get to the conversation with Andrew. As we kick off, Andrew shares that New Belgium has seen such promise in e-commerce that it has actually shifted a staff member into a full-time, direct-to-consumer role, and that’s because the beer industry hasn't really used this route to sales before because of legal restrictions. In the meantime, New Belgium has used trial and error to figure out what works. Lucky for us, those lessons and takeaways are already available to learn from.

This is Andrew Emerton of New Belgium Brewing. Listen in.

CL-050 Lucy Corne On The Original Hazy Sour Jul 14, 2020

Welcome to the Good Beer Hunting Collective podcast, the show where members of our team interview each other to get a behind-the-scenes look at some of our favorite articles. I’m Ashley Rodriguez, and I produce Good Beer Hunting's podcast.

One of the most exciting parts of being at Good Beer Hunting is working with new authors. It’s thrilling to see a new corner of the beer world, or a new perspective on something I thought I knew well, told through another lens. And it’s equally exciting to see others respond to the stories our first-time authors choose to tell.

In this episode, I’m chatting with Lucy Corne, a freelance beer writer based in Cape Town, South Africa. Lucy wrote an article as part of our Mother of Invention series, made in partnership with Guinness, about the reemergence of traditional beer styles in South Africa. In this piece, she details how craft brewing enthusiasts are reclaiming traditional brewing styles—like umqombothi, a sorghum-based, wild-fermented beer—and throughout this interview, we talk about how local beer identities are made and how information gets passed along. Because traditional sorghum beer is often brewed inside peoples’ homes, it can be difficult to trace its history—but there are lots of folks attempting to highlight its origins.

Lucy also runs a blog called The Brewmistress, where she’s chronicled the effects of COVID-19 on the South African craft beer scene, including the rise in homebrewing after a nationwide ban on the sale of alcohol and tobacco went into effect in late March. Her writing on the subject should resonate far and wide, given that, in this current moment, there’s no part of the beer world that hasn’t been touched by the coronavirus. Here’s Lucy.

EP-270 Joey Redner of Cigar City Brewing and CANarchy Jul 11, 2020

Today’s guest, Joey Redner, is special to me on a variety of levels. He’s a brewery founder I’ve long admired, having started and grown Cigar City Brewing into one of the strongest brands of the second wave of craft brewing—and having done so with very little experience. Instead, he used his instincts as a writer to navigate the business from a journalist’s perspective before he ever invested in concrete and steel.

Something about that background always seemed to express itself in a worldview that I found quite rare within the world of craft brewing—and which has proven effective in unique ways. Joey always seems to be an active observer—forever a note-taker and learner—and constantly sizes up people, opportunities, and the direction the narrative is going next.

I first met him on a white-water raft going down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon along with a host of other brewery owners. That trip was part of the Sierra Nevada Beer Camp bus tour, which went cross-country from Chico to Asheville in 2014.

From those wild times to more practical endeavors—like working alongside the strategy and marketing teams in Florida as they launched Cigar City Lager, or scaling up toward an eventual acquisition and alignment with the CANarchy group—all have contributed to my respect and admiration for Joey and his leadership.

But we’ve never sat down to record.

So why now? Well, in addition to being curious about the implications of his strategic alignment with CANarchy, and its unique resilience during the pandemic, I also recently learned that Joey had once suffered from a life-threatening coronavirus infection himself—years ago before anyone had really heard of it. And that experience, as scary and severe as it was, has given him a very unique vantage point for the social, cultural, and political environment we’re all finding our way through right now—because for him, none of those factors existed. There were no anti-maskers or shutdowns or government stimulus and temporary alcohol laws we all associate with the virus now. For him it was radically simple—it was life or death.

This is Joey Redner of Cigar City Brewing and CANarchy. Listen in.

A Thousand Words Jul 04, 2020

Welcome to A Thousand Words, a special project by Good Beer Hunting. I'm Ashley Rodriguez.

As a producer at GBH, I work with a lot of photographers and visual storytellers. And while I’m familiar with the phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words,” I’m not sure I’ve ever been challenged to consider what that 1,000 words might be like—or what it means to that visual artist.

There’s a piece of advice I always come back to when I think about podcasts and audio and storytelling. When I sit down and plan an episode of the GBH podcast, or help another member of our team cut interviews and put together a script, I call upon these words of wisdom: audio is the most visual form of storytelling.

Seems a little strange, right?

In this special episode of the GBH podcast, we asked members of our team to enter this realm of storytelling. Many of these folks are used to bringing you very visual stories through their wonderful photography, but for the last few months during COVID-19, doing on-site photography has been impossible for many. That hasn’t stopped them from visualizing the word of beer, both past and present.

With that in mind, you’re about to hear seven different stories read aloud by members of our editorial team and some are from our subscriber community, The Fervent Few. Think of each brief narrative as a snapshot of a moment, like an audio version of the b-Roll series on our website. The resulting vignettes offer a range in scope—from present-tense musings to episodes from the past that feel especially prescient now—and multiple perspectives on our shared crisis.

We asked folks to talk about their current lives in the face of COVID-19, and we commissioned these audio stories just before the current wave of protests calling for racial justice after the murder of George Floyd in late May. These stories still speak to the uncertainty of this moment, and we hope to expand this series further and include more moments of reflection—both inward and outward. Each storyteller will introduce themselves before jumping into their own narrative. We hope you can visualize every anecdote, and immerse yourself in the pictures they’re painting for you.

This is A Thousand Words, a collection of audio stories. Listen in.

EP-269 Tania and Nick Mader of Alma Mader Brewing Jun 27, 2020

I’m Bryan Roth, and you’re listening to the Good Beer Hunting podcast.

A growing business can be a funny thing in normal times. Early years are marked by the hustle and extra effort needed just to keep up, and if you’re lucky enough, knock it out of the park. There are also lots of surprises, and for many of today’s entrepreneurs, COVID-19 has been the biggest one of all.

In today’s episode, we’re talking virtually with Nick and Tania Mader, co-owners of Alma Mader Brewing in Kansas City. The company was barely one year old when the pandemic hit, and like so many of its peers, its taproom focus and the local love it had garnered were suddenly up against the unprecedented health and financial challenge that the pandemic presented, as well as the changing behaviors of drinkers.

The need to adjust on the fly is not a new challenge for Nick and Tania, but you’ll hear insights about what it’s like to do so in real-time—and the brewing and logistical jiu jitsu needed to keep a business afloat. You’ll also hear anecdotes about the personal side of it all: like when the Maders decided to rent a truck to drive to Nebraska so they could get a better deal on a collection of crowler cans to fill with draft beer.

Finally, you’ll hear why brewing along easy-to-understand flavor experiences is ideal in today’s climate—and what it’s like to celebrate a one-year anniversary milestone amidst a health crisis.

These are strange times for everyone, and I hope that getting to know this pair and their business offers you a peek behind the curtain of the awkward pressures of growing up fast when the world around you is forced to slow down.

This is Tania and Nick Mader of Alma Mader Brewing. Listen in.

SL-023 99 Bottles of Beer in the Store Jun 23, 2020

Welcome to this episode of Sightlines. I’m Bryan Roth.

So much has changed in the last few months because of COVID-19, and while many Americans across the country are returning to bars and breweries in limited numbers, sales at chain grocery, convenience, and big-box stores are still flourishing. For a variety of reasons—from efficiency to the ease or necessity of purchasing large quantities of food and drink all at once—chain stores have continued to remain a central location to find all the beer and hard seltzer people need.

But while your King Soopers, Kroger, or Wegmans stocked their shelves with some of the biggest names in beer, locally owned bottle shops had to adjust in very different ways. These are the places where you’ll typically find beer from small and nearby breweries, and special or seasonal releases you can’t buy in a Target or Walmart. Bottle shops are among the many independent businesses impacted by the coronavirus, and in this podcast, we’re going to hear from two people who explain two different ways they adjusted to the changed environment.

In a time of crisis, sometimes you respond with simplicity, and sometimes you get more complex in what you do, and how you do it. And as things slowly reopen, those survival strategies are what we’ll hear about.

This is the Sightlines podcast. Listen in.

EP-268 Day Bracey of Fresh Fest Jun 20, 2020

Today’s guest was one of our 2019 Signifiers: an annual list our writers compile, in which we honor people in the industry who have made a lasting impact through their work.

Day Bracey is the co-founder of Fresh Fest, the first Black-culture-focused beer festival in the country. It’s also one of the best beer festivals in the country—period.

Hosted in Pittsburgh for the last two years, Fresh Fest has become a shining light in the city for culture and inclusion. It’s also drawn attendees from all over the country, putting Pittsburgh on the craft beer map in a way none of its individual breweries could.

This year, Bracey has working with the team to reinvent the festival amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, transitioning to an ambitious online platform of experiences for people that promises to foster a new kind of connectivity and community around the same premise.

In the week following this interview, Day shared some news on his personal Facebook account about some challenges the festival is facing going forward, including a legal rift with his co-founder Mike Potter, who started the Black Beer Culture brand. That rift was unknown to me at the time, and it’s not part of this conversation. Any potential fallout from that is also unknown to me right now, and our Sightlines team is working on it as I record this intro. Regardless of that outcome, which could threaten to undermine the festival’s efforts, or even existence, this year, Day has publicly stated that he’s moving forward with the plans.

The second part of the interview is about Day’s experiences in Pittsburgh as a Black man. We discuss the numerous protests in the city after the murder of George Floyd, the fight against rampant police brutality, and the Black Lives Matter movement. This experience includes some heartbreaking details. I consider this critical listening, regardless of how informed, or uninformed, you are on those issues.

This is Day Bracey of Fresh Fest. Listen in.

Recordings from Fest From Home Jun 13, 2020

I’m Bryan Roth, and you’re listening to the Good Beer Hunting podcast.

We’ve all made lots of adjustments to our lives because of COVID-19, from working from home and missing out on concerts and movies to just not seeing our friends in person. The beer industry has also had to make a wild pivot, taking aspects of what is very much an in-person experience and transforming it into one that’s interactive and online.

If you listened to a recent Sightlines podcast that included interviews with directors of brewers guilds from around the country, you heard about all the ways breweries and organizations are moving beer festivals to virtual spaces. That’s how we’re doing this for this episode of the podcast.

I recently acted as a moderator for the “Fest from Home,” a Massachusetts-focused virtual beer festival organized by Kevin York Communications as a fundraiser for Project Bread, a non-profit that addresses food shortages throughout The Bay State. You’ll hear two conversations, each about 20 minutes long, where I chat with brewery owners about the state of their businesses, how they’ve been impacted by the coronavirus, and what it all means for their core plans and how they run things day-to-day.

Through a shared Zoom call, these conversations took place over an afternoon, so virtual festival-goers could tune in to hear from a variety of industry pros. Here, we start with Chris Tkach, founder and president of Idle Hands Craft Ales, and Jack Hendler, co-owner of Jack's Abby Craft Lagers. Both breweries are located in the suburbs of Boston, and have a shared affinity for all things Lager. Jack’s Abby is a Lager-only brewery, though it actually created its own spinoff business called Springdale Beer Company to make non-Lager beers. Idle Hands, while making a variety of styles, also puts a special emphasis on its Lagers.

Because of this, you’ll hear Chris and Jack reference the style and their love for Lager, and how that’s impacted decision-making in recent months. It also begs the larger question: “Now that people are at home, and the social aspects we love about going out and being with friends are removed, has anything changed in terms of what beer lovers want to drink?”

This is the Good Beer Hunting podcast. Listen in.

CL-049 Lily Waite Tells a Story Years in the Making Jun 11, 2020

Welcome to the Good Beer Hunting Collective podcast, the show where members of our team interview each other to get a behind-the-scenes look at some of our favorite articles. I’m Ashley Rodriguez, and I produce Good Beer Hunting's podcast.

Lily Waite is unstoppable. She’s one of our most prolific writers at Good Beer Hunting, contributing everything from food-driven chronicles of seaside adventures and profiles of classic breweries with storied histories and crooked floors to candid essays about the importance of online community-building during the current global pandemic.

Her newest long-form feature on GBH is a Signifier profiling Duration Brewing in Norfolk, England, which Lily gradually compiled over the course of several years. Along with this wonderfully revealing and intimate profile, Lily also recently launched a new blog on our website called The Pull of Joy, chronicling the pushes and pulls of beer culture. In this interview, I wanted to know what inspires Lily to tell stories, and how she thinks both about the storytelling process and the structure of her articles—you can see this really clearly in the Duration piece, which feels like a story in motion. The narrative itself swoops through time and space, and that effect is very intentional on Lily’s part.

We also jump into Lily’s other endeavors. She runs the Queer Brewing Project, which is a non-profit that raises awareness of and support for LGBTQ communities in the brewing industry. She also just released a photo zine capturing the London pubs that have been closed because of COVID-19. You kind of have to throw the script out when talking about projects and getting things done during a global pandemic, and the work that Lily is putting out now is contextually tied to this current moment but also stands on its own.

It’s funny that her last profile is of a brewery called “Duration,” which is a topic we touch upon during our conversation—what remains relevant, how do we decide what’s important, and how do we take time to step away from the current global situation and tell stories that still feel true to us? Here’s Lily.

EP-267 Will Duncan, FitzGerald's Jun 06, 2020

Today’s guest has been a partner and friend to GBH for years. He’s a former GM for 16 on Center, a restaurant and venue group in Chicago known for its Michelin Star restaurant, Longman & Eagle, as well as music venues like The Empty Bottle and Thalia Hall.

If Thalia Hall sounds familiar, that’s because it’s played host to our Uppers & Downers festival basically since its inception. So much of what the festival has become has been substantially shaped by the physical space of Thalia Hall—it’s history, and Will Duncan himself.

In this conversation, we’re going to talk about some of that, but also how Will has risen through the ranks over the years, from a part-time door guy to GM, to multi-venue manager across the growing empire of bars, restaurants, and venues, and finally launching his own venue as he takes over the historic FitzGerald’s venue in Berwyn, Illinois.

He happened to sign the papers for that venue—venturing into his life-long dream of being an entrepreneur in his own right—about a week before COVID-19 turn our world upside down, and places like FitzGerald’s shut down.

A dream interrupted. But still kicking.

I’ve learned a ton from Will over the years. Sometimes explicitly, sometimes just by following his example and experimenting with his kind of team-based leadership. I often describe Will as the most optimistic man in America. But one thing I know is that sometimes optimism comes easy and natural—and sometimes optimism is damn hard work. This conversation is about the work.

This is Will Duncan of FitzGerald’s and 16 on Center. Listen in.

SL-022 Ask Not What Your Guilds Can Do For You May 28, 2020

Welcome to this episode of Sightlines. I’m Bryan Roth.

As cities and states start to reopen and the siren call of warmer weather encourages people to test the boundaries of self-isolation, the ramifications of the coronavirus linger. Much worry has been focused on our local and national economies, and while breweries have been a part of that, the impact of COVID-19 stretches further.

In this episode, we’re going to find out what the last few months have been like for state and national brewers guilds—the organizations that are formed to support, represent, and promote breweries all around the country. In normal times, these groups help to lobby for updated laws or market brewery members as a way to get customers to come out and visit. Both of these tasks have taken a back seat for guilds, particularly as they find themselves fighting for financial stability like so many others.

Along with every state’s own guild, the Brewers Association serves as the national body for this collection of organizations, which are meant to act collectively for the good of U.S. craft beer.

But 2020 has thrown business as usual to the side. The leadership of these guilds is now focused on what they’re meant to do in a crisis, and figuring that out in real-time. What happens when the organizations meant to support you—especially during bad times—can barely support themselves?

EP-266 Paul Jones of Cloudwater Brew Co. May 23, 2020

I’m Jonny Garrett, and you’re listening to the Good Beer Hunting podcast.

Today’s guest is Paul Jones, founder and sole owner of Cloudwater Brew Co. in Manchester, England. Since founding Cloudwater just five years ago Jones has, perhaps knowingly, become a spokesperson for the British beer industry. To be fair, he has plenty of right to that job. Cloudwater was previously voted the fifth-best brewery in the world by the users of RateBeer, and is one of the country’s fastest-growing beer businesses. Jones has also had a hand in many of the major developments in the U.K. beer scene—including New England-style brewing, canned beer, direct-to-consumer sales, off-site taprooms, and an emphasis on cold-chain distribution and storage.

As we explore all of that, some listeners may perceive Jones’ self-championing as arrogance, but he’s the first to admit fault and is his own biggest critic, as you’ll hear throughout the interview. On the occasions I get a word in and challenge him, it’s clear he’s already asked himself the same questions a thousand times and played out all the scenarios in his mind—probably while wide awake in the middle of the night.

We start the interview reminiscing about happier times, with what was perhaps a celebration of everything Cloudwater has achieved so far—the Friends & Family & Beer Festival, held in February. Bringing together an insane brewery list and a festival with charity and inclusivity at its heart it was supposed to be a signal of where beer was headed. Looking back now, it feels a bit like the last supper.

After going through the highs and lows of running a fast-growing, much-hyped beer brand, I knew Paul would have some insight into how the beer scene and the beer industry—because they are very different things—will play out once the threat of COVID-19 fades. Jones has been ahead of the curve on so many occasions, and it’s worth taking note of what he says. While he’s had to change his expectations and the specifics, his approach remains the same—if you do the same thing as everyone else, you’re going to find yourself crowded out.

In the face of the biggest challenge craft beer has ever faced, the fact that Jones is still excitable and upholding his admirable beliefs about beer, industry, and society is comforting—even if I don’t completely share his optimism.

This is Paul Jones of Cloudwater Brew Co. Listen in.

EP-265 Inside the Hop Research Center in Hüll, Germany with Dr. Elisabeth Seigner May 16, 2020

I’m Evan Rail, and you’re listening to the Good Beer Hunting podcast.

Today we’re doing things a little differently: I’m taking you along with me on a reporting trip to Germany’s Hop Research Center, where I am trying to find out more about what the institute does—and especially, to find out more about the exciting new hops, like Mandarina Bavaria and Hallertau Blanc, that have recently been developed here. How do scientists develop new hops? How long does that take? Who decides which hop varieties are going to be released?

The Hop Research Center is located in Hüll: a small village in Bavaria, in Germany’s south. It’s right in the middle of one of the Old World’s most celebrated hop-growing regions, the Hallertau. All around it are commercial hop farms, with tall trellises of heavy, dark green hop bines climbing up 20 feet off the ground, as far as the eye can see. It was originally founded in 1926 to help combat hop diseases, like downy mildew.

Although many industry professionals have heard about the Hop Research Center, it makes sense that the name isn’t well-recognized by most of us. It’s not exactly open to the public: there’s no visitor’s center, you can’t buy a T-shirt or really do anything here. Its goal is to help German hop farmers, many of whom are located in the surrounding region. No joke: in harvest season, the most popular vehicle on the narrow road here is a tractor.

It might be hidden behind the curtain, but the work done at the Hop Research Center is truly important for the future of beer. The best-known reference to the place is probably the new flavor hop Hüll Melon, which was developed here along with other new cultivars. In addition to new flavors, the institute is doing important work on major issues for the hop industry, including climate change, saving traditional “landrace” or “land variety” hops, and developing new high-alpha varieties.

In this episode, we tour the center with research director Dr. Elisabeth Seigner. Along the way, Dr. Seigner explains the lengthy, 10- to 20-year process of developing a new hop cultivar, and talks about some of the issues facing the hop industry today. It’s an insider’s view from a place most of us will probably never get to visit, let alone hear about—even if its work benefits all of us.

We’re going inside the Hop Research Center in Hüll, Germany with Dr. Elisabeth Seigner. Listen in.

EP-264 Helena Fitzgerald, Writer May 09, 2020

I’m Claire Bullen, and you’re listening to the Good Beer Hunting podcast.

When I first met up with Helena Fitzgerald to record this podcast episode, the world was a different place. It was the third week of February, and Helena—a freelance writer based in New York, who has contributed to publications like The Atlantic, Hazlitt, Catapult, and Electric Literature—was visiting London on a long-term, self-imposed writing sabbatical.

Helena and I met to discuss her first article for Good Beer Hunting, "Lived in Bars," which was published on January 8, 2020. If you haven't read it, it's a luminous personal essay about Helena's decision to step back from drinking. But more than that, it's a love letter to bars: from dive bars to high-end cocktail bars and everything in between. It touches on the whirlwind of the New York social world, the special accord that exists between patrons and bartenders, and the different ways of existing in these essential public spaces.

Now, four months later, Helena's essay has taken on a stark new relevance as bars all over the world have been forced to shutter, and as so many of us have been locked down in our homes for weeks at a time. As we struggle to parse the etiquette of Zoom socializing and wonder how early is too early to crack that beer, we're also desperately missing bars and pubs and taprooms. It turns out—as Helena presciently wrote—that those spaces are about more than just the drinking that happens in them. They're our living rooms, our common spaces, the places where so much of our living gets done. And without them, so many of us feel at sea.

Back when we recorded this, bars and pubs were still open. Helena and I opted to meet at the Southampton Arms, an atmospheric old pub near my apartment in North London that comes complete with piano, fireplace, and resident cat, and is one of my favorite in the city. We met on a quiet weekday afternoon, though you might hear some clinking and chatter in the background (hopefully the ambient pub sounds won't be too painfully nostalgic).

This is Helena Fitzgerald. Listen in.

OL-010 Mark Spence Reads "Stage Three Anger" from Beer is Offal May 07, 2020

This is GBH Out Loud, and I’m Ashley Rodriguez. Today, you’ll hear Mark Spence read the sixth entry of his blog, Beer is Offal, called “Stage Three Anger,” published on Good Beer Hunting on February 21, 2020.

There’s a shift in this entry of Beer is Offal. It’s an abrupt reminder that there is a person behind this blog, living this life in real-time. In this piece, Mark reflects on the death of his cousin, and the factors that contributed to his early death. This isn’t a collection of lessons learned, or a neat summary of an experience with a nicely-tied bow to punctuate it. It’s a journey in motion, a particular moment in Mark’s life where grief and fury mix.

This is Mark Spence reading an entry of his blog, Beer is Offal, called “Stage Three Anger.” Listen in.

Recordings From NYC Beer Week, Session One May 02, 2020

This is part one of a two-part feature from New York City Beer Week. This was recorded at The Well in Brooklyn, just a week or so before the city announced a state of emergency because of COVID-19. We’re now releasing these episodes in an entirely new context—keep that in mind as you listen. But many of the topics are timeless and will continue to be valuable long after this pandemic has passed and New York City comes back to life.

This is our second year hosting these talks at The Well—and it’s a great opportunity to take stock of things as local NYC brewers, brewers from upstate, and some from far away all come together for an increasingly exciting series of events, special releases, and festivals for the week.

This year, NYC Beer Week fell at the exact same time as GBH’s annual Uppers & Downers festival in February, so I wasn’t personally able to make the trip and host the panels. But I’m glad to say we got a couple of local hosts we greatly admire in my stead.

The first session is hosted by the prolific and chatty Joshua Bernstein, an author that’s been published on Good Beer Hunting. He’s one of my personal favorite voices in beer—Josh is a phenomenal conversationalist and endlessly curious. He hosts a panel with friends from Civil Society in Florida, Interboro in Brooklyn, Dancing Gnomeout of Pittsburgh, Modist from Minneapolis, and Rockwell out of St. Louis.

This our first recording from New York City Beer Week, hosted by Joshua Bernstein. Listen in.

Recordings From NYC Beer Week, Session Two May 02, 2020

This is part two of a two-part feature from New York City Beer Week. This was recorded at The Well in Brooklyn, just a week or so before the city announced a state of emergency because of COVID-19. We’re now releasing these episodes in an entirely new context—keep that in mind as you listen. Many of the topics are timeless and will continue to be valuable long after this pandemic has passed and New York City comes back to life.

This is our second year hosting these talks at The Well—and it’s a great opportunity to take stock of things as local NYC brewers, brewers from upstate, and some from far away all come together for an increasingly exciting series of events, special releases, and festivals for the week.

This year, NYC Beer Week fell at the exact same time as GBH’s annual Uppers & Downers festival in February, so I wasn’t personally able to make the trip and host the panels. But I’m glad to say we got a couple of local hosts we greatly admire in my stead.

The first session, which I hope you’ve already listened to, was hosted by Joshua Bernstein. This second session is hosted by Garrett Oliver of Brooklyn Brewery and author of the Oxford Companion to Beer—among many other accomplishments.

Garrett is as iconic as any one figure in the beer world. I was lucky enough to interview him waaaaay back on Episode 53 of our podcast five years ago. He’s a great ambassador for the craft, but more than that, he’s a great inquisitor. He’s as easily enamored with a new trend as he is skeptical. And this makes him a wonderful person to have to host a panel discussion with a variety of opinions and perspectives.

We were honored that he was willing to step into my role for the night. In this episode, he hosts a panel with friends from Threes Brewing in Brooklyn, Fox Farm in Connecticut, Hudson Valley from upstate, Transmitter from Brooklyn, and Sand City from Northport, New York.

This our second recording from New York City Beer Week, hosted by Garrett Oliver. Listen in.

CL-048 Anthony Gladman is social distancing in an orchard Apr 30, 2020

Welcome to the Good Beer Hunting Collective podcast, the show where members of our team interview each other to get a behind-the-scenes look at some of our favorite articles. I’m Jonny Garrett, and I’m a staff writer for GBH.

Today, I’m catching up with Anthony Gladman, a new writer at GBH. With the U.K. on lockdown, I thought this would be a great opportunity to transcend the physical distances and get some much-needed social interaction. The episode starts with a chat about how both are coping with the isolation—particularly now that Anthony is homeschooling his kids—before moving on to Anthony’s first full feature for GBH: a dive into the world of British cider called “Rebirth in England’s Orchards — Find & Foster Fine Cider in Devon, U.K.”

Until the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the British cider scene was gathering some momentum and press as both an off-shoot of the craft beer movement and a traditional part of Britain’s beverage heritage. Anthony and I discuss the unique conservational approach of Find & Foster, and whether the world of cider is better or worse placed to weather the current storm than beer.

This is Anthony Gladman on the Good Beer Hunting Collective podcast. Listen in.

EP-263 Chris Lohring and Brienne Allan of Notch Brewing Apr 25, 2020

Living overseas can give you an interesting perspective on American beer culture. Although I’m originally from California, I’ve lived in the Czech Republic for almost 20 years now. While I miss many of the beers and breweries from back home, I really fell in love with Czech beer, dedicating a lot of my time to researching, writing about, and drinking it.

In recent years I’ve been glad to see North American beer lovers develop much more interest in Czech beer. Since then, many U.S. and Canadian brewers have reached out to me with questions about recipes, equipment, and processes. I can tell that for a lot of people back home, Czech brewing is still rather weird and unknown, whether it’s the “black magic” of a triple-decoction mash, or the strange pours like the šnyt and mlíko, or our rarely spotted “yeast beer,” Kvasnicové Pivo.

One of the standout U.S. brewers who actually gets Czech beer is Chris Lohring of Notch Brewing in Salem, Massachusetts. Chris came through Prague himself, in 2012, doing research on how Czech beers are brewed, served, and drunk. I met up with Chris during that trip, and so did my friend and colleague Max Bahnson, who writes under the name Pivní Filosof. Chris got to visit Czech breweries; drink Czech beers; and observe the Czech process, approach, and culture.

Since then, Notch Brewing has emerged as one of the leading proponents of Czech-style beers in North America. Not only does Notch make a Czech-inspired Světlý Ležák, or Pale Lager (aka Pilsner), but it also makes Tmavé Pivo, or Dark Lager, and Polotmavé Pivo, which means “half-dark beer,” or Amber Lager. At the Notch taproom in Salem, those beers are served from a Czech side-pour (or side-pull) faucet, into a Czech dimpled, half-liter mug. My Czech friends who have visited the Notch taproom said it’s the closest thing to a Czech beer experience you can get in the U.S.

In this episode, I catch up with Chris Lohring when on his return to Prague, along with Notch Brewing’s production manager, Brienne Allan. They were both on a trip that included several hands-on brew days at different Czech breweries. I wanted to ask Chris and Brienne about the differences between Czech beer culture and American beer culture, as well as the differences in Prague since Chris’ last visit seven-plus years ago. I wanted to find out what beer drinkers in the States understood about Czech beer, brewing, and how we drink, and I wanted to know if there were any common misconceptions.

Our meeting takes place over a few beers in a busy Prague café around the corner from my apartment, so there’s a fair amount of background noise—sorry about that. It was recorded in mid-February, 2020, about three weeks before the coronavirus closed off the Czech Republic and made travel here impossible, at least for now. The observations about Czech brewing and beer drinking made by Chris and Brienne, however, feel pretty timeless.

Here’s Chris Lohring and Brienne Allan of Notch Brewing in Salem. Listen in.

OL-009 Mark Spence Reads "Winner Winner Chicken Dinner" from Beer is Offal Apr 21, 2020

This is GBH Out Loud, and I’m Ashley Rodriguez. Today, you’ll hear Mark Spence read an entry of his blog, Beer is Offal, called “Winner Winner Chicken Dinner” published on Good Beer Hunting on January 16, 2020.

What do love and chicken have to do with one another? You might not think a lot, but as Mark illustrates, what we love most about food—making new things, tweaking a recipe, making a small change and seeing new results—doesn’t always apply to the way we interact with others. The analogies and ties we find to our personal lives and the world around us—the way we cook, or the way we talk about food—are especially prescient in this piece, and at the end, you’ll probably be asking the same question Mark poses: “Jesus man, who hurt you?”

This is Mark Spence reading an entry of his blog, Beer is Offal, called “Winner Winner Chicken Dinner.” Listen in.

EP-262 Eleanor Léger of Eden Specialty Ciders Apr 18, 2020

Today’s guest comes to us from far northern Vermont. Eleanor is a cider maker, first known for her ice ciders, made using a process of distillation that profits from natural swings in seasonal temperatures to produce a concentrated, sweet, and acid-balanced cider. Ice cider is often thought of as a dessert wine in the U.S., but so easily replaces a bourbon or whiskey.

In her region, just south of the Canadian border (and Quebec’s concentration of ice cider makers), Eleanor’s operation is a rare and special thing. But as climate change continues to alter seasonal norms, she’s becoming increasingly known for the wide range of specialty ciders she makes, some of which count among the best in the country.

She’s an active proponent of the specialty cider category, working with others in the industry to help educate makers, drinkers, and people like me. As you’ll hear in this conversation, there is no shortage of challenges in the cider industry at the moment. But with people like Eleanor leading the way, it’s encouraging to see the progress being made.

This is Eleanor Léger of Eden Specialty Ciders. Listen in.

COVID-004 — Pivoting in a Pandemic Apr 16, 2020

Welcome to this special series of the GBH Collective podcast, where we’ll be checking in with members of our global team to keep you updated on unfolding events surrounding COVID-19. I’m Michael Kiser.

Today's guests are special to me—both of them are media peers who I’ve often measured myself against. They’re also just delightful humans who are always accessible and open to inquiry. Over the years, they’ve helped me think about Good Beer Hunting’s business model, our audiences, and the ways in which we all develop our voices.

As the world started turning upside down this past month, I wanted to check in with them to see how they were handling things—both personally and as part of a larger organization. How did they process the world-changing news? How did they work with their teams to adapt? And how do they expect to evolve going forward? These conversations go far beyond beer and media.

First up in Eno Sarris of The Athletic. The Athletic is a phenomenon in the sports-writing world. It has a subscription-based readership, much like our own Fervent Few member community. And it serves as a platform for people who want both exceptional narratives and deep dives into data. In that way, it covers a spread much like GBH does.

I first got to know Eno when he put his role at the FanGraphs and BeerGraphs sites on hiatus to join the October project we started with Conde Nast. After that, he went on to join The Athletic, and I’ve been glued to his progress ever since.

Next, we’re going to talk to Peter Frost of Molson Coors. I knew Peter back when he was a reporter at Crain’s Chicago, one of our city's business magazines. Peter developed a keen interest in the beer industry while he was there, but his investigative reporting made him a key voice in Chicago business before he left to join what was then MillerCoors to launch their blog devoted to beer industry analysis and insights.

This conversation immediately gets a reframe as he reminds us that, not only are they dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, but this is coming on the heels of a devastating mass shooting that happened on their campus just a few weeks prior.

Honesty, I was stunned when he brought that up because as shocking as that was—this pandemic has made anything that happened before it feel like a lifetime ago. But for Peter and the Molson Coors team, it’s been a long, blurry timeline of tragedy.

Both of these guys are holed up in their homes and were generous enough to share some time with me while still doing their jobs and taking care of their families.

This is Eno Sarris of The Athletic and Peter Frost of Molson Coors. Listen in.

COVID-004 — Pivoting in a Pandemic Apr 16, 2020

Welcome to this special series of the GBH Collective podcast, where we’ll be checking in with members of our global team to keep you updated on unfolding events surrounding COVID-19. I’m Michael Kiser.

Today's guests are special to me—both of them are media peers who I’ve often measured myself against. They’re also just delightful humans who are always accessible and open to inquiry. Over the years, they’ve helped me think about Good Beer Hunting’s business model, our audiences, and the ways in which we all develop our voices.

As the world started turning upside down this past month, I wanted to check in with them to see how they were handling things—both personally and as part of a larger organization. How did they process the world-changing news? How did they work with their teams to adapt? And how do they expect to evolve going forward? These conversations go far beyond beer and media.

First up in Eno Sarris of The Athletic. The Athletic is a phenomenon in the sports-writing world. It has a subscription-based readership, much like our own Fervent Few member community. And it serves as a platform for people who want both exceptional narratives and deep dives into data. In that way, it covers a spread much like GBH does.

I first got to know Eno when he put his role at the FanGraphs and BeerGraphs sites on hiatus to join the October project we started with Conde Nast. After that, he went on to join The Athletic, and I’ve been glued to his progress ever since.

Next, we’re going to talk to Peter Frost of Molson Coors. I knew Peter back when he was a reporter at Crain’s Chicago, one of our city's business magazines. Peter developed a keen interest in the beer industry while he was there, but his investigative reporting made him a key voice in Chicago business before he left to join what was then MillerCoors to launch their blog devoted to beer industry analysis and insights.

This conversation immediately gets a reframe as he reminds us that, not only are they dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, but this is coming on the heels of a devastating mass shooting that happened on their campus just a few weeks prior.

Honesty, I was stunned when he brought that up because as shocking as that was—this pandemic has made anything that happened before it feel like a lifetime ago. But for Peter and the Molson Coors team, it’s been a long, blurry timeline of tragedy.

Both of these guys are holed up in their homes and were generous enough to share some time with me while still doing their jobs and taking care of their families.

This is Eno Sarris of The Athletic and Peter Frost of Molson Coors. Listen in.

EP-261 Ben Henning of State Bird Provisions and The Progress Apr 11, 2020

Producer’s Note: we're going to continue bringing you timeless stories and important interviews, some of which have newfound relevance because of COVID-19, and some that are explicitly unrelated. This episode you’re about to hear was recorded during San Francisco's Beer Week in February 2020, so the context is removed a bit from what’s happening in the world right now, but the information is still valuable, and we want to share it with you. Listen for an update at the end of the episode.

How many times have you sat down at a nice restaurant and perused the drinks menu, only to find yourself thoroughly disappointed by the beer list?

Ben Henning, a beer buyer for two Michelin-starred sister restaurants in San Francisco, makes it his life’s work to ensure that that never happens to his patrons.

Henning works with State Bird Provisions and The Progress, two widely lauded neighboring restaurants in the city’s Fillmore District. You’ll often catch him on the floor working alongside waiters, discussing the restaurants’ robust beer offerings with guests, and espousing the merits of pairing beer with their many exceptional dishes.

But Henning isn’t always successful at converting the wine drinkers. In the high-end restaurant game, convincing guests to consider beer over wine or spirits is always an uphill battle, even though Henning, a certified Cicerone with years of buying experience, is bringing in the best of the best. On any given day, State Bird and The Progress carry carefully selected, rare Lambics and farmhouse ales.

On the day I arrive to speak with Henning, in the middle of San Francisco Beer Week, the restaurant is bustling ahead of its 4 p.m. opening. A line is forming outside of locals hoping to snag one of the few tables kept open for walk-ins. Management is readying for the opening of two new restaurants elsewhere in the city. Upstairs, staff is setting up for a private event, and just after Henning and I begin our conversation, we’re asked to relocate to another room—you’ll hear that break in the interview.

Even within the chaos, Henning is cool-headed. Staying level in ever-changing circumstances is what his work is all about.

This is Ben Henning of State Bird Provisions and The Progress. Listen in.

SL-021 On the Frontline — The Shifting State of U.K. Retail Apr 09, 2020

Welcome to this special episode of Sightlines, part of Good Beer Hunting’s continued coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic. I’m Jonny Garrett.

The U.K. is now several weeks into near-total lockdown, with everyone told to stay indoors barring medical emergencies, food shopping, and one bit of exercise a day. While internet and TV services are thriving, the high street and hospitality industry have been devastated.

Over the last month, I have been writing Sightlines pieces that try to describe and analyze that devastation. In this episode, I’ll be giving you first-hand insight into the kind of conversations I’ve been having day in, day out with people in the beer industry. We’ll hear from three very different businesses on the frontline, and I’ll ask how each one has been affected by shutdowns—and what their futures might look like on the other side of this crisis.

I talk to the owner of London bottle shop mini-chain We Brought Beer, who decided he had to close despite seeing record sales. You’ll also hear the surreal story of the night all the U.K.’s pubs closed for the first time in history from the perspective of a London publican.

We’ll start further up the supply chain, though. DEYA Brewing Company in Cheltenham only recently went through a major funding and expansion phase, and is supposed to be paying off its bills through brewing unprecedented volume and serving at its new taproom. Instead, it’s barely brewing once a week and has thousands of pounds worth of stock going slowly out of date. Founder Theo Freyne has had to tear up his business plan for the next decade, but despite the uncertainty is upbeat about his brewery’s prospects.

This is the Sightlines podcast. Listen in.

EP-260 John Szymankiewicz of the Beer Law Center Apr 04, 2020

Producer’s note: we’re going to continue bringing you timeless stories and important interviews, some of which have newfound relevance because of COVID-19, and some that are explicitly unrelated. This episode you’re about to hear was recorded on February 19th, so the context is removed a bit from what’s happening in the world right now, but the information is still valuable, and we want to share it with you.

Here’s a scenario for today’s beer-loving entrepreneur: you want to start a brewery? There’s a hypothetical situation in which your new business can build its brand by lifting the likeness of celebrities, or imitating famous movies and TV shows, and pretty much take the original ideas of others and slap them on a label or menu board.

Of course, this isn’t entirely hypothetical. Breweries all over the country do some version of this every day, and there are even social media accounts created to track companies that steal the intellectual property of others. In this episode, we’re talking about this and more—and how some companies can legally end up in these odd scenarios, and flirt with basing their entire business models on this kind of intellectual property theft. Or even sell cans full of beer and fruit that could explode.

John Szymankiewicz is a beer attorney. Based in Raleigh, North Carolina, he specializes in a host of practical areas, including contracts and dispute resolution, but also has expertise in trademark and licensing, label approval, and more.

In this conversation, we’ll first learn how someone arrives at this profession in the first place, and why more lawyers could be headed toward similar specialization in beer or elsewhere. But we’ll also get a better grasp about what is legally possible in today’s industry when breweries are constantly looking to stand out. Decisions to toe the line of copyright or trademark infringement may start to appear a bit more black and white, even if the ethics of those decisions can be rather gray.

This is attorney John Szymankiewicz. Listen in.

SL-020 Retail Therapy—New Ways To Sell Apr 01, 2020

Welcome to this special episode of Sightlines, part of Good Beer Hunting’s continued coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic. I’m Bryan Roth.

A month ago, millions of Americans were sitting at bars and breweries, sharing a pint or cocktail with friends and loved ones. Today, for most of the country, that’s not possible, as states have issued stay-at-home or shelter-in-place guidelines, forcing the closure of what’s known as “on-premise” for the alcohol industry—the bars and restaurants and places we all went out to for a drink.

What’s left is the “off-premise,” the many kinds of grocery, convenience, liquor, and other stores where we go to get some food—and toilet paper, if we’re lucky—and stock up on beer. We can’t go out to drink, so it’s these locations that are thriving as shoppers bring the bar home.

COVID-19 has forced an unprecedented pivot toward off-premise since the start of March, and in Good Beer Hunting’s Sightlines stories, you may have kept up with all the changes that have happened as breweries have been forced to adapt to to-go sales or get as much product in off-premise chain stores as possible.

In the first three weeks of March compared to last year, Americans spent about 17% more in off-premise chain stores tracked by IRI, a market research firm. In the second and third weeks of the month, seven-day stretches have been roughly the equivalent of what’s sold around the Fourth of July, typically the highest-selling beer holiday, amassing about $1 billion for the week of the summer celebration.

For some businesses, like grocery or liquor stores, this new reality has meant something as simple as non-stop sales. Nothing’s really changed operationally except for the amount of hand sanitizer and cleaning wipes readily available. On the business side, things are booming.

For others—namely those on-premise establishments—it’s meant trying to create a whole new business model out of thin air.

COVID-003 — From the Newsroom Mar 26, 2020

Welcome to this special series of the GBH Collective podcast, where we’ll be checking in with members of our global team to keep you updated on unfolding events surrounding COVID-19. I’m Ashley Rodriguez.

We’re consuming news at a rapid rate. The front page of the New York Times is totally dedicated to COVID-19 coverage, and many other outlets have shifted to focus on the current global pandemic.

I wanted to understand how folks who work in breaking news cover stories. We’ve shifted our editorial platform dramatically, so I’m first chatting with Kate Bernot, lead contributor to Sightlines, our news vertical. Kate has years of experience reporting on breaking stories, and we talk about how this moment is different—and the surprises she’s uncovered through a week of nonstop reporting.

Then we shift to Alyssa Pereira, GBH contributor and staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, a news outlet primarily serving the Bay Area and Northern California. From their computers to yours, we talk about how to cover such an unprecedented event, and how you can look at the news through the eyes of a reporter. Here’s Kate to kick us off.

A Bryan by Any Other Name Mar 24, 2020

What happens when a guy with your exact name invites you to brew a beer with him? In this special episode of the GBH podcast, Sightlines editor Bryan Roth drives from Durham, North Carolina, to meet up with Brian Roth of Southern Brewing Co. in Athens, Georgia, to engage in a friendly competition over who can brew the best beer: Bryan or Brian? More than just a story about a beer-brewing challenge, this episode explores the ways we’re all connected—either by name or otherwise—and how sometimes, all you have to do is say yes.

SL-019 Econ 101° — Supply and Demand in a Panicked Market Mar 21, 2020

Welcome to this special episode of Sightlines, part of Good Beer Hunting’s continued coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic. I’m Bryan Roth.

Parts of the country are in some kind of encouraged self-isolation—if not lockdown in some locations—and in many states, bars, restaurants, and breweries have been told by governments to shutter on-site sales and restrict business to takeout or delivery services. Bottom lines are suffering as cash flow dwindles with people sheltering in homes, spending money on extra groceries, and small businesses await help from elected officials to see them through this time.

Not all breweries are hurting equally, however, as packaged beer flies off the shelves in stores as drinkers stock up, and kegs sit untapped. All this happened in a matter of days.

So when we hear this is not going to be a short blip, the attention of business owners and economists has shifted to what all this means with short-term gains versus long-term solutions. And in this episode, we’re going to school to learn more about what this all means, and how and why breweries are eyeing all the scenarios in between.

It’s not as simple as supply and demand.

Our three guests include John Dantzler, CEO and co-founder of New York City's Torch & Crown Brewing Company—his background is in finance having worked for Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, and Barclays Investment Bank before entering the beer world.

And also Scott Metzger, general manager of Massachusetts' Wormtown Brewery, and co-founder of San Antonio's Freetail Brewing. Scott's background is in economics, having worked as an economist at Valero Energy Corporation and the University of Texas-San Antonio.

But we start with another economist, Michael Uhrich, former chief economist of the Beer Institute, and current founder and chief economist of Seventh point Analytic, a data-driven consulting company.

This is Sightlines. Listen in.

COVID-002 — Finding Moments of Brightness Mar 20, 2020

Welcome to this special series of the GBH Collective podcast, where we’ll be checking in with members of our global team to keep you updated on unfolding events surrounding COVID-19. I’m Ashley Rodriguez.

If you have an iPhone, it probably tells you how many hours per day you’ve looked at your screen. According to my phone, my screentime has been up 63%—and I’m sure I’m not alone. I’m doubly sure most of us are looking at articles that make us feel a sense of dread as opposed to providing comfort.

In this check-in, I wanted to talk to our team about the bright spots: the ways that folks have come together, the ways that communities have brainstormed creative solutions—anything that makes us feel better in this weird time. I catch up with Jim Plachy first, who is the community manager of the Fervent Few, our subscriber-based beer community. Then we jump to Jonny Garrett, one of our U.K.-based GBH contributors. He has been searching for small optimistic episodes within the pandemic—and offers some hot tips for folks who suddenly find themselves at home for the foreseeable with their partners and spouses.

This is the Good Beer Hunting Collective podcast. Listen in.

COVID-001 — An Update on Coronavirus Mar 16, 2020

I’m writing and recording this from my home office. I imagine at this point, COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, has affected your life in some way. Maybe you’re quarantined at home; maybe you’re a business owner who’s wondering what measures like social distancing will do your business; or maybe you’re just trying to navigate what is shaping up to be one of the weirdest times in our collective history. Either way, there’s a lot going on.

We decided to bring you a special edition of the GBH Collective podcast, checking in with our team of writers and editors across the globe. Our team has always consisted of folks reporting from their corners of the world, and this global crisis is no exception. One thing I’ve always appreciated about working for Good Beer Hunting is our willingness to be frank and have open conversations … and that includes bringing you folks—our listeners, supporters, and fellow beer professionals—in on how we’re handling the current state of affairs.

What you’re about to hear is a series of five short interviews that I conducted with members of our team. The first is with Bryan Roth, who is our Sightlines editor, reporting from Durham, North Carolina. Next you’ll hear from GBH founder and creative director Michael Kiser, who will update you on how we as an organization are handling the pandemic. Next, we’re gonna check in with Claire Bullen, our editor-in-chief reporting on what’s happening in the U.K., and the influence of social media on community responses. We’ll then touch base with Eoghan Walsh, a staff writer reporting from Brussels, and lastly we’ll go to the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak and talk to Dave Riddile about working in service and supporting local businesses in Seattle.

This is the Good Beer Hunting Collective podcast. Listen in.

EP-259 Ehren Schmidt of Mikkeller Baghaven Mar 14, 2020

I’m Jonny Garrett, and you’re listening to the Good Beer Hunting podcast.

Listeners in California may remember a brewery called Toolbox Brewing, which for a brief period around 2015 and 2016 was making waves with some delicious, mixed-fermentation beers. Sadly the brewery closed in 2018, about a year after the departure of its head brewer, Ehren Schmidt, who is my guest today.

Schmidt gained plenty of critical acclaim for the beers he was making at Toolbox, but in 2017, he got an offer he couldn’t refuse. That job offer came from Mikkel Borg Bjergsø, founder and owner of Mikkeller, who wanted him to move to Copenhagen to help him start a wild brewery arm of his global cuckoo brewing empire.

We talk a bit about his decision to move halfway around the world, and it’s clear that that risky choice has paid off. Schmidt has complete creative freedom at Mikkeller Baghaven, and has used it to build a brewery that takes a scientific approach to deeply traditional brewing. The medieval lettering and cork-and-cage presentation belie the hands-on way that Schmidt goes about sourcing his yeasts and nurturing the fermentations in barrels and foeders.

We recorded in his office between the Saturday sessions of the first-ever Mikkeller Baghaven Wild Ale Celebration, an exclusively wild- and mixed-fermentation festival where the participating breweries were handpicked by Schmidt. Given his history, the roster featured a predictably heavy U.S. focus, but some exciting European and South American breweries were also represented. Most of our conversation is spent musing on the level of understanding in the wild brewing community about the concept of terroir in beer, and how it isn’t just the ingredients, or even the place, that dictate it. It’s the people—their stories, tastes, and biases.

This is Ehren Schmidt of Mikkeller Baghaven. Listen in.

CL-047 Eoghan Walsh really wanted Rich Soriano to talk about Lambic Mar 12, 2020

Today I’m talking to Eoghan Walsh, who just had his first article for Good Beer Hunting published. Entitled, “The Last Crusade — Rich Soriano Wants to Talk to You About Lambic,” it’s essentially the story of a day with one of Belgium’s most beloved beer characters, Rich Soriano. And by a day with, I really mean a bar crawl with.

Eoghan’s piece manages to make it feel like the reader is right there with them, and over the course of a few thousands words, we travel to a number of special Lambic producers and pubs, slowly learning how an American has ended up being one of the faces of Brussel’s traditional brewing scene. We start, though, by addressing the fact that that’s the last way that Soriano would want to be described.

This is the Good Beer Hunting Collective podcast. Listen in.

EP-258 Archie Gleason of Sycamore Brewing Mar 07, 2020

When we talk about the evolution of breweries into “beverage companies,” that conversation has been dominated by some of the largest corporations in the world. MillerCoors literally changed its name at the start of this year to Molson Coors Beverage Company to reflect its evolving business model and the shifting attitudes and preferences of today’s drinkers. Anheuser-Busch InBev sells across beverage categories—both alcoholic and non—and even craft conglomerates like CANarchy or Artisanal Brewing Ventures are diversifying across cider, flavored malt beverages like hard seltzer, and more.

But when it comes to a truly modern beverage company, there’s plenty happening among the littler businesses, too. And that’s what guides the conversation in this episode. We’re going to talk hard seltzer, of course, but also cider and beer, and how marketing and sales work with and against the tactic of keeping all those drinks under one umbrella.

To learn about all this, we’re chatting with Archie Gleason, the vice president of sales for Sycamore Brewing in Charlotte, North Carolina. This company has been growing fast in recent years, and has become a staple in many Tar Heel State grocery stores, while expanding north and south into neighboring states.

You may not know Sycamore, but you’re likely familiar with the ideas and themes that drive this company’s approach: namely, that drinkers are interested in a host of experiences, and it's the responsibility of a forward-thinking company to fulfill that need. That’s what’s led Sycamore to expand into other categories while never quite taking an eye off what got the company to this point: beer.

Sycamore is one of the more successful breweries to have started in North Carolina in the past decade, but a commitment to change has set it up ideally for the near future. Archie and I are going to talk about sales and data, labeling and trends, and about how his decades in the beer industry keep him feeling comfortable—even in an uncertain period for beer.

I hope one of this conversation’s key takeaways also resonates with you: that Archie and the Sycamore team’s experience is going to be repeated a lot in the coming years by all sorts of breweries-turned-beverage-companies, no matter how big or small, or where they may be found around the country.

This is Archie Gleason of Sycamore Brewing. Listen in.

OL-008 Mark Spence Reads, "Scarlet & Cream" from Beer is Offal Mar 05, 2020

This is GBH Out Loud, and I’m Ashley Rodriguez. Today, you’ll hear Mark Spence read the third entry of his blog, Beer is Offal, called “Scarlet & Cream” published on Good Beer Hunting on November 21, 2019.

Something happens to you when you leave home. You might not notice it when you’re gone, but you definitely notice it when you come back. This is a story about that moment—when you realize you’re just a hair off from the folks around you, suddenly sitting in how alien you feel compared to your friends and family. Such situations ask a fundamental question: “Have I changed for the better, or have I lost a part of me I can never get back?” Listen to Mark grapple with that question in this emotive piece.

This is Mark Spence reading an entry of his blog, Beer is Offal, called “Scarlet & Cream.” Listen in.

EP-257 Morten Bruun and Tore Gynther of To Øl Feb 29, 2020

This episode’s interview was conducted at BRUS, a brewpub and restaurant in Copenhagen’s trendy Nørrebro district. It’s owned by the itinerant brewing company To Øl, which is perhaps best known for its unusual recipes, pun-based beer names, and often-inscrutable labels.

That approach has kept the brewery growing for 10 years. The flexibility of nomadic brewing allows them to respond quickly to trends, and has helped To Øl become one of the darlings of the “cuckoo” brewing movement. Which makes the moment they are in right now all the more interesting.

Today’s chat with owners Morten Bruun and Tore Gynther veers off in all kinds of directions, but the main thrust of it is that To Øl’s business model has just taken a complete U-turn.

After nearly a decade of contracting out all except their brewpub releases, the owners are bringing all their production in house at a new location, To Øl City. I’ll let them fill in the details, but suffice it to say it’s an ambitious project that aims to pull together artisans from all kinds of industries on one enormous site. We talk about that decision, and how the older nomadic brewers are now settling down. It seems the reason is exactly what you’d expect—to have a closer connection with the beer they put out into the world. But it also goes a lot deeper than that.

This is Morten Bruun and Tore Gynther of To Øl. Listen in.

CL-046 Mark Spence Owns His Feelings Feb 28, 2020

I probably sit with our blog, Beer is Offal, more than anything I interact with on Good Beer Hunting. Not only is it something we produce totally in house—all the artwork comes through us and it’s written by a member of the GBH team, Mark Spence—but it’s also the only series we’ve captured entirely on audio. Mark has read every single one of his blog entries on our Out Loud series, where we record our favorite stories for our audience, and there’s a reason for that—Beer is Offal is special.

Beer is Offal is a food blog. That’s a simple way to put it. But that doesn’t capture all of it. It’s full of feelings, rants, brutal honesty, sometimes curveballs, and always this feeling of authenticity that I think is really interesting in the context of food writing. As Mark and I discuss in this episode, Beer is Offal is deeply personal—you get to know a lot about him pretty quickly—but it differs from most food writing in that it’s not a series of recipes, it’s not about someone trying to learn a new cuisine or venturing into traditions and styles of cooking that aren’t part of their background. It stays so close to the chest, and in that way, the lessons and ideas Mark talks about become wonderfully universal and relatable. It’s sort of remarkable how he makes that happen.

I sat down with Mark and talked about what it means to write about things happening to you right now—in real time. Beer is Offal isn’t just a collection of lessons learned, but is very much about things going on in Mark’s life, and his attempts to slowly acknowledge and work through them. Mark is admittedly not a very “emotional” person—as he says himself, he’s much more likely to be the guy in the corner of the room sticking close to his friends. So what does it take for someone like him to put all his stuff out there? How does he transform into, as he calls it, “a food and feelings writer?” Let’s find out.

Here’s Mark Spence. Listen in.

Uppers & Downers Preview Party 2020 Feb 23, 2020

As many of you know, we’re in the midst of Uppers & Downers week here in Chicago, celebrating more than five years of our coffee and beer culture collaboration between myself, Michael Kiser, and world barista champion Stephen Morrissey. This year’s festival promises to be our best yet, with about 25 different coffee beer collaborations, a dozen different roasters pulling their best espresso shots from all over the country and showcasing the breadth of their lineup beyond espresso. So yes, you’ll have incredible espresso brewed on our professional consumer machines courtesy of La Marzocco Home, but each of our dozen roasters has been invited to prepare any drink they want – brewed coffee, cold brew, nitro, cortado’s, romano’s, etc.

We’re also working with the folks at Cruz Blanca, Guinness, Goose Island, and Powers Whiskey to produce Case Studies, a series of tasting experiences where brewers and roasters work together to push the boundaries of what possible. Every year, our Case Study partners come up with wild and exciting ideas, sensory explorations that bring you beyond just beer and coffee. When we think these folks can’t do anything more, they continue to raise the bar.

To give you an idea of what’s in store this weekend, here’s a sneak peek episode. You can learn more here.

CL-045 Breandán Kearney Can Sniff Out a Lie Feb 20, 2020

I first met Breandán Kearney in 2015, when he swept the board at the British Guild of Beer Writers Awards. I, like quite a few people in the room, had no idea who he was at the time, but I only had to read a few of his articles to see what a brilliant writer he is. And you’d have to be brilliant to tackle the article we talk about in today’s podcast.

Breandán Kearney's latest piece for Good Beer Hunting is titled, “Flying With Clipped Wings — West Kerry Brewery, County Kerry, Ireland.” It tells the heartbreaking story of a brewpub on the Irish coast. Few beer articles have two deaths in their opening paragraphs, but even fewer manage to tell such an uplifting story of personal grit, and success against the odds.

The piece also serves as a wonderful insight into the small world of Irish brewing and the people who have slowly turned the country into an exciting, modern brewing nation. I start by asking how Breandán came across the brewery, before delving into what it’s like to research such a difficult, emotional story.

This is Breandán Kearney. Listen in.

EP-256 Joe Vogelbacher, Sugar Creek Brewing Company Feb 15, 2020

What does it mean to be a “master”? More important: what does it take to actually feel that way? In this episode, we’re talking with the 19th Master Cicerone in the world, Joe Vogelbacher.

Joe is the CEO and co-founder of Charlotte, North Carolina’s Sugar Creek Brewing Company, and in 2019, he was the only person to pass what is arguably the hardest educational test in beer. His rank of Master Cicerone is the equivalent of wine’s Master Sommelier—he’s studied practically every aspect of beer and beer service, passing a test that has a fail rate of about 90%.

If you listened to Good Beer Hunting’s conversation with Ray Daniels, founder of Cicerone, you already have a good primer of what the program is. In this chat with Joe, you get greater insight into what it can be on personal, professional, and even magical levels. Working toward—and passing—the Master Cicerone exam has changed Joe and his brewery, and you’ll hear him open up about the tangible ways he’s noticed these differences. You are also bound to hear some unfamiliar words and science, as Joe casually rattles off aspects of all he’s learned.

Sticking with this one is fun, too, as Joe walks us through his tasting process, giving a play-by-play of what it means to study a beer. It’s a benefit and a burden in some ways, as just sitting back to enjoy a beer takes on a different meaning after years of study.

This is Joe Vogelbacher of Sugar Creek Brewing Company. Listen in.

FF-027 Jim Plachy is up and down on hard seltzer, marshmallow hard seltzer, and coffee hard seltzer Feb 13, 2020

Welcome to another Fervent Few episode of the Good Beer Hunting podcast where myself, Jim Plachy, and GBH’s strategic director, Michael Kiser, catch up. We’ll talk about the topics and discussions that took place in our membership community in the last couple weeks.

Our 500 or so subscribers are scattered all over the world. Sometimes we meet up with them when we’re on the road, or they hang out with each other, but it all comes together in our community forum on Slack. If you value the content and experiences that GBH produces, you should join.

Your monthly subscription gets you access to the community, special events, and exclusive gear deigned just for members.

I joined, and now I manage it all. Plus, it’s my favorite place on the Beer Internet.

Visit goodbeerhunting.com/ferventfew to strike up a conversation in beer.

EP-255 Ray Daniels, Founder, Cicerone Feb 08, 2020

About a month ago, an annual tradition took place: the announcement of the new Master Cicerones.

It’s an exciting and heartbreaking time for many folks who put in months and even years of studying and training to pass one of the most difficult, esoteric, and unpredictable certification exams in all of food and beverage.

Another part of that annual tradition, at least in the past couple years, is the ensuing debate on #beertwitter about the value of the certification, and the relevance of the things it tests for. There are some perfectly valid questions asked about the program—we know this because the program itself has evolved over time. But there are also some really wild ideas that get tossed around that seem to be rooted more in our iconoclastic, anti-expertise culture than anything else. Many question the value of a professional development track rooted in knowledge rather than experience, as if the two are somehow separable. In short, some people just want to see the Cicerone world burn.

So we did what we tend to do in these situations, and decided to help the world get to know the person and the intent behind the thing.

Ray Daniels is the founder of the Cicerone program, and before that he held a number of unique roles at the Brewers Association. And before that he was a marketer and public relations professional, author, and almost, almost, started a brewery in Chicago with one of the city’s other luminaries, Randy Mosher. I, for one, love imagining what a brewery started by Ray Daniels and Randy Mosher in the late ’90s or early aughts would be like in 2020. It’d probably be just as anachronistic as it was relevant. Which is kind of what we get with Cicerone.

We’re going to chart Ray’s journey, look at how Cicerone has evolved over the years, examine who it’s for and who it’s not, and discuss how it maintains relevance in an industry with about 10,000 more breweries than when it started.

SL-018 Brewery RTDs: WTF? Feb 06, 2020

At a time when hard seltzers are the hottest beverage alcohol around—and spirits are slowly chipping away at servings once strongly held by beer—what’s a brewery to do? Businesses across the country have spent the past two years diversifying what used to be beer-only portfolios to best address the changing attitudes and tastes of drinkers.

That’s recently led to a wave of American breweries entering an emerging space of RTDs—or “ready-to-drink” beverages. If you’re a regular at a grocery store like Whole Foods, you’ve likely seen non-alcoholic versions of these products—something like a skinny can of High Brew Coffee—which are part of one of the fastest-growing segments in food and beverage. When it comes to boozy versions of RTDs, the U.S. market is most commonly seeing new category additions in the form of canned cocktails.

These RTDs are exactly what you’d imagine: 12oz, toned-down versions of popular mixed drinks like Dark 'N' Stormys, Gin & Tonics, and other simple cocktails you might order at a bar. The alcohol strength is never as intense as what you’d find during a night out, with these packaged versions typically ranging in ABV from 5% up to 9% or so—not much beyond what drinkers would expect from a favorite Pale Ale or IPA.

What we’ve ended up with is an ideal combination of factors that should be helpful to breweries seeking new customers, or looking to entice current ones to stick within their portfolios. When people are drinking different kinds of alcoholic beverages in more ways than ever, the chance to combine aspects of brewing knowledge and opportunity has opened up additional streams of revenue for companies facing the fiercest competition they’ve ever had.

This is the Sightlines podcast. Listen in.

Mother of Invention Made in Partnership with Guinness — Episode 4 Feb 01, 2020

Welcome to Mother of Invention—a special series of the GBH Podcast made in partnership with Guinness devoted to innovation in the brewing world, both historical and contemporary. In this series, we ask the question: if necessity is the mother of invention, what is the necessity that’s driving people to solve a problem, meet a challenge, or explore a new opportunity—and what are they doing about it?

This series started in collaboration with Guinness, an underwriter for GBH for three years running. Guinness has a reputation for being a technical innovator—whether it’s draft technology, the invention of the nitro widget in the can, training the world how to pour a proper pint, or achieving unprecedented consistency in their breweries around the world. But necessity and innovation come in all sorts of forms for breweries big and small, and are reflected in the cultural influences around them.

So this year we decided to go to Denver during the Great American Beer Festival, when we knew we’d have a critical mass of influential and hard-working people from across the industry in one place. We set up shop and conducted two full days of interviews. And while the resulting conversations vary widely in terms of topics and experiences, some patterns began to emerge.

In our fourth and final episode, we’re going to take everything we’ve learned and apply it to the experience of the end consumer: the beer drinker.

With so much newfound permission in beer—whether we’re talking about legal constraints being lifted, new spaces for selling and drinking beer being made available, the uniting of manufacturing and hospitality operations, or the contexts in which beer education is taking place—there are plenty of opportunities to talk about the people doing something new and often unprecedented.

We’ll begin in an unexpected place: a small-town Connecticut library.

This is Mother of Invention. Listen in.

Mother of Invention Made in Partnership with Guinness — Episode 3 Feb 01, 2020

Welcome to Mother of Invention—a special series of the GBH Podcast made in partnership with Guinness devoted to innovation in the brewing world, both historical and contemporary. In this series, we ask the question: if necessity is the mother of invention, what is the necessity that’s driving people to solve a problem, meet a challenge, or explore a new opportunity—and what are they doing about it?

This series started in collaboration with Guinness, an underwriter for GBH for three years running. Guinness has a reputation for being a technical innovator—whether it’s draft technology, the invention of the nitro widget in the can, training the world how to pour a proper pint, or achieving unprecedented consistency in their breweries around the world. But necessity and innovation come in all sorts of forms for breweries big and small, and are reflected in the cultural influences around them.

So this year we decided to go to Denver during the Great American Beer Festival, when we knew we’d have a critical mass of influential and hard-working people from across the industry in one place. We set up shop and conducted two full days of interviews. And while the resulting conversations vary widely in terms of topics and experiences, some patterns began to emerge.

In our third episode, we look at the ways that people are evangelizing from their own small corners of the beer world to raise awareness of critical issues, processes, ingredients, and education in the industry, all of which make a difference in the way beer is perceived. For these folks, beer is agriculture, politics, economics—even history in the making.

And those efforts can sometimes result in lasting change—at the personal level, and even at the state level (in this case, a state as big as Texas). So we’re going to start there. This past year, the team at Austin Beerworks in Austin, Texas took on one of the most insurmountable legal battles in beer, facing off against a legislature that’s mostly controlled by wholesaler money—and I mean a lot of it—and which only meets once every two years, and then only for 140 days. The chance to shoot your shot, and make change, is extremely narrow. This is how Michael Graham and Will Golden, two of the four partners at the brewery, saw the risk and reward of taking on that challenge, which they ultimately won.

This is Mother of Invention. Listen in.

Mother of Invention Made in Partnership with Guinness — Episode 2 Feb 01, 2020

Welcome to Mother of Invention—a special series of the GBH Podcast made in partnership with Guinness devoted to innovation in the brewing world, both historical and contemporary. In this series, we ask the question: if necessity is the mother of invention, what is the necessity that’s driving people to solve a problem, meet a challenge, or explore a new opportunity—and what are they doing about it?

This series started in collaboration with Guinness, an underwriter for GBH for three years running. Guinness has a reputation for being a technical innovator—whether it’s draft technology, the invention of the nitro widget in the can, training the world how to pour a proper pint, or achieving unprecedented consistency in their breweries around the world. But necessity and innovation come in all sorts of forms for breweries big and small, and are reflected in the cultural influences around them.

So this year we decided to go to Denver during the Great American Beer Festival, when we knew we’d have a critical mass of influential and hard-working people from across the industry in one place. We set up shop and conducted two full days of interviews. And while the resulting conversations vary widely in terms of topics and experiences, some patterns began to emerge.

In this second episode, we’re going to look at the ways companies are attempting to connect with new audiences through product innovation.

How are breweries like Brooklyn Brewery, Sufferfest Beer Company, Firestone Walker Brewing Company, and others shaking up their portfolios to appeal to the expanding idea of who a beer drinker is? This is a critical question at this point in the evolution of the beer industry and it’s become increasingly difficult to define who drinks what. Most people are modal—meaning they partake in cocktails, wine, spirits, macro and craft beer, hard seltzer, and cannabis—and few of us are loyal to any one category, let alone a particular subset or specific brewery.

So what connects all these things? And how does a brewery stretch its vision to account for how the world, and the beer drinker, is changing?

This is Mother of Invention. Listen in.

Mother of Invention Made in Partnership with Guinness — Episode 1 Feb 01, 2020

Welcome to Mother of Invention—a special series of the GBH Podcast made in partnership with Guinness devoted to innovation in the brewing world, both historical and contemporary. In this series, we ask the question: if necessity is the mother of invention, what is the necessity that’s driving people to solve a problem, meet a challenge, or explore a new opportunity—and what are they doing about it?

This series started in collaboration with Guinness, an underwriter for GBH for three years running. Guinness has a reputation for being a technical innovator—whether it’s draft technology, the invention of the nitro widget in the can, training the world how to pour a proper pint, or achieving unprecedented consistency in their breweries around the world. But necessity and innovation come in all sorts of forms for breweries big and small, and are reflected in the cultural influences around them.

So this year we decided to go to Denver during the Great American Beer Festival, when we knew we’d have a critical mass of influential and hard-working people from across the industry in one place. We set up shop and conducted two full days of interviews. And while the resulting conversations vary widely in terms of topics and experiences, some patterns began to emerge.

This first episode explores the ways in which people are trying to expand beer’s audience. For some, that means inspiring loyalty with traditional experiences, like going to your neighborhood bar in the age of the brewery taproom. For others, it’s about sending very big, explicit signals that groups that have historically been excluded by the beer world—black people, trans people, the elderly, and beyond—belong and are welcomed into what is so often described in an over-simplified way as the “beer community.” And for others still, it’s about getting these formerly niche beers into the mainstream world, so that people who might be delighted by them have better access to them—without having to “join the club” and travel to breweries in industrial parks in the ’burbs, stand in can release lines for hours, or spend a fortune on the latest hyped-up Hazy IPA.

Each of these scenarios involves paying attention, being empathetic, and taking risks with your product, brand, or personhood. It’s a kind of innovation through vulnerability. Or innovation through humanity. And it’s resulting in people doing a lot of new things, in new ways, that benefit others.

This is Mother of Invention. Listen in.

EP-254 Matt Darin and Andrew Zens of Grassroots Cannabis Jan 25, 2020

If you’re a beer fan, the world of cannabis probably intersects with your world in the most casual of ways. You might enjoy both occasionally, or even in a single sitting. You might be attracted to IPAs that exhibit some of your favorite cannabis characteristics—“dank” and “sticky” describe both in equal measure these days. You might float back and forth effortlessly between these two categories of recreational drugs.

But if you work in the beer industry, the conversation couldn’t be more different. Professional beer marketers and pundits have been scrambling to understand the potential impact cannabis could have on the beer industry, specifically craft beer—and many worry that it threatens to steal more dollars from the same consumers.

If you work in recreational cannabis, on the other hand, chances are you’ve learned a lot from the growth of craft beer as to how to build a customer base and establish a craft-oriented experience around your product—particularly as the cannabis market shifts its focus from medial to recreational. Cannabis is slowly becoming a brand, a lifestyle lead category. And it’s moving even faster than the most recent generation of craft brewers did to establish a new niche.

These intersections are fascinating from both a cultural and business lens, and the GBH Studio happens to be just down the street from one of the nation’s largest cannabis organizations: Grassroots Cannabis. As the legalization of recreational cannabis in Illinois was underway, Grassroots entered into a potential merger with an even larger company to the tune of $875M. That’s now pending approval by the feds, which is a funny idea in and of itself—that the federal government is involved in approving the merger of two companies whose products have not even been legalized at the national level yet. But that’s exactly how wild these times are for cannabis.

This conversation took place right at the end of the year, before recreational cannabis legalization went into effect in the state of Illinois. Some of this is a conversation about what’s to be expected, both long-term, but also, in a very real sense, the very next week.

This is Matt Darin, founder and chief operating officer, and Andrew Zens, vice president of talent acquisition and development, at Grassroots Cannabis. Listen in.

CL-044 Claire Bullen Has A Lizard Brain Jan 23, 2020

2019 was a big year for us at GBH. We published more stories than ever before, our writers took home dozens of awards, and we broke our own record for the number of visits to our site. It was truly a banner year.

One of the reasons for that is Claire Bullen, our editor-in-chief. Perhaps we didn’t give this occasion enough fanfare—I know I certainly would have participated in a ticker-tape parade to celebrate, but this is our time to do so.

Claire took over the role of editor in June, but has been on the editorial team since mid-2018. Claire is responsible for two of our 10 most popular stories of the year; she published a book in March; and shone like the beer beacon she is at this year’s North American Guild of Beer Writers Awards and British Guild of Beer Writers Awards, winning nods including Best Book, Best Technical Writing, and Best Travel Writing. It’s an understatement to say that we’re lucky to have her on the team.

One of the pleasures of my job is seeing Claire at work. Articles come in from our writers, and I get to watch Claire work with folks to produce some of the best beer writing on the internet. Every editor has a different approach to how they coach and guide writers, making small edits and suggestions as to how to really punch up an article. I saw this at work especially in a recent House Culture article we published by Helena Fitzgerald. Helena is a freelance writer who shared a beautiful story about stepping back from drinking while maintaining her love of bars, and it was lovely to see the touch points in the piece—the moments I knew Claire helped shape. I get to know Helena in this piece, but I also see Claire in there as well.

It’s funny writing this (and now saying it out loud), because I know Claire has to edit it—and I can imagine her brain working through this introduction that’s about her. It’s kind of a mind trip, but Claire makes us all better. I benefit so much from having her as editorial teammate, and I hope you see the flashes of her on our website like I do. They’re quiet and subtle, but when you find them, they shine brilliantly.

EP-253 Edwin Methu of Cloudwater Soda Jan 18, 2020

My guest today has been in beer sales for the best part of a decade and seen how fickle and complicated the trade can be.

Edwin Methu’s first job was at the infamous London Fields Brewery, an early innovator in the scene that slowly disintegrated due to the criminal dealings of its owner. Bouncing back from that he was part of a Camden Town Brewery sales team overseeing huge growth, before becoming a sales rep for Sierra Nevada at a time when local craft was forcing U.S. imports into decline.

It could be that diverse experience that made Cloudwater founder Paul Jones approach him for a sales role in his new venture, what was then named Good Call Soda. I’ll let Methu tell the story of his introduction to the brand and the idea of hopped soft drinks, but it’s clear that he loves a challenge and takes great satisfaction in changing people’s minds.

In the last year or so he’s turned those personality traits to a bigger cause. As a person of color in an almost exclusively white industry, Methu has always been self aware in his work and socializing but the experience of taking some friends to a beer festival turned that unease into a feeling that something had to be done. He has become a vocal campaigner for the beer scene to cast its net wider and bring in people of all backgrounds and to challenge prejudice in all its forms with no exceptions. He is no keyboard warrior either—as he tells me, in the wake of the Founders racism scandal he has spoken to many stockists and convinced them to stop stocking the brand at all. At the same time he loves to champion those working towards diversity and the benefits and joy it can bring everyone.

This is Edwin Methu of Cloudwater Soda, listen in.

OL-007 Besha Rodell Reads, "The Pub, the Farm, and the Forest — A Return to Narnia" Jan 16, 2020

Today on GBH Out Loud, you’ll hear Besha Rodell read her House Culture story called “The Pub, the Farm, and the Forest — A Return to Narnia,” published on November 14, 2019.

Our House Culture series goes beyond beer—it’s a place where we can share stories of critical engagement, and ask readers to look closely at the parts of life that make it worth drinking. In one of our most recent House Culture pieces, we asked Besha, who is a food and culture writer (she currently works for the New York Times reporting on the dining scene in Australia) to write a piece for us. As she shares, sometimes the stories closest to us—the ones about our very identity and the way we interact with the world—are the most challenging, and rewarding, to write.

Before Besha starts reading, you’ll hear her share how this beautiful essay came together—follow along as she reads by checking out her article at GoodBeerHunting.com.

This is Besha Rodell reading her article, “The Pub, the Farm, and the Forest — A Return to Narnia.” Listen in.

EP-252 Craig and Beth Wathen of City Beer Store Jan 11, 2020

City Beer Store isn’t a store. Well, it is, but in 2020 it has evolved far beyond that narrow description. It’s a beer and natural wine bar, a restaurant, a gathering space, a patio hangout on nice days, and yeah, sure, a bottle shop too. It’s many things all at once, and the store’s mascot, a platypus, represents that duality of the business.

Over the last decade or so, City Beer has joined the ranks of America’s great beer bars. And that wasn’t without a lot of hustle on the part of the owners, married couple Craig and Beth Wathen.

The two originally opened City Beer Store in 2006 in San Francisco’s South of Market, or SoMa, neighborhood, inside a tiny space on Folsom Street. They were way ahead of the curve, creating the type of business that, well, confused people. The pair fielded constant questions: Is it a bar? Or is it a store?

Whatever it was, it became very popular. Over the years, they came to outgrow the small room’s capacity, which was particularly clear during SF Beer Week or other major events. So when the opportunity arose to move into a bigger space, they took the leap, and in 2018 they reopened in a large restaurant space two blocks away.

Turns out, it was a massive undertaking. Its new digs are several times larger than the old City Beer, and in it, the Wathens now also run a food program. They have a bigger staff, a kitchen team, a broader selection in additional fridges, and more customers walking through the door every day.

While Beth handles the operations of the bar and restaurant, Craig oversees the beer selection for the taps and store. Despite the uptick in workload, he’ll often put in that face time himself with brewers, going on frequent runs to personally pick up kegs.

Between the two of them, there’s quite a lot to do, which begs the question: how can a small beer bar scale up so drastically? And what does the success of this kind of operation mean for beer retailers everywhere?

This is Craig and Beth Wathen of City Beer Store in San Francisco. Listen in.

OL-006 Michael Kiser Reads, "Goodbye to Goose Island's Clybourn Pub for a Season, and Forever." Jan 09, 2020

This is GBH Out Loud, and I’m Ashley Rodriguez. Today you’ll hear Michael Kiser read “Goodbye to Goose Island's Clybourn Pub for a Season, and Forever,” published on GoodBeerHunting.com on January 9, 2017.

Stories about bars and pubs usually focus on the patrons—the folks who rely on their regular spots for connection, a sense of place, or simply as a go-to destination where they can grab a drink with friends. But this article is different. It’s a snapshot of the last moments of Goose Island’s Clybourn Brew Pub in Chicago, and its biggest mourners—the folks who work there and have called this space their home for years.

The closing of Clybourn Pub—not forever but for renovations—was a moment that inspired GBH’s founder Michael to write a tribute. The Clybourn Pub was symbolic of many things for Michael. Sure, it would open again, but as a changed entity: looking new, different, perhaps more modern. Beyond that, its closing and renovation meant something more. It’s not quite clear what, and, as Michael states, he needed a moment to figure it all out.

This is Michael Kiser reading his article, “Goodbye to Goose Island’s Clybourn Pub for a Season, and Forever.” Listen in.

CL-043 Kate Bernot Reads All The Comments Jan 07, 2020

Hey! Did you hear we hired someone new?

We’re all excited to welcome Kate Bernot to the Good Beer Hunting team. She’s taking over as the lead at Sightlines, our news channel (don’t worry, Bryan Roth is still around, working on new projects and definitely making charts).

Kate brings years of experience to the team, which she put to good use pretty much from the moment she started. On day one of Kate’s new job with GBH, it was announced that Ballast Point Brewing Company would be sold to Kings & Convicts Brewing Company, a brewery in Highwood, Illinois. I live in Chicago and I had to Google where that was—and collectively, so did the rest of Beer Twitter, essentially shutting down the Kings & Convicts website when the news broke. Kate had to write her very first article for us about one of the biggest news stories in beer EVER.

As you probably know if you keep up with our site, Kate crushed it, reporting through all the noise that the news stirred up, and finding out some key facts that made clear how this sale was possible. Talk about on-the-job training—within hours of reporting for duty, Kate published one of the most comprehensive breakdowns of the Ballast Point sale out there. And today, we’re gonna learn more about how that story unfolded.

Likewise, we’re gonna learn more about Kate herself—for all the messages and emails flying around during that Ballast Point article, this is the first time I get some time to chat with her. Along with her stellar work for previous beer publications and her penchant for asking simple and straightforward questions, we quickly learned we at the office were making one fundamental mistake.

EP-251 Joel Kodner of West Palm Brewery Jan 04, 2020

One of the stories that I think often gets lost in 2019 craft beer is the experience of the brewpub brewer. All the noise—for better and worse—tends to come from packaging breweries, can releases, distribution, growth and expansion into new markets, and massive international invitationals. Most of that is not relevant to a brewpub brewer who’s focused on things like their local market, foot traffic, keeping serving tanks turning over, and serving restaurant guests a great beer.

Brewpubs are, in many ways, the backbone of the modern craft renaissance both in the ‘90s as well as the early oughts. So many people cut their teeth on brewpub systems. It’s where so many have their first craft beers. It’s the gateway for so much of the growth the craft sector has seen over the years. It’s also much more resilient to the ups and downs of that sector. Instead, its vulnerability comes from real estate prices and shifting demographics in their immediate radius—and the staff turnover that frequently plagues restaurants.

Brewpubs are another world.

And for today’s guest, that’s kind of the point.

Joel Kodner is the brewer at West Palm Brewery in West Palm Beach, Florida. It’s been a good shift for him away from the package-distribution-production-brewery part of the industry. He likes where it fits into his life, and the life it enables. But it’s also a weird seat to have at the craft beer shit show of 2019. It can feel isolating and a bit irrelevant to the larger conversation sometimes.

That tension has made Joel a prolific presence on Twitter and Instagram—where he shares a lot of his criticism, frustration, and hope for the industry. Sometimes with a sense of humor, sometimes with a sense of dread. But for me personally, it always feels entirely rational. He brings to light so many of the issues that haunt me and others in craft beer, and the way in which he articulates it all usually sums up those feelings in stark terms.

OL-005 Mark Spence Reads, "Squeeze, Never Pull" from Beer is Offal Dec 31, 2019

Today, you’ll hear Mark Spence read the third entry of his blog, Beer is Offal, called “Squeeze, Never Pull,” published on Good Beer Hunting on October 31, 2019.

This article is evocative—but not for the reason you might think. The subject matter—hunting and eating animals—is heavy, but the way Mark approaches it intentionally leaves the reader in a kind of gray area. Many of us might feel uncomfortable seeing an animal be killed, but deal with the cognitive dissonance of consuming meat. Mark approaches that uncertain space head on, and though he’s upfront about his decision to eat meat, his story shows that there are no simple and straightforward answers.

This is Mark Spence reading an entry of his blog, Beer is Offal, called “Squeeze, Never Pull.” Listen in.

EP-250 Steph and Phill Palgrave-Elliott of Caps and Taps Dec 28, 2019

Opening a bottle shop is many beer drinkers’ ultimate dream. After all, it’s hard to argue with a work day spent surrounded by delicious beers and excitable people, where passion and knowledge for a product can carry you through. Stock it and they will come.

Of course, if it were really that easy, we’d all be doing it. The beer industry is in a state of constant flux, and it seems that the retailer at the end of the chain is usually the first to suffer the consequences. The downfall of the British pub is well documented—if perhaps exaggerated—but fewer column or website inches are given over to stories from the independent off-trade.

Since the British craft boom kicked off around 2010, the scene has changed immeasurably, and the independent bottle shop is where all those forces are made visible. Fights break out over hyped releases, six-packs go to war over pricing, customers scan best-before dates, supermarkets steal customers, and rents skyrocket.

The fallout from most industry issues becomes clearest at the point of purchase—and that means bottle-shop owners have a wide view of the industry, and to some extent control the narrative about it, too. After all, they are the ones interacting with drinkers first-hand.

With that in mind, I headed to Caps and Taps, a small, independent bottle shop located at the bottom of Kentish Town Road in North London. Owners Phill and Steph Palgrave-Elliott are present at just about every industry event, tirelessly supporting the scene and its breweries whether in the shop or outside it. By committing to refrigerating their beers, stocking a wide range of Belgian releases, and making sure they have the licensing to serve on site, they have marked themselves out as one of the best places to drink and shop in North London. But it hasn’t been without its challenges—not least of which is the fact that a close competitor opened minutes away, just weeks after Caps and Taps did.

This is Phill and Steph of Caps And Taps. Listen in.

FF-026 Jim Plachy is not ordained and finally met an MLB The Show diehard Dec 24, 2019

Welcome to another Fervent Few episode of the Good Beer Hunting podcast where myself, Jim Plachy, and GBH’s strategic director, Michael Kiser, catch up. We’ll talk about the topics and discussions that took place in our membership community in the last couple weeks.

Our 500 or so subscribers are scattered all over the world. Sometimes we meet up with them when we’re on the road, or they hang out with each other, but it all comes together in our community forum on Slack. If you value the content and experiences that GBH produces, you should join.

Your monthly subscription gets you access to the community, special events, and exclusive gear deigned just for members.

I joined, and now I manage it all. Plus, it’s my favorite place on the Beer Internet.

Visit goodbeerhunting.com/ferventfew to strike up a conversation in beer.

EP-249 Jonny Coffman of Goose Island Beer Co. Dec 21, 2019

Today’s conversation is one of the hardest—and most edifying—that I’ve been lucky to have. It reaches that level of dialogue and storytelling that I think, on occasion, puts the GBH podcast on the level of oral history. It has nothing to do with me. It has everything to do with the quality of people who we’re lucky enough to have share their stories on this platform. And each guest of this caliber serves as a sort of searchlight to others who might find their way here next.

Jonny Coffman has been a bartender in Goose Island’s taproom, just down the street from our studio, for some time now. He’s worked in breweries and bars like Chicago’s Local Option, and serves as a warm, inviting face to the world of beer for so many. He’s the kind of unassuming and energetic person that makes you feel like you always made a great choice.

But the last four years of Jonny’s life—including a long, sprawling battle with cancer—challenged that disposition in the most profound ways. And they did so over and over again.

I recently ran into Jonny at the Goose Island taproom when he was celebrating the national release of the beer he helped design and that he and his colleagues used as a symbol to celebrate his new lease on life. That beer is called Lost Palate—for reasons you’ll hear about in excruciating detail in this interview. It’s a Hazy IPA with cinnamon, lactose, mango, and graham crackers. It’s a wild beer for Goose to have made. But Jonny is kind of a wild guy.

In the end, this interview is not about a beer. It’s actually a struggle for me to even talk about the beer itself in the context of this interview, but for Jonny it’s critical that we do. Rather, this interview is about all the things that this simple beer has come to represent—for Jonny, his colleagues, family and friends, and the message he hopes it carries to the rest of the world—as it spreads out onto shelves all across the country. This beer, and Jonny’s story, are going to pop up everywhere.

Fair warning that this is a long one—and the listening will be hard-going at times. It was for me and Jonny, too. But I know I walked away better for having heard it.

This is Jonny Coffman of Goose Island Beer Co. Listen in.

SL-017 Monies for Alcohol — How ABV Impacts Sales Dec 19, 2019

Here’s an odd thing that enthusiasts don’t always focus on when talking about beer, or wine, or spirits, or whichever hard seltzer brand we happen to be enjoying in the moment: they’re vehicles for alcohol. There may be tasting notes scribbled down or spoken aloud, and we may stop to reflect on what we just sipped, but the pure, biological impact isn’t always discussed when we’re quaffing something intoxicating. The moment you take your first sip, that ethanol-infused liquid is altering your body chemistry.

This is no surprise. We see the Alcohol By Volume—ABV—listed on the drinks we consume and feel it in our bodies. In the simplest terms, courtesy of Wikipedia: ABV is a “standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent).” In beer, a serving size is 12oz, and it’s easy to find a range of ABVs, from a 4% Gose to a 7% IPA, all the way up to a 12% Imperial Stout or a beer that really pushes the limits, like Dogfish Head Brewery’s 120 Minute IPA, which measures in at 18%. The higher the ABV, the more ethanol, and the stronger the impact each drink has on our brain and motor functions.

In casual and on-the-record conversations over the past year, I’ve been chatting with beer industry professionals about ABV and their impressions of its impact on the marketplace, related to sales and to consumer desires. There are all sorts of scenarios to weigh up—maybe you’re at a taproom, or strolling through your grocery store beer aisle. What are you thinking about? The occasion you’re going to have that beer? Who you’re with? What’s the time of day?

In one way or another, these considerations will likely make you consider the alcohol content of the beer you’re going to drink. Interestingly, in many of those chats I had with brewers and brewery owners, I kept hearing about an interest in higher-ABV products.

But how can that be? The past year has been full of stories on Good Beer Hunting and elsewhere about the rise of lower-ABV brands, or “better-for-you” products like Michelob Ultra (with an ABV of 4.2%) and Dogfish Head’s Slightly Mighty IPA, a 4% “lo-cal” India Pale Ale. On a monthly basis in 2019, local and national media outlets have been pumping out stories about a grand shift toward lower-ABV and lower-calorie beers. Which isn’t false. It’s also just not entirely true.

In a GBH Sightlines story from September, it was shown that almost all growth from in-store beer sales has come from higher-ABV brands, and it’s a shift that’s been happening for years. And just recently in November, more analysis showed a rising ABV level for some of the best-selling Stouts as weather got colder toward the end of each year.

So while all these narratives can take place at the same time, together they create a complex conversation about the aspect of craft beer that we don’t often discuss. That alcohol content? It’s got consequences.

OL-004 Bryan Roth Reads, "If You’re Not First, You’re Last — Why Michelob Ultra is the Most Important American Beer Since Bud Light" Dec 17, 2019

This is GBH Out Loud, and I’m Ashley Rodriguez. Today, you’ll hear Bryan Roth, editor of our news section, Sightlines, read an article from our Unrated series called “If You’re Not First, You’re Last — Why Michelob Ultra is the Most Important American Beer Since Bud Light,” published on Good Beer Hunting on October 17, 2018.

This article is is one of the most popular, and still most polarizing, pieces we’ve ever published on our website. And a lot of that has to do with the subject, Michelob Ultra. But the beer’s growth is undeniable, and on closer examination, Bryan discovers that this beer took off in a way that nobody ever expected.

This is Bryan Roth reading “If You’re Not First, You’re Last — Why Michelob Ultra is the Most Important American Beer Since Bud Light.” Listen in.

EP-248 Sam Victory of Wise Man Brewing Dec 14, 2019

One of my favorite aspects of hosting the chats you hear on the Good Beer Hunting podcast is the real-time accumulation of stories and insight from industry professionals. On a very basic level, many of these conversations become a time capsule: we’re capturing the thoughts, ideas, and experiences of those living in and changing the beer industry. It’s the personal side of what makes beer special.

In this episode, we’re traveling to Winston-Salem, North Carolina to visit Sam Victory, brewer and co-founder of Wise Man Brewing. His company has filled a unique space in the Tar Heel State, first making waves with hazy, juicy, New England IPAs while also being recognized on a national stage for barrel-aged beers, traditional German styles, and Wise Man’s Irish Red Ale, which won gold in its category at the 2019 Great American Beer Festival.

When I sat down with Sam, he was in the midst of R&D for a hard seltzer, and we spoke about what it takes to bring that kind of drink to consumers, as well as what it means to build a market for modern IPA. Like many of his peers, Sam came from outside the industry—a homebrewer gone pro—and we discuss the dramatic shift in moving from a lab job at a pharmaceutical company to the daily grind of a brewery.

Our conversation touches on the challenging realities of starting a brewery, let alone keeping it new and interesting to anyone who may be sitting down in the taproom—including, in this case, a roving reporter interested in learning more about how these things come to life.

This is Sam Victory of Wise Man Brewing. Listen in.

CL-042 Beth Demmon On The Punk Rock Version of The Secret Dec 12, 2019

Witches are having a moment in the current cultural zeitgeist. It’s impossible to ignore. And, as Beth Demmon mentions, the resurgence of witchcraft and wizardry have a sort of nostalgic feel that appeals to us older millennials.

Beth is a freelance writer, and published her first piece for Good Beer Hunting called, “Witch (Craft) Beer — How a New Wave of Brewers are Incorporating Magic into Beer,” as part of our Mother of Invention series with Guinness. In the article, Beth talks about modern-day brewers who utilize magic in their brewing. They range in type and tradition, from those that practice “chaos magic,” or what Beth calls the Punk Rock version of The Secret, to folks who rely on ideas and practices passed down from generation to generation, and employ specific rituals to brew their beer.

It might sound gimmicky, or perhaps a little silly, but we examine why that is. Where does the gimmick come from? Likewise, the stories that Beth tells and the folks she interviews reveal a level of intentionality, respect, and regard to history that transcend whatever preconceived notions you might have about the idea of magic. And they also reveal a lot about the way we view women—past and present—in the context of beer brewing.

We also talk about what it means to tell a story, as she says in the beginning, not a witch, and how to handle things like tradition and ancestral knowledge respectfully. We also talk about what a little bit of positive thinking—and perhaps a little magic—might have to do with Beth’s recent beer fortune. We start at the very beginning of this piece.

OL-003 Jonny Garrett Reads, “A Homebrewing Festival in the Arctic Circle” Dec 10, 2019

This is GBH Outloud, I’m Ashley Rodriguez. Today you’ll hear Jonny Garret reading the very first story he ever wrote for Good Beer Hunting. It’s called, “A Homebrewing Festival in the Arctic Circle,” published on goodbeerhunting.com on February 28, 2018.

This article is part of our GBH in Residence series, where we go beyond the brewery tour and the tasting room, and literally join the crew in their daily grind. For the Residence series, GBH spends a day or two working alongside brewers, cidermakers, cellarmen and delivery drivers. It's what the craft industry looks like on its own terms. And in this case, Jonny goes all the way to the Arctic Circle to follow a homebrewing festival and taste perhaps some of the wildest, weirdest, and most interesting beers you can imagine.

As you can imagine, getting to the Arctic circle isn’t easy. Before Jonny starts reading, you’ll hear him share his experiences about what it takes to actually get there—follow along as he reads and shares stories of this adventure by checking out his article at goodbeerhunting.com.

This is Jonny Garrett reading his article, “A Homebrewing Festival in the Arctic Circle.” Listen in.

EP-247 Phil Sexton of Giant Steps Winery and Matilda Bay Brewing Dec 07, 2019

This is Luke Robertson, and you’re listening to the Good Beer Hunting podcast.

When it was announced in October of this year that Phil Sexton would be opening a Matilda Bay Brewing Company brewpub, the entire Australian beer industry did a double-take. If we were in a cartoon, we would’ve removed a hip-flask from under our coats and sworn off drinking. To say it was a surprise is underselling it.

Sexton cofounded Matilda Bay in the early ’80s. He left in the early ’90s after the publicly listed company was taken over by Carlton United Breweries (CUB). From there he went to the States to become brewmaster at the now-shuttered BridgePort Brewing Company, where he created BridgePort IPA, one of the early West Coast IPAs.

Then, back in West Australia, he teamed up with the old Matilda Bay crew to open a new brewery called Little Creatures. Its flagship Pale Ale played a big part in the next wave of craft beer in Australia, and the Fremantle brewpub is still a pilgrimage for Australian beer lovers 20 years later.

Like Matilda Bay, Little Creatures was publicly listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and was eventually taken over—this time by the Kirin-subsidiary, Lion. From there, Sexton focused on his other passion: wine. He launched two brands in the Yarra Valley, just outside of Melbourne, and for a while it looked like he was done with beer.

In his absence, Matilda Bay has been increasingly driven by marketers. The popular Fat Yak Pale Ale was spun off into its own brand, called Yak Brewing, and old favorites from the Matilda Bay range such as Redback Wheat Beer and Dogbolter Dark Lager were found in fewer and fewer places. Matilda Bay’s only recent launch is a beer called Frothy. Followers of Australian beer immediately pointed out its similarity to Lion Breweries’ Furphy, a Kölsch-influenced easy drinker. Frothy has the same-colored packaging, is a similar style, and even the names look and sound the same. While CUB says it was designed independently, the imitation is obvious and disappointing. For longterm Matilda Bay fans, it was a death knell for an old favorite … or so we thought.

Much has changed since Sexton left the beer world, especially with his old brands. Only in the past year, it was announced that Matilda Bay owner CUB would be sold by AB InBev to Asahi. Lion is also buying New Belgium Brewing, while BridgePort was a casualty of the competitive market.

Now that Sexton in joining forces with his old brand again, however, I wanted to find out why—and hear his thoughts on the chaos that is beer in 2019.

This is Phil Sexton of Giant Steps Winery and Matilda Bay Brewing. Listen in.

SL-016 Rebel vs. Regulator Pt. 2 Dec 05, 2019

Welcome to the Sightlines podcast from Good Beer Hunting. I’m Jonny Garrett.

Yesterday we released a podcast interview with John Timothy, chief executive of the Portman Group, which is an independent regulator for advertising and marketing in the U.K. alcohol industry.

If you missed it, we recommend giving that a listen before today’s episode, where we’re going to see how the regulatory system the Portman Group has put in place works in the real world. According to my first guest, it doesn’t work at all.

Today you’ll hear from two breweries who have gone through the complaints process more than once. Tiny Rebel Brewing Company first went in front of the complaints panel in 2017 with its award-winning Red Ale, Cwtch. One complainant in a supermarket had written to the Portman Group saying the beer’s bright colors and bear logo appealed to under-18s. The brewery states its case in writing but the panel agreed with the complainant, and suggested several changes to the packaging to avoid the brand potentially being delisted by major stockists.

Tiny Rebel was forced to redesign its best-selling beer at the cost of well over £10,000. Despite this, just a few weeks ago, the owners found themselves writing to the panel again to defend themselves after a similar complaint from a customer in a supermarket.

It’s the first time in the Portman Group’s 30-year history that a product has been up against the panel twice. In theory it shouldn’t ever happen if the brewery takes the advice in the judgment. Tiny Rebel made major changes to its design, but was it enough? We spoke to Tiny Rebel cofounder Bradley Cummings about the context of the complaint, and how the ruling went.

For added perspective, I also chat to Nick Dwyer, the art director at Beavertown Brewery. Nick has also had several encounters with the Portman Group during his tenure, and shares thoughts about his experiences.

This is the Sightlines podcast—listen in.

SL-015 Rebel vs. Regulator Pt. 1 Dec 03, 2019

Welcome to the Sightlines podcast from Good Beer Hunting. I’m Jonny Garrett.

If you’re a beer drinker in the U.K., you’ve probably heard of the Portman Group: it’s the independent regulator for advertising and marketing in the U.K. alcohol industry. But if that sounds a little dry, you could also refer to it as the “pantomime villain” of the industry. Funded by eight multinational drinks companies, including Heineken and Diageo, it produces an annual code of conduct through wide consultation with the industry and consumers.

The aim of the code is to encourage producers to advertise their products responsibly: guidelines cover everything from safe levels of consumption to not appealing to children and not implying sexual success as a result of drinking. Any member of the public can make a complaint to the Portman Group, and an independent panel will use the code to determine if the ad or product is in breach.

As a self-regulatory body, the Portman Group is supposed to be a better alternative to further legislation from the U.K. government.

However, the Portman Group comes in for a lot of criticism, and not just because it has to act as the sensible one at the bottle share. Good Beer Hunting first wrote about it in December 2017, in an article titled “Are the UK’s Largest Drinks Corporations Regulating the Brands of Their Smaller Competitors?” in relation to a complaint made against Tiny Rebel Brewing Company. Remember that name.

The fact that the regulatory body is funded purely by multinational companies causes a great deal of mistrust and conspiracy among smaller producers and their fans. Despite the fact that the whole industry has a say on the code each year, there are plenty who believe many of its rules are draconian, too. The complaint process also comes under attack—breweries who choose to fight can spend thousands on legal costs, sacrifice staff time and, if they lose, create redesigns off the back of one complaint.

What follows is a candid conversation with the Portman Group’s chief executive John Timothy. We talk about how the process works, as well as how he keeps the judges independent and limits impact judgments can have on small, inexperienced businesses.

Shortly after recording this episode, however, we found out that Tiny Rebel had just gone up against the panel for a second time for the same product, and lost again. To find out more, we spoke to the brewery’s cofounder Bradley Cummings, who explained his great frustration at the process and what he believes is hypocrisy within it. We’ll be releasing that interview in a second episode, out tomorrow.

For now though, let’s hear Timothy’s approach to regulating a fast-growing and creative industry. Listen in.

Into the Wild: Raleigh Dec 03, 2019

Welcome to the third episode of Into the Wild: part of our six-city tour across the U.S. with New Belgium this year. I’m Ashley Rodriguez, and together with GBH’s creative director Michael Kiser, we headed to the city of Raleigh, North Carolina for three days of great food, fantastic drinks, and unique events celebrating the specialness of sour and wild beers.

EP-246 Pete Holt of Howling Hops Brewery Nov 30, 2019

London is blessed with hundreds of great pubs. But for me one stands tall above the rest: a beacon of everything that is great about this British institution. It also happens to be my local.

The Southampton Arms in Kentish Town, North London feels like it’s been there forever—it’s all worn wood, rickety chairs, stained walls, and sepia photos. It breaks all the perceived rules of running a pub. Up until last year it had 12 cask lines, six cider lines, and just two keg lines. It didn’t take cash and only served a few bar snacks. It had a one-page website and an almost untouched Twitter account. On paper it shouldn’t work, and yet the perfectly kept casks flowed constantly. Things have changed a little since then, but not by much. On a Monday night, during the live piano performances, you can hardly move; on Tuesday, during the pub quiz, the same drunk man screams questions over the top of people’s heads at the bar. Even at the height of winter, Friday and Saturday crowds spill out into the tiny backyard area, blocking the way to the outhouse toilet. It’s the most effortlessly welcoming, cozy pub I have ever been to, and it quickly became my favorite pub in the world.

Amazingly, it only celebrated its 10-year anniversary in November. Its cofounder, Pete Holt, is a soft-spoken guy who has that enviable skill of seeming to like exactly what everyone else likes. Despite the rise of keg beer and gastropubs he wanted to open a simple real ale boozer, and it seems everyone in North London approved.

He did the same with the Cock Tavern in Hackney, when he opened the borough’s first brewpub in 2011. Howling Hops started in the basement but just a few years later expanded to its own brewery and taproom site in Hackney Wick, where it now pours a wide range of beers straight from the tanks. Its beers are staunchly modern and usually hop-forward, but you’ll still see lots of Howling Hops casks at the Southampton sat next to breweries that have been stocked for the full decade—breweries like Marble, Thornbridge, Moor, and Oakham.

In my conversation with Pete, we talk about the inspiration behind his three sites; the unique challenges of running a business that spans production, logistics and serving; and what it’s been like to watch London change over a decade through the lens of beer.

This is Pete Holt of Howling Hops. Listen in.

CL-041 Claire Bullen Likes Kveik, Puts a Ring on It Nov 26, 2019

A year ago we launched a series of stories underwritten by Guinness called Mother of Invention. The beer industry is often spurred on by the need to meet new necessity with invention. This leads to all sorts of unique evolutionary paths in the history of beer, from making to selling to drinking. These articles explore the innovations, big and small, old and new, that have transformed the beer in your hand in surprising ways.

One of my favorites from this series—“A Fire Being Kindled — The Revolutionary Story of Kveik, Norway’s Extraordinary Farmhouse Yeast”—was written by Claire Bullen, our editor-in-chief. She was interested in digging in to the origin of the kveik family of yeast, which first earned international acclaim thanks to articles published by Norwegian writer and beer enthusiast Lars Marius Garshol on his blog, Larsblog. His discoveries and writings have since inspired thousands of homebrewers to reimagine the craft of farmhouse-style brewing, using a category of yeast that had been preserved by traditional brewers in western Norway. But how has this new experimentation and investigation influenced commercial breweries? And what are the benefits and opportunities kveik affords those who are willing to take the risks?

Talking to Claire about the content of the story, but also the process of the reporting itself, reveals a lot of the questions and excitement behind kveik’s meteoric rise.

This is Claire Bullen, GBH’s editor-in-chief. Listen in.

EP-245 Dustin Sepkowski of 33 Acres Nov 23, 2019

When you’re a brewery that’s built on a very specific intent—the way you look, the beers you make, the kind of hospitality you provide—there’s a significant amount of behind-the-scenes work that’s needed to bring those elements to life. And when you’re regarded as one of the best in your domain, that creates an interesting tension: what does improvement mean, when you’re already, in some ways, at the top?

In this episode, we’re posing this philosophical question (and others) to Dustin Sepkowski, operations manager at Vancouver’s 33 Acres Brewing Company, which has won a host of British Columbia beer awards—including the nod for 2018 Brewery of the Year, as named by the BC Craft Brewers Guild.

Among its many accolades, the brewery is a two-time silver medalist at the World Beer Cup, finishing second overall in 2016 and 2018 for 33 Acres of Euphoria, its Belgian-Style Tripel. Dustin and I talk about this achievement, and how it’s impacted the brand, the brewery, and the other beers they make. When you’re brewing—objectively speaking, in terms of awards judging—the second-best Tripel in the world, what’s to fix? Apparently, quite a bit. And the reverberations are also felt by other beers in the 33 Acres portfolio. If you’ve ever wondered what breweries do with notes from these competitions, this conversation provides some insight into the resulting work and tweaks that happen behind the scenes—regardless of how high you finish.

We’ll also talk a bit about functioning within the British Columbia beer scene, and the story behind 33 Acres’ distinctive positioning—from its open white spaces to its unique flavor experiences, and even its self-published zine. All are designed to give visitors a better idea of the people behind the company, and what they want to offer those who drink their beer.

In a place, and within a scene, that’s sometime perceived as being behind the times, this is just one example of a business working to change that perception.

This is Dustin Sepkowski of 33 Acres. Listen in.

CL-040 Jonny Garrett is a Crispy Boi Nov 19, 2019

Welcome to the Good Beer Hunting Collective podcast, the show where members of our team interview each other to get the behind-the-scenes look at some of our favorite articles. I’m Claire Bullen, and I’m the Editor-in-Chief at Good Beer Hunting.

One of the greatest pleasures of my job is fielding pitches that our writers send in, which range from the bold to the brilliant to the baffling. Recently, GBH staff writer Jonny Garrett sent in an idea that was a mix of all three; as soon as it came into my inbox, I remember thinking—“this is something we have to publish.” That pitch evolved into his recent piece, “TL;DR – Tracing the Origins of Beer Language, from Michael Jackson to Emojis,” which is part of our Mother of Invention series, underwritten by Guinness.

With this article, Jonny set himself an almost impossibly expansive task: examine the history and evolution of modern beer writing, from the groundbreaking author and beer personality Michael Jackson, who helped codify a formal language around beer in the ’70s and ’80s, all the way up to today’s frenzy of Twitter timelines, Instagram captions, and Untappd reviews. As the article’s title suggests, Jonny even digs into the role that emojis play in beer writing.

In researching his article, Jonny spoke to linguists and delved into the history books. He also examined how wine-tasting notes came to be, talked to one of Beer Twitter’s most infamous wordsmiths, and spent more than a little time scrolling through his various social media feeds. The result is an up-to-the-minute piece with a unique, metacritical scope. In the space of just a few thousand words, he manages to touch on everything from the debate around the term “craft beer” and the way that specialized vocabulary functions within niche communities to “crispy bois” and dank memes.

It’s a remarkable piece of writing, and it may well change the way you think about and describe beer forever. If you haven’t yet read his article, you can find that on GoodBeerHunting.com. For now, tune in and listen as Jonny describes how the idea for this article first came about.

EP-244 Mike Willis of West Craft Specialty Imports Nov 16, 2019

When we think of beer from north of the American border, classic names like Molson or Labatt may easily come to mind. But as in the U.S., there has been a long shift taking place in the Canadian beer scene. Even though the entire country has roughly the same number of breweries as the state of California, there's a burgeoning community driving an industry to crank out new flavors and styles inspired by what's taken place in the U.S.

In today's episode we're talking with someone who's watched this change with great interest. Mike Willis runs West Craft Specialty Imports, which brings a variety of beverages into British Columbia. His portfolio—focused almost entirely on barrel-aged beers and other releases in the sour or tart wheelhouse—creates a unique situation for West Craft. At a time when those types of beers may seem a bit intimidating or odd for BC beer drinkers, he's leaning in hard, hoping the market is just on the cusp of opening up.

It's a novel business strategy in terms of getting ahead of the game, but the intent isn't new. Mike is used to taking risks. He organized Vancouver’s Hopwired Festival, based off Good Beer Hunting's own Uppers & Downers, which brings together coffee and beer. There's also his Fruit Beer Fest and Wild Night Out, the latter of which showcases world-renowned producers like Cantillon, Hill Farmstead, and more.

The start of this conversation hits on all of these elements, from determining a market in advance of consumers and pushing discovery of funky beers to the exciting combination of beer and coffee. The second half of our chat was particularly telling, in terms of digging into what Willis wants to accomplish in the future.

After talking about the challenges of selling beer, we get to the core of what he's trying to do: foster community and forge relationships in a way that brings him happiness. It's a bit of a cliché—talking about how beer brings people together—but as you'll hear, there is a deep personal connection running underneath everything Willis does. This isn't just moving product—it's finding meaning. Let's grab our passports and head to Vancouver.

This is Mike Willis of West Craft Specialty Imports. Listen in.

SL-014 Protest Beer "Fuck PG&E" Unleashes Fury of Internet Trolls Nov 12, 2019

If you’re a regular Sightlines reader, you may have come across a story we published on Nov. 1 called “A Show of Hands – Breweries Take Political and Business Risks Mixing Beer and Social Stances.” The idea behind that piece was to give context around the space where political opinion and the beer business collide, all while poking at the question, as it relates to breweries engaging with drinkers: “Is taking action inevitable?”

As part of reporting for that story, David Faris, an associate professor of political science at Roosevelt University and a host of Good Beer Hunting’s Electing to Drink podcast, said this: "When the president himself gets involved in deeply divisive cultural-political issues and won't let them go, he forces people to take into consideration actions they never would have thought about before."

In this Sightlines podcast, you’ll hear from a California brewery owner facing this exact situation, creating an audio connection to the anecdotes and analysis from that written story. In the midst of wildfire season in California, one man decided to vent his frustration via the name of a new beer, creating backlash and leading to online trolling.

On Nov. 6, Santa Rosa, California's Shady Oak Barrel House posted a photo of a hazy, hop-forward beer to social media channels, announcing: "Happy hump day with a new beer release!!!"

The post continued: "FUCK PG&E is a classic California pale ale, featuring Cashmere and Simcoe hops and a touch of malt sweetness. Coming in at 5.8%, come try it for happy hour!!!!" It finished the announcement with four exclamation points before reminding readers that trivia was set to start at 7 p.m. that evening.

Things were quiet until a few days later when online trolls came in, attacking the brewery and owner Steve Doty. Angry comments and one-star Yelp reviews flooded Shady Oak’s online footprint after Doty made the decision to vent anger toward energy company Pacific Gas & Electric Company with the beer’s name. PG&E is in the midst of a host of legal troubles stemming from damage, death, and injuries caused by wildfires started by PG&E equipment in the past four years. At times, those fires have caused chaos while destroying vast acres of land, numerous homes, and forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents.

In 2018, all the California wildfires combined amounted to just over 8,500 fires. In total, they burned almost 2 million acres. And that’s becoming commonplace: each fall, you probably hear something about a major wildfire in the Golden State, including right now.

Doty could have chosen any other name—or no specific name at all and just used the beer’s style—but we’ll let him give some background on what led to this decision. This is the Sightlines podcast. Listen in.

OL-002 Mark Spence Reads The Second Entry from "Beer is Offal," Called "Load of Baloney" Nov 11, 2019

The is GBH Out Loud, and I’m Ashley Rodriguez. Today, you’ll hear Mark Spence read the second entry of his blog, Beer is Offal, called “Load of Baloney,” published on Good Beer Hunting on September 27, 2019.

In this article, Mark extols the virtues of an unlikely hero: baloney. Before he starts, he tells us all about his rituals surrounding the lunch meat—the exact way he likes to eat it, and the perfect ingredients for a baloney sandwich. As is the case with all of Mark’s stories, we learn that this story is about much more than just deli meat.

This is Mark Spence reading an entry of his blog, Beer is Offal, called “Load of Baloney.” Listen in.

EP-243 Em Sauter of Pints and Panels Nov 09, 2019

There are so many ways you can engage with the beer world on a professional level—but few are more ambitious that attempting to become a Master Cicerone.

The term “Cicerone” is still a relatively new concept in the beverage world—but you’ve probably heard of a Master Sommelier in the wine industry. It’s not exactly the same thing—for example, the Cicerone exam focuses significantly on troubleshooting draft technology—but they’re similar in that both require an intense knowledge base (both historic and contemporary), as well as a master-level tasting ability.

For most people, it takes hundreds of hours of study, an almost full-time dedication and focus to pull it off. And even then, almost everyone fails.

In today’s conversation, I sit down with Em Sauter: a cartoonist and beer educator who found herself compelled towards beer for some not-so-obvious reasons. When we speak, she’s preparing to take her second Master Cicerone exam the day after we record.

It’s an incredibly tense, existential time. I mean, she’s already been through all this once, failed, and is coming back for more with no guarantee that she’ll make it this time either. But for the purposes of capturing an oral history of a time, person, and place in beer, it couldn’t be more perfect.

This is Em Sauter of Pints and Panels. Listen in.

CL-039 Beca Grimm’s LiveJournal Password is Probably a Saves The Day Reference Nov 07, 2019

There’s always more to every story you read. As a writer, I’m perpetually intrigued by the choices other writers make—what to include, what to cut—and I’m especially interested in people who are super clear about who their work is for. Part of that is selfish: I host a podcast, called Boss Barista, that I describe as a feminist coffee podcast—I like to let people know what they’re in for from the get-go, and that they’re probably not going to hear light coffee chatter. And for the first time ever, I got to talk to someone who uses the exact same language to describe their own project.

Beca Grimm is an Atlanta-based freelance writer and co-founder of the zine Dope Girls, which describes itself as a feminist cannabis culture zine. Beca also lends her talents to Good Beer Hunting, writing articles, also called Dope Girls, about the issues surrounding cannabis as it becomes legalized around the country. Along with her latest article, which profiles Lowell Farms: A Cannabis Cafe in West Hollywood, Beca tackles really fundamental questions surrounding the growing cannabis market. She also keeps one foot on the ground, reminding us that, as the cannabis market grows, there are people whose voices are often not heard. Dope Girls is an attempt to elevate those voices, as they talk about issues of gender, race, and clemency in their articles.

Along with these serious issues, during this conversation we also talk about the grind of freelancing, and what it’s like to hound editors for money or feedback, and wax poetic about being a freelancer for GBH. Spoiler alert: it rules, partially because of our amazing editorial team, whom Beca talks about, and partially because you can actually count on getting paid. But moreso because the connection between cannabis and beer isn’t a far one, and as Beca discovers, there are more similarities than she ever imagined.

EP-242 Mark Legenza of On Tour Brewing Nov 02, 2019

Today’s guest is one of the most unassuming brewery owners in Chicago: Mark Legenza of On Tour Brewing Company. On Tour is located in the brewery district that’s popped up around Goose Island’s Fulton Street production facility. The area is now home to half-a-dozen breweries and as many coffee roasters, and it’s where the GBH Studio is located, too.

So why is it that he hasn’t been on the GBH Podcast before? Well, it’s definitely my fault. It’s one of those situations when familiarity creates a sort of blindness. On Tour is where our team goes for many of our end-of-week happy hours. We’ve said goodbye to colleagues there, and welcomed new ones. It’s even where I temporarily recorded a podcast episode while our Studio was being built out down the street. On Tour is an automatic destination for me. And so much of this podcast is an exercise in seeking out what I don’t already know.

But today I’m happy to remedy that with Mark. On Tour previously won the Very Small Brewing Company award, only 10 months after opening, at the Great American Beer Festival. And this year it finally launched into packaging for the first time, with a Pilsner and a Pale Ale. They’re two releases that define what this place is so damn good at: making classic beers that taste quintessential. In today’s craft beer world, tasting a Pale Ale or a Brown Ale of exceptional quality is almost the exotic thing.

So I’m pleased to sit down with our neighbor, and owner of On Tour Brewing Co. in Chicago, Mark Legenza. Listen in.

CL-038 Bryan Roth Asks For a Third Time Oct 31, 2019

Today I’m going to catch up with our Sightlines editor and lead contributor, Bryan Roth.

It’s been a busy couple of years for Bryan, but this past week’s range of stories is evidence of all the ways Sightlines has become essential reading for our audiences. From proactive analysis of the Denver scene as Colorado retail laws shift to digging into the closure of Lagunitas’ Community Room in Portland to keeping up with the shifting responses to the Founders racial discrimination case, and sensitively reporting a story of that importance—it’s all in a week’s work for Bryan.

So we’ll catch up on how all that reporting came to be, and what he’s working on next. But we’ll especially dig into the process behind the Founders stories that he’s written, as well as the other essential updates that have been published by a range of publications. In fact, that’s turned into a new part of the site called FYI, which is designed to keep track of all the updates in a major story in one place—and which you can find by going to GoodBeerHunting.com/FYI/Founders.

This is Bryan Roth, Good Beer Hunting’s Sightlines editor. Listen in.

EP-241 Hayes Humphreys and Jason Oliver of Devils Backbone Oct 26, 2019

What happens to a brewery when a game-changing opportunity comes along? There have been 11 buyouts of American breweries by Anheuser-Busch InBev since 2011, and in this episode, we're getting some insight from one of them.

Roseland, Virginia's Devils Backbone Brewing Company was brought into the AB InBev network—now known as the Brewer’s Collective—in 2016. At the time it was producing 65,000 barrels per year, and grew to about 80,000 in 2018. When it was acquired, Devils Backbone was known for selling the top craft six-pack in its home state: Vienna Lager. A lot has changed since.

Today, Devils Backbone is expanding in a variety of ways. It's not just the number of barrels or headquarters nestled in the mountains of Virginia. Now, there's hard lemonade, and canned cocktails. New beers and expanded packaging to move higher volumes of beers like Vienna Lager and Gold Leaf Lager, now in 15-packs. Whereas the business once eyed steady growth to stay competitive in Virginia, its success in the Mid-Atlantic is now a real thing, with shoppers in grocery and convenience stores interacting with the brand across increased shelf space.

So what happens to a brewery when this takes place? We're going to find out from two perspectives.

First, you'll hear from Hayes Humphreys, the COO of Devils Backbone, who brings a point of view that ranges as far and wide as the potential reach of the company. That's followed by a conversation with brewmaster Jason Oliver, and we'll get a little in the weeds with him about what his job has been like, and what's changed for someone who’s been with the company since 2008.

These chats offer perspective on Devils Backbone’s continuing evolution, and I hope they’ll give you additional understanding of what life is like for one of AB InBev's core craft brands.

This is Hayes Humphreys and Jason Oliver of Devils Backbone. Listen in.

CL-037 J. Nikol Jackson-Beckham Pulls the Thread Oct 24, 2019

If you’re part of the beer world, you’ve probably heard folklore about our Founding Fathers—the men who signed the Constitution, the first American presidents—brewing their own beer. That’s an appealing story, a fun tidbit you might tell a friend when they ask you about your own brewing adventures.

And yet, how critically have we regarded this story? Think about the timeframe folks like George Washington or Thomas Jefferson were operating in. Both men, the first and third presidents of the United States, respectively, were slaveholders. And it’s much more likely—guaranteed, even—that their slaves, not them, were the actual brewers.

Dr. J Nikol Jackson-Beckham pulled at the thread of this tale to point out its logical fallacies, and to shine a light on the actual brewers, specifically Peter Hemings, in her piece, “Missing Ingredients — The (Incomplete) Story of Thomas Jefferson’s Unsung Brewer,” which was published on our website on December 12, 2018.

The path to this story wasn’t quite linear for Dr. J, as she’s known throughout the beer world. Dr. J, who has a PhD in Communication & Cultural Studies, and who uses her training to study the beer world, started having inklings about this story as she was still working on PhD, but couldn’t quite find a place for it. We’ve all had this happen—a brilliant idea strikes us while we’re working on a different project, and we can’t exactly articulate where it belongs. So it stayed with her. For almost a decade. Now, in our conversation, she shares more about its long evolution—and its rewarding payoff.

This is the Good Beer Hunting Collective podcast. Here’s Dr. J.

EP-240 Theresa Bale of Temescal Brewing Oct 19, 2019

Welcome to the Good Beer Hunting Podcast. I’m Ashley Rodriguez.

I remember the very first time I went to Temescal Brewing in Oakland, California. I had been watching the buildout for months, waiting in anticipation. You could step outside of my apartment building and see it from the corner. So when they finally opened, I was excited—and pleasantly surprised by the number of crushable, low-ABV beers they offered from the get-go. I was immediately on board.

My relationship with Temescal Brewing is a mirror of my time in Oakland, initially because of proximity—I could throw a load of clothes in the washing machine and have a beer as I waited to transfer them to the dryer. Eventually, however, it evolved into a closer connection with the folks who ran the brewery. I was used to talking with the bartenders—at that time there were maybe six or seven regular folks I’d see—and eventually I ended up joining the bar staff, and being forever changed not just by the way they brew beer, but by the way they hire, the way they advocate for the rights of others, and the way they became a guiding light for businesses seeking to operate ethically and responsibly.

A lot of what I love about Temescal comes from owner Sam Gilbert, who we interviewed on this podcast a couple of weeks ago, but also from then-taproom manager Theresa Bale. Theresa hired me back in the day, and is also the founder of Queer First Friday, the Bay’s only craft-beer-focused queer dance party. Every first Friday of the month, Temescal holds one of the most exciting and inclusive queer events in the area. From queer families who bring their children in at the beginning of the night to folks hopping on the dance floor to new performers, DJs, and singers showcasing their talents for the very first time, Queer First Friday is one of the loveliest celebrations of diversity and inclusion that I’ve encountered. And it’s all because of Theresa.

In this episode, we talk a lot about Queer First Friday—I was at the very first one, slinging beers from the outside bar, slightly overwhelmed by the number of people who showed up, clamoring to get in, and we also talk about how Theresa thinks about hiring for diversity. Theresa isn’t shy about this—she’s intentional, she’s open, and she makes a point to seek out bartenders who maybe don’t have a ton of experience or know that much about beer. Because, for Theresa, to build a truly inclusive staff, you have to look outside the corners and social networks you know.

I could talk about Temescal and what it means to me forever. But I’ll let Theresa, who recently transitioned from taproom manager to head of operations, a job she created for herself, tell the story. This is Theresa Bale, head of operations for Temescal Brewing in Oakland, California. Listen in.

CL-036 Luke Robertson Opens the World's Tiniest Pop-Up Oct 18, 2019

Welcome to the Good Beer Hunting Collective podcast, the show where members of our team interview each other to get a behind-the-scenes look at our favorite articles. I’m Jonny Garrett, and I’m a staff writer and podcaster here at Good Beer Hunting.

In our Mother of Invention series with Guinness, we’ve been looking at the great innovations in beer—ideas that have changed or could change the course of the industry.

In the context of brewing, invention can mean a lot of different things. Usually it implies the discovery of something new: an ingredient, a recipe, a process, a piece of equipment. But sometimes, it means looking back to find something we lost along the way. Luke Robertson, a GBH writer in Australia, found one of those things hanging from a washing line at a house party.

A “goon” is the Aussie term for a bag of wine, and staggeringly, during the ’80s and ’90s, the goon accounted for over half of all wine sales in Australia.

While that trend has died due to the product’s association with poor quality, the bag-in-box format has started to take off in the beer world for styles that don’t require much—or indeed any—carbonation. That means lightly sparkling British ales and, of course, Lambic. Luke and I start with the remarkable history of the bag-in-box and its invention in Australia, then muse on the benefits it might have when reapplied to beer. Along the way we dig into the party game, Goon of Fortune—and explain why that bag of wine ended up on a washing line—as well as the difficulties of talking to some older, less press-friendly Belgian breweries.

We also discuss Luke’s role at the Independent Brewers Association, which supports and represents small Australian breweries. The IBA just held this year’s conference in Melbourne, during which Luke was on a panel about mental well-being.

This is Luke Robertson, GBH writer. Listen in.

EP-239 Greg Wells of We Are Beer Oct 12, 2019

I remember the first London Craft Beer Festival like it was yesterday. It was actually six years ago, but I distinctly recall the excited atmosphere, revelatory flavor of Pressure Drop’s new foraged Hefeweizen, and the look on my friend’s face as he tried his first Saison.

It’s easy to recall because it felt like the start of something—not just for the festival itself, but the beer industry. It was just one small room, a few hundred people, and a handful of volunteers, but many of the young brewers pouring beers would go on to run multi-million-pound companies.

I’ll let founder Greg Wells tell the origin story himself, but it’s as organic, chaotic, and risky as any brewery launch would be. In the time since, however, the London Craft Beer Festival has grown to welcome over 9,000 people every year, and has sprouted offshoots in Edinburgh, Bristol, and Birmingham, with more destinations in the pipeline. With business partner Dan Sylvester, Wells went on to form We Are Beer, an umbrella company that is close to becoming a multi-million-pound concern itself.

As the company grows, Wells has found himself fighting to keep the fresh experience of that first festival—to retain the sense of excitement and wonder for those who are new to beer, while making sure those deeper into the scene have plenty new to see, too.

We talk about how he has brought in other cultures and ideas, tried to encourage diversity, and support the brewers who want to grow—all with the aim of helping good beer reach the mainstream.

While doing this, Wells has had to balance his deep love of beer with making a profit, and we spend a lot of time talking about the conflict that creates, including their decision to allow breweries who sell to multinationals to still attend, and to take sponsorship from a Heineken subsidiary.

All this to say, running a beer festival—indeed four of them—isn’t half as easy as many revelers might think, but it’s a vital part of beer’s battle to reach and convert new drinkers.

This is Greg Wells of We Are Beer. Listen in.

OL-001 Mark Spence Reads The First Entry from his Blog Called, "Beer is Offal" Oct 10, 2019

This is GBH Out Loud, a new series where we invite authors and staff members to read their favorite articles out loud, and provide tidbits and secret stories about the work that went into producing them. I’m Ashley Rodriguez.

Today you’ll hear Mark Spence read the first entry in his new blog, Beer is Offal called, “Fuck it, Let’s Go,” published on Good Beer Hunting on September 13, 2019.

Beer is Offal is a food blog—treating life like four burners and a hot oven. And it goes beyond just talking about food. It’s emotional, it’s captivating, and it finds deep connections between ourselves and the things we choose to eat. Expect to see entries on our website monthly.

This is Mark Spence, reading the first entry of his blog, Beer is Offal called, “Fuck it, Let’s Go.” Listen in.

EP-238 Sarah Bennett, beer and food writer Oct 05, 2019

Take it from me: Journalism, as a career, is a difficult one to hold in 2019’s socio, political, and economic climate. For some though, like today’s guest, LA-area writer and editor Sarah Bennett, it’s way more than a job. It’s how to support her community and the underrepresented voices within it. It’s a way to elevate those who really keep Los Angeles great.

Sarah was formerly a beer and arts contributor to LA Weekly, the premiere Southern California alt weekly publication. But that was before the magazine was purchased by a shadowy, allegedly politically-motivated group of investors who wound up firing most of the weekly’s in-house staff. Since then, the new LA Weekly has invoked the ire of many in the independent journalism world.

Quickly, a group of expat writers and editors regrouped, and created their own new home in a quarterly magazine called The LAnd, where Sarah serves as managing editor. But it’s hardly her only hustle.

Sarah also works as editor at the Long Beach Post, a city publication chronicling the happenings of the large but relatively insular Long Beach community. Here, Bennett studies local restaurants, and, very importantly, beer, among a few other things.

Months ago, Sarah asked me to appear at the California Craft Beer Summit to discuss beer and journalism with other beer writers and gathered brewers.

A few hours before the panel was due to begin, I asked her to give me her thoughts on all things community, city life, beer, and journalism. What she said echoed part of The LAnd’s mission statement: “Angelenos deserve vigorous reporting and thoughtful writing.”

This is Sarah Bennett, beer and food writer and editor. Listen in.

FF-025 Jim Plachy makes skin contact, is an acclaimed brewer Oct 03, 2019

Welcome to another Fervent Few episode of the Good Beer Hunting podcast where myself, Jim Plachy, and GBH’s strategic director, Michael Kiser, catch up. We’ll talk about the topics and discussions that took place in our membership community in the last couple weeks.

Our 500 or so subscribers are scattered all over the world. Sometimes we meet up with them when we’re on the road, or they hang out with each other, but it all comes together in our community forum on Slack. If you value the content and experiences that GBH produces, you should join.

Your monthly subscription gets you access to the community, special events, and exclusive gear deigned just for members.

I joined, and now I manage it all. Plus, it’s my favorite place on the Beer Internet.

Visit goodbeerhunting.com/ferventfew to strike up a conversation in beer.

EP-237 Amie Fields of Botanist & Barrel Cidery & Winery Sep 28, 2019

Hard seltzer aside, conversations around the alcohol industry still tend to circle the trio of beer, wine, and spirits. Flavored malt beverages, like those seltzers, have recently entered our lexicon, but what about cider? It feels like discussions about cider as the next big step in booze happened far in the past—it might only have been a few years ago, but that timeframe can feel far extended in beer years.

While major cider labels like Angry Orchard, Crispin, Woodchuck, and others have slowly given away a little of their market share, local and regional cider brands have been on fire in recent years. “Macro” versions of the drink have shown double-digit losses around the country for a while, while the more local counterparts have seen the exact opposite, growing in the teens pretty much anywhere you might shop for the apple-based, alcoholic drink.

In this episode of the podcast, we’re going down to the orchard with Amie Fields, the sales manager and a partner at Cedar Grove, North Carolina’s Botanist & Barrel, a cidery and winery. As a self-described “experimental” fermentation company, Botanist & Barrel’s business model wouldn’t sound too out of place if you transferred the idea to a brewery. The Botanist & Barrel team focuses on how one-off and specialty batches react with different fruit, and age their ciders in a variety of wooden casks as a way to lend nuance and terroir to a drink many consumers may think of in terms of a straightforward, sugary-sweet beverage.

There’s a lot of ground to cover with Amie, and if you’re not a cider drinker, this conversation gives you a peek behind the curtain of what that side of the beverage alcohol industry is like right now. Amie sheds light on what it means to convince people to think differently about cider, the challenges of selling the product, and what a career in wine has provided her as she finds new ways to talk about cider, whether bottled for special occasions, or canned for more casual buyers.

It’s always good to step outside our areas of expertise, and I hope you pick up insight into the cider category you didn’t know about before. Amie’s perspective was incredibly valuable to me, particularly in the context of learning about a category we don’t often consider.

This is Amie Fields of Botanist & Barrel. Listen in.

CL-035 Evan Rail Questions a Budweiser by Any Other Name Sep 27, 2019

For this Collective episode, I’m talking to writer Evan Rail. Evan is based in Prague, and has become more active with Good Beer Hunting as we increasingly look beyond the U.S. beer market and bring you stories from around the world.

Evan has a unique perspective, having grown up in Fresno, California, and later relocated to the Czech Republic. For us he’s an essential voice: both because he has an endless curiosity about European beer history, but also because his work ethic motivates him beyond the obvious headline—and pushes him to look for the thing that’s just out of sight, around the corner, or behind the next door. His interview technique pulls out remarkable stories from people you’d otherwise rarely hear from.

And in the end, he understand a story’s place in a publication like Good Beer Hunting, which is still, and probably always will be, a U.S.-minded publication to one degree or another. Not many writers can do all that. And that’s how we ended up talking today—because all those factors came together in a recent piece about the long, weird, and newly complicated story of the Budweiser trademark. It involves a tiny town in the Czech Republic, and the world’s largest-ever brewing conglomerate, AB InBev. We discuss the process of writing that piece, Evan’s approach to interviewing, and mention a couple other things coming up with Evan that you’ll want to look out for.

This is Evan Rail, GBH contributor and beer writer based in Prague. Listen in.

CL-034 David Faris Gets Kicked Out of His Apartment, Starts a Politics Podcast Sep 26, 2019

What does beer have to do with politics?

It’s a simple enough question. And some would argue that beer has nothing to do with politics—the two should remain totally separate. Here at Good Beer Hunting, that idea has never really sat well with us. So instead of staying away from politics, we invited it in.

After a particularly low day—the 2016 election, GBH founder Michael Kiser was talking to his neighbor, David Faris. David lived just above the GBH studios, then in Logan Square in Chicago, and was absolutely devastated by the results of the election. So, after a few beers, they decided they wanted to create something new.

In January of this year, David and Michael, with some help from me along the way, launched Electing to Drink, a podcast that invites progressive thinkers, writers, and elected officials to talk about the topics they’re excited about while sharing a beer with us. Part catharsis, part town hall, what makes Electing to Drink so special is David. He’s uniquely positioned to go into the depths of political discourse while still making information accessible and useful for most people. This isn’t a show where David invites progressive big wigs to yell ideological nonsense at you—it’s a show where you can sit back, grab a drink, and feel like you’re amongst friends, just discussing some of the most important ideas driving society.

Here’s David Faris, host of Electing to Drink. Listen in.

EP-236 Austin, Texas Roundtable Sep 21, 2019

Today’s episode is a bit of an ensemble cast. With the limited time I had in Austin, Texas, I wanted to get some quick and clear perspective on the city’s scene, both past and present. To that end, I collected a few fast friends along the way, and gathered them all at Pinthouse Pizza, one of the city’s more contemporary craft brewers.

A recent legislative session saw some massive changes to Texas’ beer laws make it through intact, much to the shock of some Guild members and beer fans. With a couple weeks to go before the beer-to-go laws go into effect, it was the perfect time to host this roundtable of sorts.

We have John Gross of the Alamo Drafthouse; Jordan Rail, director of sales for Lake Austin Ales; Grant Weckerly, head of marketing at Pinthouse Pizza; and Jacob Passey, head brewer of Pinthouse Pizza.

We grabbed a picnic table and some mics—all hand-held by me for the duration, so forgive a little of my shuffling and the background noise on this one. Special thanks to our sound engineer Jordan Stalling for making this a decent listen.

This is the Good Beer Hunting podcast. Listen in.

CL-033 Gray Chapman Learns About Cities, One Spirit at at Time Sep 19, 2019

I live in Chicago, and there’s this liquor—maybe some of you have heard of it—called Malort, which is made from wormwood. If you ask anyone in Chicago what their local spirit is, they’d point to Malort, perhaps tricking their own of town friends to take a straight shot of it when they come to visit the city. And everyone knows how hard it is to drink Malort. Even the founder, Carl Jeppson, was known to be quoted saying, “'My Malort is produced for that unique group of drinkers who disdain light flavor or neutral spirits.' It is not possible to forget our two-fisted liquor. The taste just lingers and lasts – seemingly forever. The first shot is hard to swallow! Perservere [sic]. Make it past two 'shock-glasses' and with the third you could be ours... forever.”

Some would say that this—this sentiment—is a perfect encapsulation of the people of Chicago. Perhaps not for everyone on the first sip, but they grow on you with time. Other might find that comparison silly, but it’s interesting to figure out what a city’s chosen liquor says about the city’s history and spirit.

In this episode of the GBH Collective, I interview Gray Chapman, a freelance writer and frequent GBH contributor. She’s launching a new series for us called, “beer and a shot,” profiling the relationship between bartenders, spirits, and their relationships to the cities they inhabit. In this six part series, made in partnership with Miller High Life, Gray will write about a different city and a different bartender, and we’ll learn about a city’s culture through its choice of spirit a couple ounces at a time.

This is Gray Chapman, GBH contributor. Listen in.

EP-235 Josh Hare of Hops and Grain Sep 14, 2019

Today’s guest was a must-see during our time in Austin, Texas. Josh Hare is the lone founder of Hops and Grain Brewing. He’s an avid cyclist, and a massive Lager advocate.

He’s long been one of those Twitter handles that I was attracted to—his rational, skeptical voice stands out within an industry that can sometimes be an irrational, cynical place. He’s a breath of fresh air. And back in 2017, he became a member of our subscriber community, The Fervent Few. In fact, he was the very first pro-tier subscriber we ever got, and he’s been there ever since.

Another thing that makes Josh interesting—particularly at a time when most craft breweries are starting with small teams, or at least co-founders with complementary skill-sets—is that he took the plunge himself. That changes a lot of the dynamics related to the kind of team he needed to build, as well as the responsibilities that fall on him in a small, growing brewery. We’re going to spend a good deal of time digging into the implications of that emotionally, psychologically, physically, and strategically.

We’re also going to talk about the state of Austin beer. Josh’s next move has him looking at San Marcos for a second location as he contemplates the meaning behind, and the opportunity for, community-building in the area.

And finally, we get into his wild program. As Texas laws have recently changed to allow beer to go, the opportunity for small-batch, specialty releases is a new frontier for a brewery like Hops and Grain. And the things in store there are delicious.

This is Josh Hare of Hops and Grain Brewing. Listen in.

Into the Wild: Austin Sep 13, 2019

Welcome to the third episode of Into the Wild—part of our six-city tour across the U.S. this year with New Belgium Brewing. I’m Ashley Rodriguez, and together with Good Beer Hunting’s creative director Michael Kiser and studio designer Cooper Foszcz, I recently headed to Austin, Texas, for three days of great food, hot days, and unique events celebrating the specialness of wild and sour beers.

It was 100° Fahrenheit during the three days we were in Austin—and yet, everywhere we went, folks poured out onto patios, people ate and drank outside, and everyone was just as friendly as you’d imagine.

We partnered with some of the best restaurants, bars, and folks that make the Austin food and beverage scene unique. On the one hand, Austin features bars, institutions with storied pasts, and streets lined with neon signs that are reminiscent of a past era. On the other, owing to its the growing population, the city is relatively accessible for those who want to push new ideas. This straddling of old and new—which Austin seems to do effortlessly—made it the perfect place to pour wild and sour beers from New Belgium. It was a celebration of craft and tradition, and an homage to creativity and new ideas.

In the beginning of the show, you hear from New Belgium’s wood cellar director Lauren Limbach, who’s addressing attendees at a beer dinner. You also hear a little bit from the band Shotgun Friday, who played music and told wild stories—perhaps even wilder than the beers—throughout the event. Later, you’ll hear Lauren again. But let’s start with the very first event of the tour: a dinner called Sacred and Profane held at The Brewer’s Table, highlighting the power and possibility of fermentation. Come along as we walk you through our weekend of wild beers, sweltering days, and weird times.

This is Good Beer Hunting’s Into the Wild podcast. Listen in.

EP-234 Chad Henderson of NoDa Brewing Company Sep 07, 2019

Founders' All Day IPA. Firestone Walker's 805 Blonde Ale. Victory’s Golden Monkey Tripel.

These are all examples of brands that have shaped bottom lines and shifted futures for some of the country’s biggest breweries. For most of them, that runaway success and influence came about serendipitously. These are business-altering beers that now steer the course of their respective companies—and there are plenty of other examples of similar players scattered across the country.

In today’s podcast, we’re going to hear about one of those—and how in 2014, an IPA from a 9,000-barrel brewery in Charlotte, North Carolina, completely changed the trajectory of the personal and professional life of its head brewer, Chad Henderson.

That beer is NoDa Brewing Company’s Hop, Drop 'n Roll, the 2014 World Beer Cup gold medal winner in the American-Style IPA category. It’s a West Coast IPA that continues to move fast to this day, even in an era of hazy, juicy counterparts. Five years ago, when some kind of monumental success at the bi-annual, global competition was the last thing Chad was expecting, his world got turned upside down. In this conversation, we follow this path of how a single beer changed so much for Chad, NoDa’s co-owners Todd and Suzie Ford, and the brewery itself. From sales, to quality control, to management of the NoDa beer portfolio, Hop, Drop 'n Roll is a continuous thread that runs through it all. It helped push the brewery to almost 16,000 BBLs' of production last year.

And, perhaps unsurprisingly, we’ll also mention a little about making hard seltzer, too. After all, if you’re talking IPA, you might as well hit on one of the other most important categories impacting beer and breweries in 2019. For now, let’s shift to hops.

This is Chad Henderson, head brewer and co-owner of NoDa Brewing Company. Listen in.

CL-032 Lily Waite Uses All The Salt and Butter Sep 05, 2019

Welcome to the Good Beer Hunting Collective podcast, the show where members of our team interview each other to get the behind-the-scenes look at some of our favorite articles. I’m Claire Bullen and I’m the Editor in Chief at Good Beer Hunting.

I have an almost endless appetite—no pun intended—for stories about food and beer. This isn’t particularly surprising, given the fact that I wrote a cookbook on the subject, The Beer Lover’s Table, earlier this year. At risk of sounding like an evangelist, I think beer is such a natural at the table—so versatile, so flexible, so broad—that it feels like a real shame that we still ascribe dinner-party dominance to wine.

That’s why Good Beer Hunting’s recently revived Provisions column fills me with such hope. Beyond one-to-one beer and food pairings, and recipes, our Provisions pieces celebrate the way that beer organically fits into a meal. Many of our writers and readers are as passionate about good food as they are good beer, and so the two frequently and naturally intersect in our lives. Provisions aims to capture these memorable moments of hospitality—the stories and travels and friendships that lead up to special, beer-centric meals along the way.

And so, when Lily Waite, one of Good Beer Hunting’s London-based staff writers, recently pitched me a fantastical Provisions story featuring Cornish fishing trips and wild foraging sessions and multi-course beer-and-seafood feasts, I couldn’t wait to read the end result. Her final piece, and its accompanying photos, was as exquisite as expected—Lily is a true polymath. In addition to being an exceptional writer, photographer, artist, and cook, she’s also the visionary behind the Queer Brewing Project, a non-profit, collaborative brewing project that supports LGBTQ+ voices and visibility in the beer and brewing industries.

In this conversation, we talk about how a brewery visit turned into an unplanned fishing trip, which in turn yielded an extraordinary meal. We also talk about Lily’s various creative endeavors, from pottery classes to brew days. Here’s Lily Waite. Listen in.

EP-233 Patrick Jones of Pilot Beer Aug 31, 2019

Even if you barely dip your toe in the shark-infested waters of Beer Twitter, there’s a chance you’ve heard of Pilot Beer. You don’t even have to follow the brewery for it to regularly hit your timeline, as its pithy, satirical, and self-deprecating posts are retweeted and liked hundreds of times.

So you’d be forgiven for thinking that Pilot is much bigger than it is. It’s still a five-man operation and its Twitter account is more an extension of one of the founder’s personalities than any attempt at a social-media strategy. In fact, cofounder Patrick Jones is as surprised and delighted as anyone about the success they have found online by tweeting things like: “We're only stuck with this stupid brewery because of a typo when we tried selling a load of artisan bees.”

The irony is the brewery still sells almost all of its beer in its hometown of Leith, a port suburb of Edinburgh. Despite being part of the inner Twitter bubble, its beer doesn’t reach many markets, and the dry, session styles it brews certainly don’t cater to them either.

We caught up at the London Craft Beer Festival, an event Patrick freely admits he and Pilot wouldn’t have been invited to if it weren’t for their social presence. The party hasn’t started yet and they’re still setting up—so excuse the old bang or rumble—but it was heartening to see how Pilot’s session beers were loved by the public later on, despite their stall being opposite some of the buzzy American brewers. It turns out if you talk honestly and with humor, session beer and open conversation are all you really need.

This is Patrick Jones of Pilot Beer. Listen in.

SL-013 There's More to Beer Than Hops, You Know Aug 27, 2019

Welcome to the Sightlines podcast from Good Beer Hunting. I’m Bryan Roth.

If there were ever a defining slogan to sum up the past decade in American craft beer, “hops rule everything around me” may be a good fit. Pale Ales begat IPAs in all their bitter, then fruity, then juicy, then hazy glory, pushing sales and success for many businesses. IPAs, quite frankly, are driving key growth, but they’re also just one style—or collection of styles, depending on how you think about them—among so many other possibilities.

So as beer lovers, industry professionals, or members of the media, we talk a lot about hops … but what about everything else? Other ingredients are just as essential in bringing a beer to life, and in a world of hoppiness, there are some who are trying to find ways to bring attention back to these lesser-appreciated pieces of the fermented puzzle.

In this episode, we’re talking with two people who spend a lot of time thinking about “not hops.” They’re trying to redefine how drinkers may learn about beer, as well as bring new appreciation for the locality and specialness of the other ingredients that act as the backbone and soul of every pint.

This is the Sightlines podcast. Listen in.

EP-232 Lucia Solis of Luxia Coffee Solutions Aug 24, 2019

Coffee starts its life as the seed of a cherry. You wouldn’t think that when you look at a bag of beans, but there’s a whole process that coffee goes through before it gets to you. It’s picked, it’s washed, it’s milled, it’s shipped, it travels across the globe—and that’s all before it’s roasted, packaged, and brewed by your favorite barista. Somewhere in the middle of all that, coffee hangs out with a bunch of yeast.

Lucia Solis is a coffee fermentation expert—probably not a job you dreamed about in school or even knew existed, but her job can make a coffee go from just OK to excellent. She started her career studying viticulture at the University of California, Davis, and was a winemaker before jumping into the world of coffee. She was able to use her training to explore a big gap in the coffee industry.

Solis is interested in “processing,” which refers to how the layers around a coffee seed are removed, and how the sugars and starches surrounding the bean interact with yeasts and other bacteria. She visits coffee farms around the world and helps producers control consistency and cup quality through understanding what’s happening on the micro level—and investigating how yeasts can transform the flavor of coffee.

It’s a scary topic, thinking about yeasts in your coffee, but there are a lot of similarities between the role of yeasts in both beer and coffee. Solis was one of my main sources in an article I wrote for our Uppers and Downers series on lactic acid fermentation, a series that explores big topics relevant to both the beer and coffee industries, and her insights helped elucidate just how important microbiology is to the future of coffee.

Solis is continuing to expand her scope, and recently gave a talk called “Worms and Germs,” which discussed how soil health can improve fermentation. We sat down to chat after one of these talks, and in our conversation, we dive deep into chemistry, the fundamentals of coffee farming, and how we’re constantly interacting with the microscopic world around us.

This is Lucia Solis, coffee fermentation expert. Listen in.

EP-231 Sam Gilbert of Temescal Brewing Aug 17, 2019

There are easy topics brewery owners love to talk about to promote themselves: interesting beer releases, charity work, GABF awards, or cheeky packaging.

And then there are other, much stickier issues most avoid addressing: gentrification, racism and sexism in the industry; labor; and a brewery’s moral responsibility to its community and the people within it.

Sam Gilbert, who co-founded Oakland’s Temescal Brewing about three years ago in the neighborhood with which it shares a name, doesn’t shy away from such difficult conversations. Oakland’s changing, and it’s well past time to talk about it.

Temescal Brewing came into existence in great part because of the community it now counts as patrons. A successful crowdfunding campaign helped the brewery get off the ground, and Gilbert hasn’t forgotten the significance of that. Since then, Temescal has prioritized hiring hyperlocal residents, hosting regular LGBT-focused bashes, and proactively reaching out to communities less frequently seen in your standard brewery taproom.

But the vibes aren’t always positive. Sometimes, being a good neighbor can be much less fun, as when AB InBev announced an intention to open a Golden Road taproom not far from Temescal’s brewhouse. Gilbert, like others in the Oakland craft beer scene, was outspoken against the idea. Ultimately, the plan was quashed, and some believe it was in large part due to vocal critics like Gilbert, and to Oakland’s anti-corporate ideologies.

All of this is to say nothing of the beer. Temescal is frequently cited as one of Bay Area drinkers’ favorite breweries, and its focus on soft, nuanced, and low-ABV styles (and in particular Pilsners) has made fans out of the pickiest consumers. It’s becoming increasingly common to see the brewery’s brightly colored cans in fridges around the Bay.

There’s a reason Temescal’s reputation is as colorful as its approachable, pastel-splashed taproom. It aims for inclusion. And it lives by the motto: “No jerks.”

This is Sam Gilbert of Temescal Brewing. Listen in.

CL-031 Sean McEmerson is Afraid You Won't Understand a Word He Says Aug 16, 2019

One of my favorite things about industries like ours (beer, wine, food and drink) is the sense of community that springs up around them. People find others who want to talk about what excites them—and one of those communities is The Fervent Few.

Initially a group of beer enthusiasts, The Fervent Few has transformed into a lively corner of the internet that explores the world of beer in a way that’s nuanced, considered, and honest. The Fervent Few is a paid-membership community, with its own Slack channel (if you’re unfamiliar, think of Slack as the modern-day version of a chatroom, where people talk and share ideas), and we’re always surprised by the conversations that happen there. People aren’t just talking about beer: they’re sharing the passions and hobbies that shape their lives.

One of the Slack channels that gets a lot of traffic is the photography section. Folks take pictures of beers, taprooms, and anything else they find interesting, and we’ve found a lot of new GBH contributors through this channel. One of those people who recently made the jump from Fervent Few member to contributor is Sean McEmerson, originally from Scotland and now residing in East London.

As someone who made a not-so-dissimilar jump from podcaster to GBH writer and producer, I wanted to talk to Sean about how he got into beer and what fueled his interest to learn more and join a community like The Fervent Few. Sean recently published his first piece with us—it’s part of our b-Roll series, where we showcase photos of everyday life from members of our team—and I learned that, even once you get your work published somewhere, it’s still hard to make the jump that you’ve done it: you’re a photographer now.

This conversation was pretty straightforward, and you don’t need to have read any articles or know anything ahead of time to understand what we’re talking about. Instead, you’ll hear two folks talking about their beginnings in beer, a little bit about street photography, and how passion and interest can take you down new and exciting pathways. Here’s Sean McEmerson. Listen in.

Introducing Electing to Drink Aug 12, 2019

Today, we bring you an episode of Good Beer Hunting’s newest show, Electing to Drink. Hosted by author and professor David Faris and produced by GBH, Electing to Drink explores progressive politics, personalities and policies over a guest’s favorite beer.

This is Electing to Drink. Listen in.

Subscribe to Electing to Drink on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever you get podcasts.

Into The Wild: Bay Area Aug 10, 2019

Welcome to the second episode of Into the Wild—part of our six-city tour across the U.S. with New Belgium Brewing this year.

This episode comes out of our experiences in the Bay Area, San Francisco and the East Bay, where we partnered with a few restaurants, bars, and special people therein to produce some of the best and most unique experiences I’ve ever had around food and beverages. And that’s the whole idea here—to put wild and sour beer into a context that’s either entirely unprecedented or, if it’s familiar (like a beer dinner), to take it to a level that’s rarely seen.

First, you’ll hear from New Belgium’s Lauren Limbach, who brings people together at City Beer Store in San Francisco for a sensory tasting—which we jokingly called a “sensory deprivation tasting”—because her goal was to expose how much precondition we bring to every sip we take.

In this podcast, we follow Lauren and other folks we met along the way, chronicling our weekend of eating, drinking, and learning. But first, I wanted to let you know about our next stop in Austin, Texas on August 14th through 16th, which will feature a fermentation-forward dinner, beer, and art experience at The Brewer’s Table called Sacred & Profane with Jason White (who’s formerly of the Noma Fermentation Lab in Copenhagen). Then we’re heading over to the Brew & Brew for a dance party with Wild Ale, so if you’re more interested in the fun side of things, that’s certainly for you. Finally, we’re bringing Wild Ale to the people with a food truck dinner at Draft House. It’s three days and three entirely unique events in Austin, and if you’re in the area or want to be, we hope you join us for that leg of the tour.

This is Good Beer Hunting’s Into the Wild podcast. Listen in.

CL-030 Stan Hieronymus has a lot of bottle openers to tell you about Aug 08, 2019

Welcome to the Good Beer Hunting Collective podcast, the show where members of our team interview each other to get a behind-the-scenes look at some of our favorite articles. I’m Bryan Roth, and I’m the Sightlines editor for Good Beer Hunting.

Whether you’re a beer drinker or an industry pro, chances are you may have heard someone talking about “innovation” in beer. Usually, that means a brewery is releasing a new beer, sometimes a new style it hasn’t made before, or using a novel technique, or ingredient. It’s a word that gets thrown around a lot for a product that’s existed for, well, thousands of years. That’s not to take away from all the incredible changes, old and new, that take place in beer—but in today’s Collective podcast, we’re talking about literal invention.

In his latest piece for Good Beer Hunting, Stan Hieronymus shares the story, “There’s a Beer Patent for That — A Brief History of Curious Beer Ideas.” It’s his second story for Good Beer Hunting’s Mother of Invention series, which is told in collaboration with Guinness. In his story on patents, Stan looks at the history of beer, and the variety of people who have applied to get their creations protected through a longstanding government process. It's a way to ensure that a creator’s ideas and intellectual property stay with them.

Stan pored over a treasure trove of beer patents to find the examples he shares in his story. Many were tracked down thanks to fellow writer Jay Brooks, who maintains a running collection of beer-related patents on his blog. Along with discussions with GBH editorial director Austin L. Ray (which also led to a previous piece on hop oils), it was Jay’s digital cache that set Stan on his way in telling this story.

This is the Good Beer Hunting Collective podcast. Listen in.

SL-012 Under The Influencers Aug 07, 2019

Craft beer has always had an uncomfortable relationship with marketing, Instagram and social media, and things like hype, status, and influencers. It’s also long had an issue with women. Not just sexuality, but of course, also that. Not just gender and inclusion, but also that. Not just diversity and equality, but also that. In the most general, broad sense, craft beer (and beer in general), both culturally and as an industry, has long been a walled garden for men in the U.S. And over the past couple weeks, we saw that play out in a pretty specific, explicit fashion. Here’s how it went down.

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Links to the folks we spoke to:

Zach Johnston, Senior Writer-at-Large for Uproxx Caitlin Johnson, beer blogger and content creator, @bigworldsmallgirl Megan Stone, brewer for Duclaw Brewing Co., @isbeeracar Alyssa Thorpe, head brewer for Jagged Mountain Craft Brewery, @southernbeergirl

EP-230 Adam Warrington of O'Douls Aug 03, 2019

Today’s conversation is another deep dive into a product that fits into the emerging “Better For You” category of low calorie beer and non-alcoholic beer, hard seltzers, kombucha, and whatnot that grocer stores are starting to organize their shelves around as drinkers start looking for options that satisfy that itch for a beer or a drink, but doesn’t interrupt their flow.

These kinds of drinks used to be seen as alternatives. Something you drank as a compromise when you really wanted something else. But as you’ll hear today, these drinks are increasingly being seen as a primary option—something that’s desirable and perfectly designed to fit what you want from a moment or an occasions.

There have been dozens of articles written lately, published in places like the New York Times, about the increasingly popular sober lifestyle.

What’s behind that trend, and how big it is is entirely up for debate. In this conversation with Adam Warrington of AB InBev, who recently launched a new project with an old standby NA brand called O’Doul’s, we try to get at the heart of the matter from a variety of directions. Health consciousness, designated driving and moderation in general, but also some of the newer social conventions that give NA beer new relevance, like social media, and our increasing desire to always be in control and well-presented to an imaginary audience. Think about it. If you got a little drunk 10 years ago and did something lame, maybe five of your friends were there to see it. But now, you could wind up being viewed by tens of thousands. Which has implications for everything we do—from how we decorate our apartments to the things we eat and drink, to the freedom we feel to let loose, or not, based on how vulnerable we feel

This winds up being a very small part of the conversation today—this observation anxiety society we’re all living in—but it was by far the biggest takeaway for me, and I can’t stop thinking about it.

How does the anxiety of being observed and exposed outside of our control play in to the decisions we make around food and beverage? There’s a lot going on there, and non-alcoholic beer is perhaps a small sliver of that. But it’s growing at an impressive rate. Are we ready for more emphasis on a sober lifestyle amongst the next generation? Are we ready for a more sober society in general?

O’Douls and other emerging NA brands are getting ready. In fact, AB InBev and others think non-alcoholic and ver low alcoholic beer could be as big as 20% of their worldwide sales in the next 5 years. That’s a very big bet they’re all making. And most of us still think beers like O’douls are just that beer that sits low on the shelf in the back of the liquor store. How wrong we might be.

This is Adam Warrington of AB InBev, listen in.

FF-024 Jim Plachy is so farm team he can't get into the beer cave Jul 31, 2019

Welcome to another Fervent Few episode of the Good Beer Hunting podcast where myself, Jim Plachy, and GBH’s strategic director, Michael Kiser, catch up. We’ll talk about the topics and discussions that took place in our membership community in the last couple weeks.

Our 500 or so subscribers are scattered all over the world. Sometimes we meet up with them when we’re on the road, or they hang out with each other, but it all comes together in our community forum on Slack. If you value the content and experiences that GBH produces, you should join.

Your monthly subscription gets you access to the community, special events, and exclusive gear deigned just for members.

I joined, and now I manage it all. Plus, it’s my favorite place on the Beer Internet.

Visit goodbeerhunting.com/ferventfew to strike up a conversation in beer.

EP-229 Caitlin Landesberg of Sufferfest Jul 27, 2019

If you haven’t noticed, the world is starting to think about the role that craft beer plays in a healthy lifestyle. Is this a reaction to the Pastry Stouts and high ABVs of contemporary craft beer? Or is it part of a larger trend where drinkers want to know more about what’s going into their bodies and how it impacts their lives?

Anyone in the business of selling beer right now is talking about an emerging category known as “better for you,” which covers everything from low-calorie craft beer and kombucha to hard seltzers and gluten-free or gluten-reduced beer.

You’ve probably seen GBH reporting on Michelob Ultra, the low-calorie, low-carb front-runner, which is the fastest growing brand in beer history. Mich Ultra is sort of the tip of the spear for the category, giving corporate and craft brewers alike the confidence they need to explore some of these new directions for beer.

But while most brands are focused on the functional components of these beers—touting low-calorie, low-ABV, and other benefits—very few of them have tried to build a community around their brands and lifestyles the way today’s guest has. Caitlin Landesberg is the founder and CEO of Sufferfest, based in San Francisco.

Her brand was born out of, and still lives in, athlete culture. As a former marketing executive in the fitness tech start-up world, Caitlin had a front-row seat to athletes’ needs and motivations. And she was one herself.

As a result of these interests, her homebrewing hobby took a radically different approach to beer making. She brewed for flavor, and fitness, and for a reduced-gluten profile. She used healthful ingredients and considered athletic occasions as prime beer-drinking moments. She should know—she loves to celebrate a win with a beer. A moment that she has dubbed “sufferfest”—hence the company name.

This year, Caitlin and her team are making a massive transition, as they recently earned the attention of Sierra Nevada, who will now brew their beers. Sierra is also working to expand the distribution footprint of Sufferfest as a major new portfolio play.

I’ve been working in and thinking about this “better-for-you” space for the last year on our studio side, helping our clients pivot and expand to new audiences interested in these beers. That plays into this conversation, and one way it shows up is that you’ll mistakingly hear me refer to Sufferfest as part of the non-alcoholic, or NA, trend. It’s not, though—Sufferfest’s beers definitely have alcohol, and that mistake is just part of my brain blurring a few conversations I was having that day. So for clarity, Sufferfest beers are gluten-reduced, and offer a host of other benefits.

This is Caitlin Landesberg of Sufferfest—listen in.

CL-029 Evan Rail hopes, after all, that the beer is really good Jul 24, 2019

Welcome to the Good Beer Hunting Collective podcast, the show where members of our team interview each other to get the behind the scenes look at some of our favorite articles. I’m Michael Kiser, and I’m the founder and director of Good Beer Hunting.

And for today’s conversation, I was also the photographer. I recently shot a unique story assignment in a remote corner of the Czech Republic, called South Moravia. South Moravia, as you’ll hear, is a famous wine-producing region. And now, it’s also home to one of the country’s most wine-inspired brewers—Jitka Ilčíková of Wild Creatures.

I was especially keen to go on this assignment because it meant rejoining my friend and colleague, Evan Rail, who lives in Prague. I’ve joined Evan on a few journeys, starting way back around 2013 in Prague and Pilsen, when he first took me to Pilsner Urquell, Kout na Šumavě, and beyond. On this trip we met in Budapest for a conference and hitched a ride from some brewers to Mikulov, where we planned to visit what might be the country’s only wild ale producer. Listen in.

EP-228 Rob and Keely Landerman of Woodland Empire Jul 20, 2019

What’s the balance between being a bit “punk” and also being a responsible business owner? You can probably find examples from a variety of companies in beer that straddle this line. In this podcast, you’re hearing from the owners of one of them.

At Boise, Idaho’s Woodland Empire Ale Craft, founders Rob and Keely Landerman have long been said to produce some of the best beer in town. Online references started popping up not long after the brewery opened in 2014 ,and have picked up steam in recent years. But for this husband-and-wife duo, the focus behind the scenes hasn’t been about chasing trends or finding ways to get high scores on rating platforms. As you’ll hear in this conversation, a lot of it has to do with finding balance between pursuing their own passions and appreciations for beer alongside ways to address what drinkers are into at a certain moment.

In one example, these factors can be seen by way of their Ada County Stout, a barrel-aged Imperial Stout created to specifically mimic Goose Island's Bourbon County Brand Stout in name and visuals. You'll hear the reasoning behind these decisions—and a variety of legal considerations that came along the way. There’s also talk about how and why a need for certain hazy kinds of IPA came to be, and finding the right balance between brewing what you want and giving customers what they want, too.

The pair share their path toward beer, which winds through the country’s music scene, and how they ended up choosing Idaho as a place to base their entrepreneurial project. Their company hasn’t been around for a long time, but it has played a part in helping to shape the next wave of Boise beer.

This is Rob and Keely Landerman of Woodland Empire Ale Craft. Listen in.

FF-023 Jim Plachy is too expensive and stabs himself in the hand Jul 17, 2019

Welcome to another Fervent Few episode of the Good Beer Hunting podcast where myself, Jim Plachy, and GBH’s strategic director, Michael Kiser, catch up. We’ll talk about the topics and discussions that took place in our membership community in the last couple weeks.

Our 500 or so subscribers are scattered all over the world. Sometimes we meet up with them when we’re on the road, or they hang out with each other, but it all comes together in our community forum on Slack. If you value the content and experiences that GBH produces, you should join.

Your monthly subscription gets you access to the community, special events, and exclusive gear deigned just for members.

I joined, and now I manage it all. Plus, it’s my favorite place on the Beer Internet.

Visit goodbeerhunting.com/ferventfew to strike up a conversation in beer.

EP-227 Obadiah Poundage with Mike Siegel and Ron Pattinson Jul 15, 2019

Today’s episode is the second we’ve done with this duo of Mike Siegel of Goose Island and Ron Pattinson, beer historian, writer, and a collaborator on a recipe revival project of sorts. Way back in 2016 we invited these two over to the studio to discuss their Brewery Yard Stock Pale Ale, a barrel-aged brett pale reminiscent of what a beer brewed in England over a century ago may have been like according to their research.

Today’s conversation is about a new beer called Obadiah Poundage, which isn’t trying to replicate a recipe so much as try to approximate what a porter might have tasted like if it were brewed in London in 1840.

These beers have both been fascinating, not only for their history and story, but the final product itself. They taste and feel familiar, but with an edge that’s entirely foreign. Like a bizarro world version of a beer you think you know. Sometimes that’s an ingredient choice, or a process decision, or in some cases, a fermentation character that’s just slightly outside the norm. All of it adding up to a wholly enjoyable, yet intriguing version of, in this case, a porter.

I love getting these two guys together—you can see the child-like excitement that comes out of their shared passion for these collaborations. It’s a great reminder of how genuinely fun beer, brewing, and history can be when it all comes together in a project like this.

This is Ron Pattinson and Mike Siegel, listen in.

Hāpi Festival and Symposium — Matt Tarpey of The Veil Jul 15, 2019

Garage Project’s Hāpi Festival and Symposium was held earlier this year in the lead-up to New Zealand’s hop harvest.

The symposium and festival form the public-facing side of a hop-breeding initiative Garage Project has undertaken with New Zealand’s Freestyle Farms, and with backing from the country’s Ministry for Primary Industries. Over the course of a day in Wellington’s famous Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, speakers such as Alexandra Nowell from Three Weavers Brewing Company, Matt Brynildson from Firestone Walker Brewing Company, and Paul Jones from Cloudwater Brew Co. gave talks with a focus on hops. Good Beer Hunting was there to capture a slice of the discussion.

Afterwards, the invited breweries poured for a small festival of 1,000 people. It was a surreal situation: seeing world-renowned breweries like Trillium, Other Half, Hill Farmstead. Tired Hands and Cellarmaker serving beer in New Zealand’s national museum.

***

“Crucial Taunt” is a great name for a fictional band, a beer, and a hacky-sack team—at least that’s what Matt Tarpey from The Veil and I decided when we caught up at the Hāpi Festival and Symposium. When I saw him pass me in the symposium hall, my immediate thought was, “Damn, that’s a nice Veil jacket.” Then I wondered why he looked familiar to me. It’s because The Veil was profiled in 2016 on Good Beer Hunting, complete with some incredible photography from Cory Smith. That story went live soon after the brewery launched; since then, Matt’s talents in the brewhouse have helped The Veil build a sterling reputation for hop-forward beers.

In this fourth and final episode from our Hāpi Festival and Symposium, Matt also shares the story of his first helicopter experience, and even gives us a scoop on some expansion plans for the brewery. Listen in.

Hāpi Festival and Symposium — Andrew Bell of The Bruery Jul 15, 2019

Garage Project’s Hāpi Festival and Symposium was held earlier this year in the lead-up to New Zealand’s hop harvest.

The symposium and festival form the public-facing side of a hop-breeding initiative Garage Project has undertaken with New Zealand’s Freestyle Farms, and with backing from the country’s Ministry for Primary Industries. Over the course of a day in Wellington’s famous Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, speakers such as Alexandra Nowell from Three Weavers Brewing Company, Matt Brynildson from Firestone Walker Brewing Company, and Paul Jones from Cloudwater Brew Co. gave talks with a focus on hops. Good Beer Hunting was there to capture a slice of the discussion.

Afterwards, the invited breweries poured for a small festival of 1,000 people. It was a surreal situation: seeing world-renowned breweries like Trillium, Other Half, Hill Farmstead. Tired Hands and Cellarmaker serving beer in New Zealand’s national museum.

***

What’s the correct rate for dry hopping with graham crackers? We learn that in part three of our Hāpi Festival and Symposium podcast series.

The Bruery, from Placentia, California is not a brewery that I had ever associated with hop-forward beers, so I was curious to know why they were at a hop symposium. It turns out, however, that The Bruery recently launched a side project focused on hoppy beers called Offshoot Beer Co., and its innovation manager Andrew Bell was on hand to tell us all about it.

As it is The Bruery, we also got to talking about Imperial Stouts. After our conversation, I tasted Share This: Mole Imperial Stout—if I’m honest, it may have been one of the best beers I tried all day. Listen in.

Hāpi Festival and Symposium — J.C. Hill of Alvarado Street Brewery Jul 15, 2019

Garage Project’s Hāpi Festival and Symposium was held earlier this year in the lead-up to New Zealand’s hop harvest.

The symposium and festival form the public-facing side of a hop-breeding initiative Garage Project has undertaken with New Zealand’s Freestyle Farms, and with backing from the country’s Ministry for Primary Industries. Over the course of a day in Wellington’s famous Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, speakers such as Alexandra Nowell from Three Weavers Brewing Company, Matt Brynildson from Firestone Walker Brewing Company, and Paul Jones from Cloudwater Brew Co. gave talks with a focus on hops. Good Beer Hunting was there to capture a slice of the discussion.

Afterwards, the invited breweries poured for a small festival of 1,000 people. It was a surreal situation: seeing world-renowned breweries like Trillium, Other Half, Hill Farmstead. Tired Hands and Cellarmaker serving beer in New Zealand’s national museum.

***

I was happy to talk to J.C. Hill from Alvarado Street Brewery, based in Monterey, California, as part of our Hāpi Festival and Symposium podcast series. I’d heard exciting things about his beers and loved the artwork on the labels. In our conversation, and in the following interviews, I really wanted to get an understanding of how the experience of visiting New Zealand hop fields would influence brewers when they got back into the brewhouse.

We also talk a bit about Cryo Hops, Italian Pilsners, and how good New Zealand tomatoes taste. Listen in.

Hāpi Festival and Symposium — Jos Ruffell of the Garage Project Jul 15, 2019

Garage Project’s Hāpi Festival and Symposium was held earlier this year in the lead-up to New Zealand’s hop harvest.

The symposium and festival form the public-facing side of a hop-breeding initiative Garage Project has undertaken with New Zealand’s Freestyle Farms, and with backing from the country’s Ministry for Primary Industries. Over the course of a day in Wellington’s famous Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, speakers such as Alexandra Nowell from Three Weavers Brewing Company, Matt Brynildson from Firestone Walker Brewing Company, and Paul Jones from Cloudwater Brew Co. gave talks with a focus on hops. Good Beer Hunting was there to capture a slice of the discussion.

Afterwards, the invited breweries poured for a small festival of 1,000 people. It was a surreal situation: seeing world-renowned breweries like Trillium, Other Half, Hill Farmstead. Tired Hands and Cellarmaker serving beer in New Zealand’s national museum.

***

Out of Wellington, New Zealand, Garage Project was launched in 2011 by brothers Ian and Pete Gillespie and their friend Jos Ruffell. The trio first made their presence known with the brewery’s “24/24” series: 24 beers released in 24 weeks to an eager Wellington public.

Since then, Garage Project has made its name by continuing to push boundaries with unusual creations and projects, such as layered beer designed to imitate a flat white, making beers for the Royal New Zealand Ballet, and even releasing a series of natural wines spiked with Lactobacillus or aged on unusual oak. Over the next seven years, they will also be working on the Hāpi project for the benefit of New Zealand’s hop growing industry.

I had the chance to take Jos aside, as the festival was in full swing, so he could share just what it was all about. Listen in.

EP-226 Gareth Williams and Bradley Cummings of Tiny Rebel Brewing Jul 06, 2019

Like all of the U.K., Wales has a long, rich history of brewing. The Welsh brewing industry has pretty much had the same fortunes, too—peaking in the late 1800s then declining thanks to temperance, World Wars, and consolidation throughout the 20th century.

But at some point in the early 2000s, the countries’ paths diverged. While Scotland got Harviestoun and then BrewDog, and England gained Dark Star, Rooster’s, Thornbridge, and others, Wales didn’t catch on to modern craft beer as quickly.

In fact, it still only has a handful of well regarded craft breweries, of which my guests today are easily the best known. Founded in 2012 in a garage in South Wales, Tiny Rebel has had a meteoric rise to fame, buoyed by some incredible and unlikely successes. In 2013, the brewery won gold, silver and bronze in CAMRA’s Champion Beer of Wales competition, and its flagship Red Ale, Cwtch, went on to win Champion Beer of Britain in 2015, making Tiny Rebel the youngest brewery ever to take the prize.

That triumph, which caught the brewers completely by surprise, was a watershed moment, and put them on course for where they are now—a towering brewery and taproom that looks like it’s straight out of San Diego but is actually in an industrial park in Rogerstone, just outside Newport. There Tiny Rebel brews 17,000bbl (20,000hl) a year, with Cwtch and juicy pale ale Club Tropicana taking up most of the tanks. It has become a local landmark, welcoming hundreds of drinkers every day who get through around 1,100bbls a year.

They’ve just broken ground across the road too, where they will build a £3-million sour facility and distillery. Like all fast-growing and successful businesses, Tiny Rebel has had its controversies along the way. Such success breeds suspicion, and recently there were wild rumors of a sale to Molson Coors that proved completely unfounded. Tiny Rebel’s nostalgic branding has also gotten them in trouble with industry watchdog The Portman Group, and the brewery’s heavy use of adjuncts has earned them ire from less well humored beer geeks.

We talk through all that and more when I sit down with founders Bradley Cummings and Gareth Williams. But what is most remarkable is the humor, and sense of fun, that pervades the conversation. Some may be uneasy with what they do, but they are very easy in themselves, and rightly proud of what they have achieved. This is Brad and Gazz of Tiny Rebel Brewing. Listen in.

CL-028 Bryan Roth learns that everyone's got a barrel guy Jul 03, 2019

Barrel aging beer is like stepping back in time. But over the last few years, more and more breweries are turning to the historic practice, using it as a way to impart new flavors, expand their beer portfolios, and give a nod back to traditional brewing practices. But how did barrels make a comeback? Our Sightlines editor, Bryan Roth, who we sometimes joke is the man with all the charts, decided to find out. As our Sightlines editor, you’ll usually find Bryan’s name on breaking news stories and analysis industry trends. So it was exciting to see Bryan take on a topic like the rise of barrel aging because I knew I’d read something comprehensive and learn a ton about something I didn’t know much about. This was a fun conversation because it was such a change from the way we normally talk to each other—usually we go back and forth on things like deadlines, or where in the latest episode of our Sightlines podcast I need him to clarify something or cut down content, and it was refreshing to dive deep on a story and learn more about how Bryan approached this topic.

EP-225 Dan Love and Chris Baker of Mother Earth Brewing Jun 29, 2019

It’s no longer a surprise these days when a brewery announces it’s opening another location. Secondary production facilities and taprooms aren’t ubiquitous, but they are becoming more common for companies who quickly outgrow modest homes and expectations. In 2018, the largest brewer in Idaho came from California. Brewing a little over 10,000 barrels at its Nampa facility just outside of Boise, Mother Earth Brew Company has quickly become a mainstay in the state after opening its second space in 2016. The output from Idaho was about a quarter of all beer the business made last year, with its original facility still cranking out beer in Vista, California. So, what does it take to pull this off? While traveling through Idaho this spring, I sat down with Mother Earth’s president and CEO, Dan Love, and Chris Baker, director of brewing operations, to get an idea. In this conversation, they reveal that it’s not just a matter of time and money, but relationships and community-building can play a big role. And that’s before you even get to making and shipping the beer. With rapid expansion thanks to the popularity of beers like Boo Koo Mosaic IPA and Cali Creamin' Vanilla Cream Ale, there’s a lot to navigate on the march toward 100,000 barrels. In addition to selling beer, that also includes a unique situation—Idaho’s Mother Earth Brew Company happens to share an eerily close name to North Carolina’s Mother Earth Brewing. For a company coming east and entering many locations around the Tar Heel State, it creates a wild and interesting backstory you’ll hear in this interview. Dan and Chris share a lot on running a modern brewery over this hour, and it’s definitely representative of the variety of challenges owners and brewers have to consider today. This is Dan Love and Chris Baker of Mother Earth Brew Company. Listen in.

CL-027 Don't steal a turkey leg from Steph Byce Jun 26, 2019

Steph Byce was one of the first people I met when I started hanging out with the folks at Good Beer Hunting. I was judging an Irish Coffee Competition, as part of yearly celebration of coffee and beer called Uppers and Downers, and Steph was hovering around me, taking photos. Steph is GBH’s resident photographer—she’s based in Chicago, and at any Good Beer Hunting event, you’ll usually find her snapping photos. There’s one of me in particular that she captured at our annual get together called Olly Olly, where I’m looking longingly at a burrito—it’s pretty perfect. But she’s also a longtime contributor, and went to Durago, Colorado to report on Ska Brewing’s 23rd anniversary party. The article was published in May on our website, and I got to talk to Steph in our studio about how this story came to be.

EP-224 Teagan Thompson and Zach Ruskin on Cannabis in Beer Jun 22, 2019

To outsiders, the cannabis industry might seem like a mysterious machine. The myriad regulatory rules, the constantly changing legalities, and the complicated distribution practices make this business confusing and a bit unwieldy. And yet, in California’s fledgling legal market, cannabis is flourishing. With more than eleven hundred acres of permitted cannabis farms in the state, some expect to see California cannabis become a $5 billion industry this year or next. It’s a notable statistic, considering sales of the plant for recreational use only became legal here in 2018. For brewers, cannabis’ rapid growth has become potential cause for concern. Some fear the expanding use and social acceptance of recreational weed — be it in vape, flower, edible or concentrated form — could one day soon cut into beer’s market share. It’s a topic Teagan Thompson is well acquainted with. Thompson spent 7 years in marketing for Anchor Brewing Company in San Francisco before making the jump to a concentrated cannabis start-up called Space Coyote several months ago. After working through the most recent craft beer boom, she’s now poised to experience cannabis as it explodes in popularity too. Zack Ruskin, a freelance cannabis journalist in San Francisco, stands ready to document that growth. He spends days conversing with new cannabis companies and testing strains for the curious consumer. He also highlights the growing pains of a blossoming industry. Will cannabis become a threat to beer? Or can they work together? Let’s hash it out. This is Teagan Thompson, Chief of Marketing for Space Coyote, and cannabis journalist Zack Ruskin. Listen in.

FF-022 Jim Plachy goes to Tulsa, starts a lifestyle brand Jun 18, 2019

Welcome to another Fervent Few episode of the Good Beer Hunting podcast where myself, Jim Plachy, and GBH’s strategic director, Michael Kiser, catch up. We’ll talk about the topics and discussions that took place in our membership community in the last couple weeks. Our 500 or so subscribers are scattered all over the world. Sometimes we meet up with them when we’re on the road, or they hang out with each other, but it all comes together in our community forum on Slack. If you value the content and experiences that GBH produces, you should join. Your monthly subscription gets you access to the community, special events, and exclusive gear deigned just for members. I joined, and now I manage it all. Plus, it’s my favorite place on the Beer Internet. Visit goodbeerhunting.com/ferventfew to strike up a conversation in beer.

EP-223 Fish Scales of Nappy Roots Jun 15, 2019

At this point in the American beer scene, a love for IPAs, Wheat Ales, Stouts, and Saisons comes from all over. Our friends and parents. Our neighbors and celebrities. When we learn that someone has an adoration for craft beer, there’s not a lot of surprise left to be had, except what kind of beer we can share as part of this fun bond. This spring, I had that debate—between a Wheat Ale and IPA—with the musician and rapper, Fish Scales of Nappy Roots. Scales, whose real name is Melvin Adams Jr., isn’t just accomplished in the world of music, but he and others in the Grammy-nominated group see beer as a next step in their creative journey. They’ve already made collaboration beers with Atlanta’s Monday Night Brewing and Louisville’s Against the Grain Brewery, and I sat down with Scales this spring in Boise, Idaho, where Nappy Roots was performing and releasing a new beer with the city’s Woodland Empire Ale Craft. In recent years, there have been a variety of musicians, groups, actors, and athletes who have gotten into the world of beer. Scales and Nappy Roots are among that growing number, and his appreciation for the history, process, and what he sees beer to be culturally is what’s propelling him toward this love while still performing about 100 times a year. As many conversations have circled around in beer lately, there is a component to this effort to bring craft beer to audiences that were long neglected. We talk about that, the cross-section of music and beer, and so much more, during the course of this conversation. So, what’s the perspective on beer from one of the most successful musicians in America? This is Fish Scales, beer lover and rapper, of Nappy Roots. Listen in.

CL-026 Alyssa Pereira and Clara Rice on Resilience, craft beer's largest collaboration Jun 12, 2019

Before I started working at Good Beer Hunting, I was a pretty avid reader, and the stories that resonated with me most were the stories that were more about people than they were about the beer themselves. Just a few weeks ago, we published one of the most ambitious and important one of these stories to date. The article is called, “A Story of Resilience—Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in Chico, Calif.,” and it follows the creation of a beer by Sierra Nevada. The beer, which is called Resilience as the name of the article implies, was created in response to the Camp Fires in Northern California last year. Sierra Nevada, whose headquarters were not far from the towns affected by the fire, jumped into action almost immediately, and started giving out food and brewing Resilience to raise money for victims of the fire. We sent members of the GBH team to learn more about Resilience, and the story they told, which came out in April, was so much more than I could have ever imagined a story about a beer to be. But hey, that’s why I started reading stories on GBH’s website, right? We learn more from GBH contributor Alyssa Pereira and photographer Clara Rice on what it took to take tell this story.

MU-016 Hudson Valley Brewing Hiding Place Jun 11, 2019

Our resident composer for the podcast and our commercial video work, Andrew Thiboldeaux, is writing original scores devoted to beers he finds fascinating. These are interpretations of the experience of drinking them. But they're also just great tunes.

EP-222 Colin Whitcomb of Canary Coffee Bar Jun 08, 2019

Every year, hundreds of baristas come together for the United States Coffee Championships. The competitions are heavily anticipated, with folks preparing for months to present their routines to judges and figure out who is the best coffee brewer, roaster, or taster in the nation. The heart of the entire competition is the barista championships. You might be thinking, what could a barista competition even be? Is it who can make the best coffee? Is it who has the best beans? Is it who can make the prettiest latte art? All these things make up a portion of the competition, but it’s fundamentally a test of skill, expertise, and perhaps a little bit of luck and circumstance. Competitors have 15 minutes to present four espressos, four milk drinks, and four signature drinks to a panel of sensory judges, all the while having two technical judges hovering around you, scoring your technique and technical abilities. The winner goes on to represent the United States at the World Barista Championships, which happens to be in Boston this year. The competitions are the breeding ground for new ideas in coffee. You might see competitors freeze their coffee beans or talk about new processing methods. Techniques and concepts that we accept as commonplace in the coffee industry usually come from coffee competitions, and their influence on the future of specialty coffee can’t be measured. Every year, my colleague, Colin Whitcomb, and I sit on the sidelines and provide live commentary for folks watching at home. The competitions are livestreamed by the Specialty Coffee Association, who hires a professional AV team to run sound and shoot live video, and Colin and I meticulously re-read the rulebook and watch past competitions to see what’s new, what trends have carried on from years past, and provide context for the decisions that competitors make. This is a task that Colin loves. He’s a long time barista competitor, Executive Council member for the Barista Guild, and is currently building out his new café, Canary Coffee Bar, in Milwalkee, Wisconsin. Colin has been part of the specialty coffee community for over a decade, and competed in his first barista competition in 2008. In this interview, which we recorded on the eve of the United States Barista Championships, Colin talks about the history and ever-changing format of the competition, what trends and ideas came out of the competition sphere, and we make some spur of the moment bets on who we think will win (spoiler alert—we’re 100% wrong). This is Colin Whitcomb of Canary Coffee Bar. Listen in.

EP-221 Adam Paysse of Floodland Brewing Jun 01, 2019

It started when i went to the website. "FLOODLAND BREWING" it read in all caps at the top. "Floodland is a brewery in Seattle" below. A spot to enter your email. You want to know more? There’s a text file FAQ with some basic points of info. That’s it. When I first came across the homepage—if you’d dare call it that—I had no idea what to expect. The business was started by Adam Paysse, one of the original partners of the city’s beloved Holy Mountain Brewing. He had decided to go on his own with this venture, taking over a modestly-sized storage space in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood and filling it with barrels, focusing on a collection of barrel-fermented and mixed-culture beers. He released his first beers in 2018 to wild fanfare, and it really hasn’t stopped. What interested me in seeking out and chatting with Adam pretty much went right back to that website. He has a deep appreciation for his craft, and like the barebones appearance of his digital presence, is straight-forward in what motivates and excites him. He talks up his friends and partners, local farmers, and fellow brewers who inspire him. He worries about social media and line culture. He is wonderfully committed to the people he cares about and what he does for a living. He’s a fascinating guy, and one who doesn’t really talk publicly too much. It made for an incredible, wide-ranging conversation when we met in Seattle this spring. Spending an afternoon with Adam quickly introduced me to a personality I’m thankful to know, and happy to follow. In the Pacific Northwest, he’s got lots of fans, and if you haven’t heard of him yet, I hope this introduction puts him on your radar, too. This is Adam Paysse of Floodland Brewing. Listen in.

CL-025 Kristen Foster drinks a beer with one hand, chops down a tree with the other May 29, 2019

Welcome to the Good Beer Hunting Collective Podcast, the show where members of our team interview each other to get the behind the scenes look at some of our favorite articles. I’m Ashley Rodriguez, and I’m GBH’s podcast producer. One of my jobs at Good Beer Hunting is to post all the articles that come through our website. Usually that means lots of cutting and pasting, checking links, setting up their website page, and figuring out where photos go. It also means I get real intimate with some of these articles—I’m working with them for hours at a time. One article that recently caught my attention was about Tilted Barn Brewery in Exeter, Rhode Island. And the reason it caught my attention wasn’t because of the beer, but because of the way the author wrote about Tilted Barn. Kristen, whose day job involves working in people development (what we might traditionally know as human resources), illuminates the people she talks about. You don’t just want to visit Tilted Barn, you want to engage with the owners, Kara and Matt Richardson—and their family. They live just 100 yards away from the brewery with their four kids, and Kristen’s story captures the ups and downs of integrating your everyday life with your work. In this episode, we talk to Kristen about what it was like to visit and share the story of Tilted Barn, and what attracts her to the folks she depicts in her stories.

Into The Wild: Seattle May 28, 2019

This week, we’re bringing you a special episode from our Into the Wild tour with New Belgium Brewing. This is a tour focused on wild, sour, and otherwise aged and blended beers in the vein of what New Belgium Brewing has been making for longer and more continuously than any brewer in America. This tour is visiting at least a half a dozen cities this year and we kicked it off in Seattle with a series of sensory-driven events. We did a sour beer and cheese pairing at The Pine Box with chef Angelica Garza, featuring some funky and surprising cheeses alongside New Belgium’s Wood Cellar beers. We held a smoked and fermented event at Central Smoke where they made a cocktail with a Transatlantique Kriek float. (It was delicious.) And we finished at The Masonry with chef Matt Storm, where we explored the relationship between acid and fat. It was a wild week. These two conversations you’re about to hear came out of my experiences there. First up, we’ll talk to Ian Roberts, one of the owners of The Pine Box, about the bar’s role in the city’s beer scene, and how customers have changed over time when it comes to sour beer. Then we’ll catch up with Chef Matt to talk about The Masonry, pizza, and other things. And if you want more, we have a great little article on the website from chef Angelica Garza about how she constructed the cheese pairings and how you can think about that the next time you want to host some of your friends around cheese and sour beer. As specific as these flavors and aromas can be, there’s some pretty good principles at play that will help you do it yourself.

EP-220 Oscar Wong and Leah Wong Ashburn of Highland Brewing Co. May 25, 2019

The life of an American brewery feels like it exists on a scale like one of our pets. In the same way cat and dog years move at a factor faster than humans, the quick pace of the U.S. industry can make these businesses age rapidly in a variety of ways. If you’re not new, or at least keeping up with the latest styles and trends, life can come at you fast. So when a brewery starts hitting milestones — not just its first few anniversaries, but long-tenured ones — it’s kind of a big deal. That’s what brought me to Asheville, North Carolina recently, where one of the state’s largest and most important breweries hit its silver anniversary, marking 25 years in business. There’s a bunch of special history for Highland Brewing Company. It was the first brewery to open in Asheville’s city limits since Prohibition and third in the state. And if you want to get a good idea of how Highland came to be, check out my 2017 story on Good Beer Hunting. You’ll hear several references to it in this interview with founder Oscar Wong and family owner and president Leah Wong Ashburn. It’s not required reading to enjoy this conversation by any means, but you will get some fun, additional context. But let’s get back to this talk. When I sat down with Oscar and Leah, the goal was to look across Highland’s history. Past, present and future. There may be almost 7,500 breweries scattered across the country, but there aren’t a lot with the kind of longevity and point of view of business like this one. After building its success in Old World styles like an English-inspired Pale Ale and Porter, the last few years have been about rapid evolution. This is an old company in beer years, but that doesn’t mean the Highland team hasn’t learned some new tricks. So let’s hear it: how does a brewery last and change over a quarter-century? This is Oscar Wong and Leah Wong Ashburn of Highland Brewing. Listen in.

SL-011 What does growth look like in a slowing beer industry? May 23, 2019

As of right now—May 2019—there are about 7,500 breweries in the United States. From 2016-2018, the Brewers Association counted about two new breweries opening every day, and in that time, the size, scope, and potential of what those businesses could become has quickly changed. Year-to-year volume growth for Brewers Association-defined craft beer dropped to 4% last year, a decline of 1% from 2017 and the lowest growth rate in a decade. Industry conversations now focus on going a “mile deep,” not a “mile wide.” In other words, staying small and local—while embracing close-to-home and taproom sales—is becoming a safer and more secure way to grow, albeit slower and with greater intent. As the beer category slows and more companies focus on staying small and local, the idea of “growth” as a business concept is changing. To better get a sense of what this change means, GBH connected with Bart Watson, the economist from the Brewers Association, and Tom Madden, co-founder of Lone Pine Brewing Company in Portland, Maine. With a mix of industry stats and real-life case study, we hope to get to the bottom of what growth looks like in a slowing beer industry. Listen in.

MU-015 Brewery Bhavana Grove May 21, 2019

Our resident composer for the podcast and our commercial video work, Andrew Thiboldeaux, is writing original scores devoted to beers he finds fascinating. These are interpretations of the experience of drinking them. But they're also just great tunes.

EP-219 Ric Rhinehart of the Coffee Price Crisis Response Initiative May 18, 2019

There’s a big problem in coffee—we’re not paying enough for it. With every clickbait article talking about how much you can save by cutting out your daily latte habit, you might be wondering how that’s possible. But coffee, much like other agricultural products like sugar or bananas, has relied on colonialist structures to survive—meaning that while we can buy and sell coffee in consuming countries for $3.00 a cup, most of the folks who actually farm and grow coffee see less than a dollar per pound for the coffee they produce. Coffee is in a crisis—because coffee is traded as a commodity, its price depends on the market, which means that, right now, many farmers are forced to sell their coffee for less than what it cost to produce. Farmers are actively losing money when they produce coffee, and many have been forced to lay off workers, sell their farms, and encourage their children to abandon the farm and look for more lucrative work elsewhere. So what are we doing about this? Ric Rhinehart is the head of the Coffee Price Crisis Response Initiative, and the former head of the Specialty Coffee Association. In this episode, we talk about how the crisis began, and what his group is looking to do to change the trajectory of coffee farming and selling. The price crisis isn’t simply a dip in the marketplace or a momentary blip, but is reflective of the colonialist way we have traded coffee for centuries—depending on the labor of folks from one country to serve the tastes and trends of another. It is inherently exploitative, and you might question if it is ethical to buy coffee at all. Obviously, these are big questions—and that’s why I turned to the person in charge for answers. Along with speaking tangibly about the price crisis, Ric also explores how meaning is created, who are the value adders of any supply stream, and how we can shift an entire industry model to provide equity to all actors. This is a hugely important topic, so we’re airing this on both the Good Beer Hunting podcast and on my show, Boss Barista! If you’re familiar with one, you should check out the other—both cover big ideas surrounding the things we like to eat and drink. This is Ric Rhinehart of the Coffee Price Crisis Response Initiative. Listen in.

EP-218 Colin Gilhespy and Neil Kitching of Cave Direct May 11, 2019

In food and drink we often talk about the supply chain—the line we draw between the farm and the glass. The truth is, it’s far more complicated, and far more protracted than that. The beer world is a web containing thousands of people who work to get beer in your hands, and only a few of them brew it, still they influence which beers are brewed, how they are packaged, how they get to the bar and how they are served. Even a small scale beer scene like Britain’s is full of people you have never heard of, but who influence what you drink on a daily basis. Few of them have had as much influence as Colin Gilhespy, managing director of speciality beer importer Cave Direct. [Disclosure: I worked at Cave Direct from 2013 to 2018.] He has been in the distribution business since the early 80s, when he and his dad were among the first to bring Belgian beers across the Channel. Not just any beers either, but niche, expensive beers Trappists, Lambics and Flemish reds. At the same time that some Californian homebrewers were just waking America up to adventurous beer, Gilhespy and his family were doing the same in the U.K. I’ll leave the stories to him, but over the last 40 years he has had a huge hand in the growth of the British craft beer industry as it grew from the ashes of 1970s consolidation to one of the world’s most diverse and exciting scenes. From growing the Belgian beer category to helping new British brewers on the way up, he has laid a path for huge change and over the last decade has seen phenomenal growth. Cave Direct is now the U.K.’s only national direct-delivery beer wholesaler, and Colin’s services to the Belgian beer industry has even won him awards from the country’s brewing guilds. Even so, it’s difficult times to be an importer with Brexit on the horizon, huge competition from macro-breweries buying taps and pushing prices down, and several buyouts of breweries that Cave had built their business on. There’s still a long way to go. I joined him and sales director Neil Kitching at the Beer Merchants Tap, Cave Direct’s bar in East London where they have just taken delivery of their first batch of spontaneous wort for a blendery project, and where in June they will host their 40th birthday party with the breweries and friends that helped them come this far. This is Colin Gilhespy and Neil Kitching of Cave direct. Listen in.

SL-010 Did Untappd Really Throw Beer's Version of the Fyre Festival? May 10, 2019

On this GBH Sightlines episode, we're visiting with several people to get their perspectives and experiences following what some are calling beer's own Fyre Festival. That event, a luxury-music-festival-turned-disaster that spawned two separate documentaries showcasing its incredible collapse, may be on another level than the inaugural Untappd Beer Festival, but it didn't stop some angry beer fans from making that connection on May 4. We’re talking with two festival-goers, a vendor pouring for a brewery, and one of the event’s organizers. The goal? To better understand what it was like on the ground and whether or not those dire comparisons are actually warranted. Listen in.

FF-021 Jim Plachy spoils the Avengers and is definitely not distracted. May 08, 2019

Welcome to another Fervent Few episode of the Good Beer Hunting podcast where myself, Jim Plachy, and GBH’s strategic director, Michael Kiser, catch up. We’ll talk about the topics and discussions that took place in our membership community in the last couple weeks. Our 500 or so subscribers are scattered all over the world. Sometimes we meet up with them when we’re on the road, or they hang out with each other, but it all comes together in our community forum on Slack. If you value the content and experiences that GBH produces, you should join. Your monthly subscription gets you access to the community, special events, and exclusive gear deigned just for members. I joined, and now I manage it all. Plus, it’s my favorite place on the Beer Internet. Visit goodbeerhunting.com/ferventfew to strike up a conversation in beer.

EP-217 Jaisen Freeman of Phusion Projects May 04, 2019

The world of beer is going through an identity crisis—it’s changing the self-defined language of what’s craft and what not seemingly every few years now, it’s doing battle with wine and spirits, except when it’s embracing them in the form of natural wine and barrel-aging, it’s national, regional, local, and hyperlocal, it’s taprooms and bars going to battle over the same customers, it’s exploding cans and day-fresh distribution, and festivals are dying except when they’re growing, and it’s focused on diversity even as it undermines it’s own goals by competing for the same 21-34-year-old white males in every market, it’s IPAs except when it’s Lagers, and increasingly it’s juice bombs and hard seltzers and FMBs, and coffee roasting, distilling, and wine/beer hybrids. It’s wild out there right now. For today’s guest—I have a feeling all that seems a bit…charming. Predictable, maybe. And certainly ripe for exploitation from a manufacturing and marketing perspective. Because as much as we want to think people define themselves by what category of beverage they prefer (beer people, wine people, bourbon people), people like Jaisen Freeman of Phusion Projects has long understood drinkers as category agnostic—pursuing flavor, and brand, and functional benefits above all else. And generally preferring to have a little—sometimes too much—fun along the way. Phusion Projects is the maker of Four Loko, a notorious, exciting brand that has an unbelievable distribution footprint in the U.S. despite having its product formulation written out of the realm of legality by the federal government after they’d already built their empire. Despite massive lawsuits related to its potential for harm and or misuse. And despite taking a massing hit in the realm of $40 million during that traumatic period for the business. Within four years, it had climbed back to its former peak. And now, with that chasm behind them, Phusion Projects is expanding a portfolio of products geared towards finding the next big thing for drinkers. In the recent past, that’s included another infamous product, at least in the small bubble of the craft beer world, with Not Your Father’s Root Beer, a fermented malt beverage that got tried and true beer geeks worked up over its root beer flavor and, in some cases, its high ABV. But it attracted a massive mainstream audience as well as it expanded from a small garage into a national footprint. And now they’re exploring the world of vodka, hard seltzer, a flavored FMB that looks like a fancy blended wine or sake, and Earthquake, which they pitch as the highest ABV Lager on the market. None of them come anywhere close to Four Loko’s success. Like, by multiple orders of magnitude. But this is all pretty recent still as they climbed out of that crater that those four years of Four Loko left them in. And they got out of it, seemingly, all by themselves. It’s a wild story, and for anyone struggling to understand what their next few years are going to look like in the what might be the beer businesses’ most insane time period ever in this country, it’s a story with a lot of lessons, both encouraging, and exceptionally hard. This is Jaisen Freeman of Phusion Projects. Listen in.

FFT-012: Interview and Q&A with Walt Dickinson, Wicked Weed Brewing Apr 30, 2019

At this year's Foeder for Thought, the festival of wild and sour beers hosted by Green Bench Brewing Co. in St. Petersburg, Florida, the GBH team co-hosted panels and discussions that help us all dig in to the future of this loosely-defined, but highly-sought-after category of beers. Watch the video series here This podcast series includes: FFT-007: Thinking Inside of the Package, featuring: Andrew Emerton, New Belgium Brewing Patrick Woodson, Brewery Bhavana FFT-008: Interview/Audience Q&A Mitch Ermatinger, Speciation Artisan Ales FFT-009: The Wild Side of the Apple, featuring: Ryan Burk, Angry Orchard Brian Wing, Green Bench Mead & Cider FFT-010: Interview/Audience Q&A Tim Clifford, Sainte Adairius FFT-011: Climate Spontaneity, featuring: Harrison McCabe, Beachwood Blendery Jeffery Stuffings, Jester King Brewery Levi Funk, Funk Factory Geuzeria FFT-012: Interview/Audience Q&A Walt Dickinson, Wicked Weed Brewing

FFT-011 Climate Spontaneity Apr 30, 2019

At this year's Foeder for Thought, the festival of wild and sour beers hosted by Green Bench Brewing Co. in St. Petersburg, Florida, the GBH team co-hosted panels and discussions that help us all dig in to the future of this loosely-defined, but highly-sought-after category of beers. Watch the video series here This podcast series includes: FFT-007: Thinking Inside of the Package, featuring: Andrew Emerton, New Belgium Brewing Patrick Woodson, Brewery Bhavana FFT-008: Interview/Audience Q&A Mitch Ermatinger, Speciation Artisan Ales FFT-009: The Wild Side of the Apple, featuring: Ryan Burk, Angry Orchard Brian Wing, Green Bench Mead & Cider FFT-010: Interview/Audience Q&A Tim Clifford, Sainte Adairius FFT-011: Climate Spontaneity, featuring: Harrison McCabe, Beachwood Blendery Jeffery Stuffings, Jester King Brewery Levi Funk, Funk Factory Geuzeria FFT-012: Interview/Audience Q&A Walt Dickinson, Wicked Weed Brewing

FFT-010: Interview and Q&A with Tim Clifford, Sainte Adairius Apr 30, 2019

At this year's Foeder for Thought, the festival of wild and sour beers hosted by Green Bench Brewing Co. in St. Petersburg, Florida, the GBH team co-hosted panels and discussions that help us all dig in to the future of this loosely-defined, but highly-sought-after category of beers. Watch the video series here This podcast series includes: FFT-007: Thinking Inside of the Package, featuring: Andrew Emerton, New Belgium Brewing Patrick Woodson, Brewery Bhavana FFT-008: Interview/Audience Q&A Mitch Ermatinger, Speciation Artisan Ales FFT-009: The Wild Side of the Apple, featuring: Ryan Burk, Angry Orchard Brian Wing, Green Bench Mead & Cider FFT-010: Interview/Audience Q&A Tim Clifford, Sainte Adairius FFT-011: Climate Spontaneity, featuring: Harrison McCabe, Beachwood Blendery Jeffery Stuffings, Jester King Brewery Levi Funk, Funk Factory Geuzeria FFT-012: Interview/Audience Q&A Walt Dickinson, Wicked Weed Brewing

FFT-009 The Wild Side of the Apple Apr 30, 2019

At this year's Foeder for Thought, the festival of wild and sour beers hosted by Green Bench Brewing Co. in St. Petersburg, Florida, the GBH team co-hosted panels and discussions that help us all dig in to the future of this loosely-defined, but highly-sought-after category of beers. Watch the video series here This podcast series includes: FFT-007: Thinking Inside of the Package, featuring: Andrew Emerton, New Belgium Brewing Patrick Woodson, Brewery Bhavana FFT-008: Interview/Audience Q&A Mitch Ermatinger, Speciation Artisan Ales FFT-009: The Wild Side of the Apple, featuring: Ryan Burk, Angry Orchard Brian Wing, Green Bench Mead & Cider FFT-010: Interview/Audience Q&A Tim Clifford, Sainte Adairius FFT-011: Climate Spontaneity, featuring: Harrison McCabe, Beachwood Blendery Jeffery Stuffings, Jester King Brewery Levi Funk, Funk Factory Geuzeria FFT-012: Interview/Audience Q&A Walt Dickinson, Wicked Weed Brewing

FFT-008 Interview and Q&A with Mitch Ermatinger, Speciation Artisan Ales Apr 30, 2019

At this year's Foeder for Thought, the festival of wild and sour beers hosted by Green Bench Brewing Co. in St. Petersburg, Florida, the GBH team co-hosted panels and discussions that help us all dig in to the future of this loosely-defined, but highly-sought-after category of beers. Watch the video series here This podcast series includes: FFT-007: Thinking Inside of the Package, featuring: Andrew Emerton, New Belgium Brewing Patrick Woodson, Brewery Bhavana FFT-008: Interview/Audience Q&A Mitch Ermatinger, Speciation Artisan Ales FFT-009: The Wild Side of the Apple, featuring: Ryan Burk, Angry Orchard Brian Wing, Green Bench Mead & Cider FFT-010: Interview/Audience Q&A Tim Clifford, Sainte Adairius FFT-011: Climate Spontaneity, featuring: Harrison McCabe, Beachwood Blendery Jeffery Stuffings, Jester King Brewery Levi Funk, Funk Factory Geuzeria FFT-012: Interview/Audience Q&A Walt Dickinson, Wicked Weed Brewing

FFT-007 Thinking Inside of the Package Apr 30, 2019

At this year's Foeder for Thought, the festival of wild and sour beers hosted by Green Bench Brewing Co. in St. Petersburg, Florida, the GBH team co-hosted panels and discussions that help us all dig in to the future of this loosely-defined, but highly-sought-after category of beers. Watch the video series here This podcast series includes: FFT-007: Thinking Inside of the Package, featuring: Andrew Emerton, New Belgium Brewing Patrick Woodson, Brewery Bhavana FFT-008: Interview/Audience Q&A Mitch Ermatinger, Speciation Artisan Ales FFT-009: The Wild Side of the Apple, featuring: Ryan Burk, Angry Orchard Brian Wing, Green Bench Mead & Cider FFT-010: Interview/Audience Q&A Tim Clifford, Sainte Adairius FFT-011: Climate Spontaneity, featuring: Harrison McCabe, Beachwood Blendery Jeffery Stuffings, Jester King Brewery Levi Funk, Funk Factory Geuzeria FFT-012: Interview/Audience Q&A Walt Dickinson, Wicked Weed Brewing

EP-216 Ian Roberts and Kevin Watson of Future Primitive Brewing Apr 27, 2019

Today I’m going to introduce you to a brewery that basically just getting off the ground—it’s still in its infancy. But the folks behind it, with experience across a variety of well-known breweries, and a killer bar, and the bones of the building having seen a couple breweries itself, well, it’s more of a collection of old-but-still-passionate souls. This is Future Primitive Brewing in Seattle. When I visited they were just a couple weeks old and hadn’t really dug in yet. But they were close. And over the course of our conversation, talking about Ian Roberts’ experience owning and running one of Seattle’s best beer bars, Pine Box, and Kevin Watson’s experiences at breweries like Elysian and Allagash, it was clear to me that both of these guys had been focused, for a long time, on learning everything they could before they took the leap themselves. And not to distract from the great personal stories here and the exciting things coming up for Future Primitive, but this episode includes themes candid and thoughtful. Not to mention some of the most insightful discussion I’ve ever had with a brewer who’s worked at a brewery before and after an AB InBev acquisition. While it may not surprise you to hear some of these things, the clarity and balance with which he presents his experience is entirely uncommon—at least in the public discussion of such things. I was thoroughly impressed and I think you will be also. This is Ian Roberts and Kevin Watson of Future Primitive. Listen in.

SL-009 Why Won't Brewers Association President and CEO Bob Pease Answer Ecliptic Brewer Tim Sullivan on Twitter? Apr 25, 2019

There are lots of ways the business of beer extends far beyond what we find in bottles or cans. The social and cultural side of beer offers a glimpse into who we are, what we value, and in some ways, what drives us. Among one of the more curious trends in the American industry in recent years has been the continued use of trademarked or registered intellectual property. All over the country, there are near-daily examples of small and independent craft breweries using the likeness of people or IP from music, TV, movies, and a host of other pop culture venues as a way to market their product. As previously covered on GBH, these actions are done with knowledge of the potential legal ramifications. Some breweries are careful to toe the line, using similar color schemes or fonts from companies or products, but others may cross it. A recent example also covered on GBH was when Pennsylvania brewery Broken Goblet released a label for The Bryce is Right, a beer celebrating the arrival of baseball superstar Bryce Harper in Philadelphia. With a profile of Harper’s face, as well as a label imitating the beloved gameshow, The Price is Right, the proposed branding could have put the brewery in hot water. It even received a shoutout from Bob Pease, Brewers Association president and CEO, on Twitter. When that story ran in March, Pease never explained why he specifically called out a member brewery that could so easily be in violation of state and federal law, declining to comment to GBH. Ahead of this podcast, through the Brewers Association’s PR agency, GBH was told, “No foul play here (pun intended). As a fan of independent beer and baseball, Bob was simply trying to connect the two.” One person, however, is still hoping for a more thorough answer. For about a month, Tim Sullivan has been tweeting at Pease, creating an ever-growing thread on Twitter with hope he can learn more about the social media shoutout. Sullivan, a brewer at Portland, Oregon’s Ecliptic Brewing, has been hopeful, but not holding his breath. In this Sightlines podcast episode, we’re checking in with Sullivan. He’s a supporter of the Brewers Association—his employer is a member as well—though he continues to be perplexed why nobody from the trade organization has spoken up to ask peer businesses to stop using the intellectual property of others. After a series of tweets went unanswered, Sullivan explains why this is important to him. This is Tim Sullivan, brewer and searcher of answers. Listen in.

CL-024 Jonny Garrett is born to be wild Apr 24, 2019

For just over a year, Good Beer Hunting has focused on a variety of stories to highlight the evolution of wild and sour ale in America as part of our Into the Wild series, brought to readers in collaboration with New Belgium Brewing. Through these stories, however, it's been impossible to ignore what's also going on outside the U.S., where interest in this unique category has also been increasing. In this episode of the GBH Collective, we’re checking in with Jonny Garrett, one of Good Beer Hunting’s London-based team members, who’s most recently explored various ideas of wild, sour, and mixed-fermentation beer for an Into the Wild story about Lambic, and a podcast with the founders of Yonder Brewing & Blending. Jonny and I are going behind the scenes of his stories as part of this special series of interviews to dive deeper with Good Beer Hunting contributors and friends on topics of writing, beer and all the ways they intersect. The question that lingers throughout this conversation, as it has for Good Beer Hunting’s ongoing Into the Wild series, is about exploring just what exactly is happening—and as best we can determine, why—with traditional beer styles in a modern context. This includes discussion of foraging for ingredients, how a seaweed and yuzu beer changes flavor over the course of two years, and what’s next for “wild” in the UK scene. This is Jonny Garrett, GBH writer and podcaster. Listen in.

NYC Beer Week Panel, Pt. 2 Apr 23, 2019

For NYC Beer Week, in collaboration with The Well, Good Beer Hunting’s Michael Kiser hosts a pair of panel discussions aimed at understanding the current state of the beer industry and the culture that supports it, from the perspective of both hometown and visiting brewers.

NYC Beer Week Panel, Pt. 1 Apr 23, 2019

For NYC Beer Week, in collaboration with The Well, Good Beer Hunting’s Michael Kiser hosts a pair of panel discussions aimed at understanding the current state of the beer industry and the culture that supports it, from the perspective of both hometown and visiting brewers.

EP-215 Chris Cohen of Old Devil Moon Apr 20, 2019

There’s a case to be made that some of the most essential members of our craft beer communities aren’t brewers, or writers, or distributors. They’re publicans who influence the industry by connecting people. Chris Cohen is one such person, though he wears many more hats than that of just beer bar founder. He does indeed run a popular bar in Old Devil Moon, which opened in 2016 in San Francisco’s Bernal Heights neighborhood, but he didn’t always know he’d wind up there. He was a former IP lawyer in New York, who by chance got into beer by way of a curiosity about homebrewing. A hobby gave way to a passion, and before long, Cohen moved to the Bay Area, founded the San Francisco Homebrewers Guild, and earned the Advanced Cicerone certification. And then, realizing his meticulous Cicerone test note-taking might be of help to others, he launched Beer Scholar, a site and study guide aimed at helping prospective BJCP and Cicerone students pass their exams. But his most recent effort is a novel one, even for him: He’s an outspoken proponent for the commercial use of Nordic kveik yeast, an ingredient he says will change American craft beer due to its ability to drastically cut down fermentation time. It’s a bold argument, but he’s ready to make the case. This is Chris Cohen of San Francisco’s Old Devil Moon. Listen in.

CL-023 Gray Chapman doesn't care who has the dankest IPA Apr 17, 2019

For generations, a lot about the story of beer has been filtered through advertising or experiences geared toward men. This is rapidly changing, and for the better. In today’s GBH Collective, we’re talking with Gray Chapman about some of the ways beer lovers are finding new connections in settings that can enhance the camaraderie of something as simple as sharing a collection of beer. Gray recently published a piece for GBH in which she tells the story of a female-only bottle share and why its members find that setting to be welcoming, exciting, and comforting in different ways than similar, mixed-gender events. This conversation is part of our special series of interviews to dive deeper with Good Beer Hunting contributors and friends on topics of writing, beer and the stories you read and hear from GBH. With Gray, it’s a great reason to get some background on how she experienced this event—her first time participating in a bottle-share—and what she learned from the women surrounding her. Her story and this conversation make it clear that one way to approach such an event isn’t bad and another good, but rather they can complement each other in ways that build a love and appreciation for beer differently. This is Good Beer Hunting contributor Gray Chapman. Listen in.

MU-014 Half Acre Daisy Cutter Apr 16, 2019

Our resident composer for the podcast and our commercial video work, Andrew Thiboldeaux, is writing original scores devoted to beers he finds fascinating. These are interpretations of the experience of drinking them. But they're also just great tunes.

EP-214 Stuart Winstone and Jasper Tupman of Yonder Brewing & Blending Apr 13, 2019

It’s fair to say that mixed fermentation is having a moment in the U.K. Natural wine is buzzing like craft beer once did, and its beer equivalent is starting to do the same. I mean, no one knows what to call it—mixed ferm, farmhouse, wild ale, sour beer, barrel-fermented beer, low intervention beer. They all mean subtlety different things that never quite cover all the bases. Each brewery seems to pick its own word as they launch their side projects, using the volume and margins of clean beer to let their brewers off the leash and appeal once again to the ever-demanding beer geek bubble. But for me, Yonder have come to define what it means. With a focus on foraged ingredients, mixed culture yeasts, and hands-on brewing, it’s not an afterthought or a playground like it is for some brewers. It’s their lifestyle—their very reason for being. Stuart Winstone and Jasper Tupman met working at Wild Beer Co, the OG mixed-ferm brewery in the UK. They had both been there since the start and bonded over a love of using unusual ingredients and yeast strains, often local to them in Somerset. As Wild Beer Co grew though, the production side became increasingly commercial and the proportion of clean beer being made grew. Stu and Jasper felt that to continue producing the beers they loved, they had to go it alone. With no outside investment, putting the pieces together took a long time. There is starting a brewery from scratch, and then there is literally buying secondhand parts as they came on the market, plumbing them in yourself, gathering your own ingredients, designing your own brand and sticking the labels on the bottle you just filled. Stu and Jasper did all that themselves. While it sounds like a lot of work, it seems that when you do everything yourself, finding a cohesive identity is a very natural process. I joined them on an expedition in the Mendip hills with the brewery terrier Taco, gathering nettles and dandelions for a new Pilsner they were brewing the next day. This is Stu and Jasper of Yonder Brewing & Blending. Listen in.

FF-020 Jim Plachy goes up and down, plays with fire Apr 10, 2019

Welcome to another Fervent Few episode of the Good Beer Hunting podcast where myself, Jim Plachy, and GBH’s strategic director, Michael Kiser, catch up. We’ll talk about the topics and discussions that took place in our membership community in the last couple weeks. Our 500 or so subscribers are scattered all over the world. Sometimes we meet up with them when we’re on the road, or they hang out with each other, but it all comes together in our community forum on Slack. If you value the content and experiences that GBH produces, you should join. Your monthly subscription gets you access to the community, special events, and exclusive gear deigned just for members. I joined, and now I manage it all. Plus, it’s my favorite place on the Beer Internet. Visit goodbeerhunting.com/ferventfew to strike up a conversation in beer.

Uppers & Downers Hangover Party Apr 09, 2019

Today’s episode is our annual Hangover Party podcast, and event we host in the wake of Upper & Downers, our coffee, beer, culinary, and cocktail festival. People come from all over the country to attend this insane mashup of cultures we put together with our friend and Uppers & Downers co-founder Stephen Morrissey, who’s a world barista champion and works at the Specialty Coffee Association. And this hangover party, which we stupidly throw the morning after the big event, has become a bit like a brunch after a wedding, where we get to sit down with the out-of-towners and drink even more coffee and beer over breakfast. We set up the mics and ask our bleary-eyed collaborators to join us and talk about all the best parts of their week. This time we hosted the party at Cruz Blanca, our case study partner alongside Sparrow Coffee, which was one of the best things we’ve ever had at the festival. And if you didn’t attend, well, I’m sorry about how amazing everything you’re about to hear sounds. This is the Uppers & Downers Hangover Party episode. Listen in.

EP-213 Dan Gridley of Farm Boy Farms Apr 06, 2019

Let's take a trip. Let’s get away from our warehouse districts and downtowns where so many of our favorite bars and breweries are found. We're going to the farm. As discussions of place have become more common in beer and brewers and drinkers alike have taken up the effort of using "terroir" as a descriptive term, the place of agriculture has never been more front of mind in the U.S. beer industry. Best of all, you can find those conversations happening all over, including in North Carolina, where if you look hard enough, you'll find that direct connection between people, place, and a pint. Dan Gridley is owner of Farm Boy Farms, a 90-acre farm in Pittsboro, North Carolina. His contribution to the local beer scene doesn't come from boiling wort or pulling tap handles, but the hops he grows on a small plot of land about 30 miles west of the state's capital in Raleigh. He started this business a decade ago with dreams of creating a self-sustaining farm brewery, and while that's yet to come true, he's slowly upped his annual yield of Cascade, Chinook, and other hops to go into beers made a short drive away. For as much as beer lovers enjoy talking about dry-hop rates and whatever amount of dankness or juiciness can be found in their glass, Dan is the guy who's making those conversations possible. He's the first link in this chain that starts on a quiet, rural farm, and ends up at a bustling taproom. Education and story are big for the way Dan interacts with locals, whether they love beer or not, and I hope that over the course of this conversation you'll gain an added appreciation for some of the important behind-the-scenes work that goes on in beer. So many of us love talking about hops, but rarely get the chance to hear about bringing them to life. This is Dan Gridley of Farm Boy Farms. Listen in.

SL-008 Craft Brew Alliance is Going Beyond Beer Apr 04, 2019

Look around the beer industry, and you'll see lots of things going on that are decidedly...not beer. With the success of flavored malt beverages, hard seltzer, and even a resurgence of regional cider brands, brewers all over are finding new ways to attract drinkers and boost their bottom line with products outside of their wheelhouse. Not that there's anything wrong with that. These are businesses, after all, and as the market is changing, so many are adapting by creating new kinds of beverages that more people can enjoy. This is a hot topic to start 2019, and something covered here on Good Beer Hunting for some time. Among the leaders in this space of transition and innovation is Craft Brew Alliance, which went all in last year with the pH Experiment, a new standalone branch of the company that will focus on incubating ideas and all kinds of trial and error, ultimately with hope of finding the Next Big Thing. On this Sightlines podcast, we're talking with Karmen Olson, who's spent just over seven years with CBA, recently taking over as general manager for the pH Experiment, where she's looking to anticipate and identify where things are going. You'll get a little background on this new initiative and what created this need, which, in some ways, stems from the beer industry's slow willingness to adapt. For a long time, Olson says, beer focused on industry challenges, not customer ones, which has led to this point, and these new ideas. If you want to grow in today's competitive alcohol industry, it's adapt or die. This is Karmen Olson, general manager of Craft Brew Alliance's pH Experiment. Listen in.

CL-022 Ben Keene on the evolution of BeerAdvocate Apr 03, 2019

Like so many other areas of publishing, things have changed in recent years for beer-focused media. While the stories told from all corners of the world have gotten more in-depth and introduced new people and ideas, the number of platforms where enthusiasts can find this information has been shifting. It wasn’t long ago that All About Beer, one of the most prominent beer publications in the country, folded, along with DRAFT magazine. More recently, some newspaper-style “brewsletters” have disappeared, either under the weight of failing advertising or other pressures. Throughout it all, BeerAdvocate has remained—but things are about to change there, too. On today’s GBH Collective, we’re talking with Ben Keene, editorial director for BeerAdvocate, and moving forward, perhaps a little more. Ben has long overseen the evolution of BeerAdvocate magazine, but with the print edition going away, he’s now shifting his attention to other daily responsibilities related to storytelling and the business. The rating website is still a big part of what BeerAdvocate offers fans, and even a new app that recently launched, but it can’t stop the same challenges of publishing that have impacted others. We’ll talk all this, and reflect on the state of beer-focused media, in this Collective conversation, part of our special series of interviews to dive deeper with Good Beer Hunting contributors and friends on topics of writing, beer, and all the ways they intersect. This is Ben Keene, BeerAdvocate editorial director. Listen in.

Our Neck of the Woods Apr 02, 2019

There’s no getting around the fact that making beer is a science. But it can truly become special when it mixes with creativity and art. In today’s episode, we’re in Raleigh, North Carolina, where GBH was part of a discussion to determine where those things can overlap. In February, I hosted a panel discussion at Brewery Bhavana’s production facility organized by Triangle Wine Company, a local wine and beer retail chain. Along with two brewers from Bhavana, I was also joined by Walt and Sean of Bond Brothers Beer Company, and, if you’re a regular listener, Ancillary Fermentation, a side project recently featured here on the podcast. [Disclosure: Brewery Bhavana is a client of GBH’s studio team.] Our goal was to talk about the marriage of this science and art when it comes to working with wood. In front of an audience of local beer fans, we touched on processes, themes, and inspirations for creating the kind of wild, funky, delicate, and often beautiful beers so many of us revere. This conversation isn’t just about what it takes to create and maintain a barrel program, but to try and explore what that day-to-day can be for brewers. What does it mean to be patient with these beers? How do you know what and when to blend? Why do it in the first place? We’ll do our best to tackle these and other questions around this niche, but growing, section of the beer industry. This is Our Neck of the Woods, a panel discussion on all things barrel. Listen in.

EP-212 Greg Koch of Stone Brewing Co. Mar 30, 2019

[Photo by Matthew Curtis] Few breweries can represent the past, present, and future of American craft beer the way Stone Brewing can. And it’s co-founder, today’s guest, Greg Koch, has been known to speak authoritatively about the entire timeline of craft beer at times. And with good reason—he’s seen and participated in most of it himself. For some, though, his voice can sometimes seem anachronistic. It hearkens back to old, perhaps out-of-date realities of the business that can be jarring against new challenges and priorities for small, independent American brewers—and increasingly those inspired by American brewers overseas. How Stone has navigated the shifting priorities of craft beer has been varied over the years. Sometimes they seem to double down on their initial ethos. Other times, they seem to abandon it altogether. But looks can be deceiving. So this conversation—my first interview with Koch—was an opportunity to hear what some of those decisions have meant to him and Stone over the years. And why they may or may not be in conflict as he and the brand trek back and forth across the ocean in what might hopefully turn out to be a straight line toward some long-term goal. But as can so often happen in this business, it might eventually reveal itself to be a lost-at sea scenario just as easily. It’s almost impossible to tell when the waves are constantly crashing and the winds are constantly shifting and so many people want a hand on that wheel. In this interview, we talk about Stone’s place in the world then and now—growth and layoffs and private equity, breaking off brands like Arrogant Bastard, social media, sabbaticals, and finding the yin and yang with a co-founder. There’s a lot to cover. And I greatly appreciate Greg’s willingness to riff on so many different topics that are important to him, or me, and often both. This is Greg Koch of Stone Brewing. Listen in.

Uppers & Downers Preview Mar 27, 2019

As many of you know, we’re in the midst of Uppers & Downers week here in Chicago, celebrating more than five years of our coffee and beer culture collaboration between myself, Michael Kiser, and world barista champion Stephen Morrissey. This year’s festival promises to be our best yet, with about 25 different coffee beer collaborations, a dozen different roasters pulling their best espresso shots from all over the country, some delicious things to eat from Green City Market, cocktails from Powers Whiskey and others, a pairing bar with Guinness—it’s really a room to explore with your palate. And this year, we’re posting some explosive content to Vero, a new ad-free social network that protects your data and your privacy. To access all areas of the festival, discover exclusive recipes, tips, and recommendations, and to connect with fellow Uppers & Downers enthusiasts, visit Vero here. To give you an idea of what’s in store this weekend, I got together with Jacob Sembrano of Cruz Blanca, a brewery in Chicago, and Robert Bersano of Sparrow Coffee to chat about the incredible case study of beers and coffee drinks they’re going to be collaborating on for our biggest sensory experience ever.

EP-211 Tom Stainer of the Campaign for Real Ale Mar 23, 2019

I’m not sure how to introduce CAMRA. On the one hand, it’s the biggest single-issue consumer interest group in the UK, the savior of British brewing that’s as responsible for our amazing beer scene as any American influence. On the other hand, it’s portrayed as an irrelevant lumbering beast that seems to stagger from controversy to controversy. The Campaign for Real Ale was founded in 1971 in response to a surge in pasteurized, force-carbonated keg beer that was pushing traditional British cask ale of the bars around the country. Alarmed by the lack of diversity, four men in a pub decided that someone needed to champion the traditional method of delivering unconditioned beer to pubs and serving them at the exact moment they peaked, without any extra gas. Since then, the organization has grown to nearly 200,000 members, lobbying the government, running festivals, producing magazines, and promoting their self-defined “real ale” above all other formats. Its success in protecting an inefficient product against capitalist pressures is unprecedented. But since the UK craft beer revolution, CAMRA has struggled to find its place in a fast moving and often image-led scene. Suddenly, most of the brewing and talking was being done by young, American-inspired breweries who loved keg beer, big hops, and high ABVs. The keg lines that had been loaded with crap Euro Lagers were suddenly pouring exciting, experimental beers that appealed more to young drinkers than the more historic real ale did. Caught looking the other way and trying to catch up, CAMRA has come under pressure to realign its objectives in support good keg beer, to update older breweries’ outdated marketing, and pick a side on issues that simply wasn’t there when its charter was drawn up—all the while coping with the fact that after decades of growth, cask beer had gone into decline again. I sat down with the new chief executive, Tom Stainer, who might be seen as a reformer but has had to keep a level head in his vital new role. We talk through the challenges of running an organization controlled by some 200,000 members, propped up by volunteers and considered out of touch—when they were the people who made it all possible. This is Tom Stainer, chief executive of the Campaign for Real Ale. Listen in.

CL-021 Austin L. Ray is having a chard time. Mar 20, 2019

Whether you read the words or hear the voices of the Good Beer Hunting editorial staff, there's one guy working behind the scenes who doesn't often get the byline, but offers plenty of insight and guidance to get those things from draft to publish-ready. In today's episode of the GBH Collective, we're chatting with the man behind the curtain, Austin L. Ray, editorial director for Good Beer Hunting. We're welcoming him to this special series of interviews where we can dive deeper with GBH contributors and friends on topics of writing, beer, and the stories we share. If you follow Austin on Twitter, you may know about his eclectic sense of humor and insight into all things agricultural. So while we talk a little about how chard might save the world, you'll also hear his unique insight on a couple recent stories he pulled together for GBH that benefit greatly from explaining his behind-the-scenes reporting. Curious about what it's like to chat with a brutally honest owner from Wicked Weed? Or why one Atlanta brewery has created trouble and difficult decisions for local bar owners? Austin's your guy. If you've enjoyed listening to these Collective episodes to better learn what goes into telling a story, these two from Austin were among the more odd ones we've been able to share on Good Beer Hunting. You'll likely get a kick out of how they came to be. This is Austin L. Ray: editor, writer, and leafy green enthusiast. Listen in.

EP-210 Whit Baker and Sean McKinney of Ancillary Fermentation Mar 16, 2019

When it comes to running a business, partnerships are key. In the beer industry, that often shows up in leadership where one person may handle the books or operational responsibilities, and another focuses on the liquid itself. In all cases, finding the balance between people and personalities is importance of yin and yang that can make breweries succeed. Lucky for me, I recently had the chance to sit down with some perfect examples of left and right brain come to life. In this pairing, Whit Baker is the former and Sean McKinney the latter. Whit’s scientific “left” focuses on recipes, while Sean’s creative “right” brings aspects of artistry to the act of drinking beer. Together, they’re part of a set of owners and brewers behind Ancillary Fermentation, a sort of brewery/event company in the Triangle region of North Carolina. With thousands of breweries scattered across the country, including nearly 300 in the Tar Heel State, it’s not uncommon to hear conversations that mention how quality beer alone isn’t enough to exist in a competitive industry. This is where Ancillary flips the script. Both Whit and Sean have “day jobs” at Cary, North Carolina’s Bond Brothers Beer Company, and once a month, create pop-up events for this side project. These are situations you do not find in beer, with one-off releases held at what are essentially theme parties. There was the holiday office party in an actual office. And a motivation-themed gathering at a CrossFit gym, complete with Hazy IPA served in clear, plastic water bottles. Their latest was held in a church. Each example an opportunity to push drinkers into new and weird spaces to share this incredibly common experience of drinking beer with friends in a new way. We’ll delve into all of this in our conversation, including how Whit thinks about recipes and setting Ancillary’s beer apart, but it’s clear this effort is about way more than what goes into a glass. If anything, this chat feels like an important glimpse into the way today’s breweries need to think when a taproom experience—no matter how wonderful—can sometimes get a little repetitive. This is Whit Baker and Sean McKinney of Ancillary Fermentation. Listen in.

SL-007 What the hell is going on in Maryland and Texas? Mar 14, 2019

What the hell is going in Maryland and Texas? You may have caught a bunch of coverage of these two states on GBH over the past year. Their state politicians are creating—depending on who you ask—all sorts of good, bad, and ugly situations for their respective craft beer industries. In Maryland, infighting about how beer is sold and regulated has led to the legislature’s attempts to strip oversight from comptroller Peter Franchot, who has led efforts to boost the state's craft-beer economy and earned enemies along the way. In Texas, it's a similar story, where wholesalers and lobbyists have long thumbed their noses at small beer producers. Despite a recent breakthrough that could finally allow breweries to sell beer to-go from their taprooms, there are still shenanigans to work through as some wholesalers clap back. For this episode of the Good Beer Hunting Sightlines podcast, we're checking in on the latest from these two states. First, with Liz Murphy, a reporter and columnist who writes about Maryland beer for the Annapolis Capital Gazette, then with Josh Hare, founder and president of Austin's Hops & Grain Brewing, as well as board chairman of the Texas Craft Brewers Guild. Both will offer some insight into the quirky bitterness and political games at play. What the hell is going on? Listen in. [Editor’s note: the Maryland portion of this podcast begins at 1:28, and the Texas portion begins at 30:50.]

CL-020 Jesse Friedman is here to tell you it's not reefer madness Mar 13, 2019

In the past year, there’s been plenty of talk in the industry about how cannabis is going to impact drinking trends. There’s been close attention paid to states in the U.S. where marijuana has become legalized and its potential connection to declining alcohol consumption, which was on the downward slide anyway. But that’s not why we’re here today. In this episode of the GBH Collective, we are talking THC and CBD, but plenty of beer and food, too. As part of our special series of interviews to dive deeper with Good Beer Hunting contributors and friends on topics of writing, beer and the stories you read and hear from GBH, we’re chatting with Jesse Friedman. As something of a serial entrepreneur, he’s started a number of personal and professional enterprises, although you may know him best as a co-founder of Almanac Beer Company, and more recently Fava, a Los Angeles-based creative consulting and events company that focuses on the food and beverage space. If you’re an avid Good Beer Hunting reader, you may also know him for an award-winning piece he wrote about food and beer in 2017, and his newest story, in which he explores food, beer, and cannabis in Alaska. All these interests and areas of expertise come together in this interview, where we talk about how he approaches his writing, especially when covering a nascent and somewhat taboo topic in marijuana. This is Jesse Friedman, entrepreneur, brewer, and foodie. Listen in.

EP-209 Ben Freeman and Graham O’Brien of Pressure Drop Brewing Mar 09, 2019

Pressure Drop may have been founded during the early days of London’s brewing renaissance, but its trajectory has been very different to many of its compatriots. While other UK breweries of the same age—the likes of Beavertown, Five Points, and Fourpure—expanded rapidly, putting together sales teams, attending trade shows and contract brewing overseas to hit demand, Pressure Drop’s founders have chosen to grow slowly and organically even when the opportunity to explode seemed in reach. Back in 2013 their flagship beer, Pale Fire, was probably the most sought-after Pale Ale in London and way ahead of its time. Even though the recipe changed frequently, its reliably soft wheat body, haze, and juicy aroma was unlike anything else on the bar, a precursor of what would become the New England craze. It was so talked about that some people thought Pale Fire was the the name of a brewery, not a beer. It still amazes me that some of the seminal Pale Fire I drank back then was made on a 50L homebrew kit in a shed in Hackney. Even in 2016 they were still brewing on a five-barrel brewhouse down a dingy side road in East London. At this site they were only able to dedicate around 30% of their volume to the more idiosyncratic beers that had got them excited about brewing in the first place—beers like their Wugang Chops the Tree, their foraged-herb Hefeweiss and Nanban Kampai, a yuzu wheat IPA. I met Ben Freeman and Graham O’Brien at the Experiment, a taproom they opened in that archway after moving the brewery out. A much bigger expansion in 2016 has given them more tank space to play around, leading to a belated move into true New England brewing and canning, as well as putting them next door to Beavertown, where the brewery stands proud as a symbol of their different way of doing things.

SL-006 Eric Salazar is Building a New Barrel Program at Other Half Mar 07, 2019

What moves you? What is it that motivates your actions, beliefs, hopes, and dreams? There are all sorts of personal and professional ways to answer these questions, and sometimes we’re lucky enough to have them intertwined. More than two decades ago, Eric Salazar helped to establish one of the most influential barrel programs in the world at New Belgium in Colorado. Its impact continues to resonate today, but with hope to push himself in new and exciting ways, Eric is starting all over again. This time, in Upstate New York. Since the start of the New Year, Eric moved from Colorado to Rochester, where he’s in early stages of planning to create and curate a barrel program for Other Half Brewing. Going from one renowned brewery to another makes sense for a person of his tenure and expertise, but like other industry peers, he’s taking this opportunity to start anew to refocus on the details that build something special from the start, this time around with a world of knowledge and experience. What that will be isn’t entirely clear, but Eric’s interest in local agriculture and new relationships promises to offer something exciting. And probably tasty, too. If you’re a beer enthusiast, you’ve likely heard—and maybe even enjoyed—the hazy IPAs that have made Other Half so beloved around the world. Now it’s time to meet the guy who’s going to change your perception of what that business is capable of. This is Eric Salazar of Other Half Brewing. Listen in.

CL-019 Matt Saincome is very real and very punk Mar 06, 2019

What’s the right way to have sex with a dolphin? I’m sure you didn’t expect that question to be posted on a beer-focused interview show, but here we are. It’s a fun benefit—if you dare call it that—of chatting with this episode’s guest. Matt Saincome doesn’t write about beer. He doesn’t actually drink it, either. But as founder and editor-in-chief of the satirical website The Hard Times, he does offer a unique perspective on writing and storytelling. And that’s why he’s a guest on the GBH Collective, which gives us the opportunity to dig a little deeper with fellow media members, even if their topic of choice is comedy and not IPAs. Matt has a background in traditional journalism, but it was a serendipitous assignment to write about a man who wrote a book about intercourse with an aquatic mammal that reset his career expectations. You’ll hear all about it in this conversation, as well as our attempts to dissect the idea of truth in reporting and comedy, and what makes for creating a successful website when there are print, digital, and TV outlets all competing in satirical space. We live in a time when moments of levity can sometimes feel hard to find, and the way Matt and his team use humor to force internal reflection and laughs is something we can all appreciate. To be up front, this conversation isn’t about beer, but it is about one person’s journey to create something unique and special, which we all endeavor to do in one way or another. This is Matt Saincome, founder, editor-in-chief, and straight edge punk rocker of The Hard Times. Listen in...

EP-208 Doug Triola and Brian Reed, Brewmaster (2018) Mar 03, 2019

Today’s guest are an unlikely due of a documentary film maker and a master cicerone. Doug Tivola is the director of Brewmaster - a documentary that tries to weave together the varied and often dissociated threads in the beer world - like big and small, amateur and pro, nostalgic and new wave —and the results are at times flattering to the beer industry and at time a bit embarrassing to have reflected back. At times both overly simple and complex, naive and incisive. If a documentary serves as a mirror, then this one is perhaps a funhouse mirror that makes us all a little uncomfortable for different reasons. Alongside him in this interview is one of the documentaries primary characters - Brian Reid - a master cicerone who works for MillerCoors as an educator. The film tracks his journey into failure as he attempts to be one of the dozen or so folks in the wold to achieve master status - which after the shooting of the film he actually does go on to accomplish. MillerCoors was a sponsor of the film - which began as a sort of ode to Pilsner - specifically Pilsner Urquell. But as the shooting and storytelling commenced, Tivola kept chasing down other storylines - so the results get pretty far from the original intent and capture a collage of sorts - featuring moments with Urquell’s Vaclav Berka, Brooklyn Brewery’s Garret Oliver, Chicago’s Randy Mosher and Cicerone’s Ray Daniels, Dogfish Head’s Sam Calagione, among other sort of founding fathers of the craft beer narrative we’ve heard form so often. And that is maybe my biggest critique of the film - and full disclosure, I appear in the documentary for a few moments myself - but the talking heads in this story are perhaps a bit predictable and lack the diversity of opinions and experiences from the wider set of folks that work in and help shape the craft brewing world today. So the documentary is perhaps already a bit of a time capsule that way. But Brian’s story in the film is the one I enjoyed the most, largely because it was real struggle, playing out in front of the audience in real-time. It wasn’t someone reminiscing about the glory days with a marketing narrative - in fact, most of what Brian goes through in this film objectively sucks. It’s brutal. And the film doesn’t capture much int he way of success - as I mentioned, obtaining the level of master happens after the film concludes - so it’s a great portrait of how difficult and unrewarding working on beer can often be despite all the hard work that goes in to it. And for that reason - I think having these two together for the interview is the best way to chat about the film.

Taprooms Vs. Everybody, Pt. 2 Feb 28, 2019

This episode is a two-parter devoted to the intersection of taprooms and retailers as they increasingly find themselves in competition with each other for the limited number of customers and dollars available in their markets for craft beer. There are a number of factors that have made taprooms a newly competitive aspect of the three-tier system—or what’s left of it in some cases. Laws have been changing, the consumer experience is shifting, OG beer bars are feeling the squeeze from every bar and restaurant seemingly carrying craft beer now, and larger trends like at-home consumption, bottle shares, trading circuits, and beer tourism. It’s hard out there for a retailer right now, and it’s kind of becoming taprooms versus everybody. The purpose of this two-part series was to dig into that tension and determine if there’s a concrete principle at play, or if, like most things in craft beer, it’s more of a loose relationship-based thing where some competition is welcome, and some isn’t. Most of all: how are we going to be thinking about all this in the future? Because I think we can all agree that competition that works in the drinker’s favor is generally a good thing, but if we start losing great bars in the process, then maybe we’re not all getting what we want in the end. Solemn Oath Brewery in Naperville, Illinois is the catalyst behind these episodes. As a small production brewery making right about 8,000 barrels, with an expanded taproom and a new one opening in the city of Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood, they were starting to feel the pushback from some key retail accounts who see them as competition. So they took the bold step of reaching out, inviting those accounts to brew a beer called Taproom Exclusive, and serving it anywhere but. They asked us to come along and lead a discussion around how we can maybe sort all this out productively and gain some perspective. Bavarian Lodge and Hopleaf joined in—both accounts that have carried Solemn Oath over the years, but who have been vocal about how they don’t like where things are heading. Kudos to everyone for being willing to come the the table—both figuratively and quite literally—over a beer and dig into the issue. This episode is recorded at the Bavarian Lodge in Naperville, Illinois, and I’m joined by: Alan Taylor, owner of the Bavarian Lodge John Barley, co-founder of Solemn Oath Brewery Dave Hawley, owner of the Beer Cellar, a bottle shop and taproom Dakota Defever, Minor Threat Restaurant Group in nearby Plainfield, Illinois This is Taprooms Vs. Everybody, Pt. 2. Listen in.

Taprooms Vs. Everybody, Pt. 1 Feb 28, 2019

This episode is a two-parter devoted to the intersection of taprooms and retailers as they increasingly find themselves in competition with each other for the limited number of customers and dollars available in their markets for craft beer. There are a number of factors that have made taprooms a newly competitive aspect of the three-tier system—or what’s left of it in some cases. Laws have been changing, the consumer experience is shifting, OG beer bars are feeling the squeeze from every bar and restaurant seemingly carrying craft beer now, and larger trends like at-home consumption, bottle shares, trading circuits, and beer tourism. It’s hard out there for a retailer right now, and it’s kind of becoming taprooms versus everybody. The purpose of this two-part series was to dig into that tension and determine if there’s a concrete principle at play, or if, like most things in craft beer, it’s more of a loose relationship-based thing where some competition is welcome, and some isn’t. Most of all: how are we going to be thinking about all this in the future? Because I think we can all agree that competition that works in the drinker’s favor is generally a good thing, but if we start losing great bars in the process, then maybe we’re not all getting what we want in the end. Solemn Oath Brewery in Naperville, Illinois is the catalyst behind these episodes. As a small production brewery making right about 8,000 barrels, with an expanded taproom and a new one opening in the city of Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood, they were starting to feel the pushback from some key retail accounts who see them as competition. So they took the bold step of reaching out, inviting those accounts to brew a beer called Taproom Exclusive, and serving it anywhere but. They asked us to come along and lead a discussion around how we can maybe sort all this out productively and gain some perspective. Bavarian Lodge and Hopleaf joined in—both accounts that have carried Solemn Oath over the years, but who have been vocal about how they don’t like where things are heading. Kudos to everyone for being willing to come the the table—both figuratively and quite literally—over a beer and dig into the issue. This episode is recorded at the Hopleaf, and I’m joined by: Michael Roper, proprietor of Hopleaf Peter Rock-Tiernes of Middlebrow, who just owned a taproom in Logan Square Jay Jankowski of Maproom, just down the street from Middlebrow and Solmenn Oath’s future second taproom Eric Hobbs, sales director at Solemn Oath This is Taprooms Vs. Everybody, Pt. 1. Listen in.

FF-019 Jim Plachy goes national and rearranges flights Feb 27, 2019

Welcome to another Fervent Few episode of the Good Beer Hunting podcast where myself, Jim Plachy, and GBH’s strategic director, Michael Kiser, catch up. We’ll talk about the topics and discussions that took place in our membership community in the last couple weeks. Our 500 or so subscribers are scattered all over the world. Sometimes we meet up with them when we’re on the road, or they hang out with each other, but it all comes together in our community forum on Slack. If you value the content and experiences that GBH produces, you should join. Your monthly subscription gets you access to the community, special events, and exclusive gear deigned just for members. I joined, and now I manage it all. Plus, it’s my favorite place on the Beer Internet. Visit goodbeerhunting.com/ferventfew to strike up a conversation in beer.

EP-207 Derek Gallanosa and Cory Meyer from Moksa Brewing Company Feb 23, 2019

Moksa Brewing Company in Rocklin, California sold out the slots for their brewery club program in 2017. What’s particularly notable about that? They hadn’t yet served a single drop of beer. When drinkers discuss breweries like Moksa, there’s a label to which fans often turn that fits snugly within the cultural zeitgeist of American craft beer: hype. That dubious h-word is not a term head brewer Derek Gallanosa likes, though Moksa’s proliferating fans have nevertheless helped to establish the new brewery as one of California’s most exciting. Just recently, Moksa was named by RateBeer as the best new brewery in the state. What makes a hype brewery? Price point? Scarce supply? Novelty? Or is it just plain skill? For Moksa, it’s all those things, plus a bit of networking and guerilla marketing. Sacramento is a rapidly evolving region, with young Bay Area expats fleeing high costs and others seeking new opportunities in the West. New crowds can represent a growing consumer base, but they can also hint at a forthcoming increase in competition. There are more breweries opening every day in Northern California’s Gold Country. Gallanosa and brewer Cory Meyer sprinted ahead of the pack early. Many come to their business park taproom from far abroad, seeking pours of their cult-loved high-ABV pastry stouts and hazy IPAs. But most are hometown fans stopping in after work. Moksa’s ethos is about catering to the locals above everyone. So what happens when their name too widely precedes them? This is Derek Gallanosa and Cory Meyer from Moksa Brewing Company in Rocklin, California. Listen in.

SL-003 The Race to Build the Next Lifestyle Beer Feb 21, 2019

After more than a decade of wild growth, Michelob Ultra is now well-established as Anheuser-Busch InBev’s king of “better-for-you” beer. As odd as it may sound to beer enthusiasts, the brand has become paradigmatic in its popularity and sales figures. Naturally, it was only a matter of time before other breweries wanted to play catch-up. The Ultraficaton race is now very much on, with entries in the low-calorie, low-carb space multiplying quickly from breweries big and small. Among these is a new release from Boston Beer’s Marathon Brewing Company: a similar, sort-of-subsidiary effort not unlike its Alchemy & Science (now A&S Brewing) incubator, which acquires and promotes smaller breweries. Marathon’s first nationwide release was ushered to store shelves by brewer Shelley Smith, who joins this Sightlines podcast to talk 26.2 Brew: a beer that had previously only been available around the Boston Marathon. The brand will now see ramped-up production and will, from March, be marketed to beer drinkers who also prioritize their active lifestyles. At 4% ABV, 9 grams of carbohydrates, and 120 calories (stats that all appear in the product’s marketing materials), 26.2 Brew is just the latest product aimed at a growing number of shoppers who want to pair their wellness with their beer. Now, let’s get an idea of what all of this means for one of the largest beer companies in the U.S. This is Shelley Smith, brewer and manager of research and product innovation with Boston Beer. Listen in.

CL-018 Rekindling an old flame with Peter Frost Feb 20, 2019

Welcome to the GBH Collective, a special series of interviews where we have the chance to dive a little deeper with Good Beer Hunting contributors and journalist and media folks from within the beer industry and beyond on topics of writing, beer, and the stories you read and hear from GBH and others. In this episode, we’re going to rekindle an old flame in Peter Frost. He’s the writer behind the MilerCoors blog, a publication which has garnered a ton of attention in the beer industry since he took it over. And it’s gotten a good amount of praise as well, which is not something that’s often granted to organizations like MillerCoors amongst beer drinkers and fellow brewers. You may remember Peter from our interview with him back when he was the business and beer reporter for Crain’s in Chicago. That was way back in episode 118. He’s the same guy, and has the same charming and clever personality I’ve grown to love. But this is a vastly different context in which he’s operating as a journalist. This is Peter Frost. Listen in.

Foeder for Thought festival preview Feb 20, 2019

This week we have a special preview episode for you. Last year, you may recall we led a series of discussions at Foeder for Thought, the festival for wood-aged and sour beers by Green Bench brewing in St Petersburg Florida, as part of the Tampa Bay beer week festivities. Well, it was a blast, and the team at Green Bench has invited us back to the party to do it again this year, and I’m very excited to get down there and see their cellar expansion. They’ve been busy collaborating with a bunch of folks, and producing some of the best mixed-culture beers in the country. And Foeder for Thought is a celebration of those beers, their friendships, and their professional admiration of others. Also, it’s just a killer time. Tickets are on sale for that fest right now, which is March 8. Hit up goodbeerhunting.com/events and you can learn all about it. Today, I had co-founders Kris and Brian in the studio, and their colleague Valerie who runs the festival, to talk about how the festival came to be, what its ambitious are, and what’s on deck for the discussions this year: some topics that I’m excited to dig into, some personalities I’m thrilled to see on stage, and some beers I can’t wait to drink.

Signifier: Made in Partnership with Guinness — Guinness is Good For You — 5 of 5 Feb 16, 2019

Welcome to a special edition of the Good Beer Hunting podcast—a series of episodes made in partnership with Guinness devoted to one of the world’s most iconic brands from Dublin to the United States, to Nigeria and the Caribbean.

Guinness became an underwriter of Good Beer Hunting 18 months ago, helping us bring you a series of stories called Coming to America, exploring the relationship between imports and the U.S. beer drinker in the age of local craft. And more recently, they helped us start up a new series called Mother of Invention, where we explore the technical innovations, past and present, that have transformed the beer in your glass in surprising ways.

And now we’re taking the opportunity to explore the story of Guinness itself in a unique way for GBH. Guinness made it possible for us to visit historic St. James Gate in Dublin, and their new brewery in Baltimore County in the U.S., and gave us free rein to pull at the strings of the stories we’ve so often heard in the form of legend, but rarely had the first-hand experience to dive in to. We wanted to turn legends into learning.

They also gave us free rein of their brewing sites, both in Baltimore, home to their new brewery and taproom, called the Open Gate Brewery, which shares a name with the public-facing innovation brewing taproom located in Dublin, and historic St James Gate—which, to be honest, took some real doing. It’s not a place open to tourists, at least beyond the visitor center. And much of the more historical aspects are either in disrepair or preserved, and gaining access to those people and places isn’t easy for a film and audio crew. So for all the rigamarole we caused with our persistence, we’re thankful and grateful we were able to get past the gates, and into some of the more fascinating aspects of the various Guinness operations.

And it was all in pursuit of understanding one thing: What makes Guinness Guinness? And how has that changed over the years?

Signifier: Made in Partnership with Guinness — Guinness is So Extra — 4 of 5 Feb 16, 2019

Welcome to a special edition of the Good Beer Hunting podcast—a series of episodes made in partnership with Guinness devoted to one of the world’s most iconic brands from Dublin to the United States, to Nigeria and the Caribbean.

Guinness became an underwriter of Good Beer Hunting 18 months ago, helping us bring you a series of stories called Coming to America, exploring the relationship between imports and the U.S. beer drinker in the age of local craft. And more recently, they helped us start up a new series called Mother of Invention, where we explore the technical innovations, past and present, that have transformed the beer in your glass in surprising ways.

And now we’re taking the opportunity to explore the story of Guinness itself in a unique way for GBH. Guinness made it possible for us to visit historic St. James Gate in Dublin, and their new brewery in Baltimore County in the U.S., and gave us free rein to pull at the strings of the stories we’ve so often heard in the form of legend, but rarely had the first-hand experience to dive in to. We wanted to turn legends into learning.

They also gave us free rein of their brewing sites, both in Baltimore, home to their new brewery and taproom, called the Open Gate Brewery, which shares a name with the public-facing innovation brewing taproom located in Dublin, and historic St James Gate—which, to be honest, took some real doing. It’s not a place open to tourists, at least beyond the visitor center. And much of the more historical aspects are either in disrepair or preserved, and gaining access to those people and places isn’t easy for a film and audio crew. So for all the rigamarole we caused with our persistence, we’re thankful and grateful we were able to get past the gates, and into some of the more fascinating aspects of the various Guinness operations.

And it was all in pursuit of understanding one thing: What makes Guinness Guinness? And how has that changed over the years?

Signifier: Made in Partnership with Guinness — Coming to America — 3 of 5 Feb 16, 2019

Welcome to a special edition of the Good Beer Hunting podcast—a series of episodes made in partnership with Guinness devoted to one of the world’s most iconic brands from Dublin to the United States, to Nigeria and the Caribbean.

Guinness became an underwriter of Good Beer Hunting 18 months ago, helping us bring you a series of stories called Coming to America, exploring the relationship between imports and the U.S. beer drinker in the age of local craft. And more recently, they helped us start up a new series called Mother of Invention, where we explore the technical innovations, past and present, that have transformed the beer in your glass in surprising ways.

And now we’re taking the opportunity to explore the story of Guinness itself in a unique way for GBH. Guinness made it possible for us to visit historic St. James Gate in Dublin, and their new brewery in Baltimore County in the U.S., and gave us free rein to pull at the strings of the stories we’ve so often heard in the form of legend, but rarely had the first-hand experience to dive in to. We wanted to turn legends into learning.

They also gave us free rein of their brewing sites, both in Baltimore, home to their new brewery and taproom, called the Open Gate Brewery, which shares a name with the public-facing innovation brewing taproom located in Dublin, and historic St James Gate—which, to be honest, took some real doing. It’s not a place open to tourists, at least beyond the visitor center. And much of the more historical aspects are either in disrepair or preserved, and gaining access to those people and places isn’t easy for a film and audio crew. So for all the rigamarole we caused with our persistence, we’re thankful and grateful we were able to get past the gates, and into some of the more fascinating aspects of the various Guinness operations.

And it was all in pursuit of understanding one thing: What makes Guinness Guinness? And how has that changed over the years?

Signifier: Made in Partnership with Guinness — The Essence of Guinness — 2 of 5 Feb 16, 2019

Welcome to a special edition of the Good Beer Hunting podcast—a series of episodes made in partnership with Guinness devoted to one of the world’s most iconic brands from Dublin to the United States, to Nigeria and the Caribbean.

Guinness became an underwriter of Good Beer Hunting 18 months ago, helping us bring you a series of stories called Coming to America, exploring the relationship between imports and the U.S. beer drinker in the age of local craft. And more recently, they helped us start up a new series called Mother of Invention, where we explore the technical innovations, past and present, that have transformed the beer in your glass in surprising ways.

And now we’re taking the opportunity to explore the story of Guinness itself in a unique way for GBH. Guinness made it possible for us to visit historic St. James Gate in Dublin, and their new brewery in Baltimore County in the U.S., and gave us free rein to pull at the strings of the stories we’ve so often heard in the form of legend, but rarely had the first-hand experience to dive in to. We wanted to turn legends into learning.

They also gave us free rein of their brewing sites, both in Baltimore, home to their new brewery and taproom, called the Open Gate Brewery, which shares a name with the public-facing innovation brewing taproom located in Dublin, and historic St James Gate—which, to be honest, took some real doing. It’s not a place open to tourists, at least beyond the visitor center. And much of the more historical aspects are either in disrepair or preserved, and gaining access to those people and places isn’t easy for a film and audio crew. So for all the rigamarole we caused with our persistence, we’re thankful and grateful we were able to get past the gates, and into some of the more fascinating aspects of the various Guinness operations.

And it was all in pursuit of understanding one thing: What makes Guinness Guinness? And how has that changed over the years?

Signifier: Made in Partnership with Guinness — A Survivor's Guide — 1 of 5 Feb 16, 2019

Welcome to a special edition of the Good Beer Hunting podcast—a series of episodes made in partnership with Guinness devoted to one of the world’s most iconic brands from Dublin to the United States, to Nigeria and the Caribbean.

Guinness became an underwriter of Good Beer Hunting 18 months ago, helping us bring you a series of stories called Coming to America, exploring the relationship between imports and the U.S. beer drinker in the age of local craft. And more recently, they helped us start up a new series called Mother of Invention, where we explore the technical innovations, past and present, that have transformed the beer in your glass in surprising ways.

And now we’re taking the opportunity to explore the story of Guinness itself in a unique way for GBH. Guinness made it possible for us to visit historic St. James Gate in Dublin, and their new brewery in Baltimore County in the U.S., and gave us free rein to pull at the strings of the stories we’ve so often heard in the form of legend, but rarely had the first-hand experience to dive in to. We wanted to turn legends into learning.

They also gave us free rein of their brewing sites, both in Baltimore, home to their new brewery and taproom, called the Open Gate Brewery, which shares a name with the public-facing innovation brewing taproom located in Dublin, and historic St James Gate—which, to be honest, took some real doing. It’s not a place open to tourists, at least beyond the visitor center. And much of the more historical aspects are either in disrepair or preserved, and gaining access to those people and places isn’t easy for a film and audio crew. So for all the rigamarole we caused with our persistence, we’re thankful and grateful we were able to get past the gates, and into some of the more fascinating aspects of the various Guinness operations.

And it was all in pursuit of understanding one thing: What makes Guinness Guinness? And how has that changed over the years?

FF-018 Jim Plachy takes a run at the cellar and grandmas everywhere Feb 13, 2019

Welcome to another Fervent Few episode of the Good Beer Hunting podcast where myself, Jim Plachy, and GBH’s strategic director, Michael Kiser, catch up. We’ll talk about the topics and discussions that took place in our membership community in the last couple weeks. Our 500 or so subscribers are scattered all over the world. Sometimes we meet up with them when we’re on the road, or they hang out with each other, but it all comes together in our community forum on Slack. If you value the content and experiences that GBH produces, you should join. Your monthly subscription gets you access to the community, special events, and exclusive gear deigned just for members. I joined, and now I manage it all. Plus, it’s my favorite place on the Beer Internet. Visit goodbeerhunting.com/ferventfew to strike up a conversation in beer.

EP-206 Ben Duckworth and Steve Grae of Affinity Brew Co. Feb 09, 2019

“It’s just beer” is a mantra screamed into the social void daily. Its believers just want to enjoy a beer in peace, to escape the world for a damn second. The problem is, it isn’t just beer. Beer is both an artisanal and commercial product. Craft is a social construct. Small batch brewing is a way of life, its marketing often an act of rebellion. So drinking it is a statement whether you want it to be or not. What we drink, where we drink it, how it gets there, and what we pay are all infused with politics. So what happens when a brand embraces that by stamping its beliefs on its cans, or plastering them on their social media, or making viral campaigns preaching to their customers? Should a company be allowed to do that? And on the flip side, do they have a responsibility to do so? My guests today believe this decision is made for them by the juxtaposition of their beliefs and the way the world is heading. Save for their anti-Trump beer, Ben Duckworth and Steve Grae of South London’s Affinity Brew Co don’t cram their left-wing ideas down people’s throats. But anyone with a passing interest in British politics will note the roses on their cans and Labour Party slogans that make up many of their beer names. In doing so, they hope to encourage friendly debate and keep politics at the forefront of drinkers’ minds during one of the greatest political upheavals in British history. Inside their beautiful cans and bubbling through their Belgian-inspired session beers there is even more room critical thought—the responsibilities of a brewer to moderate alcohol levels, regulate serving sizes, and to challenge the government’s approach to alcohol licensing. But first lets just talk about beer. This is Ben Duckworth and Steve Grae of Affinity Brew Co. Listen in.

CL-017 Kate Bernot and the mystery of #FlagshipFebruary Feb 06, 2019

Welcome to the GBH Collective, a special series of interviews where we have the chance to dive a little deeper with Good Beer Hunting contributors and friends on topics of writing, beer and the stories you read and hear from GBH. Today’s episode is one of those great conversations you don’t want to end, when you’re talking with someone talented and uniquely good at what they do. You’ll see by the timestamp that there is, in fact, a stop time to my chat with Kate Bernot, but I can only hope you get the same kind of impression. Kate has a long background in journalism, but beer fans may recognize her byline from DRAFT magazine, where she served as associate editor and then beer editor over several years, or her current role as associate editor at The Takeout, a food and beverage site from the A.V. Club. Kate’s approach to her writing brings a variety of humor and skilled nuance, depending on what she’s writing about that day, from dealing with frozen beers to daily topics impacting the beer industry. It just so happens that we both recently covered the idea of Flagship February, and you’ll hear a chunk of this conversation dissecting what that effort means and the story behind her story written for The Takeout asking if beer loyalty is dead. There’s plenty more, including her thoughts on drinking beer in her new home state of Montana. This is Kate Bernot, writer, reporter, and advocate for Big Sky Country’s flagship brands. Listen in.

EP-205 Brian Carriveau of Bon Appétit Management Company Feb 02, 2019

On every home game day, tens of thousands of baseball fans filter into the San Francisco Giants’ ballpark. Many of them will buy beer, and thanks to Brian Carriveau, their options now include more than the predictable lineup of macro lagers. Last season, after convincing the eco-conscious ballpark managers to allow him to sell aluminum cans, baseball fans found they could buy 16 ounces of locally-made craft beer by nearby breweries — some of which weren’t available elsewhere in the city. Carriveau is the Director of Catering at Bon Appétit Management Company, which handles food and drink menus at Oracle Park — formerly known as AT&T Park — as well as the attached Public House restaurant and a posh, members-only bar inside the park called the Gotham Club. After beginning his career in hospitality at the famed Awahnee Hotel in Yosemite, he took to San Francisco. Now with Bon Appetit, he handles concessions for an average of 40 thousand people every home game during the baseball season. It’s a busy, exciting job, not just because the Giants have won three World Series titles since he began working at the park, but also because it gives Carriveau a major league platform to share his love of craft beer with a huge audience. That’s not without its challenges. Buying alcohol for a bar is one thing; buying beer for a literal stadium full of people is quite another — and it’s Carriveau’s job to do both. Can a ballpark cater to every kind of drinker? I don’t know, but Bon Appetit is sure going to try. This is Brian Carriveau, Director of Catering at Bon Appétit Management Company for the San Francisco Giants’ Oracle Park. Listen in.

SL-002 So, you opened a brewery. Now what? Jan 30, 2019

What does it take to open a brewery these days? And what happens after you do? These questions are at the center of two conversations we have in this Sightlines addition of the podcast. First, we hear from Scott Janish and Michael Tonsmeire, co-owners of Maryland’s Sapwood Cellars. I sat down with the pair for episode #144 from October 2017, and have been tracking their progress since. Back then, they were working on recipes and trying to perfect an approach to New England IPA, all while finding the physical space for their business. They opened a year later, and when I caught up with them in January, we took some time to reflect on their first three months in operation. You’ll hear about challenges and triumphs and the changes that have occurred at the brewery and in their lives. After that, we check in with Scott Wood, who opened New Orleans’ Courtyard Brewery a little over four years ago, and also happened to be featured on Good Beer Hunting in the fall of 2017, just weeks before the guys from Sapwood. Scott just announced a second, larger production space for his brewery that aims to open in 2020, and even though he’s been in business for years, this is a big step for his business. It’s one that he admits in our conversation took a long time to get ready for personally and professionally. Here we have two breweries, years apart in experience, but still learning and changing. What does it take to operate a brewery in 2019? Let’s get an idea. This is Scott Janish and Michael Tonsmeire of Sapwood Cellars, then Scott Wood of Courtyard Brewery. Listen in.

EP-204 Jude La Rose and Jeremiah Zimmer of Hop Butcher Jan 26, 2019

Today’s guests represent a kind of brewery that lives, sometimes tenuously, in the spaces in between traditional brewery models in American craft brewing. They’s very small. They have an alternating proprietorship arrangement with another local brewery, which means they use another brewery’s system to brew their beer. But on that particular brew day, they technically own the license. They brew, package, and sell that beer via self-distribution. And their portfolio, for reasons both of constraint, personal interest, and identity, is hyper-focused on Hazy IPA, Double IPA, and adjunct Stouts. While the growth in craft brewing slows, and 2019 looks to be a topsy-turvy year for many folks, a brewery like this could either be seen as exceptionally vulnerable, or crazy like a fox. They have low overhead, even if expenses are relatively high due to small volumes. They have a strong alt-prop relationship with a good local brewer, but that means they’re dependent on someone else’s business stability. And they have a great brand and profile in Chicago, but there’s always somebody new coming for their share of the pie. So, how do they balance all that uncertainty, while also finding the mental energy to be creative, connect with their fans, and explore the nerdier side of hoppy beers that seem to consistently delight those drinkers? Good question! This is Jude and Jeremiah from Hop Butcher for the World, a Beer Company. Listen in.

CL-016 Bryan Roth will sleep when he's dead Jan 23, 2019

Welcome to the GBH Collective, a special series of interviews where we have the chance to dive a little deeper with Good Beer Hunting contributors and journalist and media folks from within the beer industry on topics of writing, beer, and the stories you read and hear from GBH and others. In this episode, we’re going to catch up with Bryan Roth, our Sightlines editor. He’s in charge of the research and analysis GBH conducts into trends and business dealings in the beer industry, but also dives headlong into a variety of meaty topics in his feature stories. He’s been even more prolific than usual of late, covering everything from the death of Stouts (or lack thereof, as you’ll hear) to an investigation into breweries’ handlings of workplace issues like sexual harassment, racial discrimination, and other forms of exclusion. But first, we’re going to jump back to the just before the holiday when he wrote about the 30-year history of one of beer’s most iconic advertisements. This is Bryan Roth. Listen in.

EP-203 Roger Bialous of Georgetown Brewing Company Jan 19, 2019

[photo by Jim Henkens] How do you become one of the largest breweries in one of the most beer-loving states in the country these days, and not sell a single drop to drink in your taproom? The incredible growth of Seattle's Georgetown Brewing Company, and the way they've done it, could leave a lot of beer lovers and business owners scratching their heads. And yet, Manny Chao and Roger Bialous have successfully zigged when everyone else has intentionally zagged. Bodhizafa IPA won gold at the Great American Beer Festival in the most-entered category, yet remains relatively unknown outside the Pacific Northwest. It wasn't even until 2017 that Georgetown beers were sold in anything other than kegs. At a time when beer enthusiasts decry the death of flagship beers, Manny's Pale Ale remains more than two-thirds of production for the 17-year old brewery. All this might seem odd, but there's more. Situated among other warehouses in an industrial section of Seattle, the taproom was still consistently busy when I visited this past fall. People waited to buy cans and growlers to go and as I sat down with Roger to talk about the brewery, I admittedly did not know the extent to how much what he'd say would surprise me. It's easy to get locked in on what's common and successful in today's beer industry, not so much to recognize just how special some histories and business plans can be. This is Roger Bialous, co-founder and owner of Georgetown Brewing. Listen in.

CL-015 Going down under with Luke Robertson Jan 16, 2019

Welcome to the GBH Collective, a special series of interviews where we have the chance to dive a little deeper with Good Beer Hunting contributors and friends on topics of writing, beer and the stories you read and hear from GBH. In this episode, we’re leaving the confines of the U.S. to visit with Luke Robertson, a GBH contributor living in Melbourne, Australia. Originally from New Zealand, Luke built up his reputation and writing chops in his adopted home country through the Ale of a Time blog and podcast. He started writing for Good Beer Hunting in 2017, and has taken readers behind the scenes of Melbourne’s GABS Beer, Cider and Food Festival, and into the hearts and minds of peers and industry pros addressing mental health. If you live in America, you know the bounty of options available to you when it comes to beer. But it’s always exciting to turn our gaze elsewhere in the world to get a sense of what’s driving beer culture around the globe and how all that ingenuity we find at home resonates elsewhere. In this conversation, Luke talks about the parallel tracks of Australian beer drinkers, from Lager lovers to Haze Bois, and we go back to his important piece on mental health to dissect what it took to pull that kind of story together. This is Luke Robertson: podcaster, writer, and our mate from Down Under. Listen in.

EP-202 Connor Casey, Tim Sciascia, and Aaron Wittman of Cellarmaker Brewing Company Jan 12, 2019

San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood looked a bit different in 2013, when Cellarmaker Brewing Company opened here, on Howard Street. Tech companies were moving in, and the city’s new young and affluent workers moved into a part of San Francisco plagued by homelessness and drug use. It might have seemed difficult place to open a brewery, let alone any public-facing business, but Cellarmaker broke out, quickly gaining recognition as one of the city’s best breweries. In their five years in business, they made fast friends out of breweries like the Rare Barrel, Tired Hands, and Green Cheek, and boosted the city’s reputation as a world-class brewing destination. These days, its small taproom is bustling seemingly every night of the week, attracting IPA fanatics, devotees of their ever-rotating tap list lineup, and those who just appreciate the bartenders’ affinity for music by Dolly Parton and Carly Rae Jepsen. Now, with a barrel program in full force, they’re expanding their menu even wider. Fans irked by crowds at their taproom had long hoped that Cellarmaker would expand with a second location and in 2018, that wish came true. In the late summer, co-founder Connor Casey finally announced that the brewery had found an additional home in Bernal Heights, complete with an oven ready to pump out fluffy Detroit-style pizzas to complement their beers. It’s here in that space that I met Casey, co-founding brewer Tim Sciascia and Cellarmaker’s House of Pizza brew system manager Aaron Wittman as they taste tested some new pizza recipes being considered for the brewpub’s new menu. The new spot’s opening is just around the corner, and they clearly couldn’t be more excited. This is Connor Casey, Tim Sciascia, and Aaron Wittman of Cellarmaker Brewing Company. Listen in.

MU-013 Anchor Christmas Jan 09, 2019

Our resident composer for the podcast and our commercial video work, Andrew Thiboldeaux, is writing original scores devoted to beers he finds fascinating. These are interpretations of the experience of drinking them. But they're also just great tunes.

SL-001 TTB and the Government Shutdown Jan 05, 2019

Welcome to the very first Sightlines episode of the Good Beer Hunting podcast. These episodes are where we dig in to a timely topic with experts from around the country, working to make you and us smarter about what’s going on in the beer industry right now. This week, brewers around the country are dealing with the ramifications of the government shutdown, which means that key agencies like the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau—often referred to as the TTB—are entirely unresponsive, and that means that almost nothing new can legally come to market until those agencies are re-opened and the backlog is cleared. The TTB is critical for brewers who need label and formation approvals for their beers in order to package and sell them. So what’s going to happen in an industry that survives almost exclusively off new releases? To catch us up to speed, we’re going to talk to Jared Treanor, Brand Manager of Brewery Ommegang in New York, and Ashley Brandt, a Chicago attorney who works with breweries of all sizes. (He’s also, incidentally, GBH’s attorney.) Thanks for listening. Sightlines is the news and analysis section of Good Beer Hunting, and it’s focused the evolution of the beer industry. We’re excited to turn it into an ongoing podcast series! Good Beer Hunting is supported in part by our underwriters, New Belgium Brewing Co. out of Fort Collins, Colorado, and Guinness, which is based in Dublin, and newly in Baltimore County, Maryland. And as always, we’re supported by the Fervent few, a community of subscribers. You can support GBH by joining.

EP-201 Liz Garibay of History on Tap Jan 05, 2019

It seems like beer enthusiasts, myself included, are always looking forward. When we’re not trying to figure out what the next IPA is going to be, it’s easy to prognosticate about upcoming business plans, releases, and who needs to learn more about whoever the next, hot brewery may be. But as we’ve heard so many times before, you don’t know where you’re going, unless you know where you’ve been. Liz Garibay is the person you may want to call when it's time to bridge these things as both historian and beer lover. For years, she's led a project known as History on Tap, which traces history through alcohol, and for herself and others, created inspiration to better understand how beer and its unique community factor into larger cultural stories. As founder and director of the Chicago Brewseum, she’s also had an analytical view toward the history of drinking in one of America’s most iconic cities. I ran into Liz this summer at the annual Beer Bloggers and Writers Conference, where she told me about a new exhibition she was a part of and as our conversation drifted over all sorts of beer topics, I wanted to take the chance to sit down with Liz for the podcast as a way to better capture some of the ideas of how Drinking Past has an ability to shape our Drinking Future. No need to break out your Encyclopedia Britannica for this one, but I hope you’ll enjoy some extra context all us beer lovers might miss when we’re keeping our heads on a swivel, just trying to keep up with everything that’s certain to be next. This is historian Liz Garibay. Listen in.

CL-014 Carla Jean Lauter will tell you all about lobster and beer Jan 03, 2019

Welcome back to the GBH Collective, a special series of interviews where we have the chance to dive a little deeper with Good Beer Hunting contributors and friends on topics of writing, beer and the stories you read and hear from GBH. In this episode, we’re joined by a name you may be familiar with if you’re a beer fan, especially if you’re on Twitter, and very much so if you live in New England. For years, Carla Jean Lauter has shared stories from Maine on her blog, beerbabe.com, and more recently through the weekly Tap Lines column in Maine Today. She’s been an outspoken voice on a variety of issues in beer, from pushing breweries to simply publish their hours of operation on their website, to discussions of inclusion and diversity. Carla and I have known each other for some time, and in addition to interactions on social media, shared emails, acting as a voice in stories, and even acting as a tour guide to proper drinking in Portland, Maine, I got to see her again this summer when we were both in Virginia as part of the annual Beer Bloggers and Writers Conference. Amongst presentations, we sat down for a bit to talk about what it means to cover beer, and more specifically, what it’s like to do so in her home state. Portland, let alone Maine, already has a great reputation among beer enthusiasts, but I hope that hearing Carla talk about it all gives you new or renewed interest in exploring what the state says in its slogan is “the way life should be” … just with a little more beer along the way.

EP-200 Andy Parker + Colin Quinn of Avery Brewing Co. Dec 31, 2018

Today’s episode is one of those where just a couple weeks difference in when we actually sat down with each other would have dramatically transformed the focus of the conversation. For anyone who’s been paying attention to Avery, you certainly know it’s been a couple years of transformation for the brewery, as they took on a minority investment of Mahou San Miguel, completely reconfigured their portfolio to better align with market trends, and launched a visual re-brand. Of course, all these changes involved some personel movement, as their COO left in May and a half dozen folks were laid off. Before that, the prior COO had left to join Ska brewing. So it’s safe to say that since the Mahou San Miguel deal, there’s been a lot going on at Avery. And my guests today, Andy Parker, their CHIEF BARREL HERDER, and Colin Quinn, their special projects brewers are in a unique position to talk about how that effected the most important part of Avery’s operation - the brewing. Which beers should Avery be making, for which markets? in what formats? how simple can a portfolio in 2018 be? how critical is newness? and what are they gonna do with all that capacity after a major expansion? Well, what we didn’t know at the time of this interview was that Founders Brewing based in Grand Rapids Michigan, would need some help brewing All Day IPA, a brand that continues to set the pace for growth in craft. Like Avery, Founders is partially owned by Mahou San Miguel, so what could have been a major albatross for Avery, all that extra capacity, debt, and a slow transformation back to growth became a chance to support the larger system of brands under the family banner, and both benefit from the opportunity. It’s bizarre for Avery fans to consider, but Mahou San Miguel and brewing All Day IPA might just be the difference between having or not having an Avery Brewing Company at all. So what will they do with that bonus time afforded by those relationships? Time will tell. But in this interview, you’ll hear about the shift in the brewing side, how the team is regrouping and what they’re excited about in Avery’s brewing future.

FF-017 Jim Plachy breaks the fourth wall, fires up the shill machine Dec 26, 2018

Welcome to another Fervent Few episode of the Good Beer Hunting podcast where myself, Jim Plachy, and GBH’s strategic director, Michael Kiser, catch up. We’ll talk about the topics and discussions that took place in our membership community in the last couple weeks. Our 500 or so subscribers are scattered all over the world. Sometimes we meet up with them when we’re on the road, or they hang out with each other, but it all comes together in our community forum on Slack. If you value the content and experiences that GBH produces, you should join. Your monthly subscription gets you access to the community, special events, and exclusive gear deigned just for members. I joined, and now I manage it all. Plus, it’s my favorite place on the Beer Internet. Visit goodbeerhunting.com/ferventfew to strike up a conversation in beer.

EP-199 Andy Moffat of Redemption Brewing Company Dec 22, 2018

A decade in beer can feel like a lifetime. As Tottenham’s Redemption Brewing Company approach their 10th birthday, looking back is kinda dizzying. Redemption was one London’s first craft brewers, but is now just one of more than 100. Founder Andy Moffatt has grown his business slowly and organically with a focus on sessionable cask ale, despite a consumer shift to the hop-focused, high-ABV American styles brewed by those who came in his wake. In barely a year, Redemption went from sign of the future to link to the past. Meanwhile, cask ale went into volume decline, and keg-focused neighbors like Beavertown and Camden grew to five or six times Redemption’s size, then sold to international conglomerates. Most companies would have ripped up their business plans, but Redemption has responded to it all with quiet dignity and belief that cask ale is unique and worth pursuing. When you try a fresh Trinity or Hopspur, you see where that confidence comes from, but even so, the brewery is changing. Moffat followed up a recent expansion with a £300,000 ($379,000) crowdfunding campaign to finance further development and forays into keg—even cans. We sit down in the half-finished taproom to reminisce about London before the beer revolution, the challenges of brewing session beer, and how cask is perhaps the only constant in this new, ever-changing world. This is Andy Moffat, founder of Redemption Brewing Co. Listen in.

CL-013 Alyssa Pereira finds the spirit of radio Dec 19, 2018

It’s another episode of the GBH Collective, an ongoing series of interviews where we dive a little deeper with Good Beer Hunting contributors and friends on topics of writing, beer and the stories you read and hear from GBH. In this episode we’re checking back in with another member of the GBH team, Alyssa Pereira. You’re likely to have come across her words in recent months, as she’s profiled Russian River, told the story of Firestone Walker’s unexpected flagship 805 Blonde Ale, and given an in-person recap of one of the country’s most beloved beer fests, the Firestone Walker Invitational. Most recently however, she’s also become a voice here on Good Beer Hunting’s podcasts, bringing a new collection of interviews from her home state of California, which isn’t just the most populous state, but one of the most prolific when it comes to beer and all the stories that can be told around it. In our own conversation, you’ll learn what it’s like for Alyssa to add the title of podcast host to her repertoire, as well as the background of what took her from covering the music industry to her day job at the San Francisco Chronicle and now acting as a journalist also covering the U.S. beer industry. She’s been a welcome and important addition to GBH’s editorial team, and I hope this chat gives you some insight to appreciate her work even more. This is Alyssa Pereira, reporter, podcast host, and Golden State treasure. Listen in.

EP-198 Shannon Vinson and Blake Tyers of Creature Comforts Brewing Co. Dec 15, 2018

I met Shannon Vinson not at a beer festival, or a beer bar, or at Creature Comforts Brewing Company in Athens, Georgia, where she works, but in New York City seven years ago. We were both getting our masters degrees at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Beer being a relatively far cry from the art world, probably neither of us had any foresight we’d ever end up here in this community, but we stayed in touch through social media, watching each other progress in this industry. Eventually, on a trip to Georgia a few years ago, I also met Blake Tyers, Creature Comforts’ Cellar Manager, a GBH contributor, and, as it turns out, Shannon’s boyfriend. It’s only been a few years since Creature Comforts opened here in this college town, but it quickly outgrew its first brewhouse. To keep up with demand as much as possible, the brewery opened a second production brewery in town. But despite the massive increase in output (they’ll land somewhere between 35,000-40,000 barrels in 2018), it’s still tough for the fast-growing brewery to send much beer too far outside Atlanta. I don’t want to give you the impression that Shannon’s work doing marketing for the brewery is anywhere near easy. It’s an increasingly competitive Georgia beer market and it seems they’re making a big push for name recognition outside the state. But with national accolades and appearances at prominent festivals like the Firestone Invitational, things seem to be clicking into place for them. On a recent trip to the South, I visited Blake and Shannon and they were gracious enough to host me in Athens. While here, I couldn’t pass up the chance to sit down with them and talk about their unique backgrounds, beer off-flavors, Creature Comforts’ barrel program, and the pros and cons of running a brewery in Georgia. This is Blake Tyers and Shannon Crawford of Creature Comforts Brewing Company in Athens, Georgia. Listen in.

FF-016 Jim Plachy goes solo, gets sour with Collective Brewing Project Dec 12, 2018

This week’s episode is a fun one for me, largely because I’m not on it. About a year ago, we started a subscriber community called The Fervent Few . And since then, hundreds of people from all walks of life, all kind of professions, and all over the world have joined to support GBH financially—and to commune with each other over beer. Some of them are experts and producers, others are distributors, retailers, sales reps, and the like. Plenty of them are homebrewers and people trying to break into the industry. That seems to make up about half of the group, which I’m judging purely anecdotally based on who tends to take part in the community aspect of it all. Then there’s the other half, made up of people who love beer and love talking about it purely from an entertainment or educational perspective. This part of the community is a blast. They’re a big part of the reason that The Fervent Few has remained so fun and funny for me personally. Getting everyone in the same room creates what I find to be one of the most edifying communities in beer. Today’s podcast is a perfect metaphor for all that. Jim Plachy, who was one of our first members, quickly became an indispensable voice in the community. So we went ahead and put him in charge of it. And his guests today hail from a Texas beer maker called Collective Brewing. One of them, Dave Riddile, has gone on to become a GBH contributor and now works for GBH in a marketing role. The reason this is so fascinating and enjoyable for me is that, over the course of the last 12 years or so that GBH has been alive, it’s evolved from a solo effort—literally just myself writing my way through the beer industry—to a team of journalists and photographers, to a studio side with artists and designers building brands, partners helping create events like Uppers & Downers, and now a community-driven component that has sort of pieced together that last few rungs on a ladder whereby people are able to ascend within GBH according to their own interests and means. And so now I, the guy who started it all, gets to watch it all expand well beyond my wildest imagination. That’s how today’s podcast came about. So this is Jim Plachy, GBH’s Fervent Few community manager, and Dave and Ryan from Collective Brewing in Texas. Listen in.

EP-197 Marie and Jamie Fox of Gunbarrel Brewing Company Dec 08, 2018

We’ve all heard the adage of “location, location, location.” The idea that when it comes to real estate, it’s about where you are—something that can be doubly important for a business. When Marie and Jamie Fox set out to find the spot for their brewery, it was not easy. The effort, which became a journey, took them all over Boulder, Colorado to look at practically any space that may have been usable for brewing. It eventually led them to sign a lease in 2016 on a 20,000 square foot facility in the city’s Gunbarrel neighborhood, giving way to Gunbarrel Brewing. I know, you probably didn’t expect the start of this podcast to talk about beer industry house hunting, but when I first met the Foxes this fall, it was hard to not be amazed at the size and scope of the the home they had found. And, at a time when success in beer can feel in flux all the time, the methodical planning they displayed feels like the kind of necessary steps companies need for current and future planning. When you open a brewery in Colorado, surrounded by some of the fiercest competition and discernable drinkers in the country, you have to be picky and smart about what you do. So while you’ll hear about the Gunbarrel lineup and how canning has changed things for the brewery, there’s also talk about what it takes and what it means when you really do find out there’s no place like home. It’s a side of the beer business that isn’t sexy, but massively important. This is Marie and Jamie Fox of Gunbarrel Brewing. Listen in.

CL-012 Kyle Clark is a glass case of emotion Dec 05, 2018

Welcome back to the GBH Collective, a special series of interviews where we have the chance to dive a little deeper with Good Beer Hunting contributors, and friends on topics of writing, beer and the stories you read and hear from GBH. We’re stepping outside our normal lineup of GBH writers this week to visit with someone you may not be familiar with, but will likely want to know more by the end of our conversation. Kyle Clark does not work in beer. He doesn’t write about beer. He has a lot of beer at home and has made his own in the past, but unless you live in the Denver metro area, his name won’t be as synonymous with a love for the industry and commenting about it as Coloradans have come to know. Kyle is the host of Next on 9News in Denver, the highest-rated newscast in the market in any time period. He’s a smart guy with a deep love for beer, and this is the kind of perspective that’s fun to drop into these podcasts every now and then to better understand a point of view that isn’t industry-specific. Aside from intimately knowing the Denver beer scene, you’ll hear in this conversation how Kyle and his team have worked to shine a light on local laws that impact beer and dog lovers and gain an appreciation for some Colorado spots you may have never heard of before. I sat down with Kyle while visiting Denver for the Great American Beer Festival this fall, and as we talk about beer and journalism, I hope his name is one you’ll remember. For reference, he’s also a high quality follow on Twitter. This is Kyle Clark: news man, TV anchor, and a voice gifted for your ears. Listen in.

Strong Feelings Dec 01, 2018

This week’s episode is a unique one for us. It brings together a bunch of voices who were in Nashville for the 2018 Craft Brewers Conference. In order to capture the feelings of that particular moment in the beer industry, we invited people into a private room at the Flying Saucer, set them up with one of our hosts (myself, Bryan Roth, and Matthew Curtis), and conducted a sort of beer version of speed dating. Each guest flipped over a card to see the topic, and then they talked to us about what was on their mind. Some cards were drawn often and some seldom, so it’s a little uneven. But in the end, we liked that so many people took part and so many perspectives were shared on topics for which those who work in, around, or just enjoy beer tend to develop very strong feelings. Thanks to Flying Saucer for generously providing both their space and their hospitality during an insanely busy week. We couldn’t have done this without them. And special thanks to the Flying Saucer’s Andrews Cope for being our point of contact, collaborator, and co-host for all that. We’re going to kick things off by getting to know Andrews a little bit, and talking about why the Flying Saucer was psyched to work with us to do this thing—of which I hope there are many more.

CL-011 Will Cleveland is a man about town Nov 23, 2018

Welcome back to the GBH Collective, a special series of interviews where we have the chance to dive a little deeper with Good Beer Hunting contributors and friends on topics of writing, beer and the stories you read and hear from GBH. It’s been exciting to bring you the voices of those behind our stories, and if you haven’t had the chance to better know Good Beer Hunting’s Claire Bullen and Kyle Kastranec, those episodes are waiting in our podcast archives. In the meantime, we’re switching it up just a little this week as we shift from our group of writers to a friend of the program in Upstate New York. Will Cleveland is a reporter for the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, where along with coverage of breaking news, he’s the newspaper’s Man About Town when it comes to beer. He’s a native to the area and in all the time I’ve traveled back home to the Finger Lakes excited to learn more about how the beer scene has changed, Will has consistently been a great source of info from his regular coverage of New York’s rapidly evolving beer industry. When we sat down in September to chat we touched on a collection of latest news and how Upstate New York beer is changing, including what it means when the world-famous Other Half comes to town. You’ll also hear about process, storytelling, and what it means to be a reporter covering beer in an ever-expanding market.

MU-012 Saison Dupont Nov 19, 2018

Our resident composer for the podcast and our commercial video work, Andrew Thiboldeaux, is writing original scores devoted to beers he finds fascinating. These are interpretations of the experience of drinking them. But they're also just great tunes.

EP-196 Brendan Palfreyman of Trademark Your Beer Nov 17, 2018

This week’s guest comes at the beer world through a unique angle—the legal lens. He’s a lawyer based in New York State whose firm works with small brewers on a variety of business issues, but his personal focus at the firm is in trademark and IP. You’ve probably come across his thoughts on Twitter, where he shares updates on major trademark disputes like the Lagunitas and Sierra Nevada battle over the term IPA and Stone’s fight with MillerCoors over the Keystone brand. Brendan’s commentary—which is shared on his blog, but mostly on Twitter—has become something of a 101 guide for brewers and beer fans on how to talk about these things. If you’ve seen these debates, you know the beer world could really use a primer. While it’s true that most beer fans don’t like to see lawsuits between brands they’re fans of, the business reality is that, sometimes, these things need to be handled by professionals. And that often serves to highlight how delicate some of the bonds can be among breweries who otherwise subscribe to a cooperative ideal. The reality is that there are 7,000 breweries out there, and you owe it to your employees and shareholders to protect what’s their’s, regardless of the optics. On today’s episode, we dig into Brendan’s career and his perspective on the state of craft brewing from a legal perspective. After that, he elaborates on some of the cases that have made him Twitter famous.

FF-015 Jim Plachy Runs the Numbers, Passes the Potatoes Nov 14, 2018

Welcome to another Fervent Few episode of the Good Beer Hunting podcast where myself, Jim Plachy, and GBH’s strategic director, Michael Kiser, catch up. We’ll talk about the topics and discussions that took place in our membership community in the last couple weeks. Our 500 or so subscribers are scattered all over the world. Sometimes we meet up with them when we’re on the road, or they hang out with each other, but it all comes together in our community forum on Slack. If you value the content and experiences that GBH produces, you should join. Your monthly subscription gets you access to the community, special events, and exclusive gear deigned just for members. I joined, and now I manage it all. Plus, it’s my favorite place on the Beer Internet. Visit goodbeerhunting.com/ferventfew to strike up a conversation in beer.

EP-195 Holy Mountain Brewery + Friends Nov 10, 2018

The more of the beer world I’ve seen during my travels, the more dots I’ve been able to connect between certain kinds of breweries. Not just with the kinds of beers they make, like a Hazy IPA brewery, or a sour brewery, but broader than that—something that sort of gets to that phrase you hear so often amongst brewers” “like mindedness.” Sometimes this phrase makes me queasy, as it sounds a bit familiar in the larger context of the monoculture that plagues craft beer. But when it’s used with intent to describe a deeper set of ideas and principles, it can do a good job of describing why some brewers find a near-instant connection with each other. Sometimes it’s the branding, or the tone. Sometimes is the design of the taproom or the part of town they’re in, even in separate cities. Every small business makes thousands of different decisions on their way to becoming a brewery, and some of those decisions are more self-aware than others. But in the end, you get a sort of gestalt—a combination of factors that add up to a vibe, or a presence. Brewers can recognize each other in a second. It’s a sort of love at first sight. More often than not, this is at the root of brewing collaborations. A consummation of sorts that helps prove that initial inkling. So it is with Solemn Oath Brewery in Naperville, Illinois—longtime friends of GBH—and Holy Mountain Brewing in Seattle. There’s plenty of commonality between these two beer makers on the surface. Anyone who’s been to both taprooms will see the connection. If you’ve seen the branding, you can get that attraction, too. And so it is that these two became fast friends. The team from Holy Mountain was in Chicago, making a collaboration beer with Solemn Oath, so we got them all together, along with Solemn Oath co-founder John Barley, and dug into what these two see in each other.

Within Reach — Exploring new markets and winning new fans for craft beer Nov 06, 2018

At GABF in Denver this year, we teamed up with the folks at New Belgium to host a conversation called Within Reach to talk about exploring new markets and winning new fans for craft beer. Hosted at the Source Hotel, where New Belgium has a new, small brewery, a diverse panel of industry professionals gathered to talk about diversity and inclusion, which are central to this effort. With an industry that’s largely still white and male, it’s become increasingly clear there’s a need to invite more people to participate. We wanted to look at this effort, which is both old and new, from a variety of perspectives. We sat down with Kim Jordan, co-founder of New Belgium Brewing, which was founded in 1991 when most marketing in beer was from macro brewers, and most of it was marketed to men using women as props. Over more than 25 years, Kim has been a seminal voice in an industry that’s starving for women in leadership positions. Her experience in the beer industry sets the foundation for how far we’ve come, and how far we still have to go. Alongside her is Kimberly Clements, whose career led her into a leadership position with her family-owned Budweiser distributor in Arizona. She now runs a consulting firm called Pints that works with distributors and brewers of all sizes as they look to grow audiences and reach. Her perspective on how these companies are thinking about the diversity of markets, or not, is a compelling peek behind the scenes on the narrow way craft beer is still defining a customer base with implicit and sometimes explicit bias. Vansana Nolintha is the co-founder of Brewery Bhavana in Raleigh, North Carolina, an immigrant restauranteur alongside his sister Vanvisa and his friend Patrick Woodson, who uses hospitably to create a dialog about inclusion and belonging. How this plays out in the craft beer niche in North Carolina is fascinating: it involves hiring, training, and vision-setting for a staff that’s doing more than serving pints in a taproom, but using exceptional beer as a catalyst for change. And Dominic Cook, founder of Beer Kulture, which looks at the world of beer through the lens of a community that’s been neglected - and in some ways explicitly alienated - from the promise of craft beer. He has worked as a wholesaler rep, but also as a social influencer to bring beers to occasions and communities that either believe they don’t like beer, or for whom access to craft beer is limited. In doing so, he’s instigated a stark dialog around exclusion in craft beer, and how ignoring the problem will be at the industry’s peril. He also has some advice for craft brewers that cuts through the noise and posturing that’s so common on the topic, and which usually results in brewers explaining why they can’t really do anything about the issue. Together, this group did a phenomenal job of covering a lot of ground. And the way in which they built on each other’s experiences made this one of the most rewarding conversations we’ve been lucky enough to lead. Thanks to New Belgium for helping shape the conversation, and bringing us all together. Thanks to the Source hotel for hosting. And thanks to the audience, which engaged in a genuine, thoughtful exchange of ideas on a topic that’s in everyone’s best interest. A more inclusive craft beer industry is a better industry across the board.

EP-194 Dave McLean of Admiral Maltings Nov 04, 2018

Photo by Clara Rice When Dave McLean moved to San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury neighborhood after college, he was chasing one particular thing: the Grateful Dead. McLean was a small part of a wave of hippies, idealists, and rock mega fans who came to the city at the same time for a similar reason, but unlike many of the others, Dave actually stuck around. And then he built a business here: the Magnolia Brewing Company. With the nearly 20 years Dave was at the helm of Magnolia, he became part of the fabric of the modern Haight District. For a neighborhood that is synonymous with counterculture and the “summer of love,” turned out Jefferson Airplane and Janis Joplin, that’s something. Magnolia was, and is, a stalwart brewpub in a historic neighborhood of a rapidly changing city. But no one is immune from the effects of a changing economy. An investment in a difficult property in another evolving neighborhood proved too far ahead of its time, and Magnolia faltered financially. As a last resort, Dave called Kim Jordan and sold the business to New Belgium, Dick Cantwell, formerly of Elysian, and Oud Beersel of Belgium. It was a deal that was deeply personal for Dave. Ultimately, on as good as terms as possible, he left Magnolia, but not before setting out on a new venture: Admiral Maltings. The founder of another longtime brewery in San Francisco, Ron Silberstein of ThirstyBear Organic, knew Dave’s affinity for quality malts, and tapped him to help him establish a new craft malt house in Alameda —- the first of its kind in California. Brewers flocked to it because the offer was notable: local farm grown barley, sent to a local malting facility, sold to local brewery to be purchased by a local drinker. I’m not sure Dave would regard it as a renaissance for himself, but all things considered, it’s an incredible next step. And don’t count him out for any new breweries down the line. The Bay is, after all, the home to progress and reinvention.

CL-010 - Kyle Kastranec phones home Oct 31, 2018

Welcome back to another episode of the GBH Collective, a special series of interviews where we have the chance to dive a little deeper with Good Beer Hunting contributors and friends on topics of writing, beer and the stories you read and hear from GBH. This week’s conversation is with a fan favorite: Kyle Kastranec. As one of the longest-tenured writers for Good Beer Hunting, you may have become familiar with his work through a variety of feature stories he’s written over the years. But more recently, Kyle has become a star for GBH through his Banquet and Chill blog, which includes some of the most fun, original, and thoughtful personal essays on beer I find strewn across the internet. In recent months, you may have shared fond memories of open containers, airline drinks, dive bars, or your personal Mount Crushmore—all topics that went from Kyle’s brain to his blog, and quickly became a fun game for lots of people to play through social media. In a way, Kyle is GBH’s leader when it comes to viral content—however you want to classify it—and he continues to delight and surprise with peeks into mind and the way he views beer. And as you’ll find, it’s all very deliberate and thought out, too. This is Kyle Kastranec, contributor, Renaissance Man, and King of Viral Media for Good Beer Hunting. Listen in...

EP-193 Nick Crandall of Redhook Brewery's Brewlab Oct 27, 2018

Everyone wants to talk about innovation in beer these days, which could mean anything from playing with a new ingredient, or piece of equipment, or working to create a whole new style of beer. With a new record number for breweries in the U.S. being achieved daily, there are conscious and constant decisions breweries make as a way to differentiate themselves. And while all brewers certainly have a hand in innovating for their respective companies, there aren’t a ton who have a job to specifically do just that. Nick Crandall is the head brewer and innovation brewer at Redhook Brewery’s Brewlab, a brewpub located in downtown Seattle where the once-national company has wildly condensed its focus with Nick amongst its epicenter. From a small brewhouse in the brewpub, he’s working to consider and concoct new recipes that are tested feet from where it’s made, providing instant feedback and hopeful gratification for a Redhook team tasked with arguably the best part of the brewing process: playing. Through trial and error, Crandall is working to see what might just come next. When I sat down with him in September, he had recently tapped a Brut IPA and the business had also been working through trials with New England IPAs. Through altering batches and finding new ways to use and approach ingredients, Crandall is hopeful that maybe, just maybe, he’ll find a hit that can go from his bar to a production brewery and into the hands of many. For a brewery like Redhook that has had a storied history in the Pacific Northwest, it’s a repurposing of talent and resources that offers a new kind of excitement for what might happen next.

FF-014 Jim Plachy comes out of the cellar — and other scary stories. Oct 25, 2018

Welcome to another Fervent Few episode of the Good Beer Hunting podcast where myself, Jim Plachy, and GBH’s strategic director Michael Kiser catch up and talk about the topics ad discussions that took place in our membership community in the last couple weeks. Our 500 or so subscribers are scattered all over the world, sometimes we meet up with them when we’re on the road, or they hang out with each other, but it all comes together in our community forum. If you value the content and experiences that Good Beer Hunting produces, you should join. Your’s monthly subscriptions gets you access to the community, special events, and exclusive gear deigned just for members. I joined, and now I manage it all. And it’s my favorite place on the beer internet. Visit goodbeerhunting.com/ferventfew - and strike a conversation in beer.

EP-192 Chef Tim Anderson of Nanban Oct 19, 2018

Something that’s been on my mind a great deal of late, is where beer intersects with other cultures, particularly those also within food and beverage. You may commonly hear me bring up topics like natural wine, low-intervention cider, speciality coffee and more when talking about craft beer. And this is with good reason. For me, the most exciting things happening within beer are often happening at the points where these industries converge. Take our Uppers & Downers festival, for example. When I see a coffee enthusiast’s eyes light up because they’ve just tried a 3% Kvass that expresses flavours in beer they previously thought mightn’t have been possible, that gets me excited about the potential that lies within beer’s future. At the moment I am particularly interested in the point at which beer meets food and restaurant culture. This is partly due to my own increased interest in food and wine of late, and finding myself in a good restaurant more often than previously. Naturally, being a beer writer, while in these spaces my mind turns to beer when I occupy them. Why isn’t beer treated the same way on a wine list as the wine itself? How do we help this industry gain a greater understanding of how beer has evolved over the past decade and in turn, implement this evolution into this space? When it comes to talking about beer in restaurants, let’s just say there’s plenty to munch on. And this all brings me to today’s guest—Chef Tim Anderson—proprietor of a Japanese-inspired restaurant in Brixton, South London called Nanban. Anderson originally hails from Wisconsin and lived in both California and Japan before eventually settling down here in the U.K. He was a originally a home cook, but in 2011 he won that years Masterchef—a prime time cookery competition and TV show—which propelled him into the limelight. What’s particularly interesting about Anderson however, is that before he was a chef, he was and still is a passionate beer fan. Even while filming Masterchef he was making ends meet pulling pints in London craft beer spot, The Euston Tap. After winning he went on to brew collabs with Pressure Drop, The Wild Beer Co and BrewDog—he even designed a menu at one of the latters bars for a time, as we’ll learn in this episode. This all came to a head when Anderson eventually opened a restaurant of his own, called Nanban, here in London. At Nanban, Anderson specializes in what he calls “Japanese Soul Food.” You can expect steaming bowls of ramen, crunchy karaage fried chicken and even a burger which, somehow, fuses the Japanese-influenced house style with his Wisconsinite roots. What’s not so normal for a British restaurant though, is the beer selection. Here, along with an impressive list of Sake and Shochu, beer takes center stage—and in doing so, successfully demonstrates how beer can comfortably take its place at the dinner table—where other establishments have either not made a similar effort, or are simply unaware of how food-friendly beer has grown to become. A quick note about this episode. We recorded in between lunch and dinner service at Nanban itself, so you can expect a little background noise. I’m also joined by GBH’s Claire Bullen—who in addition to being one of the authors of our NAGBW award-winning food column, Provisions, is also a prolific cook herself, and has her first cookbook launching next spring. Keep a look out for that.

CL-009 - Claire Bullen puts on her pants one leg at a time just like you Oct 17, 2018

We’re going to do something a little different today. Over the past year or so, you’ve heard a small sub-series of interviews we’ve dubbed the GBH Collective episodes. These conversations with GBH colleagues have been meant to dive into their writing, background and interests and have been a bit free-flowing. They’ve been a great addition to the award-winning audio content we produce at Good Beer Hunting, and I’m excited to take the lead to bring you more of it. This episode is going to be something of a GBH Collective 2.0 as we work to make these talks a more common part of the podcast. These may be shorter than our weekly longform interviews, and will include voices of GBH contributors as well as other journalists and members of the media who think about beer. In this episode, I’m joined by Claire Bullen. She’s been on a GBH Collective episode before, but not under the circumstances of which we spoke recently. Claire has recently been recognized multiple times by the North American Guild of Beer Writers for her work at this year’s Guild awards. Full disclosure: I lead that group, but didn’t have any role in judging her work, so I do feel comfortable saying that her writing, and her unique voice, is something that excites me most about coverage of today’s beer industry. In this chat, we’ll talk a little about what it means to be a big deal — those are my words, not her modesty — and how writing about food impacts writing. I’m really excited to start bringing you more of these conversations so you can better know the great people behind the byline. Claire is a perfect place to start.

EP-191 Kim Sturdavant of Social Kitchen and Brewery Oct 13, 2018

When the brut IPA, taglined as San Francisco’s newest beer style, began to hit internet headlines last spring, the reaction was polarizing. This new type of IPA, defined by its fruity hop aroma, effervescence, and dryness — provided by the addition of a type of amylase enzyme — was a respite from the yeasty hazebombs proliferating on beer lists around town. Immediately, some leery brewers publicly challenged its authenticity as a substyle. Others, interest piqued, sought to attempt their own versions after reaching out to its creator, Social Kitchen and Brewery’s Kim Sturdavant, for his methodology. And Kim was there to field those calls, emails and sometimes, Facebook messages, as they poured in. First, inquiries came from brewers just around the greater Bay Area. Then, brewers were contacting him from Southern California, and then the East Coast, and eventually Europe and South America. But Kim was known around the Bay Area long before the brut. A GABF winner drawn to easy-to-drink German- and English-style beers, he helped make Social Brewing not just a great neighborhood hangout, but a beer destination in the competitive Bay Area market. Social’s brewery arm is run by just a couple people. Kim, who heads it up, handles the paperwork and planning and oversees the brewing on the second story of the brewpub-restaurant in the Inner Sunset District of San Francisco, by Golden Gate Park. It’s here at Social where I meet Kim one afternoon in the late summer. It’s before the restaurant opens, so it’s much quieter than it usually is, as the restaurant staff prepare for their shifts.

#BEAVEREX18 — I Can See Clearly Now — Chasing Beer Trends as a Means to an End Oct 10, 2018

I Can See Clearly Now — Chasing Beer Trends as a Means to an End Host: Jonny Garrett Panelists: Andy Parker (Elusive), Matt Brynildson (Firestone Walker), Alexandra Nowell (Three Weavers) At last years Extravaganza brewers clashed during the discussion of where the Hazy IPA fits within modern beer culture. In the year that’s passed, the style has gradually become a popular, almost common fixture within craft beer—even one of the panelists who denounced the style last year has been turned on to its charms. In addition to this, new IPA styles—such as Brut IPA—are beginning to turn heads. Should brewers continue to chase new trends in an effort to maintain relevance in the market? Or should they be seeking balance, and stability, as competition and other market pressures continue to increase apace.

#BEAVEREX18 — Let’s Stick Together — The Value of Collaboration and Fostering Positive Relationships Oct 10, 2018

Let’s Stick Together — The Value of Collaboration and Fostering Positive Relationships in Beer’s Modern Era Host: Matthew Curtis Guest Speakers: Dave Stone (Wylam), Steve Grae (Affinity), Brian Dickson (Northern Monk) What role do collaboration beers play in the modern beer market, and how does that differ—if at all—from what they meant before? We’ve come a long way since Brooklyn first collaborated with Schneider Weisse, which was the start of one of craft brewing biggest trends. But what are breweries now trying to accomplish through collaboration, how has that changed over time, and when does competition start to disrupt the convivial world of the collab?

#BEAVEREX18 — Food for Thought — Where Does Beer + Restaurant Culture Intersect? Oct 10, 2018

Food for Thought — Where Does Beer & Restaurant Culture Intersect? Host: Claire Bullen Panelists: Jonny Hamilton (Beavertown), Travis Hixon (Blackberry Farm), Dan Nathan (Beef & Brew) Why have restaurants been so slow to recognize modern beer’s place at the table, and why do their beer menus lag so far behind wine menus? Who are the folks that are doing interesting things with beer in a hospitality context and how are breweries working alongside restaurants—from house beers to education/staff training and beyond? And what will restaurants beer offerings look like in five years' time?

#BEAVEREX18 — Go Your Own Way — The Value of Independence vs Investment Oct 10, 2018

Go Your Own Way — The Value of Independence vs. Investment Host: Michael Kiser Panelists: Logan Plant (Beavertown), Giovanni Campari (Birrificio del Ducato), Justin Hutton (Two Tribes) It’s been a turbulent month for the UK scene, as expanding breweries look for investment so as to further not only their own growth—but that of the industry itself. There are plenty of options available for breweries too, be that borrowing from banks, crowdfunding, private equity or taking investment from within the beer industry itself. The amount of investment coming into the craft beer market will only increase. In a market that values “independence” as a selling point, how do we balance this against that rising tide of investment?

#BEAVEREX18 — The GBH Collective — How to Advance the Narrative Within Beer Writing Oct 10, 2018

The GBH Collective — How to Advance the Narrative Within Beer Writing Michael Kiser, Matthew Curtis, Claire Bullen & Jonny Garrett (Good Beer Hunting)

#BEAVEREX — Quality Fermentation — Exploring Beer’s Place in the Realm of Wine & Cider Oct 10, 2018

Quality Fermentation — Exploring Beer’s Place in the Realm of Wine & Cider Host: Michael Kiser Panelists: Lauren Limbach (New Belgium), James Rylance (Harbour), Jos Ruffell (Garage Project) At last years Symposium we discussed both sour beer as its own genre, and where terroir fits in within the world of beer. To take that discussion to its next logical step we need to examine sour, wild, mixed, spontaneously fermented or whatever-you-want-to-call-it beer, and its place alongside wine and cider. How do beverages at the pinnacle of modern fermentation stand together—and yet find ways of differentiating themselves from one another?

#BEAVEREX18 — A is for Action — How the Inclusivity Debate Becomes a Movement Oct 10, 2018

A is for Action — How the Inclusivity Debate Becomes a Movement Host: Matthew Curtis Panelists: Lily Waite (We Are Beer/GBH), Alexandra Sewell (The Black Malt Bottle Share), Melissa Cole (Beer Writer & Journalist) The topics of inclusivity and diversity have, rightly, dominated the beer discourse this year. It’s a crucial talking point, but how do we take these conversations and ensure they in turn become action? And how do we ensure that when we talk about diversity, we mean everyone, from women, to PoC, to the LGBT+ community and the less able. In this panel GBH speaks to people who are doing exactly that.

#BEAVEREX18 — A Change Can Do You Good — Keeping a Brand Fresh in a Dynamic Market Oct 10, 2018

A Change Can Do You Good — Keeping a Brand Fresh in a Dynamic Market Host: Michael Kiser Guest Speakers: Nanna Guldbæk (Lervig), Nick Dwyer (Beavertown), Shaun O'Sullivan (21st Amendment) It still feels almost as though modern beer has only just arrived in the UK. The last decade has been a whirlwind, with once traditional and iconic beer brands being met by those with modern, vibrant and striking designs. Brewers really are putting the can in canvas. But how do you maintain a modern image in such a dynamic market, and why rebrand when drinkers have already put their stock in your existing brand?

#BEAVEREX18 — The Shit Post — How Social Media Managers are Coping with the Hardest Job at a Brewery Oct 10, 2018

The Shit Post — How Social Media Managers are Coping with the Hardest Job at a Brewery Host: Chris Hall Panelists: Kamilla Hannibal (Beavertown), Richard Burhouse (Magic Rock), Henok Fentie (Omnipollo) Your local pub or bar has always been the best place to chew through some of life’s most challenging topics, but what happens when that bar never closes? Social Media has been an essential driving force in the growth of the modern beer sector, but how do we work to ensure that the conversations here are open, intellectual and valuable? And how do we actively avoid encouraging negative discourse so as to ensure everyone is welcome within the online space?

#BEAVEREX18 — Michael Kiser's Opening Statement + Keynote Oct 10, 2018

Opening Statement & Keynote Michael Kiser, Founder and Director of Good Beer Hunting The Future of the Relationship Between the UK and US Beer Industries This year we were invited to return to the Beavertown Extravaganza to run the now annual symposium, bringing together brewers and leaders from all over the world to discuss the topics of the day — some of which inspire the industry and some that keep it up at night. Last year’s fist ever symposium for the Extravaganza covered the spread from terroir in beer to hazy IPA, and this year was no less ambitious. But the context for this year’s symposium naturally shifted as beaver towns own ambitions came to light in the months leading up to their minority partnership with Heineken. Some brewers took offense and pulled out, others soldiered on, and still others rallied to their side and joined the festival, sending a clear message that as the beer industry continues to evolve and grow more complex, the simple notions that once seemed to spur it on are perhaps not as simple as many thought after all. The topics for this year’s extravaganza followed nationally on that signal - covering topics such as how beer and wine are sold differently, the value of independence and investment, and of course, what’s going to happen to hazy IPA after all this. Congrats to Beavertown and their crew for forging ahead and throwing a spectacular event in the midst of a challenging time of change. Thanks for inviting us to come and co-host the symposium with you all. After all, the purpose of the symposium is to dig into these issues, not shy away from them, and that’s exactly what we did. You’ll hear from a number of GBH team members hosting these talks, and I’m quite proud of that. Our U.K. team is growing, and our bench is deep. So for some of you, it’ll be the first time you’ve heard form folks like Chris Hall, Johnny Garret, and Claire Bullen, all lead by our U.K. Editor, Matthew Curtis. But it surely won’t be the last.

EP-190 Hollie Stephenson + Peter Wiens of Guinness Open Gate Brewery Oct 08, 2018

This week’s episode rounds out our focus on the Baltimore scene where we talked to folks from Black Diamond, Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot, Chris Leonard from Heavy Seas, and even made it down the shore to Chincoteague Island’s Black Narrows. Its the first time we’ve taken such a comprehensive approach to a single area with the podcast, and it was a great experiment for us as we learned a ton from one interview to the next for the context of the stat and city’s beer scene. In that way, every interview informed the next. And looking back, it’s an astonishing amount of perspective to gather in a single place and time. Our final interview in this set of episodes involves a newcomer in the Baltimore scene - and a wholly unlikely one at that. Guinness. A couple years ago it would have been unthinkable that someone like Guinness would become part of a beer culture in a city like Baltimore. But as we’ve seen with other elements of beer, nothing stays the same very long. Guinness had a temporary U.S. presence decades ago with a brewery they overtook on Long Island, but this brewery, commissioned in an old distillery owned by Diageo on the outskirts of the city is unique in that it also serves as a pilot brewery and taproom for the Irish-born but globally produced brand for their US fans. Watching this project come together was fascinating, from the way it catalyzed debate over taproom and distributions laws in Maryland, how it transformed a brick rick house into a brewery and hospitality center, and getting our first taste of the American-inspired beers that would come from it’s bite tanks, but none of that was as fascinating as the team they would assemble in the brewery itself. And that begins with a feature story the Bryan Roth wrote for GBH focused on Highland in Asheville, North Carolina over a year ago. Hollie Stephenson was the brewer at Highland at the time. She’d succeeded in transforming Highlands offering, modernizing the styles and bringing them into a new age of relevance. It was one of the most effective and well-executed turnarounds I’d seen for a brewery that was already pretty damn good. At the time, the lingering question for me was “what happens if she leaves?” I never expected that to come true so quickly - but as you’ll hear in the interview, neither did she. But an opportunity to brew for a world icon like Guinness, at a new purpose-built brewery in Baltimore, was too good of an offer to pass up. And the icing on the cake, was that she’d get to brew alongside her former mentor, Peter Wiens with whom she worked when they both did a stint at Stone Brewing. a few years back. So it’s a reunion of sorts. And for Guinness, it’s a helluva team with which to make your U.S. debut. And I was excited to follow that story. It’s worth noting of course that Guinness is an underwriting advertiser for GBH - you may have seen the series of stories they provide the funding for through their advertising partnership with us called Mother of Invention in which we explore historical and contemporary technical innovation in brewing. This interview is not part of that series, but we clearly have a relationship at the business level. In fact, one of the reasons I was in town that week at all and able to record all these Baltimore episodes is because our studio team was coming out to shoot some video as part of that underwriting, which you’ll see later this fall. So while this particular episode has nothing to do with that underwriting, it also completely does. But I’m fine with that as long as you know what’s up and I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

EP-189 Peter Franchot, Maryland Comptroller Sep 29, 2018

Today’s guest is a first for GBH - we’re speaking with a state wide, publicly elected political figure - who finds himself at the center of a political movement working to change the laws for Maryland’s small craft brewers. It’s no accident that he ended up in this movement - states all over the union have been reinventing their beer laws to make way for new business models necessary to support small craft brewer, especially when it comes to own-premise taproom models, self-distribution, and franchise rights with wholesalers. Most states have incrementally improved these laws over time, attempting to balance the needs of federally mandated wholesale tier, meant to prevent monopolies, and the beds of consumers and brewers, and more recently, the retail voice has been finding its way into these discussions as well. But a few states, like Texas, Georgia, Alabama, and Maryland, have been especially slow to evolve. In these states, the multi-generational wealth of wholesalers, backed by the largest brewing conglomerates in the world, have held an immense amount of influence over politicians. And progress in those states beer laws has been all but static. Peter Franchot, the state’s elected comptroller, is very well known and depending on your view of things, he’s either a uniquely divisive figure in Maryland politics, or he’s uniquely talented at uniting folks around an issue. His role as comptroller is to structure the states financial agenda, which includes tax incentives for industry, and creating fairness is its economic systems, among many other related things. Unlike most states, Maryland doesn’t appoint their comptroller through the governor’s office, but instead elects the comptroller directly. And that means two important things - 1. it enables the voters to compartmentalism their financial interests from the rest of their political agendas - and 2. it protects that office from political influence to a degree, because the comptroller is beholden to the voters, not the governor. For Franchot - that can sometimes put him at odds with his own party’s agenda when they’re in power. And it can sometimes put him in the position of courting the factor of a republican governor when he wants to get something done, and that works against the democratic machine. And he seems to relish in it. And he keeps getting re-elected - with barely any contention. One of the ways he maintains that powerful role is through the campaigns he initiates that tend to be popular, perhaps even populist agendas. He’s gone after common sense school reforms, he fought against sot machines infiltrating his state, and most recently he’s saddled atop the rapid growth in craft beer as a way to rally his voters around something they want to see more of, and against the special interests it threatens. And he’s riding that saddle to electoral victory over and over again, but so far, doesn’t have a victory to show for it on behalf of he brewers themselves. He’s had remarkable success using the uncommon leverage of his office and its popularity to ram through big changes that most states are required to piece-meal over time. He makes a lot of enemies along the way, and more than a few friends, and it remains to be seen wether that’s good for craft beer legislation, or if this might be one battle he takes to the teeth of big beer money and power, and perhaps walks away wounded for the effort. It remains to be seen - and there are small brewers I spoke with on its sides of that strategy. Some are rallying behind the effort while others fear it may hinder their progress at the expense of Franchot having a self-serving campaign that keeps him popular even if he fails. Most would be happy with even a small win. But Franchot, never a meek contender, only seems interested in making his cause bigger in the meantime. In fact, as we sat and talked, I watched his handler wince more than once as Franchot, on the spot, started spontaneously adding new provisions to his bill. It’s a bold strategy. Let’s see if it pays off for him.

BCTC-06 Message in a Bottle—Keynote Panel Sep 23, 2018

This year, we were lucky enough to be invited to Cooperstown, New York to take part in Brewery Ommegang’s annual camping and music festival, Belgium Comes to Cooperstown. It’s a famous festival in the northeast, with thousands of people setting up for a full weekend of bottle sharing, music, food, and of course, the beer festival part. And this year, as part of our Underwriting collaboration with Brewery Ommegang, we wanted to help lead a conversation around this idea of Belgian. Weather it’s Belgian-inspired, as you’ll hear U.S. brewers often say, or it’s authentically Belgian, or Belgian style, or anyways strain, or it’s some part of a brewing process, an ingredient, or even the mystery and closely guarded secrets that sometimes distinguishes Belgian brewing from other traditions. And of course, what parts of that even matter in 2018 when so much of what’s happening in the most popular aspects of American craft beer seem to be moving in the opposite direction. At least for now. Even Brewery Ommegang, somewhat of a trendsetter when they opened back in 1997, is on that 2018 juicy IPA trend with an excellent entry of their own. And if you look at the history of Belgian brewing, full of pilsners and English ales, and the likes, no one can reasonably scoff at the idea. Keeping the lights on and brewing beers that people want, even if only for a time, is as much a part of the Belgian brewing tradition as anything else we associate it with. Brasserie Dupont taught me that. But that’s only one part of the conversation. There are so many aspects of American craft brewing we take for granted that are basically driven by the brewing traditions Belgium then and now. And we wanted to talk about all of it as part of our underwriting series called Message in a Bottle. So we invited a bunch of brewers, a few cider makers, and people who work in the longer value chain of craft beer around the world to try and get a sense of where this long tradition of Belgian influence hots America’s shores today. This episode is the keynote conversation called “Message in a Bottle” Generations of brewers have been inspired by Belgian brewing. What’s so appealing? How has it been put to use? And where is it going next? The panelists are: Geoff Wenzel, New Belgium Brewing Nick Purdy, Wild Heaven Beer Phil Leinhart, Brewery Ommegang

BCTC-05 Message in a Bottle — The U.S. Evolution of Belgian Sep 23, 2018

This year, we were lucky enough to be invited to Cooperstown, New York to take part in Brewery Ommegang’s annual camping and music festival, Belgium Comes to Cooperstown. It’s a famous festival in the northeast, with thousands of people setting up for a full weekend of bottle sharing, music, food, and of course, the beer festival part. And this year, as part of our Underwriting collaboration with Brewery Ommegang, we wanted to help lead a conversation around this idea of Belgian. Weather it’s Belgian-inspired, as you’ll hear U.S. brewers often say, or it’s authentically Belgian, or Belgian style, or anyways strain, or it’s some part of a brewing process, an ingredient, or even the mystery and closely guarded secrets that sometimes distinguishes Belgian brewing from other traditions. And of course, what parts of that even matter in 2018 when so much of what’s happening in the most popular aspects of American craft beer seem to be moving in the opposite direction. At least for now. Even Brewery Ommegang, somewhat of a trendsetter when they opened back in 1997, is on that 2018 juicy IPA trend with an excellent entry of their own. And if you look at the history of Belgian brewing, full of pilsners and English ales, and the likes, no one can reasonably scoff at the idea. Keeping the lights on and brewing beers that people want, even if only for a time, is as much a part of the Belgian brewing tradition as anything else we associate it with. Brasserie Dupont taught me that. But that’s only one part of the conversation. There are so many aspects of American craft brewing we take for granted that are basically driven by the brewing traditions Belgium then and now. And we wanted to talk about all of it as part of our underwriting series called Message in a Bottle. So we invited a bunch of brewers, a few cider makers, and people who work in the longer value chain of craft beer around the world to try and get a sense of where this long tradition of Belgian influence hots America’s shores today. This episode is called “The U.S. Evolution of Belgian” The ways in which flavor, ingredients, and technique have been pushed by American brewers has a lot of commonality with Belgian brewers. The panelists are: Eric Johnson, Wild Heaven Beer Patrick Woodson, Brewery Bhavana

BCTC-04 Message in a Bottle — Vertical Integration Sep 23, 2018

This year, we were lucky enough to be invited to Cooperstown, New York to take part in Brewery Ommegang’s annual camping and music festival, Belgium Comes to Cooperstown. It’s a famous festival in the northeast, with thousands of people setting up for a full weekend of bottle sharing, music, food, and of course, the beer festival part. And this year, as part of our Underwriting collaboration with Brewery Ommegang, we wanted to help lead a conversation around this idea of Belgian. Weather it’s Belgian-inspired, as you’ll hear U.S. brewers often say, or it’s authentically Belgian, or Belgian style, or anyways strain, or it’s some part of a brewing process, an ingredient, or even the mystery and closely guarded secrets that sometimes distinguishes Belgian brewing from other traditions. And of course, what parts of that even matter in 2018 when so much of what’s happening in the most popular aspects of American craft beer seem to be moving in the opposite direction. At least for now. Even Brewery Ommegang, somewhat of a trendsetter when they opened back in 1997, is on that 2018 juicy IPA trend with an excellent entry of their own. And if you look at the history of Belgian brewing, full of pilsners and English ales, and the likes, no one can reasonably scoff at the idea. Keeping the lights on and brewing beers that people want, even if only for a time, is as much a part of the Belgian brewing tradition as anything else we associate it with. Brasserie Dupont taught me that. But that’s only one part of the conversation. There are so many aspects of American craft brewing we take for granted that are basically driven by the brewing traditions Belgium then and now. And we wanted to talk about all of it as part of our underwriting series called Message in a Bottle. So we invited a bunch of brewers, a few cider makers, and people who work in the longer value chain of craft beer around the world to try and get a sense of where this long tradition of Belgian influence hots America’s shores today. This episode is called “Vertical Integration” The history of Belgian brewing is full of farm-based brewing and close ties to local agriculture — something cider makers and farm-based brewers in the U.S. understand well. The panelists are: Carrie Blackmore Good Nature Brewery Alejandro Del Peral Nine Pin Cider

BCTC-03 Message in a Bottle — Unpreproducibly Belgian Sep 23, 2018

This year, we were lucky enough to be invited to Cooperstown, New York to take part in Brewery Ommegang’s annual camping and music festival, Belgium Comes to Cooperstown. It’s a famous festival in the northeast, with thousands of people setting up for a full weekend of bottle sharing, music, food, and of course, the beer festival part. And this year, as part of our Underwriting collaboration with Brewery Ommegang, we wanted to help lead a conversation around this idea of Belgian. Weather it’s Belgian-inspired, as you’ll hear U.S. brewers often say, or it’s authentically Belgian, or Belgian style, or anyways strain, or it’s some part of a brewing process, an ingredient, or even the mystery and closely guarded secrets that sometimes distinguishes Belgian brewing from other traditions. And of course, what parts of that even matter in 2018 when so much of what’s happening in the most popular aspects of American craft beer seem to be moving in the opposite direction. At least for now. Even Brewery Ommegang, somewhat of a trendsetter when they opened back in 1997, is on that 2018 juicy IPA trend with an excellent entry of their own. And if you look at the history of Belgian brewing, full of pilsners and English ales, and the likes, no one can reasonably scoff at the idea. Keeping the lights on and brewing beers that people want, even if only for a time, is as much a part of the Belgian brewing tradition as anything else we associate it with. Brasserie Dupont taught me that. But that’s only one part of the conversation. There are so many aspects of American craft brewing we take for granted that are basically driven by the brewing traditions Belgium then and now. And we wanted to talk about all of it as part of our underwriting series called Message in a Bottle. So we invited a bunch of brewers, a few cider makers, and people who work in the longer value chain of craft beer around the world to try and get a sense of where this long tradition of Belgian influence hots America’s shores today. This episode is called “Unpreproducibly Belgian” While brewers the world over are inspired by Belgian beers, not everything from the homeland can be reproduced abroad. The panelists are: Jeff Alworth, Beervana Dusty Howe, Upland Brewing Co.

BCTC-02 Message in a Bottle—International Export Sep 23, 2018

This year, we were lucky enough to be invited to Cooperstown, New York to take part in Brewery Ommegang’s annual camping and music festival, Belgium Comes to Cooperstown. It’s a famous festival in the northeast, with thousands of people setting up for a full weekend of bottle sharing, music, food, and of course, the beer festival part. And this year, as part of our Underwriting collaboration with Brewery Ommegang, we wanted to help lead a conversation around this idea of Belgian. Weather it’s Belgian-inspired, as you’ll hear U.S. brewers often say, or it’s authentically Belgian, or Belgian style, or anyways strain, or it’s some part of a brewing process, an ingredient, or even the mystery and closely guarded secrets that sometimes distinguishes Belgian brewing from other traditions. And of course, what parts of that even matter in 2018 when so much of what’s happening in the most popular aspects of American craft beer seem to be moving in the opposite direction. At least for now. Even Brewery Ommegang, somewhat of a trendsetter when they opened back in 1997, is on that 2018 juicy IPA trend with an excellent entry of their own. And if you look at the history of Belgian brewing, full of pilsners and English ales, and the likes, no one can reasonably scoff at the idea. Keeping the lights on and brewing beers that people want, even if only for a time, is as much a part of the Belgian brewing tradition as anything else we associate it with. Brasserie Dupont taught me that. But that’s only one part of the conversation. There are so many aspects of American craft brewing we take for granted that are basically driven by the brewing traditions Belgium then and now. And we wanted to talk about all of it as part of our underwriting series called Message in a Bottle. So we invited a bunch of brewers, a few cider makers, and people who work in the longer value chain of craft beer around the world to try and get a sense of where this long tradition of Belgian influence hots America’s shores today. This episode is called “International Export” How Belgian beer is thought about differently around the world, and how it makes sense locally. The panelists are: Chris Toia, Mikkeller Daniel Leeman, Global Beer Network

BCTC-001 Message in a Bottle — Striking a Balance Sep 23, 2018

This year, we were lucky enough to be invited to Cooperstown, New York to take part in Brewery Ommegang’s annual camping and music festival, Belgium Comes to Cooperstown. It’s a famous festival in the northeast, with thousands of people setting up for a full weekend of bottle sharing, music, food, and of course, the beer festival part. And this year, as part of our Underwriting collaboration with Brewery Ommegang, we wanted to help lead a conversation around this idea of Belgian. Weather it’s Belgian-inspired, as you’ll hear U.S. brewers often say, or it’s authentically Belgian, or Belgian style, or anyways strain, or it’s some part of a brewing process, an ingredient, or even the mystery and closely guarded secrets that sometimes distinguishes Belgian brewing from other traditions. And of course, what parts of that even matter in 2018 when so much of what’s happening in the most popular aspects of American craft beer seem to be moving in the opposite direction. At least for now. Even Brewery Ommegang, somewhat of a trendsetter when they opened back in 1997, is on that 2018 juicy IPA trend with an excellent entry of their own. And if you look at the history of Belgian brewing, full of pilsners and English ales, and the likes, no one can reasonably scoff at the idea. Keeping the lights on and brewing beers that people want, even if only for a time, is as much a part of the Belgian brewing tradition as anything else we associate it with. Brasserie Dupont taught me that. But that’s only one part of the conversation. There are so many aspects of American craft brewing we take for granted that are basically driven by the brewing traditions Belgium then and now. And we wanted to talk about all of it as part of our underwriting series called Message in a Bottle. So we invited a bunch of brewers, a few cider makers, and people who work in the longer value chain of craft beer around the world to try and get a sense of where this long tradition of Belgian influence hots America’s shores today. This episode is called “Striking a Balance” While some brewers go all-in on “Belgian” others strike a balance in their portfolios. The history of Belgian brewing welcomes both. The panelists are: Amit Ram, Peekskill Brewery Steve Crider, 2nd Shift Brewery Doug Campbell, Brewery Ommegang

EP-188 Colin Marshall, Tom Foster, and Zach Kaiser of Diamondback Brewing Sep 16, 2018

Today’s guests are behind a fairly new brewery in Baltimore - a city where many of the breweries are fairly new. I remember Chicago going through this phase when after being a bit slow to start, we suddenly had a large number of breweries opening at once. In Chicago’s context, the beers that were popular at the time influenced those concepts - it influenced the kinds of beers those brewers wanted to make. Because the shelves were already full of world class IPAs, many chose to go a different direction and the result is one of the most exciting spectrums of beers styles available in any one city. Baltimore in the midst of its own propagation in 2017 and 2018 is having a very different experience. Adjunct stouts and hazy IPAs are so popular, that the ubiquitous strategy, as in many other small cities, is to emulate those trends. As start up brewers with limited cash flow and desperate for a customer base, it’s almost impossible not to. Diamondback was one of these breweries. And to an extent, still operates along these trends. But only a couple years in they’ve started thinking differently about who they are, what they want to brew and drink, and what that means for them long-term. A trip around the northeast to places like Suarez Family Brewery has a profound effect on them as a group. Would brewing crispy little lagers give them something they felt they were missing in both sales and spirit? Would it attract a new customer base they were eager to meet? Would they derive an intellectual satisfaction or an emotional resonance by shifting their priorities from short term trends to long term relevance? It was a great conversation to be having with a group so young but wise beyond their years. Whichever way they go, the most important thing is they’re thinking about it now.

MU-011 Guinness Extra Stout Sep 10, 2018

Our resident composer for the podcast and our commercial video work, Andrew Thiboldeaux, is writing original scores devoted to beers he finds fascinating. These are interpretations of the experience of drinking them. But they're also just great tunes.

EP-187 Chris Leonard of Heavy Seas Beer Sep 08, 2018

When beer lovers think of what goes on behind the scenes at a brewery, thoughts may drift to barrels or exotic ingredients or post-shift taste trials of the latest, trendy creation. Rarely does it concern the long hours, professional development and rather yeoman work it takes to become good at a job that straddles art and manufacturing. Here in the U.S., we recently celebrated Labor Day, a holiday to give thanks to all the effort our workforce provides to help our country and economy chug along. This kind of effort should never be lost on the behind-the-scenes staff who make the American beer industry what it is. I didn’t expect to follow this kind of thematic path when I sat down with Chris Leonard, brewmaster and operations manager at Heavy Seas Beer, not far outside of Baltimore. But over the course of our recent conversation, I became enamored with his perspective on recruitment, retention, and professional development. These are unsexy HR terms we don’t often think about when it comes to beer, but they’re also the key tenants to an otherwise apprentice profession that uses these learning opportunities to create some of the most thoughtful, innovative, and efficient brewers in the country. And there is a lot that goes into teaching a brewer, let alone running one of the most successful brewing operations in the country. Over the course of our conversation, Chris will offer you perspective on what it’s like to oversee a collection of young brewers, but the impacts and considerations he has to weigh when it comes to creating and improving some beloved brands. These are the kinds of conversations I love to have, when I can step back from the excitement of daily news and dig into the day-to-day issues that directly impact what happens to the beer in our glass. As we’ll come to learn, Chris’ voice is a worthwhile one to consider.

EP-186 Black Narrows Brewing Co. Family Meal Sep 01, 2018

I spent the better part of last week traveling around the Baltimore area for the first time. I was there to shoot a series of short documentary videos we’re producing for Guinness as part of our Coming to America series . It was a fantastic few days of eating and drinking and shooting around Baltimore—places like WC Harlan, Bar Clavel and Woodberry Kitchen. I have a ton of stuff to share from that part of the trip, but I’m going to start at the end, because that’s where my heart still lingers. I drove three hours south across the bay to Chincoteague Island, a long barrier island off the coast of Virginia, to visit a guy I met a few years ago at Wicked Weed’s Funk Fest—a brewer named Josh Chapman. I’ll never forget him popping up out of nowhere late at night at the fest to tell me a story of a time he was visiting a cidery in Virginia. And as he started poking around in the back of the place, he got to chatting with the producer, and they started setting up for dinner in the back, a staff meal of sorts, and they causally invited him to join. He was stunned by the invitation, to what seemed like an intimate gathering. But he slipped right in, sat down, and did what he described as his own little version of “doing the Good Beer Hunting.” There’s a lot packed into that summary of events, described as Good Beer Hunting, but it was all quite familiar to me. So many of my best memories are from unexpected invitations into someone’s small world where you learn what drives them, how they live, and how all that supports how they do business. A few years later, Josh has his own little brewery out on Chincoteague called Black Narrows. It’s a small, family business with his wife and her parents, and it supports his two young children, the newest of which is only a few months old. So he invited me by, set the table with some oysters and clams and corn and tomato pie, and had me sit with his staff for a meal. While he prepped dinner in the kitchen, and the grandparents Bob and Wendy sat at the table with me, and his wife and business partner Jenna held the baby, and their little girl and her friend ran around the house, I turned on the mics, and did what Josh might call “the Good Beer Hunting.”

EP-185 Taylor and Dan Suarez of Suarez Family Brewery Aug 24, 2018

Suarez Family Brewery has become something of a North Star for our editorial staff—not to mention many brewers and drinkers around the country—for everything that’s right about craft beer in 2018. Sessionable, delicious beers made by a family in the Hudson Valley that’s part of a small community of farmers and small businesses in the area: What’s not to love? To top it all off, Dan Suarez’s brother owns an essential restaurant in Germantown called Gaskin’s. At the little brewery on U.S. Route 9 across the from the corn fields and housed in an old lighting factory, the Suarez family makes exquisite Pilsners and Pale Ales alongside what they call Country Beers—those that are barrel-aged or wild-fermented, but still every bit as delicate and balanced. Their taproom is family-friendly, in large part because they have a small, young family of their own. How could it not be? Our Editorial Director Austin L. Ray’s profile of the brewery in 2016 was something of a coveted assignment amongst our team, and one of the few that Austin claimed for himself. It’s a moving portrait. You should read it. But like any small business so closely tied to the family that runs it, there’s struggle, too. And it’s about more than just making ends meet. While the beers may be the epitome of balance, balancing one’s life is every bit as difficult and necessary. Managing the start-up pace of a small, hands-on brewery, expanding the market for those beers via delivery runs to New York City, raising a toddler, and maintaining a busy taproom that’s increasingly becoming a destination for beer fans? These things, perhaps even more than trying to crack the code on these so-called “crispy little beers,” are what’s keeping Taylor and Dan Suarez up at night. Not that you’d believe they struggle with anything. Their reputation for being very relaxed, chill folks with a small town brewery is, at least on the surface, the epitome of the small brewer dream in America. Taking a deeper look, as we do today, will only make you love them more.

EP-184 The White Hag Hagstravaganza 4 Aug 18, 2018

Before we get started today I want to tell you about a couple of upcoming GBH events happening right here in London this September. First up, we’re incredibly excited to be bringing New Belgium’s wonderful sours to British shores for the first ever time, in an event called Into the Wild. They’ll be pouring their 2018 iterations of Le Terroir, Transatlantique Kriek and, of course, La Folie, alongside some incredible cheeses selected by Cheesemonger Ned Palmer, meats from The Charcuterie Board and sourdough from Bread by Bike. We’ve also hand picked a small selection of brewers, cider makers and winemakers to pour alongside them, in an effort to showcase all things delicious and fermentation driven—and crucially—what they all have in common. Along with New Belgium themselves we’ll be joined by, Burning Sky, Cloudwater, Beavertown’s Tempus Project, Boundary, Oliver’s Cider and Perry and New Zealand’s Garage Project, who’ll be bringing natural wines from their Crushed series. It’s happening on September 5th at the Beer Merchants Tap in Hackney, and I hope to see some of you there.  We’re also busy prepping for this year’s Beavertown Extravaganza. We’ll be there again this year with two days worth of panel talks happening over the course of both sessions on the 7th and 8th of September. A few tickets are still available, but they’re selling fast, so head over to beavertownbrewery.co.uk to grab yours now, and we’ll see you there. Now onto this week’s episode—an experiment of sorts that ended up being a lot of fun to record. A couple weeks back I travelled to Sligo, on the West Coast of Ireland to visit The White Hag brewery, which happened to be celebrating its fourth birthday with its annual Hagstravaganza Festival. I can’t tell you how many emails and tweets I’ve had over the years from Irish beer lovers asking me when I was going to visit and experience the Emerald Isle’s thriving beer culture for myself. So, while at the festival, I tried to capture as much of that culture as possible in a series of shorter interviews. I hope you’ll agree that the passion, and enthusiasm for Irish beer is infectiously evident in each one of them. Over the next couple of hours you’ll hear from The White Hag’s head brewer, Joe Kearns. Tom Delaney, head brewer at Galway Bay Brewery, and his own mixed-fermentation project Land and Labour. Cormac Wall, an Irishman working for Honest Brew in London, who also recently started contributing to GBH’s b-Roll blog. Wayne and Janice Dunne, who collectively as The Irish Beer Snobs author a blog, and host a podcast of their own. Mark Twig and Maurice Deasy of Canvas Brewery, and Francesca Slattery, of London’s Five Points Brewing Company, who lives in Dublin and works as the brewery’s rep out in Ireland. The Irish beer market is a fascinating one, and also one not without its struggles. It’s an industry dominated by the giants of Heineken and Diageo via its Guinness Brand—the latter going as far as to serve as a core part of this nation’s identity for so many. However, what I found, was that if you scratch below the surface—even just a little—you’ll soon find a thriving set of young, entrepreneurial brewers, each one desperate to prove that the beer scene here is composed of far more than merely “the Black Stuff.” A quick note—this episode was recorded at a working beer festival, so there is some noise. But hopefully that’ll convey how fantastic the atmosphere was at this event.

EP-183 Ryan Witter-Merithew and Mahalia Breen of Casita Cerveceria Aug 11, 2018

A reoccuring theme we’ve had here on the audio version of GBH is one of partnerships. Marriages, siblings, friendships — the full gamut. The guests on this episode are another example. Ryan Witter-Merithew and Mahalia Breen have traveled the world together for the sake of beer as Ryan’s job has taken him around the country and abroad. As far as they’ve gone, family has remained a connective part of who they are and how they consider business, which has led them to starting Casita Cerveceria, a brand launched at Hill Farmstead and since brought home to North Carolina. Their relationship and family are at the core of what they do. Despite a rather prolific career, Ryan has somehow managed to fly a little under the radar to beer fans. As you’ll find out, he’s played something of a Kevin Bacon role over the last decade, interacting and connecting with some of the biggest brewing names in the business. His dedication, talent and curiosity is what led him to start his own business, in addition to a little motivation from Mahalia, too. Contract brewing has had a strange relationship with craft beer, going back a couple decades when there was an impression anyone who didn’t own their equipment and have skin in the game might have been doing it for the wrong reasons. Namely to make quick money and not care as much about the beer. But brewers like Ryan have shifted that impression, showing just how much love and attention can go into production even if you’re not the one carrying debt. Throughout it all, Ryan and Mahalia have supported each other, creating stronger bonds and lasting stories which they’ll share with us in this conversation.

ITW-01 Into The Wild with Dick Cantwell + Jay Goodwin Aug 04, 2018

This is a special episode of the podcast, made possible by the underwriting of New Belgium Brewing and our collaborative series, Into the Wild. Last week, New Belgium kicked off their Sour Saison blending tour, starting in California, pulling this rad vintage trailer behind a pickup truck and parking it at bars and breweries across the country. I joined them for that leg of the journey, and again recently here in my hometown of Chicago. Right now, it’s headed back to Denver and then L.A., so you still have time to link up with the tour. One of the reasons this collaboration is so special for us is because it’s helping us devote a portion of our editorial, this podcast, and our design team to a category of beers we love—wild fermentation, sour, wood-aged, mixed-ferm. Those beers that are keeping alive an ancient tradition for a new generation of drinkers. In addition to the articles we’re writing, we also published a print mag, which we’re handing out for free at the events. And we’ve been able to put together some one-off podcast episodes, like this one, featuring Jay Goodwin of The Rare Barrel, and Dick Cantwell, formerly of Elysian, and now the owner of Magnolia brewing, not to mention the author of numerous books on brewing. So while the taproom at The Rare Barrel was full of people sampling and blending Sour Saison, and Dick was demonstrating how to take apart and re-build an oak barrel, we got together on the stage and struck up a conversation about the state of the category.

EP-182 Kimberly Clements and Daniel Lust of Pints Jul 28, 2018

Today we’re going to dig into a part of the beer business that’s hard to crack—distribution. It’s typically very difficult to talk about this part of the three-tier system because it’s full of confusing laws that vary state-to-state, it’s federally mandated and regulated, and probably he most important reason is that no one is incentivized to really discuss it. It’s where a lot of the concentration of wealth happens in the beer industry, and when things get consolidated, there’s rarely progress, innovation, or even basic transparency as to how it all works. It’s a bit of a black box. But looking at it from the craft brewer’s perspective, it’s a box that needs opening. And in the last decade, a lot of the power dynamic has shifted due to new laws that increase access to market for brewers—things like self-distribution, dock sales, and own-premise taprooms have put producers much more in the roles of distributors and retailers than ever before. As a result, they’re having ideas. They’re getting ambitious about their go-to-market strategies. And they’re starting to get creative. Today’s guest is a catalyst for that kind of change. Kimberly Clements, a former owner of Golden Eagle distributors in Arizona, and her business partner Daniel Lust, who was a pricing analyst and territory manager at Golden Eagle, are the founding duo behind Pints LLC, a consulting company that helps brewers strategize new markets and distribution. They also work on the distribution side of things, helping align the interests of craft brewers and distributors across the country. Their insight into this part of the business is amazing. If you’ve ever wanted to learn how distributions really works, and what the challenges really look like, this is the episode for you. As a bonus, we get a really stark look into exactly how distribution networks, even so-called independent distributors, are controlled by AB-InBev’s influence form one generation to the next. It’s an amazingly candid conversation with someone who knows the ins and outs, both historical and contemporary. And before we begin, a quick shoutout to On Tour brewing for hosting us for this talk. As some of you know, we’re moving to a new studio space just down the street from On Tour, but it’s not ready until next week, so they were really gracious in hosting us so we had a temporary place to record this episode. I certainly didn’t want to miss my chance to talk to these folks. So thanks to On Tour for the hospitality. And fair warning, this is a live brewery taproom environment, so it’s not the quiet studio recording you’re used to. But it’s totally worth the listen. Thanks to Mark and the On Tour crew for helping us out. They’re great neighbors.

EP-181 — Jeff Cioletti, writer Jul 21, 2018

After last week’s brief layover in Colorado for a chat with WeldWorks, we’re returning to Spain this week. If you haven’t already, you can check out a thematic part one to this episode featuring Xavier Losada, brewer and bottle shop owner of Bee Beer Craft Beer and Cheeses. This time around, we catch up with Jeff Cioletti, a fellow writer and prolific traveler who’s long covered the world’s many alcoholic offerings. I’ve been lucky to know Jeff for some time, but we typically only see each other once or twice a year around the U.S. beer industry’s big events of the Craft Brewers Conference and Great American Beer Festival. In June, however, we found ourselves In Madrid as part of a short media tour hosted by Mahou San Miguel. It was as good a time as any to chat on and off the mic. Along with writing for All About Beer and DRAFT magazines, CraftBeer.com and acting as editor at large of Beverage World, Jeff has also written multiple books, including the most recent The Drinkable Globe, also the name of his website where he tracks the wide world of booze. Needless to say, Jeff is well versed in a variety drinks, history and their global connections, and continues to explore them. He’s most recently diving deep into sake. But beer is still where we can find a wheelhouse, and that’s what brought us together, so I decided it would be good to pick his brain about what he’s learned and continues to think about in beer and beyond.

EP-180 WeldWerks Brewing — Colin Jones, Neil Fisher, Kristin Popcheff, Jake Goodman, Arne Garlick Jul 14, 2018

Today’s podcast is with the folks from Colorado’s WeldWerks Brewing Company—and it’s a fun one. In fact I might go as far as to say that this is one of my favorite conversations I’ve had, since I started contributing to this podcast a couple years ago. You’ll hear a number of WeldWerks voices over the next hour or so, including owners Colin Jones and Neil Fisher, Ops Director Kristin Popcheff, brewer Arne Garlick and Sales Director Jake Goodman. It’s been quite the journey for WeldWerks since they set up in the town of Greeley, some 30 miles east of Fort Collins and Loveland, along the Front Range in Northern Colorado just three years ago. They exploded onto the scene thanks to beers like their New England IPA, Juicy Bits—a beer that impressed me so much I was compelled to visit, and eventually write about this fascinating brewery for GBH. In its short existence, WeldWerks has already experienced critical acclaim for beers like Juicy Bits and its pastry stouts such as Medianoche. In fact the barrel aged version of the latter picked up a coveted gold medal in the barrel-aged stout category at last years Great American Beer Festival. But this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to their repertoire. WeldWerks released 100 different beers over the past year. And amongst zeitgeisty NEIPAs and Pastry Stouts, there were also tart Gose, crispy Pilsners and much more. This brewery is far from being a one, or two, trick pony. The brewery’s rapid growth and increase in popularity hasn’t been without its challenges, however. They’ve had to deal with long lines on beer release days, and in some cases, disappointed customers—some of whom, made their feelings towards the brewery pretty explicit in these instances. Learning to balance these reactions from consumers has been as important as it has building their relationships with industry partners, as they manage strong own-premise sales with increasing demand from retailers. What’s perhaps most impressive is that—along with fellow Greeley brewery Wiley Roots and local bars like Patrick’s Irish Pub—WeldWerks has helped to put its hometown on the American beer map. It would have perhaps been easier (but far more expensive) to set up their brewery in say, Downtown Fort Collins or Denver’s exploding River North district. But no, Greeley is where this Colorado brewery’s heart is—and their efforts are helping to develop the image of a town that locally is typically associated with industrial scale agriculture.

EP-179 Xavier Losada of Bee Beer Craft Beer and Cheeses Jul 07, 2018

Beer people love to talk about how the beverage they care about so much has brought the same kind of sentiment with other human beings. We’re often finding ways that malt, barley, hops and yeast have given us another figurative ingredient: friends. For those of us who think about beer too much, it’s always a treat to find like-minded others wherever we go. In June, I found myself in downtown Madrid while staying in the city as part of short media tour hosted by Mahou San Miguel. I wanted to find some local craft beer and Google led me to Bee Beer Craft Beer and Cheeses, a small bottle shop with brands from around Spain, most notably the namesake brewery of the business. It was there I wound up chatting with owner Xavier Losada, learning about what led him to open a craft-focused store in a market where that kind of beer still feels a little new. Xavier has a curiosity to create something new that wouldn’t feel too out of place in an American market and he’s working to change the mentality of locals, not just tourists like me who wander into a welcoming bar that feels like home. These kinds of conversations, where there’s an international insight to trends or interests we may take for granted stateside, can be so valuable. It’s a time to meet others who are watching what’s happening in beer with a new perspective and better grasp all the changes taking place as craft beer becomes increasingly important around the globe. I heard all that from Xavier, who also actively watches the boundaries of flavor as he creates new brands to serve under the Bee Beer banner.

EP-178 Phil Tavey of Grand Cru Beers Jun 30, 2018

Today’s guest sit at the intersection of so many aspects of Irish craft beer. He’s an importer of American brands like Lagunitas. He’s a distributor of Ireland’s domestic craft brands like Galway Bay. He’s also the country’s first, and perhaps only official Beer Sommelier. So his perspective accounts for the curation, sales, distribution, and education of craft beer in a small country that’s recently flipped a switch in terms of its interests, with many people now drinking small craft, trendy beers like New England IPA alongside traditional beers like Guinness and Murphys. And in a market with incredibly entrenched brands as Ireland has, that sudden new interest has a major uphill battle to fight to gain awareness and shelf and tap handle space in the country’s on and off-license establishments, better known in the US as on and off premises - namely bars, restaurants, and liquor store and bottles shops. As of yet, there really isn’t a taproom model to speak of, with very few exceptions. So to get a crash course on the many factors influencing Irish craft beer right now, for better and worse, I sat down with Phil Tavey of Grand Cru beers. We posted up at a bar called Sine é in Dublin who’s tap lists were a perfect representation of the state of things, running the gamut from Guinness to Galway Bay and a host of other small brewery offerings. This is Phil Tavey of Grand Cru Beers, listen in.

CL-008 Best friends, bylines, and beers Jun 24, 2018

For this latest version of the GBH Collective, I sat down with Oliver Gray, a fellow writer at Good Beer Hunting who recently took his love for beer by going pro. He’s currently helping launch Guinness’ new brewery in Baltimore as the marketing manager for the Guinness Open Gate Brewery and Barrel House. As a bit of disclosure, while Guinness is an underwriter for GBH, the reason Oliver and I sat down together was a rare occasion that we found ourselves in the same city at the same time, having both traveled to Nashville for the recent Craft Brewers Conference. For the sake of full disclosure, Oliver is one of my best friends, and we’ve shared lots of long conversations about beer, life, writing and more and it just so happened that I had my podcast equipment this time around. I’ve done hundreds, if not thousands, of interviews in my life as a reporter, but there’s something special about getting to ask questions of people who are close to you as a way to share them with others. Oliver is an important person in my life, and he’s been a valuable part of the Good Beer Hunting team whether it’s through his byline or expertise behind the scenes. I’m glad we had the chance to talk as a way to share more with you.

EP-176 Natalya Watson of Duvel Moortgat Jun 16, 2018

Today’s guest is Natalya Watson of Duvel Moortgat. Watson’s upbringing was something of an adventure, born to Northern Irish parents in Canada, then living back in Northern Ireland before growing up in California. Watson would then go on to live in New York, before eventually putting her British passport to good use, and moving to London in 2015. The start of her new adventure in beer here in the UK began behind the bar at Mother Kelly’s—an East London bar and bottle shop that’s become something of an institution among beer fans. Shortly after this she landed her current gig at Duvel Moortgat, where she’s held her role as UK marketing manager for almost three years. The Duvel-Moortgat family currently consists of 12 of brands spread acrossmainland Europe and the United States. However, it doesn’t presently have a stake in a UK brewery. The UK arm of its business looks after seven of these brands within this territory, which are: De Koninck, Vedett, Maredsous, Liefmans, Brasserie Achouffe, Boulevard in Kansas City and Duvel itself. Not all of the brands in its portfolio fall under Duvel UK’s jurisdiction, however, with examples like California’s Firestone Walker and Bernard in Czechia acting autonomously in this market. It’s an interesting time for Duvel in the UK—the British beer market is a landscape that’s unrecognizable from what it was 10, maybe even 5 years ago. It needs to find a way to compete in this space but in a way, the activation of the modern UK beer market has been a benefit to the Belgian company. In fact Duvelas a beer saw a 16% retail sales jump in 2017, and this year that figure might be closer to 25%. Remarkable numbers for a beer that will be celebrating itscentenary in 2023. Perhaps this is because as a beer, Duvel no longer looks so alien on the supermarket shelf to some consumers. In Britain—a land built on the back of sessionable ales—an 8.5% Belgian Golden Ale is nothing if not a little intimidating. Now, Duvel has been joined on these shelves by Double IPA’s, Imperial Stouts, Saisons and more, somehow making it feel more accessible than ever. Over the course of the next hour we’ll also find out why Duvel has decided to roll out a new draft version of its flagship using a unique dispense system. And we’ll speak about its US brands like Boulevard, Ommegang and Firestone Walker, examining why some of them are more prevalent here in the UK than others.

EP-175 Brian and Mary Rooney of BKS Artisan Ales Jun 09, 2018

To some, vacation prep can feel almost as time consuming as act of being away itself, sorting through an endless number of online suggestions and guides with what you simply can’t miss in whatever location you may be visiting. And like so many other beer lovers, I’ve got the process down to a science. When I’m off to visit someplace new, I love tips of where to and what to drink. On a recent stop in Kansas City, I was thrilled to have seen one small up-and-comer pop up several times over. BKS Artisan Ales - like so many other breweries in the City of Fountains - is helping to establish a new era of beer in Kansas City. Boulevard Brewing has long been an attraction, but there are more and more small producers catching the eye and taste buds of beer enthusiasts, with BKS being a prominent one. Best of all, BKS is still growing. After opening toward the end of 2017, the neighborhood taproom has been forced to expand its hours - from one day to two - as owners Brian and Mary Rooney find ways to strike work-life balance with a passionate local fanbase eager to line up for their New England IPAs, saisons and more. They haven’t even been open for a year, but have already considered what small changes to their space can mean in terms of production, efficiency and quality. It’s amazing what a canning machine can mean for saved time and sanity. Having navigated local laws to finally get open, the business has set itself up for an exciting future in Kansas City. All you have to do is check online message boards to follow along, but maybe the cat’s out of the bag now.

EP-174 Nick Cho of Wrecking Ball Coffee Roasters Jun 02, 2018

Today’s guest is basically one of my personal hobbies. He’s one of my windows into coffee culture, and following him on Twitter has given me insight into so many of the social, business, product, and values issues within coffee that I find highly relevant to beer. It’s not always a straightforward translation, of course, and much of what we talk about today is about the gaps between the two. Coffee and beer, and craft-oriented niches, have so much in common. But the differences are meaningful and instructive. Nick Cho has been there for much of it. He’s served as director of the Barista Guild of America’s Executive Council, the SCA’s board of directors, World Barista Championship board, and chaired the U.S. Barista Championship, among many other roles. He’s also opened his own roaster, Wrecking Ball, has been a guest lecturer at Berkeley, Dartmouth, and UC Davis, and used to have a podcast of his own. But this all pre-dates how I came to know him, and that was as a #CoffeeTwitter personality that people either get excited about or roll their eyes at. I’ve always found him to be a fantastic window into it all, with a point of view few others are willing or able to offer in public. And, like me, he hates cold brew. So at the most recent SCA Expo in Seattle, the coffee world’s GABF, I took a break from Uppers & Downers with Nick to unite these forces for better and worse. Better for me, I think, but I’m not sure about him. For coffee folks, the beer world is just weird. This is Nick Cho of Wrecking Ball Coffee Roasters. Listen in.

EP-173 Jez Galaun and Xochitl Benjamin of Brixton Brewery May 26, 2018

On today’s episode I’m joined by Jez Galaun and Xochitl Benjamin, two of the four founders behind South London’s Brixton Brewery. Six months previously, I had sat down for a brief chat with the same pair, before GBH broke the news that the brewery had sold a minority stake of 49% to Heineken. Now that the dust kicked up by that announcement has had the chance to settle I wanted to catch up with Galaun and Benjamin to find out how things had been going for the brewery post investment. Brixton was the latest in a string of acquisitions and investments that demonstrated an increasing trend in the interest in the London beer market from some of the industry’s biggest players. We saw SABMiller purchase Meantime Brewery back in May 2015, before it was subsequently sold on to Asahi following SAB’s merger with Anheuser Busch-InBev, a year later. In December 2015 AB-InBev’s ZX Ventures investment arm acquired Camden Town Brewery, before also investing in its purpose built £30 million brewing facility in Enfield, North London. Denmark’s Carlsberg also entered the fray in July 2017, when it purchased the struggling London Fields Brewery, in partnership with Brooklyn Brewery—the latter adding London Fields to its growing empire of international brewpubs. Heineken’s investment in Brixton a few months later only further served to demonstrate that London’s breweries are hot property. This investment means that like Camden, Brixton will be able to expand into a larger facility, although on nowhere near the same scale. At its existing facility under the arches near Brixton Station—which the brewery has called home since it was founded in 2013—it was producing almost 3000hl (around 2500 US bbls) per year. When commissioned later this year, the new facility will allow Brixton to produce ten times this amount annually. But this will still keep them under the volumes of several other London breweries, including smaller independents like Beavertown and Fourpure. The new site will also be located in the heart of Brixton itself, just 600 meters from the existing location as the crow flies. Galaun, Benjamin and I unpack the importance of this during the course of our conversation. We also discuss how the London scene is still undergoing dramatic change and whether or not that Heineken stake is evidence of an eventual path to control, as it was when they acquired Lagunitas.

EP-172 Jason Perkins of Allagash Brewing Company May 18, 2018

This week’s episode is with one of the country’s best and most-loved brewers. But unless you follow the industry closely, you probably don’t know him. He won the Brewers Association’s Russell Schehrer Award for Innovation in Craft Brewing in 2016 in recognition of his outstanding work at Allagash as their brewmaster, as well as the many committees and teams he serves on for the association itself. So much of what makes the Brewers Association a progressive, impactful part of our everyday drinking lives isn’t in the marketing campaigns or politics, but in the incremental analysis, research, goal-setting, and internal lobbying for quality, technical education, and investments in agriculture. These are the rails upon which the future of craft brewing in the U.S. will run. And Jason is working at the heart of so much of it, both through the association, but also his own brewery in Maine. Jason was in Chicago for Allagash’s Saison Day in which he brewed a collaboration beer with John Laffler of Off Color. So we set aside some time in the morning after their brew day and a night on the town in Chicago. And to his credit, despite his travel-weariness, not to mention this being probably the most boring part of his trip, Jason still showed up. I was delighted. I learned a ton. And I’m happy to share it with you all. Listen in.

EP-171 Alex Tweet of Fieldwork Brewing Co. May 12, 2018

This week’s guest is a fascinating one for me. I first came to know Alex Tweet, one of the founders of Fieldwork in Berkeley, California, during his run-in with Shaun Hill of Hill Farmstead over the use of the word Vermont to describe one of Fieldwork’s farmhouse-style beers. The argument that followed between the two resulted in a Sightlines story on GBH, not so much because there was a disagreement, but because it brought up really interesting thoughts about what constitutes an appellation in beer making, especially in the U.S. We’re used to thinking of Belgian beers being from Belgium, but could Vermont have a similarly important and respected origin in the future of American craft beer? Should it? To that end, so much about what makes Fieldwork interesting is the anachronistic qualities of its brand and voice, much of it coming through Alex himself. Fieldwork makes old-world styles of farmhouse-inspired, yeast-driven beers, but they also make New England IPAs and Pastry Stouts. The vibe is rustic and simple, but the business plan is ambitious and newly sprawling with a system of taprooms scattered around the Bay Area, taking advantage of California’s generous licensing for craft brewers. And, of course, there’s Alex himself, a somewhat anxious, energetic, always-thinking kind of guy wrestling with duality as many brewers do, between what he likes and what he sells, and his place in the world, trying to decide if he cares too much, or too little about a variety of aspects of brewery ownership. I admire his candor and his interest in talking it all out, which is what’s made this podcast so rewarding. And I’m glad I get to share it with you all. Listen in.

EP-170 Georgia Roundtable with Nancy Palmer, Brian Purcell, Bob Sandage, and Nick Purdy May 05, 2018

Our editorial director, Austin L. Ray, lives in Atlanta, which means I’ve had plenty of reasons to spend some time down there over the past few years getting to know the city through his perspective—its food, music and, of course, its beer. Recently, I watched as Austin’s life as a beer drinker in the state of Georgia was dramatically changed with the passage of a new law that enabled breweries to sell their beer directly to drinkers in their own taprooms, over their own bars, and out their own doors. For some breweries, it’s an opportunity for incremental sales. For others, it’s an evolution of their business plan. And for those that are in the process of opening new breweries, it’s a chance to introduce entirely new business models for making and selling beer in the state of Georgia. It’s been about six months since the laws passed, which has given everyone—brewers and drinkers alike—some time to get used to the new normal. And by all accounts, it’s been a pretty exciting time full of new opportunities and some hard lessons. It’s also inspiring new thinking about the future. Austin helped me put together a group of folks, all with a unique perspective on the state of Georgia beer, to talk about their role in the changes, and what they’re going to do next. My guests in this roundtable are: Bob Sandage from Wrecking Bar, a brewpub with its own farm who recently started can sales for the first time ever. Nick Purdy from Wild Heaven Beer, who said he wouldn’t have signed the lease for his expansion without the new laws being signed. Brian Purcell of Three Taverns in Decatur who’s now getting lines down the block for new releases and considering an off-site taproom to build the brand. And most importantly, Nancy Palmer, Executive Director of the Georgia Craft Brewers Guild, who was perhaps most responsible for getting the new legislation enacted on behalf of her constituents, and seems to have not lost a moment working on what’s next. This week, Nancy also won the prestigious F.X. Matt Defense of the Industry Award from the Brewers Association, largely in recognition of those successful efforts. It’s a helluva group to chat about the future of beer with. Listen in.

CTA-01 Matthew Dick of Boundary Brewing Apr 28, 2018

Welcome to this special edition of the GBH podcast, which forms part of our Coming to America series, brought to you in collaboration with Guinness. Before we get started today, I want to tell you how excited I am about bringing our Uppers and Downers festival of coffee, beer and coffee beers to London this May. It takes place at Mick’s Garage in Hackney Wick on Saturday May 19th and will feature over 30 exceptional brewers and roasters—including today’s guests, Boundary—each collaborating on some new and exclusive beers that you’ll only be able to try at the event. Tickets are limited and selling fast, so head over to goodbeerhunting.com and hit get tickets to secure your space. In our Coming to America series we’ve brought you stories about upstart and iconic breweries from around the world that have been impacting U.S. drinkers for generations, and those that are just beginning to make the journey. Stories like how Pilsner Urquell originally came to the US, and how young breweries like Denmark’s Alefarm are trying to find their place in the same market in the age of modern and local. Today’s guest is Matthew Dick, co-founder of Boundary Brewing Cooperative, based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. If you read our article on Boundary back in May 2016 then you’ll already be somewhat familiar with this Northern Irish upstart, which is only the second brewery to open in Belfast. Using the cooperative model as a base, which Dick will explain in detail later in this episode, Boundary began its journey in 2015, thanks to the investments made by over 1000 owner-members. It’s a model that’s relatively unique within the UK brewing industry, but its one that’s so far proved successful for this young business Before the brewery opened however, Dick spent many years living out in the United States. He met his wife in Reno, Nevada, where he lived for several years, and latterly he spent some time in Austin, Texas, where he worked for the now defunct homebrew equipment manufacturer, Brewbot. To say that the US brewing scene inspired Dick—in particular breweries working with barrels and mixed-fermentation beers like Jester King—would be something of an understatement. An American-inspired entrepreneurial spirit resonates through everything that Boundary does. With three years under its belt it’s starting to become established in its home markets of the UK and Ireland, but this isn’t without its challenges, especially with the ever-darker clouds of Brexit looming on the horizon. Now, however, Boundary is beginning to look further afield and after securing a distribution deal with Shelton Brothers it has started to export its beer to the US. Boundary had the honor of taking over the taps at DC’s Churchkey this past St. Patrick’s Day. It also recently debuted its beer in New York City with an event at The Jeffrey. In this episode we’ll learn about the value of these US exports to such a small brewery, and how it balances this alongside activity the needs of its domestic market.

EP-169 Devon Kreps of 7venth Sun Brewery Apr 21, 2018

I didn't expect to talk about a serial killer when I sat down with Devon Kreps recently, but sometimes life can be full of surprises. For a while, that was a recurring theme for Devon and her brewery, 7venth Sun, which she co-owns with Justin Stange. As you'll hear in our discussion, natural disasters and local tragedies played an unexpected and unfortunate role in the early story of their brewery's new production space in Tampa, Florida. But when we got together, it was in the cozy confines of their original brewery and taproom in Dunedin, a sort of golf cart community also on the western side of the state. Devon and Justin opened 7venth Sun in 2012 after meeting at Sweetwater Brewing, and her roots in beer go back to a degree in fermentation science from Oregon State University and time spent with Anheuser-Busch. You'll hear from Devon on a lot of similar topics craft brewers are facing today, from finding a niche in a local market to learning how to best run a business and, perhaps most important, overcome unexpected challenges for which you have no control. Through it all, Devon has helped run one of the flagship breweries in the greater Tampa area providing growth and excitement for her team and customers alike. Grab a Florida weisse, relax in a reclining chair and think of sandy beaches.

FF-013 Jim Plachy is a value brand, and members tell us about lagers and travel-planning Apr 17, 2018

Welcome to another episode of The Fervent Few podcast. Every few weeks we present you with this bonus episode of the GBH podcast where we chat with members of our subscriber community. The Fervent Few subscribe to GBH like a magazine making a monthly contribution via Patreon. Members join us in a forum to talk about a wide range of topics that doesn’t just stop at beer. And every week we pick one of these topics and present the community’s answers to readers in the form of an article posted to Good Beer Hunting. You can find out more information by visiting patreon.com/goodbeerhunting On this episode we talk to Zach Rothman (an attorney and beer blogger) and Chase Brooks (a cidermaker) about the recent uptick in lagers, and Nick Yoder, a distribution sales rep, about how he plans his beer travel.

EP-168 Sayre Piotrkowski of HenHouse Brewing Apr 13, 2018

This is our second interview recorded during San Francisco beer week - and it happened to be our second interview with someone who works at HenHouse Brewing up in the north bay. When I first contacted Sayre to come on the podcast, I didn’t even know he worked for Henhouse, which becomes part and parcel of the conversation. Sayre Piotrkowski is a great example of someone who’s hustled their way through a variety of jobs in the beer world, from door man, to bartender to beer buyer and sales rep. The variety of his experiences comes together to form a uniquely complex and interesting take on the implications of today’s beer market - how the biggest players affect communities, and how the smallest movers motivate change. Sayre’s also been quite vocal about his opinions. He wrote an op-ed outlining his opposition to the Golden Road pub moving into Oakland that garnered a lot of attention - and we’ll talk about that in depth here. But it’s the underlying principles at play that really drive this conversation into interesting territory for me. And at times, Sayre and I sort of wander into the wildness together as we sort through the nuance of our own opinions and the questions we’re asking of each other. So pardon the looseness of this one if you can, and just come along for the ride. Some of the things we discuss are still haunting me a bit, as unresolved as they are. But I enjoyed every minute of it, and I hope you do too. This is Sayre Piotrkowski of Henhouse brewing, listen in.

MU-010 Austin Beerworks Pearl Snap Apr 12, 2018

Our resident composer for the podcast and our commercial video work, Andrew Thiboldeaux, is writing original scores devoted to beers he finds fascinating. These are interpretations of the experience of drinking them. But they're also just great tunes.

EP-167 Collin McDonnell of HenHouse Brewing Apr 08, 2018

I was lucky enough to get to the San Francisco and Bay Area for beer week earlier this year, and for the first time, I stayed on the Oakland side. Not only did this give me an entirely different perspective on the evolving scene of the East Bay, it also gave me quick access to the North Bay—and I took full advantage of it. I needed to get up to Santa Rosa for a shoot at Russian River for the Pliny release which was just published as part of Alyssa Pereira’s first GBH story. Check that out when you get a moment—it’s a great one. And that gave me good reason to make a stop at another brewery up that way, one I’ve been following mostly through its founder’s Twitter personality for the last couple years. HenHouse Brewing Company started in Petaluma before growing up a bit and moving North into the front of a sauerkraut production facility where they’ve been transitioning a bit. While they started as a farmhouse brewery making some fantastic Saisons and traditional styles, they're now fully embracing the Double IPA and haze craze, working to figure out if that’s an existential crisis, a business they should openly embrace, or both. Sometimes, especially in small business, existential questions make for poor business, and great business makes for a poor existence. HenHouse co-founder Collin McDonnell seems to appreciate the duality—and works through his thoughts more openly than most. His public Twitter account is where I find some of the most intriguing and intellectually honest conversations happening in craft beer. It's a place where he argues about things like independence, the distribution system, corporate and craft beer, and a host of other gnarly discussions, and one of the reasons I think he does it so well is that he doesn’t take any of those words for granted. So often when the rest of the world hunkers down into their rhetorical trenches, Collin swings by with a reframe of the situation, and exposes the impractical flaws in both sides of the argument. Does independence matter if everyone’s doing the same thing? Does distribution and access to market need to evolve, or should it be replaced by a new idea entirely? And in the end, who’s going to shut up and take responsibility for the beer? This guy is an example of the kind of person who makes working in the beer industry so challenging and fulfilling. And he makes damn good beer. Listen in.

FFT-005 Sour Wild Ales Guild (S.W.A.G.) Apr 06, 2018

The state of wild and sour beer in America is rapidly evolving. And this year, in partnership with Green Bench Brewing in St Petersburg Florida, the GBH team hosted a series of interviews and discussions at the Foeder for Thought festival. These discussions are meant to help us all dig in to the future of this loosely-defined, but highly-sought-after category of beers. It’s also a chance to get to know some of the people and stories behind how these beers are made, sold, and enjoyed all over the country.

In this 5-part series, you’ll hear from a variety of perspectives from this niche of the industry.

FFT-004 Troy Casey, Casey Brewing & Blending Apr 06, 2018

The state of wild and sour beer in America is rapidly evolving. And this year, in partnership with Green Bench Brewing in St Petersburg Florida, the GBH team hosted a series of interviews and discussions at the Foeder for Thought festival. These discussions are meant to help us all dig in to the future of this loosely-defined, but highly-sought-after category of beers. It’s also a chance to get to know some of the people and stories behind how these beers are made, sold, and enjoyed all over the country.

In this 5-part series, you’ll hear from a variety of perspectives from this niche of the industry.

FFT-003 Sour Beer and Retail Apr 06, 2018

The state of wild and sour beer in America is rapidly evolving. And this year, in partnership with Green Bench Brewing in St Petersburg Florida, the GBH team hosted a series of interviews and discussions at the Foeder for Thought festival. These discussions are meant to help us all dig in to the future of this loosely-defined, but highly-sought-after category of beers. It’s also a chance to get to know some of the people and stories behind how these beers are made, sold, and enjoyed all over the country.

In this 5-part series, you’ll hear from a variety of perspectives from this niche of the industry.

FFT-002 Interview w/ Q&A - Chase Healey of American Solera Apr 06, 2018

The state of wild and sour beer in America is rapidly evolving. And this year, in partnership with Green Bench Brewing in St Petersburg Florida, the GBH team hosted a series of interviews and discussions at the Foeder for Thought festival. These discussions are meant to help us all dig in to the future of this loosely-defined, but highly-sought-after category of beers. It’s also a chance to get to know some of the people and stories behind how these beers are made, sold, and enjoyed all over the country.

In this 5-part series, you’ll hear from a variety of perspectives from this niche of the industry.

FFT-001 State of sour/wild beer in Florida Apr 06, 2018

At this year's Foeder for Thought, the festival of wild and sour beers hosted by Green Bench Brewing Co. in St. Petersburg, Florida, the GBH team co-hosted panels and discussions that help us all dig in to the future of this loosely-defined, but highly-sought-after category of beers. WATCH THE ENTIRE SERIES ON VIDEO HERE. This podcast series includes: // State of sour/wild beer in Florida, featuring: Bob Sylvester of Saint Somewhere Brewing Co. Khris Johnson of Green Bench Brewing Matt Manthe of Odd Breed Wild Ales // Interview w/ Q&A - Chase Healey of American Solera // Sour Beer and Retail, featuring: Blake Tyers of Creature Comforts Greg Engert of Churchkey, Sovereign, Bluejacket, and more Veronica Danko of The Independent, Jug & Bottle Christian Gregory of Shelton Brothers // Interview w/Q+A - Troy Casey, Casey Brewing and Blending // Sour Wild Ales Guild (S.W.A.G.) featuring: Jeffery Stuffings of Jester King Erin Jones of Point Five Creative Consulting Brandon Jones of Yazoo Brewing Company Josh Haimbright of Central State Brewing and Jeff Porn of Atom Brewing Company

EP-166 Mike Benner of the Society of Independent Brewers Mar 31, 2018

This week’s guest is Mike Benner, Chief Executive of the Society of Independent Brewers, or SIBA for short. SIBA is the largest UK trade body representing the independent arm of the British brewing industry. Founded in 1980 as the Small Independent Brewers Association, SIBA currently represents around 830 brewer members as well as around 300 or so non-brewing supplier associates. Its equivalent in the US would be the Brewers Association, and Benner’s equivalent at the BA would be its CEO and President, Bob Pease. I recently attended the SIBA annual conference and trade show, BeerX, which also serves as its members Annual General Meeting. The meeting itself was full of fired up statements from some of the association’s smallest members. Folks who are feeling somewhat disenfranchised from an organization they feel should be helping them claw out some market share in an ever more competitive field but not delivering. At BeerX a motion was proposed by SIBA to raise its threshold for membership from 200,000hl a year (just over 170,000 US barrels) to a figure that reflects 1% of current total UK beer production—just short of 440,000hl (or 375,000bbl). The motion was rejected by a slim majority, mostly due to the ire presented by the smaller members in attendance at the meeting. Had it passed it would have allowed two of the UK’s largest independent breweries, Fullers and St. Austell, to rejoin, after loosing their associate status, when this was scrapped in a similar vote in 2017. This is one of many challenges Benner and his team at SIBA has to grapple with as it tries to meet the needs of its various members. Perhaps its greatest challenge is how these needs differ between its smallest and larger members. There just isn’t a one size fits all solution—and as SIBA attempts to evolve in a beer market that shows no signs of slowing down—trying to meet these varying needs becomes seemingly ever more difficult. But if it wasn’t for SIBA, some of these very small brewers might not have had the opportunity to break into the industry in the first place. The actions of the association were key in the introduction of progressive beer duty or PBD—sometimes referred to as small brewers duty relief—in 2002. PBD meant that brewers producing less than 5000hl a year were eligible for a 50% tax discount on the beer they were producing. Once production is over 5000hl, the amount of relief is tapered until it hits 60,000hl, when a brewer will pay the full rate of tax on the beer they produce. As well as its trade association, SIBA also operates a commercial arm with. It launched a direct delivery service, now called BeerFlex, in 2002. This scheme allowed small breweries to sell to larger pub companies through SIBA. Recently, this scheme has been surrounded by controversy, as the pub companies continue push their prices ever lower, despite market conditions ensuring that the cost of beer production is rising. To compound these difficulties, SIBA recently acquired a distributor, Flying Firkin, to bolster its commercial wing, much to the ire of some SIBA members. Finding a balance between its trade association and commercial arms is a challenge that’s been made all the greater by the emergence of hundreds of new brewers within the last decade—many of which feel that the association doesn’t represent them, and choosing not to become members. However, despite all of this relative uncertainty, Benner himself still seems positively upbeat. In fact he almost appeared to relish these new challenges as we sat down for this chat on the trade floor at BeerX a couple of weeks ago.

FF-12 Jim Plachy gets categorical and a member shares their SKU'd perspective on distribution Mar 28, 2018

Welcome to another episode of The Fervent Few podcast. Every few weeks we present you with this bonus episode of the GBH podcast where we chat with members of our subscriber community. The Fervent Few subscribe to GBH like a magazine making a monthly contribution via Patreon. Members join us in a forum to talk about a wide range of topics that doesn’t just stop at beer. And every week we pick one of these topics and present the community’s answers to readers in the form of an article posted to Good Beer Hunting. You can find out more information by visiting patreon.com/goodbeerhunting On this episode we talk to Thad Parsons of Crystal City Wine Shop about distribution and keeping track of so many SKU’s. But first Michael and I talk about Speciation Artisan Ale’s stealth tasting room opening, Hazy IPA becoming an officially recognized style by the Brewers Association, and what are we going to do with all of these 15 packs of lager?

EP-165 Arianna Auber of Austin American-Statesman Mar 24, 2018

Texas continues to receive plenty of attention from the beer world, and here on the GBH podcast, this episode rounds out a trio of recent opportunities to hear about what's going on in the Lone Star State. Jester King's Jeff Stuffings and a whole crew from Austin Beerworks have offered some context of what's going on with them in their corner of the beer world, and now we turn to someone sitting just outside the industry for extra perspective. Arianna Auber has worked as a journalist covering the city for the Austin American-Statesman since 2012 and has written about beer, wine and spirits for almost that entire time. The position has allowed her to watch the local scene evolve as foodies and beer lovers have made Austin a popular destination. Many beer enthusiasts know about Jester King, but the city provides so much more in terms of its drinking culture, whether about beer or not. During her time at the newspaper, Auber has had the opportunity to not only cover the stories shaping Austin's food and drink industry, but she's also been one of the people helping to shape perspective, informing residents on what's cool, interesting and even the basics of beer, from vernacular to state and country-wide trends. I love talking to other journalists, especially about the details that make reporting so special, and Arianna's insight is a great example of why it's important to take a step back and survey the entire beer landscape, especially as the industry tries to attract new drinkers and get people to think about beer differently.

EP-164 Austin Beerworks Mar 20, 2018

I’m currently sitting in the car outside Black Back Pub in Waterbury, VT waiting for one of my favorite bars in the country to open its doors. I came out to visit Hill Farmstead for the quarterly pickup of their Collected Works membership club. It’s my first time joining the club, which I mostly did as an excuse to force myself to visit more often. It’s buried in about a foot or two of snow at the moment, but it’s as special as ever. And now my bags are full for the trip home. I’m also here for the weekend for a grafting workshop with Shacksbury Cider. A bunch of us are holing up in an old farmhouse and learning how to graft apple trees in an orchard outside of Middlebury. So I figured I better bring some bottles of Hill Farmstead’s Dorothy to share. As much as I admire these kinds of artisanal producers (they really speak to what I love about the ancient traditions of making these delicate, fermentation-driven beers and ciders), if you’ve been listening for a while, you know that another part of my brain is just as turned on by the business and strategy of running a contemporary craft brewery. This week’s guest is Austin Beer Works, one of the best in that regard, and someone I’ve been following closely for a while now. They have a strong brand, they’re growing, they self-distribute, and they know their market. They’re really the quintessential case study for how to make and sell contemporary craft beer in a somewhat underdeveloped market—especially when you know that market won’t stay that way for long. Very few do these days. So this is Austin Beerworks—pretty much the whole crew, which represents a variety of skill sets and perspectives, but with a unified goal—discussing the many facets of what constitutes their vision, strategy, and execution. Listen in.

EP-163 Jaega Wise of Wild Card Brewery Mar 11, 2018

You may have already heard of Wild Card Brewery’s Jaega Wise—especially over the past few months, as she’s positioned herself as a prominent anti-sexism campaigner within the British beer industry. I had hoped to highlight the great work Wise is doing within this field in this episode, but was also keen to learn more about her history as a brewer and her businesses plans for future expansion. The danger with conversations like sexism in beer, as Wise and I discuss, is that too often the din of conversation can drown out voices, like hers, which are far more relevant and important to these vital conversations that we’re having. While it’s crucial that every effort is taken to create a platform for these voices, it’s equally important to know when it’s time to pipe down and let these voices be heard. And to all the dudes listening in right now, I’m talking about you and me. Wise originally hails from Nottingham, in the British Midlands—the “land of the Pale Ale,” as she puts it. She speaks passionately about the region’s pub culture and how it raised her into the world of beer. It’s an industry she kind of just fell into, after studying Chemical Engineering at Loughborough University. Wise is also a musician, currently fronting a London based rock band as a singer. Oh, and she’s a TV host, providing her wealth of beer knowledge on Channel 5’s The Wine Show. Despite all of this attention, she appears to be at her happiest and most content when she’s working at her brewery, based in Walthamstow, North East London. When she’s not brewing, you can usually find her in the taproom which, along with neighboring businesses like Pillars Brewery and God’s Own Junkyard, has become an important hub for the local community. That sense of community has been key to this brewery’s growth too, as it raised £300,000 last year, aiding it’s expansion to a new site this spring. Wild Card’s five years of existence has not been without its obstacles, however. Wise is quick to point out the challenging margins available for cask beer within the current UK market. And, she concedes that despite trying not to succumb to trends, the pull of those such as New England IPA have been too great to resist. Listen in.

EP-162 Uppers & Downers Hangover Party 2018 Mar 08, 2018

Hey we did it - we made it through another year of Uppers & Downers in Chicago, home to our annual festival of coffee, beer, and coffee beers held in collaboration with our friends at Thalia Hall. This time around, of course, we decided to make an entire week out of it, with a series of smaller events leading up to the festival featuring tours of local coffee roasters, espresso demos, tap takeovers, an incredible chef-driven dinner, an Irish cocktail competition with some of chicago best bartenders. It was a real haul, but we were thrilled to bring in so many new partners and collaborators this year to pull it off. So as we do every year, but especially this year, is we sit down for the Hangover party and reflect on what we learned and what we were inspired by from the festival with some of the brewers, roasters, and others who came to town. Our co-founder, world Barista Champion Stephen Morrissey couldn’t be with us this year, he was off in London getting ready for our first major Uppers & Downers festival there this May 19th — he was doing a site visit and working with the brewers, roasters, and our London-based editor Matthew Curtis in the run-up to what will be a major international expansion for us with the festival. we’ve got some really exciting things to share. Tickets for the London fest are on sale now - on goodbeerhunting.com/events But to sit alongside me for the recap podcast was a very worthy substitute with Nick Kohout and Jen Hoverstad of Counter Culture Coffee based in North Carolina, but with a lab here in Chicago.

EP-161 Jeffrey Stuffings of Jester King Brewery Mar 03, 2018

About 20 miles outside downtown Austin, Texas, it’s easy to forget you’re a short car ride away from one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. Sitting partially hidden in the middle of spacious farmland is one the crown jewels of modern U.S. beer: Jester King Brewery. Enthusiasts make the pilgrimage from all over, waiting in line to try some of the most beloved wild, sour, and spontaneous beers being made today, every one of them with a purpose of time and place. It’s the brainchild of Jeff Stuffings, co-founder of the family-owned business and an advocate for all the ways making beer can be an intimate process. Plenty of wooden barrels and stainless steel tanks comprise a modestly sized brewhouse at the farm brewery, but it’s the ideas of what beer could and should be that have made Jester King such a popular brand among drinkers. And as you’ll find out in this conversation, the process of what's taken Stuffings and his team to this moment in time—not to mention what he hopes to achieve in years to come—is very much based on a connection to the land and people around him.

CL-007 Beermondsey cheese mongers, cheesesteaks, and trying to chill Mar 01, 2018

Welcome back to another episode of the GBH Collective, where we bring you the stories behind the stories from our writers and photographers all over the world, and from our studio team based here in Chicago. This week we’ve got Kyle Kastranec from Ohio who was GBH’s first new voice back in 2014. We recently launch a sub blog of sorts where he explores his own perceptions of beer and the ever-evolving culture that surrounds it. We also talk to Claire Bullen, a writer we recently brought on who is based in London, but originally hails from the States. Her recent profile of The Kernel is one of my favorite pierces we’ve ever published. She also recently made time to write about beer and cheesesteaks on a stop in Philly. Listen in.

EP-160 Miguel Rivas, The Beer Trekker Feb 24, 2018

I first met Miguel Rivas a few years ago when I was learning about the Brooklyn beer scene. He was an avid photographer, beer geek, and all-around welcoming guy who I’ve since followed on his journeys all over the world through Instagram. He travels regularly to Costa Rica, so today we talk a lot about that, what he’s been up to in Brooklyn these days, and the general state of being an influential beer geek. Listen in.

EP-159 Tom Palmer and Todd Matteson of Mondo Brewing Company Feb 17, 2018

The UK brewing market is getting pretty crowded. It’s now home to more than 2,000 breweries, including nearly 110 in London alone, all crammed onto an island that’s roughly the size of Michigan. And when you consider the divide between modern and traditional breweries, constant debates over cask, keg, and the price of beer (to mention only a few of the oft-discussed topics), its no wonder conversations about British beer can maybe get a little…tetchy…these days. Despite it all, the UK’s most forward-thinking breweries, be they young or old, are still finding ways to thrive and expand. It’s almost as if all of this competition has become a driving force for the most eager and entrepreneurial beer makers out there. When U.S. expats Tom Palmer and Todd Matteson founded Mondo Brewing Company three years ago just a stone’s throw away from London’s iconic Battersea Power Station, it became London’s 81st brewery. Although they’ve dabbled with distributing throughout the capital and into some of the UK’s more buoyant beer markets such as Bristol or Manchester, their local market of South London is where they’ve really thrived. Through pubs and bars in boroughs such as Brixton and Clapham, as well as their own brewery taproom, they’ve quietly built up a reputation for producing a solid range of beers. They might not be as talked about as, say, Cloudwater or Beavertown, but having just undergone an expansion that will see Mondo increase capacity by 80%, and with plans to open their first London bar in 2018, this is certainly one London brewery that’s riding an ascending curve. The trick for smaller breweries like Mondo, of course, is to find the right balance between own-premise sales and through key accounts. For Palmer and Matteson, it’s all about building strong, personal relationships. An example of this is the relationship Mondo has with restaurant chain Dishoom, for whom Mondo brews the house beer. Keeping up with these relationships, while ensuring steady turnover at its own sites, will be key for this London brewery’s success in the long term. We talk about all that and more today. Listen in.

FF-11 Jim Plachy’s get-fresh flow and a member talks bottles and cans Feb 15, 2018

Welcome to another episode of The Fervent Few podcast. Every few weeks we present you with this bonus episode of the GBH podcast where we chat with members of our subscriber community, The Fervent Few. Members subscribe to GBH like a magazine, making a monthly contribution via Patreon. Members also join us in a forum to talk about a wide range of topics well beyond beer. Each week, we pick one of these topics and present the community’s answers to readers in the form of an article posted to Good Beer Hunting. Learn more at patreon.com/goodbeerhunting. On this episode, we talk to Quinn Thompson a Supply Chain Manager for the Craft Brew Alliance about beer packaging, recycling, and the meaning of the word “infinite.” But first, Michael and I chat about Uppers and Downers Chicago and the events surrounding it, the recent U&D Beer Dinner in Grand Rapids, and Bryan Roth being put in charge of charts at GBH.

EP-158 Nathan Walser of Greyline Brewing Co. Feb 10, 2018

This week's guest was recently part of an Uppers & Downers dinner we did in Grand Rapids at the Sovengard. It was spectacular. But more recently, I’ve gotten to know Nathan Walser from his latest project, which is his own brewery, Greyline. In a city like Grand Rapids, it’s easy to get carried away with thinking of it as Beer City, USA, and there’s good reason for that. There are a ton of breweries in this midwestern town. It’s partially defined by its breweries. And the national success of a place like Founders really sets the tone there. But I’ll be honest: I tend to go to the same few places every time I visit. That is, until recently, when I went out of my way to the far-north side of the city to visit Greyline. I’d heard it was a bit small and some people thought the service was a bit severe (at least according to Yelp), and all that made me want to go. I figured, if that’s what the locals liked, who are more accustomed to gigantic restaurants and malty, hoppy beers from the '90s, then this was probably my kind of place. And it was. I was really taken with the beer. And as I started asking questions of the bartender, they started making nervous eye contact with the guy to my right. “You work here?" I asked. “Yeah," he said with his head down. “You brew here?” “Yeah,” he said again. “You own the place, or what?” “Yeah, I do,” he said, and finally started opening up. That was all I needed to dive headlong into what made Greyline tick. Since then, I’ve had multiple run-ins with Nathan, talked about his beer to a level of detail rarely captured on the mics, and have been enamored ever since. And to top it all off, Nathan’s career as a journeyman Michigan brewer weaves its way through everything that makes Grand Rapids Beer City, USA—a title it sometimes deserves, and sometimes falls short of. We’ll talk about why that is, too.

CL-006 GBH Collective - Hillary Schuster Feb 09, 2018

Welcome back to another episode of the GBH Collective where we bring you the stories behind the stories from our writers and photographers all over the world, and from our studio team based here in Chicago. This week we’ve got Hillary Schuster, our Experience Director at GBH. Hillary is in charge of all the events we produce as Good Beer Hunting, and working with our clients around the world to develop their own concepts and engagements with their fans. Her background in innovation planning lends a unique perspective on these things, and how the beer world can think more broadly about the audiences they attract and the experiences they create for them around beer. Not only is she my business partner, but we’ve been married for more than six years. Listen in.

EP-157 Kate Lee of Hardywood Park Craft Brewery Feb 03, 2018

When it comes to beer, there is plenty on which we can disagree. Tastes, smells, brands, breweries—these are all things beer lovers embrace and debate on a regular basis. But one thing we can all agree on? We just want good beer. But even on that, there's plenty of subjectivity. Or is there? What makes a beer "good" or "bad" is often put into the context of our taste buds, not always with analysis through a literal and figurative microscope. This is where Kate Lee excels. She's a trained scientist who spent more than a decade working for Anheuser-Busch, a business famously known for its focus on consistency and quality from batch to batch. Since 2014, she's helped lead a quality program for Richmond, Virginia's Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, building on an existing foundation to take Hardywood's focus on quality to the next level. As director of quality assurance and director of operations, her job at the brewery has consistently evolved as production levels and brewer ambitions have grown. It's not just about running tests, but collaborating with staff to ensure the right ingredients are producing the right beer every step of the way. And as you'll hear, that's not always an easy decision.

EP- 156 Mitch Ermatinger of Speciation Artisan Ales Jan 27, 2018

As the growth of craft beer and its various offshoots continues to find its niche in smaller and smaller cities and towns, a remarkable thing is happening. Some of the most obscure styles of brewing are making their homes far from the urban centers where most of the drinkers they tend to attract actually live. Breweries like Jester King and Hill Farmstead have long embodied this anomaly. And increasingly, there’s a new gelatin of sorts that’s had experience working in these sought-after breweries who are venturing out on their own, a bit like settlers, as they return to a place they call home and set up shop. They’re not met with instant success very often—even as they take on the challenges of making beers inspired by the Lambic, Gueuze, and wild traditions, they’re also met with the challenge of finding their audience in these smaller, out-of-the-way markets. Speciation Artisan Ales is one of the newest of these in the midwest. After an immersive education experience brewing for Black Project in Denver, Mitch Ermatinger and his wife Whitney decided to return home to the Grand Rapids area of Michigan, find some cheap industrial space, and start making wild ales of their own. Having learned a good deal of the brewing, aging, and blending side of things, they had to learn how to run a business, create a selling strategy, and start attracting an audience for a region of the country that simply doesn’t have much exposure to these kinds of beers—not to mention the way in which they were going to be sold. Even with a brewery like Jolly Pumpkin in his backyard, and being named Beer City USA, this was still a novel idea in 2018 Michigan beer. Listen in as we talk through how it came to fruition.

EP-155 Alex Kidd of Don't Drink Beer Jan 20, 2018

In craft beer, so many of the conversations we lead are less about the beer we’re drinking and more about how we identify with it, or the person who made it, or who owns that company and how that reflects back on our own self-image. Craft beer is a foggy mirror that way. And we get caught up in so many contradictions, hypocrisies and, in some cases, some serious self-hatred as a culture. Basically, we’re a consumer base and an industry ripe for satire. Today’s guest is one of the most effective in that regard, sometimes holding up that filthy mirror to the populace, other times to himself. Don’t Drink Beer is a weird website that started on the fringes and worked its way to the middle using satire and self-reflection as a way to expose some of the more insane things we do as beer makers and drinkers. The trading circuit, the line-waiting, the valuations we put on certain bottles while ignoring others, and the oft-enraging debates that start in Facebook groups and forums. Don’t Drink Beer is a persona that often catches its intended audience off guard. And sometimes plays straight into it. And after following it for years, the pattern reveals it for what it is—the evolution of a comedian. Alex Kidd, the guy behind the site, is a professional comedian. He studied and practices law in California, and as you can tell from some of his more elaborate beer reviews, he's also a studied writer, reader, and music history sponge. And describing him this way, so earnestly, just feels so wrong. He was in Chicago this past week on tour with a comedy show about beer called Barley Wine is Live, for which we’ll talk about the inspiration in the interview. But we also talk about the long history of Don’t Drink Beer and its relationship with Chicago and the Midwest, as an antagonist of sorts from the West Coast. Oh, and where all this is going, if it is, indeed, going anywhere.

EP-154 John Keeling of Fuller Smith & Turner Jan 13, 2018

Fuller Smith & Turner—or Fuller’s as it’s more commonly known—is the oldest surviving brewery in London, as well as being one of its largest. Fuller’s has been brewing at The Griffin Brewery in Chiswick, West London, for more than 160 years. The face of the British brewing industry has undergone tremendous change many times over during the course of its existence. Now, in 2018, the brewery faces fresh challenges. For instance, finding relevance in a market that constantly craves the rare and the new, while still championing traditional styles in an age of Hazy IPAs and Pastry Stouts. Surprisingly, this hasn’t phased Fuller’s one bit. Along with some of the UK’s other historical breweries, such as Adnams in Suffolk and Harvey’s in Sussex, Fuller’s is ensuring that styles such as Porter and ESB remain as relevant to the beer market as ever. Behind it all is the ebullient Brewing Director, John Keeling, who has been employed by Fuller’s for 37 years. Keeling has worked in the brewing industry since the 1970s, initially for the now-defunct Watney’s, then studying brewing science at Heriot Watt University before finally settling at Fuller’s. He became Head Brewer in 1999, a role he passed on to Fuller’s current Head Brewer Georgina Young in January 2017. Over this time he’s witnessed Fuller’s shift from being a completely manually operated brewery, to one that is almost entirely automated and state of the art. Keeling has been instrumental in ensuring that Fuller’s legacy be preserved. Be it by reviving historical recipes from the archives, by collaborating with the UK’s latest crop of brewers such as Fourpure and Cloudwater, or by constantly championing the simple pleasures found within a pint of Fuller’s flagship beer, London Pride. In October 2018 Keeling will retire, leaving an illustrious brewing career behind him. The industry won’t be getting rid of him that easily, however, as he’s just been voted chairman of The London Brewers Alliance, a guild that supports the collective interests of London’s independent breweries. Over the next hour we discuss—or perhaps I should say John discusses—subjects ranging from the history of Fuller’s, to the importance of cask ale, to the price of beer, all the way up to his favorite subject: the philosophy of brewing.

Salud! — Scott Shor, Edmund's Oast, Charleston Jan 06, 2018

This episode is part of a series of interviews recorded in December at Salud Sourfest, an annual beer festival hosted in Charlotte, North Carolina. The event attracts a curated selection of skilled, sour-making breweries from around the country, with a heavy presence from the Mid-Atlantic region. Sourfest represents a kind of festival that's rapidly growing in popularity, where attending breweries often run in the same circles or share a like-minded ethos, making for a special occasion for attendees instead of an event with any and every brewery that would care to send a keg. As drinkers sipped on a variety of wild and sour beers, I was able to pull a collection of brewers and business owners aside for brief conversations about their companies, specialties and what's catching their eye in the industry. This episode and others run about 20 to 25 minutes, so we had time to dig in a little bit, but the interviews are a bit more focused than the free-ranging talks you hear most weeks here on the podcast.

Salud! — Jason Pellett, Orpheus Brewing, Atlanta Jan 06, 2018

This episode is part of a series of interviews recorded in December at Salud Sourfest, an annual beer festival hosted in Charlotte, North Carolina. The event attracts a curated selection of skilled, sour-making breweries from around the country, with a heavy presence from the Mid-Atlantic region. Sourfest represents a kind of festival that's rapidly growing in popularity, where attending breweries often run in the same circles or share a like-minded ethos, making for a special occasion for attendees instead of an event with any and every brewery that would care to send a keg. As drinkers sipped on a variety of wild and sour beers, I was able to pull a collection of brewers and business owners aside for brief conversations about their companies, specialties and what's catching their eye in the industry. This episode and others run about 20 to 25 minutes, so we had time to dig in a little bit, but the interviews are a bit more focused than the free-ranging talks you hear most weeks here on the podcast.

Salud! — Patrick Woodson, Brewery Bhavana, Raleigh, North Carolina Jan 06, 2018

This episode is part of a series of interviews recorded in December at Salud Sourfest, an annual beer festival hosted in Charlotte, North Carolina. The event attracts a curated selection of skilled, sour-making breweries from around the country, with a heavy presence from the Mid-Atlantic region. Sourfest represents a kind of festival that's rapidly growing in popularity, where attending breweries often run in the same circles or share a like-minded ethos, making for a special occasion for attendees instead of an event with any and every brewery that would care to send a keg. As drinkers sipped on a variety of wild and sour beers, I was able to pull a collection of brewers and business owners aside for brief conversations about their companies, specialties and what's catching their eye in the industry. This episode and others run about 20 to 25 minutes, so we had time to dig in a little bit, but the interviews are a bit more focused than the free-ranging talks you hear most weeks here on the podcast.

Salud! — Barry Labendz, Kent Falls Brewing Jan 06, 2018

This episode is part of a series of interviews recorded in December at Salud Sourfest, an annual beer festival hosted in Charlotte, North Carolina. The event attracts a curated selection of skilled, sour-making breweries from around the country, with a heavy presence from the Mid-Atlantic region. Sourfest represents a kind of festival that's rapidly growing in popularity, where attending breweries often run in the same circles or share a like-minded ethos, making for a special occasion for attendees instead of an event with any and every brewery that would care to send a keg. As drinkers sipped on a variety of wild and sour beers, I was able to pull a collection of brewers and business owners aside for brief conversations about their companies, specialties and what's catching their eye in the industry. This episode and others run about 20 to 25 minutes, so we had time to dig in a little bit, but the interviews are a bit more focused than the free-ranging talks you hear most weeks here on the podcast.

Salud! — Jason Glunt, Salud Beer Shop of Charlotte, North Carolina Jan 06, 2018

This episode is part of a series of interviews recorded in December at Salud Sourfest, an annual beer festival hosted in Charlotte, North Carolina. The entire series of interviews is here! These episodes feature: Jason Glunt, founder of the festival host, Salud Beer Shop of Charlotte ,North Carolina Barry Labendz, co-founder of Connecticut's Kent Falls Brewing Jason Pellett, founder and brewmaster of Atlanta's Orpheus Brewing Patrick Woodson, head brewer and co-founder of Raleigh, North Carolina's Brewery Bhavana Scott Shor, owner of Charleston, South Carolina's Edmund's Oast The event attracts a curated selection of skilled, sour-making breweries from around the country, with a heavy presence from the Mid-Atlantic region. Sourfest represents a kind of festival that's rapidly growing in popularity, where attending breweries often run in the same circles or share a like-minded ethos, making for a special occasion for attendees instead of an event with any and every brewery that would care to send a keg. As drinkers sipped on a variety of wild and sour beers, I was able to pull a collection of brewers and business owners aside for brief conversations about their companies, specialties and what's catching their eye in the industry. This episode and others run about 20 to 25 minutes, so we had time to dig in a little bit, but the interviews are a bit more focused than the free-ranging talks you hear most weeks here on the podcast.

EP-153 Jennifer Myers and Tom Thompson of Bottomless Brewing Dec 30, 2017

When I tell people I’m originally from Upstate New York, it typically comes with a qualifier: an extra “up” tacked on as an awkward prefix to create Up-Upstate New York. If I just stick to regular, old “Upstate,” there’s a good chance people will assume I’m talking about some place in Westchester County. It’s a never-ending discussion, trying to figure out non-specific geographic boundaries, but the real reason it has importance is because it paints the picture that there is so much more to New York than its namesake city. The area where I grew up offers plenty, and for generations, its drinking culture was based around wine produced in the Finger Lakes. Craft beer was Genny Cream Ale or Saranac Black Forest, a beloved Schwarzbier. But in recent years, the idea of what beer is and can be has rapidly changed as local production has come to be defined by small businesses. As I visited my hometown of Geneva, New York this summer, I was excited to see how the beer scene has changed. One of the more recent additions was Bottomless Brewing, barely outside Geneva’s limits, built inside an old dairy barn and located amongst rolling farmland so ubiquitous for the area. Its name connects to the “bottomless” depth of nearby Seneca Lake, one of the bodies of water connected to the region’s Finger Lakes name. I sat down with Jennifer Myers, head brewer, and one of the founders, Tom Thompson. Jennifer is something of a veteran of the very young Finger Lakes beer scene, having worked in beer for seven years and acting as brewer for six of them. Over the course of our interview, you’ll hear Tom pop in and out - a natural part of being the one running a business - as he takes care of opening the space, welcoming customers and tending bar. It was actually a good example of what it takes to run a small business: you’ve got to be a jack of all trades at all times. Throughout our conversation, the three of us talk about what it takes to open a brewery and, most important, change minds and succeed in a region where some people are still figuring out what “craft” beer means to them.

FF-10 Jim Plachy's Top 50 beer list gets ruined and a member says the word of the day Dec 26, 2017

Welcome to another episode of The Fervent Few podcast. Every few weeks we present you with this bonus episode of the GBH podcast where we chat with members of our subscriber community. The Fervent Few subscribe to GBH like a magazine making a monthly contribution via Patreon. Members join us in a forum to talk about a wide range of topics that doesn’t just stop at beer. And every week we pick one of these topics and present the community’s answers to readers in the form of an article posted to Good Beer Hunting. You can find out more information by visiting patreon.com/goodbeerhunting On this episode we talk to Tyler Jackson of Chicago’s Present Tense Fine Ales a brewery that wants to serve beer exclusively on cask. Then we talk to Carla Jean Lauter, a prolific beer writer and tweeter, about a successful battle against a brewery that opened with a very terribly named beer. But first Michael and I will talk about Founder’s Harvest Ale and the way a very minor question can become very meaningful content for GBH. Finally, we start to think about the best beers we had in 2017.

EP-152 Adam + Grace Robbings of Reuben's Brews Dec 23, 2017

There’s a lot beer lovers may miss when they travel to the Pacific Northwest, a region overwhelmed not just with breweries, but really good ones. And while there are plenty of businesses that captivate beer geeks, one in particular has long caught my eye. Seattle's Reuben's Brews is something of rocket ship in an area pleasantly saturated with some of the best beer in the country. The name might not sound familiar to those outside Washington, but Reuben’s is one of the fastest growing breweries in the state. Not long before I sat down with owners Adam and Grace Robbings in September, their business was growing at just over 100 percent in IRI-tracked dollar sales in their home state compared to 2016. Since opening about five years ago, Reuben’s has expanded into a pseudo compound spread across a few different buildings in as many blocks in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood, where they run a brewery and taproom, packaging facility, barrel-aging space and more. I came to know their beer years ago when my brother sent me a bottle of their award-winning Porter, but their lineup and my expectations have expanded rapidly since then. Amongst the phenomenal growth of Reuben’s Brews, Adam and Grace have faced typical challenges not entirely unique to their company, ranging from the kinds of brands they make to how they’re sold. However, Adam’s methodical processes and logical focus continue to push together aspects of art and science that drives the brewery’s core ethos. You’ll find the way he talks about making beer - and the level of detail he requires to do so - is rather inspiring. Above all else, however, this is a family business. The beer is important, but not as much as the people that surround it. The namesake of the brewery - Adam and Grace’s son, Reuben - is seen as a future. There’s been plenty of success so far, but this is still the start of a much longer journey.

MU-009 Anchor Steam Beer Dec 21, 2017

Our resident composer for the podcast and our commercial video work, Andrew Thiboldeaux, is writing original scores devoted to beers he finds fascinating. These are interpretations of the experience of drinking them. But they're also just great tunes.

EP-151 Dan + Tom Lowe of Fourpure Brewing Co. Dec 16, 2017

The UK’s independent brewing scene is booming. Recent figures from the British Beer and Pub Association put the number of active breweries in the UK at more than 2,000, meaning that the UK has more breweries than any other European nation. At the heart of this growth have been the UK’s metropolitan areas, cities such as London, Manchester, Newcastle, Bristol, and many more. But thankfully, that growth hasn’t been restricted to the cities, with more breweries choosing to establish themselves in smaller towns and in rural areas. We’ve even seen established city breweries such as Redchurch in London, start to build production facilities outside of these city hubs. Earlier this year I interviewed Dan Lowe, who co-founded Fourpure Brewing Co. with his brother Tom in 2013. Dan spoke to me about how Fourpure was planning a move similar to Redchurch's, in that they were looking at expanding to a purpose-built brewery on a greenfield site on the outskirts of London. But Fourpure changed its plans (for the time being, at least), choosing to invest more than £2 million ($2.7M) in its existing site in South London. This expansion will involve a new brewhouse, more capacity, and more lab and QC space. Eventually, they’ll also double the size of their taproom. This, along with a whole bunch of other local breweries, including Partizan, Pressure Drop, and Mondo, also investing in their London sites, is indicative that there is still a lot of room here for growth. This growth is also giving newer, smaller breweries a chance to establish themselves too, as the expanding breweries move into other markets, thus freeing up space at the point of entry. Recently, I headed down to Fourpure, at the end of the Bermondsey Beer Mile, to catch up with both Dan and Tom. We talk about everything above and more.

FF-009 Jim Plachy tries to remember FoBAB and a Fervent Few member talks about distribution in Southern California Dec 13, 2017

Welcome to another episode of The Fervent Few podcast. Every few weeks we present you with this bonus episode of the GBH podcast where we chat with members of our subscriber community. The Fervent Few subscribe to GBH like a magazine making a monthly contribution via Patreon. Members join us in a forum to talk about a wide range of topics that doesn’t just stop at beer. And every week we pick one of these topics and present the community’s answers to readers in the form of an article posted to Good Beer Hunting. You can find out more information by visiting patreon.com/goodbeerhunting On this episode we talk to James Hernandez who works for a beer wholesaler in Southern California. But first Michael and I talk about some exciting new taprooms that have opened in the area and of course Hazy IPAs.

EP-150 Tom Oliver of Oliver's Cider & Perry Dec 09, 2017

This past fall when GBH experience director Hillary Schuster and I were in London for the Beavertown Extravaganza and Uppers & Downers, we were thrilled to get outside the city for a couple of days to visit one of my favorite cider makers in the world, Tom Oliver. He was pouring at the Extravaganza, of course, right next to Other Half, which made me laugh a bit as I entered. There were dozens of people rightly waiting in line for Other Half’s beers and almost no one in line for Oliver’s ciders, which I would put up against any Wild Ale, Lambic, or Geueze in the world in terms of its fermentation complexity, natural, rustic condition, and agricultural qualities. It’s really one of the most fantastic fermented beverages you can buy. And at the fest, you could just walk right up to his booth and get a pour because we still have a strange relationship with cider. In the U.S., we have a strange tension between these artisanal orchard-based producers and “craft” cider makers selling quick fermentations in a six pack of cans. Some are even produced by breweries as an alternative offering. That also exists in the UK, but the biggest tension there is among the sort of country cider, known as scrumpy, which is maybe more akin to moonshine, and the mass market ciders, called white ciders, which people drink for their functional effects, not so much their flavors. Cider makers like Oliver have a hard time cutting through. But it’s getting easier. Oliver's ciders were re-branded beautifully this year, which is getting some notice. And as more and more beer drinkers follow their palates into the more complex side of fermentation, they’re finding something resonate in mixed-fermentation beers, natural wines, and maybe, finally, orchardist ciders. We went out to Oliver's multi-generational family farm in Herefordshire near the Welsh border and stayed for a couple days to get a lay of the land. We ate meat pies and drank some beautiful things, and eventually GBH UK editor Matthew Curtis and I sat down in the dining room of Oliver's cottage to talk about the future.

EP-149 Erik Lars Myers of Mystery Brewing Dec 01, 2017

The Brewers Association loves to tout the ever-growing number of small and independent breweries that are popping up across the country. It’s gotten to the point where there’s really no type of geographical area that’s without some "hometown" beer. In North Carolina, the number of breweries has ballooned in recent years, with businesses finding homes all over. While you might have heard of places like Asheville, Charlotte, Raleigh, or Durham, the town of Hillsborough is less commonly known. But it’s this location—population: about 7,000—where we’ll visit today for the chance to hear from Erik Lars Myers, the founder and CEO of Mystery Brewing. In July 2010, Erik’s brewery was the first in the U.S. to successfully crowdfund a portion of its startup costs, something that seems near-ubiquitous in today’s marketplace. Since then, his business plan and Mystery Brewing have evolved rapidly. In our conversation, which is far ranging and really in-depth, you’ll hear me refer to him as something of a futurist. A lot of what Erik decided just as the American craft beer industry was really starting to take off was adventurous at the time. But now a lot of it is simply stuff people do: heavily rotating brands, focusing on bringing people to a taproom, wearing your heart on your sleeve. This is a long conversation. But so much of what we discuss is really topical to drinkers and business owners alike. Erik’s honesty and love for beer and its industry made for one of those interviews that you just ride out. There are tips and insights that highlight how Erik and his team are doing something special, and I hope his story and point of view expresses something new and interesting to you, too.

FF-008 Jim Plachy talks #brands and a member describes the best $5 he spends a month Nov 23, 2017

Welcome to another episode of The Fervent Few podcast. Every few weeks we present you with this bonus episode of the GBH podcast where we chat with members of our subscriber community. The Fervent Few subscribe to GBH like a magazine making a monthly contribution via Patreon. Members join us in a forum to talk about a wide range of topics that doesn’t just stop at beer. And every week we pick one of these topics and present the community’s answers to readers in the form of an article posted to Good Beer Hunting. You can find out more information by visiting patreon.com/goodbeerhunting On this episode we talk to Matt who is about to start a new job in Georgia but as luck would have it he has to do training in the suburbs of Chicago. So we talk to him about his trip to the burbs, what his beer buying experiences are like back home, and the best $5 he spends a month. But first Michael and I talk about going to the woods, what’s been going on in the Fervent Few Slack, and how terribly wrong I am about semi-dry ciders.

#SHELTONFEST2017 — Paul Brouwer of Oedipus Brewing Nov 21, 2017

Today’s episode is part of a series of talks we recorded at the Shelton Brothers festival back in August in Atlanta — a phenomenal gathering of some of the best brewers in the world, as well as a few niche cider and wine makers, all holding their own in one of the most diverse and interesting product portfolios that’s ever been assembled. The folks from Shelton Brothers gave us a room, and free rein to curate talks with anyone we wanted, on any topics we wished. It’s a somewhat speedy series of interviews, much shorter than you’re used to on GBH, and that’s because we wanted to see if a series of topics might emerge — a pattern of sorts, that might give us an indication of what’s on people’s minds at this point in time, in this particular portfolio of producers. And sure enough, it worked. On a few of these episodes, other folks from GBH drop in from time to time as well, so you’ll also here from Blake Tyers and Kyle Kastranec

#SHELTONFEST2017 — Chris Herron of Creature Comforts Nov 21, 2017

Today’s episode is part of a series of talks we recorded at the Shelton Brothers festival back in August in Atlanta — a phenomenal gathering of some of the best brewers in the world, as well as a few niche cider and wine makers, all holding their own in one of the most diverse and interesting product portfolios that’s ever been assembled. The folks from Shelton Brothers gave us a room, and free rein to curate talks with anyone we wanted, on any topics we wished. It’s a somewhat speedy series of interviews, much shorter than you’re used to on GBH, and that’s because we wanted to see if a series of topics might emerge — a pattern of sorts, that might give us an indication of what’s on people’s minds at this point in time, in this particular portfolio of producers. And sure enough, it worked. On a few of these episodes, other folks from GBH drop in from time to time as well, so you’ll also here from Blake Tyers and Kyle Kastranec

#SHELTONFEST2017 — Amber Watts, Ron Extract, and Jason Hansen of Garden Path Fermentation Nov 21, 2017

Today’s episode is part of a series of talks we recorded at the Shelton Brothers festival back in August in Atlanta — a phenomenal gathering of some of the best brewers in the world, as well as a few niche cider and wine makers, all holding their own in one of the most diverse and interesting product portfolios that’s ever been assembled. The folks from Shelton Brothers gave us a room, and free rein to curate talks with anyone we wanted, on any topics we wished. It’s a somewhat speedy series of interviews, much shorter than you’re used to on GBH, and that’s because we wanted to see if a series of topics might emerge — a pattern of sorts, that might give us an indication of what’s on people’s minds at this point in time, in this particular portfolio of producers. And sure enough, it worked. On a few of these episodes, other folks from GBH drop in from time to time as well, so you’ll also here from Blake Tyers and Kyle Kastranec

#SHELTONFEST2017 — Adair Paterno of Sante Adarius and Brad Clark of Jackie O’s Nov 21, 2017

Today’s episode is part of a series of talks we recorded at the Shelton Brothers festival back in August in Atlanta — a phenomenal gathering of some of the best brewers in the world, as well as a few niche cider and wine makers, all holding their own in one of the most diverse and interesting product portfolios that’s ever been assembled. The folks from Shelton Brothers gave us a room, and free rein to curate talks with anyone we wanted, on any topics we wished. It’s a somewhat speedy series of interviews, much shorter than you’re used to on GBH, and that’s because we wanted to see if a series of topics might emerge — a pattern of sorts, that might give us an indication of what’s on people’s minds at this point in time, in this particular portfolio of producers. And sure enough, it worked. On a few of these episodes, other folks from GBH drop in from time to time as well, so you’ll also here from Blake Tyers and Kyle Kastranec

#SHELTONFEST2017 — Henry Nguyen of Monkish Brewing Nov 21, 2017

Today’s episode is part of a series of talks we recorded at the Shelton Brothers festival back in August in Atlanta — a phenomenal gathering of some of the best brewers in the world, as well as a few niche cider and wine makers, all holding their own in one of the most diverse and interesting product portfolios that’s ever been assembled.

The folks from Shelton Brothers gave us a room, and free rein to curate talks with anyone we wanted, on any topics we wished.

It’s a somewhat speedy series of interviews, much shorter than you’re used to on GBH, and that’s because we wanted to see if a series of topics might emerge — a pattern of sorts, that might give us an indication of what’s on people’s minds at this point in time, in this particular portfolio of producers. And sure enough, it worked.

On a few of these episodes, other folks from GBH drop in from time to time as well, so you’ll also here from Blake Tyers and Kyle Kastranec

#SHELTONFEST2017 — Jack Van Paepeghem of Oxbow Nov 21, 2017

Today’s episode is part of a series of talks we recorded at the Shelton Brothers festival back in August in Atlanta — a phenomenal gathering of some of the best brewers in the world, as well as a few niche cider and wine makers, all holding their own in one of the most diverse and interesting product portfolios that’s ever been assembled. The folks from Shelton Brothers gave us a room, and free rein to curate talks with anyone we wanted, on any topics we wished. It’s a somewhat speedy series of interviews, much shorter than you’re used to on GBH, and that’s because we wanted to see if a series of topics might emerge — a pattern of sorts, that might give us an indication of what’s on people’s minds at this point in time, in this particular portfolio of producers. And sure enough, it worked. On a few of these episodes, other folks from GBH drop in from time to time as well, so you’ll also here from Blake Tyers and Kyle Kastranec

#SHELTONFEST2017 — Todd Boera of Fonta Flora Brewery Nov 21, 2017

Today’s episode is part of a series of talks we recorded at the Shelton Brothers festival back in August in Atlanta — a phenomenal gathering of some of the best brewers in the world, as well as a few niche cider and wine makers, all holding their own in one of the most diverse and interesting product portfolios that’s ever been assembled. The folks from Shelton Brothers gave us a room, and free rein to curate talks with anyone we wanted, on any topics we wished. It’s a somewhat speedy series of interviews, much shorter than you’re used to on GBH, and that’s because we wanted to see if a series of topics might emerge — a pattern of sorts, that might give us an indication of what’s on people’s minds at this point in time, in this particular portfolio of producers. And sure enough, it worked. On a few of these episodes, other folks from GBH drop in from time to time as well, so you’ll also here from Blake Tyers and Kyle Kastranec

#SHELTONFEST2017 — Harold Krabbe of Frederikstal Kirsebaervin Nov 21, 2017

Today’s episode is part of a series of talks we recorded at the Shelton Brothers festival back in August in Atlanta — a phenomenal gathering of some of the best brewers in the world, as well as a few niche cider and wine makers, all holding their own in one of the most diverse and interesting product portfolios that’s ever been assembled. The folks from Shelton Brothers gave us a room, and free rein to curate talks with anyone we wanted, on any topics we wished. It’s a somewhat speedy series of interviews, much shorter than you’re used to on GBH, and that’s because we wanted to see if a series of topics might emerge — a pattern of sorts, that might give us an indication of what’s on people’s minds at this point in time, in this particular portfolio of producers. And sure enough, it worked. On a few of these episodes, other folks from GBH drop in from time to time as well, so you’ll also here from Blake Tyers and Kyle Kastranec

#SHELTONFEST2017 — James and Sarah Howatt of Black Project Nov 21, 2017

Today’s episode is part of a series of talks we recorded at the Shelton Brothers festival back in August in Atlanta — a phenomenal gathering of some of the best brewers in the world, as well as a few niche cider and wine makers, all holding their own in one of the most diverse and interesting product portfolios that’s ever been assembled. The folks from Shelton Brothers gave us a room, and free rein to curate talks with anyone we wanted, on any topics we wished. It’s a somewhat speedy series of interviews, much shorter than you’re used to on GBH, and that’s because we wanted to see if a series of topics might emerge — a pattern of sorts, that might give us an indication of what’s on people’s minds at this point in time, in this particular portfolio of producers. And sure enough, it worked. On a few of these episodes, other folks from GBH drop in from time to time as well, so you’ll also here from Blake Tyers and Kyle Kastranec

#SHELTONFEST2017 — Chris Hall of Brew By Numbers Nov 21, 2017

Today’s episode is part of a series of talks we recorded at the Shelton Brothers festival back in August in Atlanta — a phenomenal gathering of some of the best brewers in the world, as well as a few niche cider and wine makers, all holding their own in one of the most diverse and interesting product portfolios that’s ever been assembled. The folks from Shelton Brothers gave us a room, and free rein to curate talks with anyone we wanted, on any topics we wished. It’s a somewhat speedy series of interviews, much shorter than you’re used to on GBH, and that’s because we wanted to see if a series of topics might emerge — a pattern of sorts, that might give us an indication of what’s on people’s minds at this point in time, in this particular portfolio of producers. And sure enough, it worked. On a few of these episodes, other folks from GBH drop in from time to time as well, so you’ll also here from Blake Tyers and Kyle Kastranec

#SHELTONFEST2017 — Paul Jones of Cloudwater Brew Co. Nov 21, 2017

Today’s episode is part of a series of talks we recorded at the Shelton Brothers festival back in August in Atlanta — a phenomenal gathering of some of the best brewers in the world, as well as a few niche cider and wine makers, all holding their own in one of the most diverse and interesting product portfolios that’s ever been assembled. The folks from Shelton Brothers gave us a room, and free rein to curate talks with anyone we wanted, on any topics we wished. It’s a somewhat speedy series of interviews, much shorter than you’re used to on GBH, and that’s because we wanted to see if a series of topics might emerge — a pattern of sorts, that might give us an indication of what’s on people’s minds at this point in time, in this particular portfolio of producers. And sure enough, it worked. On a few of these episodes, other folks from GBH drop in from time to time as well, so you’ll also here from Blake Tyers and Kyle Kastranec

#SHELTONFEST2017 — Hannah and Drew Fox of 18th Street Brewery Nov 21, 2017

A series of talks we recorded at the Shelton Brothers festival back in August in Atlanta — a phenomenal gathering of some of the best brewers in the world, as well as a few niche cider and wine makers, all holding their own in one of the most diverse and interesting product portfolios that’s ever been assembled. YOU CAN LISTEN TO THE ENTIRE SERIES OF INTERVIEWS FROM SHELTON FEST 2017 HERE! Interviews include: Hannah and Drew Fox of 18th Street Brewery in Indiana Paul Jones of Cloudwater Brew Co in Manchester, UK Chris Hall of Brew by Numbers in London Harold Krabbe of Frederikstal Kirsebaervin Sarah and James Howat of Black Project Ales in Denver, Colorado Todd Boera of Fonta Flora Brewery in North Carolina Jack Van Paepeghem of Oxbow Brewing in Maine Henry Nuygen of Monkish Brewing in Torrance, California Adair Paterno of Sante Adarius and Brad Clark of Jackie O’s Amber Watts, Ron Extract, and Jason Hansen of Garden Path Fermentation in Washington Chris Herron of Creature Comforts in Athens, Georgia Paul Brouwer of Oedipus Brewing in the Netherlands

EP-148 Bruce Gray of Left Handed Giant Brewing Co. Nov 18, 2017

I’ve been writing for GBH for going on two and a half years now. Over that time you may or may not have noticed that I’ve gradually been trying to build a picture of the modern British beer scene. We’ve looked at the likes of Beavertown and Brew By Numbers in London, BrewDog up in Scotland, Cloudwater in Manchester, Magic Rock and Northern Monk in Yorkshire and most recently Lost & Grounded in Bristol. It’s Bristol that we find ourselves in today, or at least, that’s where today’s guest Bruce Gray, and his brewery Left Handed Giant, is based. Gray has worked in the beer industry for a number of years now, working in BrewDog’s bar division before heading to Bristol and setting up a distribution company. He also opened a specialist beer bar called Small Bar, which now has a second site in Cardiff, South Wales. From here he began “cuckoo brewing,” as Gray puts it, under the Left Handed Giant brand. Things snowballed for the fledgling brewery, as they are wont to do in a British market hungry for more young brands like his, and now they’re nestled into a permanent site, brewing 15 barrels at a time. Bristol seems to be the perfect incubator for the ambitious plans for his brewery. It’s perhaps because Gray has had the opportunity to work at all ends of the chain that he’s able to articulate his experiences within the beer industry so well. He does so regularly on his brewery's blog, where he’s earned a reputation for being honest and forthright. On this podcast he’s no different, giving in-depth opinions on issues such as the much-debated price of beer. He also gives his opinions on CAMRA as well as SIBA, the Society for Independent Brewers, which is the closest equivalent the UK has to America’s Brewers Association. We have a great conversation here that covers all of the above and more. Listen in.

EP-147 Bart Watson of the Brewers Association Nov 11, 2017

It’s hard to be objective when it comes to such a subjective thing like beer. We’re all driven by our own preferences and tastes mapped out by sensory experiences of flavor and aroma. Things are good and bad, sought after whales and shelf turds. Beer is an experiential good and our exposure varies on time of day, mood, company and more. But there are still plenty of cold, hard facts that factor into the social, cultural and business side of beer, which is why this week’s guest is a special one for me. Bart Watson deals with numbers. Truthful, verifiable, factual data. As one of only several economists who work within the beer industry, it’s his job to offer context and insight into what’s changing, and often, what’s to come. His logical and well-cited reason is regularly seen on the Brewers Association website and increasingly in media around the country. When some may be focusing on the hot take du jour, Bart can be found writing a blog post or interacting on Twitter with calculated answers. And it’s about beer. As the BA was preparing to kickoff the Great American Beer Festival in early October, I sat down with Bart inside the Colorado Convention Center to geek out, talking about the new challenges within the beer market, including price points, marijuana use, distribution and more. With thousands of people scurrying around the building ready to celebrate craft beer, it was exciting to take a fittingly calm moment to evaluate the state of the industry and where beer lovers should be looking in 2018. Who knew economics could be so cool?

MU-008 Allagash White Nov 06, 2017

Our resident composer for the podcast and our commercial video work, Andrew Thiboldeaux, is writing original scores devoted to beers he finds fascinating. These are interpretations of the experience of drinking them. But they're also just great tunes.

EP-146 Jeff Alworth and Jason Notte Nov 04, 2017

As someone who thinks way too much about beer way too often, I’ll always consider myself lucky for the sheer fact I get to spend some of my time talking about this beverage we love so much. There have been lots of great conversations about beer shared with friends and people in the industry, with some of my favorites simply nerding out with fellow writers I meet during my travels. This fall, I made my first trip to Portland, Oregon, where I had the chance to have one of those kinds of talks with two of my favorite writers covering beer, Jeff Alworth and Jason Notte. The pair represent two brilliant sides of reporting on the same topic. Jeff has long been one of my go-to sources for cultural and historical insight and commentary, while Jason’s acumen on the business side of things makes him stand out. We met at Portland’s Wayfinder Beer and grabbed a table outside where our conversation meandered in many of the same ways it would have without microphones in front of us. We talked about our process, the latest news about the likes of Sam Adams and trends we’ve been following. This was at the beginning of October, right before the Great American Beer Festival, when the Brewers Association was set to celebrate their new seal of independence—an ideal time for Jason, Jeff, and I to share our own takes on what such a thing means and why it’s important…or not important. Whenever I sit down to record a GBH Podcast, I like to preface it as a conversation, not necessarily an interview. This talk with Jeff and Jason felt very much like that.

CL-005 GBH Collective - GABF, NAGBW, and other very important acronyms Nov 01, 2017

Welcome back to another episode of the GBH Collective, where we bring you the stories behind the stories from our writers and photographers all over the world. This new series of episodes is made possible by our Patreon subscribers. Patreon is a way our readers and listeners can become a part of GBH with a monthly contribution, just like subscribing to a magazine. We give back to our subscribers, which we call the Fervent Few, through events, discounts, exclusive gear and art, and a host of other perks. To us, being a Fervent Few member makes you part of the team. And the 70 or so subscribers we have already are enjoying the Slack channel we set up as a direct connection with the GBH crew and each other. You can join them, too. This week we’ve got myself, Bryan Roth, and Matthew Curtis, all fresh on the heels of GABF in Denver. We discuss the North American Guild of Beer Writers awards, the value of GABF, and some of the things that make GBH tick.

EP-145 James Watt of BrewDog Oct 28, 2017

Last week, GBH flew me to Aberdeen, Scotland to visit BrewDog—the fastest growing brewing company in Europe. I first visited the brewery in 2015, and what I experienced on that trip would eventually materialize as my first ever GBH story. Since then, operations at what can now only be described as BrewDog’s “campus” in the town of Ellon, around 30 minutes from Aberdeen itself, have expanded exponentially. For starters, there’s a brand new, purpose-built brewing facility featuring a 255-barrel German brewhouse. Once fully operational, it will be brewing up to 10 times per day. Also inside this new build is a labyrinth of offices, which amongst them features a brand new lab and quality control department—the result of a $2.6 million dollar investment. There’s also Lone Wolf, BrewDog’s brand new spirits division. And the expansion doesn’t stop there. They have a standalone sour beer facility, Overworks, which is nearing completion, coolship and all. Following a comprehensive tour of these facilities, I sat down with BrewDog co-founder James Watt. You might be more familiar with his more extroverted and outspoken persona. He's prone to standing on bar tops a'la Stone's Greg Koch (a mentor of Watt’s), but on this occasion he cut a far calmer and more softly spoken figure. Over the next hour we tackle pretty much every topic BrewDog’s name has come up with over the last few months. This includes selling 22% of the company to a private equity company for £213 million, opening a brewing facility in Columbus, Ohio, and future plans to build similar operations in Australia and China. And, of course, we even discuss whether or not a multinational company with millions of dollars in investment behind it can still be considered “punk.”

Humanity in Hospitality — A Panel Discussion on Gender-Based and Sexual Violence in Breweries and Taprooms Oct 27, 2017

This episode is something very special to us at GBH. One of our neighbors, who literally lives above the studio here in Logan Square in Chicago, is a woman named Sheerine Alemzadeh. She's a co-founder along with Karla Altmayer of an organization called Healing to Action. Over a few parties here in the studio, we got to know these women and the work they do, which is to help build capacity for solving gender-based violence, which so often occurs in the workplace. One of the industries that struggles with this issue the most, which includes everything from sexual harassment and intimidation to outright physical assault, is hospitality. When we think of hospitality, we rightly think of hotels, restaurants, bars, and the like. But as a design firm devoted to breweries, we’ve become increasingly involved in hospitality as well. We’ve helped launch, on average, about a half dozen new breweries a year. And as more of them include a taproom in their concept, we’ve started to think about the hospitality environment in more depth and as Sheerine and Karla shared more of their experience fighting against workplace violence, we started to realize how pervasive and important this issue is becoming to craft breweries. And that says nothing about the male-dominated manufacturing environments that have their own history of harassment and violence. So we decided to partner with them to bring your a unique conversation combining their important work with the context we know so well: craft brewing. We all got together at Hopewell Brewing’s taproom right here in Logan Square, along with Melissa Josephs of Women Employed, Jacyada de Oliviera of Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, and Samantha Lee of Hopewell Brewing Company. The goal was to have an open conversation that would encourage brewery owners and taproom staff to recognize the threats to their business and their staff as they cross into he hospitality industry. But also to take a look at what a traditionally male-dominated manufacturing culture brings with it as well. These two worlds coming together create an intersection where a lot of people are at risk. And the solutions, as they usually are, start with understanding and communication—and a willingness to address the issue.

#BEAVEREX17 — Hazed and Confused Oct 25, 2017

HAZED AND CONFUSED Is the New England IPA the end of the style's evolution or a resistance to a status quo? Host: Matthew Curtis, Good Beer Hunting Guest Speakers: Soren Parker Wagner, Dry & Bitter Brewery Wayne Wambles, Cigar City Brewing Company Patrick Ware, Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co. Good Beer Hunting was thrilled to partner with Beavertown Brewery at their Extravaganza anniversary celebration this year to bring you some compelling discussions and presentations about the state of craft beer in 2017. A wide range of topics and personalities were available to discuss some of the more pressing, and exciting pursuits in beer. You can learn more about Beavertown's educational investments on their blog.

#BEAVEREX17 — Growing Horizontally Oct 25, 2017

GROWING HORIZONTALLY Finding Ways to Expand the Beer Bubble Host: Michael Kiser, Good Beer Hunting Guest Speakers: Jacob Alsing, Mikkeller Brewing Jos Ruffell, Garage Project Andrew Cooper, The Wild Beer Co. Good Beer Hunting was thrilled to partner with Beavertown Brewery at their Extravaganza anniversary celebration this year to bring you some compelling discussions and presentations about the state of craft beer in 2017. A wide range of topics and personalities were available to discuss some of the more pressing, and exciting pursuits in beer. You can learn more about Beavertown's educational investments on their blog.

#BEAVEREX17 — Under the Microscope Oct 25, 2017

UNDER THE MICROSCOPE What will it look like when yeast has its moment? Host: Matthew Curtis, Good Beer Hunting Guest Speakers: Yvan de Baets, Brasserie de la Senne Glenn Castelein, Brouwerij Alvinne Jamil Zainasheff, Heretic Brewing Company Good Beer Hunting was thrilled to partner with Beavertown Brewery at their Extravaganza anniversary celebration this year to bring you some compelling discussions and presentations about the state of craft beer in 2017. A wide range of topics and personalities were available to discuss some of the more pressing, and exciting pursuits in beer. You can learn more about Beavertown's educational investments on their blog.

#BEAVEREX17 — There Goes the Neighborhood Oct 25, 2017

THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD How hyper-local changes everything Host: Michael Kiser, Good Beer Hunting Guest Speakers: Andrew Schwartz, Modern Times Beer Lauren Lister, Beavertown Brewery Connor Casey, Cellarmaker Brewing Co. Good Beer Hunting was thrilled to partner with Beavertown Brewery at their Extravaganza anniversary celebration this year to bring you some compelling discussions and presentations about the state of craft beer in 2017. A wide range of topics and personalities were available to discuss some of the more pressing, and exciting pursuits in beer. You can learn more about Beavertown's educational investments on their blog.

#BEAVEREX17 — A New Take on Terroir Oct 25, 2017

A NEW TAKE ON TERROIR How are surroundings and the environment influencing modern brewers? Host: Matthew Curtis, Good Beer Hunting Guest Speakers: Tom Oliver, Oliver’s Cider & Perry Mark Tranter, Burning Sky Brewery Averie Swanson, Jester King Brewery Good Beer Hunting was thrilled to partner with Beavertown Brewery at their Extravaganza anniversary celebration this year to bring you some compelling discussions and presentations about the state of craft beer in 2017. A wide range of topics and personalities were available to discuss some of the more pressing, and exciting pursuits in beer. You can learn more about Beavertown's educational investments on their blog.

#BEAVEREX17 — Forever Young, Part 2 Oct 25, 2017

FOREVER YOUNG (PART 2) Staying Relevant in the Modern Beer Landscape, Part 2 Host: Michael Kiser, Good Beer Hunting Guest Speakers: Meghan Waites, Thornbridge Brewery Dande Bagby, Bagby Beer Company Sam Richardson, Other Half Brewing Company Good Beer Hunting was thrilled to partner with Beavertown Brewery at their Extravaganza anniversary celebration this year to bring you some compelling discussions and presentations about the state of craft beer in 2017. A wide range of topics and personalities were available to discuss some of the more pressing, and exciting pursuits in beer. You can learn more about Beavertown's educational investments on their blog.

#BEAVEREX17 — Keynote — Steve Grossman, Sierra Nevada — On the Past, Present & Future of Craft Beer Oct 25, 2017

KEYNOTE Steve Grossman Sierra Nevada Brewing Company On the Past, Present & Future of Craft Beer Good Beer Hunting was thrilled to partner with Beavertown Brewery at their Extravaganza anniversary celebration this year to bring you some compelling discussions and presentations about the state of craft beer in 2017. A wide range of topics and personalities were available to discuss some of the more pressing, and exciting pursuits in beer. You can learn more about Beavertown's educational investments on their blog.

#BEAVEREX17 — Art & Craft Oct 25, 2017

ART & CRAFT Why your brand is as important as your recipes Host: Matthew Curtis, Good Beer Hunting Guest Speakers: Nick Dwyer, Beavertown Brewery Michael Kiser, Good Beer Hunting Good Beer Hunting was thrilled to partner with Beavertown Brewery at their Extravaganza anniversary celebration this year to bring you some compelling discussions and presentations about the state of craft beer in 2017. A wide range of topics and personalities were available to discuss some of the more pressing, and exciting pursuits in beer. You can learn more about Beavertown's educational investments on their blog.

#BEAVEREX17 — Forever Young, Part 1 Oct 25, 2017

FOREVER YOUNG (PART 1) Staying Relevant in the Modern Beer Landscape, Part 1 Host: Michael Kiser, Good Beer Hunting Guest Speakers: Kim Jordan, New Belgium Brewing Paul Jones, Cloudwater Brew Co. Good Beer Hunting was thrilled to partner with Beavertown Brewery at their Extravaganza anniversary celebration this year to bring you some compelling discussions and presentations about the state of craft beer in 2017. A wide range of topics and personalities were available to discuss some of the more pressing, and exciting pursuits in beer. You can learn more about Beavertown's educational investments on their blog.

#BEAVEREX17 — Sour Beer as a Genre Oct 25, 2017

SOUR BEER AS A GENRE How do we update nomenclature to encompass an ever broadening set of styles? Host: Michael Kiser, Good Beer Hunting Guest Speakers: Pierre Tilquin, Gueuzerie Tilquin André Ek, Brekeriet Tomme Arthur, The Lost Abbey Good Beer Hunting was thrilled to partner with Beavertown Brewery at their Extravaganza anniversary celebration this year to bring you some compelling discussions and presentations about the state of craft beer in 2017. A wide range of topics and personalities were available to discuss some of the more pressing, and exciting pursuits in beer. You can learn more about Beavertown's educational investments on their blog.

#BEAVEREX17 — The Modern Beer Portfolio Oct 25, 2017

THE MODERN BEER PORTFOLIO Balancing a core range vs consumer demand for special releases Host: Matthew Curtis, Good Beer Hunting Guest Speakers: Cosmo Sutherland, Beavertown Brewery Evin O’Riordain, The Kernel Darron Anley, Siren Craft Brew Good Beer Hunting was thrilled to partner with Beavertown Brewery at their Extravaganza anniversary celebration this year to bring you some compelling discussions and presentations about the state of craft beer in 2017. A wide range of topics and personalities were available to discuss some of the more pressing, and exciting pursuits in beer. You can learn more about Beavertown's educational investments on their blog.

#BEAVEREX17 — Keynote — Logan Plant, Beavertown Brewery, The State of British Craft Beer Oct 25, 2017

KEYNOTE Logan Plant Beavertown Brewery The State of British Craft Beer in 2017 YOU CAN FIND THE ENTIRE #BEAVEREX17 LIBRARY HERE Good Beer Hunting was thrilled to partner with Beavertown Brewery at their Extravaganza anniversary celebration this year to bring you some compelling discussions and presentations about the state of craft beer in 2017. A wide range of topics and personalities were available to discuss some of the more pressing, and exciting pursuits in beer. You can learn more about Beavertown's educational investments on their blog.

EP-144 Michael Tonsmeire and Scott Janish of Sapwood Cellars Oct 21, 2017

Today is a special kind of geekery, so pull out your lab coats, pocket protectors and hydrometers, because things are about to get nerdy. Especially when it comes to New England IPAs. One of the amazing things I’ve found covering the beer industry is the number of brilliant people who fill up the ranks of bartenders, brewers, biologists and more. It makes perfect sense within a profession that blends aspects of science and art, and when I find myself in the midst of a particularly engaging conversation that goes well beyond talking beer styles, ratings or trends du jour, it’s something I really value. Lucky for me, this podcast provides the opportunity to make such occurrences happen. While I was recently passing through Washington DC, I met up with Michael Tonsmeire and Scott Janish, two highly-accomplished homebrewers who will soon go pro together with the launch of Sapwood Cellars. From my perspective, these are two of the smartest guys in the business, not just because they’ve made great homebrew, or in Michael’s case help launch barrel programs for commercial breweries, but because I know it - they’re two of the most public brewers who share recipes, research and in-depth insight through Michael’s Mad Fermentationist blog and at ScottJanish.com, where Scott puts in heavy lifting sorting through white papers and academic analysis related to beer. They’ve also literally written the book on their areas of expertise, with Michael behind the book, American Sour Beers, and Scott just recently announcing he’s writing one about the modern IPA. Whether you love or hate New England IPAs, I think the first half of our conversation will help you think about them differently, as Michael, Scott and I do a deep dive into recipes, chemistry and psychology of the trendy style. We’ll also hit on the challenges of opening a brewery in today’s market and what the DC and Maryland area can expect when Sapwood eventually opens. Grab a notebook or simply sit back and let the mentions of polyphenols wash over you.

FF-007 Jim Plachy goes to camp and an Irish farmer readies the kettle Oct 19, 2017

Welcome to another episode of The Fervent Few podcast. Every few weeks we present you with this bonus episode of the GBH podcast where we chat with members of our subscriber community. The Fervent Few subscribe to GBH like a magazine making a monthly contribution via Patreon. Members join us in a forum to talk about a wide range of topics that doesn’t just stop at beer. And every week we pick one of these topics and present the community’s answers to readers in the form of an article posted to Good Beer Hunting. You can find out more information by visiting patreon.com/goodbeerhunting On this episode we talk to Mark Twig of the hopefully soon to open Canvas Brewery in Ireland. But first Michael Kiser and I chat about our upcoming getaway to the wilds of Wisconsin, the difference between taprooms and bars, and what went down at this year’s Great American Beer Festival.

EP-143 Louisa Spencer and Steve Wood of Farnum Hill Cider Oct 13, 2017

This week, I chat with a couple that makes phenomenal cider in New Hampshire at Farnum Hill. It’s all orchard-based from their own land at Poverty Lane Orchards. In fact, it’s all made right there on-site in a repurposed barn. Steve Wood and Louisa Spencer have made a life with their cider, but in recent years as the sort of pseudo-craft-cider boom has created both momentum and vulnerability in the cider category, things have gotten a bit out of whack. After all, what is craft cider if it’s not up to par with orchard-based traditional cider? It’s a bit like starting up a craft beer craze when you already have Hill Farmstead and Jester King around. But that’s what’s happened in cider as these traditional orchardists have had to start competing alongside some fairly mundane cider in canned six packs. It’s a blessing and a curse. The size of the pie increases, but the consumer is more confused than ever before. Despite that quandary, Farnum Hill is growing. They’re building an entirely new cider house next to the old barn, and hoping the future is as bright as it seems. I stopped by on a whim. I was simply in the area for a wedding this summer and wasn’t going to miss my chance to visit one of my favorite cider producers in the world. So this interview starts a bit spontaneously as Steve expected a chat, and I quickly realized that he and his partner Louisa needed to sit down and talk some things out. It starts abruptly and ends abruptly, but that’s what oral history sounds like. And I treasure this conversation.

FF-006 Jim Plachy loves binging and a Texan goes to Maine Oct 12, 2017

Welcome to another episode of The Fervent Few podcast. Every few weeks we present you with this bonus episode of the GBH podcast where we chat with members of our subscriber community. The Fervent Few subscribe to GBH like a magazine making a monthly contribution via Patreon. Members join us in a forum to talk about a wide range of topics that doesn’t just stop at beer. And every week we pick one of these topics and present the community’s answers to readers in the form of an article posted to Good Beer Hunting. You can find out more information by visiting patreon.com/goodbeerhunting Today we’re going to call Dave Riddile of Collective Brewing Project in Ft. Worth Texas. They just got back from the beer meets wood festival in Portland Maine and Dave is fired up about their first major festival. But first lets catch up with Michael Kiser and hear about the first ever Good Beer Hunting Symposium that just took place recently in London.

EP-142 Rick Muschiana of Sovengard Oct 08, 2017

You’ll sometimes hear people describe craft beer as a sort of zeitgeist all its own, coming out of nowhere to upend a century-old domination of the big corporate brewers, rising like punk rock to legendary status by following its own rules, and changing people's expectations for what beer can be in the process. And a lot of that’s true, though it didn’t happen in a vacuum. Way back in episode 18 with Gary Fish of Deschutes, you hear a much more contextual perspective. Which is to say: craft beer, at least in its current form, is part of something much bigger that’s changing about the way we eat and drink. The slow food movement that has transformed so many of the world’s dining experiences from city to city, bringing things like "farm to table" into our common vernacular. Phrases like "know your farmer," which sounds a lot like "know your brewer." And "locavore," which sounds a lot like "drink local." All these things were setting a stage that craft beer now dances on. It just happens to be a part in the play where beer is stealing the show a bit. And that brings us to today’s guest, Rick Muschiana. I first met Rick when he was working at Brewery Vivant in Grand Rapids. Back in episode 10, we talked to founders Jason and Kristen Spaulding about their unique community and sustainability-focused brewpub. Rick helped them grow that operation, playing roles in marketing, sales, and operations. He then went on to lead Michigan sales for Virtue Cider in Fenville, Michigan. And then he took the plunge into his own concept, focused on a sort of Nordic style of cuisine alongside great beer, wine, and more in a restaurant and garden concept called Sovengard in Grand Rapids. It's there you’ll find the culmination of Rick’s former professional experiences, but also something more fundamental—the influence his parents had on his perspective on food, beverage, and hospitality. They remain an influence to this day. The result is a place in Grand Rapids unlike any other.

MU-007 Pacifico Clara Oct 02, 2017

Our resident composer for the podcast and our commercial video work, Andrew Thiboldeaux, is writing original scores devoted to beers he finds fascinating. These are interpretations of the experience of drinking them. But they're also just great tunes.

EP-141 Pete Marino of Tenth & Blake, MillerCoors Sep 30, 2017

As much as we talk about the acquisitions of craft brands, it’s not often we get to hear directly from the people involved, and how they think about and manage these acquisitions. How do breweries transition to their new realities? How do they get integrated into a portfolio? How do they enable growth, but also look to safety, quality, and sales with a critical eye? It’s a lot to handle, and a lot of big questions remain. For AB InBev's High End, things seem to move really, really fast. For MillerCoors and its Tenth & Blake team, which is in charge of its craft acquisitions and imports, things seem to move much, much slower. Leinenkugels, for example, was a craft acquisition back in the 1980s, and they’re still working patiently by comparison to most. Terrapin is another, still operating mostly regionally despite having partial MillerCoors ownership since 2012 (more recently, they took the majority). Compare that to the now-international presence of a brand like Goose Island under ABI's ownership, and the national move being made by specific beers like Elysian Space Dust and others, and you start to see a very different strategy at play between these two corporate brewers. But what is that difference, and what’s it inspired by? Today we’re going to talk to Pete Marino, who’s taking on a new leadership position at Tenth & Blake and we’re going to try to explore this very subjective question. Also in the room will be Lisa Zimmer, a guest you might remember from way back in episode 79 when she was working in the Tenth & Blake group. She’s since move up to MillerCoors proper, but her perspective on the legacy of Tenth & Blake combined with Pete’s more recent point of view is productive.

EP-140 Chris + John Trogner of Troegs Brewing Company Sep 22, 2017

There are so many paths people take to follow their passion, often surrounded by the support of friends and family. No matter what excites us enough to go pro for the thing that we love, there's still a shared experience in the fact that entrepreneurship is intimate. It's not uncommon to find partners in business to also be partners in life. Friends, spouses, parents, and siblings are all taking risks—every day and together—to create something they deeply care about. From a surprisingly early age, Chris and John Trogner assumed this would be their lot in life. A duo served well by their love of brainstorming and invention, teamwork between this pair has led to youthful mischief (a homemade cannon), practicality (a skateboard ramp), and what they're now best known for—beer. This summer marked 20 years in business for Troegs Brewing Company, now one of the 50 largest breweries in the United States. Behind a quickly growing production limit and expanding staff are these two brothers, overseeing an evolving company that is adapting to the industry through new additions at their Hershey, Pennsylvania headquarters and their lineup of beers, which offer new experiences and inspiration through their beloved Scratch series of experimental batches. Stories of how people came to start a business in beer are plentiful, each with their unique anecdotes and nuance. Sitting down this summer with the founders of Troegs provided an opportunity to not only talk shop, but learn more about the personal and familial ties that have helped them become so successful. Behind all the company has accomplished, it’s still about two brothers who care deeply about beer and the people who help them share it with the world.

FF-005 Jim Plachy says 'hit me," and a West Coaster wants his personal space Sep 21, 2017

Welcome to another episode of The Fervent Few podcast. Every two weeks we present you with this bonus episode of the GBH podcast where we chat with members of our subscriber community. The Fervent Few subscribe to GBH like a magazine making a monthly contribution via Patreon. Members join us in a forum to talk about a wide range of topics that doesn’t just stop at beer. And every week we pick one of these topics and present the community’s answers to readers in the form of an article posted to Good Beer Hunting. You can find out more information by visiting patreon.com/goodbeerhunting On this episode we play Where in the World is Michael Kiser and we talk to James Raynon who just moved to Chicago from Souther California. We’ll talk to him about the differences in locales and his time in the Fervent Few. But first we find out where Michael Kiser is hiding.

EP-139 Alan Newman, Craft Beer Emeritus Sep 16, 2017

Way back in 1994, in Burlington, Vermont, a little brewery named Magic Hat sprung to life making what for many of its customers was the first “craft beer” they’d ever taste. One of its co-founders was Alan Newman, who became not only the entrepreneurial force behind the company, but the whimsical, hippie, bearded face of the brand itself. By the time he’d gotten Magic Hat off the ground, he was already well on his way to being a serial entrepreneur, and after his frustrated departure from the brewery in 2010, as part of a private equity deal, he went on to be the strategic, creative and, again, somewhat-of-a-face for brands like Coney Island, Concrete Beach, the Traveler Shandy company, and Angel City Brewery. At the latter, he was working as part of the Alchemy & Science portfolio owned by Boston Beer. Indeed, he was working directly with Jim Koch. I worked alongside Alan and his team for a couple years as they built and re-positioned these brands, so part of today’s conversation will include a look back at some of the challenges and opportunities in that work from Alan’s perspective. Now? He’s done. He’s walking away from the beer industry. Or so he says. I don’t exactly believe it. Alan has a funny way of always reeling himself back into the business. Alan and beer just can’t quite quit each other. And regardless of whether he comes back, or new ventures await, his perspective on what’s happening in our industry now is always fascinating and instructive for me because he was there in the room when so many decisions were made. Decisions like who will be defined as a “craft brewer” in the first place. And what’s the value of that definition? And then, of course, how so many of the challenges he faced with Magic Hat in the '90s are timeless for small brewers today. The more things change, the more they stay the same, as it were.

EP-138 Olivier de Brauwere and Sébastien Morvan of Brussels Beer Project Sep 09, 2017

This weeks guests are from Brussels, Belgium. It's there that they own a very American-inspired brewery called Brussels Beer Project. I first visited their spot a couple years ago when they'd just established themselves after contract brewing. It was a space defined by a new urban aesthetic that you find the world over, with bright colors, cafe-style furniture, and an open floor plan. Not to mention beer styles ranging from hoppy IPAs to big, sweet Stouts, Saison, and everything in between—a bit of a universal vibe that you might associate more with cities in general than Brussels specifically. Indeed, their project is very much defined by its young community audience, folks who have helped them raise funds and decide on beer styles. That dynamic creates a very different approach and vision for what a brewery means to its fans and customers. And it's a big step away from tradition in a historical brewing county like Belgium. As you saw with last week’s guest, there are strong opinions in Belgian beer about things such as contract brewing, techniques, and traditions. But what I find, taking a step back, aren’t oppositional forces but, rather, differing visions for what a brewery can and should be. And I think a big part of what you’ll hear in this interview is that maybe the word “should” can be left out of the conversation, as every generation defines these things for themselves. And rather, focus on “could,” that magical word that makes it possible to consider other ways of doing things, with a different purpose, but valuable and interesting all the same. Running these interviews back-to-back is coincidental. I happened to meet the founders of Brussels Beer Project in Chicago recently at a taproom opening and invited them over to record. But I’m happy for this overlap as they are highly relevant to each other in both location and subject matter.

EP-137 Yvan de Baets of Brasserie de la Senne Sep 01, 2017

GBH founder—and one of the co-hosts of this podcast—Michael Kiser has previously described some episodes of this podcast as being "bucket-list" interviews. Folks like Brooklyn Brewery’s Garrett Oliver and Allagash’s Rob Todd, for example: folks who’ve played huge roles in shaping the industry as we know it and still continue to do so. Now, it’s my turn. Today, I sit down for a conversation with Yvan de Baets, head brewer and co-founder of Brasserie de la Senne in Brussels, Belgium. You’re more than likely already familiar with the beers that de la Senne produces. Despite only being in existence since 2003, its beers, such as the dry and bitter Taras Boulba and the balanced, rounded Zinnebir, could easily be described as timeless and iconic. These aren’t words to be thrown around lightly, but try asking a brewer what his or her favorite beer is and more often than not, it’ll be one of them. It’s no surprise, either, as we’ll learn from de Baets later in this episode that Taras Boulba is a beer made for brewers. De Baets was in town for a string of events centered around a new specialty Belgian beer festival here in London called Ales Tales. The night before we met for this interview we had hosted an event with him at The Prince in Wood Green, North London and our conversation picks up from the points we discussed that evening. This includes the origins of de la Senne and how their first beer was brewed in a Brussels squat, to just how intrinsic the Belgian capital is to everything this brewery does. Yvan pulls no punches when discussing what he calls "fake brewers," or what most of us know as contract, or so-called "gypsy brewers." He even goes as far as to call some of them a disease within the industry. He even weighs in on the use of Belgian beer terminology, such as Lambic and Gueuze, around the world—including the recent fracas between Jester King and HORAL .

MU-006 Central State Brewing's Table Aug 31, 2017

Our resident composer for the podcast and our commercial video work, Andrew Thiboldeaux, is writing original scores devoted to beers he finds fascinating. These are interpretations of the experience of drinking them. But they're also just great tunes. Central State happens to be a client of GBH's studio team. However, Andrew chooses the beers he wants to score of his own volition.

EP-136 Clay Robinson of Sun King Brewing Aug 26, 2017

So many breweries in start-up mode have a crystal clear vision for their future. But as they mature, and as the market shifts, and as those early days start to feel farther and farther away, we find out what a brewery is really made of. Do they stick with that adolescent firebrand kind of rhetoric? Or do they adopt a more practical outlook on what’s possible—and even desirable—for a craft brewery? For most, it’s somewhere in between. In today’s market, a more diverse set of business models are available than ever before. Factor in changing state laws and consumer demand, and that vision for what a craft brewer can be is evolving quickly. What previously seemed counter to craft now seems perfectly permissible—encouraged, even. Just look at how the conversation around contract brewing—now oftentimes referred to as "gypsy" brewing—has shifted over time. That’s an easy one, but what about things like cold storage? Staying local? And the recent interest in employee ownership and what they says about succession planing? Are we open to our ideas on those opinions changing too? We better be. Today’s guest is Clay Robinson of Sun King, a guy who’s gone on the record early and often about what he would and wouldn’t do. And today, most of that, in hindsight, was short-sighted. But he’s not letting it hold him back. Instead, he’s casting off the burden of his former outlook and working hard to embrace a future where he thinks practically about his business, adopts a never-say-never attitude, and starts looking at things like grocery chains, conventional distribution, ESOP and acquisitions pros and cons, even distilling, as his potential growth plan going forward. This conversation is a wild ride through so many of the issues small breweries are wrestling with today, and Clay handles it with an uncanny transparency. I’m thankful I got a chance to sit down with him and hash out the details.

FF-004 Jim Plachy an ounce at a time, and Texas BBQ Aug 23, 2017

Welcome to another episode of The Fervent Few podcast. Every two weeks we present you with this bonus episode of the GBH podcast where we chat with members of our subscriber community. The Fervent Few subscribe to GBH like a magazine making a monthly contribution via Patreon. Members join us in a forum to talk about a wide range of topics that doesn’t just stop at beer. And every week we pick one of these topics and present the community’s answers to readers in the form of an article posted to Good Beer Hunting. You can find out more information by visiting patreon.com/goodbeerhunting Today we’re going to call Kate Nolan a freelance social media manager from the suburbs of Chicago and Brad Redick a sales manager from the Dallas, TX area . But before we talk to them here’s Michael Kiser and I talking about what’s been going on since the last episode.

EP-135 Julie Verratti and Jeff Ramirez of Denizens Brewing Co. Aug 19, 2017

Whether personal or professional, there are always types of risks when starting a new business. That’s often the case in the beer industry, where men and women quit their day jobs on a near daily basis to chase a dream of serving IPAs, Stouts, or Lagers to a thirsty public. These owners and brewers have a lot on the line. It's no different for the people behind Denizens brewing in Silver Springs Maryland, where family support helps to prop up very real risks of the three-year-old business. Denizens is doing just fine, by the way, having celebrated their anniversary not long ago with hundreds of friends and patrons. But it still means that checking the books at the end of every month carries a lot of weight. The public support behind the brewery, however, makes things easier for co-owners Jeff Ramirez and Julie Verratti. They’re two of the three people behind Denizens, who have created a community hotspot just over the border from Washington DC. A very specifically selected location, as you’ll hear, that connects deeply to the values of Jeff, Julie, and Emily Bruno, the third person behind Denizens. Among a spacious indoor and outdoor taproom, I recently sat down with Jeff and Julie to talk about all the things that they've learned in the first few years of operation. What those lessons are, and how they’re being integrated in the day-to-day, are bound to be a big big part of successes for all the other ambitious homebrewers and entrepreneurs looking to enter beer.

EP-134 Chris Lohring of Notch Brewing Co. Aug 11, 2017

"Session" is a new word to many a craft beer drinker's lexicon, but the idea of session beer far predates whatever new lingo is helping sell balanced, lower alcohol brews. You may have also seen the words "light," or "table" used in a similar context. Meaning: easy to drink, balanced, dare I say crushable? Some of you just cringed, I know, but it’s been hard going for anyone looking to sell these kinds of beers in our culture of extreme flavor and high alcohol and rarity. That is, until someone decided to pair it with IPA. They need a pitch, a hook, to get people interested in what really, for most people around the world, defines normal everyday great beer. I mean, you don’t see Pilsner Urquell going around pitching itself as light or sessionable. But this is America—it all needs a qualifier of some sort. One brewery in Salem, Massachusetts has done more than just pitch their beer with the word "session" in the title—they’ve gone all in on the concept, referring to their entire portfolio as American Session Beer. Notch Brewing—under founder Chris Lohring—started out as a contract brand, largely because he couldn’t convince anyone that these styles would ever be in favor. That’s hard to imagine in 2017 when it seems every craft brewer is gunning for the easy-drinking Lager, Hoppy Pilsner, and Golden Ale. So he took a hard road, scraping together support from fellow brewers with capacity, building his brand and base, and finally, just last year, got the investment he needed to open his own small brewery with a taproom and take another step into the future of his idea. Oh, and the beers are absolutely delicious. When I was there recently, I had the Pilsner, which was clearly more refined and delicate than most you’ll have in the U.S., and we’ll dig in to the reasons why in this episode. I also had the smoked Grodziskie, which was layered and balanced and just sang on the palate. I also enjoyed his take on the hazy IPA which, when viewed through the lens of session beer, makes a whole lot of sense.

FF-003 Jim Plachy takes the reins, and seasonal creeps Aug 09, 2017

On this week’s episode of the Fervent Few podcast, we’ll talk with a couple of members of the community about taprooms, social media, what they find exciting about the Fervent Few and whatever else comes up. The Fervent Few is our subscriber community who subscribe to GBH like a magazine making a monthly contribution via Patreon. Members join us in a forum to talk about a wide range of topics that doesn’t just stop at beer. Every week we pick one of these topics and present the community’s answers to readers in the form of an article posted to Good Beer Hunting. You can find out more information by visiting patreon.com/goodbeerhunting Today we’re going to call Chris Koentz a brewer at Pollyanna brewing in the suburbs of Chicago.

EP-133 Richard Burhouse of Magic Rock Brewing Company Aug 05, 2017

The county of Yorkshire has more breweries per capita than anywhere else in the UK. And though it’s home to buzzing city hubs such as Leeds and Sheffield, much of the brewing landscape is to be found within the county’s rural environment and smaller towns. It’s home to traditional breweries such as Theakston’s, Timothy Taylor, and Black Sheep as well breweries with a more modern outlook, such as Summer Wine and Rooster’s. Richard Burhouse, along with his brother Johnny and head brewer Stuart Ross, founded Magic Rock Brewing Company in the town of Huddersfield in 2010. Before the arrival of Magic Rock, Huddersfield already had a reputation for being a great beer town, as it was home to renowned pubs such as The Grove and The Sportsman. However, it was perhaps the arrival of Magic Rock, and subsequently its taproom in 2015, which really put the town on the national beer map. As well as being inspired by Yorkshire’s real-ale heritage, Burhouse was also fascinated by what was happening in the U.S., and has spent plenty of time researching beer in the States. The influence of West Coast breweries such as Stone, Green Flash, and Russian River is immediately apparent in his beers, such as High Wire Pale Ale and Cannonball IPA. Not content to rest on its laurels, however, Magic Rock is constantly adapting its brewing processes to keep pace with trends. The past 12 months has seen them release several New England-inspired limited release IPAs, some of which have been collaborations with the likes of Cloudwater and Other Half. At the same time, Burhouse is trying to balance his brewery in the local market by simultaneously offering a high quality, nicely priced range of cask ales. In this episode, we skip from topics such as pricing and quality issues, to the takeover of RateBeer, which has often showered plaudits on Magic Rock’s beers. We also speak briefly about the sold out Uppers & Downers London, where we’re super excited to have Magic Rock pouring a collab with Dark Woods Coffee this September. This episode was recorded in a working pub near my home in North London home, and as a result, there’s a couple occasions where there’s a little background noise. Thanks for your patience.

EP-132 - Suzanne Schalow + John Thompson of Craft Beer Cellar Jul 29, 2017

On a recent trip to Boston and the surrounding area I was keen to hit up some of the more sought-after breweries like Trillium and Lamplighter, but also a few places that were fundamental to the still-underdeveloped scene in the area, like Cambridge Brewing and the business of today's guest, Suzanne Schalow of Craft Beer Cellar. Suzanne was the voice in the desert for awhile in Belmont, a short drive from the city, in a commuter town that has a lot of questions about craft beer when she and her partner Kate first opened their doors 16 years ago. Fundamental questions that we're all still trying to answer in different ways, like, "What is craft beer?" And earlier this year, as Suzanne lead the business into a national franchise model, she encountered a few unknowns, like how to talk about and manage quality with her franchisees—and who makes a decision about quality. It seems simple in many ways that a retailer would have a strong point of view in their curation process, but like defining craft, defining quality presented a host of issues as well. So speaking with Suzanne and her new brand manager John Thompson, it was clear that while we were at the end of one long phase of the Craft Beer Cellar's story, a whole new chapter was about to begin.

FF-002 Jim Plachy's unexpected job interview and first amendment rights Jul 26, 2017

On this week’s Fervent Few bonus episode, we’re going to get to know some more of our subscribers, a community we started called Fervent Few. These folks subscribe to GBH like a magazine, supporting us financially each month, and as part of there subscriber benefits, they join the GBH team in a community forum where we discuss a wide range of topics, often including professional retailers, brewers, distributors and sales people with expert perspectives. But in the Fervent Few community, everyone has an equal voice, and a respect for others opinions. I’ve been thrilled to see so many genuine and intellectually honest conversations transpire. Our Fervent Few community is managed by Jim Plachy, and each week he hosts a weekly topic with our members and captures their opinions in a regular column on the site. We'll ring up a couple Fervent Few members, Kristen Foster a blogger and GBH fan from Boston and Michael Boyer a lawyer from North Carolina who works with a host of craft breweries.

EP-131 Luke Dickinson of Wicked Weed Brewing Jul 21, 2017

We’re a little over two months since Wicked Weed, one of the nation’s most popular and ambitious sour beer producers, was acquired by AB InBev in a sale that set the beer world on edge. Indeed, it seemed to push many people over the edge, galvanizing craft beer’s hardcore base against AB while others started reconsidering the future of craft beer, from its definitions and divisions to even the future of their own breweries and customers. Since then, AB InBev itself has seemed to get a bit on edge with the release of the Brewers Association “independence” seal. Despite the fact that the seal was reportedly in the works for more than two years, the timing of its release seemed to add fuel to the fire of an imminent crisis point between BA-defined craft brewers and those who had passed over the threshold into just being brewers of craft beer. In response, AB's High End group, which is a portfolio populated by those acquired craft brewers, many of whom have maintained their posts, are now part of a strategic and creative leadership team for AB. They created a somewhat impromptu video response to the BA encouraging them to think about the overall health of the beer category, which is indeed shrinking, as a result of increased competition from wine and spirits. Unity was their call, rather than division. And that, depending on your scale, priorities, and opinion of AB InBev, is either prescient or absurd. Needless to say, it’s been a wild couple of months for craft beer. This barely scratches the surface, really. But relevant to today’s guest, that’s more than enough context for what makes this interview both timely and interesting to me. Today, I’m talking to Luke Dickinson of Wicked Weed. Luke is the less-exposed, less-publicized brother of Walt Dickinson. This starts as a story of siblings, Luke being the quiet one who was initially inspired to start a brewing career based on his time at Dogfish Head, and Walt being the more entrepreneurial type who saw Luke’s vision for what was meant to be a nano brewery on paper, and consistently found opportunities to finance and scale the concept for Wicked Weed into the force it is now, including the sale to AB InBev, alongside the Guthys, a very successful, Asheville-based business family they’ve known since they were children. Talking to Luke, the story of Wicked Weed comes to light as a sort of humble concept that created its own vortex of growth and a series of can’t-say-no kind of opportunities. It’s a story of what happens when a single idea gets dispersed amongst four other partners, each with their own skill sets, resources, and ambitions. And if nothing else, it tells a story of how two brothers can challenge and motivate each other into unknown—and what remains still a somewhat-unknown territory. Before we begin, I wanted to give a couple shoutouts. First to Marco from Craft Commander down in Florida and Artisan & Apprentice, two blogs whose interviews with Luke some time ago served as great primary resources for some of the things we talk about today. It’s amazing how much craft brewing history has been captured by writers all over the country in the last five years, and we appreciate what you do so much.

MU-005 Creature Comforts Tropicalia Jul 21, 2017

Our resident composer for the podcast and our commercial video work, Andrew Thiboldeaux, is writing original scores devoted to beers he finds fascinating. These are interpretations of the experience of drinking them. But they're also just great tunes.

EP-130 Will Hawkes, Journalist, Beer Writer Jul 14, 2017

London’s beer scene is made up of a complex tapestry of interesting folks. Like with any beer community, its people are what really makes it, and here in London, one of those people is journalist Will Hawkes. Hawkes has written about beer since 2010 for mainstream publications such as The Independent, The Washington Post, and The Financial Times as well as specialist beer mags like BeerAdvocate and All About Beer. He’s authored two books including the city beer guide Craft Beer London along with its accompanying app. And in 2013, he won the prestigious British Guild of Beer Writers Beer Writer of the Year Award. Will is also the brains behind London’s original craft beer week, London Beer City, which is now entering its fourth year this August. Full disclosure: I’m now involved with helping Will organize this year's event, and as is often the case it was this involvement that made me realize that we should sit down and record a conversation together. As you might expect, our chat is typically London-centric as we dig into topics such as cask ale, the recent opening of Camden Town Brewery’s $40 million facility and the recent acquisition of London Fields Brewery by Carlsberg and Brooklyn Brewery.

FF-001 Jim Plachy's in a club that would have him as a member Jul 08, 2017

On this week’s bonus episode, we’re going to get to know some of our subscribers, a community we started called the Fervent Few. These folks subscribe to GBH like a magazine, supporting us financially each month. As part of their subscriber benefits, they join the GBH team in a community forum where we discuss a wide range of topics—a forum that includes professional retailers, brewers, distributors, and sales people with expert perspectives. But in the Fervent Few community, everyone has an equal voice, and a respect for others opinions. I’ve been thrilled to see so many genuine and intellectually honest conversations transpire. The community is managed by Jim Plachy, and each week he hosts a weekly topic with our members. We're going to get to know him a little bit better this week, and I think you'll see why we immediately fell in love with him and put him in charge of this thing. He joined as a subscriber himself, and through his natural force of personality, started running the show. After that, we'll ring up a couple Fervent Few members and get their perspective on the community, and what they thought about this past week's topic, the new Independent logo created by the Brewers Association.

EP-129 Bill Savage of Northwestern University Jul 01, 2017

Chicago’s beer story is an historical one, full of the bawdiness that to this day continues the association of beer with the rougher parts of our civility. It’s political - in the burbs is where the temperance movement spawned, we’ve had workers riots and rallies, and our alderman would use their saloons to sway the vote. As American craft brewing brings beer back to the local, and hyperlocal level, some of these histories don’t seem so remote. Tied houses, saloon culture, and good old-fashioned bartending are newly refreshed in their relevance to our daily experience, but the ways in which history repeats itself are sometimes not what we expect. Are breweries with taprooms the same concern as tied houses a hundred years ago? Does "local" mean the same thing in contemporary craft brewing? What’s the role of a bar when it’s not just the corner spot but some sort of craft beer concept, or a sportsbar. And for today’s guest, a lot of that is tied to the role of the bartender themselves. Bill Savage is a Chicago historian, writer, teacher, and long-time bartender going back some 30 years. All of that has led to him being one of the most important voices in Chicago’s drinking culture, and that of our entire country. His new project, The Old Time Saloon originally written by George Ade and resurrected by Bill, kicks off today’s conversation. And it serves as great window into many topics relevant to today’s craft beer drinker.

EP-128 Rob Tod of Allagash Brewing Co. Jun 24, 2017

We’ve got what I consider a bucket-list interview today. In the past, I’ve been thrilled to sit down with people like Sam Calagione, Lauren Limbach (formerly Salazar), Jim Koch, Garrett Oliver, Bill Covaleski, and others who were so fundamental to the world of beer that we enjoy now with all its diversity, innovation, and re-invention of the model. These are people who made it all happen by practically rubbing two sticks together. And because of that, almost anyone willing to put in the work has the opportunity to follow in their footsteps. But of course, for breweries like Allagash, their story isn’t all about the past. Allagash, one of my north star breweries, is a company still making big moves and leading the way on things like regional agriculture, wild ales and, more recently, within the Brewers Association. Founder Rob Tod started Allagash in 1995 with a Belgian White Ale. But these days, his most important role is arguably his post at the Brewers Association as he helps them welcome in a new generation of brewers, sometimes referred to as the "long tail." Alongside his brewmaster, Jason Perkins, he’s also helping lead conversations on resourcing and quality that are critical to craft beer, as a niche, not missing a step on its longterm growth trajectory. And one of the things I admire about Allagash the most is its ability to focus on what’s possible in craft brewing rather than complaining about the things that have always held it back. Beer is a competitive industry with a lot of different kind of players, but for Allagash’s part, it seems as though there aren’t enough hours in the day to devote to all the positive, impactful things that a brewery connected to its community can accomplish. And that kind of attitude comes through in every person I’ve ever met from the company. But especially this guy.

MU-004 Trophy Brewing Co. Trophy Wife Jun 22, 2017

Our resident composer for the podcast and our commercial video work, Andrew Thiboldeaux, is writing original scores devoted to beers he finds fascinating. These are interpretations of the experience of drinking them. But they're also just great tunes. This episode is devoted to Trophy Brewing Co's Trophy Wife Session IPA

EP-127 J. Nikol Jackson-Beckham of Randolph College Jun 17, 2017

At this point of the American brewing industry, it’s safe to say beer is many things to many different people. It can be nothing more than a drink or maybe something to be discussed, but at an increasing rate, it’s also become the core of serious study. J. Nikol Jackson-Beckham is many things. She’s a teacher, writer, homebrewer, community activist, and more. In many ways, beer finds itself at the center of her wide-ranging universe. As Assistant Professor of Communication Studies at Randolph College, she teaches on topics of media and technology, but she’s also long examined the connections between beer and its place in American culture, often through an analysis of people and histories that tell the beneficial and challenging sides of the industry. For generations, beer has acted as a foundation for so many other aspects of our lives. It’s not just a packaged good or something poured from a tap, but a major piece of our social structure, for good or bad. J.’s work provides context to the stories and myths that surround this beloved thing—a fermented beverage that can bring people together and, at times, push them apart. With a complex history and culture, beer is a way to better understand the psychological and social realities that surround our lives. It’s a part of who we are, and, as J. shared with me, there’s not always easy answers to the difficult questions beer can raise—as a product or focus of academic study.

EP-126 Alexa Long of Legion Brewing Jun 03, 2017

Ask a beer lover, and there are plenty of cities whose names can be synonymous with the drink they love. San Diego, Grand Rapids, Portland, Fort Collins ... Portland again. In North Carolina, Asheville has long held that designation, gaining local and national attention, but part of the fun of watching beer’s growth can be the creation and explosion of cultures in new places. In recent years, that’s been the case in Charlotte, North Carolina, about two hours away from Asheville and now home to about 20 breweries and a burgeoning beer scene. One person who’s had a unique perspective of seeing this happen is Alexa Long, head brewer at Legion Brewing, an almost two-year-old business in the city’s Plaza Midwood neighborhood. After graduating from UNC-Charlotte in 2011 and working locally at a homebrew store, Long went pro at Charlotte’s Heist Brewing before joining Legion in fall 2015 and being a part of the crew that earned Legion the title of “best new neighborhood brewery” by Charlotte magazine in 2016. Long’s connection to Charlotte provides her a unique perspective of how the city and its love of beer has changed, as drinkers have now come to expect more than just juicy IPA, even if that continues to be a bestseller for Legion and others. As Charlotte’s star continues to rise, Long has and continues to be a part of that.

EP-125 Scott Ungermann of Anchor Brewing and Distilling May 27, 2017

In the age of hyper-local craft, we have a competing—or perhaps complementary?—narrative in the U.S., and that’s heritage brands. You may have heard my counterpart, Matthew Curtis (who's based in London), mention the UK's traditional breweries more than once. It’s an interesting dynamic having young, upstart craft brands entering the market alongside these elder statesmen who are sometimes hundreds of years old, and both sets of companies are trying to reach drinkers with a message about quality and craftsmanship. To U.S. ears, it’s a bit like listening in on a bizarro universe. We simply don’t have much of that traditional brewery credibility left because of prohibition. Most U.S. drinkers only rewind the tape as far as Sierra Nevada or Sam Adams. If you're from Pennsylvania like me, you might think of Yuengling (founded in 1829). Or in Minnesota, perhaps Schell’s comes to mind (founded in 1860). But those are the wonderful exceptions that prove the rule. By and large, the U.S. doesn’t have a traditional brewing scene. One other exception, this time on the west coast, is Anchor Brewing Company. Founded in 1896, it’s largely known for its Steam Beer, or the California Common, arguably the only wholly-American-invented style of beer. It even owns the trademark on that. It operated in regional obscurity for almost 100 years before Fritz Maytag bought it and saved it from closure. Without that beer, the story goes, breweries like Sierra Nevada may have never started. Anchor is still brewing its open fermentation beers, as well as many newer styles, in the location on Potrero Hill it moved to in 1979. But in 2010, it was purchased by The Griffin Group, an investment company specializing in alcoholic beverages. Shortly after, the brewery started distilling spirits. Through all those years, the changes have been few, including the changes in brewmaster. And the latest shift in that role happened quite recently, leading to a host of new beer offerings that straddle the line between the traditional brewing approach of Anchor, and the constantly evolving craft beer industry of 2017. Scott Ungermann has taken the weighty rings of this storied business and is combining his longstanding desire to have his own brewery with his experience at Anheuser-Busch to help bring Anchor along into the next generation ever so delicately.

MU-003 — Foley Brothers Maple Brown May 23, 2017

Our resident composer for the podcast and our commercial video work, Andrew Thiboldeaux, is writing original scores devoted to beers he finds fascinating. These are interpretations of the experience of drinking them. But they're also just great tunes. This episode is devoted to Foley Brothers Maple Brown.

EP-124 Nick Nunns of Trve Brewing Co. May 20, 2017

For anyone who's gone brewery hopping in Denver, CO, you know how lively and enjoyable that experience can be in one of the country's pre-eminent beer towns. With generations of brewers all working alongside each other, Denver has a brewing history and status unlike any other. But if you're like me, you've also noticed some common—maybe too common—themes in Denver breweries. Lots of IPAs, outdoorsiness, and that sort of early 2000s don't-try-too-hard aesthetic in the form of picnic tables and raw wood and concrete that passes for authenticity unquestioned among craft enthusiasts. And let's face it: some of it's real, some of it's not. So when TRVE Brewing Co. brewing popped up on the scene, it was a violation of the Mile High City's Pleasantville-like beer scene in more ways than one. Founder Nick Nunns was making yeast-driven beers with a heavy metal theme in a neighborhood far from the sparkle of Denver's eye. Much has changed since then, but mostly in ways that continue to put TRVE at the edge of a still-somewhat-monoculture beer scene, as good as it is, with a few great exceptions. And in this next phase? Nunns is going to make things even weirder.

CL-004 GBH Collective — Wicked Weed, Mitch Steele in Atlanta, and Crew Drives May 16, 2017

This week we’ve got Austin Ray, our Editorial Director talking about our Wicked Weed coverage pretty much as we were writing it, and his interview with Mitch Steel about his new atlanta brewpub concept.

We’ll also check in with Bill Holland, one of our newest recruits who’ been contributing to our b-Roll section in between his hours selling beer for MillerCoors, which lends a unique perspective to our team.

As usual, a diverse range of topics from some great storytellers.

EP-123 Odyssey + Oddities — A GBH Panel Discussion hosted by Blue Jacket May 13, 2017

At this year's Craft Brewers Conference, the GBH team held a panel discussion on the topic of storytelling for breweries, how it evolves as it grows, and how the story of craft and the story of a single brewery can align and diverge. Breweries have historically united to tell the story of "craft beer" as they work together to build the category and create an educated consumer. But in the past few years, the emphasis has shifted to the uniqueness of the individual journey, and how one brewery differs from another as they both collaborate and compete for the same customers. So we put our thoughts into a short presentation and panel discussion with GBH's storytellers and representatives from breweries as we discuss the similarities and differences between these approaches, all the while trying to determine what's at stake for the next generation of storytelling in American beer. Panelists: Michael Kiser, GBH Founder + Creative Director Erin Jones, Marketing Director, Burial Beer Co. Josh Hambright, Central State Brewing, co-founder Matthew Curtis, GBH storyteller, podcast host Kyle Kastranec, GBH designer and storyteller Special thanks to our friends at Bluejacket for generously hosting us. Photo by Oliver Gray

EP-122 Jason Alexander of Free Range Brewing May 06, 2017

Today’s breweries come in all shapes and sizes. Different tap lineups and business models. Each has a unique ethos and purpose told through individual stories and names. Somewhere amongst all this, there is Free Range Brewing, a business based on the ideas of agriculture and locality situated in one of the largest cities in the United States. Just a couple miles from the literal downtown marker of Charlotte, North Carolina, the almost-two-year-old brewery has found its niche with a constantly changing, eclectic lineup of farmed and foraged beers that includes Saisons with pine and juniper tips, IPA made with a 200-year old sourdough culture, and a rotating collection of Carolina Common—an in-state twist on the California Common. Those kinds of beers may not be wholly unique in a country with more than 5,000 breweries, but they do stake a claim for a special niche in Charlotte, a city often overlooked for its beer because of its proximity to well-known Asheville, just a 90-minute drive away. The story of how brothers Jeff and Jason Alexander decided to get to this point in their personal and professional lives details how powerful the pull of good food and drink can be, especially as a way to bring together family, friends and, ultimately, drinkers. With no professional experience, little training, and on something of a whim, Jason Alexander has transferred a once-budding appreciation for ideas of fresh and local into a tangible business plan. And he’s making a kind of beer-based, farmers-market mentality work amongst one of the fastest growing areas of Charlotte.

EP-121 Artisanal Imports, Whiner Beer, Dovetail with Lanny Hoff + Co. Apr 28, 2017

The three-tier system is something that’s continuously up for debate in our country, surfing on arguments about who it serves poorly and who it services well, who it protects us from and who it favors. It’s a complicated value chain mandated by the federal government to exist, but also regulated by states, and increasingly getting sliced up into more unique and critical ways of bringing your favorite breweries to market. One part of that value chain that’s been quietly evolving is the role of the importer. They work between the brewer and distributor, and traditionally bring you beers from oversees from places like Belgium, the UK, and Germany. You may have heard our interviews from Shelton Fest two years ago when we interviewed two of their operators to demystify this part of the business, and shine a light on the value that importers bring even when they’re working with domestic instead of foreign breweries. For its part, Shelton Brothers just announced their next festival will be in Atlanta on August 18-19. Then there's the domestic side of the import business, sometimes even called a domestic importer. It's really a convoluted way of describing an importer who moves products domestically through their existing infrastructure, state-to-state instead of country-to-county. As more and more small local breweries are finding ways to grow sustainably and gain access to market when the shelves are tight and tap handles are scarce, the role of the domestic importer is helping some of these niche breweries find niche audiences wherever they might be. Today’s guests are excited to talk about a very unique scenario in this vein. Artisanal Imports, known for importing brands like Sunner Kolsch, St Feuillen, and De Proef, are now partnering with U.S. brands. They’ve been working in U.S. cider for some time now with Farnhum Hill and EZ Orchards, which are among the best in the world. But niche, hyperlocal breweries is a new step towards diversifying their business and finding new territory to explore. In Chicago, they’ve partnered with Dovetail and Whiner Beer, two newcomers with unique portfolios. Today we’re going to hear about what’s behind that move, and why it might be a new model for small brands going forward. It’s a full room on this one, so I do my best to keep it all straight. We’ve got Hagen Dost and Bill Wesselink from Dovetail Brewery, Brian Taylor of Whiner Beer Company, and Lanny Hoff of Artisanal Imports. Listen in.

EP-120 Hinrik Carls Ellertsson + Steinn Stefansson Apr 22, 2017

Despite what some politicians may rally against, there is plenty of value of what a globalized society can bring. The different perspectives and experiences that flow from one border to the next has created a connectivity that enhance ideas the world over. It may come as no surprise, that also lends itself to how people from different countries use hops and malt, too. On assignment for GBH, I traveled in February to Reykjavik, Iceland with the goal of learning more about what that country’s beer scene is and what it offers drinkers a world apart from my bubble stateside. It’s easy to get caught up in an almost orthodox point of view of the global beer industry, where the Old World - countries like England, Belgium or Germany - and the New World - the United States - are the areas we most believe are worth our attention. But the flip side of that is the influence and cultural cache these places have, and how they’re helping to shape the way others think about and make beer. At KEX Hostel in downtown Reykjavik, I met with Hinrik Carl Ellertsson and Steinn Stefansson to talk about their small-time gypsy brewing operation and popular interests in the Iceland beer scene, which, no surprise, seem to be trending toward the hoppy side of things as Scandinavians look to the U.S. for inspiration. With visitors from around the world coming to Iceland for an annual beer festival, we found a spot in the shared space of the hostel where Hinrik and Steinn described what it’s like to work in a young industry seeking inspiration from today’s biggest names in beer. Some that will sound awfully familiar to American beer lovers.

MU-002 Score: Tired Hands Saison Hands Apr 19, 2017

Our resident composer for the podcast and our commercial video work, Andrew Thiboldeaux, is writing original scores devoted to beers he finds fascinating. These are interpretations of the experience of drinking them. But they're also just great tunes. This episode is devoted to Tired Hands Saison Hands.

EP-119 Rachael Weseloh of Brooklyn Brewery Apr 08, 2017

In the age of small and local, some of the more mature craft beer brands in the US are looking to new markets to find the relevance, brand awareness and the resulting sales that they seek. For the 28 year old Brooklyn Brewery this means investing heavily in markets all over the world including The UK, Sweden, Australia and more recentlt East Asia, thanks to the recent sale of a 24% stake in the business to Japan’s Kirin. But finding that relevance isn’t as simple as just shipping over a few containers worth of beer, throwing a launch party and hoping it sells. Building relevance requires the careful investment of time and resources and Brooklyn, who’ve been exporting to beer to the UK for over a decade, should know more about this than most. In fact, such is the success of their export market that 45% the beer it produces is now sold overseas. Rachael Weseloh has been Brooklyn’s UK brand ambassador for just over two years now. As well as being the brewery’s eyes and ears on the ground, she’s also throwing events like Brooklyn’s popular Beer Mansion and annual Mash party, which are creating a deep sense of engagement with consumers, while behind the scenes it’s endearing the brand to wholesalers and retailers alike. Weseloh originally hails from Humboldt County in the North of California and it was here she began her beer journey, working for Fortuna’s Eel River Brewing Company. She eventually made her way to Paris, where she worked in the French capitals vibrant Cocktail scene, before she eventually landed her gig with Brooklyn and made London her home. Over the next hour or so Weseloh and I chat about this continuing search for relevance by beer brands and just how important markets like the UK are to Brooklyn as the brewery continues to increases the impetus behind its export program. We also chat about Brooklyn’s sister breweries, Swedens New Carnigie and Norway’s E. C. Dahl’s as well as the brewery’s relationships with its distributor, Carlsberg and it’s new partner, Kirin.

CL-003 GBH Collective — BrewDog's Misadventures, Lost & Grounded, Pricing in the U.K., A Grafting Workshop and Homemade Cider Apr 05, 2017

Welcome back to another episode of the GBH Collective where we bring you the stories behind the stories from our writers and photographers all over the world. This is our third edition of this format - and if you’re liking it, let us know. The team really enjoys sharing their perspectives, and I can say personally, I’m enjoying hearing more about their adventures. And of course, this new series of episodes is made possible by our Patreon subscribers. Patron is a way that our readers and listeners can subscribe to GBH with a monthly contribution, just like subscribing to a magazine. We give back to our subscribers, which we call the Fervent few through events, discounts, exclusive gear and art, and a host of other perks. Because tot us, being a Fervent Few member makes you part of the team - and you’ll see that come true when we launch the community section of the website in the next month. So to all those who signed up already, thanks so much - you’re already enjoying the fruits of that subscription. If you want to join, visit patreon.com/goodbeerhunting, or click on the link on our show notes. This week we’ve got Matthew Curtis from London talking about stories underway with Wild Beer Co. and Lost & Grounded and others, but also the recent news cycles about BrewDog, which are troubling. And his recent trip to New Zealand. We’ll also be checking in with Steph Byce based here in Chicago. She’ll be in the studio with her homemade ciders, as she prepares for a Vermont Trip to visit Shacksbury for a grafting workshop. And she’ll share her experience up in Michigan at Dark Horse as well. An incredibly diverse range of topics from some great storytellers.

EP-118 Peter Frost of Crain's Chicago Business Apr 01, 2017

Beer Writer is a term that gets tossed around a lot these days, but it’s used to describe a wide variety of amateurs and professionals alike. Everyone from a personal blogger to a freelancer writing for magazines, to an author with half a dozen books under their belt, to people who cover the business of beer for established outlets like the Tribune or the New York Times. But each of these kinds of beer writers has their own audience and their own angle on the beer world, which of course is also incredibly diverse in terms of the types of beers being made, business models they support, and the markets those brands are active in. Everything is changing all the time. One of the writers I like the most here in Chicago is Peter Frost who writes for Crain’s, a business focused publication that has increasingly written about smaller breweries over the years as they collectively started to occupy a sizable portion of the market, which makes them a factor in the lives of investors and entrepreneurs - the heart of a business publication’s audience. But there’s also clearly a personal interest being expressed by Peter as some of the writing he’s produced around smaller breweries isn’t about the business angle at all — at times it’s been a bit personal and review-like. Something quite uncommon for a publication like Crain’s. I wanted to sit down with Peter and get the wider view on how he ended up writing about beer for a place like Crain’s and how a reporter like him thinks about the industry at large. But also, what motivates him and his publication to keep doing it at all. Peter is a beer writer, but also a business and food industry writer. Before that he wrote about healthcare and a host of other things. He’s one more fascinating part of our world.

EP-117 Dan Jansen of Blue Point Brewing Co. Mar 26, 2017

A few years ago on vacation on Long Island, I stumbled across a few local beers that caught my attention—Toasted Lager and Rastafa Rye were two of them, both beers from Blue Point. After some searching, we found the brewery a road just a short walk from the center of a sleepy town. It was closed that day, so I didn’t get to visit, but the image of that building—a sort of repurposed gas station with an old school dive bar for a tap room—stuck with me. Shortly after, I started seeing the growth of Toasted Lager as close as Michigan, and the Bluepoint story started to become regional. That little brewery on Long Island had contracted their Lager in upstate New York, like so many growing brands on the east coast. And it was about this time that AB InBev took notice as well, acquiring the brewery in a deal that was largely ignored compared to the uproar that came with some of their other acquisitions. Who was Blue Point? And why did AB want to buy them? Those questions were the common refrain. I’ll admit, other than the regional advantage, it seemed like a curious choice to me at the time, too. But watching the brand evolve since the acquisition, some themes emerge. The coastal story is more prominent. The connection to the local culinary culture is there. And of course, they had a unique Lager that was already scaling up and reaching new markets. Now? They’re distributing to Chicago for the first time. In all that change, Blue Point brought on a new brewmaster, a guy who came up through the St. Louis Budweiser brewery, a trained engineer who found his passion for beer. When the opportunity opened up for a role in one of AB's craft breweries, he leapt at the chance. It’s a career story that can only exist in 2017 with America’s talent pool starting to move back and forth from big and little breweries within the same ownership structure, as each seek out a particular expertise. Whether it be engineering or cultural, both work to define innovation for themselves, and as some talent graduates, along with opportunities for scaling up or down, your focus as a brewer becomes valuable. Interesting times.

CL-002 GBH Collective — Spain, Arizona Wilderness, White Labs, Mountain Goat, and conspiracy theories Mar 21, 2017

Welcome back to another episode of the GBH Collective where we bring you the stories behind the stories from our writers and photographers all over the world. This is our second edition of this format - and if you’re liking it, let us know. The team really enjoys sharing their perspectives, and I can say personally, I’m enjoying hearing more about their adventures. And of course, this new series of episodes is made possible by our Patreon subscribers. Patron is a way that our readers and listeners can subscribe to GBH with a monthly contribution, just like subscribing to a magazine. We give back to our subscribers, which we call the Fervent few through events, discounts, exclusive gear and art, and a host of other perks. Because tot us, being a Fervent Few member makes you part of the team - and you’ll see that come true when we launch the community section of the website in the next month. So to all those who signed up already, thanks so much - you’re already enjoying the fruits of that subscription. If you want to join, visit patreon.com/goodbeerhunting, or click on the link on our show notes. This week we’ve got our new Australian writer, Luke Robertson who lives in Melbourne. He’ll be sharing his experience of documenting the Mountain Goat story, and talking about some of his upcoming work for GBH. We’ll also check in with Oliver Gray, one of our newest recruits who recently published a great interview with Chris White from White labs. And finally, Cory Smith, our storyteller out of Brooklyn talking about his recent travels through Spain and the southwest where he connected with the guys from Arizona Wilderness. An incredibly diverse range of topics from some great storytellers.

EP-116 Kai Leszkowicz of Aslin Beer Company Mar 18, 2017

Like so many other breweries, the team at Aslin Beer Company is new to the industry, part of roughly 500 breweries that opened in 2015 and more than 3,000 that have appeared in the last five years. Alongside many contemporaries, the rise of Aslin can be seen through the lens of what online beer enthusiast communities can do for a small business. In less than two years, Aslin has become a hot commodity on the trading circuit and an unsurprising presence on top beer lists among some of the most popular rating websites. It should come as no surprise, really, when that attention is spurred by creating one beloved New England IPA brand after another. The rotating collection of hazy, hoppy beers coming from Aslin has helped push the brewery to its production limits. Of all places to have met co-founder Kai Leszkowicz, in a strange way, it felt fitting we crossed paths in another country. I met him while visiting Reykjavik, Iceland, when both of us were in town as part of the annual Icelandic Beer Festival. As a former homebrewer who has quickly made a name for himself and his brewery, it oddly didn’t feel too out of place to first meet him a world away from our home region of the Mid-Atlantic. If there was any time in the history of the beer industry, now would be it when a brewery making 2,000 barrels of beer a year would be on the radar of Scandinavian beer lovers. That’s the power of the internet. Which is why I found Kai’s perspective as the part-owner of a young business so interesting. The excitement and hardships, the new ideas and challenges he faces, are ones taken on by so many other breweries who have to learn to balance growth with word of mouth fame.

MU-001 — Score: Victory Brewing Company's Prima Pils Mar 15, 2017

Our resident composer for the podcast and our commercial video work, Andrew Thiboldeaux, is writing original scores devoted to beers he finds fascinating. These are interpretations of the experience of drinking them. But they're also just great tunes. This first episode is devoted to Victory Brewing Company's Prima Pils.

EP-115 Uppers & Downers Hangover Party Mar 11, 2017

Today’s episode is our annual hangover party podcast, an event we host here at the studio in the wake of Upper & Downers, our coffee beer festival. People have started traveling from all over the world—in some cases, as far away as Japan!—to attend this insane mashup of coffee and beer culture we put together with our friend Stephen Morrissey (a world barista champion and works at the Specialty Coffee Association). And this hangover party, which we stupidly (brilliantly?) throw the morning after the big event, has become a bit like a brunch after a wedding. We get to sit down with the out-of-towners, drink even more coffee and beer, and for those brewers who want to celebrate coffee beers with us, but can’t make the fest, they send us bottles and cans of their latest experiments just for the party. We get some biscuits from Bang Bang, while some friends and roasters operate the La Marzocco espresso machine—in some cases getting a personal training session from people on the Acaia scales. Beyond that, we lounge. We also use that time as a chance to revisit the festival, talk about our favorite things, and interview some of the brewers and roasters that participated. We invited Jordan Michelman of Sprudge.com to sit in with us again, which is always super fun for me because I get to hear from someone who sort of does what GBH does, but for coffee. Plus, he’s been at it a lot longer than I have, and it shows. This is a long one with a lot of different, shorter interviews just stacked end-to-end. So settle in, go for a drive, get in a run, whatever you gotta do. Hope you enjoy it. Photo by Nick Kohout of Acaia

CL-001 GBH Collective — Iceland, Highland Brewing, Berlin, Copenhagen, Suarez, Chemistry of Mouthfeel, and Vietnam Mar 08, 2017

I’ve got something a little new for you this time around. This is an episode devoted to the GBH Collective, thats the writers and photographers we have around the world who bring you the amazing stories and interviews you see on Good Beer Hunting. As our network has grown, it’s occurred to me that like you, so much of what I experience in beer world comes through the eyes and ears of these fantastic people, and in addition to their compelling stories on the site, there’s so much more to talk about behind the scenes. So periodically, I’m going to be Skyping them in to the studio here in Chicago, and having a chat with them to learn more about a recent story they filed, or a trip they just got back from, and paint an even broader picture of what’s happening with the GBH team out in the world. With well over a dozen storytellers, there’s a lot of action. So today, you’re going to hear from Bryan Roth who just got back from Iceland, Kyle Kastranec on his recent travels to Berlin and Copenhagen, Blake Tyers, who’s actually a brewer at Creature Comforts in addition to writing and shooting for GBH, and Mark Spence who’s local to Chicago, who’s been pretty active in our b-Roll section of the site after filing his first GBH story of a trip through Vietnam.

EP-114 Pete Brown, author and consultant Mar 03, 2017

Today’s guest is one of those serendipitous run-ins I sometimes have with a fellow writer, in this case someone I’ve followed for some time, but never had the chance to meet in person. Pete Brown, who lives in London, has written numerous books over the years, including Three Sheets To The Wind: One Man's Quest For The Meaning Of Beer. And lately his writing has taken him into both the history and contemporary culture of cider making in the UK. And that’s what brought him to Chicago, which was the host of CiderCon this year. I met up with Pete at the Map Room over some Alpha Kings where he quickly got sucked into some roiling debate about cask ales with the locals (at their behest, not his) and after calling it a night, we met up at GBH Studio the next morning to record a conversation about English craft beer, cider, and Pete’s larger realm of work, which much like mine stretches across beer writing as well as consulting with breweries, as he stitches together a career using the skills he has as a former advertising writer and a beer expert. He’s chock full of insight and a joy to chat with. Thanks to Matthew Curtis for the portrait.

EP-113 Logan Plant and Paul Jones at Rate Beer Best Feb 18, 2017

At Rate Beer Best, it became clear that this was the year the British breweries would assert themselves among the best in the world. Many of the best British breweries have followed in the footsteps of their American counterparts and are now evolving at a similar pace — but what really made this the year of the Brits was the shift in Rate Beer’s own audience. According to Joe Tucker, founder of RateBeer.com, London is now the largest metropolitan market for Rate Beer’s user base. Two of the more prominent breweries in the U.K. scene are Beavertown in London and Cloudwater in Manchester, both taking home multiple awards from the festival this year. While it’s a welcome recognition for Beavertown who were early-in in 2011, for Cloudwater, now in their second year, it’s nearly a coup won with hazy IPAs. Both gentlemen were happy to sit down together and discuss some of the factors at work in the UK market, and how their generations of craft brewing are playing out relative to the US zeitgeist.

EP-112 Chase Healey of American Solera Feb 10, 2017

In the tradition of American Wild Ales, a name like American Solera might sound fundamental—but it’s a relative newcomer for brewer/founder Chase Healey. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, far from the hotspots and critical masses of drinkers for such delicacies, Healey has carved out a life and a living that's far different than the way he entered brewing. His first venture, Prairie Artisan Ales, in which he still plays a small supporting role, is quickly growing from one state to the next. And it was his come-to-Jesus moment with the vast potential for Prairie that helped him understand his more personal goals as a brewer. Through that shift in focus, and his curiosity surrounding Wild Ales, an entirely new, unproven chapter of his life opened. But for all the anxiety of venturing into unknown territory, it's his obsession with simplicity that seems to keep him keeled. I caught up with Healey at RateBeer Best in Santa Rosa this year, fresh off his second place win for best new brewery in the world with American Solera, in addition to his legacy wins for top beer and top brewer in Oklahoma for Prairie in 2017.

EP-111 Sandy Vox of Jewel-Osco Feb 03, 2017

Craft beer drinkers are finding better and better beers available in more places than ever before. And a big reason for that is large-format stores like Target, Costco, and, here in Chicago, Jewel-Osco. These big stores are looking for ways to connect with their customers on premium and locally-sourced products. The whole food and beverage industry is shifting local, not just craft beer. But for some longtime craft beer fans, that’s an uncomfortable development. I’ve heard smaller retailers lamenting the competition and criticizing these larger stores as greedy opportunists. I’ve seen drinkers describe the craft beer they see at the grocery store as corporate sellouts, boldly claiming they won’t support breweries they see on those shelves. But let’s not kid ourselves: every culture has its self-inflicted know-nothings. For the rest of us, being able to grab a six pack of a super-fresh local beer when we’re swinging through for milk and eggs is a godsend. More importantly, the people behind the decisions of who does—and does not—get on those shelves have their own perspective on what’s exciting in beer. In this case, it’s Sandy Vox, who’s been at it for 15 years. And she’d never trade in the current chaos of craft beer proliferation for anything.

EP-110 Pete Brissenden of The Bottle Shop in London Jan 28, 2017

This week’s conversation is potentially one of the most enjoyable and insightful conversations I’ve had since I started working in beer. I spend a lot of my time chatting to brewers and bar owners, but never have I taken the time to pose questions to someone who works in the world of beer distribution. I’ve known Pete Brissenden from back when he worked for London’s Meantime brewery, way before SAB Miller and subsequently Asahi bought it out. Pete’s worked for a range of breweries over the years, from the very traditional Hopdaemon in Kent to Camden Town Brewery in its formative years. These days he works for The Bottle Shop, a London based distributor and retailer that specializes in wholesaling craft beer. What differentiates The Bottle Shop from other British beer distributors is that 50% of its business is based on imports. In the UK The Bottle Shop is working with cutting edge breweries such as Beavertown and Cloudwater. While at the same time bringing in beers to the UK from the likes of Green Flash, Crooked Stave, Alpine and many more. During this discussion Pete and I cover topics ranging from pricing, to the viability of imports in a post-Brexit UK economy to the health of the cask ale market here in the UK. We also dig into his history at Camden and Meantime a little, including Pete’s reaction to the latters sale to SAB Miller while he was still working there.

EP-109 BJ Pichman of Forbidden Root Jan 21, 2017

BJ Pichman is the head brewer at Forbidden Root brewpub, Chicago’s “botanic beer” producer. As a homebrewer, he found a niche brewing pilot batches for recipe development consultants, and that eventually that got him a gig brewing the earliest batches of Forbidden Root’s first trials for their namesake root beer-inspired concoction designed by Randy Mosher and Robert Finkel. Eventually that concept would develop into a full-fledged craft beer brand and brewpub, and while botanics are still at the heart of the operation, BJ has also developed a strong portfolio of hoppy beers, most recently of the New England variety. And they’re really good. This week, he also launched his collaboration with Fernet-Branca, a bitter, herbal liquor that posed a perfect challenge for the team. The result, called Frenetic, might be the beer that finally puts this crew on the national map.

EP-108 Dan Grzeca of Ground Up Press Jan 14, 2017

This week's guest is an artist and commercial screenprinter here in Chicago. We’ve worked with him numerous times through GBH making posters and hosting workshop events. He’s well-known but depending on how you discovered his work, you know him for very different reasons. Myself, I knew him as the guy who did the Dark Lord Day posters, and Apocalypse Cow from Three Floyds. For others, he’s an artist working with bands like the Alabama Shakes. And most recently he took his first gig with a brewery making illustrations for the new cans coming out of Chicago’s Hop Butcher for the World. He’s also a small business entrepreneur, a dad of two great kids, and he works to balance all that with his creative ambitions, which are so similar to my own. So it was a great conversation, and I’m glad to share it with you all.

EP-107 New Holland Brewing Co. Jan 06, 2017

I spent the break up in Michigan, with my wife’s family in Grand Rapids like we do every year. But this year the city felt completely different. So many new things are opening, major new projects underway in beer and otherwise. We visited Sovengaard, Rick Muschiana’s new nordic-inspired restaurant and beer garden. Rick used to work at Brewery Vivant, one of our favorites. And he took what he learned there in terms of sustainability and hospitably and applied it to a new concept that really brightens up the Grand Rapids scene for me. He's got an amazing beer list—one of the most adventurous in the city by far. But also great wines, and a unique menus far away form the pub food that GR so often does. This spring the beer garden portion will open up, and I can’t wait to see it. Across the street from Sovengaard is one of GR’s most ambitious projects, the New Holland brewpub. It towers over the neighborhood, a complex with the brewpub on the ground floors, a set of private event rooms and a cocktail bar on the second, and above that new condo residences. Compared to their original brewpub back in Holland, Michigan, the contrast is stark. It’s a long way from home, maybe not geographically, but spiritually, from how I perceived the New Holland brand so many years ago on my first visit when Mad Hatter was a stand-out hoppy beer for the region, and Dragon’s Milk was something I could barely wrap my head around. As you’ll hear in this series of interviews, that’s going to change forever—maybe for the entire country. To paint a full picture of the evolution of New Holland, I decided to talk to a few people in the organization. So this is going to be a unique one. We’re going to hear from the new Grand Rapids brewpub brewer, the VP of marketing, the executive chef who overseas both locations, and the national sales manager who is taking on the challenge of taking New Holland, well, national.

EP-106 Paul Vander Heide of Vandermill Cider Dec 30, 2016

We’re sitting down with Paul Vander-Heide of Vandermill Cider out of Michigan. I first met Paul back when he was a tiny little cider mill in Spring Lake, personally loading a few kegs into his van and driving them to Chicago. He’s always been one step ahead of the cider wave that took off like a shot—and is currently hitting a bit of a plateau—in the U.S., depending on what kind of producer you are. But the reason he's succeeding is because of his foresight, willingness to adapt, opportunistic approach and, frankly, his ability to give the people what they want even as he sets his sights on a brighter future for the category. In the Midwest, I don’t think there’s a cider company that has opened more doors than Vandermill. And the growth of his company is an indication that his days ahead are even more ambitious. He’s moved production from Spring Lake to Grand Rapids in a beautiful new facility with a tasting room and a kitchen. And there’s a ton of room in there to grow. So I’m finally sitting down with Paul on what seems like the precipice of his success, but being the pragmatist that he is, he knows that his competition is getting fierce, and the entire category needs room to grow before cider makers start turning on each other. He’s a great ambassador for cider, and I’m excited to share this conversation with you. Even if I was a little hungover from a bawdy evening at Sovengaard the night before. (I think it was that last Orval or maybe the Rosé that got me.) So pardon any sluggishness in my brain on this one.

EP-105 Robert Lobovsky of Pilsner Urquell Dec 17, 2016

Today’s episode is a really interesting discussion with one of the most influential people in international beer—Robert Lobovsky of Pilsner Urquell. I say "most influential" because he’s the face and ambassador for one of the world’s most famous beers, which has only gone on to embolden its reputation over the years as its shifted from a European gem to an international icon for the Pilsner style. I had my first chat with Robert a few years ago in the Czech Republic walking around the campus and the caves of Pilsner Urquell. I found him to be a delightful conversationalist and a but of a history nut, both for Pilsner Urquell but also for his country. So getting the chance to sit down with him in the studio in Chicago was a real treat for me. We dig in to everything from the history of Pilsner, to Robert’s personal journey, to the state of world affairs that make a brewery like Pilsner Urquell such an interesting acquisition for the likes of SABMiller who, in the days following this conversation, actually sold off the brewery to Asahi as part of the monster deal between AB InBev and SABMiIller. One thing to note: in this interview we try to relate world events like the formation of NATO to the timing of the original SABMiller sale, and honestly, we struggle a bit to paint that picture. Following the interview, we discussed a bit more and came to the conclusion that SABMiller wanted to buy Pilsner Urquell because it was a bit of a pride piece for the South African conglomerate to own such a critical piece of European brewing history, but of course the signing of NATO certainly helped that investment pay off a lot faster than it otherwise would have. In fact, it helped bring companies like Pilsner Urquell to the world stage.

EP-104 Stu McKinlay of Yeastie Boys Dec 10, 2016

Today’s guest hails from Wellington, New Zealand. Stu McKinlay—along his business partner, Sam Possenniskie—founded Yeastie Boys in 2008. Stu had also been running a homebrew supply company called Liberty Brewing, but eventually sold it and put all of his energy into brewing. Instead of building their own brewery, the Yeastie Boys decided to focus on their brand. After developing their recipes, they had them brewed under contract at the Invercargill brewery on New Zealand’s South Island. In 2015, they sold equity in the brewery through crowdfunding, raising half a million dollars in just half an hour, with investors from all over the world. New Zealand has a population of four and a half million people. That’s almost half the population of London alone. So in order to make full use of this new found investment, McKinlay relocated his entire family to the UK and began the process of turning Yeastie Boys into an internationally recognized brand. As well as managing exports from New Zealand, Yeastie Boys also began contract brewing their core range in the UK, forming a partnership with BrewDog along the way. Relocating to the other side of the world to grow your business is a huge deal, so I was keen to speak to Stu about the motivations behind this and how he thinks his brand can find relevance in a foreign marketplace.

EP-103 Central State Brewing with Jake Koeneman, Josh Hambright, and Chris Bly Dec 03, 2016

Back in April of 2014, I got an email from Jake Koeneman, Josh Hambright, and Chris Bly about a concept they were starting up in Indianapolis called Central State Brewing. They had their collective mind set on being a 100% Brett brewery, they had a plan in place, they wanted help with the branding side of things, and before long GBH was working alongside them to bring the concept to life. Now it's 2016 and, like most brewery plans, things have shifted dramatically from some of that early planning. They’re still a Brett brewery, but after some real estate issues early on, they decided to go gypsy for awhile, which changed the model entirely. Subsequently we helped them open a bar called the Koelschip that serves their beers as well as those brewed by friends or people they admire, and it’s since been named one of 100 best bars in america by DRAFT Magazine after only a few months of being open. These days, they’re on the precipice of getting their own production space and opening a second bar devoted to german lagers. So needless to say, these guys are opportunistic, and some of the most adaptable people I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. And through all of that, we’ve been able to build a brand that captures their humor, their seriousness, and their desire to fuck with just about any system that we put in place. So with so much crazy history behind them already, and with them about to take some major new steps into even more unknowns, it seemed like a perfect time to capture their story. These are some of the best people you will ever meet making beer. They’re funny, honest, and not afraid to tackle some of the more challenging questions around brewing beer, being a small business owner, and managing relationships under serious financial pressures to perform. That might sound like a bummer, and they’ll be the first to tell you it can be at times. But what I admire most about these guys is their openness, their ability to article complexities, and a crazy resilience to becoming jaded. I can’t wait for the year ahead.

EP-102 Thomas Larsen of Ska Brewing + Stephen Mance of Half Acre Beer Co. Nov 19, 2016

This week’s episode is devoted to an entirely different collaboration. This one is between Thomas Larsen of Ska Brewing from Durango Colorado, and Stephan Mance from Half Acre right here in Chicago. This collaboration, like most, is largely for fun and a trip to Chicago, which Ska founder Dave Thiboldeaux is fond of making. But there’s a special reason that these two breweries are tied together and that’s through the little-known history of some hardware. You’ll often hear people talk about lineage and pedigree in brewing, the influence that a single brewer can have as he or she makes their way through the world working at a variety of breweries all over the country. It’d be one helluva genealogy protect to map out. But long before people were forced to buy new steel to open a brewery, there was a healthy secondary market for used equipment — and many of those brewhouses have lived a journeyman’s life of their own. So with that in mind, we got together at the studio to chat about the collaboration, but also some of the experiences that have shaped each brewery, and how they’re adapting to the future, each according to their own evolution.

EP-101 Michael Salvatore of Heritage Bicycles Nov 12, 2016

Today’s guest is Michael Salvatore of Heritage Bicycles in Chicago. He’s an entrepreneur with a sort of gutsy, intuitive, creative approach to creating things like bike shops, cafes, and other community-oriented places in the city that I’ve grown to love as a customer, and admire as a small business owner. He’s one of those people that you start chatting with over coffee and walk away with some new insight into your own life and work without even realizing it. At least, that’s what happens to me when I talk to him. And I finally realized how valuable that was — so I decided to bring him in to the studio and record just such a conversation to share with you all. While his focus is on bikes and coffee, he’s quite connected to the craft beer world here in Chicago. We have a ton of friends in common and he’s always pitching new ideas that are relevant to the beer world too. So I think you’ll take a lot away from this. And if not, well, you’ll at least know a lot about one of Chicago’s up-and-coming business people, and you’ll probably be inspired to pay them a visit.

EP-100 Ria Neri of Four letter Word Coffee + Whiner Beer Co. Nov 05, 2016

Today’s guest has been working in Chicago beer for a long time now, but her journey is anything but typical, and it doesn’t follow a straight line at all. Yes, she’s a home brewer who now has her own brewery. But here’s how the dots actually connect. She started as a homebrewer, and was certainly thinking about opening a brewery some day. But her next step was the role of a beer buyer for Bangers & Lace, and Trenchermen, both favorite bars of mine in the city with great lists. Then she started her own coffee roaster and cafe, called 4 Letter Word…in Istanbul. As in, Turkey, bringing third wave origin coffees to a city with it’s own unique history in coffee. Then she returned to Chicago part-time to start a Chicago-based version of the coffee brand. And during all that, she was working on a brewery concept. Like, the whole time. And just this past week, the taproom for that brewery opened to the public, following her first cans getting on to the shelf. The brewery is called Whiner Beer Co. ad it’s a partnership between herself and brewer Brian Taylor on Chicago’s southside. Their first beers, six pack of 12oz cans, are called Le Tub - a mixed fermentation, barrel-aged and blended sour saison for about twelve bucks. It’s a brave new world folks. So between her coffee roaster and now getting Whiner off the ground, we wanted to catch up with Ria before she left for Kenya this week for a coffee sourcing trip. We have a great relationship with Whiner — we helped them workshop some things with the team back when the brewery was just a sparkle in her eye — some brand strategy elements that helped focus the concept. But more importantly, their first beer served was a coffee saison for Uppers & Downers this past February, which you can hear more about from our hangover party recording, episode number 72. And at the SCAA expo in Atlanta this past spring, her and I already started talking about this year’s Uppers & Downers as we tasted through some lactic fermentation coffees. Wacky stuff.

EP-099 James Rylance of Redchurch Brewery in London Oct 22, 2016

We’re only a couple of episodes in to exploring the UK’s craft beer culture on this podcast, but already stories are beginning to emerge that I wouldn’t have heard if we’d never started. Not long after speaking to Beavertown’s Creative Director, Nick Dwyer, I was approached by his good friend, James Rylance of East London’s Redchurch Brewery. Rylance started telling me about his new brewing project at Redchurch. Redchurch just expanded out of its home in East London to a brand new production facility in Essex, just outside of the city. Making them the first of London’s new wave brewers to do so. Redchurch’s owner, Gary Ward, has handed over the previous facility to Rylance so he can devote time to creating interesting mixed fermentations and using herbs and fruit in some truly experimental beers. He’s dubbed the project “Urban Farmhouse.” Rylance himself has come a long way since he got into brewing while he was studying fine art. He cut his teeth at The Kernel before spending two years at Beavertown as they got up and running, which is where our story begins. I didn’t expect this conversation to take the twists and turns that it does. Rylance went on to tell me about how, after leaving Beavertown, he spent two months making wine in Burgundy. We also talk about the six acres of land where Redchurch will be growing their own fruit and herbs, and discuss the relevance that the term "farmhouse" has for a brewery underneath a railway arch in East London.

EP-098 Nile Zacherele of Mad Fritz Brewing Co. and David Arthur Vineyards Oct 15, 2016

Today we’re going to talk about origin beers. There’s increasing discussion in niche beer circles about the accuracy of some of our beer vernacular. What constitutes farmhouse ales, for example? Most leading farmhouse beer producers don’t operate a farm at all. Rather, they hold close to some of the prevailing traditions of those styles largely lost to history. And increasingly, farmhouse producers are located in urban environments, pulling extremely far away from their inspiration, but perhaps staying connected to methodology or year profiles that give them a way to talk about a different approach to brewing regardless of the disassociation. But today we talk to someone who’s working hard to take another part of beer making back to an extreme niche tradition, and that’s Mad Fritz Brewing in Napa Valley. Owned and operated by Nile Zacherele, a professional vintner at David Arthur Vineyards on Pritchard Hill, Mad Fritz is an attempt to take the ingredients of beer back to an origin status, not unlike winemaking where the location, the soil, and the cultivation of the ingredients is both present—and local—to the production of the beverage. To that end, Nile has convinced some locals farmers to grow barley for him, which he intends to floor-malt himself. He even sources water from local wells and reservoirs. He also barrel-ages or barrel-ferments all his beers, many of them on the paler side, which means they pick up wood character quickly. I first learned of Nile’s beers when he sent a care-package some months back and I tasted through them with some good friends and colleagues here at the studio. We were curious—and sometimes downright perplexed—by what was happening in the bottle. These were very unusual beers in both concept and execution. Not to mention the details where were we found ourselves becoming engaged—a shift in water profile, a lingering grain quality, wood character that skewed our expectations. So when I had the chance to visit recently on a short trip around the North Bay, I wasted little time in asking Nile a hundred different questions. Then we went up the hill to the vineyard to taste the grapes, the fermenting juice, and the finished wines that have serviced as a sort of inspiration point for brewing origin beers. And I’m happy to say I’m still curious and perplexed.

EP-097 Josh Mowry + John Wyzkiewicz of Miskatonic Brewing Oct 08, 2016

This week’s episode features one of Chicagoland’s newest production breweries—Miskatonic in Darien, Illinois. My first memory of these guys was sitting at Owen & Engine, an English-inspired bar on Western Avenue that routinely puts together a great list. Scanning down through it, I noticed a name I’d didn’t recognize, and next to it, a simple, refreshing style designator—“Mild.” Now, I fully admit that, as someone who drinks for a living, I’m in a bit of a bubble at times. But I was thrilled to see that word. You may recall from way back in episode 4, Mark Spence and I complained that there were no English Milds being made in Chicago. And making a beer like that close to home is critical—it’s not going to export across the Atlantic all that well. So when I saw a start-up in Chicago brewing a Mild out of the gate, I was all over it. And it was great. Delicate, slightly toasty, a tad bitter, balanced by a malt character that finished dry. It’s a perfect beer. A perfect style, really. But that Mild, as memorable as it was for me, was less about a style that Miskatonic was keen on, and more of an approach to every style they brew. Subtle, balance, delicacy—this is what I’ve come to know them as. And this past year, GBH was lucky enough to work with them as well, helping them get their story straight and their message ready for market as they entered with cans for the first time, introducing themselves to thousands of new customers. So here we are, two months into packaged product on the shelves. It’s a perfect time to ask them how it’s going—and how they got here.

EP-096 Ron Pattinson + Mike Siegel with Brewery Yard Stock Pale Ale Sep 30, 2016

A while back, when we were shooting Grit & Grain in the Goose Island barrel warehouse, there were a series of barrels set aside for a special project lead by Innovation Manager, Mike Siegel. All I knew at the time was that it was a Brett Pale Ale of sorts. Other details were kept close. Today, I got to taste the final results of that experimental beer. But more importantly, I got the back story on the collaboration between Goose Island and beer historian Ron Pattinson—who, over the years, has worked with a number of breweries to re-create ancient recipes down to the tiniest of details. Ron is a prolific writer. He's got a number of books and magazine articles under his belt, and a website that’s about as old as ours is going on 10 years now. Mike Siegel, who you may recall from episode 28 of the GBH podcast, leads innovation at Goose Island’s Fulton Street brewery in Chicago. Between them, I got a couple of words in. But mostly, I tried to clear the way for some of their deeper insight into the challenges—and the fun—of bringing a recipe like English Stock Yard Ale to life.

EP-095 Shaun Hill of Hill Farmstead Sep 23, 2016

Longtime GBH readers may recall the article I wrote about Hill Farmstead back in January 2014. For GBH, and myself as a beer writer, it was a bit of a turning point. That article remains our most-read brewery profile ever. And now that it has two years running on it, I doubt that'll ever change. The reach it’s created for GBH opened a lot of doors for me and the team, and it was shortly after that that I first began bringing other writers into the fold. The entire reason many of those writers sought me out was because of that article. It changed something for them. It gave them a reason to think about beer writing very differently—and that was their words, not mine. But I can attest that even for me, it changed things. I’ve written about many many breweries over the years—almost a decade now. And most breweries have a sense of place and personality. But until that visit to Hill Farmstead, no brewery I’d visited had that sense of place. Or that kind of personality. Indeed, it took me almost a year to gather my feelings on the subject, and to share that story with my readers. It’s a bit ironic for me that so much of my thesis was focused on the story beyond the hype for Hill Farmstead at the time. Don’t get me wrong, Shaun Hill's reputation was warranted, and the beautiful setting of the place certainly told an accurate story. But it was ironic because my experience actually made me value Hill Farmstead even more, but for very different reasons. I was attracted to Shaun's focus, the simple-but-expressive beers being made at a time when there was no real vocabulary for a mixed fermentation Saison in our typical craft parlance. The beers harkened back to my first and enduring loves, like Saison Dupont, for which I’d not found anything comparable in the states. And something about the place reminded me so much of the upbringing I had in rural Pennsylvania. The terrain, the isolation, the struggle to produce something valuable so far away from where those things are typically valued. After reading the article himself, Shaun admitted to not remembering my visit much that day. In fact, he reluctantly gave me about 10 minutes of his time and went back to work. And most of the piece came not from the things that Shaun said, but the things that he did. I witnessed not just the beauty and rare quality of it, but the work, frustration, and anxiety of it all—and it stuck with me. It was mostly a portrait built on observation, and a bit of self-reflection for my own life experience. That article tied Shaun and I together. Years later, and we’ve become friends of a sort. I’ve gone back to visit a couple times a year, like many of you have. And I’ve been lucky enough to steal away some time on each of those trips to listen and learn from his experiences up on that hill in Greensboro, Vermont. Some of it has been trying and frustrating. And some of it has been revelatory and edifying. That’s just a way of living in that part of the world. The weekend we recorded this episode, he was in town for our friend Ryan Burk’s wedding in Chicago. Ryan is the cider maker at Angry Orchard’s Walden project. You may have listened to his episode a few weeks back. You’ll find a lot of parallels here in my conversation with Shaun. The three of us learn a lot from each other these days, but of course, so much of it will be unique to his experience as the creator of Hill Farmstead—which, to my mind, is still one of the most singular things in the world.

EP-094 Doreen Joy Barber of The Five Points Brewing Company. Sep 17, 2016

Today’s guest is perhaps someone who could be described as the “hardest working person in London’s beer industry.” As well as heading up Marketing, Events & Comms for The Five Points Brewing Company in Hackney, East London, Doreen Joy Barber also co-runs the quarterly London Brewers Market, is an active member of all-female beer group, the Crafty Beer Girls and even finds the time to pull a few shifts behind the bar at The Chesham Arms, also in East London. What’s surprising is that back when she lived in her native Florida, apart from a little bar work, Doreen wasn’t an active part of the beer scene, even though it feels like she’s been working in beer all of her life. After taking a chance on applying to study a master’s in anthropology here in London, Doreen moved overseas, even writing her dissertation on CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale. I asked Doreen to come on the podcast in part because of the way she kinda just “fell into beer” and became such an integral part of it. But also because of how some people describe the brewery she works for as, how Doreen puts it: “normcore” for concentrating on a tight core offering, instead of just throwing out an increasingly myriad selection of specials, like so many of their peers. If you’re ever in London, it’s very difficult not to bump into Doreen if you visit one of her many favourite pubs, of which there are just too many to mention. And in her own words, if there’s a drink in her hand, then she’s working.

EP-093 Charles Adler of Lost Arts + Kickstarter Sep 10, 2016

My guess is you didn’t see this one coming. Neither did I, honestly. Today we talk with Charles Adler, co-founder of Kickstarter and, most recently, the founder of Lost Arts in Chicago. I’m going to let him tell you all about that. But first, I wanted to explain the connective thread I see between Charles and the beer world. First, both are incredibly entrepreneurial. And in many ways, entrepreneurialism has come to define what craft beer is. The things that Charles has created, and what craft beer values, are things like transparency, innovation, and community connections. But in my conversation with him, I think you’ll also hear some other familiar things. A heads-down approach to building something. A desire to grow, but also remain steadfast in your values and goals. The need to be a generalist, but also value specialization. It’s the constant need to balance a hundred different things that are all in tension with each other, in order to get from point A to point B. There are also a lot of parallels between my personal background and Charles’ that make for some pretty quick and interesting learning—even insights into what GBH is at its core, and how it came to be. I’m thankful for that. I hope you take away as many insights as I did about how you can think about your own business differently. Charles has that affect on people. Oh, and we talk about how a brewery might just be relevant to his new project, too.

EP-092 Ryan Burk of Angry Orchard Cider Sep 03, 2016

Today’s guest is someone I’ve been waiting to interview for a couple years now. Since I first started the podcast, he was high on my list, but for one reason after another, it always seemed like we should wait. We just didn’t know what we were waiting for, exactly. Ryan Burk is the cidermaker for Angry Orchard, specifically running their new innovation cider house in Walden, NY. He was the former cidermaker at Virtue Cider in Fennville, Michigan. And before that, he was a homebrewer in Chicago. I met him just as he was transitioning from brewer to cidermaker, pouring some of Virtue’s earliest batches. You may have seen GBH, and me in particular, take a keen interest in cider over the past couple years. We’ve written about E.Z. Orchards in Salem, Oregon, Rack and Cloth in Mosier, Oregon, and Virtue, among others—and visited many more. Ryan is the reason for all that. He held the door open for me. And in many ways, he still does. Thanks to Ryan, I was able to translate the many things I love about the most exquisite beers in the word, like Saison Dupont and Hill Farmstead, into an equally beautiful and delicious world of cider making. From there, I’ve ventured into natural and low-interventionist wine making as well. And it all started with Ryan. He’s become one of my best friends in the world. In fact, the day this podcast episode was published, I was officiating his wedding to Eva Deitch—another name you might be familiar with, as she’s one of the many photographers GBH has collaborated with over the years. I was honored to be asked. As part of Angry Orchard, Ryan also honored our business by asking us to design the labels for his personal collaborations with cidermakers all over the world that will start releasing in the coming months and years. So it’s safe to say that my relationship with Ryan is one of the more profound I’ve had in my life. I’m forever thankful for the impact he’s had on me as a person, as a drinker, and the influence we’ve had on each other professionally. That’s what this whole business of GBH is about for me, and nowhere does it come true more than right here.

EP-091 Tomme Arthur of The Lost Abbey, Port Brewing, and Hop Concept Aug 27, 2016

This week's guest is the stuff of legend—Tomme Arthur, the founder and brewmaster of Lost Abbey. He's a brewer associated with both San Diego’s hop-forward dominance in craft beer, but also the world of barrel-aged Saison and Belgian-inspired farmhouse beers that continue to carve out a niche amongst the geekiest of beer drinkers in the U.S. And Tomme continues to impress both of these highly critical audiences. But Tomme's also a big part of the future. His voice carries weight. His opinions matter to the next generation. And his expectations only seem to get higher for others, not to mention himself. I first met Tomme when we helped judge the Brewbound Start-up Brewery Challenge in San Diego. Later, we'd meet up again, this time in Belgium at Brasserie Dupont when GBH was there filming our mini-documentary about Saison Dupont. We also were lucky enough to document the historic collaboration between Tomme and Olivier Dedeycker, Dupont’s fourth-generation owner, that occurred that day. On the site, we described that collaboration as "punching a hole in time." As hyperbolic as that might seem, to the people involved that day, it barely served to capture the feeling. So when Tomme came to town for the Windy City Expo, an annual showcase with his distributor parter here, we decided to get together at the Hopleaf, a place that’s supported Lost Abbey from its early days, and have a conversation with a small group of fans in the upstairs bar. We also had some bottles from the cellar that Michael Roper was kind enough to share —and drink—with us. Here, we dig into Tomme’s origin story, San Diego then and now, brand, portfolio, and barrel-management, and at least a dozen other things. Plus, we had a great Q+A at the end with the folks in the room.

EP-090 Drew Larson of Leaders Beverage Aug 20, 2016

Drew Larson is one of those people that’s everyone’s favorite person. He’s funny, smart, affable, and, other than brewers themselves, I don’t think there’s a guy in Chicago that works harder behind the scenes to bring you great beer. Drew has an interesting road to beer. He was in the military, went to culinary school, became a sommelier, then a cicerone, then studied draft technology while he was managing the beverage program at the Hopleaf. He’s also an incredible hobbyist, and we get to that right at the start here. Eventually, all that obsession and curiosity lead him to start a company called Leaders Beverage. He now handles the design, installation, and maintenance of draft systems in a growing number of bars, breweries, and restaurants in Chicago. And he does it all with a singular approach to quality and businesse sense that you won’t find in most people who just want to clean your lines. This guy cares about the health of the industry overall, and his clients’ businesses specifically. In fact, his company maintains the six lines we have here at GBH studio. He’s the reason I’m confident in having six stainless steel flow control taps pouring some of the best beer in the city on any given day. I know it’s going to taste right. So let’s get into it with Drew and learn a lot more about draft maintenance, how it affects the beer you drink and the business that’s selling it. And of course, all the other fun stuff he does.

EP-089 Sara Hagerty of Malteurop North America Aug 12, 2016

This is going to be another deep dive into the world of brewing malts. We previously chatted with a micro maltster, Troubadour, in Fort Collins. That gave us some insight into the niche world of specialty craft malts. But today's guest covers a much wider spread. She’s Sara Hagerty of Malteurop's U.S. division. She has an incredible technical background in biology, chemistry, yeast, and now, malt sales. It’s an interesting role, working across so many different kinds of breweries in a large region of the U.S., trying to meet their needs with barley malt. And in her time with Malteurop, she’s seen the company adapt to fit the rapidly changing needs of craft brewers after so many years of providing for the largest brewers in the world. It’s quite a different beast. I met Sara at the Hopleaf recently, and within minutes of talking about her job, I knew, or at least hoped, that we’d get her in to the studio for a podcast interview so that I could share her insight and experience with you all. Thankfully, her insane travel schedule lined up with my own, and we found an hour to dig in.

EP-088 Nick Dwyer of Beavertown Brewery Jul 31, 2016

The landscape of the British beer industry has seen a seismic shift over the last few years as the influence of American craft beer culture has become ever more pervasive. But what we’re seeing now is breweries that were influenced by U.S. beer culture when they were young are now shaping this to form their own ideal. A new, brighter, and more energetic British beer community. One of these breweries is Beavertown, of Tottenham, North London, which was founded by Logan Plant—son of none other than Led Zeppelin frontman Robert—in 2012. After finding inspiration in the beer and food culture he discovered in Brooklyn, Plant returned to London and opened a restaurant called Duke’s Brew and Que in a little pocket of East London called De Beauvoir town—"Beavertown" to the locals. In less than four years, Plant has gone from brewing by himself on a six-barrel kit in the kitchen of his restaurant, to employing a 40-strong team at a state of the art 30-barrel facility. In part, this has been thanks to the great beer his brewery produces, but much of Beavertown’s success is also due to the strength of its brand and its great design. Creative director Nick Dwyer joined Beavertown part time shortly after they opened, even pulling a few shifts at Duke’s Brew and Que while the brewery got on its feet. His unique design work, featuring signature skulls and spacemen, has rapidly ensured that Beavertown has become one of the most instantly recognizable beer brands in the UK. And the brewery is already gaining traction in the U.S.—they were the only UK brewery invited to pour at the Firestone Walker invitational last month. Nick’s story of how he accidentally found his way into the beer industry after graduating from art school is a fascinating one. Working in beer might never have been his intention, but now, through his artwork, he’s helping to drive and inspire the UK’s new breed of craft brewers.

EP-087 Dave Kahle of Breaktrhu Beverage Jul 23, 2016

One of the amazing things about the beer industry diversifying like it has is that there are so many unique roles that simply didn’t exist before. And today’s guest has one of them. Dave Kahle, one of the rare Master Cicerones in the world is a specialist at Breakthru Beverage, formerly Wirtz beverage, in Chicago. A few years back, they decided to branch out from wine and spirits, and take on a role as a craft beer distributor. To do that, they knew their sales force needed a serious education, and when they went looking for someone to lead that effort, Dave answered the call. He works on the sales side, but his primary role is helping his salesforce understand the ingredients, processes, and context of beer. He does this in a variety of ways, both big and small, which you’ll hear about. But he’s also one of the first people you’ll meet at Breakthru if you’re a new brewery looking for a distribution partner. And that’s where Dave puts both his palate and his former life as the owner of a popular bar to work. He has a broad vision, and deep skepticism of many things he sees in the beer industry today. And he tries his best to put that to work to benefit the many partners he interacts with. I like to remind listeners that when you’re talking to someone from the distribution tier, they often can seem a bit vague sometimes — there’s good reason for that. They answer to many different people. And it’s not easy for them to keep everyone happy when there’s so many perspectives at work in the industry. So don’t be too hard on him — rather, try to glean something from the insights he’s so generously laying out there for us. There’s plenty to go around.

EP-086 Craig Perman of Perman Wine Selections Jul 16, 2016

For anyone who’s been following GBH since the very beginning, today’s guest will seem like a blast from the past. One of the first interviews I ever transcribe wasn’t with a beer guysat all — it was with the owner of a wine shop. Perman Wine Selections in Chicago’s West Loop is one of the city’s gems. It’s an unassuming storefront with a well-edited selection. But the real story of the place and its impact on Chicago food and beverage is its owner, Craig Perman. He conducts a lot of his business over email, through his newsletter, and he travels the world looking for niche producers that he can bring in to the US, and sometimes only to his own store as an exclusive retailer. He works with many Chicago restaurants to build their lists and supply great wines. And he’s long been an interesting follow for me given his proclivity for the written word. His newsletters are fantastic. So he’s in a bit of a hustle, like so many of us who work in the beverage industry, piecing together his skills in a variety of ways. But the real reason I like following Craig, and occasionally picking his brain, is because so much of what’s happening for wine geeks right now indicates a possible future for some of the country’s best beer makers. Resources, agriculture, fermentation, and limited intervention (essentially wild wines). But also market factors like pricing, distribution, and trends. There’s a lot more I want to get in to with Craig, and I’ll likely have to have him back again soon to do it. But this chat got us off to a great start.

EP-085 John Barley of Solemn Oath Brewery Jul 09, 2016

Sometimes it feels like every small craft brewery is in constant expansion—and the numbers back up that general sentiment. More capacity, bigger brewhouses, contracting out, and bringing canning lines in—there’s an endless number of dependencies when you’re building out an expanded space in the hopes of meeting demand or chasing a growing market. And on the surface, these expansions seem obvious, almost simple. Afterthoughts in a market where success still seems inevitable for many. But behind those expansions are a thousand tiny decisions, and a few really big ones, that add up to hope and anxiety, victories and defeats, self-doubt and over-confidence. But somehow, through all those ups and downs that any small business owner is all too familiar with, you have to have the unwavering faith that it’ll all work out. Today’s guest is John Barley of Solemn Oath. I was there when they first fired up the brewhouse in 2012. I’ve been there alongside their many phases of growth over the subsequent few years. And today, I want to bring you a story about the project that pushed them, the entire team really, to their limits. Over the past year, they’ve replaced the brewhouse, their cold storage, brought in a canning line, and even mundane things like the boiler, condenser, all the behind-the-scenes infrastructure that makes the expansion possible—an expansion that, for a while, looked like it might be too much. But here he is, on the other side. Not unscathed, but perhaps appropriately scathed. And better off for it.

EP-084 Gary Gulley of Alarmist Brewing Co., Revisited Jun 25, 2016

We’re 84 episodes in, and that means that some of the breweries we profiled when we first started this thing are a year or two old by now. And that’s a year or two of hindsight and lessons learned that anyone in the industry would benefit from. Why kind of problems has a two-year-old brewery had to solve? What kind of assumptions did they make that were completely off-base? And how did they adapt to the always-evolving nature of the market for beer? Today, I’m going to bring you the perspective of Gary Gulley of Alarmist Brewing in Chicago [from Episode 35]. It’s a small operation that hasn’t found its stride yet, though they’ve certainly found a way to solve some unique problems. And despite the hardships of running your own start-up manufacturing business, all the stress and long-term doubts and insane cash flow issues, the effect it can have on an individual and their family is still a net positive. The power of entrepreneurialism lies in that counterintuitive result—with all the incredible burden you take on, you also gain all that reward.

EP-083 — Chris Hall of Brew By Numbers Jun 18, 2016

Hosted by our London Contributor, Matthew Curtis—For my first episode, I invited one of my best friends in the UK beer industry up to my apartment, here in North London, to record an interview. These days, Chris Hall works for a cool little brewery in South London called Brew By Numbers as their sales and media guy. I’ll be bringing the full story of Brew by Numbers to GBH soon, but before then I wanted to talk to Chris about how he worked his way into the beer industry His job encompasses everything from running the brewery’s Twitter account to writing artful blog posts about forthcoming beer releases as well as developing and hosting events. On top of this he’ll often be out visiting accounts and selling beer, and on really busy days you might even see him on the back of a forklift truck moving pallets around the warehouse. Such is the way of a small business. But Chris’ journey into the brewing industry was an unconventional one. Like me, he started out as a beer blogger, which is how we met and became friends. From there he became a professional beer writer, which eventually led to his position at Brew By Numbers. This is something we’re seeing more and more of in the beer industry, people starting out as enthusiasts who are eventually turning pro. And like Chris, they’re not just succeeding—they're thriving.

EP-082 Bill Covaleski of Victory Brewing Co. Jun 11, 2016

So I’m just going to start by saying this might have been my favorite interview ever. Maybe it’s the Pennsylvania connection, or maybe it’s just Bill’s way of giving zero fucks while also being a strong competitor in the market, or maybe it’s just the lame-duck ease with which he’s handling himself after the sale and partnership with a private equity group and Southern Tier Brewing, but yeah, I think this is the one. It summarizes everything I love about doing the podcast. People sit in that chair across from me, either ready to do battle, or ready to dance, and I have the utmost appreciation for how open they are about their lives and business with me for an hour. And then letting me share it with you all. I’ve said many times that this podcast isn’t an issues-driven show — and by that I mean that I’m not looking for a hot take or new trend thinkpiece fart, or recent acquisition gossip. I’m trying to document an oral history for an industry that’s changing faster than I could possibly record. It’s guaranteed to fail in the sense that I’ll always miss more opportunities than I get. But if I thought about that, I’d probably have a panic attack. Instead, I just get what I can and hope for the best. Bill was in town for an event at the Hopleaf alongside Sam Calagione of Dogfishead and Greg Koch of Stone Brewing when this recording took place. And while I was about to hit the road, the only timeslot I had was late on a Sunday night after putting the kids to bed and Bill was happy to oblige. I’m thankful for that. Victory Brewing, man, I don’t think there’s a brewery that better defines that first wave resilience of craft beer, but still adapts and riffs on its own success to remain relevant and pioneering here in 2016. And I think you’l understand why after hearing this conversation.

EP-081 Andrew Nations of Great Raft Brewing Jun 03, 2016

Today’s guest is one of those chance encounters in the beer world where an online voice becomes a smile and and a handshake in person. Andrew Nations of Great Raft Brewing in Shreveport, Louisiana is a guy on Twitter to some. One of those lone rational voices in a literal wilderness of craft beer zealously run amok. And not long ago, he ventured to Chicago, and subsequently to the GBH Studio for a live podcast taping. That’s when he and his wife stepped out of the virtual and into the physical realm for me. And we had a great time. A few months later, and a dozen or so DMs, we realized we’d both be hanging out at the Craft Brewers Conference this year. I was keen to hear a lot more detail on Andrew’s backstory, the beers he was making, and certainly about his market, which I know almost nothing about. The south is a weird place for craft beer in terms of sales, legal issues, and styles. And this was a great opportunity to dig in to the details with a guy who seems to have his head wrapped around it all. He also brought a case of Prima Pils for no reason other than Pennsylvania won’t let you buy beer in more convenient ways.

EP-080 Tom Korder + Eric Hobbs of Penrose Brewing May 28, 2016

Ralph Waldo Emerson, the American transcendentalist, has an interesting way of describing what progress looks like — he paints a picture of a boat, tacking back and forth with the wind, as it makes its way across the ocean. From a distance, it appears to go in a straight arching line towards its pre-determined destination. But of course, up close, it’s a thousand little zigs and zags, working with the momentum of the wind in order to propel itself forward. The final destination may be determined — but it’s place on the horizon is only ever approximate until those final moments when it comes closer and closer upon hitting the far shore. For me, this is the metaphor of the emergent business strategy. And for today’s small brewers, it represents a way to plot a vision for the future, while also admitting that the prevailing winds of change will be something you have to grapple with, as elegantly as possible, on your way across the sea. And he summarizes all this, all these little decisions that composite big decisions by saying, “The force of character is cumulative.” Today’s guests are a pair that have done a good job of doing just that. Eric Hobbs and Tom Korder of Penrose Brewing Company in Geneva, Illinois, about an hour west of the city of Chicago along the metro train line, set out on the Belgian-inspired journey that began in their days together at Anheuser-Busch and Goose Island, and went forward into a future all their own. They learned some lessons early on that they adapted to quickly and with grace. Such as hitting the market early with a Belgian single and hearing “where’s your IPA” a hundred times a week. And running a bottling line for the first time, and having some yeast management issues. And hosting bottle releases for their sours, and realizing just how intense that kind of crowd can be when they don’t get what they want, how they want it. Through all of this — these two have tacked back and forth on their way to the brewery they always imagined. And in my opinion, they’re loosening up the sails, and picking up speed.

HYPE-002 Bourbon County Stout - The Science is (Mostly) In May 25, 2016

Welcome to the second GBHypecast, an episode devoted to helping a brewery share an important story that deserves to be told. This episode is about Goose Island’s ongoing research into the off flavors in Bourbon County Stout this year, something that’s been on a lot of people’s minds since January. It’s an ongoing situation, but the good news is that the science is in—and there’s a lot of detailed insight to share. Sometimes when we’re working with our clients in a creative or strategic capacity, we have access to situations that no journalist ever would. For example, we creative directed the Goose Island BCS documentary, Grit & Grain, this year, which brings this issue a little close to our hearts. And when we witness something that we think is unique or unprecedented in our work, we often encourage our clients to consider sharing a story that, on its face, doesn’t seem like something a brewery would typically share. Maybe it’s complicated, or really far off in the weeds and hard to articulate, or maybe the media tends to chew things up and spit out clickbait headlines at a business’ expense. So many of those stories, regardless of how badly our audience would want to hear them, or how important they might be for others in the industry to hear, never see the light of day. And that’s just not good enough for me. So we conceived of GBHype as a way to solve that problem. We work with the brewery to outline what we think is the real story, figure out what a real beer audience wants and should understand, and then help them bring it to life in a post on GBHype, or here—a special GBHypecast. It’s a way of creating unprecedented transparency between a brewery and its fans. And we’re proud to offer our platform and expertise to serve that need. GBHype is not unbiased. Like I said, these are our clients. I care deeply about their business, and I work with them in a strategic and creative capacity from time to time. Having said that, this interview is unscripted. My only goal is to get an important story straight and into the hands of the GBH audience as directly and truthfully as possible.

EP-079 Lisa Zimmer of MillerCoors May 14, 2016

Today’s guest is one of those people that many industry folks know and love. As for the drinkers, well, depending on who you rub elbows with online, it's quite possible you've encountered Lisa Zimmer on Twitter from time to time. She has a beer job that only exists at a large brewery. At one time, it was called "digital and consumer outreach specialist.” But her influence is so much broader than the title implies. In Chicago, she’s known as the woman who started the Brewers Unleashed series where brewers from across the MillerCoors family come together downtown to share some of their latest and most interesting beers. She’s used that event as a way to bring together beer geeks, brewers, and other professionals for a good time. She’s known as one of the most visible personalities on “beer twitter,” where she converses with colleagues and competitors, makes fun of the more absurd parts of beer culture, and generally tries to keep everybody looking up in a place where it’s just so damn easy to get down. In larger industry circles, she’s known as an innovator for the unique ways she’s helped shape the culture at Tenth & Blake, MillerCoors import and craft division. She has a key role there, helping the team stay connected and engaged in beer through education, hands-on home brewing challenges, and ensuring they get out into the world and experience the ruckus of craft beer first hand. I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know a number of folks that Lisa has brought in to the beer-loving fold. Finally, in 2014 Lisa was named one of 26 innovators making a difference in beer by All About Beer magazine, alongside people like Ray Daniels of Cicerone, Mariah Calagione of Dogfishhead, and Bob Pease, who is now President of the Brewers Association. So while Lisa has been a friend for some time now, we had yet to dig in and record an interview. As she transitions from her current role at Tenth & Blake to a new one at MillerCoors, this seemed like the perfect time to look back on a greta start in a new industry for her, and what she’ll be up to next.

EP-078 Jim Koch of Boston Beer Company Apr 30, 2016

I feel like the past 18 months have been a sort of reconciliation for craft beer drinkers and brewers, with a lot of folks focusing on beers that are highly drinkable, or sessionable, but still quite flavorful, exciting, and ultimately easy to find. There’s been a surge in the market of craft Lagers, Pilsners, Session IPAs and Sours, along with some renewed appreciation for beers like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. And in about a month we’ll be seeing an ode to Fat Tire in a collaboration 12-pack from New Belgium. So even as some craft brewers and their fans are finding more and more obscure, niche areas to explore, a lot of folks in craft beer are backing up a bit and asking themselves, "What’s good?" And, "Can we get more of that, please?" So with that kind of a swing back toward the middle, you’d expect a classic craft beer like Sam Adam’s Boston Lager to be in a bit of a resurgence. But as the nation’s largest craft brewer (right behind the recently re-defined-as-craft brewer, Yuengling), Boston Beer Company hasn’t been seeing the love—at least when you look at the numbers. The numbers for Sam Adams mimics the glacial decline of macro lagers more than it does the consistent double-digit growth of smaller craft brewers. Is it just that Boston Beer has gotten so big that it simply isn’t part of the consideration set anymore? Maybe. Is the profile of Boston Lager outdated? Maybe. But I’d like to offer a different view—one that sets aside this specific beer for a second, and takes a look at the entirely of the Boston Beer business. Boston Beer is so much more than Sam Adams. And its future seems geared toward diversity—not just a single beer they’ve been making since the 1980s. In the past few years, they’ve taken a run at IPA with Rebel, and it instantly became one of the biggest launches in craft beer history. They followed that with a spread of different IPAs all playing off that success. They’ve recently introduce a series of nitro beers that are sure to get the word "nitro" on the minds of consumers in a big way for the first time since Guinness. Boston Beer is also the owner of Angry Orchard, a cider company they started from scratch, and now owns about 60% of the cider market in just three years. And now makes more than a million barrels and growing. Even before that, they launched Twisted Tea, a brand that sells 640,000 barrels’ worth of booze a year. That’s nearly the volume of Lagunitas, and it’s still growing by double digits. Through their Coney Island Brand, part of their Alchemy & Science wing, they entered the FMB space with a line of hard sodas. They’ve also recently launched a line of alcoholic sparkling waters called Truly. All this to say, it’d be foolish to talk about Boston Beer as Sam Adams anymore. Boston Beer is a mature, well-diversified company that’s placing big bets on the next thing in alcohol that it feels it has the opportunity and expertise to pursue. Through that lens, they’re not the slow-moving, classic craft beer that we should all take pity on as it slowly loses share. Rather, they’re one of the leading companies in the U.S. when it comes to new alcoholic beverage entries. And by that account, they’re killing it. Now, that might take some of the sheen off an idol for you—especially if you were holding up Jim Koch as some sort of purist in craft beer. Although I think he’s also that. But the larger view of Koch should certainly take an honest look at the things this guy—and his company, of which he still holds all the controlling shares—puts in to the world on a regular basis. So yeah, when it comes to something like Boston Lager, this guy is as pure as they come. And when it comes to new opportunities, new ventures, new ideas—this guy is as cunning as it gets. And you don’t really have to worry about reconciling all that, of course, because Koch is nothing is not indifferent to other people’s opinions. And I kind of love him for it.

EP-077 Les Stewart and Chris Powers of Trophy Brewing Co. Apr 23, 2016

I was in North Carolina for a quick minute helping launch a start-up, and I had about a 2-hour window on my last night in Raleigh to record a podcast episode with one of the city’s best known breweries — Trophy. I visited both their locations — known as little Trophy and big Trophy — and we really hit it off. From as far away as Chicago, I could tell Trophy had something special. Sometimes you can just see it. And my first visit didn’t disappoint. Clean, well-fermented beers with character. A great vibe in the pub. And their early, hard-earned success off the back of a 3bbl system is about to get some relief with a new production facility on the other side of the city. So later that night the boys came by the hotel to record. It was the end of a long day of working and drinking, so this one’s a bit on-the-fly, but it’s such a great conversation with two of the most charming people you’ll ever meet.

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