Beer Guys Radio | Craft Beer Podcast

Send a textWe open the show with some sad news. Tim Very, drummer for Manchester Orchestra, died unexpectedly at just 42. We didn't know Tim well, but in our interactions he was always happy and super friendly. The death was unexpected and no cause has been reported. We're all big fans of their music and were saddened by the news. We wish all the best to his bandmates, family, and friends.Curling is hot news right now. Olympic drama, guys curling cases of beer. I mean, it is an Olympic sport but from the stories of my Canadian friends it sounds like it's much like joining a bowling league here in the US. Get together and have a little fun while you drink some beers. Now that's what I call "training for the Olympics."Speaking of sports... the Super Bowl was good for beer sales. No shocker there. Super Bowl parties and beer are a match made in heaven. I'll be concerned when I hear beer sales went down before Super Bowl Sunday. Definite sign of the apocalypse. We also got some

Send us a textIn this episode...Bottlesharing and Amaro-Inspired StoutsDropping By Frog Rock BrewingWholesalers vs. Brewers Association TakesSurprising 2025 N/A Beer InsightsGenerational Booze Stats2026 Edition of Beer Style Guidelines OutPolitical Beer Drama in Wisconsin150-Year Old Beer Found in ArizonaBear Poop Beer For The Super BowlThanks for listening to Beer Guys Radio! Your hosts are Tim Dennis and Brian Hewitt with producer Nate "Mo' Mic Nate" Ellingson and occasional appearances from Becky Smalls.Subscribe to Beer Guys Radio on your favorite app: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | RSSFollow Beer Guys Radio: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube If you enjoy the show we'd appreciate your support on Patreon. Patrons get cool perks like early, commercial-free episodes, swag, access to our exclusive Discord server, and more!

Send us a text2026 shaping up to be the year of convenience store beer.  It's got Goldman Sachs feeling particularly bullish.  They're throwing around "buy" recommendations on beer stocks.  We're obviously long on beer.  And by that I mean, Brian is driving the sales of Long Beers at Atlanta-area convenience stores.BrewDog is also all over news lately, and in keeping with tradition it's all bad.  James Watt- is he coming back?  Did he ever really leave?  Does anyone care?  Did anyone know they had a distillery?  All these questions and more are asked in this episode. And then there's 44-year old bottle of bourbon that set an auction record, and study that raises doubts about neo-prohibitionist alcohol claims.  Take that, activist teetotalers.Thanks for listening to Beer Guys Radio! Your hosts are Tim Dennis and Brian Hewitt with producer Nate "Mo' Mic Nate" Ellingson and occasional appearances from Becky Smalls.Subscribe to Beer Guys Radio on your favorite app

Send us a text70% of people doing Dry January are liars.Here's one I find hard to believe. Apparently 70% of people taking part in Dry January so they won't go back to drinking. C'mon, you ain't fooling me. Maybe they asked them like a week into January and they were feeling good and high and mighty and thought they would keep it up, but I just don't see that many people calling it quits. We'll see what the numbers tell us.Some news that didn't shock us this week is that former Rogue employees are suing the company claiming they didn't proper followed proper procedure per the WARN Act that says you have to notify employees of larger companies before a plant closure effecting 50 or more people. (I think it was 50.) Considering the company is going (went) out of business there may be exceptions in play here. Another that we'll see how it develops.The oldest monastic brewery in the world has been sold. Weltenburg Abbey in Bavaria has been brewing for 1,000 years and t

Send us a textWe got new drinking rules, Y'all!New federal dietary guidelines came out in the US recently and there are some changes to the recommendation on alcohol consumption. Rather than the old 1 drink for women, 2 drink for men it's been changed to "Drink Less." That's it, just an ambiguous suggestion to drink less. Do with that what you will.And we've found a loophole to comply, along with another Guinness trend - The "60/40." Apparently some pubs are mixing 60% regular Guinness with 40% of the NA variety. Technically this would meet the new guidelines and also provide some justification to say you're doing Dry January. I mean, you are drinking NA beer, right?Firestone Walker is celebrating a big birthday as they turn 30. They do good work and it's one of the few breweries not in Georgia that I'd love to see here. Maybe one day.In other news we've got another Sycamore update (which I promise will be the last one unless something notable happen

Send us a textDid you miss us?Seems like forever since we did a show. Hope you had a nice Christmas and New Year! 2026 is starting off exhausting, good thing there's beer.We probably should have made a bigger deal of this but with all the other stuff in our lives we didn't get to throw a big party. But, we turned 10! That's right, 10 whole years of Beer Guys Radio. It's been a crazy ride.Of course with the new year comes the calls for Dry January. We chat about the stats on who's participating, and what their success may look like as well as potential loopholes for staying dry. Our vote? Enjoy your beers responsibly, as always. Your breweries need you to keep going and if everyone took a month off it would be a heavy hit. If you do choose to skip the booze maybe go check out their NA offerings, or grab a meal or two.It seems alcohol sales were up over the holidays, but of course that's followed by the aforementioned Dry January. We'll still take any positive news available.I

Send us a textWe start the show this week reminiscing the days of chasing beers. Brews like KBS, CBS, BCBS (I see a trend here) were hard to come by and disappeared quickly. Now, they sit on shelves getting dusty. Do we have too much good beer?We correct some bad intel we got recently. It seems that Anchor Brewing isn't leaving San Francisco and never intended to. American Craft Beer used AI to create their article and it got some info wrong. Never trust AI.We also heard of the horrible charges against the founder of Sycamore Brewing. Initial a single charge but more has been added. And it looks really, really bad.Note: Sycamore made the Top 3 in our Holiday Beer show. The show was recorded and scheduled for release prior to the news breaking.Irish Stouts seem to be having a moment. First Guinness said they're doing well and now Murphy's said things are going swimmingly. What happened that made these dry stouts have a moment?ABInBev is making some changes. They'll close some breweries and

Send us a textIt is time once again to share some of our favorite holiday beers with the help of our Jewish friends Ron and Michael from Rainy Day Brewing.We keep it simple. Blind tasting a bevvy of holiday brews and picking our favorites. No specific styles, just holiday themed and rated on how much we enjoy them.This year's beers...Bell's Brewery Christmas AleBrasserie d'Achouffe N'Ice ChouffeBrasserie Dubuisson Scaldis NoelBrouwerij Corsendonk Corsendonk Christmas AleBrouwerij St.Bernardus Christmas AleDeschutes Brewery Kirkland Signature Vintage AleHighland Brewing Cold MountainHuyghe Brewery Delirium NoelRogue Ales Santa's Private ReserveSchloss Eggenberg Samichlaus ClassicSpoetzl Brewery Shiner Holiday CheerSweetwater Festive AleSycamore Brewing Christmas Cookie AleWe won't give any spoilers here but will say we had a solid showing this year and you have plenty of great beers to choose from.Let us know what you think of the rankings and any favorites that we didn't try

Send us a textAre you a connoisseur of cask ale?Cask ales aren't wildly popular in the US, but they have their fans. For folks in the Atlanta area we do have a couple of places known for the quality of their casks, and they put up some unique offerings.In a huge announcement the Siebel Institute announced they'll be leaving Chicago, a city they've called home for 157 years. The prestigious brewing school cited immigration policies as part of the reason for the move. Users on Facebook debated the validity of that claim. Either way, they'll be heading to Canada very soon.Tilray is all over the news lately. A reverse stock split, closing Revolver, and rumors they may be interested in buying Rogue. They're really all over the place.Boston Beer Co. is facing a class action lawsuit on the way they enforce non-competes. Apparently they're bending rules some in the way they compensate exiting employees that are under a non-compete. I generally think favorably of Boston Beer Co., but this

Send us a textPioneering brewery Rogue Ales announces closure.Reading the news of Rogue Ales' closing I saw several people react with surprise. These don't surprise me anymore, every brewery is at risk. Rogue isn't the biggest we've seen fall and I'm sure there will be more. It does still sting. Craft beer is really taking a beating.Rogue Ales is credited with introducing the "bomber" to the beer world. The 22 oz. bottles were extremely popular for a while. My cellar is still full of them. I recall drinking macros in 22s back in the day, but we called the Double Deuces. I thought it was before Rogue, but Rogue was launched in 1988, even before my drinking days began, so maybe they did introduce them. Props to Rogue for that one.Surprising news from the ashes of Iron Hill. Some of the recently closed locations have been purchased and may reopen, as Iron Hill. No real details on this one right now but we'll keep an eye out.Not beer news here but the hemp ban passed. We do

Send us a textThe giants keep falling...New came out this week that Monster will shutter the original Cigar City Brewing in Tampa. It's been nothing but a downward trend for Cigar City since Monster took over, even before the overall industry started to slide. Corporate and craft just don't mix. A sad day. (After the show taping we also learned that Rogue Brewing will be closing.)More lighthearted fun news in the beer world - Carlsberg is making the world's smallest beer. This lil' guy isn't much bigger than a grain of rice but it is a real bottle, with a real cap, that hold real (non-alcoholic) beer.We've also got a new Winter seasonal coming for Sam Adams. It's the first new Winter seasonal in over 30 years. BOLO for Sam Adams Winter White Ale and let us know what you think.In other news Sierra Nevada's Celly Drippins gets a "national" release, a sour beer pioneer retires, and the beer institute is gunning for THC bevs... but I think our government just made

Send us a textIn this week's episode...I normally like to do a nice write up here but I was off this week and haven't had a chance to listen through. I hope you'll forgive me for the lazy list this week. Cheers, y'all!Saying goodbye to Independent DistillingInnis & Gunn's 1875 Arctic AleBeer From 45 Million Year Old YeastUntappd For All Beverages?Big New Glarus Expansion UpdateThe BA's “Brews to Barns” Tax CreditFaster Lambic Production With... Peas?Red IPAs The Next Big Thing?Thanks for listening to Beer Guys Radio! Your hosts are Tim Dennis and Brian Hewitt with producer Nate "Mo' Mic Nate" Ellingson and occasional appearances from Becky Smalls.Subscribe to Beer Guys Radio on your favorite app: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | RSSFollow Beer Guys Radio: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube If you enjoy the show we'd appreciate your support on Patreon. Patrons get cool perks like early, commercial-free episodes, swag, access to

Send us a textDo you remember the Randall?Maybe 10 years ago you couldn't go into a craft beer bar or many breweries without seeing a Randall. If you missed this fad the Randall was/is a device that attached to beer lines and allowed you to serve the beer through ingredients to add flavor. Like berries, cinnamon sticks, coffee beans, etc. They were neat, but the fad was short lived. But they may be making a return, or at least a variation, the Renee. Now you can Randall at home. It's pretty fun and a neat way to experiment. Give it a shot.We've heard about beer going to space a few times. Sometimes just yeast or hops, but I Japanese company is brewing a beer in space to see what kind of impacts it has on the beer, if any?In other news... Brewery failure (may) present opportunities for trademark acquisition, craft beer makes its way to Jeopardy, meet the Vienna Lager, and what not to drink with your hot wings.Cheers!Thanks for listening to Beer Guys Radio! Your hosts are Tim Dennis and Brian Hew

Can AI make our beer better?AI is everywhere these days, and now it's coming for our beer. Is that a good thing? AI research was used to optimize beer fermentation and reduce the time to get to a finished beer, supposedly with the same quality. I don't trust it, but I'm open to tasting the results.In keeping with tradition when Sam Adams Utopias releases every news outlet mentioning it has to include the fact that it's "illegal in 15 states." We know, we know. This year's version hit a milestone, clocking in at 30%. Are you going to try it?More beer science suggest that both regular beer and NA beer improve our guy biome. I'm all for gut health and bringing beer to a health routine sounds good to me.A Canadian airline is offering free beer on flights. Air Canada is making the "generous" offer to it's passengers. The catch, they're also implementing a $35 carry-on baggage fee. You'll pay for your beer one way or another.In other news Main Beer Co

Another GABF is in the books...Reports from the field say this year's Great American Beer Festival was a shell of what it once was. That's not surprising considering the overall craft landscape, but still a bummer.Seeing the beers and breweries that win, and what categories are popular is always fun. I learn about new breweries every year. Also, the West Coast IPA continues to make a comeback. There were 300 entries in the category with Hazy/Juicy edging it out for the top spot but just 1 more entry. Impressive.More news on Iron Hill that somewhat unexpectedly shuttered all their locations. Their financial are pretty shocking. It's a bit surprising they stayed open this long.On the international front, India is facing a major can shortage that could impact beer supplies and more news on pre-Incan psychedelic brews. Groovy.Thanks for listening to Beer Guys Radio! Your hosts are Tim Dennis and Brian Hewitt with producer Nate "Mo' Mic Nate" Ellingson and occasional appearances from

How much beer would it take for you to change your name?What kind of beer? For how long? How about 19 years worth of Busch Light? That's the dream for someone, I'm sure. And Busch Light is ready to deliver.Oktoberfest is officially over in Germany but in keeping with American traditions it will be going strong here for about another month. We're OK with it. More festbiers and schnitzels are fine with us. A little scare at Oktoberfest last week, it had to be shut down briefly due to a potential bomb threat.We got an update on Asahi. Seems like they're back online after the cyberattack last week. We're getting mixed signals on whether or not data was leaked. We'll update if we find out more.Gen X is now the king of packaged goods, including beer. That honor has gone to Baby Boomers for a while now, but Gen X took the lead. We're very proud of our accomplishment.In other news... Winston Churchill's work around for American Prohibition, Dubai chocolate (stouts?), a real bee

Another week and more Oktoberfest fun. We got out for some barrel aged goodness and hot pretzels as the Fest season rolls on.Big news on a couple fronts this week as Iron Hill announces the closure of all locations. They'd previously stated few were slated to close so this was a surprise. Asahi also announced all (or several, it's unclear) of their breweries were shut down due to a cyberattack.Michelob Ultra takes the top spot as the best selling beer in America, dethroning Modelo which took a bit quicker rise to the top after Bud Light alienated a large portion of their fanbase. Let's see how long they stay there.Rumor is that Gen Z may be saving cask ale. Brian actually called that one. Good for them, they've been taken the blame for too much lately.In other news there's some cool new science for using spent grains, Charlie Sheen's got an NA beer coming, and chimpanzees are total lushes. Cheers!Thanks for listening to Beer Guys Radio! Your hosts are Tim Dennis and Brian Hewitt

It is time once again to drink a bunch of Oktoberfest beers, for science.Is it Oktoberfest again already? Almost. But we're ahead of the curve. Not enough to be seasonal creepy, mind you, just enough to get you prepped for the festivities.Our annual Oktoberfest blind tasting is one of our (and your) favorite episodes. We sit down and sample a dozen Oktoberfest beers and pick our favorites. This year was a fun one.Shout out to the Nates for hosting and catering the event. We had brats, charcuterie, beer cheese dip, hot German potato salad, and soft baked pretzels. Quite the smorgasbord. The ContendersAyinger Privatbrauerei Oktober Fest-MärzenBrooklyn Brewery Brooklyn OktoberfestFat Orange Cat Brew Co. Bavarian KittensHacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest MärzenHofbräuhaus München OktoberfestbierSpoetzl Brewery Shiner OktoberfestTucher Bräu FestbierSamuel Adams OctoberfestSierra Nevada Brewing Co. / Störtebeker OktoberfestSix Bridges Brewing FeierabendWarsteiner OktoberfestWeihenstephaner OktoberfestbierHave you trie

How much would you pay for brewery swag???Brian and I checked out Atlanta’s new soju distillery this week and learned a lot—everything from smooth 17% pours to a fiery 40% bottle, plus makgeolli, the cloudy, tangy rice wine that surprised us in the best way. Back at Halfway Crooks, I nearly bought a tote bag until I saw the $20 price tag, which sparked a whole chat about brewery swag sticker shock.We also dug into the sad news that 21st Amendment is closing after 25 years, shared our beers of the week (including Focal Banger, Cold-Hearted IPA, and a big port-and-bourbon-barrel stout), and laughed about Gen Z putting ice in beer. Add in some global stories—Africa’s beer boom, mosquitoes loving beer drinkers, and even trace MRI chemicals in European lagers—and it was a packed episode.Next week’s our Oktoberfest tasting show, so no livestream, but plenty of Märzens on deck!Cheers!TimThanks for listening to Beer Guys Radio! Your hosts are Tim Dennis and Brian Hewitt with producer Nate "Mo' Mic Nate"

Big booze gets a beating from boycottsBeer adjacent news here. It seems Canadian boycotts are hurting American whiskey wine report sales down massively across Canada. I imagine these aren't the only international pains we'll be feeling.Some beer growth is happening, even if it's for Big Beer. Guinness announced they're undertaking a massive expansion to relieve pressure on their main brewery. The new location will also brew other brands under parent company Diageo's umbrella.RIP to an OG. Gordon Bowker, co-founder of Redhook (and Strabucks!) has died. He was 82.In other news more BrewDog drama as co-founder leaves suddenly, Maine Beer Co. founder Dan Kleban is making a run for US Senate, and the science of beer foam and why it matters.Thanks for listening to Beer Guys Radio! Your hosts are Tim Dennis and Brian Hewitt with producer Nate "Mo' Mic Nate" Ellingson and occasional appearances from Becky Smalls.Subscribe to Beer Guys Radio on your favorite app: Apple Podcasts