Beer Guys Radio | Craft Beer Podcast

What beer would you sip at a seance?In preparation for Spooky Season Sam Adams has a seance kit available to help you connect with one of America's true patriots. So far, the problem there has been that it's always sold out. We'll keep trying.As if regular life isn't spooky enough right now we are coming up on Halloween. We'll take any excuse to have some seasonal beers so we ponder what would be a good beer for Halloween. There are a few that directly target it, but several others seem like they could be appropriate.In the category of "stupid fun" we have the latest social media trend of "Splitting the G." Grab a pint of Guinness and try it for yourself.Big Changes at the Great American Beer FestivalConsumer expectations and beer fests have changed a lot over the last few years. Previously, as long as you had a lot of great beer, you had a great fest. That's not going to do it anymore. The Brewers Association took note and this year's GABF will see a shi

We recorded this show on 10/02 and info was current as of that time. As with any developing story additional news could have been shard since thenAsheville and Western NC was devastated as Tropical Storm Helene moved through the area last week. The town was mostly destroyed, along with many breweries, other businesses, and homes.Updates were difficult as Asheville was cutoff from passage in or out and cell phone and electricity were out. I'm sure that posting updates to social media was not high on the priority list, but we did the best we could to find out what info was availble.North Carolina needs youA lot of support will be needed for everyone to recover. Now, and in the future. We curated a list of some charities that are reported as reputable, but we recommend you vet any charity you choose to donate to. If you're in the area and able to volunteer resources are needed there as well.How you can help:Drink!Buy and drink North Carolina beer. A simple one that doesn't require much change from

12 beers, 4 guys, and a bunch of sausage and pretzelsIt's hard work, but we're up for the challenge. We sat down with 12 beers Oktoberfest beers, Festbier and Marzen, sampled them blind, and picked our favorites. Some Oktoberfest fun and lore thrown in for good measure.The RulesWe're not beer judges and don't judge like beer judges. The simple criteria here is whether or not we enjoyed the beer and it's appropriate to the style. Our favorite gets 3 points, 2nd gets 2 points, and 3rd gets 1 point then we tally up the cumulative score and pick our Top 3. Boom.The Beers (In alpabetical order, tasting order is different)Ayinger | Oktober Fest-Märzen | MärzenEdmund's Oast | House Oktoberfest | MärzenHighland Brewing | Clawhammer Oktoberfest | MärzenPaulaner | Oktoberfest Märzen | MärzenSamuel Adams | Octoberfest | MärzenSierra Nevada / Brauerei Gutmann | Oktoberfest | FestbierSix Bridges | Feierabend | MärzenTerrapin Beer Co. | Oktoberfest | MärzenTucher | Festbier | FestbierWarsteine

This week on Beer Guys Radio...Kernza Lager and Kernza NA Golden Brew are out.  A collaboration between Deschutes and Patagonia using a pretty interesting grain.Did you know France is growing hops?  They want people to take notice of what they're doing.  And French hops may be in some of your favorite beers already.Stats are in for beer sales during NFL's opening weekend.  We're curious whether people drink more when their team is winning or losing.  What do you think?Black Tuesday is turning 15 and throwing a big party.  If you're looking for a big and boozy, sweet stout then this one's for you.Weathered Souls announced the closure of their brewery.  Despite gaining fame with their Black is Beautiful collaboration beer, they've obviously faced the same struggle as many others.As the cold weather starts to creep in it's PSL everything.  Are we softening on our disdain for pumpkin beers?  Maybe.NEXT WEEK!  We're much later than we wanted to be but it's time for our

Bad news keeps coming for craft beerA commenter online noted, "I thought they were the good guys," when discussing a recent round of massive layoffs at Tilray-owned breweries.  We did too.  Good guys or not, when breweries are owned by a huge corporation most (all?) of the emotional attachment is removed from ownership.  Where a family-owned brewery may push through tough times and try to keep people working, for better or worse, a large corporation has no interest in such tomfoolery.  Plus, when you merge several breweries you're definitely going to have some duplication of duties in the workforce.And with that said Tilray cleaned house at 10 Barrel, Sweetwater, and Terrapin.  No one was safe with Terrapin laying off brewery co-founder Spike Buckowski and President Dustin Watts.  The entire Innovation Brewing team at 10 Barrel was let go, and several salespeople across all three breweries.  This news always sucks, but this one hit us close to home with many of our friends impacted.In other new

It's drinkin' season, Baby!We made it! September 1st, the self-imposed Oktoberfest beer embargo has been lifted! I celebrated the occasion with a local offering, Feierbend from Six Bridges Brewing. Many more to come.There are many styles that are traditional Oktoberfest beers but here in the US of A we mostly consider Festbier and Marzen to be seasonally appropriate. As we all know, many have been on the shelves and taps for a while, but more are coming. What's your preference during Oktoberfest? Team Festbier or Team Marzen?September is Craft Malt MonthThere are a lot of great reasons for using local malt in your brews. Supporting local farmers and making less impact on the environment are a couple of great ones. Craft maltsters have grown exponentially over the last decade, and the Craft Maltsters Guild wants to celebrate them. For more info check out this article.GoFundMe for Rooftop Brewing staff after fireWe don't share GoFundMe's much, almost never, but this seems like a good ca

Do you really want to see the calorie count on that barrel aged stout?The requirement for brewers to list ingredients and nutrition info on beers has been going around for a while. Regulators want it, breweries are fighting it. Listing all the ingredients and nutritional data isn't as simple as printed a label. There's a lot of time and cost involved. If implemented this would have a huge impact on smaller breweries, and ultimately on consumers as well.BEER SCIENCE!Courtesy of Hop Queries from Stan Hieronymus we're talking thiols this week. Those are the compounds that bring most of the flavor to beer. Scientists in Germany studied a lot (but not all) hops to give some data on the impact of thiols in various varieties.Stone Virginia looks to unionizeMore union talk, another brewery soldStone Virginia employees are moving forward with an effort to unionize. While I'm generally not a fan of unions, there are definitely situations where they are needed. We'l keep an eye on this story as

Seasonal creep IS the spooky season!Yes, we're still ranting about this, dammit. First the Oktoberfests hit the shelves in early July and now the pumpkin beers are out. I even saw one for "Spooky Season." Please. Stop. We still have a full month of Summer left and we want to enjoy it.However.... Brian did propose a compromise. It's not a bad idea and it gives every beer the season and love it deserves. More info in the show.Some cool news from NB2A (National Black Brewers Association) as two breweries received equipment grants from established breweries. A 20 bbl brewhouse and a canning line and heading to new homes. Always great to see how craft breweries help each other.Not so cool news, Cambridge Brewing is closing after 35 years. Close to home, Southern Brewing Co. in Athens, GA announced their closure but said they hope to return one day. That Lazarus move is a tough one for brewery to pull off. Good luck to them.In other news beer prices are rising faster than inflation, Abu Dhabi ge

Tilray to buy 4 breweries from MolsonCoors.Big beer news this week (or is it Big Beer news?) with weed warrior Tilray buying 4 breweries from MolsonCoors. Included in that sale is our beloved Terrapin Beer Co. If my math is right this will bring 15 breweries under the Tilray brand, plus some distilleries and cideries. Per Brewbound, the move will make them the #4 largest craft brewery on the Brewers Association's ranking. On the flip side of that coin, Monster Beverage is doing terrible. They posted a nearly 32% sales decline YoY. As we've seen with their huge layoffs and changes at Cigar City, they haven't shown much skill in being brewery owners.Tough news for hop farmers in the Pacific Northwest as they announce a loss of acreage this year due to the declining craft beer market. They took a 12% loss last year as well. The domino effect of craft beer impacts so many more people and businesses than just brewers and breweries.Some fun news for our friends at Athletic Brewing as they announced a

Who would you nominate for the Craft Beer Hall of Fame?A lot of great people made craft beer what it is today and a group of passionate fans is working to recognize them. Craft beer writer, judge, and educator Marty Nachel kicked things off and selected and amazing group to help put things together. The website is live now with intentions to announce the first inductees this Fall. You can check it out here - American Craft Beer Hall of Fame.It not-so-great news, World of Beer announced their entering Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Their locations in Atlanta didn't do well but the chain had a huge, and successful, presence in Florida and other areas. They were one of the last places we remember seeing a beer randall. J Wakefield announced their closing their taproom in Miami's Wynwood neighborhood but they're not going away. Expect more info on that soon.More news in beer taxes, amazing grains, and we had to talk about tinned fish and our daily cologne. You don't want to miss it!  Thanks for listen

No, Summer is not "almost over!"It always happens around this time of year. Kids start going back to school and all the folks with children think that means Summer is over. They start yapping about it, stores have sales for it. Well, Summer isn't over, and I need you all to shut your mouth with trying to make it over. We got nearly 2 months left and I'm going to enjoy it.As I enjoy my Summer sun, Summer heat, and (of course) Summer beers I'm gonna be smelling good, too. Our buddy Seth come through town from Houston last week and, after showing him some of the Atlanta beer scene, he gave us a mess of Texas beer. I cracked into a Lone Pint Yellow Rose this week, and Brian was sipping some Spindletap 5% Tint and Martin House The Silk Road. Good seeing ya, Seth. Thanks for the beers.In the news this week Brooklyn and Carlsberg collab to do a larger release of a beer brewed with fonio. We've talked about this tough grain on past episodes and it's cool to see what they do with it.

Would you drink a beer that tasted like a cowboy boot?Hop Valley Brewing in Oregon has introduced a Pale Ale brewed with Elixir hops that are... “a robust and complex hop that offers unique aromas of cognac, leather, and tobacco…”  I mean, OK?  I'd try it out of curiosity but that does not sound like a flavor I'd be keen on.Brian got to party last weekend with Atlanta United and Sweetwater Brewing.  Their new collab, Rowdy Peach IPA, made it's debut and Sweetwater through one heck of a tailgate party to celebrate.  Brian said the beer is tasty, and very peachy.More beer stats this week as we talk about the countries producing the most beer.  Any guesses who has the top spot?  Japan is trying to get drinkers to slow down so one brewery they created a slow beer glass.Goose Island announced the lineup for this year's Bourbon County Brand Stout release.  We've still got a few months to wait for the release but it's never too early to start planning for drinking season!Thanks for list

Sometimes you're cursed, but just a little bit.This week was... an adventure. Our streaming service didn't want to work and I found out they don't have live tech support. What kind of crap is that? We eventually got things going and then I immediately dumped ice water on myself. Brian said it was a Weak Witch curse. You know what we mean, something that happens to you but is just a minor inconvenience, we've all been there. This drink sounds like a Weak Witch curse. Evil Malort. A bartender decided to take Malort and make it worse. That's quite a mission. The Brewers Association released some stats on drinking habits and it seems folks in general are drinking less craft beer. The drop is small, but it is a drop. Seems pretty consistent with other reports we've seen. The cause of the drop in consumption could be many things - younger generations drinking less in general, an aversion to carbonation, or maybe people are getting their buzz on with the advancing legalization of weed.A

Dan Kopman knows a thing or two about beer.Some of you may recognize the name Daniel Kopman. If you don't know his name, you undoubtedly know some of his work. Currently, Kopman is a Professor and Lecturer at American University's Kogod School of Business and, likely more notable to us beer nerds, a Senior Policy Advisor for the World Brewing Alliance. Previously he was the co-founder and CEO of Schlafly Beer in St. Louis, CEO of Heavy Seas, voting member of the Beer Institute, and board member of the Brewers Association.What is the World Brewing Alliance? In short, they're the trade association for trade associations. Over 70% of the world's beer production is represented by the WBA from small brewers to multinational conglomerates. Their mission is to corporate social responsibility, sustainability, responsible marketing practices, and invocation in the brewing sector. On the other side of things, they represent brewers to organizations like the UN and the World Health Organization. Brin

It's Episode 420 - Drink 'em if you got 'em.A momentous occasion as we celebrate our very own 420 day. We don't really get into the cannabis side of things much. We've sampled it and it just doesn't agree with us. I get sick and Brian gets all congested. Beer treats us much better. But, we know lots of people enjoy their THC and CBD, is that an issue for craft beer?Some research suggests that, in states where legal weed is available, some people are opting to smoke/eat instead of having beer, or another beer. Will we see more of this as more states legalize? Beer Twitter even gave cannabis beverages a slight lead when asked if we were more likely to see more NA beer or THC-infused beverages on tap in 10 years.The research was self-reported, and it's important to remember respondents were either high or drunk.  If even they weren't, people tend to a very poor job of assessing themselves when asked, and some just lie.Move over THC, Coca beer is hereAs we fight to get cann

In a sea of closures Jekyll Brewing continues to growIt's not a story you hear often these days. Not only has Jekyll Brewing weathered the storm of the last few years, they're thriving. Founder and CEO Michael Lundmark joins us this week to chat about beer, taking care of yourself, and what's been key to his growth.Jekyll opened in the Dark(er) Ages of Georgia beer. Breweries weren't allowed to serve food and couldn't even sell beer direct to consumers. It was a land of tours and tastings and anyone around in these days may have some tickets or tokens stashed back.In addition to expanding his locations, he's also expanded his offerings. Alongside a variety of beer you'll find spirts, seltzer, and wine. As the laws changed Jekyll took advantage of the new rules. They opened a restaurant brewery in city center of Alpharetta, GA. Woodstock and Gainesville, GA would follow, and Jacksonville Beach, FL. Jekyll's not done yet, Mike has his sites of a few more Florida locations

Would you pay more for sustainably brewed beer?We made it through another week and we have definitely earned a beer or five. It's hawt in Georgia. We're supposed to top 100° heat index this weekend. Say a prayer for us.A survey suggests 50% of beer drinkers would pay 30% more for a beer that was sustainably brewed. I'm skeptical of those results, but that's what the survey says. Sustainably seems to be a goal of nearly every brewer now so I kind of expect my brewery is trying to be sustainable. How about you?No more "best by" dates!  We have to take a stand, y'all. Breweries have to start putting canning dates on cans. None of this best by stuff that you have to decipher. What do they consider best by? 3 months, 4 months, 6 months? Just tell me when you put that juice in the can and I'll make my own decision, thank you very much.Following up on our discussion of adding a bit of saline solution to cocktails, Brian experimented with adding some distilled water to whisk(e)

New to tinned fish? We got you covered.This was bound to happen. With our recently found love of tinned fish we had an expert join us to talk about the benefits of tinned fish and offer up some beer pairing suggestions.We know cans of sardines and oysters aren't for everyone. But these delicious fishes get a bit of a bad wrap, especially here in the States. Season Brand marketing manager Sara Kelly hung out with this to share some of the pros of tinned seafood, info on their offerings, and even throw out some beer pairing suggestions.Tinned fish is trendy now. I don't know how or why, but it is. TikTok influencers are throwing up videos of their favorite tins and recipes. It's crazy. BUT... sardines and other tinned fish do have a lot of benefits - not only are they convenient but they're packed with nutrients (get all those Omega-3s) and protein. Just watch that salt intake since they're usually pretty high on that as well.If you're not down with skarfing whole little fishies th

Former Cigar City brewmaster opening a North Carolina breweryNo shocker at all to hear that Wayne Wambles, the former brewmaster at Cigar City that was unceremoniously let go by the Monster Energy overlords, is opening his own brewery.  Wambles has purchased UpCountry Brewing in Brevard, NC.  Can't wait to see what he brews up.In our constant (for some reason) pursuit of Malort news we hear bars in Chicago are serving shots infused with... cicadas.  And people say craft beer comes up with crazy ingredients.A legend of Oregon brewing has passed away.  Art Larrance founded the Oregon Brewers Festival and co-founded Cascade Brewery.  The industry definitely lost a great one.More this week on yeast being used to recycle metal, using saline in cocktails, end of the Molson-Coors strike, and the Lagunitas Chicago closure.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.Subsc

We do love our Georgia beerLast weekend we attended the Georgia Craft Brewers Fest in lovely Atlanta, Gee A. It's always nice to see what's happening across the state. We've grown in numbers to the point where we can't get to ALL of them, despite our best efforts. We tried some brews from new to us breweries like Crooked Culture, Local Ties, and Southern Philosophy and enjoyed some from old favorites as we caught up with our friends.Speaking of Crooked Culture, Lucy Teusink joins us on the show to talk about their new brewery in Cumming, GA. We chat about brewery locations, alcohol laws, staying relevant, pergolas, and pinball. Good stuff.We also sat down with our friend Skinny DeVille from Atlantucky Brewing and Nappy Roots. They've recently celebrated their 2nd anniversary and Skinny talks about what he's learned and where he wants to go with things next. We talk about the struggles with overindulgence for the regular guy, and for a hip hop star turned brewer. We ponder getting