Beer Guys Radio | Craft Beer Podcast

Break out the Festbiers and MarzensWe made it another year to one of our favorite shows, it's time to taste Oktoberfests!  12 beers, 6 guys, pretzels and brats and kraut.  Good times.Nothing fancy here, we're not BJCP judges or Sissyrones, we just know what we like.  We sample the beers and pick our Top 3 based solely on how much we enjoy them.We also share some stats and fun facts about Oktoberfest in Munich.  Origins, changes in the beer, and the rules for serving your beer at Oktoberfest.The Beer ListHere are the beers in this year's tasting.  NOT in tasting order.  We reveal that at the end of the show.Athletic Oktoberfest | N/A Festbier? | 0.5%Ayinger Oktober Fest | Märzen | 5.8%Brooklyn Brewing Oktoberfest | Märzen | 5.5%Hacker Pschorr Oktoberfest Märzen | Märzen | 5.8%Hofbräu Oktoberfestbier | Festbier | 6.3%Ironmonger Oktoberfest | Märzen | 5.5%Paulaner Oktoberfest Märzen | Märzen | 5.8%Samuel Adams Festbier | Festbier | 5.8%Samuel Adams OctoberFest | Märzen | 5.3%Spaten Oktoberfest | M

Why homebrew with all the great beer that's already available?With all the great beer available at every corner today it's easy to say there's no reason to homebrew.  When we started brewing there was good beer available, but not like it is today.  Big stouts, funky saisons, and NEIPAs weren't that easy to come by.  Brewing it ourself was a way to get beers we couldn't get otherwise.  Plus, homebrewing is fun.  Creative.  Scientific. Social.  There are plenty of reasons to homebrew other than simply making beer.Bill Boyer joins us again (as promised) along with Friend of the Show Michael Syrop to talk about why to brew, how to get started, entering competitions, and a few resources to help on your journey.  We cover beer, mead, and cider in this episode, but mostly just general homebrewing banter.The hobby can be simple and cheap to start or you can pour $1,000s into an all electric home setup that rivals pro breweries. If you're thinking about starting, do it.  Let us know if yo

Kelly Meyer isn't saying not to start a brewery, just maybe you shouldn't.  If you do, he's got a few life lessons to share with you.Like many others Meyer got caught up in the allure of owning a brewery.  He and his wife had ran and sold a successful business so the brewery was his fun project.  Make beer, make friends, make money.  It's that last part that ultimately made his dreams go flat.After nearly a decade in the business Meyer sold New Braunfels Brewing Co., the brewery he founded.  He wrote a book about his experience, sharing mistakes he made along the way in the hopes of helping others avoid them.  He's also started a podcast to talk with others that have similar stories.When invited on the show some people are eager to share.  Perhaps it's somewhat therapeutic.  Others, not so much.  Sometimes crushed dreams are just too hard to bring into the light.Meyer admits his a bit less bitter now than when everything was fresh.  The tone of his podcast is a bit lighter than h

Skateboarding is not a crimeThis week we sat down with Joey Charpentier, head brewer at Gnarly Barley Brewing Co. in Hammond, LA.The brewery opened in 2014 and within a few short years were named one of the Top 50 fastest growing breweries in America.  Gnarly Barley continues to grow and are in the process of opening a restaurant next to the brewery.Charpentier was there from the beginning but started off with slightest less glorious jobs.  He shares how the brewery got started and the popularity of their Jucifer IPA, their support of the skateboarding community, and working with fun, new ingredients, and we look ahead to the beers of Fall.Laissez les bon temps rouler!----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Listen and Subscribe | https://omny.fm/shows/beer-guys-radio Part of the Podcast Park network | https://www.thepodcastpark.com If you enjoy the show we'd appreciate your support!  | https://www.patreon.com/beerguysFollow Us!- Website |

Fertile Ground Beer Co. brings Brewery 2.0 to Jackson, MSMississippi moves at its own pace.  A bit slower, more relaxed.  Most folks don't get caught up in trends and hype.  Of course, this can be an issue for craft beer since it loves both of those things.Despite the boom in most areas Jackson hasn't had a single production brewery open since 2019, when the lone brewery (Lucky Town) closed.  A few months ago Fertile Ground Beer Co. brought brewing back to The City with Soul.Introducing Brewery 2.0Connor Reeves and Matthew Mclaughlin know a thing or two about the legal side of craft beer.  Their law firm has helped many breweries navigate opening.  When their hometown was without a brewery they decided they'd be the ones to change that.Putting their plans together they noticed the taproom trend was dark wood, brushed nickel, and iron.  They didn't want to follow that trend (told ya) so they opted for a light and bright taproom with a splash of color, Brewery 2.0, as they call it.Mississipp

That's Pair-uh-dole-ee-uhPareidolia - The tendency for perception to impose a meaningful interpretation on a nebulous stimulus, usually visual, so that one sees an object, pattern, or meaning where there is none.  Faces in clouds?  Jesus on toast?  Pareidolia.Pareidolia Brewing Co. is also a brewery in Sebastian, FL, on the Treasure Coast.  Owner Pete Anderson joined us and we yammer on about beer and cheese.  We love good cheese and just had a fancy new shop open in Atlanta.  Maybe we'll do another cheese show?  Pete likes cheese, and his wife is a proud cheesehead.Pete also moved to the Eastern coast of Florida from Oregon and was saddened at the beer selection, so he started a brewery.  He also started the Treasure Coast Wine & Ale trail, and he's a member of the Florida Brewers Guild.We had to talk beer laws with Pete.  Self distro, franchise reform, the usual pain points for small brewers.  Pete's working to change that in Florida.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informatio

What's up, party people?Dry County Brewing Co. is about the celebrate their 6th anniversary.  We've known founder Trey Sinclair since the brewery was just a dream.  Well, mostly.  We met Trey when he was contract brewing a couple beers and spreading the word about them around his hometown.  When the brewery was just being built we stopped by for a preview.  Check it out right here.... https://youtu.be/_VeAUJv2th4 Since our preview way back in 2016 DCBC has expanded to offer spirits and cider along with their brews and they're about to move to a fancy new location.  On the spirit side they've got frozen cocktails in the taproom and a line of RTDs (that's "ready to drink" canned cocktails) that are extremely popular.Trey joined us and brought along Director of Hoperations Winn Chastain and Head Brewer Ryan Polk.  They shared some of their beers and cocktails as we bitched more about seasonal creep, pondered pairings for their Lechuza line of Mexican lagers, discussed the growi

Great Lakes Brewing Co. is going strong 34 years onWe all know cans are cool. Right?  All the hype beers come in cans.  Great Lakes Brewing Co. has been around since before cans were cool for craft.  Good, craft beer came in bottles, and the macro stuff was shoved into cans.  When you're 30+ years old in American craft beer you're going to have some fans that still think a craft beer needs to come in a bottle.  That's exactly why classic like Edmund Fitzgerald Porter (aka Eddie Fitz, aka Fitz) and Eliot Ness Amber Lager stay in bottles.  When they tried to make the switch to cans their OG fans weren't having it, so back to bottles they go.But Great Lakes Brewing Co. isn't just about their classic beers.  They've got new hotness like their Crushworthy Lo-Cal Citrus Wheat and TropiCoastal Tropical IPA (fun fact for the Georgia folks, TropiCoastal was inspired by Creature Comforts Tropicalia) goes into cans.  A little something for everyone at GLBC.Brand Coordinator and Beer Educato

Devil's Club is not weed. Sorry.What's up, Y'all? How's your week gone? I'd say this week was busy but that just seems to be the way life goes anymore. It's hot here in Georgia again, we got some cool temps in the 80s this week. As a huge contrast to that we talked to Evan Wood and Jake Ridle from Devil's Club Brewing Co. in Juneau, Alaska. When we mentioned our upper 90s heat wave i think they both were ready to pass out.I've never been to Alaska. Maybe I'll jump on one of the cruise ships that Evan tells us raises the population of the town each Summer. Juneau's the 3rd largest city in Alaska at about 30,000 year-round residents. They've got mixed feelings on those tourists. On one hand, it's great for business. Devil's Club says beers that months to empty during the slower season move in about 1 1/2 weeks. This allows them to try out more, new recipes. On the other hand, it's a bunch of tourists wandering around your town.Beer laws be cr

Talking today's hot news with some cool peopleUPDATE: Things move quickly in the world of craft beer.  In this episode we discuss Brewery X's purchase of Modern Times.  Only Brewery X ended up backing out of the deal and now Maui Brewing purchased them.  Our details are out of date, but the general discussion still holds up.Rather than featuring a specific beer or brewery on this week's show we decided to invite some friends in to share a few beers and talk about some of the happenings in the beer world today.  The burning issues.  Like PBR's 1,844 can pack.  Important stuff, ya know.Jason Pellett, founder and brewmaster at Atlanta's Orpheus Brewing joined us.  We've enjoyed Jason's beer's since before the brewery opened.  Sitting on the patio sipping geuze and talking all things wild.  Or maybe at a secret tapping at somewhere it shouldn't have been tapped, but I'm not gonna tell if you don't.The one and only Bill Boyer came along as well.  Bill's a

It's good to be back.  Did you miss us?  Brian's feeling all better and it was great to get back in the studio.We're joined this week but the crazy crew from Bircus Brewing in Ludlow, KY.  FYI, it's pronounced "beer-cus."  Brand Acrobat Jilliam Francois, Sales Manager (fancy title pending) Matt Cremeans, and Brewmaster JD fill us in on the origins and future of their brewery.Bircus is what you get when a Ringling Bros. clown opens a theater/circus and realizes all the money is made on concessions.  That's the short story of why Paul Miller opened his brewery.If you visit the taproom for a brew, like maybe a Juggaloats IPA, you may see jugglers, stilt walkers, fire breathers, some good old fashioned wrestling... and brick oven pizzas.  It's always 3 rings of fun at Bircus.3rd of July at The NestIf you're in the Atlanta area come on out and join us for the 3rd of July celebration at The Nest Kennesaw.  BBQ and beer with special features... whole hog and whole smoked

From brewer to beertender, how satisfied are brewery employees with their jobs?"I want to be a brewer."  Every homebrewer has had the thought cross their mind.  But, once you land that dream job at a brewery, will you be happy?  Like any job, there are many factors to consider.  Pay, benefits, management, training, etc.  It may be a "cool" job but working in a brewery is still a job.Andrew Coplon from Craft Beer Professionals and Michael Varda from Craft Beer Advisory Services surveyed employees at 217 breweries across front of house, operations (brewers!), business, and ownership to see what people had to say.  Every job and company is different and the survey presented some interesting results.Coplon and Varda share the methodology and findings from the report as we discuss some interesting information and some of the factors that may contribute to these findings.  Click the link to request a copy of the full 2022 Employee Satisfaction Report.About Craft Beer Professionals and Craft Beer

Summer is coming and it's time for some Mexican LagersMexican Lagers are so hot right now.  The CEO of Constellation brands even goes as far as saying he believes Modelo is about to become America's favorite beer.  The data kind of supports that claim, with Consellation's brands (including Modelo, Pacifico, and Corona) seeing 14% growth in the most recent quarter.  Craft breweries are cranking out more Mexican Lagers as well.  Most are simple drinkin' beers akin to a Pale Lager / Clara.  But some are going deeper into the genre with Vienna Lagers and others.To make matters even more confusing, if you look at Modelo Especial on Untappd it calls itself an American Lager, then description says it's a Pilsner.  This thing has quite the identity crisis going on.  Either way, Brian enjoyed this one but I thought it was a bit too sweet, especially if they are claiming it's a Pilsner.  Corona brought by memories of drinking in my younger days and I'd still crush several of these by

Craft Collaborations inspire Nappy Roots to open Atlantucky BrewingIf you're a regular listener of the show then you've heard us talking with the Nappy Roots crew a few times before.  We met the guys back in 2017 as they brewed a collaboration with Monday Night Brewing, Front Porch Pale Ale, to go along with the album of the same name.  We were a young show at the time and thrilled to land an interview with the Grammy-nominated quartet.  Fish Scales, admittedly the most passionate craft drinker of the group, had a thirst for more beer knowledge.  We started chatted regularly about beer, attending festivals, and brewing in Scales' garage.  We may not be the typical friends for a couple of rappers, but never underestimate the power of beer.Originally, the plan was to brew collaboration beers to help promote the group.  Find a brewery near one of their upcoming shows and brew a beer with them.  Through these collaborations they discovered they really loved to brew beer and found many similarities

Snafu Brewing Company is your new favorite dive barIf you love a taplist full of classic beer styles then this episode is not for you.  However, if you're intrigued by the R&D department of a brewery including a NutriBullet, beer, fruit, and cereal you're in the right place.Snafu Brewing Company has been called a "dive brewery." Koon that's fair, and accurate. Snafu likes to have with their beers and wants everyone to feel welcome. When a guest asked if they could bring their goat to the taproom he said, "Sure thing."Koon is a career brewer.  He says he knew in middle school he wanted to brew for a living and started homebrewing when he was in high school.  Before opening Snafu he learned the trade at a few other breweries, including a position as head brewer for Westbrook.Snafu does offer a few more traditional styles - a golden ale, some IPAs and stouts.  But if you pass on the fruit and cereal sours you're missing out on the magic.A very scientific test of Bodega

Kros Strain Brewing Co. shows us what's happening in Nebraska beerWe met the crew from Kros Strain Brewing Co. when they visited Atlanta for The Juice Strikes Back festival in 2019.  This invitational beer fest brought some amazing beers to Georgia and introduce a lot of new breweries to the Peach State.  We chatted at the time about getting together for a show and it's only taken us three years to make it happen. Better late than never.Co-founder Bobby Kros and Head Beer Pusher Jeff Hardy sat down with us this week to share a few beers and tell us about their brewery.  As we sip their Fairy Nectar (the #1 IPA in Nebraska) I get chastised for mentioning loose meat sandwiches.  Hardy tells me that's an Iowa thing and I better recognize the Runza.  Where I grew up in the little town of Norfolk, NE we had the loose meat sandwich.  Perhaps we were infiltrated, indoctrinated by those dirty Iowans.  My life is a lie, my lesson was learned, it won't happen again.Kros Strain joins us this week hot

The Original 40 Brewing Company is a new OGWe caught Cosimo Sorrentino just in time to talk about San Diego's The Original 40 Brewing Co. before he heads for Lazarus Brewing in Austin, TX.  Cosmo's a San Diego native and spent time brewing in Europe before returning home.  When asked about the departure he shares that he likes where the beer scene is in Austin and wants to be a part of that, also the overall culture of the city.  And, of course, BBQ.As we chat with Sorrentino about brewing in San Diego and Europe, Maibock, Cashmere hops, and the insanity of moving to Austin in the Summer we drink through some of their lineup.  Contrary #beertwitter rumble lats week about there being nothing but IPAs at breweries, Original 40 runs the gamut with Pilsners, Rice Lagers, Smoked Brown Ales, super-thicc stouts, and yes, some NE and West Coast IPAs.  And they're all damn tasty.If you're in San Diego you should take a trip to the taproom.  This Saturday (05/07/22) would be a good day, they're

Hanging out with Cherry Street Brewing and The Real DJ JellyCherry Street Brewing's original location in Cumming, GA isn't far from Atlanta.  But city folk aren't big on leaving their circle so Cherry Street was somewhat of a hidden treasure in Georgia beer for a while.  Us folks out here in the 'burbs can be scary, ya know.  The opening of a 2nd location in Alpharetta put them closer to the masses, and within a distance more people weren't too scared to visit.  Their beer is worthy of the trip and every bit as good as some of the best in Atlanta proper.  Plus, you can get some killer chicken tenders at their Cumming location or the best fish and chips I've had in the Metro at their Halcyon location.  Take the trip, order the fish, try several beers.  It'll be worth it.Director of Sales and long time friend of the show Ramsay Florence joined us this week to fill us in on the latest happenings.  They've recently opened a location in Chattanooga, TN and the beer laws ther

Teamwork makes the dream work at BevanaIt's not easy to build and grow a brewery.  Starting small can make expansion hard, and costly.  Distribution adds it's own challenges and even just getting your name out there is a struggle amidst 9,000+ breweries.  That's where Bevana comes in.Originally founded as Community Brewing Ventures, the company rebranded this year as Bevana to represent their growth in non-beer beverages.  Sr. Director of Business Development Aaron Gore joined us this week to share what Bevana does for brewers and where they're headed in the future.  It's all about joining forces - for brewing, distribution, and marketing.  Bevana helps smaller brewers grow while minimizing the cost and effort to do so.If you're a small brewer looking to grow, maybe finding Bevana is just what you need.The Beer ListHalfway Crooks FarinaSweetWater 420 (Tis' the season!)Sixpoint Pineapple ResinSouthern Prohibition Spoils of War (Milk Stout with Maple)Weldwerks Coffee Coconut S

All the cool kids are drinking Little BeersBraving the snowy (yes, snowy) April weather in Georgia, 100s of beer lovers gathered in Duluth, GA recently to celebrated their love of low ABV beers.  Little Beer Fest II brought brewers together from across the country for this invitation-only event.  Brewers shared their best beers under (or close to it) 4.0%.  Lots of lagers, some sessionable IPAs and other hoppy ales, some mixed fermentation brews, and even some small stouts and porters were poured at the event.Wrapped in our hoodies and holding down our tent we managed to chat with of the brewers in attendance, plus some of the crew from The Atlanta Podcast featuring Myron Green and Christian Andrews.  TAP covers events in and around Atlanta while enjoy local beer.  Give 'em a listen.  Next up is Nashville's Barrique Brewing and Blending where we talk with Spencer Longhurst about mixed fermentation beers and 2nd use hops.  Chris Tropeano and Jon Eberhart from Charlotte's Resident Culture Brewing