Beer Guys Radio | Craft Beer Podcast

Toppling Goliath Brewing Co. makes big beer in small batchesWhat do you talk about when you get one of America's most legendary breweries on your show.  Mushroom hunting, of course.  As we chatted with Toppling Goliath Brewing Co.'s founder Clark Lewey and brewmaster Mike Saboe before the show we discovered we shared a love of mushrooms.  We want to hunt morels, and they're experienced morel hunters.  They love them so much they even brewed a beer in honor of morels, Scorpius Morchella.  We promise the whole show isn't mushroom talk, but for a beer show there is a hell of a lot.  Hang in there with us, we'll get to the beer soon enough.Toppling Goliath has some pretty major accolades.  They're the 2021 US Beer Open Grand National Champions and Beer Advocate ranked them the #2 brewery in the world.  Their Kentucky Brunch Brand Stout has held the #1 highest rated beer spot on Untappd since 2015.   Clark and Mike say the high praise keeps them on their toes and they always strive to

FlyteCo Brewing is cleared for takeoffDenver's FlyteCo Brewing opened their first location in 2019.  Although Colorado has no shortage of breweries, owners Morgan O'Sullivan and Jason Slingsby knows there's always room for more great places to grab a beer.  Their second location will open soon, in a decommissioned air control tower.  O'Sullivan and Slingsby want visitors to see FlyteCo as their own Cheers.  Where the bartenders know your name and have a beer ready for you when you walk in.  Norrrrm!  If getting to know people isn't your thing then maybe your and your beer can spend some quality time at the on-site mini golf or bowling.If the air traffic control tower didn't give it away, the brewery has an aviation theme.  Two of the three owners are pilots.  In addition to drop-in fishing trips (I'm so jealous) they've even flown to Western Colorado to pick up hops fresh from the farm and back to the brewery to get them in a beer in a little over an hour.  How's t

Enjoy the classics at Ironshield Brewing We're bringing you one from our backyard this week!  If you're a Georgia beer nerd you may know the name Glen Sprouse.  If you don't know his name then you probably know some of his breweries.  The old timers may recall Phoenix Brewing which opened in Atlanta at The Prado in 1996, slightly less older timers likely know 5 Seasons that took over the space in 2001.  Sprouse was part of both of those ventures.He stepped away from brewing for a while before opening up Ironshield Brewing in Lawrenceville, GA.  The brewery features classic European styles including Seven Sisters Munchner Lager, which was a staple on the taps at 5 Seasons.  With the addition of Jason Carroll to the team some true Irish beers have hit the taps.  Carroll came to America from Ireland where he brewed at Guinness's Open Gate Brewery, among others.  In addition to their Ironshield brand the brewery also contract brews under Big Kettle Brewing and expects to brew 30,0000 barrels f

Prison Pals Brewing makes a break for it in MiamiIn 2018 Argentinian businessman and race car driver Juan Pipkin was dreaming of starting a business in America.  He'd grown tired of the challenges in his home country and feeling like a prisoner in his own land.  After some consideration he decided craft beer was the goal.  Pipkin admits he had zero background in beer before the idea for Prison Pals Brewing started, but he saw a great opportunity and he knew how to put a powerhouse team together.Pipkin reached out to Diego Setti and Bruno Laperchuck to join him on the adventure and the duo joined as Brewmaster and Head Brewer/Lab Manager to open their brewery in Miami.  Originally, the plan was to operate much like breweries in Argentina - skipping the taproom and brewing beer to send out to bars and restaurants in distribution.  Prison Pals started under that model but quickly realized a taproom was the key to success for American craft beer.  Now they have two, with more on the way.Setti brings an impre

We're all Irish on St. Patrick's Day Are there any better holiday than drinking holidays?  Oktoberfest, Cinco de Mayo, and St. Patrick's Day are all pretty much excuses (at least in America) to drink like we'll never drink again.  In our constant quest for knowledge, and beer, we dug into the history of St. Patrick's Day as we sample some Irish beers.  What is this holiday even about?  Something about snakes?  Potatoes?  It really doesn't matter to most people.  Put on something green and grab a pint of green beer or a Dry Irish Stout and you're officially celebrating. Sláinte!Who was St. Patrick and what did he really do?First off, St. Patrick wasn't Irish.  Crazy, right?  He was likely Italian or of indigenous Celtic decent, born around 390 AD.  He ended up in Ireland after being kidnapped as a teenager and forced into slavery.  He escaped and GTFOd, but he eventually returned to Ireland.  He didn't drive the snakes out of Ireland, but he is credited with brining

There's a lotta beer in MichiganAuthor Patti Smith joins us this week to talk about her book, Michigan Beer: A Heady History.  If you've been with for a while, you may remember our episode with Ron Smith and Mary O. Boyle discussing their book, Atlanta Beer: A Heady History of Brewing in the Hub of the South.  This is like that, but with much more Michigan.We start with the early days of brewing where, like most of the US, Bavarian immigrants had heavy influence.  Except in the Upper Peninsula where French-Canadians helped make spruce beer a hot item.There were a few powerhouse brewers in the 19th century across the state, many wiped out by Prohibition.  Michigan was an early-adopter of state prohibition - but also the first to ratify the 21st Amendment to end it.  I hope they learned their lesson.Modern brewing in Michigan saw the state peak at over 400 breweries, they've taken a bit of a hit with the pandemic, but their still going strong.We just brush the surface in the show so make sure to

TRU Colors Brewing is on a mission to end gang violenceWhen a shooting took the life of a young man in Wilmington, NC local businessman George Taylor wanted to do something about it.  You likely know some of Taylor's other businesses, like Untappd or National Speed.  Rather than just talking about making a change, Taylor contacted the local gang task force and spent two years getting to know gang members and the challenges they faced.  After careful consideration and identifying some of the roots causes of gang violence he founded TRU Colors Brewing.TRU Colors has a mission to end gang violence.  Not only by providing jobs but by offering support and education on how to know your self worth.  Fitness and nutrition classes, yoga, counseling, and discounted meals are some of offerings at the brewery.  80% of the breweries employee's are rival gang members.Spree is the Assistant Director of Marketing at TRU Colors, and an active gang member.  He was serving time in federal prison when he first heard ab

Our first Arkansas brewery on the show!The crew from Fossil Cove Brewing Co. joined us this week to shed some light on what's happening in Arkansas craft beer.  If they're a good example, AR is doing OK.Tyler, Ben, and Andrew tell us about the growing beer scene in their state where a lot of folks still enjoy their light lagers.  No matter, there are still plenty of IPAs and Stouts for those that want to branch out a bit.  But they tell us they don't think there's anyone doing a Milkshake IPA.  Can you even imagine?We talk beer laws (AR has very friendly brewery laws), dinosaurs, brown ales, beer fest, and toe suckers. (What?)They've got a Solid Session IPA, a pretty-darn-good Brown Ale, and solid DIPA.  These guys were a blast to talk with and got me wanting to go back to old Arkansas and see what's up.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.Thanks for listening to Beer Guys Radio! Your hosts are Tim Dennis and Brian Hewitt with producer Nate "Mo' Mic Nate&

The crew from Atlanta’s Fire Maker Brewing Co. joins us in the studio this week to talk sweet tea, dragons, winning awards, and beer laws,Brewery founder Elliott Hall has worked across all three tiers of beer - wholesale, retail, and now as a brewery owner.  This experience gives him unique insight into what it takes to be successful in today’s competitive craft beer landscape.  As Vice President of the Georgia Craft Brewers Guild Elliott is working to improve the laws for Georgia’s craft brewers and bring the brewing community closer together.Marketing Director Rachel Bramer makes sure the brewery has a solid identity that people can connect with and shares the latest on Fire Maker via interesting videos and social media.  The team’s efforts won them a Craft Beer Marketing Awards, known as a “Crushie”, in 2021 for their can artwork of their core beers.Head Brewer Kevin Wright brings experience from a large corporate brewery as well as well-known breweries in Chicago and some island brewing in Hawaii.  He kee

Cheers to American Beer Around the world there are still plenty of people that see American beer as watery lagers with no real character.  We may have taken a while to catch up, but today American beer offers a huge variety of top notch styles in every state.  Jason Murphy, staff writer for PorchDrinking.com, wanted to explore the map of American beer so he set out on a mission to try a brew from all 50 states and write about his adventure.  It was a huge undertaking but he came out victorious.  You can read his full article right here - Craft Beer Across America | 50 Beers From 50 States. Jason is local to the Atlanta area and we've chatted on Instagram about the beers and breweries we enjoy.  He's even suggested breweries for the show that he was impressed with, like South Dakota's Covert Artisan Ales who joined us on the show a few month's ago.  We thought what Jason was doing was pretty darn cool and we'd discussed getting together for a beer so we said, why not turn it into a sh

Silver Bluff Brewing is passionate about Mexican Lager Jeff Coyle loves Mexican lagers.  So much so that he wrote a detailed article to help others understand the style.  If you think Corona when you think of Mexican beers, you should definitely read the article.  But first, make sure to listen to our interview with Jeff and his brother Kevin Coyle.  The duo are part of the team behind Silver Bluff Brewing Co. Their Mexican lager is a hybrid of sorts.  Riding the line between the Clara (Corona) and another traditional Mexican style, the Vienna Lager.  Right, Vienna Lager, traditional Mexican beer.  Seriously.  Locals went crazy for their take on this refreshing brew and it's their top selling beer now.  If you're looking for something else they've got plenty of other beers on tap.  As we talked they had just brewed a Dry Irish Stout to get ready for St. Patrick's Day, making us realize the holiday is closer than we realized. The Brothers Coyle love their community almost as much as they lo

Who's ready for some hot, flat beer? For most breweries a review saying a beer was "hot and flat" would be an insult.  Not so much for Primitive Beer.  If you attended their recent Hot Bierfest in Colorado then you had a choice of a few beers to try, with one being flat ("still" sounds better, let's go with that) and... hot. Glühbier, literally "mulled beer", is served like a mulled wine or cider.  Warmed with cinnamon, honey, and spices  If you're not feeling spicy then maybe go for a mug of beer you take out by the fire and have a red hot poker plunged in it.  You want unique beer?  You got it. Brandon and Lisa Boldt aren't all about hot beer. Their "beer blendery" offers a great variety of spontaneously fermented brews.  Some aged in spirit barrels or blended with fruit, and even some served still in a bag-in-box container.  Even if some of their methods aren't trendy with the masses they know a thing or two about great beer.  We're big

American craft sake is creeping on a come up This isn't the first time we've talked about sake on the show, but it is the first time we've talked to a sake brewer.  Josh Hembree of Setting Sun Sake Brewing Co. is one of a small handful of American craft sake brewers.  A few short years ago there were only 5ish in the states but that number has grown to over 20. Although sake is usually referred to as a rice wine the brewing process is more closely related to beer.  Hembree tells us about the different types of sake, the differences in brewing beer and sake, what Americans get wrong about sake, and how American brewers put their own, beautiful spin on the process.  We also talk about good pairing and get some tips on how to pair outside of the typical sushi and other Asian cuisine. Kanpai!  Sampling sake The traditional Japanese toast is Kanpai!  Which, literally translated is "dry sake cup."  More than likely the translation would be approximately "drink your cup dry."  OK,

Sam Calagione talks 26 years of of Dogfish Head Many people consider Dogfish Head's Sam Calagione to be one of the pioneers of modern American craft beer.  Sam is quick to clarify he's part of the 2nd wave of craft and others, like Sierra Nevada's Ken Grossman, paved the way for his off-centered ales. Calagione's method of continuously hopping his beers throughout the boil allowed him to pack in immense hop flavor without making the brews overly bitter.  The contraption he used to add the hops in his early batches of 60 Minute and 90 Minute IPA was fashioned from a vibrating football game and now sits in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Museum.  The brewery also offers 120 Minute version of their IPA at a whopping 15-20% ABV and revivals of beers from the past in their Ancient Ales series as well as big stouts, pilsners, light sours like Sea Quench and soon, Crush-inspired canned cocktails.  Although his beer may have been 2nd wave, Dogfish Head was one of the first brewery&apos

Why are Shiner bottles twist-off? So you can get the beer out! We had a blast talking with Brewmaster Jimmy Mauric and Brand Manager Nick Weiland about the long history of Shiner Beer.  We don't talk with many 100+ year old breweries, so we had plenty to talk about. Jimmy's been with the brewery for 44 years so he knows a thing or two about the history. He tells us how the brewery survived Prohibition by selling ice and non-alcoholic (wink wink) Near Beer, and how their Bock dates all the way back to 1913. Jimmy admits that the shift into these crazier brews was a bit tough for him at first, but he's all on board now. Berries and Cream beers, trail mix ales (that absolutely nails the flavor) and even cocktail-inspired seltzers. The Beer List Shiner 1909 Heritage Lager Shiner Holiday Cheer Shiner S'more Shiner Trail Ale Shiner Toasted Amber Shiner Tall 'Tails Mexican Martini (Hard Seltzer) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.Thanks for listening to Beer Guys Radio! Yo

Harpoon Brewery is an East Coast IPA OG In 1986 Harpoon Brewery received brewery permit #001 in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  The first brewery in the state since Prohibition, only 35 years ago. IPAs were more of a West Coast thing at the time and the launch of Harpoon IPA in 1993 was a bold move for an East Coast brewery.  Fans to took these crazy, hoppy beers and the rest is history. Chief Brewing Office Al Marzi, Senior Brewery Mike Kelly, and Director of Digital Strategy Megan Baker cracked a few cold ones with us as they shared their knowledge with us.  We chat about the evolution of the IPA, emerging ingredients in craft beer, what it means to be an employed-owned company, and smattering of other topics. It's hard to believe the craft beer scene in the Northeast is a mere 35 years old.  Harpoon was there to see (and make) it happen, and there's more to come. Oh yeah, how could I forget... this is EPISODE 300 of Beer Guys Radio.  Woot!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.Th

Best Christmas Beers of 2021 Christmas, the most wonderful time to drink beer Ahhh, who am I kidding?  It's ALWAYS the most wonderful time to drink beer.  But, Christmas is a great time for beer.  Beautiful Belgian ales, spiced Winter Warmers, maybe some glühkriek? Christmas beers are some of our favorites and we look forward to this show each year.  With a sampling of Christmas brews from around the world we blind taste them with our friends and pick our favorites.  This year, Ron and Michael from Rainy Day Brewery joined us on the show.  We didn't even think about the fact they are Jewish when we invited them over for Christmas, but they were happy to join us and the show became a nice, interfaith celebration. L'chaim! There are no set rules for our "competition."  We simply taste the beers and decide if we like them.  Make some notes, share our favorites, and then tally the scores for a top three. To keep things festive we share some fun trivia and facts about Christmas and drinkin

When Dokkaebier founder Youngwon Lee attended craft beer festivals he noticed he was one of the few (or only) Asian people at the events.  He said everyone was friendly and welcoming, he just wanted to find a way to attract more diversity to craft.  Bring on the Dokkaebier.  Many of their beers are both familiar and unique.  A Pilsner with bamboo tea, a Kimchi kettle sour made with lactobacillus cultured from actual kimchi. What started as a pop-up served with Korean tapas blossomed into a full brewing venture.  Working with local brewers to gypsy brew his offerings, Dokkaebier is now available in stores and shipping across California, with more expansion planned in the future. THE BEER LIST Dokkaebier - Bamboo Pilsner - Classic Pilsner with bamboo tea - DIPA - Lemon Ginger Kettle Sour - Milk Stout - With green peppercorns and cardamom - Yuza BlondeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.Thanks for listening to Beer Guys Radio! Your hosts are Tim Dennis and Brian Hewitt with producer Nate "M

If you brew it, will they drink? Textile Brewing is just a few miles from the Field of Dreams.  My clever mind thought of the "if you brew it" line as soon as I heard this fact.  Of course, it's the same line that everyone thinks of.  Great minds, right? I managed to hold off for most of the show on making the "joke," but it is a fun fact about the brewery.  Another fun fact, founder Tom Olberding had no brewing experience when he decided he was going to open a brewery.  To compliment his skills he hired Nick Ashton as his assistant brewer, who also had no brewing experience. Lack of experience aside, Textile is offering up some really tasty beers.  We sampled a Blonde Ale, Vienna Lager, IPA, and a coffee-pumpkin ale and all were damn good.  Cheers to the new guys. If you find yourself in Dyersville, IA stop in and find out for yourself.  We hear their beer pairs great with a Canadian bacon and sauerkraut pizza.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.Thanks for listening t

There's a lot more to lager than just Pilsner We all have a friend that has made a statement like, "I don't like lagers," or, "I don't like dark beer." It's likely the lager-hater is thinking of something like a Pilsner when they think lager, and the dark beer-averse has a thick and boozy stout on their mind.  Dark Lagers are here to change those opinions. There's a huge variety of flavor in the dark lager world.  On the lighter end, something like a Czech Dark Lager will deliver a touch of toffee, dates, and chocolate.  On the bolder end an Eisbock can be sweet and boozy, with big malt presence of toasty caramel.  If you like Imperial Stouts and Quads, give an Eisbock a try. German Beer Terms The Germans make it pretty easy to know what you're getting in your beer.  Learn these terms and you'll be ready to do some shopping.   Doppel = Double Dunkel = Dark Hefe = Yeast Schwarz = black Weiss = White Weizen = Wheat Bock = Male goat / Buck (Listen to the sh