Drink Beer, Think Beer With John Holl

Averie Swanson of Keeping Together is on the show this week in a conversation recorded last month at Funk Fest in Nashville, TN. We’re talking about saison, building a new brewery, and the creative process.Swanson is one of the most talented and thoughtful brewers in the U.S. today and her career path is well known. Going from a volunteer at Jester King in Austin to its head brewer in just four years before leaving several years ago to start a new venture called Keeping Together. Originally operating out of Chicago it was focused on mixed culture, rustic, Belgian-inspired beers.  Now, she and her partner Pat Fahey have purchased a property in New Mexico and plans to open a brewery and tasting room. Over the last year she has been thinking about  new iterations of her beer, specialty ingredients, becoming part of a new community, and the experiences that come with new beginnings and space.  For more Drink Beer, Think Beer check out All About Beer.Host: John HollGuest: Averie SwansonSponsors: All About BeerTags: Beer, History, Ingredients, Travel, Saison, Creativity 

This week the show is  back in Nashville for the second of three conversations recorded before a crowd at Funk Fest, the amazing event hosted by Yzoo Brewing and Embrace the Funk. Mr. Garrett Oliver the Brewmaster of the Brooklyn Brewery is the guest. As any good beer fan knows, he is the brewmaster of The Brooklyn Brewery, the author of The Brewmaster’s Table, and the Editor-in-Chief of The Oxford Companion to Beer. He has been brewing craft beer since 1989 and is a veteran of over 1000 beer dinners and tastings in 16 countries. An original board member of Slow Food USA, he later went on to become a Councilor of Slow Food International. In 2014 Garrett was the recipient of the James Beard Award as the country's top drinks professional.  In 2020 he founded the Michael James Jackson Foundation for Brewing and Distilling (MJF), a 501(c)(3) grant-making non-profit organization that funds scholarships for technical education in the brewing and distilling fields for people of color. In 2022, Garrett was "enthroned" by the Knights of The Brewer's Fork of Belgium, descendants of the ancient brewer's guild.  For more Drink Beer, Think Beer check out All About Beer.Host: John HollGuest: Garrett OliverSponsors: All About BeerTags: Beer, History, Ingredients, Travel, Michael Jackson

This is a special edition of This Week in Rauchbier as we celebrate Memorial Day Weekend 2023 with a visit to Camp Rauchbier. Recorded at Barrique Brewing and Blending in Nashville, Tennessee before a live and enthusiastic audience John Holl is joined by Spencer Longhurst in the co-host chair. Guests include Jack Hendler of Jack's Abby Craft Lagers and Khristopher Johnson of Green Bench Brewery. For more Drink Beer, Think Beer check out All About Beer.Hosts: John Holl and Spencer LonghurstGuests: Jack Hendler, Khristopher JohnsonTags: beer, craft beer, rauchbier, smoke, Memorial Day, NashvilleMusic for this episode:NewsSting by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4124-newsstingLicense: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

A lively conversation over two beers with Vinnie Cilurzo recorded before a crowd at the 2023 Funk Fest in Nashville. Cilurzo talks about the relationship between wine and beer, dialing in acidity, and surprises and delights with pours of four-day-old Pliny the Elder. As one of the leading voices in hop-forward beers and proper barrel-aging he offers unparreled insights into what goes into making world class beer. For more Drink Beer, Think Beer check out All About Beer.Host: John HollGuest: Vinnie CilurzoSponsors: All About BeerTags: Beer, Wine, IPA, California, Acidity, Styles

This week on the show I’m glad to have Mary and Brian Rooney of BKS Artisan Ales in Brookside, Missouri. They are here to talk about consumer preferences, tinkering with styles, near endless choice, and the regionality of brewing.A few weeks ago I had the chance to meet and chat with them. They were pouring as part of the Little Beer Festival and we had a lot of fun batting around ideas while I learned about their brewing philosophy and approach to hospitality.   They opened BKS in 2017 and the name comes from the commonly used abbreviation of the brookside neighborhood of Kansas City where the brewery is located.  Mary runs the front of the house and Brian works in the brewery. And despite what brewery’s full name, he’s also creating a multitude of lagers through the Pivo Project. We’ll get into that… and more.   For more Drink Beer, Think Beer check out All About Beer.Host: John HollGuest: Brian and Mary RooneySponsors: All About BeerTags: Beer, Missouri, IPA, Customers, Lagers, Styles

A lot of the focus in beer today focuses on the now. There is a wealth of history that exists and on the show today I’m talking with Clint Lanier, the author of “Ted Mack and America's First Black Owned Brewery: The Rise and Fall of Peoples Beer.”There are some excellent history books about beer that exist in the world. Most will focus on broad categories, but there are some that do a deep dive into a single topic or person that really give us a sense of time, place, and purpose.  There are often lessons to be learned about where beer is today.  One such book is “Ted Mack and America's First Black Owned Brewery: The Rise and Fall of Peoples Beer.”  This is from the blurb:  Born a sharecropper in rural Alabama in 1930, Theodore A. (Ted) Mack, Sr., fought in the Korean War and then played football at Ohio State while earning a college degree. Brewing and selling beer, he believed, would be just another peak to attain.  After all, it couldn’t be more challenging than his experience in organizing buses to the March on Washington or picketing segregated schools in Milwaukee.This is the story of Mack’s purchase of Peoples Brewing Company in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Though he had carefully planned for the historic acquisition, he underestimated the subtle bigotry of Middle America, the corruption of the beer industry, and the failures of the federal government that plagued his ownership. Mack’s ownership of Peoples Brewing is an inspirational story of Black entrepreneurship, innovation and pride at a time when America was at an important racial justice crossroads.  The author is Clint Lanier. He’s is an assistant professor of English at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico. His writing about travel, history, food and drink has appeared in the Huffington Post, Eater, and Fodors.  For more Drink Beer, Think Beer check out All About Beer.Host: John HollGuest: Clinton R. Lanier, PhDSponsors: All About BeerTags: Beer, Wisconsin, History, Taverns, Business, Books

The Craft Brewers Conference is an annual event that brings brewers from around the world into a selected city for a few days of education, equipment buying, and camaraderie.  Brewers have also been using the occasion to get together in advance to create and then release collaboration beers. One of the most ambitious – at least from what I’ve experienced in recent years – will be released on May 1 by Embrace the Funk, the wild and wooded side of Yazoo Brewing.  Brandon Jones, the brewer behind ETF called his friends – Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River, Jason Perkins of Allagash, Jeffrey Stuffings of Jester King and Khristopher Johnson of Green Bench Brewing and they all agreed to lend their time, talent, and inspiration to the beer.  Then Jones got Jeff Mello of Bootleg Biology involved on the yeast side and Matt Albrecht of River Drive Cooperage to sort out the wood.  Everyone – minus Jason Perkins of Allagash – was able to jump into the zoom studios earlier this month to talk about the beer, how it all came together, and the spirt of collaboration among brewers and in the beer industry. For more Drink Beer, Think Beer check out All About Beer.Host: John HollGuests: Brandon Jones, Vinnie Cilurzo, Jeffrey Stuffings, Khristopher Johnson, Jeff Mello, Matt AlbrechtSponsors: All About BeerTags: Beer, Lager, Malt, Collaboration, Yeast, Farming, Hops

It’s a love of lagers episode from four brewers that have fully embraced the traditions to the style and are working to have modern conversations in the space. You’ll hear from Bierstadt Lagerhaus, Bagby Beer, Heater Allen, and Cohesion Brewing.It was a beautiful weather day in Duluth, Georgia last weekend as Good Word Brewing put on its third Little Beer Festival. Todd DiMatteo, who you’ve heard on this show, hosted a celebration of low ABV lagers and ales from top-notch brewers from around the country.  The brewery has already set the date for Little Beer IV: Saturday April 13, 2024. It’s a perfect setting and a charming town just outside of Atlanta and if you’re serious about great beer and the people who make it, be sure to be there next year.  It’s not just beer drinking at this fest but also some education. Under the shade of a large tree in the middle of the green John Holl was able to sit down with four brewers of note to talk about their love of lagers and the steps they are taking to create delicious beers.  The panel includes: Lisa Allen of Heater Allen and Gold Dot Beer in Oregon, Jeff Bagby of Bagby Beer in California; Ashleigh Carter of Bierstadt Lagerhaus in Denver Colorado, and Eric Larkin of Cohesion Brewing in Denver.    For more Drink Beer, Think Beer check out All About Beer.Host: John HollGuests: Lisa Allen, Jeff Bagby, Ashleigh Carter, Eric LarkinSponsors: All About BeerTags: Beer, Lager, Malt, History, Tradition, Farming, Hops

Is craft lager having a moment? It’s certainly gained popularity on taproom menus around the country and is showing us the diversity of styles and flavors that can be enjoyed in this category. But where does craft malt fit into these styles that are so driven by the flavors and functionality of malt? This a special episode, recorded on location at the Craft Malt Conference that was recently held in Portland, Maine. It brings together three brewers from the Northeast to discuss their lager programs and how, when, and why they choose to use or not use craft malts in the development of their beer recipes.Guests are Sean Towers from The Seed: A Living Beer Project, Michael Fava of Sacred Profane Brewery, and Justin Slotnick from Schilling Beer Co. Stay tuned until the end for great insight from Daniel Carey of New Glarus brewing. For more Drink Beer, Think Beer check out All About Beer.Host: John HollGuests: Michael Fava, Sean Towers, Justin SlotnickSponsors: All About BeerTags: Beer, Lager, Malt, History, Tradition, Farming, Hops

2023 is looking to be an interesting year for legacy brewers in the U.S. We’re seeing closures and contractions, and changes to beloved brands.  Of course, the most noted right now is that New Belgium announced that it completely reformulated Fat Tire, turning it something that bears no resemblance to the amber ale that raised and delighted a generation.   The changes, or “remastered” version of Boston Lager that Samuel Adams announced earlier this year are not as drastic, but are important and do have an impact on what is poured into the glass.  It’s impossible to imagine the modern American beer landscape without Boston Lager. When the Boston Beer company launched in 1984 Jim Koch and co-founder Rhonda Kallman were hand selling samples to accounts all over the city.  The beer, based in part on a historic Koch family recipe and further developed by Joseph Owades, a brewing scientist who is credited as the inventor of light beer, was seen as an alternative to the macro offerings of the early 1980s.  The beer won early accolades at the Great American Beer Festival in both the consumer preference polls and the formal judging. Top honors gave it bragging rights as “best beer in America,” something the brewery still uses in the beer’s marketing nearly 40 years later.  Boston Beer has grown. Brands like Angry Orchard Hard Cider, Twisted Tea, Truly Hard Seltzer, and Dogfish Head are now all part of the company. Samuel Adams has released hundreds of beers, some that landed well with consumers, and others that faded quickly.  Boston Lager endured. On draft, in bottles and cans, and in every variety pack the brewery releases, the familiar lager is ever present. But as consumer preferences change, and technologies advance, and as brewers strive for a better version of their vision, the beer has evolved.  Koch shares insight on how hop harvest helped evolve the beer, and how historic brewing processes are being used to help the lager taste smoother. If it’s been a while since you last had a Boston Lager, now is a good time to give it a fresh try. For more Drink Beer, Think Beer check out All About Beer.Host: John HollGuest: Jim KochSponsors: All About BeerTags: Beer, Lager, History, Judging, Boston, Samuel Adams, Hops, Malt