There is good news in beer these days. Despite all the harm that COVID-19 is doing, there are businesses that are forging ahead and opening to the public. This week on the show we are talking with Mike Kraai of Drowned Lands Brewery in New York. The brewery has been making beer for a year now, but only opened its tasting room five weeks ago. The space is massive, suited for drinking apart during a pandemic. The 15,000 square-foot space sits on three acres, with a large lawn, ample patio, and even a second floor event space. Kraai isn’t shy about talking about the nearly $3 million he spent on the renovations to the century-old building that was once a reform school and later minimum security prison.  With a view of the Appalachian mountains, in dedicated farm country, he wants the beers to be a reflection of place, and is trying to make the most out of his New York state farm brewery license, all while playing with traditions.For more Drink Beer, Think Beer or to check out Beer Edge: The Newsletter for Beer Professionals, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge and subscribe to our beer industry focused newsletter. There is more information, articles, and engaging content at Beer Edge.Host: John HollGuest: Mike KraaiTags: Beer, Craft Beer, lager, oak, IPA, Homebrewing, nanobrewery, wood, saison, New York

Joining us on the phone this week is Tomme Arthur of the Lost Abbey. In the roughly 15 years that the brewery has been open it has largely focused on Belgian-inspired ales that have helped shape the course of beer in America today.  Over the last months of COVID-19 he has had to look at his business model and find new ways to keep the lights on. This has been through new releases that include spritzy ales, pilsners, and a soon to be released hard tea.  Tomme has long talked about the importance of innovation in the beer space and is hoping that fellow brewers are using this time to forge their own path. He also wants drinkers to seek out new flavors.  He recently had the chance to taste what is happening in America right now. He spoke to the show from his brewery in Southern California, but just recently returned from Colorado where he was a judge at the 2020 Great American Beer Festival and shares some insights. For more Drink Beer, Think Beer or to check out Beer Edge: The Newsletter for Beer Professionals, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge and subscribe to our beer industry focused newsletter. There is more information, articles, and engaging content at Beer Edge.Host: John HollGuest: Tomme ArthurTags: Beer, Craft Beer, IPA, Hops, California, Innovation, Non-alcoholic beers, 

Justin Stambaugh started homebrewing a decade ago and quickly decided he wanted to pursue a professional career in beer. It wasn’t as easy as he had hoped but eventually he got an internship at Rip Current Brewing Co. in 2012 where he rose though the ranks, became a brewer, and even helped start that brewery’s sour program.  Eventually he decided that it was time to open his own place and didn’t even have to look too far. His new Brewery, Stave & Nail is located in the same building as Rip Current.  Justin spoke to the show from southern California. For more Drink Beer, Think Beer or to check out Beer Edge: The Newsletter for Beer Professionals, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge and subscribe to our beer industry focused newsletter. There is more information, articles, and engaging content at Beer Edge.Host: John HollGuest: Justin StambaughTags: Beer, Craft Beer, IPA, Sours, California, Homebrewing, San Diego, Tacos, Tequila

This is a special time of year on the beer calendar. It's fresh hop beer season and if you live in the Pacific Northwest you are likely enjoying pints of vibrantly hoppy ales. The rest of us are just dreaming of what could be. Hard to define, difficult to describe, and a revelation each time, fresh hop beers are best experienced in person where the beers were made. Zach Beckwith, the head brewer of Bend Brewing Co. has some thoughts on fresh hops and what is being done right, what could be better, and how we should approach each glass. He recently penned a column for Jeff Alworth's Beervana Blog, but goes into deeper details here. He spoke to the show from the brewery in Bend, Oregon. For more Drink Beer, Think Beer or to check out Beer Edge: The Newsletter for Beer Professionals, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge and subscribe to our beer industry focused newsletter. There is more information, articles, and engaging content at Beer Edge.Host: John HollGuest: Zach BeckwithTags: Beer, Craft Beer, IPA, Hops, Fresh Hops, Farming, Recipe Development, Oregon, Ales, 

There is a lot going on out West right now, some of it good – like the hop harvest – and a lot of it bad, like the fires that are raging out of control. Napa Valley is often in the news when it comes to fires in California and while it is known for wine, there is also beer to be found.  Nile Zacherle of Mad Fritz Beer straddles both worlds. He is both a wine maker and a brewer and is thoughtful about both. What might be most enjoyable about his beers is that they live inside of specific style but still never fully let that define them.  This is thanks, in part, to his approach. He brews small, he brews with local ingredients whenever possible, and isn’t afraid to let the beer follow its own direction. It’s like a trust exercise.  He’s been busy during COVID-19 while the current batch of fires is not an immediate threat, the smell of smoke in the air is a reminder that there is always a worry. And so that’s where the show starts, with the worry that comes with being in a place that could be impacted. Nile spoke to host John Holl from the brewery in California.For more Drink Beer, Think Beer or to check out Beer Edge: The Newsletter for Beer Professionals, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge and subscribe to our beer industry focused newsletter. There is more information, articles, and engaging content at Beer Edge.Host: John HollGuest: Nile ZacherleTags: Beer, Craft Beer, Lager, California, Wine, Napa Valley

Show notes from host John Holl: "I love a good conversation over beer and these days it’s hard to do it in person, but it is alive online. One person I can always count on to get the brain cells working and to challenge the notions of beer is Brienne Allan, the production manager at Notch Brewing, in Salem Massachusetts.  She’s worked at the brewery for three years and handles a variety of roles and has been instrumental in getting some of the more beloved and esoteric lager projects off the ground an into production. She’s got a love of historical tradition of styles, technical knowledge, and worldly travels and revived the Pink Boots Society chapter in Massachusetts a few years back.  We get into all that and more in this conversation that bounced around topics quickly. She spoke to me from Notch, and I wanted to start off on a positive note."For more Drink Beer, Think Beer or to check out Beer Edge: The Newsletter for Beer Professionals, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge and subscribe to our beer industry focused newsletter. There is more information, articles, and engaging content at Beer Edge.Host: John HollGuest: Brienne AllanTags: Beer, Craft Beer, Lager, Pink Boots Society, Massachusetts

Alex Lovinggood of Barn Town Brewing has been in the beer business for less than a decade but has made a lasting impact wherever he has gone. He was a teacher and a bartender before he got into brewing. He started like so many others, as a volunteer washing kegs and learning the trade from time spent in various hands on experiences.  He worked at Temperance Brewing, Atlas (when it was called that), and later Brickstone, all in Illinois. He has been a major force behind The Festival of Wood and Barrel Aged Beer and worked to help grow and shape the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild.  Last November he moved a little bit west to Barn Town Brewing in West Des Moines, Iowa where he is now a brewer.In this episode he talks about IPA, new styles of beer, food influences, festivals, and more.  For more Drink Beer, Think Beer or to check out Beer Edge: The Newsletter for Beer Professionals, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge and subscribe to our beer industry focused newsletter. There is more information, articles, and engaging content at Beer Edge.Host: John HollGuest: Alex LovinggoodTags: Beer, Craft Beer, Pastry Sour, Hazy IPA, IPA, Iowa, Illinois

D.G. Yuengling & Son is the country’s oldest operating brewery, going back 191 years now. It survived major events over the course of 6 generations, most notably Prohibition, and really hit its stride in the mid-1980s when Dick Yuengling Jr. purchased the brewery from his father and began making Yuengling Lager, which is the company’s flagship beer and accounts for 80% of overall volume.  As the brewery, often referred to as just the family last name, looks to its sixth generation it is Jennifer Yuengling, the Vice President of Operations, and her three sisters who are poised to take over the brand and continue the family tradition.  To stay competitive in a crowded beer marketplace she says innovation is key. The brewery has continued to release new brands and find new partnerships to stay top of mind with its customers across 22 states. Yuengling is also the country’s largest craft brewery, as designated by the Brewers Association, but Jennifer is more interested in using the word independent, something the whole company is proud of being, she says. Jennifer spoke to the show from the brewery in Pennsylvania. For more Drink Beer, Think Beer or to check out Beer Edge: The Newsletter for Beer Professionals, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge and subscribe to our beer industry focused newsletter. There is more information, articles, and engaging content at Beer Edge.Host: John HollGuest: Jennifer YuenglingTags: Beer, Craft Beer, Lager, Hershey, Yuengling, Florida, Pennsylvania

From host John Holl: "Every once in a while a beer comes your way from an unfamiliar brewery and just blows you away. It’s one of the great things about having so many breweries in the country these days – there is a lot to discover.  A few months back I had a slew of beers from Crane Brewing Co. in Raytown, Missouri. The gose and Berliner Weiss were subtle, flavorful, mixed with all kinds of ingredients and layered with nuance that made me want to know more about where they came from. So I called up Christopher Meyers, a co-founder of the brewery to talk about process, working with local farms, and their concept of 'tradition, evolving.'He spoke to me from the brewery in Missouri."  For more Drink Beer, Think Beer or to check out Beer Edge: The Newsletter for Beer Professionals, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge and subscribe to our beer industry focused newsletter. There is more information, articles, and engaging content at Beer Edge.Host: John HollGuest: Christopher MeyersTags: Beer, Craft Beer, Missouri, Lager, Fruit, Berliner Weisse, Gose, COVID-19

It really is a small world. Before Covid-19 sent us all into lockdown John Holl  received an email from a listener who encouraged him to book Ethan Cox of Community Beer Works in Buffalo on the show. Alex wrote in saying that “Ethan is a big part of the craft beer culture here in Buffalo and helped take a plucky little nanobrewery and turn it into a place that represents the neighborhood and the city that is very much on a hidden gem.” So John did some digging and found out that Ethan is also a tireless advocate for New York Beer and the efforts that its guild is pushing to make it easier for breweries to do business, and the co-author of Buffalo Beer: The History of Brewing in the Nickel City published by History Press.  And it turns out, Ethan's sister lives in the same small town as John. So Ethan made the trip down to New Jersey ostensibly to see his sister, but managed to sneak away, douse himself in hand sanitizer, and share some beers in the back yard.  For more Drink Beer, Think Beer or to check out Beer Edge: The Newsletter for Beer Professionals, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge and subscribe to our beer industry focused newsletter. There is more information, articles, and engaging content at Beer Edge.Host: John HollGuest: Ethan CoxTags: Beer, Craft Beer, New York, Pilsner, Fruit, Community, Buffalo, IPA, Pale Ale, Football, Travel, Barleywine