Breweries love to talk about what they bring into the world. In other words, their beer. Breweries tend to talk less about what they leave behind. Their focus is on the next batch of beer, not the last one. In a lot of ways that makes perfect sense...but if you want to keep track of your business, your favorite brands, or the industry as a whole, a forward focus can also leave a blindspot. Breweries imprint upon the world with more than just their beer. They forge facilities with both equipment and character. They create all sorts of physical objects like tap handles, labels, cans and bottles, coasters, merch, and so on.They create terabytes of information: websites, graphics, brew logs, TikTok videos, and recipes to name a few. Even more gets created in their name by other entities, from government to Google. Most romantic of all these are the memories, relationships, ideas, and inspirations that breweries create. They both affect us individually and ripple out into communities. On and on it goes. A brewery's imprint today is expansive, it's redundant...and it's fleeting.Of all the stuff I just mentioned, very little of it is built to last.Beer gets consumed. Virtually all brewing facilities eventually close, even the wildly successful ones. Websites get taken down. Merch wears out or gets thrown out. Computer files get lost or deleted. And unless we record our memories somehow, they'll inevitably fade with us. All this to say: as time passes for a brewery–or anything else in this world–what's known becomes limited to what's left. Imagine what gets lost in a year. Imagine what gets lost in a hundred.

While beer is in the name of this podcast, we explore all kinds of beverage alcohol with our guests. In recent episodes, we’ve talked about alcohol-infused coffee, agriculture, filmmaking, and more. If you follow alcohol industry news—or just stroll through your local grocery or liquor store—you know hard seltzer and canned cocktails increasingly take up space on shelves and in conversations. All of which is to say, the entirety of alcohol matters more every day as people explore new options, flavors, and expand their own understanding and expectation of how they enjoy and connect to whatever is in their bottle, can, or glass.   These themes are what led me to Paula de Pano, an advanced sommelier, wine educator, and entrepreneur behind Rocks + Acid Wine Shop, a new bar and store in North Carolina. Paula is a longtime industry vet with an education in culinary arts from the Culinary Institute of America—that’s the “CIA” you’ll hear mentioned in this interview—and she is opening this new venture with a focus on ways to court all kinds of drinkers. Wine can kind of feel stodgy at times given its history and pop culture status as a drink of choice for older, more affluent people, but Paula is making distinct choices about how to stock wines and interact with customers that seem necessary to reach a wider audience. She’s taking a unique stance on who she buys wine from and why, and even the physical layout of Rocks + Acid is meant to provide an atmosphere where education feels welcomed, not forced.   The past 20 years has offered narratives of beer’s decline, spirits’ rise, and wine’s … consistency. It hasn’t really lost volume or sales, but it has faded a bit in terms of attention, especially for younger drinkers. So, while we talk about and see the evolution of alcohol into all sorts of flavored concoctions that line store shelves, Paula is looking to make wine more familiar, welcoming, and exciting for all.

What were you drinking in the early 2000s? When we look back on trends and data, there’s a good chance it was a flavored malt beverage along the lines of Zima, Mike’s Hard Lemonade, or the star of today’s story: Twisted Tea from Boston Beer Company.   In her exuberant and extremely thorough piece titled “Spill It — Twisted Tea’s Unpredictable, Unparalleled 21-Year Success Story” journalist Kate Bernot unpacks everything there is to know about the cult favorite: its experimental origins, its shockingly consistent sales numbers, and the brand’s plans for future expansion in order to bring the gospel of boozy tea nationwide. Not that it needs to sell itself too hard—Kate describes Twisted Tea’s unusually fervent consumers, who’ve remained loyal for two decades and are showing no signs of straying.  In today’s conversation, we share stories about our own experiences with the brand and how craft beer’s tunnel vision can sometimes make us unaware of successes outside our own spheres. She also shares some of her insight into the when, where, why, and how of Twisted Tea’s origin—and wonders why it’s so hard to get the full story from its creators. If there’s one thing to take away from our discussion, it’s to have an open mind when it comes to what you drink. You may be surprised at what you’re missing.

Today’s guest has been a bit of a ghost int he GBH machine for more than a decade - since our founding really - and he’s someone I think about every time someone asks me how GBH got started - and as you’ll discover shortly, he had no idea.  Greg Browne was the brewer at a brewpub in Chicago’s NW suburbs - a place called Mickey Finn’s. He was known for brewing a hefeweizen - a recipe he inherited from his predecessor when he took over as head brewer.  More importantly, for me, he was the host of a weekly Beer School at The Map Room in Chicago - a midday gathering on Saturday’s where guests would enjoy some bread and cheese and learn about beers in a thematic way - and the themes were whatever happened to be on Greg’s mind that week.  It’s an incredible memory for me - from a time when I’d only had a smattering of craft beer experiences to rely on - and I hardly considered myself a fan of beer in any particular way. It was just causal and sometimes interesting fun. Most of my bar experiencers a the time involved $1 off specials of Blue Moon and some Golden Tee. Not exactly sophisticated stuff - but it was kind of the Chicago way.  Map Room - and Greg Browne’s beer school painted an entirely different picture however. And I’m forever indebted to that moment when he served me my first Saison Dupont. That’s the beer that inspired GBH - and Greg is the one who created that moment, unbeknownst to him.  But that’s not the real reason we’re talking today - that’s a story we could have shared at any point in in past decade really. Today I’m talking to Greg because for the first time in a long time, I saw his name pop up as part of a new brewing project called Art History, and it recently started supplying two fantastic beers to Chicago’s Hopleaf Bar. As far as I know the sis the first time Hopleaf has ever had a house beer. The venerated tap list there is a target for anyone trying to make a name for themselves in Chicago’s beer scene. Brewers host parties just to celebrate getting on tao there for the first time if they’re lucky enough to make the list at all. So for Greg to have a new gig - and so quickly become a mainstay on that list as a pair of house beers - is an unprecedented achievement.  And for this episode, I reached out to Michael Roper of Hopleaf for his perspective on all that.  It was a sign for me that it was finally time to get Greg on the podcast, share this story with him, and hear so much more about his own. It takes us deep into Chicago’s craft brewing past - and paints pa picture of the future that I’m very excited about. 

The color bar may be Britain’s most shameful secret—even though it’s not so secret after all. In journalist David Jesudason’s intensely researched and deeply personal new piece titled “Breaking the Color Bar — How One Man Helped Desegregate Britain’s Pubs (and Fought for an Anti-Racist Future),” which was published on March 16, 2022, David shares the story of Avtar Singh Jouhl, a British Indian activist, communist, and beer lover who was instrumental in bringing awareness to and dismantling segregated drinking spaces in Britain. In this conversation, David and I unpack his process for approaching the piece: how his personal experiences and identity help him tackle thorny topics like racism, what he didn’t learn from the history books (and what he took upon himself to discover), which current events led him to write this, and how Britain continues to deny its legacy of racism both yesterday, today, and tomorrow through the residual effects of imperialism and nationalism. You’ll also hear a clip from Avtar himself, sharing his own experience in his own voice, as a part of living history. This is a good time to remind anyone who still thinks beer isn’t political how wrong they are, and how far we still have to go to ensure safe, inclusive spaces for all. Join us, right now, to hear about how one extraordinary man made an enormous impact in the fight against racism in Britain, what didn’t make it into the story, and what comes next, both in and out of beer.  

There is a lot of calculated nuance in today’s beer industry. You have to be purposeful in your business plan, consider who you’re selling to and where, and what your company stands for. Good beer is the table stakes, and these are differentiators that help create a successful business. It’s not easy to carve out a niche, but it is possible, when you see all this nuance. In this conversation we meet Tara Hankinson and LeAnn Darland of Talea Beer Company. The pair are the co-founders and co-CEOs for the Brooklyn-based brewery, which has built its early success on attracting previously underserved consumers and creating a unique atmosphere at their taproom to appeal to all. You’ll hear them cite statistics and anecdotes as we chat, and their background in non-beer industries gives them a valuable perspective on new ways to differentiate themselves. I know it’s cliché to talk about how an outsider can bring new ideas and perspectives to old industries, but in a market where space is at a premium, both on shelves and in people's minds, Tara and LeAnn recognize what they can do to create something special and expand their reach across New York City. You’ll get to hear about what first brought them to this moment and even what they see as important next steps for themselves and the future of the business. All of what happens between is intentional, thoughtful, and works to establish itself within this complicated nuance that allows a company to make connections that can create lifetime customers.

Who wants to talk about money? We’re going to. I’m joined today by Jerard Fagerberg to talk about his piece titled “Pour Clean, Like the Source — CA Draft Tech in Oakland, California,” which was published on Good Beer Hunting on February 18, 2022.  In this piece, he outlines the creation, evolution, and expansion of CA Draft Tech, a sanitation service for taprooms, bars, and restaurants across the Bay Area. With the help of SMBX, an alternative financing company that allows consumers to invest directly in local businesses, CA Draft Tech was able to grow their business outside a bank’s traditional loan structure.  It was Jerard’s first time exploring the niche world of hospitality financing, but it’s probably not the last. He describes the research and writing process as a challenge, but a necessary one in order to demystify finances and introduce a level of transparency not often seen when discussing that big elephant in the room—money.  You’ll hear from Jerard about how the story took shape, how to best discuss the business of beer without ignoring the very real human element, just what bonds are, how SMBX taps into communities in order to elevate businesses, and why this model is well-suited to the high-capital, low-margin world of hospitality.  One note for listeners: This story was published as part of Good Beer Hunting’s Compound Interest series, underwritten by SMBX, which highlights different ways small businesses can get the funding they need; all of the businesses profiled in this series have worked with SMBX to achieve part or even all of their funding. And on that note, we have our own bond offering on the platform for anyone interested in investing in Good Beer Hunting’s future.

The long-awaited return and continuation of Foeder for Thought - GBH’s collaboration with Green Bench Brewing Company in St Petersburg Florida. GBH’s Founder, Michael Kiser, hosts a series of talks with wile ale producers from around the world in front of a live audience. Episodes from 2022: FFT-013 Khris Johnson of Green Bench Brewing Company FFT-014 Tim Adams of Oxbow Brewing Company FFT-015 Jeffery Stuffings of Jester King Brewery FFT-016 Christian Gregory of 3 Fonteinen FFT-017 Pierre Tilquin of Gueuzerie Tilquin FFT-018 Jason Perkins of Allagash Brewing Company FFT-019 Tomme Arthur of The Lost Abbey    

The long-awaited return and continuation of Foeder for Thought - GBH’s collaboration with Green Bench Brewing Company in St Petersburg Florida. GBH’s Founder, Michael Kiser, hosts a series of talks with wile ale producers from around the world in front of a live audience. Episodes from 2022: FFT-013 Khris Johnson of Green Bench Brewing Company FFT-014 Tim Adams of Oxbow Brewing Company FFT-015 Jeffery Stuffings of Jester King Brewery FFT-016 Christian Gregory of 3 Fonteinen FFT-017 Pierre Tilquin of Gueuzerie Tilquin FFT-018 Jason Perkins of Allagash Brewing Company FFT-019 Tomme Arthur of The Lost Abbey    

The long-awaited return and continuation of Foeder for Thought - GBH’s collaboration with Green Bench Brewing Company in St Petersburg Florida. GBH’s Founder, Michael Kiser, hosts a series of talks with wile ale producers from around the world in front of a live audience. Episodes from 2022: FFT-013 Khris Johnson of Green Bench Brewing Company FFT-014 Tim Adams of Oxbow Brewing Company FFT-015 Jeffery Stuffings of Jester King Brewery FFT-016 Christian Gregory of 3 Fonteinen FFT-017 Pierre Tilquin of Gueuzerie Tilquin FFT-018 Jason Perkins of Allagash Brewing Company FFT-019 Tomme Arthur of The Lost Abbey