Good Beer Hunting cover image

Good Beer Hunting

Latest episodes

undefined
Jan 29, 2022 • 56min

EP-328 Audrey Gehlhausen and Chris DellaBianca of Billy Goat Hop Farm

If you’ve gone on a brewery tour or listened to someone wax poetic about what goes into a beer, you may have heard this phrase: “Beer is an agricultural product.” It’s a simple statement, but one that’s repeated because it can often get lost. We most often exist around beer’s final state—an alcoholic liquid dispensed from a tap or poured from a bottle or can. No wonder we aren’t actively thinking about what happens before we take that first sip. In this episode, we’re taking a chance to step back in that timeline with Audrey Gehlhausen and Chris DellaBianca of Billy Goat Hop Farm, a 32-acre, family-owned farm in Montrose, Colorado, where Audrey and Chris harvest hops like Cascade, Chinook, Comet, and more. They’re responsible for one of the core ingredients in beer that provides a host of aromas and flavors. But we’re not just talking about all that, as Audrey and Chris’ connection to beer through farming raises a range of other important topics that touch climate change, labor, and running a business. While I’m certainly guilty of not overthinking each beer I’m drinking, I love knowing the value of interactions like this. To pause and think about how beer touches so much before it hits the side of your glass. Beer is an agricultural product, and in this conversation, you’ll get another opportunity to learn why.  
undefined
Jan 8, 2022 • 48min

EP-327 Becky Ryman + Logan Ackerley of Wallenpaupack Brewing

There’s a brewery with a funny name hidden away in Pennsylvania’s Pocono mountains that’s slowly growing into a local powerhouse. Named after a nearby lake, the beer from Wallenpaupack Brewing Company is good—I can attest to that—but it’s the way this business is setting itself up for the future in the middle of Yuengling Country that caught my eye, and brings owner, Becky Ryman, and head brewer, Logan Ackerley, to your ears. In this episode, we’re going to hear from Becky and Logan about what it takes to establish a brewery in a place mostly known for transient vacationers, how they build a tap list to smartly incorporate traditional styles and contemporary trends, and what the future holds for a brewery that has rapidly added staff and increased production. This summer, the Wallenpaupack team also celebrated the opening of a second space called “The Wake Zone,” a 6,000-square foot space designed to house interactive indoor golf and sports experiences along with a taproom. All together, it’s a very modern approach to what it takes to excite drinkers in a taproom, on store shelves, and ensure ongoing success. This conversation is a great timestamp for this business and what it takes to succeed in beer, and I hope it also offers a better understanding of what Wallenpaupack represents outside a funny-sounding name for those not in the know.  
undefined
Jan 6, 2022 • 34min

CL-092 Emily Monaco Goes Digging in the Land of Terroir

Emily Monaco’s latest story starts off with a very loaded concept, that controversial T word: terroir. This romantic, albeit somewhat undefinable term, has been synonymous with wine—and especially French wine—for generations. But now, as French beer continues to come into its own, the tastes of right here, right now are being emphasized by a number of breweries, but one in particular: Deck & Donohue. Not that Deck & Donohue would use the word “terroir” to describe its mission. In Emily’s piece “Liberté, Égalité, Authenticité — Deck & Donohue in Paris, France,” which was published on November 24, 2021, she takes a deep and deeply personal look at what makes this opinionated, locally driven brewery tick. Accompanied by a collection of arresting photographs by Eileen Cho, the piece looks at the brewery’s beginning, its goals, and its future as a hyper-local producer of artisanal beers that relies on as many organic and France-sourced ingredients as it possibly can. In today’s conversation about the piece, Emily reveals her own entry and evolution in beer, and when this particular story began to take shape in her mind. We discuss how French craft beer culture has seen beer evolve from mostly an aperitif to a legitimate beverage to pair with food. We also look at how the history and tradition of winemaking differ from the more forward-looking beer scene, how the United States has influenced French beer (and how it hasn’t), and even where to find the best chai in Paris. But most poignantly of all, she reveals what else she learned in her research for this story, and how it has inspired a number of other stories she hopes to share in the future.
undefined
Jan 4, 2022 • 55min

EP-326 Chris Leguizamon of Pure Project

Genuinely nice people seem to be harder than ever to come by. But Chris Leguizamon, otherwise known as “Chris The Beer Educator” on Instagram, is one of them. As the education program manager at Pure Project in San Diego, California, Chris is in charge of teaching both his coworkers and consumers about the joys of craft beer, coffee, and mead—a role he takes very seriously, but always manages to do with his trademark ear-to-ear smile.  Chris has been a fixture in San Diego’s craft beer scene since 2014, and as one of only two Advanced Cicerones in the county as well as a Certified BJCP judge (with his eye on a National ranking), he’s easily one of the most knowledgeable folks in the local industry. But where he stands out goes beyond his positive attitude and almost inescapable enthusiasm for the beverage. It’s his absolute willingness to share everything he knows with anyone who wants to hear it.  In our conversation today, you’ll hear from Chris — his journey into beer, his identity as a first generation Colombian-American, why he does what he does, and the value of formal beer education, as well as where those programs need to evolve to engage with the next generation of aspiring beer experts from all backgrounds. The conversation wraps up with both of our takes on the global collaboration, Brave Noise: how we feel about it, what we hope comes from it, and the urgency of listening to the voices who so desperately need to be heard. 
undefined
Dec 17, 2021 • 60min

EP-325 Noah and Peter Bissell of Bissell Brothers

Today’s podcast was inspired by a single tweet, or more accurately a reply to tweet, from Bissell Brothers cofounder Pete Bissell. It came in response to a post about a new Good Beer Hunting article entitled Making it to a Million — How Allagash Helped Grow Maine’s Grain Economy. It was a story about the remarkable fortunes of a handful of grain farmers and maltsters in Maine, who have benefitted from Allagash’s drive to include more local grains in their beer. It’s a wonderful example of a brewery doing something not because it’s easy, but because it’s right – something the myth of craft was built on. But as the article made clear, Allagash were not the only Maine brewery pursuing the strategy. Bissell Brothers were also name checked, and Pete’s brother Noah actually quoted. Still, Pete wanted to make it clear that local grain wasn’t little aside for the brewery, or some kind of corporate responsibility box ticked. It was a passion of theirs, and their contribution to Maine grain’s rise is perhaps as big as Allagash’s. That fact, coupled with Pete’s little moment of Twitter defiance, gets to the heart of Bissell Brothers. On the surface they seem like another haze-focused brewery – complete with a world-famous double IPA, a killer brand identity and lines around the block every other weekend. While that’s all a source of pride to Pete and Noah, it’s only the start of the Bissell story – something the brewery struggles get across. In this podcast I sit down with Pete and Noah to talk about the brilliant fact that their flagship beer, Substance, is 97% Maine grain, but more so about everything that surrounds that choice – the positives such as the impact on sustainability and local business, but also the negatives such as higher costs and accepting the fact that many customers simply won’t know or care. We reflect on the beer industry as a whole in the light of COVID and widespread condemnation of its working culture, and consider how marketing has become so reductive that doing the wrong thing is getting easier, while explaining how you do the right thing is only getting harder.
undefined
Dec 15, 2021 • 1h 5min

EP-324 Will Rogers of Charles Faram

Hops are in Roger’s blood. He grew up on a hop farm and, after a few years in IT, came back to that world to work for Farams. In our conversation you’ll get a real sense of the pride he takes the business, as well as his deep knowledge of hops as both an agricultural plant and a beer ingredient. But most of all you’ll hear his passion for British hops, which its fair do not inspire the same level of excitement that many new world varieties do. That though, might be about to change. We start by talking about the challenges of this year’s harvest, which has been affected by adverse and unpredictable weather, only to be released to a market with much lower demand as many brewers are still working through their stock of 2020 and even 2019 hops after the disruption of COVID. These crises could not have come at a worst time for the UK hop industry, which Rogers says is at its lowest ebb – and even a make or break moment. Some hop growers are considering turning their fields over to more reliable crops, and with just 59 growers left in the UK it would only take a few quitting to reach a critical mass that destroys the industry. Rogers, however, sees a lot of cause for optimism. We talk about the renewed excitement around traditional british beer styles and their ingredients, as well as taking a deep dive into Faram’s hop breeding programme that has seen the release of seven new varieties design to offer up the high aroma, high alpha qualities of American hops – but all grown in British soil, British sun and rain, and without the use of irrigation. Throughout our talk it becomes clear that British hops have a lot to offer the world of modern brewing if it can survive this moment to rebrand itself and create its own space.
undefined
Dec 5, 2021 • 55min

EP-323 Melissa Hidalgo, Dr. Beer Butch

Melissa Hidalgo might be the smartest beer person I know. She has a Ph.D in Literature from U.C. San Diego; is currently a professor of women’s, gender, and ethnic studies at California State University, Long Beach; and, if she wasn’t busy enough with her work in academia, she’s also a longtime beer writer who often goes by the pseudonym Dr. Beer Butch. Melissa has been writing about beer for over 10 years, but it was a pint of Guinness that started her beer journey well before that. As a Los Angeles native, she was an early organizer of queer spaces in her local community, helping to form a beer education social club called Queers and Beers, as well as a blog called Butch’s Brew, all with the intent of taking up space in what was then, and could still very well be considered, an extremely white, cis, male beer scene. As a freelance writer, Melissa mostly writes about beer for L.A. Taco, but her desire to tell stories about people, history, and culture transcend food and drink. In our conversation today, you’ll hear her tell her own experience and journey into beer, the prejudices she’s had to overcome in order to explore the industry she loves, what’s changed over the years (as well as what hasn’t), who inspires her, and the preciousness of human connections through a shared passion. 
undefined
Dec 4, 2021 • 30min

CL-091 Catie Joyce-Bulay Asks The Million Malt Question

If you’re a voracious fiction reader like I am, your biggest impression of Maine may come from Stephen King novels. But the United States’ northeasternmost state is far more than pet cemeteries and telekinetic prom queens. It’s also home to some of the country’s highest-quality grain growers and maltsters, many of whom are based in an area that’s long been used for another crop: potatoes. In her piece titled “Making It to a Million — How Allagash Helped Grow Maine’s Grain Economy,” writer Catie Joyce-Bulay dives into this world of farm-to-pint malting and how Allagash Brewing Company’s pledge to use 1 million pounds of grains grown and malted in Maine by the end of this year has helped spur new infrastructure and symbiotic relationships throughout the local industry. As a resident Mainer, she explores the importance of that hyper-localism pervasive among her tight-knit brewing community, and how mutual respect and a shared commitment to quality binds those tilling the earth to those brewing our beer. During this conversation, Catie discusses what it’s like to live, work, and drink in Maine, a place that fiercely protects its own, but embraces those who share their sense of rugged individuality. We talk about how the slow growth towards using solely Maine-grown grain is a welcome corrective to our current culture of instant gratification, what she wishes she could have expanded on in her piece, how using GPS in rural Maine may lead you to some unexpected places (and snacks), and what to pair a can of Allagash White with. (Hint: it’s everything.)
undefined
Nov 20, 2021 • 55min

EP-322 Naveen Pawar and Adam Leibowitz of Mighty Squirrel Brewing

In today’s alcohol marketplace, it’s all about the pivot. You better be able to change on a dime when it comes to what you make, where your brands are sold, and how you think about growth. But well before the COVID-19 pandemic brought all these things into focus, Mighty Squirrel Brewing Company created its own reinvention, turning itself from a company making a sport-focused, protein-enriched beer in 2015 to one of the most successful Hazy IPA producers in the country by 2018. The beer that's gotten them to this point is Cloud Candy New England-Style IPA, which this year has made as much in chain retail stores as the iconic Pliny the Elder from Russian River Brewing. The meteoric rise of Cloud Candy is the impetus to talk with co-founder Naveen Pawar and Adam Leibowitz, director of sales and marketing, and you’ll hear the story of bringing it to life and what it means to complete with a New England-style IPA in New England, where hop heads reign supreme. Along the way you’ll get to hear about what it means to be among the fastest-growing breweries in the country, and how to try and not be seen as a one-hit wonder. Cloud Candy may have put Mighty Squirrel on the radar for many beer lovers—it certainly did for me—but what you’ll hear from Naveen and Adam give broader context to what it means to be a company making beer in 2021, and the importance of always evolving for yourself, your staff, and the people who sell and buy your beer. And if you haven’t yet heard of Mighty Squirrel, know it won’t be long until this rapidly-growing business catches the eye and taste buds of beer drinkers across the Northeast.  
undefined
Nov 20, 2021 • 1h 29min

SM-005 That Dog Won’t Hunt: Charleston Beer’s Past, Present, and Future

In summer 2021, Jamaal Lemon, Brian Alberts, Mike Stein, and Peter Jones worked together to publish Tek Cyear uh de Root, an article series that explored the way beer history and culture merged with systems of racial oppression in the 19th-century Charleston Schützenfest. In that series we mentioned an even earlier example of the same phenomenon, a brewery owned by Edmund Egan in the 1770s. Egan’s brewery ran on the labor of six brewers, two coopers, and seven other Black workers, all enslaved, but most historical representations of Egan minimized this fact so much that bringing it up again started some conversations. One of the biggest breweries in both Charleston and South Carolina is Edmund’s Oast Brewing Company which, you guessed it, is named after Edmund Egan.

The AI-powered Podcast Player

Save insights by tapping your headphones, chat with episodes, discover the best highlights - and more!
App store bannerPlay store banner
Get the app