Good Beer Hunting

Today I’m going to introduce you to a brewery that basically just getting off the ground—it’s still in its infancy. But the folks behind it, with experience across a variety of well-known breweries, and a killer bar, and the bones of the building having seen a couple breweries itself, well, it’s more of a collection of old-but-still-passionate souls. This is Future Primitive Brewing in Seattle. When I visited they were just a couple weeks old and hadn’t really dug in yet. But they were close. And over the course of our conversation, talking about Ian Roberts’ experience owning and running one of Seattle’s best beer bars, Pine Box, and Kevin Watson’s experiences at breweries like Elysian and Allagash, it was clear to me that both of these guys had been focused, for a long time, on learning everything they could before they took the leap themselves. And not to distract from the great personal stories here and the exciting things coming up for Future Primitive, but this episode includes themes candid and thoughtful. Not to mention some of the most insightful discussion I’ve ever had with a brewer who’s worked at a brewery before and after an AB InBev acquisition. While it may not surprise you to hear some of these things, the clarity and balance with which he presents his experience is entirely uncommon—at least in the public discussion of such things. I was thoroughly impressed and I think you will be also. This is Ian Roberts and Kevin Watson of Future Primitive. Listen in.

There are lots of ways the business of beer extends far beyond what we find in bottles or cans. The social and cultural side of beer offers a glimpse into who we are, what we value, and in some ways, what drives us. Among one of the more curious trends in the American industry in recent years has been the continued use of trademarked or registered intellectual property. All over the country, there are near-daily examples of small and independent craft breweries using the likeness of people or IP from music, TV, movies, and a host of other pop culture venues as a way to market their product. As previously covered on GBH, these actions are done with knowledge of the potential legal ramifications. Some breweries are careful to toe the line, using similar color schemes or fonts from companies or products, but others may cross it. A recent example also covered on GBH was when Pennsylvania brewery Broken Goblet released a label for The Bryce is Right, a beer celebrating the arrival of baseball superstar Bryce Harper in Philadelphia. With a profile of Harper’s face, as well as a label imitating the beloved gameshow, The Price is Right, the proposed branding could have put the brewery in hot water. It even received a shoutout from Bob Pease, Brewers Association president and CEO, on Twitter. When that story ran in March, Pease never explained why he specifically called out a member brewery that could so easily be in violation of state and federal law, declining to comment to GBH. Ahead of this podcast, through the Brewers Association’s PR agency, GBH was told, “No foul play here (pun intended). As a fan of independent beer and baseball, Bob was simply trying to connect the two.” One person, however, is still hoping for a more thorough answer. For about a month, Tim Sullivan has been tweeting at Pease, creating an ever-growing thread on Twitter with hope he can learn more about the social media shoutout. Sullivan, a brewer at Portland, Oregon’s Ecliptic Brewing, has been hopeful, but not holding his breath. In this Sightlines podcast episode, we’re checking in with Sullivan. He’s a supporter of the Brewers Association—his employer is a member as well—though he continues to be perplexed why nobody from the trade organization has spoken up to ask peer businesses to stop using the intellectual property of others. After a series of tweets went unanswered, Sullivan explains why this is important to him. This is Tim Sullivan, brewer and searcher of answers. Listen in.

For just over a year, Good Beer Hunting has focused on a variety of stories to highlight the evolution of wild and sour ale in America as part of our Into the Wild series, brought to readers in collaboration with New Belgium Brewing. Through these stories, however, it's been impossible to ignore what's also going on outside the U.S., where interest in this unique category has also been increasing. In this episode of the GBH Collective, we’re checking in with Jonny Garrett, one of Good Beer Hunting’s London-based team members, who’s most recently explored various ideas of wild, sour, and mixed-fermentation beer for an Into the Wild story about Lambic, and a podcast with the founders of Yonder Brewing & Blending. Jonny and I are going behind the scenes of his stories as part of this special series of interviews to dive deeper with Good Beer Hunting contributors and friends on topics of writing, beer and all the ways they intersect. The question that lingers throughout this conversation, as it has for Good Beer Hunting’s ongoing Into the Wild series, is about exploring just what exactly is happening—and as best we can determine, why—with traditional beer styles in a modern context. This includes discussion of foraging for ingredients, how a seaweed and yuzu beer changes flavor over the course of two years, and what’s next for “wild” in the UK scene. This is Jonny Garrett, GBH writer and podcaster. Listen in.

For NYC Beer Week, in collaboration with The Well, Good Beer Hunting’s Michael Kiser hosts a pair of panel discussions aimed at understanding the current state of the beer industry and the culture that supports it, from the perspective of both hometown and visiting brewers.

For NYC Beer Week, in collaboration with The Well, Good Beer Hunting’s Michael Kiser hosts a pair of panel discussions aimed at understanding the current state of the beer industry and the culture that supports it, from the perspective of both hometown and visiting brewers.

There’s a case to be made that some of the most essential members of our craft beer communities aren’t brewers, or writers, or distributors. They’re publicans who influence the industry by connecting people. Chris Cohen is one such person, though he wears many more hats than that of just beer bar founder. He does indeed run a popular bar in Old Devil Moon, which opened in 2016 in San Francisco’s Bernal Heights neighborhood, but he didn’t always know he’d wind up there. He was a former IP lawyer in New York, who by chance got into beer by way of a curiosity about homebrewing. A hobby gave way to a passion, and before long, Cohen moved to the Bay Area, founded the San Francisco Homebrewers Guild, and earned the Advanced Cicerone certification. And then, realizing his meticulous Cicerone test note-taking might be of help to others, he launched Beer Scholar, a site and study guide aimed at helping prospective BJCP and Cicerone students pass their exams. But his most recent effort is a novel one, even for him: He’s an outspoken proponent for the commercial use of Nordic kveik yeast, an ingredient he says will change American craft beer due to its ability to drastically cut down fermentation time. It’s a bold argument, but he’s ready to make the case. This is Chris Cohen of San Francisco’s Old Devil Moon. Listen in.

For generations, a lot about the story of beer has been filtered through advertising or experiences geared toward men. This is rapidly changing, and for the better. In today’s GBH Collective, we’re talking with Gray Chapman about some of the ways beer lovers are finding new connections in settings that can enhance the camaraderie of something as simple as sharing a collection of beer. Gray recently published a piece for GBH in which she tells the story of a female-only bottle share and why its members find that setting to be welcoming, exciting, and comforting in different ways than similar, mixed-gender events. This conversation is part of our special series of interviews to dive deeper with Good Beer Hunting contributors and friends on topics of writing, beer and the stories you read and hear from GBH. With Gray, it’s a great reason to get some background on how she experienced this event—her first time participating in a bottle-share—and what she learned from the women surrounding her. Her story and this conversation make it clear that one way to approach such an event isn’t bad and another good, but rather they can complement each other in ways that build a love and appreciation for beer differently. This is Good Beer Hunting contributor Gray Chapman. Listen in.

Our resident composer for the podcast and our commercial video work, Andrew Thiboldeaux, is writing original scores devoted to beers he finds fascinating. These are interpretations of the experience of drinking them. But they're also just great tunes.

It’s fair to say that mixed fermentation is having a moment in the U.K. Natural wine is buzzing like craft beer once did, and its beer equivalent is starting to do the same. I mean, no one knows what to call it—mixed ferm, farmhouse, wild ale, sour beer, barrel-fermented beer, low intervention beer. They all mean subtlety different things that never quite cover all the bases. Each brewery seems to pick its own word as they launch their side projects, using the volume and margins of clean beer to let their brewers off the leash and appeal once again to the ever-demanding beer geek bubble. But for me, Yonder have come to define what it means. With a focus on foraged ingredients, mixed culture yeasts, and hands-on brewing, it’s not an afterthought or a playground like it is for some brewers. It’s their lifestyle—their very reason for being. Stuart Winstone and Jasper Tupman met working at Wild Beer Co, the OG mixed-ferm brewery in the UK. They had both been there since the start and bonded over a love of using unusual ingredients and yeast strains, often local to them in Somerset. As Wild Beer Co grew though, the production side became increasingly commercial and the proportion of clean beer being made grew. Stu and Jasper felt that to continue producing the beers they loved, they had to go it alone. With no outside investment, putting the pieces together took a long time. There is starting a brewery from scratch, and then there is literally buying secondhand parts as they came on the market, plumbing them in yourself, gathering your own ingredients, designing your own brand and sticking the labels on the bottle you just filled. Stu and Jasper did all that themselves. While it sounds like a lot of work, it seems that when you do everything yourself, finding a cohesive identity is a very natural process. I joined them on an expedition in the Mendip hills with the brewery terrier Taco, gathering nettles and dandelions for a new Pilsner they were brewing the next day. This is Stu and Jasper of Yonder Brewing & Blending. Listen in.

Welcome to another Fervent Few episode of the Good Beer Hunting podcast where myself, Jim Plachy, and GBH’s strategic director, Michael Kiser, catch up. We’ll talk about the topics and discussions that took place in our membership community in the last couple weeks. Our 500 or so subscribers are scattered all over the world. Sometimes we meet up with them when we’re on the road, or they hang out with each other, but it all comes together in our community forum on Slack. If you value the content and experiences that GBH produces, you should join. Your monthly subscription gets you access to the community, special events, and exclusive gear deigned just for members. I joined, and now I manage it all. Plus, it’s my favorite place on the Beer Internet. Visit goodbeerhunting.com/ferventfew to strike up a conversation in beer.