Good Beer Hunting

It seems like beer enthusiasts, myself included, are always looking forward. When we’re not trying to figure out what the next IPA is going to be, it’s easy to prognosticate about upcoming business plans, releases, and who needs to learn more about whoever the next, hot brewery may be. But as we’ve heard so many times before, you don’t know where you’re going, unless you know where you’ve been. Liz Garibay is the person you may want to call when it's time to bridge these things as both historian and beer lover. For years, she's led a project known as History on Tap, which traces history through alcohol, and for herself and others, created inspiration to better understand how beer and its unique community factor into larger cultural stories. As founder and director of the Chicago Brewseum, she’s also had an analytical view toward the history of drinking in one of America’s most iconic cities. I ran into Liz this summer at the annual Beer Bloggers and Writers Conference, where she told me about a new exhibition she was a part of and as our conversation drifted over all sorts of beer topics, I wanted to take the chance to sit down with Liz for the podcast as a way to better capture some of the ideas of how Drinking Past has an ability to shape our Drinking Future. No need to break out your Encyclopedia Britannica for this one, but I hope you’ll enjoy some extra context all us beer lovers might miss when we’re keeping our heads on a swivel, just trying to keep up with everything that’s certain to be next. This is historian Liz Garibay. Listen in.

Welcome back to the GBH Collective, a special series of interviews where we have the chance to dive a little deeper with Good Beer Hunting contributors and friends on topics of writing, beer and the stories you read and hear from GBH. In this episode, we’re joined by a name you may be familiar with if you’re a beer fan, especially if you’re on Twitter, and very much so if you live in New England. For years, Carla Jean Lauter has shared stories from Maine on her blog, beerbabe.com, and more recently through the weekly Tap Lines column in Maine Today. She’s been an outspoken voice on a variety of issues in beer, from pushing breweries to simply publish their hours of operation on their website, to discussions of inclusion and diversity. Carla and I have known each other for some time, and in addition to interactions on social media, shared emails, acting as a voice in stories, and even acting as a tour guide to proper drinking in Portland, Maine, I got to see her again this summer when we were both in Virginia as part of the annual Beer Bloggers and Writers Conference. Amongst presentations, we sat down for a bit to talk about what it means to cover beer, and more specifically, what it’s like to do so in her home state. Portland, let alone Maine, already has a great reputation among beer enthusiasts, but I hope that hearing Carla talk about it all gives you new or renewed interest in exploring what the state says in its slogan is “the way life should be” … just with a little more beer along the way.

Today’s episode is one of those where just a couple weeks difference in when we actually sat down with each other would have dramatically transformed the focus of the conversation. For anyone who’s been paying attention to Avery, you certainly know it’s been a couple years of transformation for the brewery, as they took on a minority investment of Mahou San Miguel, completely reconfigured their portfolio to better align with market trends, and launched a visual re-brand. Of course, all these changes involved some personel movement, as their COO left in May and a half dozen folks were laid off. Before that, the prior COO had left to join Ska brewing. So it’s safe to say that since the Mahou San Miguel deal, there’s been a lot going on at Avery. And my guests today, Andy Parker, their CHIEF BARREL HERDER, and Colin Quinn, their special projects brewers are in a unique position to talk about how that effected the most important part of Avery’s operation - the brewing. Which beers should Avery be making, for which markets? in what formats? how simple can a portfolio in 2018 be? how critical is newness? and what are they gonna do with all that capacity after a major expansion? Well, what we didn’t know at the time of this interview was that Founders Brewing based in Grand Rapids Michigan, would need some help brewing All Day IPA, a brand that continues to set the pace for growth in craft. Like Avery, Founders is partially owned by Mahou San Miguel, so what could have been a major albatross for Avery, all that extra capacity, debt, and a slow transformation back to growth became a chance to support the larger system of brands under the family banner, and both benefit from the opportunity. It’s bizarre for Avery fans to consider, but Mahou San Miguel and brewing All Day IPA might just be the difference between having or not having an Avery Brewing Company at all. So what will they do with that bonus time afforded by those relationships? Time will tell. But in this interview, you’ll hear about the shift in the brewing side, how the team is regrouping and what they’re excited about in Avery’s brewing future.

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.

A decade in beer can feel like a lifetime. As Tottenham’s Redemption Brewing Company approach their 10th birthday, looking back is kinda dizzying. Redemption was one London’s first craft brewers, but is now just one of more than 100. Founder Andy Moffatt has grown his business slowly and organically with a focus on sessionable cask ale, despite a consumer shift to the hop-focused, high-ABV American styles brewed by those who came in his wake. In barely a year, Redemption went from sign of the future to link to the past. Meanwhile, cask ale went into volume decline, and keg-focused neighbors like Beavertown and Camden grew to five or six times Redemption’s size, then sold to international conglomerates. Most companies would have ripped up their business plans, but Redemption has responded to it all with quiet dignity and belief that cask ale is unique and worth pursuing. When you try a fresh Trinity or Hopspur, you see where that confidence comes from, but even so, the brewery is changing. Moffat followed up a recent expansion with a £300,000 ($379,000) crowdfunding campaign to finance further development and forays into keg—even cans. We sit down in the half-finished taproom to reminisce about London before the beer revolution, the challenges of brewing session beer, and how cask is perhaps the only constant in this new, ever-changing world. This is Andy Moffat, founder of Redemption Brewing Co. Listen in.

It’s another episode of the GBH Collective, an ongoing series of interviews where we dive a little deeper with Good Beer Hunting contributors and friends on topics of writing, beer and the stories you read and hear from GBH. In this episode we’re checking back in with another member of the GBH team, Alyssa Pereira. You’re likely to have come across her words in recent months, as she’s profiled Russian River, told the story of Firestone Walker’s unexpected flagship 805 Blonde Ale, and given an in-person recap of one of the country’s most beloved beer fests, the Firestone Walker Invitational. Most recently however, she’s also become a voice here on Good Beer Hunting’s podcasts, bringing a new collection of interviews from her home state of California, which isn’t just the most populous state, but one of the most prolific when it comes to beer and all the stories that can be told around it. In our own conversation, you’ll learn what it’s like for Alyssa to add the title of podcast host to her repertoire, as well as the background of what took her from covering the music industry to her day job at the San Francisco Chronicle and now acting as a journalist also covering the U.S. beer industry. She’s been a welcome and important addition to GBH’s editorial team, and I hope this chat gives you some insight to appreciate her work even more. This is Alyssa Pereira, reporter, podcast host, and Golden State treasure. Listen in.

I met Shannon Vinson not at a beer festival, or a beer bar, or at Creature Comforts Brewing Company in Athens, Georgia, where she works, but in New York City seven years ago. We were both getting our masters degrees at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Beer being a relatively far cry from the art world, probably neither of us had any foresight we’d ever end up here in this community, but we stayed in touch through social media, watching each other progress in this industry. Eventually, on a trip to Georgia a few years ago, I also met Blake Tyers, Creature Comforts’ Cellar Manager, a GBH contributor, and, as it turns out, Shannon’s boyfriend. It’s only been a few years since Creature Comforts opened here in this college town, but it quickly outgrew its first brewhouse. To keep up with demand as much as possible, the brewery opened a second production brewery in town. But despite the massive increase in output (they’ll land somewhere between 35,000-40,000 barrels in 2018), it’s still tough for the fast-growing brewery to send much beer too far outside Atlanta. I don’t want to give you the impression that Shannon’s work doing marketing for the brewery is anywhere near easy. It’s an increasingly competitive Georgia beer market and it seems they’re making a big push for name recognition outside the state. But with national accolades and appearances at prominent festivals like the Firestone Invitational, things seem to be clicking into place for them. On a recent trip to the South, I visited Blake and Shannon and they were gracious enough to host me in Athens. While here, I couldn’t pass up the chance to sit down with them and talk about their unique backgrounds, beer off-flavors, Creature Comforts’ barrel program, and the pros and cons of running a brewery in Georgia. This is Blake Tyers and Shannon Crawford of Creature Comforts Brewing Company in Athens, Georgia. Listen in.

This week’s episode is a fun one for me, largely because I’m not on it. About a year ago, we started a subscriber community called The Fervent Few . And since then, hundreds of people from all walks of life, all kind of professions, and all over the world have joined to support GBH financially—and to commune with each other over beer. Some of them are experts and producers, others are distributors, retailers, sales reps, and the like. Plenty of them are homebrewers and people trying to break into the industry. That seems to make up about half of the group, which I’m judging purely anecdotally based on who tends to take part in the community aspect of it all. Then there’s the other half, made up of people who love beer and love talking about it purely from an entertainment or educational perspective. This part of the community is a blast. They’re a big part of the reason that The Fervent Few has remained so fun and funny for me personally. Getting everyone in the same room creates what I find to be one of the most edifying communities in beer. Today’s podcast is a perfect metaphor for all that. Jim Plachy, who was one of our first members, quickly became an indispensable voice in the community. So we went ahead and put him in charge of it. And his guests today hail from a Texas beer maker called Collective Brewing. One of them, Dave Riddile, has gone on to become a GBH contributor and now works for GBH in a marketing role. The reason this is so fascinating and enjoyable for me is that, over the course of the last 12 years or so that GBH has been alive, it’s evolved from a solo effort—literally just myself writing my way through the beer industry—to a team of journalists and photographers, to a studio side with artists and designers building brands, partners helping create events like Uppers & Downers, and now a community-driven component that has sort of pieced together that last few rungs on a ladder whereby people are able to ascend within GBH according to their own interests and means. And so now I, the guy who started it all, gets to watch it all expand well beyond my wildest imagination. That’s how today’s podcast came about. So this is Jim Plachy, GBH’s Fervent Few community manager, and Dave and Ryan from Collective Brewing in Texas. Listen in.

We’ve all heard the adage of “location, location, location.” The idea that when it comes to real estate, it’s about where you are—something that can be doubly important for a business. When Marie and Jamie Fox set out to find the spot for their brewery, it was not easy. The effort, which became a journey, took them all over Boulder, Colorado to look at practically any space that may have been usable for brewing. It eventually led them to sign a lease in 2016 on a 20,000 square foot facility in the city’s Gunbarrel neighborhood, giving way to Gunbarrel Brewing. I know, you probably didn’t expect the start of this podcast to talk about beer industry house hunting, but when I first met the Foxes this fall, it was hard to not be amazed at the size and scope of the the home they had found. And, at a time when success in beer can feel in flux all the time, the methodical planning they displayed feels like the kind of necessary steps companies need for current and future planning. When you open a brewery in Colorado, surrounded by some of the fiercest competition and discernable drinkers in the country, you have to be picky and smart about what you do. So while you’ll hear about the Gunbarrel lineup and how canning has changed things for the brewery, there’s also talk about what it takes and what it means when you really do find out there’s no place like home. It’s a side of the beer business that isn’t sexy, but massively important. This is Marie and Jamie Fox of Gunbarrel Brewing. Listen in.

Welcome back to the GBH Collective, a special series of interviews where we have the chance to dive a little deeper with Good Beer Hunting contributors, and friends on topics of writing, beer and the stories you read and hear from GBH. We’re stepping outside our normal lineup of GBH writers this week to visit with someone you may not be familiar with, but will likely want to know more by the end of our conversation. Kyle Clark does not work in beer. He doesn’t write about beer. He has a lot of beer at home and has made his own in the past, but unless you live in the Denver metro area, his name won’t be as synonymous with a love for the industry and commenting about it as Coloradans have come to know. Kyle is the host of Next on 9News in Denver, the highest-rated newscast in the market in any time period. He’s a smart guy with a deep love for beer, and this is the kind of perspective that’s fun to drop into these podcasts every now and then to better understand a point of view that isn’t industry-specific. Aside from intimately knowing the Denver beer scene, you’ll hear in this conversation how Kyle and his team have worked to shine a light on local laws that impact beer and dog lovers and gain an appreciation for some Colorado spots you may have never heard of before. I sat down with Kyle while visiting Denver for the Great American Beer Festival this fall, and as we talk about beer and journalism, I hope his name is one you’ll remember. For reference, he’s also a high quality follow on Twitter. This is Kyle Clark: news man, TV anchor, and a voice gifted for your ears. Listen in.