Good Beer Hunting

Today’s episode is part of a series of talks we recorded at the Shelton Brothers festival back in August in Atlanta — a phenomenal gathering of some of the best brewers in the world, as well as a few niche cider and wine makers, all holding their own in one of the most diverse and interesting product portfolios that’s ever been assembled.  The folks from Shelton Brothers gave us a room, and free rein to curate talks with anyone we wanted, on any topics we wished.  It’s a somewhat speedy series of interviews, much shorter than you’re used to on GBH, and that’s because we wanted to see if a series of topics might emerge — a pattern of sorts, that might give us an indication of what’s on people’s minds at this point in time, in this particular portfolio of producers. And sure enough, it worked.  On a few of these episodes, other folks from GBH drop in from time to time as well, so you’ll also here from Blake Tyers and Kyle Kastranec

Today’s episode is part of a series of talks we recorded at the Shelton Brothers festival back in August in Atlanta — a phenomenal gathering of some of the best brewers in the world, as well as a few niche cider and wine makers, all holding their own in one of the most diverse and interesting product portfolios that’s ever been assembled.  The folks from Shelton Brothers gave us a room, and free rein to curate talks with anyone we wanted, on any topics we wished.  It’s a somewhat speedy series of interviews, much shorter than you’re used to on GBH, and that’s because we wanted to see if a series of topics might emerge — a pattern of sorts, that might give us an indication of what’s on people’s minds at this point in time, in this particular portfolio of producers. And sure enough, it worked.  On a few of these episodes, other folks from GBH drop in from time to time as well, so you’ll also here from Blake Tyers and Kyle Kastranec

Today’s episode is part of a series of talks we recorded at the Shelton Brothers festival back in August in Atlanta — a phenomenal gathering of some of the best brewers in the world, as well as a few niche cider and wine makers, all holding their own in one of the most diverse and interesting product portfolios that’s ever been assembled.  The folks from Shelton Brothers gave us a room, and free rein to curate talks with anyone we wanted, on any topics we wished.  It’s a somewhat speedy series of interviews, much shorter than you’re used to on GBH, and that’s because we wanted to see if a series of topics might emerge — a pattern of sorts, that might give us an indication of what’s on people’s minds at this point in time, in this particular portfolio of producers. And sure enough, it worked.  On a few of these episodes, other folks from GBH drop in from time to time as well, so you’ll also here from Blake Tyers and Kyle Kastranec

Today’s episode is part of a series of talks we recorded at the Shelton Brothers festival back in August in Atlanta — a phenomenal gathering of some of the best brewers in the world, as well as a few niche cider and wine makers, all holding their own in one of the most diverse and interesting product portfolios that’s ever been assembled.  The folks from Shelton Brothers gave us a room, and free rein to curate talks with anyone we wanted, on any topics we wished.  It’s a somewhat speedy series of interviews, much shorter than you’re used to on GBH, and that’s because we wanted to see if a series of topics might emerge — a pattern of sorts, that might give us an indication of what’s on people’s minds at this point in time, in this particular portfolio of producers. And sure enough, it worked.  On a few of these episodes, other folks from GBH drop in from time to time as well, so you’ll also here from Blake Tyers and Kyle Kastranec

Today’s episode is part of a series of talks we recorded at the Shelton Brothers festival back in August in Atlanta — a phenomenal gathering of some of the best brewers in the world, as well as a few niche cider and wine makers, all holding their own in one of the most diverse and interesting product portfolios that’s ever been assembled.  The folks from Shelton Brothers gave us a room, and free rein to curate talks with anyone we wanted, on any topics we wished.  It’s a somewhat speedy series of interviews, much shorter than you’re used to on GBH, and that’s because we wanted to see if a series of topics might emerge — a pattern of sorts, that might give us an indication of what’s on people’s minds at this point in time, in this particular portfolio of producers. And sure enough, it worked.  On a few of these episodes, other folks from GBH drop in from time to time as well, so you’ll also here from Blake Tyers and Kyle Kastranec

Today’s episode is part of a series of talks we recorded at the Shelton Brothers festival back in August in Atlanta — a phenomenal gathering of some of the best brewers in the world, as well as a few niche cider and wine makers, all holding their own in one of the most diverse and interesting product portfolios that’s ever been assembled.  The folks from Shelton Brothers gave us a room, and free rein to curate talks with anyone we wanted, on any topics we wished.  It’s a somewhat speedy series of interviews, much shorter than you’re used to on GBH, and that’s because we wanted to see if a series of topics might emerge — a pattern of sorts, that might give us an indication of what’s on people’s minds at this point in time, in this particular portfolio of producers. And sure enough, it worked.  On a few of these episodes, other folks from GBH drop in from time to time as well, so you’ll also here from Blake Tyers and Kyle Kastranec

A series of talks we recorded at the Shelton Brothers festival back in August in Atlanta — a phenomenal gathering of some of the best brewers in the world, as well as a few niche cider and wine makers, all holding their own in one of the most diverse and interesting product portfolios that’s ever been assembled. YOU CAN LISTEN TO THE ENTIRE SERIES OF INTERVIEWS FROM SHELTON FEST 2017 HERE! Interviews include: Hannah and Drew Fox of 18th Street Brewery in Indiana Paul Jones of Cloudwater Brew Co in Manchester, UK Chris Hall of Brew by Numbers in London Harold Krabbe of Frederikstal Kirsebaervin Sarah and James Howat of Black Project Ales in Denver, Colorado Todd Boera of Fonta Flora Brewery in North Carolina Jack Van Paepeghem of Oxbow Brewing in Maine Henry Nuygen of Monkish Brewing in Torrance, California Adair Paterno of Sante Adarius and Brad Clark of Jackie O’s Amber Watts, Ron Extract, and Jason Hansen of Garden Path Fermentation in Washington Chris Herron of Creature Comforts in Athens, Georgia Paul Brouwer of Oedipus Brewing in the Netherlands

I’ve been writing for GBH for going on two and a half years now. Over that time you may or may not have noticed that I’ve gradually been trying to build a picture of the modern British beer scene. We’ve looked at the likes of Beavertown and Brew By Numbers in London, BrewDog up in Scotland, Cloudwater in Manchester, Magic Rock and Northern Monk in Yorkshire and most recently Lost & Grounded in Bristol.  It’s Bristol that we find ourselves in today, or at least, that’s where today’s guest Bruce Gray, and his brewery Left Handed Giant, is based. Gray has worked in the beer industry for a number of years now, working in BrewDog’s bar division before heading to Bristol and setting up a distribution company. He also opened a specialist beer bar called Small Bar, which now has a second site in Cardiff, South Wales.  From here he began “cuckoo brewing,” as Gray puts it, under the Left Handed Giant brand. Things snowballed for the fledgling brewery, as they are wont to do in a British market hungry for more young brands like his, and now they’re nestled into a permanent site, brewing 15 barrels at a time. Bristol seems to be the perfect incubator for the ambitious plans for his brewery.  It’s perhaps because Gray has had the opportunity to work at all ends of the chain that he’s able to articulate his experiences within the beer industry so well. He does so regularly on his brewery's blog, where he’s earned a reputation for being honest and forthright. On this podcast he’s no different, giving in-depth opinions on issues such as the much-debated price of beer. He also gives his opinions on CAMRA as well as SIBA, the Society for Independent Brewers, which is the closest equivalent the UK has to America’s Brewers Association. We have a great conversation here that covers all of the above and more. Listen in.

It’s hard to be objective when it comes to such a subjective thing like beer. We’re all driven by our own preferences and tastes mapped out by sensory experiences of flavor and aroma. Things are good and bad, sought after whales and shelf turds. Beer is an experiential good and our exposure varies on time of day, mood, company and more. But there are still plenty of cold, hard facts that factor into the social, cultural and business side of beer, which is why this week’s guest is a special one for me.  Bart Watson deals with numbers. Truthful, verifiable, factual data. As one of only several economists who work within the beer industry, it’s his job to offer context and insight into what’s changing, and often, what’s to come. His logical and well-cited reason is regularly seen on the Brewers Association website and increasingly in media around the country. When some may be focusing on the hot take du jour, Bart can be found writing a blog post or interacting on Twitter with calculated answers. And it’s about beer. As the BA was preparing to kickoff the Great American Beer Festival in early October, I sat down with Bart inside the Colorado Convention Center to geek out, talking about the new challenges within the beer market, including price points, marijuana use, distribution and more. With thousands of people scurrying around the building ready to celebrate craft beer, it was exciting to take a fittingly calm moment to evaluate the state of the industry and where beer lovers should be looking in 2018. Who knew economics could be so cool?

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.