Beer Guys Radio - Highlights

Dave McLean is one of the originators of the San Francisco craft beer scene. After following the Grateful Dead from Boston to the Bay Area, Dave started getting more into the craft beer scene. After drinking beers from great breweries like Anchor and Sierra Nevada, Dave got into the game himself.  Inspired by Alice Waters and the farm to table movement, Magnolia Gastropub and Brewery became one of the first brewpubs to really take food seriously.  Most recently, McLean opened Smokestack, a "San Francisco" barbecue brewpub in the Dogpatch district. And they are also just starting to can their beers.  We sampled two of their classics - the Kalifornia Kolsch and Proving Ground IPA.   

D9 makes clean beers, but they are definitely known for their sours. In fact, their gold medal at the 2016 Great American Beer Festival for its Systema Naturae 2nd Edition – Scuppernong & Lily wild sour ale. As Tim and Aaron are both big sour fans (especially Tim), we wanted to get them in studio.  We crossed paths with Modern Hops, and fortunately they made that happen. Andrew Durstewitz and Aaron Burton, two of the co-founders, traveled from North Carolina to be in our studios this week. We talked about the development and blending of their sours, the vagaries of brew styles, and their plans for bringing their beers to the southeast. 

On this episode, we're talking to Ohio's Rivertown Brewing and Barrel House. Founder and owner Jason Roeper joins us as we talk shop, and drink their beers!

The crew from Belgium's Brouwerij t'Verzet were in the United States over the month of May. During their whirlwind East Coast tour, they stopped by Decatur, Georgia's Three Taverns Craft Beer to brew. We grabbed them for a quick chat about the Belgian Beer scene, the meaning behind Verzet (The Resistance), and why they changed the name of one of their IPAs to something we can't repeat on a PG podcast!

For this week's Drink This Beer, we talked to Kevin Martin, head blender at Oregon's Cascade Brewing. Check out some tips on aging your sour beers, as well as the connection wine has to beers, especially sour and barrel aged ones! 

We went across the pond for this one.  Ok, not literally. But sacrifices were made. Tim had to brave traffic and Aaron had to drink a soda rather than a craft beer for this show.  Wil Avery and Tom Delaney joined us on this week's show. Wil's the new head brewer for Galway Bay Brewery, one of the largest craft beer brewers in Ireland.  We talked about Wil's background, the transition from working in the United States as opposed to Ireland, and what styles are popular over there.  New England Style IPAs were also discussed, and some new releases from Galway Bay too!  If you like the show, please subscribe to iTunes and give us a rating - it really helps!  Also, check out our Beer Guys Radio Show (also available on iTunes). Covering craft beer from the southeast every week!   

On this episode of Drink This Beer, we're talking to co-founder of Melvin Brewing, Jeremy Tofte. We talked about how he got started in beer, why they emphasize on IPAs, and what happens when you shoot yogurt cups out of a t-shirt cannon. It's a very entertaining interview....trust us!

For our 20th episode of Drink This Beer, we went on the road, to Atlanta's SweetWater Brewing Company.  Most craft beer fans know SweetWater for its iconic 420 pale ale, its IPA, or one of its many other "clean" beers. But recently, they decided to expand their sour and barrel aging program. Dubbed "The Woodlands Project," the new building is dedicated to those types of beers. Troy Montrone, barrel aging facility manager and brewer Chris Meadows joined us on the show.  We talked all kinds of sour beers, their love of Brettanomyces yeast, and how they got this project up and running. We also tried out their first ever bottled product, Through The Brambles, an American wild ale with raspberries.  Thanks for listening, and we'll talk to you next time. Be sure to check out our older episodes of Drink This Beer, and look for us (Beer Guys Radio) on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.  On Drink This Beer we talk to craft beer creators and innovators across the US and around the world.  Want to

In addition to the classic Chicago Pilsener, Baderbrau now makes several other "crushable" beers. For Chicagoans back in the late 80s/early 90s, Baderbrau Pilsener was the go-to brew. It was the area's original craft beer, but unfortunately, the Pavichevich Brewing Company wasn't able to make it, going under in the '90s. After a brief resurfacing of the brew by Goose Island, the recipe became lost over time. Enter Rob Sama. A homebrewer and a Baderbrau fan from his college days, he wanted to make a fan site about the beer. While doing research, he realized that the trademark and recipe were up for grabs. And a new business was born, called Baderbrau Brewery. Fast forward to today, and Baderbrau is a staple on Chicago's southside. They focus on drinkable ("crushable") beers, and while Baderbrau's Chicago Pilsener is the flagship, they make several other styles. Listen in to this week's Drink This Beer. It's a great story. Don't forget to sign up for our Nuit Belge giveaway! We'll draw the winners on Th

Jim Matt is the head brewer for Cincinnati's Rhinegeist Brewery. (Photo courtesy Rhinegeist) We sat down with Rhinegeist Brewery's Jim Matt for this week's Project BGR.  Matt, originally from upstate New York, develops many of the recipes and is in charge of quality control for the award-winning Cincinnati brewery. We talked with him during the Great American Beer fest, and chatted about his background and his brewing philosophy. Looking for more great content? Make sure you subscribe to Project BGR wherever you get your podcasts!     

This week's Project BGR goes west.  We talked to Preston Hartman, founder of Colorado's Good River Beer Company. Tim and Aaron talked to Preston about how he got his start in home brewing. After winning over 100 medals in competition, he decided to "go pro" the environmental reasons behind the founding of Good River, plus his "real" job as an attorney for the state of Colorado. Good River Beer Company is committed to donating at least 2% of its profits to non-profit organizations dedicated to river conservation.   

On this week's Project BGR, perhaps appropriately enough, we're talking to Funky Buddha. Brand Manager John Linn joins us on this show. And since it's winter in the South, we're talking about First Snow, the brewery's popular coconut coffee porter.  We also get talking about beer laws in the South, and how Florida has opened up to craft. Also, how Funky Buddha got its name, and why legendary coach Don Shula is a fan.  If you like Project BGR, please subscribe on Stitcher, iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. Leave a review, and tell a friend too!  Cheers, and we'll talk to you next time.

Time for another Project BGR.  This time, we're talking to Jason Kidwell, Sales Director, along with Andrew Dixon. We talked all things Troegs.  This interview was recorded at the 2016 Great American Beer Festival in Denver.  Cheers!

On this week's Project BGR, we're talking Houston beer with Eric Warner. He's the brewmaster for Karbach.  The popular Texas brewery/brewpub sits in a 19,000 square foot building with a 30-tap taproom.  We talk to Eric about the craft beer scene in Houston, the relaxing of the beer laws in Texas that's allowing more and more growth. We also talk pumpkin beers, and why they scaled back on their production this year. If you like the show, be sure to check out previous Project BGR episodes - subscribe and leave a review!  Cheers, and we'll talk to you next time. Note: This interview took place at the 2016 Great American Beer Festival in Denver. It happened prior to the announcement in November 2016 that Karbach was acquired by ABInbev. 

On this week's Project BGR, we're talking to legendary brewer Wayne Wambles, from Tampa's Cigar City Brewing. He was brewing up a collaboration with Decatur (Georgia's) Wild Heaven, and took a break to talk to us about his start in craft beer, his thinking behind Cigar City's creations, and a little bit about Hunahpu!     

Black Friday is more than just a day for all the insane shoppers to wake up early in the morning to stand in line or fight over the toy-du-jour. For beer nerds, it's become a special day - Bourbon County Brand Stout (BCBS) Release Day!  In honor of that, this week's Project BGR Craft Beer Podcast highlights Goose Island Beer Company. Tim and Aaron sat down with Jesse Valenciana, National Activation Manager and Paul Cade, Brewer during the 2016 Great American Beer Festival.  They talked about BCBS, how they keep up with the popularity and how they solved the strange infection issue. Plus, Goose Island's other brands. Jesse is a grilling expert and cookbook author, so we got into some food talk as well!  Thanks for listening to Project BGR. Stay tuned and subscribe - we've got more great interviews coming soon! Cheers. Note: Jesse's grilling information can be found on his website, ManBQue.com

What happens when your small brewpub wins a major national award? A lot of long days and nights trying to catch up to demand!  Of course, that's a good problem to have, and we caught up with the brewmaster of Prison City Pub and Brewery, Ben Maseo.  They were pouring at the 2016 Great American Beer Festival, weeks after Paste Magazine named their Mass Riot IPA the best American IPA, blind tasted with 246 others. They beat out some of the biggest names in the business to take home that award.  We talked to Ben about his start, the expansion of the brewery, and helping to make Auburn, New York a craft beer destination.

Project BGR gets a hold of Burial Beer Company on the cusp of their Atlanta debut. We talk to one of the owners of this Asheville brewery, Jess Reiser. She talks about the company's founding, their craft, and all about their unique can art.

Continuing our coverage of the 2016 Great American Beer Festival, Project BGR talks tp Alex Wallash, one of the founders of Berkeley, California's all sour beer company, The Rare Barrel.

Fresh off their silver medal win at the 2016 Great American Beer Fest, Project BGR sat down with Almanac Beer Company Founder Jesse Friedman and brewer/blender Phil Emerson.