Host Ben Rice recaps and winds down a hellacious 2020 over some bodacious Mexican lagers with the help of an esteemed panel of comedy friends and lovers, including Emma Haney, Becky Lynn, and Stephen Furey. With tales of debauchery, moments of clarity, big surprises, and somber memories, plus our guests' first michelada experience and beers you know and love and some you should! All in this jam-packed, super-sized year-end extravaganza episode of Barley & Me. Enjoy! You can find Emma Haney o...
Dec 28, 2020•2 hr 36 min
Host Ben Rice travels (virtually) to Lynn, MA, to talk to Bent Water Brewing's president and co-founder Aaron Reames, as well as their process engineering manager/technical director Jere Anderson. Joining Ben on this digital jaunt is Joe Isaacs of NRM, Inc., a provider of high-quality refrigeration products, and Dan Hale of Hale Winery Refrigeration & Consulting. If you think this episode is going to get technical on proper temperature maintenance and new technologies to maintain your brew q...
Dec 21, 2020•1 hr 16 min
Host Ben Rice sits down with beer journalist and author of the upcoming book, "A Woman’s Place Is In The Brewhouse" Tara Nurin, as well as Kaytlin Bailey, a comedian and host of The Oldest Profession Podcast. We discuss women's involvement in the craft beer movement, as well as the brewster's history throughout history, from the Bible to the first civilization to the Renaissance and Prohibition. Are there forces at play that keep them in the shadows? We also look at capitalism and patriarchy's e...
Dec 14, 2020•56 min
On this episode of our all-new beer & basketball podcast Hoops & Hops (stay tuned to the end for our re-brand!), hosts Ben Rice and Phil Webster break down the 2019-2020 NBA Finals, the 2020 NBA Draft/Free Agency free-for-all, and preview the upcoming 2020-2021 season. We get bogged down in Bogdanovic drama, re-do the Westbrook-Wall trade, compare Zion to a beer, and make our picks for the 2021 NBA Finals. Plus so much more, all over a beautiful Burn Your Idols hazy DIPA from Sacramento'...
Dec 07, 2020•1 hr
Barley & Me host Ben Rice joins co-hosts Corky McDonnell (Dare Daniel Podcast) & Paulina Olivares (Sacramento Pink Boots Society) for this beer-centric movie podcast offshoot, Leonard Malting. Today we discuss the 1977 Coors heist classic Smokey & The Bandit. Does this movie stand the test of time? Should it be remade? Can it be remade? If so, with whom? We break this film down and possibly destroy your childhood, as we unearth... casual racism, negging, fat-shaming, the 70s obsessio...
Nov 23, 2020•1 hr 36 min
Host Ben Rice travels (virtually) to Richmond, CA, to talk to East Brother Beer Co's brewers Rob Lightner & Paul Liszewski, along with guest Amanda Glynn, a scientist and professor at Sacramento State who also collaborates with local breweries to brew beers for charity! We talk the depressing realities of the COVID-19 shutdown on the brewing industry, how timing and good fortune helped East Brother during the most challenging times, the pending aluminum can shortage, and good things too! Lik...
Nov 16, 2020•1 hr 24 min
Host Ben Rice chats with Brian Moore, a comedian and former employee of Santa Clara Valley Brewing and Fort Point Brewing, and Kelly Berger, a person excited but hesitant to try comedy and former taproom manager and sales associate for Solid Ground and New Glory. Over glasses of Deschutes Fresh Haze (Ben), Hapa’s Galileo’s Dream (Brian), and a New Glory Ubahdank (Kelly), we discuss the COVID-19 shutdown’s effects on the beer and entertainment industry, how a big personality can find its way into...
Oct 26, 2020•1 hr 19 min
Leonard Malting is the beer-focused movie review offshoot of Barley & Me Podcast, featuring B&M host Ben Rice, plus co-hosts Corky McDonnell (Dare Daniel Podcast) and Paulina Olivares (Sacramento Pink Boots Society). In this episode, we discuss the 2012 Edgar Wright sci-fi/buddy flick "The World's End." Could this episode BE more timely? Join us on the Golden Mile as we discuss this seemingly-straightforward film's many twists and turns, its excellent plotting and hidden messages, and we...
Oct 05, 2020•1 hr 45 min
Host Ben Rice connects with Los Angeles comedians JoAnn Schinderle and Mark Smalls to discuss their histories in the beer industry, their standup comedy, surviving the COVID-19 pandemic, side hustles, coping mechanisms, and how JoAnn nearly killed a guy! Plus! Mark guesses Ben's beer order! Enjoy! Need more? Follow JoAnn Schinderle @jojoschinderle on IG. You can find "Dark Jeans" wherever you get your music and comedy albums. And if you're feeling so bold, inquire about JoJo's No-No's. Find Mark...
Sep 21, 2020•1 hr 29 min
Hoops & Hops is a beer and basketball podcast co-hosted by Phil Webster and Barley & Me's Ben Rice. In this episode, we talk about round one of the 2020 NBA Playoffs, the stunning Heat-Bucks series, find out what kind of player Jimmy Butler is, and take a deep dive on the coaches of the remaining teams. Ben's beer this week is Monk's Cellar's West Coastin', while Phil imbibes a Russian River Pliny for President. Enjoy! Check out Phil’s stay-at-home meal ideas and what he’s eating and dri...
Sep 08, 2020•51 min
In this special episode, host Ben Rice talks to absolutely no one! Oak Park Brewing in Sacramento had the good fortune of collaborating with the first Black-owned brewery in America, People's Brewing in Osh Kosh, Wisconsin! So OPB's head brewer Rodg interviews the son of the owner, Theo Mack, Jr. We'll hear about how Theo Mack, Sr., came into the beer business, his journeys in the military and through the Civil Rights Movement, and what People's Beer meant then and what it should mean now. It's ...
Aug 31, 2020•23 min
Barley & Me host Ben Rice joins co-host and chef Phil Webster for episode 3 of Hoops & Hops, a discussion of old- and new-school NBA basketball and beer. Episode 3 was recorded at New Helvetia Brewing in Sacramento, CA. As we discussed the NBA reopen, we drank a Crowns & Hops Black Is Beautiful Pecan Pie stout. We then crowned our best performers from the first 10 days of NBA action, before delving into a comparison of Gary Payton to a beer. To assist, Dave Gull of New Helvetia buste...
Aug 10, 2020•53 min
Host Ben Rice chats with Matt Vincent, owner/operator of Durango, Colorado's Oh Hi Beverage Company. Oh Hi is a beverage company focused on CBD and THC infused beverages with a current focus on seltzers. We chat about Matt's initial foray into the infusion game, as well as his past/current beer-related enterprises, Ska Brewing and Ska Fabrication, as well. Find out why Oh Hi started, why you can't mix THC and alcohol together even though hops and hemp are cousins, the fierce competition for sale...
Aug 03, 2020•1 hr 1 min
Leonard Malting is the beer-focused movie review offshoot of the Barley & Me Podcast, featuring B&M host Ben Rice, plus co-hosts Corky McDonnell (Dare Daniel Podcast) and Paulina Olivares (Pink Boots Society). In this episode, we discuss the 1993 indie stoner comedy classic Dazed & Confused. Known as a weed movie, Ben argues it might actually be a beer movie. We break down break-out roles, high school hazing, and the bygone lazy days of summer. Plus! We drink a variety of Black Is Be...
Jul 20, 2020•1 hr 25 min
Host Ben Rice chats with "Doctor" Bill Sysak of San Marcos's Wild Barrel Brewing about their recent distribution expansion, fatherly love, the "San Diego style" of brand building, and failed homebrew experiments. Plus! The secrets about hazy IPA that no brewer wants you to know, shared love of saisons and Berliner weisse (it might finally be a THING!), and turning fandom and friendship into career opportunities. NOT TO MENTION a very special Wild Barrel news release, the difference between kettl...
Jul 13, 2020•1 hr 14 min
Barley & Me host Ben Rice teams up with Sacramento chef Phil Webster to talk basketball and beer, in episode 2 of Barley & Me Presents: Hoops & Hops! Today, we build on the foundation of episode one by selecting the Sacramento Brewery Dream Team's version of Isiah Thomas, who was infamously left off the original Dream Team for a variety of alleged reasons. Then we tackle the new craft beer hotness: Milkshake IPA - what players past or present match this profile? We also do a deep div...
Jun 29, 2020•1 hr 11 min
Host Ben Rice travels to Claimstake Brewing in Rancho Cordova, CA, to talk to Marcus Baskerville, brewer at Weathered Souls Brewing in San Antonio, TX, about his history with beer, from hating it to tolerating it to home brewing to professional brewing to ownership, and the creation of the wonderful worldwide Black Is Beautiful Initiative and Black Is Beautiful Imperial stout. We talk first beers, first beer loves, family, and dedication to the craft. Joining us intermittently is a menagerie of ...
Jun 22, 2020•52 min
Introducing Barley & Me's first-ever foray into movie reviews! Barley & Me host Ben Rice (codename: Leonard Malting) discusses the 2013 "romantic comedy" "Drinking Buddies" with co-hosts Paulina Olivares (Pink Boots Society Sacramento) and Corky McDonnell (co-host of the Dare Daniel Podcast) to break down this star-studded (Olivia Wilde! Jake Johnson! Anna Kendrick! Ron Livingston! Jason Sudeikis! catastrophe. We discuss running themes of intimacy gone awry, the intricacies of improvisat...
Jun 15, 2020•1 hr 42 min
Barley & Me host Ben Rice is using this COVID-19 shutdown to give brewers time to re-focus their businesses to handle this new reality. So, he's reached out to some of his friends to experiment with beer-ish content! Hoops & Hops, with co-host Phil Webster (@culinarylando on IG), pairs the aggressive defense and death-defying dunks of 80s and 90s NBA basketball with aggressively-hopped IPAs. Today, we discuss Michael Jordan and ESPN's "The Last Dance" over an Urban Roots All Together IPA...
Jun 01, 2020•1 hr
Host Ben Rice gets his chance to talk to a few craft hop growers, Carla Wosoba (Wosoba Farms Hops) and Clinton Hirschfeld (Hirschfeld Hops), as well as comedian Amy Estes. We discuss side hustles (fun fact: hop farmers, comedians, and podcasters need primary sources of income when they're starting out), getting started in a secondary project, and how they found their true calling. Plus! How the hop growing business really functionings, including some surprising limitations and stressors; how to ...
May 04, 2020•1 hr 7 min
Host Ben Rice chats with Canadian musician/producer/craft beer enthusiast Jordon Zadorozny of pop-rock band/solo project Blinker the Star, to discuss Canadian craft beer, as well as the parallels and dichotomies of the craft beer scene and the music scene from the early 90s to today. We go down Ben Rice's rabbit hole of fandom, as a means to end regarding a discussion of creativity, growth, expansion, and the effects of the internet on beer and music. We talk Failure and failures, big budgets an...
Apr 27, 2020•56 min
Host Ben Rice remote-calls Teri Fahrendorf, the founder of the Pink Boots Society, to talk about the creation of this wonderful program, its expansion, and why she had to fire herself. Joining us are Alyssa Steger, the President of the Sacramento Pink Boots Society chapter and head brewer at Fort Rock Brewing, and Heidi Wilder, Fort Rock's director of fun-tivities. We discuss scholarship programs, how the Pink Boots has changed over the years and why, the current Pink Boots collaboration release...
Apr 20, 2020•1 hr 25 min
Host Ben Rice practices shelter in place and social distancing by interviewing Mike Mraz of Mraz Brewing remotely. We chow down on chicken wings with various hot sauces while discussing Mraz's upcoming/postponed 7th anniversary, the coronavirus's effect on Mraz's business, as well as the craft beer industry and small businesses in general, as well as how to stay fit during this shutdown. Plus! Ben reveals how he's raising funds for service workers, teachers, students, and performing arts theater...
Apr 13, 2020•1 hr 1 min
Host Ben Rice practices social distancing by ringing up Sacramento Beer Frontier's Aaron O'Callaghan to discuss the Coronavirus/COVID-19 and its potential effects on the beer industry and the world. With no medical background and no skin in the beer game, Ben & Aaron can talk freely about this topic. But for proper perspective, Ben created an anonymous industry survey, which gathered responses from brewers, owners, sales reps, taproom managers, hop growers, maltsters, and media relations mem...
Mar 23, 2020•2 hr 1 min
Host Ben Rice travels to Chico, CA, to talk to the town's second-ever brewery, Secret Trail Brewing, and owner/brewer Charlie Barrett, as well as Chico's indie-pop darlings Surrogate (represented by guitarist Michael Lee and keyboardist Daniel Martin). We talk consumption, creativity, and a change to the digital/internet era, as well as pesky ABC regulations, marketing tactics, and how to retain your individuality in a market that has certain expectations. Plus! Expansion! Singles on tape! Knowi...
Mar 16, 2020•1 hr 15 min
Host Ben Rice travels to PRINCETON!, California, to sit down with Farmers Brewing's Bill Weller. We talk about the humble beginnings of Farmers Brewing and how random happenstance changed their initial trajectory tremendously. Plus! Rice in beer? What happens when a craft brewery makes that their grain of focus and what does it take to make medium grain japonica rice amplify the profile of a craft beer? Trial, error, more trials, and importing equipment from Spain! All with the goal of reclaimin...
Mar 02, 2020•38 min
Host Ben Rice travels to Sacramento, CA's Tower Brewing to talk to TV/radio/podcast producer Cindy Baker, plus Tower Brewing crew Mike Ungerbuhler (head brewer), Micah Ochej (brewer), and Calvin Crawford (taproom manager) about creativity, commitment to passions, and how your backgrounds help you build to your present and future. Plus! Buying Rubicon IP(A), rum varieties, why it feels worse when someone is disappointed in you instead of mad at you, the rise and fall of Brut IPA, and an odd first...
Feb 17, 2020•56 min
Host Ben Rice travels to the Art of Beer Invitational 2020 to conduct a handful of mini-interviews! In segment one, Ben sits down with Cynthia Lee and Trish Showen of DarkHeart Brewing (Sacramento) plus beer volunteer and secret Barley & Me MVP Scott Mills to talk the art and influence of Art of Beer, designing a pirate-themed brewery, releasing the Kraken, and the sunken costs and buried treasures of the beer business. In segment two, Ben is joined by Laine Ruona of Almanac Brewing (Alameda...
Feb 03, 2020•1 hr 9 min
Host Ben Rice travels to West Sacramento, CA, to chat with Jackrabbit Brewing's head brewer Rob Moreno and Sacramento-based improvisor Justine Lopez. We kick off 2020 with conversations about secondary businesses to drive success, Sacramento's growing arts and comedy communities, what 2020 holds for craft beer (and Jackrabbit in particular), plus brand management and business planning, marriage and child-raising pros and cons, and how dogs can tell if you're a good person or not. Also! How impro...
Jan 20, 2020•1 hr 20 min
Host Ben Rice travels to New Helvetia Brewing in Sacramento, CA, to sit down with friends of the pod and truly terrific comedians Stephen Furey, Emma Haney, and Becky Lynn, to talk about their accomplishments in 2019, their hopes and aspirations for 2020, and drink some beers we've never had before. We also all realize that to make a living in the arts, you have to be a corporate shill, so we rave about our favorite things (please send us money) and rant about Ben's dictatorial hosting style. In...
Jan 06, 2020•1 hr 13 min
