In honor of Mother's Day today we tackle the mother of dragons, sorry no, the mother of beer...yeast! Dr. Matt Humbard, a microbiologist, yeast wrangler, and soon-to-be brewery owner comes by to do a deep dive into the wonderful world of yeast.
Every year the Brewers Association hosts the Craft Brewers Conference. The conference is filled with educational seminars, events, keynote speakers, demonstrations, and countless networking opportunities. On top of all that, there is BrewExpo America, where hundreds of vendors come, from all over the world, to sell and educate the consumer about their products. This ranges from new canning lines to beer slushie technology. Here are a few interviews from the expo floor.
As we close out the circle of our beer judge episodes, today we talk about a recent homebrew competition - how it was organized and who is champion! The winner gets to scale up their recipe at DC Brau and have their beer sold at every Pizza Paradiso location. Every homebrewer’s dream come true.
Recorded at the Craft Brewers Conference in Denver, Colorado, we get to chat with Ethan Cox, president and the main instigator at Community Beer Works in Buffalo, New York. We discuss the flourishing beer scene in western New York, how to get more people drinking craft beer, beer travel, and staying true to your beer brand.
Join us for a special show with Dr. Brian Alberts and Liz Garibay from the Chicago Beer + Culture Project and The Brewseum. They are in DC to talk beer history, and how beer shapes community and culture. Returning to the show we also have Mike Stein, local beer historian to taste the East Indian Porter he brewed with Bluejacket Brewery and historian, Ron Pattinson.
The Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) was founded in 1985 to "to promote beer literacy and the appreciation of real beer, and to recognize beer tasting and evaluation skills." The approach to gain this certification is very hands on. Ben Hunter, Sales Manager for Denizens Brewing Co. and Certifed Beer Judge explains the process of studying for the certification. We dive into what it's like to judge a beer competition, and how to start judging beer.
How do brewers select hops for their brews? What qualities do they look for in the hops and the production/processing? Listen in for the answers. Alex Barth, CEO of John I. Haaz and a seventh-generation hop producer is our guest. We also get into new flavor research, hazy IPAs, and hop extracts.
As craft beer continues to grow, the question is, will the bubble burst? Short answer, no, there are so many people that don't drink beer. Sam Nellis, Beverage Director for All-Purpose and Red Hen in DC comes by to chat about what goes into building his list, and how education is the key to growing craft beer enthusiasts. Of course, we get off topic with beer throwdowns, spritzes, orval day, and eggs.
Adrienne Ballou headed up the barrel and fruit refermination program at Jester King in Austin, TX. Though a classicly trained winemaker, she crossed the bridge into beer making. She has since returned to the wine world in Texas hill country. We get nerdy with her experiences in barrel management. We also stressed the importance of people from both wine and beers worlds to share their knowledge.
For this week Beer Me is recorded in Portland, Maine - specifically at Maine Beer Co. We chat with their marketing & events manager, Anne Marisic. She discusses what it means to work for a company whose motto is "do what's right" and how that translates to the beer, expansions, and employee care. Part of the new renovation is a space for a sensory evaluation, which sparked a dive into tasting and evaluating beer.
History is in the making. Pizza Paradiso, DC Brau, and DC Homebrew Club are joining forces to host a homebrewer competition at the Georgetown location of Pizza Paradiso. The winner will get to brew their beer at DC Brau and have it served at every Pizza Paradiso location (now 5!). Michael Stein of Lost Lagers and Drew McCormick (executive beverage director of Pizza Paradiso) are in the studio to share the inspiration and the technical explanation of this event. We also dive into what it's like t...
John Gartner of Port City Brewing Company and Bill DeBaun of DCBeer.com swing by the studio to talk about our mutual love of Port City. This is a brewery that sometimes gets overlooked for how amazing they are. We get into history, the beers, competition, and new beer releases - the importance of lagers. Also, reminders for the upcoming St. Baldrick's event at Boundary Stone and The Brewer's Ball.
Maureen O'Pray recently published a book "Beer in Maryland: A History of Breweries Since Colonial Times" and she comes by to take us through that history. We covered Maryland's first brewers, the industrial age, prohibition, and immigration. Through her research, she has uncovered some amazing stories and captured the human quality of this story.
Leah Cheston, co-owner/founder of Right Proper Brewing Co. in Washington, DC comes by to chat about the importance of brewery owners coming together. She is the VP & Treasurer of the DC Brewers Guild (a non-profit trade organization that supports DC Brewers). She is also one of the newest members of the Brewers Association board of directors (another non-profit trade organization advocating for brewery owner rights). The beer world is a supportive community, and Leah explains how that happen...
The partial government shutdown includes the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). This is highly problematic for breweries as they need to get label and formula approval for new beers from the TTB. Not to mention make tax payments and file other operation reports. Prairie Artisan Ales out of Oklahoma tweeted about this on January 6th - and as you would imagine, got a deluge of varying responses. Wade and Cody from Prarie call in to talk about the shutdown and managing social media for...
To kick off the season, and the year, we are celebrating diversity in beer, community, and firsts. Beer historian and author, Micheal Stein, is welcomed back on the show to talk about DC brewery firsts - including DC's first female-owned brewery, first 100% gay-owned brewery, and first African American-owned brewery. Thankfully, diversity is growing in craft beer, let's keep it going.
In October we got the chance to cover this small, but mighty beer festival in Denver. Shelton Brothers Importers throws this festival every year, and in their words: "You’d have to spend months and countless dollars for a chance to meet this many world-class brewers." Listen in to hear a collection of interviews with brewers from Scotland, Canada, US, Tasmania, Germany, Belgium, Mexico, England, Switzerland, and Jordan.
Sarah Jane gathers some of her favorite people to drink beer and talk beer. Abit of a departure from our normal show, but we manage to cover growth in the industry, local beer, beer with adjuncts, collecting beer, contract brewing, and sample some pretty great brews.
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. recently brewed Resilience ""Butte County Proud"" IPA, all profits from this beer will go to assist the victims of the Camp Fire in Northern California. Sierra Nevada put out a call for breweries around the country to do the same, making donated ingredients and the recipe available. Over 1,200 breweries around the U.S. answered the call, including Atlas Brew Works in DC. Justin Cox (Founder & CEO) returns to the show to talk about the execution of the project. Bill ...
Beer journalist, John Holl is in town for a beer panel at Solid State Books tonight! He stopped by the studio to talk about his new book, "Think Beer, Drink Beer." While sipping Sierra Nevada Pale Ale we manage to cover beer trends, nerds, the ever-changing beer world, and fit in a few rants.
The practice of homebrewing was federally legalized in 1978 and from there, the world of independent craft beer was born. In an effort to spread the joy of homebrewing and in turn craft beer, John Moorhead (American Homebrewers Association National Homebrew Competition Director) and Katie Marisic (Federal Affairs Manager for the Brewers Association) come by to explain the exciting competition they have just completed on Capitol Hill. That's right, for the third year now there is a Capitol Hill S...
Opening anything is like giving birth: painful, surprising, and messy. Brett Robison and Christian Layke come by to chat about their final push in opening their brewery in Silver Spring Maryland: Silver Branch Brewing Co. We also talk about some winter homebrew tips, dreamy beer experiences, and how to get involved in their brewery opening.
Chef Kyle Bailey (Chef Owner of The Salt Line) and Mike McGarvey (Co-Founder & Head Brewer of 3 Stars Brewing Company) come by to chat beer and food pairings, specifically Thanksgiving. We go through the whole meal, giving you suggestions throughout. We start with what to drink while everyone stands around awkwardly, making small talk, and carry you right on through to when people dip into politics and you need something to balance the fattiness of the sides and the rampant racism of your un...
Sustainability, producing local beer, yeast wrangling, and wild ponies all get tackled in today's episode. Josh Chapman, co-founder and head brewer of Black Narrows Brewing Co. comes by to chat about opening a brewery in Chincoteague, Virginia; among other beer musings.
Today we talk about a new study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. Li Liu, a professor of Chinese archaeology at Stanford University, and her team analyzed traces from stone mortars dating back some 13,000 years from a cave in Israel. They certainly made some interesting discoveries. Nick "The Baltimore Beer Trekker" Nichols, who teaches beer history & appreciation enrichment classes at Johns Hopkins University and Howard Community College comes by to chat about the...
Full house today on Beer Me! Chef Mikey Friedman, the man behind The Red Hen & both All-Purpose locations, Co-Founder & CEO of DC Brau Brandon Skall, and Mari Rodela Chief Community & Culture Officer of DC Brau all come in to chat about what it takes to do a beer and restaurant collaboration. Chef Mikey dives into his joys of pairing beer with food and we get to try DC Brau's latest releases. Special appearance made by Full Service Radio Industry Night Co-host Nycci Nellis (also crea...
Kevin Blodger, Co-Founder & Director of Brewing Operations and Lynn Pronobis Operations Manager & Cask Ninja from Union Craft Brewing in Baltimore come down to DC to chat. We get really nerdy on cask flavor development, pine for the days of "regular IPAs", and discuss some exciting developments for Union.
Why are beer festivals important? What makes for a good one? How is it executed? Managing Partner & Beer Director, Greg Engert of DC's Neighborhood Restaurant Group breaks down the answers to these questions. He also shares exciting updates about the Snallygaster Beer Festival this Saturday in DC. There will be over 400 different beers, live music, food, and all ticket sales benefit the Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food & Agriculture. Tickets are still available!
Allagash, a wonderful brewery in Portland, Maine founded in 1995 by Rob Tod. Matt Pollard is responsible for Allagash Field Sales for DC and Maryland and comes by to chat all things Allagash: new beer releases, Allagash White in a can (!), visiting the brewery, and the culture of the brewery. We do an accidental advertisement for visiting Portland, Maine and go off topic with DC beer events, but that's to be expected.
To celebrate their 3rd year anniversary Aslin threw an epic beer festival with over 60 brewers coming from all over the US, Canada, and Denmark. Beer Me got the chance to chat with a few of the brewers and hear some great stories.
