Drink Beer, Think Beer With John Holl

Drink Beer, Think Beer is a weekly conversation with brewers, growers, and other brewing industry professionals that explores the art, culture, and business of craft beer. Hosted by John Holl and recorded on location, this podcast gets to the bottom of every pint and offers insight into the dynamic world of beer.

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Episodes

Ep. 13 - Bill Shufelt of Athletic Brewing Co.

Welcome to a new year and a new episode of Drink Beer, Think Beer. The first month has become known as Dry January by a certain segment of drinkers. The excess of the end-of-year holidays and new year resolutions that have people thinking healthier thoughts has played into this cultural movement where people decide to give up booze – or go dry for the first whole month of the year. So, I thought it fitting to sit down with Bill Shufelt of Athletic Brewing Co. He founded the company after he gave...

Jan 01, 2020•49 min

Ep. 12 - Maureen Ogle, author of Ambitious Brew

A note from Drink Beer, Think Beer host John Holl: We’re releasing this episode as a special Christmas Day bonus show. A gift to you. My guest today is Maureen Ogle , the author of several books including In Meat We Trust: An Unexpected History of Carnivore America and Ambitious Brew: A History of American Beer. There is a Revised Edition that is now available and you should use those holiday gift cards and return credits to get yourself a copy. In this conversation, recorded in Denver during th...

Dec 25, 2019•48 min

Ep. 11 - Jace Marti of Schell's Brewery

This week our guest on Drink Beer, Think Beer is Jace Marti, the assistant brewmaster at the August Schell Brewing Company in Minnesota. Beer has always been the family business, but rather than follow the status quo, Jace is working to bring the brewery into new arenas, notably wild and wood aged beers through the Starkeller Brewery Noble Star collection. Thanks to some long forgotten equipment – namely foudres – in the brewery’s New Ulm facility that were refurbished and moved to a separate lo...

Dec 25, 2019•52 min

Ep. 10 - Augie Carton of Carton Brewing Co.

This particular episode has been a long time in the making. Despite co-hosting a show with Augie Carton for the last four years, John Holl hasn't really had a chance to sit down with him one-on-one for an interview. It's something Holl has wanted to do, and judging by the emails and social media pings from listeners of Steal This Beer, the podcast they co-host, it’s something many others wanted as well. Holl sat down with Carton, the co-founder of Carton Brewing at his house on a recent Saturday...

Dec 18, 2019•1 hr

Ep. 9 - Lauren Woods Limbach of New Belgium Brewing Co.

It has been a busy year for beer. Thanks to increased pressure to perform thanks to nearly 8,000 breweries operating in the country, a consumer base that is constantly looking for the next interesting thing, and an increased focus on local taprooms. Lauren Woods Limbach, the wood cellar director and blender, at New Belgium Brewing Co. has been with the company for 22 years and has seen the changes to the industry first hand along with changes to New Belgium’s ownership, including the recent, pen...

Dec 11, 2019•54 min

Ep. 8 - Cesar Marron of Sketchbook Brewing

Evanston Illinois is just north of Chicago and plays a big role in the temperance movement that swept the country a century ago. Frances Willard , the president of the Women's Christian Temperance Union once lived here. After Prohibition the city decided to remain dry and did so until the 1970s and it wasn’t until 1984 that liquor stores were allowed in town. So, host John Holl was more than a little tickled when he sat down at Sketchbook Brewing in Evanston with founder Cesar Marron to have a p...

Dec 04, 2019•56 min

Ep. 7 - Chad Henderson of NoDa Brewing

This week John Holl is joined by Chad Henderson and Charles Willett of NoDa Brewing. We got together a few weeks back during the Great American Beer Festival in the basement of famed Beer Bar Falling Rock. Chad goes by head brewer and co-owner and Willet is the brewery’s controller. In thinking about this episode, Holl says he's "always struck, when talking with brewers, about how the littlest thing can happen and change the trajectory of a life, often to the benefit of us drinkers as well. On t...

Nov 27, 2019•53 min

Ep. 6 - Samantha Lee and Stephen Bossu of Hopewell Brewing

Since the 2016 presidential election, politics has dominated the national conversation and it’s not always polite. Businesses of all sizes have struggled to maintain the right tone when talking about their political beliefs, if they do it at all, for fear of alienating customers. So when John Holl sat down with Samantha Lee and Stephen Bossu of Hopewell Brewing a few weeks ago, he was surprised at how candid they were about politics and their beliefs. But, it became clear pretty quickly that the...

Nov 20, 2019•54 min

Ep. 5 - Bill Wesselink and Hagen Dost of Dovetail Brewery

Strap in folks, because this week it’s Hagen Dost and Bill Wesselink of Chicago’s Dovetail Brewery. There are no secrets in the brewhouse and the pair who met in brewing school and opened up a house of lager in Chicago a few years ago are ready to discuss it all. From how they brew a rauchbier to the equipment they have acquired from around the world to how they approach creating a recipe from the water up, the duo go deep on brewing passion. For more Drink Beer, Think Beer or to check out Beer ...

Nov 13, 2019•52 min

Ep. 4 - Evan Watson of Plan Bee Farm Brewery

Evan Watson is a farmer, brewer, musician, athlete, and all around thoughtful guy. When host John Holl showed up at the Plan Bee Farm Brewery in New York’s Hudson Valley a few weeks back, Watson was holding an axe in one hand and a magnum bottle of barn beer in the other. After sabering open the bottle, and pouring two glasses, Watson showed off the farm, including acres of heirloom corn he is growing and that will go into his beers. Watson talks about inspiration, music, and how he is still try...

Nov 13, 2019•56 min

Ep. 3 - Garrett Marrero of Maui Brewing Company

What’s in a title? For Garrett Marrero, the CEO of Maui Brewing Company it’s the latest in an evolution of his company that started off as a small brewpub and now is a major beverage company making not just beer but coffee, spirits, and hard seltzer. Recorded at the Falling Rock Tap House during the Great American Beer Festival , Marrero talks about his early days in brewing, his push towards sustainable technology, and the importance of being local on Hawaii. Although beer is central to the com...

Nov 13, 2019•48 min

Ep. 2 - Carol Stoudt of Stoudts Brewing Company

Carol Stoudt was the first female brewmaster in the United States following Prohibition and for the last thirty years has been at the helm of her Pennsylvania brewery turning out authentic lagers and experimenting with ales. In this episode of the Drink Beer, Think Beer podcast, Stoudt talks about the changing landscape of the craft beer industry and how it has helped the brewery to be more nimble and to experiment in ways that seemed impossible when she first started. From brewing on a pilot sy...

Nov 13, 2019•57 min

Ep. 1 - Matt Brynildson of Firestone Walker Brewing Company

Matt Brynildson is the Brewmaster of the Firestone Walker Brewing Company in Paso Robles, California and in this premiere episode of Drink Beer, Think Beer all he wants to do is talk about foam. It makes sense, actually. He is currently spending a year in Belgium as part of a “beer sabbatical” where he is learning from fellow brewers in the Duvel Moortgat family. Sitting in a barrel room at De Koninck in Antwerp being lulled by the songs of Barry White , Brynildson talks about his brewing philos...

Nov 13, 2019•58 min

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