Welcome to another Fervent Few episode of the Good Beer Hunting podcast where myself, Jim Plachy, and GBH's strategic director Michael Kiser catch up and talk about the topics ad discussions that took place in our membership community in the last couple weeks. Our 500 or so subscribers are scattered all over the world, sometimes we meet up with them when we're on the road, or they hang out with each other, but it all comes together in our community forum. If you value the content and experiences...
Oct 25, 2018•28 min
Something that's been on my mind a great deal of late, is where beer intersects with other cultures, particularly those also within food and beverage. You may commonly hear me bring up topics like natural wine, low-intervention cider, speciality coffee and more when talking about craft beer. And this is with good reason. For me, the most exciting things happening within beer are often happening at the points where these industries converge. Take our Uppers & Downers festival, for example. Wh...
Oct 19, 2018•1 hr 16 min
We're going to do something a little different today. Over the past year or so, you've heard a small sub-series of interviews we've dubbed the GBH Collective episodes. These conversations with GBH colleagues have been meant to dive into their writing, background and interests and have been a bit free-flowing. They've been a great addition to the award-winning audio content we produce at Good Beer Hunting, and I'm excited to take the lead to bring you more of it. This episode is going to be somet...
Oct 17, 2018•36 min
When the brut IPA, taglined as San Francisco's newest beer style, began to hit internet headlines last spring, the reaction was polarizing. This new type of IPA, defined by its fruity hop aroma, effervescence, and dryness — provided by the addition of a type of amylase enzyme — was a respite from the yeasty hazebombs proliferating on beer lists around town. Immediately, some leery brewers publicly challenged its authenticity as a substyle. Others, interest piqued, sought to attempt their own ver...
Oct 13, 2018•1 hr 4 min
I Can See Clearly Now — Chasing Beer Trends as a Means to an End Host: Jonny Garrett Panelists: Andy Parker (Elusive), Matt Brynildson (Firestone Walker), Alexandra Nowell (Three Weavers) At last years Extravaganza brewers clashed during the discussion of where the Hazy IPA fits within modern beer culture. In the year that's passed, the style has gradually become a popular, almost common fixture within craft beer—even one of the panelists who denounced the style last year has been turned on to i...
Oct 10, 2018•41 min
Let's Stick Together — The Value of Collaboration and Fostering Positive Relationships in Beer's Modern Era Host: Matthew Curtis Guest Speakers: Dave Stone (Wylam), Steve Grae (Affinity), Brian Dickson (Northern Monk) What role do collaboration beers play in the modern beer market, and how does that differ—if at all—from what they meant before? We've come a long way since Brooklyn first collaborated with Schneider Weisse, which was the start of one of craft brewing biggest trends. But what are b...
Oct 10, 2018•45 min
Food for Thought — Where Does Beer & Restaurant Culture Intersect? Host: Claire Bullen Panelists: Jonny Hamilton (Beavertown), Travis Hixon (Blackberry Farm), Dan Nathan (Beef & Brew) Why have restaurants been so slow to recognize modern beer's place at the table, and why do their beer menus lag so far behind wine menus? Who are the folks that are doing interesting things with beer in a hospitality context and how are breweries working alongside restaurants—from house beers to education/...
Oct 10, 2018•41 min
Go Your Own Way — The Value of Independence vs. Investment Host: Michael Kiser Panelists: Logan Plant (Beavertown), Giovanni Campari (Birrificio del Ducato), Justin Hutton (Two Tribes) It's been a turbulent month for the UK scene, as expanding breweries look for investment so as to further not only their own growth—but that of the industry itself. There are plenty of options available for breweries too, be that borrowing from banks, crowdfunding, private equity or taking investment from within t...
Oct 10, 2018•1 hr 1 min
The GBH Collective — How to Advance the Narrative Within Beer Writing Michael Kiser, Matthew Curtis, Claire Bullen & Jonny Garrett (Good Beer Hunting)
Oct 10, 2018•36 min
Quality Fermentation — Exploring Beer's Place in the Realm of Wine & Cider Host: Michael Kiser Panelists: Lauren Limbach (New Belgium), James Rylance (Harbour), Jos Ruffell (Garage Project) At last years Symposium we discussed both sour beer as its own genre, and where terroir fits in within the world of beer. To take that discussion to its next logical step we need to examine sour, wild, mixed, spontaneously fermented or whatever-you-want-to-call-it beer, and its place alongside wine and ci...
Oct 10, 2018•51 min
A is for Action — How the Inclusivity Debate Becomes a Movement Host: Matthew Curtis Panelists: Lily Waite (We Are Beer/GBH), Alexandra Sewell (The Black Malt Bottle Share), Melissa Cole (Beer Writer & Journalist) The topics of inclusivity and diversity have, rightly, dominated the beer discourse this year. It's a crucial talking point, but how do we take these conversations and ensure they in turn become action? And how do we ensure that when we talk about diversity, we mean everyone, from ...
Oct 10, 2018•49 min
A Change Can Do You Good — Keeping a Brand Fresh in a Dynamic Market Host: Michael Kiser Guest Speakers: Nanna Guldbæk (Lervig), Nick Dwyer (Beavertown), Shaun O'Sullivan (21st Amendment) It still feels almost as though modern beer has only just arrived in the UK. The last decade has been a whirlwind, with once traditional and iconic beer brands being met by those with modern, vibrant and striking designs. Brewers really are putting the can in canvas. But how do you maintain a modern image in su...
Oct 10, 2018•52 min
The Shit Post — How Social Media Managers are Coping with the Hardest Job at a Brewery Host: Chris Hall Panelists: Kamilla Hannibal (Beavertown), Richard Burhouse (Magic Rock), Henok Fentie (Omnipollo) Your local pub or bar has always been the best place to chew through some of life's most challenging topics, but what happens when that bar never closes? Social Media has been an essential driving force in the growth of the modern beer sector, but how do we work to ensure that the conversations he...
Oct 10, 2018•51 min
Opening Statement & Keynote Michael Kiser, Founder and Director of Good Beer Hunting The Future of the Relationship Between the UK and US Beer Industries This year we were invited to return to the Beavertown Extravaganza to run the now annual symposium, bringing together brewers and leaders from all over the world to discuss the topics of the day — some of which inspire the industry and some that keep it up at night. Last year's fist ever symposium for the Extravaganza covered the spread fro...
Oct 10, 2018•35 min
This week's episode rounds out our focus on the Baltimore scene where we talked to folks from Black Diamond, Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot, Chris Leonard from Heavy Seas, and even made it down the shore to Chincoteague Island's Black Narrows. Its the first time we've taken such a comprehensive approach to a single area with the podcast, and it was a great experiment for us as we learned a ton from one interview to the next for the context of the stat and city's beer scene. In that way, eve...
Oct 08, 2018•59 min
Today's guest is a first for GBH - we're speaking with a state wide, publicly elected political figure - who finds himself at the center of a political movement working to change the laws for Maryland's small craft brewers. It's no accident that he ended up in this movement - states all over the union have been reinventing their beer laws to make way for new business models necessary to support small craft brewer, especially when it comes to own-premise taproom models, self-distribution, and fra...
Sep 29, 2018•49 min
This year, we were lucky enough to be invited to Cooperstown, New York to take part in Brewery Ommegang's annual camping and music festival, Belgium Comes to Cooperstown. It's a famous festival in the northeast, with thousands of people setting up for a full weekend of bottle sharing, music, food, and of course, the beer festival part. And this year, as part of our Underwriting collaboration with Brewery Ommegang, we wanted to help lead a conversation around this idea of Belgian. Weather it's Be...
Sep 23, 2018•34 min
This year, we were lucky enough to be invited to Cooperstown, New York to take part in Brewery Ommegang's annual camping and music festival, Belgium Comes to Cooperstown. It's a famous festival in the northeast, with thousands of people setting up for a full weekend of bottle sharing, music, food, and of course, the beer festival part. And this year, as part of our Underwriting collaboration with Brewery Ommegang, we wanted to help lead a conversation around this idea of Belgian. Weather it's Be...
Sep 23, 2018•41 min
This year, we were lucky enough to be invited to Cooperstown, New York to take part in Brewery Ommegang's annual camping and music festival, Belgium Comes to Cooperstown. It's a famous festival in the northeast, with thousands of people setting up for a full weekend of bottle sharing, music, food, and of course, the beer festival part. And this year, as part of our Underwriting collaboration with Brewery Ommegang, we wanted to help lead a conversation around this idea of Belgian. Weather it's Be...
Sep 23, 2018•30 min
This year, we were lucky enough to be invited to Cooperstown, New York to take part in Brewery Ommegang's annual camping and music festival, Belgium Comes to Cooperstown. It's a famous festival in the northeast, with thousands of people setting up for a full weekend of bottle sharing, music, food, and of course, the beer festival part. And this year, as part of our Underwriting collaboration with Brewery Ommegang, we wanted to help lead a conversation around this idea of Belgian. Weather it's Be...
Sep 23, 2018•37 min
This year, we were lucky enough to be invited to Cooperstown, New York to take part in Brewery Ommegang's annual camping and music festival, Belgium Comes to Cooperstown. It's a famous festival in the northeast, with thousands of people setting up for a full weekend of bottle sharing, music, food, and of course, the beer festival part. And this year, as part of our Underwriting collaboration with Brewery Ommegang, we wanted to help lead a conversation around this idea of Belgian. Weather it's Be...
Sep 23, 2018•43 min
This year, we were lucky enough to be invited to Cooperstown, New York to take part in Brewery Ommegang's annual camping and music festival, Belgium Comes to Cooperstown. It's a famous festival in the northeast, with thousands of people setting up for a full weekend of bottle sharing, music, food, and of course, the beer festival part. And this year, as part of our Underwriting collaboration with Brewery Ommegang, we wanted to help lead a conversation around this idea of Belgian. Weather it's Be...
Sep 23, 2018•45 min
Today's guests are behind a fairly new brewery in Baltimore - a city where many of the breweries are fairly new. I remember Chicago going through this phase when after being a bit slow to start, we suddenly had a large number of breweries opening at once. In Chicago's context, the beers that were popular at the time influenced those concepts - it influenced the kinds of beers those brewers wanted to make. Because the shelves were already full of world class IPAs, many chose to go a different dir...
Sep 16, 2018•1 hr 2 min
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.
Sep 10, 2018•3 min
When beer lovers think of what goes on behind the scenes at a brewery, thoughts may drift to barrels or exotic ingredients or post-shift taste trials of the latest, trendy creation. Rarely does it concern the long hours, professional development and rather yeoman work it takes to become good at a job that straddles art and manufacturing. Here in the U.S., we recently celebrated Labor Day, a holiday to give thanks to all the effort our workforce provides to help our country and economy chug along...
Sep 08, 2018•1 hr 9 min
I spent the better part of last week traveling around the Baltimore area for the first time. I was there to shoot a series of short documentary videos we're producing for Guinness as part of our Coming to America series . It was a fantastic few days of eating and drinking and shooting around Baltimore—places like WC Harlan, Bar Clavel and Woodberry Kitchen. I have a ton of stuff to share from that part of the trip, but I'm going to start at the end, because that's where my heart still lingers. I...
Sep 01, 2018•1 hr 3 min
Suarez Family Brewery has become something of a North Star for our editorial staff—not to mention many brewers and drinkers around the country—for everything that's right about craft beer in 2018. Sessionable, delicious beers made by a family in the Hudson Valley that's part of a small community of farmers and small businesses in the area: What's not to love? To top it all off, Dan Suarez's brother owns an essential restaurant in Germantown called Gaskin's. At the little brewery on U.S. Route 9 ...
Aug 24, 2018•1 hr 26 min
Before we get started today I want to tell you about a couple of upcoming GBH events happening right here in London this September. First up, we're incredibly excited to be bringing New Belgium's wonderful sours to British shores for the first ever time, in an event called Into the Wild. They'll be pouring their 2018 iterations of Le Terroir, Transatlantique Kriek and, of course, La Folie, alongside some incredible cheeses selected by Cheesemonger Ned Palmer, meats from The Charcuterie Board and...
Aug 18, 2018•1 hr 54 min
A reoccuring theme we've had here on the audio version of GBH is one of partnerships. Marriages, siblings, friendships — the full gamut. The guests on this episode are another example. Ryan Witter-Merithew and Mahalia Breen have traveled the world together for the sake of beer as Ryan's job has taken him around the country and abroad. As far as they've gone, family has remained a connective part of who they are and how they consider business, which has led them to starting Casita Cerveceria, a b...
Aug 11, 2018•1 hr 8 min
This is a special episode of the podcast, made possible by the underwriting of New Belgium Brewing and our collaborative series, Into the Wild. Last week, New Belgium kicked off their Sour Saison blending tour, starting in California, pulling this rad vintage trailer behind a pickup truck and parking it at bars and breweries across the country. I joined them for that leg of the journey, and again recently here in my hometown of Chicago. Right now, it's headed back to Denver and then L.A., so you...
Aug 04, 2018•39 min
