The question at the center of this episode is simple: Does hard cider have a problem or an opportunity? The answer may be a little bit of both, with your own perspective making the glass of Angry Orchard or 2 Towns or Hudson North slightly more than half empty or half full. So, while we may not have clear-cut answers by the end of the episode, you will hear from a few different perspectives about this challenging and hopeful and evolving time for American cider. To explore all this, you'll hear ...
Apr 01, 2023•38 min
When you think about beer or wine or spirits or any alcoholic beverage "beyond" these categories, what do you think of? Is it flavor? Friends? Or maybe just a vibe ? It's that last thing that I got stuck on recently thinking about cider and its place amongst all these options. For years, cider has been a steady 1(ish)% of the beer category in the U.S., where it's classified. But at a time when some segments are trying to tread water, like wine or beer, that steadiness seems … pretty good. And in...
Mar 29, 2023•44 min
Spring is a time of emerging, reawakening, and growing beer sales after the category's typical winter lull—at least for most breweries. But Ohio's largest brewery, Great Lakes Brewing Company, goes against that seasonal wisdom: Its slow season happens in the warmer months, while winter is its annual highpoint. What gives? That's just one of the questions writer and photographer David Nilsen attempts to answer in his latest piece titled " Lore of the Lakes — Great Lakes Brewing Company, Cleveland...
Mar 29, 2023•36 min
Experiencing the uninterrupted beauty of nature should be easy, and in theory it is—for some. As writer Stephanie Grant explores in a new story, going camping can feel like an insurmountable barrier reserved for the wealthy and white. But she hopes that's changing, thanks to organizations like Outdoor Gear and Beer, which are building a more inclusive beer community for people of color and Black campers who simply wish to enjoy the majesty of the great outdoors. In her Olly Olly piece titled "Un...
Mar 22, 2023•40 min
At some point in your life, you've probably been told that you're not supposed to talk about religion or politics in certain settings. Especially when you meet someone for the first time. In this episode, we're breaking that rule. As much as it may be one, at least. This conversation combines the secularness of beer with values of Judaism as our guest walks us through why this is a balance that will bring something new and exciting to the industry. Jesse Epstein is a rabbinical student at Hebrew...
Mar 18, 2023•49 min
Everybody loves bubbles. What's not to love? They're fun, they pop, and they taste amazing—especially in drinks like Champagne, or what the French writer Voltaire called "the most glorious expression" of French civilization. In her first piece for Good Beer Hunting, writer and wine enthusiast Rachel Hendry explores Champagne's history as a status symbol as well as its influence on other beverages—specifically, beer. That piece, titled " Traditional Method — Exploring Champagne's Influence on the...
Mar 15, 2023•35 min
Nearly all of the stories you read and interviews you hear from Good Beer Hunting include professionals in beer. But one of the wonderful things about this beverage is you don't have to be a working pro to make and enjoy it. And like other areas of the industry, there's a growing collection of people who've embraced homebrewing that bring demographics and backgrounds historically underrepresented in beer. That's a space we're exploring in this episode thanks to Ray Ricky Rivera, the journalist b...
Mar 11, 2023•41 min
This conversation is all about stories. Tales of recent history and childhood memories. Recalling inspiration from others and happy accidents. Joining me to stroll down memory lane is Julia Herz, someone who has provided plenty of people in and around beer their own mental souvenirs to cherish. Julia is a longtime fixture in beer, having served for years as a de facto "face" of craft brewers' trade organization, the Brewers Association. She was part of a round of COVID-influened layoffs in 2020,...
Mar 04, 2023•52 min
Representation in beer matters for everyone—the more people means more ideas means better experiences—but as you'll soon hear, it holds particular weight for Ruvani de Silva. She's the journalist behind one of Good Beer Hunting's Next Germination stories—a series produced in partnership with Guinness—that focused on a diverse group of women who showcase breweries and the beer community in Utah. Ruvani will provide you with the background and a proper introduction, but here's a sample of Ruvani's...
Feb 25, 2023•26 min
Climate change. Drought. Lack of clean water. We hear about these issues all the time, but how much do we see them? Do we feel them? And are we really doing anything about them? In her latest piece for Good Beer Hunting, Mexico City-based freelance writer Chelsea Carrick talks about some of these problems; specifically, how they are affecting the beer industry in Mexico in real time. That piece, titled " Waiting for the Rain — How Drought in Northern Mexico Impacts the Country's Beer Industry ,"...
Feb 22, 2023•33 min
When I'm doing prep for the interviews you hear on this podcast, I try to look across digital footprints for insights that help me gauge a person, their personality, and the kinds of questions I should ask. It's all based on instinct and hope that my own impression from a distance gives me enough to offer you a meaningful conversation that introduces someone new or helps you gain a deeper appreciation for someone who's familiar. Sometimes, the idea of a person I'm researching matches exactly who...
Feb 18, 2023•51 min
You're used to hearing about beer, but in this conversation, we're pairing that topic with food. Brewpubs and beer-focused bars and restaurants across the country all have their particular takes on menus that incorporate the two. What you'll hear momentarily shares philosophy and strategy around what people can expect from California's Fort Point Beer Company, which features full-time culinary director Cecile Macasero. Cecile has worked at prestigious restaurants recognized with James Beard awar...
Feb 11, 2023•43 min
It was 1922, and August A. Busch, Sr. needed a break. A long one. It turns out that running a gigantic brewing company like Anheuser-Busch during Prohibition was kind of stressful. And so, being the patriarch of one of the country's wealthiest family dynasties at the time, Busch did what dynasts do: he treated the word "summer" like a verb. On May 15th of that year, Busch boarded the SS George Washington, a passenger ship about half the size of the Titanic , bound for a three-month retreat at th...
Feb 04, 2023•45 min
What does a banana taste like? I want you to take a moment to consider it, whether you like them or not. As you think about unpeeling the fruit and taking a first bite, do you imagine something sweet? Maybe the texture is mushy. Is there a scene playing out in your mind? I promise this question isn't for nothing, and in this conversation, you'll eventually hear how one skilled brewer thinks about eating a banana he can only find in memory. Get ready to meet Rafael D'Armas, who came to homebrewin...
Jan 28, 2023•1 hr 3 min
Past is prelude, as they say, and it's always interesting to find foreshadowings of our contemporary beer culture deep in the history books. Take monastery breweries, for example, which are some of the oldest beer makers in the world, with a tradition going back a thousand years or more. But not all monastery breweries date back quite so far. In fact, new ones are still opening up today—not often, of course, but at least occasionally, as at Mount Saint Bernard Abbey in Leicestershire, England, w...
Jan 21, 2023•53 min
One of the wonderful and unique things about food and beverage is the ability to transcend time. Something with a long history and personal past can be made and shared today, connecting points in time in ways we never might have expected. In one of Good Beer Hunting's Next Germination stories—a series produced in partnership with Guinness—reporting from Anna Sulan Masing plays the part of time machine. For her piece, " A Land of Rice and History ," she traces the background and cultural connecti...
Jan 14, 2023•26 min
You don't have to be an in-the-weeds beer enthusiast to figure out there can be a whole lot of ways to make a beer. Just look at any taplist. There are different ingredients, fermentation options, ABVs, and plenty more spaces in which a brewer can play. When seeking any kind of flavor experience—guided by tradition or new ideas—there can be an endless array of choices to make. In this conversation, we meet with two of the beer world's smartest minds to learn more about the research and developme...
Dec 31, 2022•56 min
If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? And if French women scream at the top of their lungs for acceptance, respect, and change, does anyone listen? That's the question freelance writer Anaïs Lecoq set out to answer in her piece for Good Beer Hunting titled " Pas Encore — French Women Are Sick of Waiting for Their Beer Revolution ," which was published on October 20, 2022. In the piece, Anaïs describes the pervasive avoidance the French beer scene has ...
Dec 28, 2022•36 min
Sometimes it feels like everything that can be said about beer has been said. But then something comes along that fundamentally changes the way we think about a style, or our culture. For me, that recently took place with David Jesudason's GBH story, Empire State of Mind – Interrogating IPA's Colonial Identity. Today's hop-forward beers are so divorced from the original 18th century IPA that it's rare to even hear the acronym spelled out – India Pale Ale. And until now, I'd never given much thou...
Dec 24, 2022•50 min
What's new is old and what's old is precious in a small corner of southern England, where writer and journalist Jacopo Mazzeo takes us on a tour of the wild and sprawling New Forest National Park. In his latest piece for Good Beer Hunting titled " Curiouser and Curiouser — In Search of Brewing Novelty In England's Ancient New Forest ," which was published on October 13, 2022, he explores the ancient landscape with a local's eye, sharing the natural beauty and growing beer scene through personal ...
Dec 21, 2022•32 min
One of my favorite things about hosting this podcast is the chance to meet people and discuss who they are, not just what they do in the world of beer or beverage alcohol. It's really important for me to showcase the humans who make up these industries, what makes them think, and what makes them special. In this conversation, our two guests do the heavy lifting to introduce themselves. Their voices and experiences will help guide you to consider what it means to be a black man in beer, an entrep...
Dec 17, 2022•1 hr 3 min
You can't fully understand the awe-inspiring nature of an African safari until you've experienced it for yourself, or at least so says freelance writer and journalist Megan Eaves. In her first piece for Good Beer Hunting, she inches readers closer than ever to the majesty, fragility, and sometimes violent necessities of life in the bush in her longform feature titled " Life Stays Close to the River — Solar Beer and Wildebeest in the Serengeti ," which was published on October 5, 2022. Through he...
Dec 14, 2022•38 min
In July 2022, Miller Lite hosted an event in Philadelphia where the brand released a special-edition can. It used beer history to convey a simple message: "There's no beer without women." The can celebrated Mary Lisle, a woman who owned and operated a brewery in the early 1700s. According to Miller Lite–and many of the books and articles you might find on American women's beer history–Lisle was the first documented woman brewery owner in colonial American history. Celebrating Lisle was a way to ...
Dec 07, 2022•59 min
If you've spent a significant time in the beer community, then you probably have heard the name Ale Sharpton. Back when I was a fledgling beer writer and looking for a mentor, I stumbled across Ale's work and immediately knew I needed to meet him. One unanswered email later, which I still tease him about, and we finally met at the inaugural Dames & Dregs Beer Festival. Since bombarding him with questions on how to break into the industry, Ale has been in my corner supporting me as I find my ...
Dec 03, 2022•57 min
The concept of "beer-flavored beer" doesn't actually exist—at least not universally. One person's disgusting is another person's delicious, and a lot of it has to do with your upbringing, culture, and culinary traditions. With this in mind, writer Lana Svitankova calls beer an opportunity to experience "liquid nostalgia," a concept that she explores in-depth in her latest piece titled " Sour, Salty, Umami — The Ukrainian Brewers Transforming Pickling Traditions Into Beer ," which was published o...
Nov 30, 2022•35 min
In recent years, there's a good chance you've read, heard, or watched news about the incredible rise of non-alcoholic brands. A company like Athletic Brewing—one of the fastest-growing breweries in the country—or non-alc wine appearing in the latest TV revival of Sex and the City. There are examples galore, but the truth is that even as these sub-segments of non-alcoholic options grow rapidly, they remain a literal fraction of today's alcohol market. And the opposite, high-end ABV side of things...
Nov 26, 2022•53 min
The Earth is burning—so why don't more people care? It turns out, one way to get people's attention is to let them know that if things don't change (a lot, and soon), we might not have beer for much longer. In her piece titled " Seeds of Change — The Promise (and Challenges) of New Brewing Grains ," which was published on September 28, 2022, freelance writer Hollie Stephens explores the world of experimental and sustainably oriented grains like Kernza and Salish Blue, which agricultural scientis...
Nov 23, 2022•33 min
How many of us have dreamed of opening a "third space"—as in, a social space that isn't our home and isn't our workplace—whether it be a collective art studio, a bookstore-slash-gallery, a coffee shop with live music—or perhaps a beer bar with shelves upon shelves of vinyl records? Well, the Maestro family did just that, and they did it well. In Courtney Iseman's piece titled " Better on Vinyl — BierWax in Brooklyn and Queens, New York ," which was published on Good Beer Hunting on September 21,...
Nov 17, 2022•34 min
When people think of South Dakota, beer doesn't likely come to mind. Maybe Mount Rushmore. Probably agriculture. But in this episode, we're exploring what it means to be a part of building a culture and knowledge for beer in a state where that's still sort of new. We're chatting with Nicki Werner, director of brewing at Jefferson Beer Supply in Jefferson, South Dakota, a city with a small population and until just recently, a lack of exposure to homegrown beer. Nicki opened the business with her...
Nov 12, 2022•47 min
So … what did you do over your summer vacation? It's a classic question so many of us would answer whenever returning to school each fall, and if Reggie Duvalsaint was sitting in a circle with peers to recap, he'd have a hell of a story. This summer, Reggie crisscrossed the country to work at baseball stadiums in every corner of the U.S. As a ballpark vendor, he sold beer and food to fans. And as an astute social being and with a good business mindset, he also took note of what people became exc...
Nov 05, 2022•47 min
