Drink Beer, Think Beer With John Holl

Welcome to This Week in Rauchbier for April 1, 2026. Our Rauchbier spotlight is on the Pacific Northwest where eight breweries have come together to release Smoke Break, a collaborative Rauch Märzen built around a simple idea: Rauchbier is great, and more people should be drinking it."The project brings together Cloudburst Brewing, Obelisk Beer Co, Varietal Beer Company, Ladd & Lass Brewing, Ravenna Brewing Company, Urban Family Brewing Co., Human People Beer, and Single Hill Brewing (who hosted the collaboration.) It is a larger-than-usual collaboration centered on a style that does not often get this kind of spotlight," reads a press release. "Smoke Break is a mid strength Rauch Märzen brewed with beechwood-smoked barley, and a touch of oak-smoked wheat. The result is a malt-forward lager with notes of caramel and cocoa, backed by a firm but clean smoky finish that lingers without overwhelming."Then Bart Watson the President and CEO of the Brewers Association joins us to share the latest growth and success of Rauchbier in the marketplace. Finally, we hear from Brian Shirley at Time & Materials Beer talks about his cask rauchbier. Enjoy these audio smoky delights. For more Drink Beer, Think Beer check out All About Beer.Host: John HollGuests: Bart Watson, Brian Shirley, Andrew PytelTags: beer, craft beer, rauchbier, smoke, April Fool's DayMusic for this episode:NewsSting by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4124-newsstingLicense: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Two for one on this episode as John Holl talks with a duo of Colorado brewers who teamed up to create something special for the upcoming Collaboration Beer Festival happening in the Rocky Mountain state next month. What goes into collaboration, how does it stoke creativity, and what should brewers learn from each other? Andy Parker of Odyssey Beerwerks and Ross Koenigs of Second Dawn Brewing discuss it all and more. This Episode is Sponsored by:Berkeley YeastOur Tropics yeast is based on a London Ale strain, but we added a new gene to its genome that codes for a unique thiol-releasing enzyme. The enzyme converts the precursors in barley to free thiols that smell and taste like passionfruit and grapefruit. It’s super clean. No off-flavors like burnt rubber or other sulfurous notes. Just tropical aromatics. You don’t have to do anything unusual either, like mash hopping. Just pitch dry Tropics and supercharge your hazy IPA.Dogfish Head Craft BreweryCalling all hop heads! Dogfish Head’s 60 Minute IPA is a fantastically hoppy India Pale Ale that’s beautifully balanced thanks to their unique continual hopping method. Delivering a pungent hop flavor that isn’t crushingly bitter, 60 Minute is continually hopped throughout the boil for a full 60 minutes … starting to see where the name comes from?! Check out dogfish.com to learn more and to find some 60 Minute near you! Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Milton, DE. Please drink responsibly.All About BeerAt All About Beer, we’re honored to share the stories that define the beer community, and we couldn’t do it without the generous support of our underwriting sponsors. Their commitment helps sustain independent beer journalism, allowing us to highlight the people, places, and passion behind every pint. Their partnership ensures these stories continue to inspire, connect, and celebrate the craft we all love. Join our underwriters today and help make an impact on independent journalism covering the beer industry.Host: John HollGuests: Andy Parker and Ross KoenigsSponsors: Dogfish Head, Berkeley Yeast All About BeerTags: Colorado,Collaboration, IPA, Cocktails, Barrels, Fun Photo: 

Let's keep St. Patrick's Day rolling. This week it's a conversation Guinness Brewery Ambassador Colm O’Connor.Host: John HollGuest: Colm O’ConnorSponsors: All About BeerTags: Guinness, Stout, New YorkPhoto: by Andy Crouch

The city of Philadelphia is a great beer town. It’s also a great food town and a place to get a dose of history, while living your best life. This week on the podcast it’s a conversation with Andrew Rubenstein of Sacred Vice, who shares tips and insights on visiting the city of brotherly love. This Episode is Sponsored by:Berkeley YeastOur Tropics yeast is based on a London Ale strain, but we added a new gene to its genome that codes for a unique thiol-releasing enzyme. The enzyme converts the precursors in barley to free thiols that smell and taste like passionfruit and grapefruit. It’s super clean. No off-flavors like burnt rubber or other sulfurous notes. Just tropical aromatics. You don’t have to do anything unusual either, like mash hopping. Just pitch dry Tropics and supercharge your hazy IPA.Dogfish Head Craft BreweryCalling all hop heads! Dogfish Head’s 60 Minute IPA is a fantastically hoppy India Pale Ale that’s beautifully balanced thanks to their unique continual hopping method. Delivering a pungent hop flavor that isn’t crushingly bitter, 60 Minute is continually hopped throughout the boil for a full 60 minutes … starting to see where the name comes from?! Check out dogfish.com to learn more and to find some 60 Minute near you! Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Milton, DE. Please drink responsibly.All About BeerAt All About Beer, we’re honored to share the stories that define the beer community, and we couldn’t do it without the generous support of our underwriting sponsors. Their commitment helps sustain independent beer journalism, allowing us to highlight the people, places, and passion behind every pint. Their partnership ensures these stories continue to inspire, connect, and celebrate the craft we all love. Join our underwriters today and help make an impact on independent journalism covering the beer industry.Host: John HollGuest: Andrew RubensteinSponsors: Dogfish Head, Berkeley Yeast All About BeerTags: Malört, Brewing, Cream Ale, Restaurants, PhiladelphiaPhoto: by John Holl

This week it’s a conversation with Ken Correll of Human Robot, the Philadelphia based brewing company that specializes in lagers. We’re talking about how to build a hospitality program, the importance of festivals, being creative in a controlled space, and just about every tangent we can pull out during our time together. Many pints hit the table, and we just about manage to keep it on the rails. For more Drink Beer, Think Beer check out All About Beer.SponsorsBarrel One CollectiveIn a landmark merger between two pioneers of New England’s craft beer industry, Mass. Bay Brewing Company and Finestkind Brewing LLC proudly announce the formation of Barrel One Collective. The Collective will house 14 total brands, operate eight brewery-taprooms across four states (MA, NH, NY, VT) and have a combined production volume of nearly 165,000 barrels, positioning it as the largest craft producer in New England and 14th largest in the country according to Brewer’s Association 2023 Production Data.All About BeerAt All About Beer, we’re honored to share the stories that define the beer community, and we couldn’t do it without the generous support of our underwriting sponsors. Their commitment helps sustain independent beer journalism, allowing us to highlight the people, places, and passion behind every pint. Their partnership ensures these stories continue to inspire, connect, and celebrate the craft we all love. Join our underwriters today and help make an impact on independent journalism covering the beer industry.Host: John HollGuest: Ken CorrellSponsors: Barrel One Collective, All About BeerTags: Lager, Brewing, Philadelphia, Festivals, HospitalityPhoto: By John Holl

Let’s go to the movies. It’s a conversation with Josh Miller, of Flix Brewhouse, a chain of breweries and movie theaters that brings pints to the silver screen experience. For more Drink Beer, Think Beer check out All About Beer.This Episode is Sponsored by:Berkeley YeastOur Tropics yeast is based on a London Ale strain, but we added a new gene to its genome that codes for a unique thiol-releasing enzyme. The enzyme converts the precursors in barley to free thiols that smell and taste like passionfruit and grapefruit. It’s super clean. No off-flavors like burnt rubber or other sulfurous notes. Just tropical aromatics. You don’t have to do anything unusual either, like mash hopping. Just pitch dry Tropics and supercharge your hazy IPA.Dogfish Head Craft BreweryCalling all hop heads! Dogfish Head’s 60 Minute IPA is a fantastically hoppy India Pale Ale that’s beautifully balanced thanks to their unique continual hopping method. Delivering a pungent hop flavor that isn’t crushingly bitter, 60 Minute is continually hopped throughout the boil for a full 60 minutes … starting to see where the name comes from?! Check out dogfish.com to learn more and to find some 60 Minute near you! Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Milton, DE. Please drink responsibly.All About BeerAt All About Beer, we’re honored to share the stories that define the beer community, and we couldn’t do it without the generous support of our underwriting sponsors. Their commitment helps sustain independent beer journalism, allowing us to highlight the people, places, and passion behind every pint. Their partnership ensures these stories continue to inspire, connect, and celebrate the craft we all love. Join our underwriters today and help make an impact on independent journalism covering the beer industry.Host: John HollGuest: Josh MillerSponsors: Dogfish Head, Berkeley Yeast All About BeerTags: Movies,Beer, Brewing, Growth Photo: Courtesy of Hot Plate Brewing

The nature of lagers is changing and there are brewers leading the charge. Niko Tonks of Double Elbow Brewing is here to talk about brewing European lagers with only American ingredients. It’s a fascinating look at the evolution of brewing. For more Drink Beer, Think Beer check out All About Beer.SponsorsBarrel One CollectiveIn a landmark merger between two pioneers of New England’s craft beer industry, Mass. Bay Brewing Company and Finestkind Brewing LLC proudly announce the formation of Barrel One Collective. The Collective will house 14 total brands, operate eight brewery-taprooms across four states (MA, NH, NY, VT) and have a combined production volume of nearly 165,000 barrels, positioning it as the largest craft producer in New England and 14th largest in the country according to Brewer’s Association 2023 Production Data.All About BeerAt All About Beer, we’re honored to share the stories that define the beer community, and we couldn’t do it without the generous support of our underwriting sponsors. Their commitment helps sustain independent beer journalism, allowing us to highlight the people, places, and passion behind every pint. Their partnership ensures these stories continue to inspire, connect, and celebrate the craft we all love. Join our underwriters today and help make an impact on independent journalism covering the beer industry.Host: John HollGuest: Niko TonksSponsors: Barrel One Collective, All About BeerTags: Lager, Brewing, Photo: Courtesy of Double Elbow

Sarah Real, co-founder and head brewer of Hot Plate Brewing, is a community-focused brewer and Pink Boots Society board member. She talks about building a welcoming brewery over three years. She shares low-lift event wins, the Scrum membership model, a 10-by-10 small-batch R&D challenge, and balancing community work with seasonal and post-COVID challenges.

The Super Bowl airs this Sunday and amid all the commercials, you might catch one for Columbia, the outdoor gear company. The makers of tough weather clothing partnered with Oregon’ Breakside Brewery to create a lager brewed with… yup, you guessed it: bear poop. Ben Edmunds the brewery’s founder and brewmaster joins the show to talk about what went in to making this lager. For more Drink Beer, Think Beer check out All About Beer.SponsorsDogfish Head Craft BreweryCalling all hop heads! Dogfish Head’s 60 Minute IPA is a fantastically hoppy India Pale Ale that’s beautifully balanced thanks to their unique continual hopping method. Delivering a pungent hop flavor that isn’t crushingly bitter, 60 Minute is continually hopped throughout the boil for a full 60 minutes … starting to see where the name comes from?! Check out dogfish.com to learn more and to find some 60 Minute near you! Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Milton, DE. Please drink responsibly.All About BeerAt All About Beer, we’re honored to share the stories that define the beer community, and we couldn’t do it without the generous support of our underwriting sponsors. Their commitment helps sustain independent beer journalism, allowing us to highlight the people, places, and passion behind every pint. Their partnership ensures these stories continue to inspire, connect, and celebrate the craft we all love. Join our underwriters today and help make an impact on independent journalism covering the beer industry.Host: John HollGuest: Ben EdmundsSponsors: Dogfish Head, All About BeerTags: Oregon, Scat, Lager, Marketing, Football  Photo: Courtesy of Columbia Sportswear 

The eisbock story is a fun lore of beer myth, a hapless brewery employee left a barrel of doppelbock outside during a snowstorm in Germany and some of the beer froze, concentrating flavor and thus creating a whole new beer style. While the roots of this story may not wholly be true, it’s a fun addition to a beer style made by distillation processes at its most base level.These beers are rare in the United States as you need special licenses to make them but in Europe, the rules are a bit different and in some European countries, these beers, not just eisbocks, have taken on a life of their own. And this is before we start talking about other drinks like the amazing ice cider made by freeze distillation.How does the freezing process work and what changes does it make to these drinks? This month on the All About Beer podcast, we talk to three guests with unique views on this chilly process. Visit AllAboutBeer.com for more podcasts, to read original articles, and to get info on upcoming events.Click here to support independent journalism covering the beer industry.This Episode is Sponsored by:HopsteinerThis episode is brought to you by LLZ™ - Hopsteiner’s new water-soluble citrus aroma extract. LLZ is formulated to deliver fresh lemon and crisp lime character to your next brew. Perfect for hop waters, seltzers, NA beers, and well beer..beers. LLZ offers unmatched versatility as a 100% hop-derived, clean-label supporting aroma extract. Give your next brew the citrus kick it’s been begging for with Hopsteiner’s LLZ. Explore LLZ™ and other flavor solutions at shop.hopsteiner.com.Escarpment LaboratoriesAlright brewers, quick question. Have ever brewed the same beer twice… and somehow got two different results?Your haze drops out. Sulfur pops up. And that “quick” lager isn’t quick anymore. That’s where Escarpment Labs comes in.We’ve seen this firsthand at top breweries across Canada and the US. Escarpment helps you choose the right yeast.They help you dial in your process. So your beer stays consistent, batch after batch. Escarpment Yeast now ships in the United States with Priority Alert shipping. And for free brewing knowledge, subscribe to the Escarpment Labs Podcast and YouTube channel.Go to escarpmentlabs.com to find out more.Athletic BrewingWant to have great beer, but just not the alcohol tonight? Give Athletic Brewing a try. Athletic Brewing was founded in 2017 to shatter existing stigmas and perceptions around non-alcoholic beer. They took a category that had traditionally only offered underwhelming lagers and launched a full lineup of award-winning styles. In fact, it's non-alcoholic beer so good that it's currently on over 20% of US Michelin star menus and the team at Athletic has brought home over 185 taste awards. And these non-alcoholic beers are all brewed by the Athletic team in their custom breweries with extremely rigorous quality standards.You don't have to be sober to enjoy the great taste of beer as a meal pairing, winding down at the end of the day, or when you're out with friends and don't want the alcohol.  In 2025, Athletic released over 50 different beers on their website athleticbrewing.com. Check it out for yourself.All About BeerAt All About Beer, we’re honored to share the stories that define the beer community, and we couldn’t do it without the generous support of our underwriting sponsors. Their commitment helps sustain independent beer journalism, allowing us to highlight the people, places, and passion behind every pint. Their partnership ensures these stories continue to inspire, connect, and celebrate the craft we all love. Join our underwriters today and help make an impact on independent journalism covering the beer industry.Hosts:  Em Sauter and Don TseGuests: Shaun Yasaki, Eleanor Leger, Marcin OstajewskSponsors: Hopsteiner, Escarpment Laboratories, Athletic Brewing, All About BeerTags: Beer, Distilling, EisbockPhoto: Shaun Yasaki The following music was used for this media project:Music: Awesome Call by Kevin MacLeodFree download: https://filmmusic.io/song/3399-awesome-callLicense (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-licenseArtist website: https://incompetech.com