Drink Beer, Think Beer With John Holl

John Holl recently headed to Phoenix to check in on the beer scene. It was the 20th anniversary of the Arizona Strong Beer Festival and the 10th anniversary of Arizona Beer Week. The beer scene has really grown in the last several years but seems to be largely self contained with most brewers staying within the borders. Of course there are a few exceptions to that, including the now Anheuser-Busch InBev owned Four Peaks Brewing Co.  For the beer lovers, the beer traders, and those who like to stay on top of the buzz, perhaps there is no better known brewery in the state than Arizona Wilderness.  It started off small when it was founded in 2013 but soon found its business plan and popularity supercharged when it won big in the annual Rate Beer awards. From there, its popularity and foot print grew.  Holl sat down with Chase Saraiva, the head brewer, who joined the brewery a few years ago after deciding against a career in dentistry. He started off in Pittsburgh, came to the southwest and landed a job with San Tan, another local brewery, and then joined up with Arizona Wilderness.  Right now the brewery has its original brewpub, an offsite barrel and foudre facility called the woodnote cellar, and a downtown Phoenix taproom. The brewery celebrates all things wild and nature focused and many of the beers reflect that but there’s also a great deal of clean beer in house. That’s something Saraiva is passionate about.  But Holl started out by talking about those early days, the increased notoriety and the pressure that comes with customer expectations, and the way that he and the team manage it all. Enjoy the conversation.  For more Drink Beer, Think Beer or to check out Beer Edge: The Newsletter for Beer Professionals, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge and subscribe to our beer industry focused newsletter. There is more information, articles, and engaging content at Beer Edge.Hosted By: John HollGuest: Chase Saraiva of Arizona WildernessTags: beer, craft beer, Arizona, Phoenix, lager, wild, fruit, coolship, citrus, brewpubAdvertising: Ryan Newhouse, Ryan@beeredge.com  

There's an awful lot of fun that can happen with brewing on a small batch system. And when you have the resources of one of the country’s biggest brewing companies behind you, the possibilities are limitless.  That’s the situation this week’s guest enjoys. Megan Parisi has been with the Boston Beer Company for several years now, specifically working at the company’s Samuel Adams Boston brewery in Jamaica Plain. While heading up the small brewery there, she was able to experiment and do research and development on all manners of styles including some that wound up getting a full commercial release, including the brewery’s New England IPA.  When it came time for Boston Beer to open its new brewery and taproom in Faneuil Hall, Parisi was the obvious brewer for the job. She has had experiencing opening up breweries from the ground up, including Bluejacket in Washington, D.C., Wormtown Brewing in Worcester, Massachusetts, and Sam Adams new, smaller, Cincinnati facility.   In this interview, Parisi and host John Holl talk about recipe development, brewing in front of the public, the value of beer education, and the relationship between beer and art.  The interview was recorded at the new brewery and taproom, just hours before it officially opened to the public. And since it’s not only a fully functional brewery but also a really wonderful showpiece, Holl started off by asking Parisi about the specific specs of the brewery.  Enjoy the Conversation.For more Drink Beer, Think Beer or to check out Beer Edge: The Newsletter for Beer Professionals, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge and subscribe to our beer industry focused newsletter. There is more information, articles, and engaging content at Beer Edge.Hosted By: John HollGuests: Megan Parisi of Samuel AdamsSponsor: Craft Beer CellarTags: beer, craft beer, Boston, Massachusetts, lager, IPA, wit, traditional brewing, art, hops, malt, Sam Adams.Advertising: Ryan Newhouse, Ryan@beeredge.com 

This week the show is back in Nashville with our guest Brandon Jones of Embrace the Funk.  Jones is one of the more thoughtful brewers in the country. Maybe this is because he spent years working in newsrooms as a journalist. He has an ability to look at all angles of something, in this case beer, along with a clear and easy way of sharing information. That's just two of the reasons he is so respected as a wild and sour beer maker in the United States and beyond.  In this interview, recorded at the Yazoo Brewing Company on New Year's Day, he gets into what it means to be a sour beer, the education that goes into helping customers better understand and appreciate the style, and even changing the perception of what it can be.  Jones also talks about the upcoming Funk Fest, a gathering that he created that brings together some of the best brewers in the country for an intimate afternoon to try some of the best spontaneous and, well, funky beers available. He even invited Beer Edge to work on the educational content that will be presented that day. So mark your calendars for Saturday, May 2nd in Nashville for Funk Fest. Tickets will go fast, so claim yours today.  As the conversation started, host John Holl wanted to try and understand the world of sour beers a little more, so he posed the question to Jones, a proper newsman, on how words and descriptions can steer us towards a deeper appreciation. Here’s the conversation. 

Here's a note on this episode from host John Holl:"I love lagers, especially well made ones. I haven’t been shy about my bias for crisp, malt forward, slightly spicy hopped lagers and pilsners in the past and one of my favorite places to imbibe them is at the Bierstadt Lagerhaus in Denver.  Tradition is the rule of the house at the brewery, just down the road from Coors Field. Ashleigh Carter and Bill Eye, the owners and brewers spent a career brewing the beers that other people wanted, so when they opened their doors a few years ago they decided to focus on what they wanted to drink: traditional lagers.  That can be a tough sell for some beer consumers who walk into a brewery and expect to get an IPA or a stout or something from a barrel. For others it is nice to walk in and know you can get a mug of Helles or a Slow Pour Pilsner. There are seasonal lagers that show up a few times a year and some collaborations as well, and those can verge into the hoppier territory, but still never really break the IBU scale.  I visit the brewery whenever I’m in Denver and during big events like the Craft Brewers Conference or Great American Beer Festival it’s not unusual to see brewers from around the country lining up for lagers. Most will, at some point, shake their head in disbelief that a small brewery can survive on just lagers and others will wistfully say they wish they could do something similar.  For Carter and Eye there’s no other way, and in this conversation recorded at their brewery in early January 2020 they are open to saying that it’s this path or nothing. They don’t want to go back to working at a brewery that doesn’t match their passion."This episode, by the way, is about as long as ten rounds of Slow Pour Pils. For more Drink Beer, Think Beer or to check out Beer Edge: The Newsletter for Beer Professionals, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge and subscribe to our beer industry focused newsletter. There is more information, articles, and engaging content at Beer Edge.Hosted By: John HollGuests: Ashleigh Carter & Bill Eye of Bierstadt LagerhausSponsor: Cigar City Brewing Tags: beer, craft beer, Denver, Colorado, lager, pilsner, slow pour, traditional brewing, Germany, hops, malt, baubles.Advertising: Ryan Newhouse, Ryan@beeredge.com 

When it opened a decade ago, Fremont Brewing was the sixth brewery in Seattle. The scene has changed tremendously since then and the brewery has grown from a small operation to one with over 100 employees producing around 55,000 barrels per year.  What hasn’t changed, says owner Matt Lincecum, is a commitment to sustainability. Now, sustainability is a word that is used a lot in the brewing industry. People talk about their initiatives and best intentions for a greener planet, but it becomes harder and harder to do and practice as a business grows.  So, for Lincecum, who has worked as an attorney, community activist, and environmentalist, it is important to keep a laser-like focus on the brewery’s goals and objectives.  Host John Holl got together with Lincecum during the recent Big Beers, Belgians, and Barleywines festival to talk about growth, the brewery’s barrel aged program which includes gems like Rusty Nail, and the frustration, promise, and benefits of organic ingredients in beer.  The brewery has a saying, “because beer matters,” and so that’s where Holl wanted to start the conversation. Here it is. For more Drink Beer, Think Beer or to check out Beer Edge: The Newsletter for Beer Professionals, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge and subscribe to our beer industry focused newsletter. There is more information, articles, and engaging content at Beer Edge.Hosted By: John HollGuest: Matt Lincecum, owner of Fremont BrewingSponsor: Cigar City Brewing Tags: beer, craft beer, Seattle, Washington, earth,  pale ale, organic, cans, barrels, environmental impacts, climate change, farming, hops, wet hopped, imperial stout. Advertising: Ryan Newhouse, Ryan@beeredge.com  

Nashville is a great city for drinking, from the bars along Broadway to the clubs on Music Row. But the beer has not always been local. That has changed over the last 20 years, and while it was not the first, Yazoo Brewing was one of the city’s early craft breweries and been a force for positive beer change in the music city where long neck bottles of Bud reigned supreme. And of course that beer is still king, but there is choice like never before and Yazoo is a big part of that.  This week's guest is Linus Hall, who founded the brewery in 2003. The brewery has grown as the city has grown and it is now in its third location. It’s on the outskirts of town, a drive away from the raucous parties and vacationers that populate downtown, which allows the taproom to once again serve locals, something Hall cares deeply about.  The brewery has added a canning line, and have additional plans to expand the property to bring the Embrace the Funk program headed by Brandon Jones to the campus. On this episode, recorded at the brewery on New Years Eve, we talk about real estate, brewery growth, consumer expectations, and why you shouldn’t drink on New York City subway platforms.  For more Drink Beer, Think Beer or to check out Beer Edge: The Newsletter for Beer Professionals, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge and subscribe to our beer industry focused newsletter. There is more information, articles, and engaging content at Beer Edge.Hosted By: John HollGuest: Linus Hall, owner of Yazoo Brewing. Sponsor: Cigar City Brewing Tags: beer, craft beer, Nashville, Tennessee, pale ale, lager, cans, New York, Brooklyn Brewery, bottles, Advertising: Ryan@beeredge.com 

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 up beer and drinking but still wanted the experience of knocking back a cold one.  His brewery is based in Stratford, Connecticut just a short distance from Two Roads Brewing. Athletic is part of a new wave of non-alcoholic breweries that have opened across north America in recent years, riding the trend of healthier drinking or drinking less.  This is something that younger drinkers, the Millennials are doing, along with Boomers. The word “occasion” is often used when talking about when people consume non-alcoholic drinks and it can be everything from office happy hours to back yard barbecues.  The non-alcoholic category is still small in the US. Like, almost non-existent small. But consider Europe where the NA category is about 10 percent of beer sales. So, there’s room to grow.  In this interview, recorded in New York City at the Arts and Craft Bar, Shufelt talks with host John Holl about some of the challenges to get his beer to market and into the hands of interested drinkers. He’s reluctant to talk about how the company actually makes the liquid and prefers to stick to marketing pitches.  But he is in a driver's seat on the road to the non-alcoholic beer revolution, and Holl started by asking him to set the scene of where things stand as we all start off a new decade.  Here’s their conversation.  For more Drink Beer, Think Beer or to check out Beer Edge: The Newsletter for Beer Professionals, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge and subscribe to our beer industry focused newsletter. There is more information, articles, and engaging content at Beer Edge.Hosted By: John HollGuest: Bill Shufelt of Athletic Brewing Co. Sponsor: Cigar City Brewing Tags: beer, craft beer, non-alcoholic, gose, IPA, pale ale, stout, Connecticut  Advertising: Ryan@beeredge.com 

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 the Great American Beer Festival, we cover a lot of ground, including her next project – another beer book – that might interest those of you who got a kick out of my previous show with Jace Marti. There’s a lot to learn from Maureen’s research and while we all might be focused – especially headed into a new decade – on the future - the lessons of the past are important.  Since we’re both writers, there’s a lot of talk about that particular craft and I try to gain a little more insight on what Maureen learned as a historian diving into beer. That’s where we start.  Here’s our conversation.For more Drink Beer, Think Beer or to check out Beer Edge: The Newsletter for Beer Professionals, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge and subscribe to our beer industry focused newsletter. There is more information, articles, and engaging content at Beer Edge.Hosted By: John HollGuest: Maureen Ogle, author of Ambitious Brew Tags: beer, craft beer, history, meat, New Albion, Sierra Nevada, All About Beer, books, writing, 

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 location in town, the brewery that has long been known for bocks and adjunct lagers is now gaining acclaim for vibrant ales with fruit additions and great depth.  Bringing change to a brewery that has been around for 160 years isn’t easy – both for the company itself and for customer perception, but adaptation is key to survival and growth these days, something Jace knows well.  As the brewery prepares to transition leadership to a new generation of the family, Jace sat down with host John Holl in Denver just before the Great American Beer Festival to talk about what comes next.  While it may seem like an obvious question, Holl wanted an answer, so he started off asking this 6th generation brewer if his destiny was sealed even before he could walk.  Here’s their conversation. For more Drink Beer, Think Beer or to check out Beer Edge: The Newsletter for Beer Professionals, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge and subscribe to our beer industry focused newsletter. There is more information, articles, and engaging content at Beer Edge.Hosted By: John HollGuest: Jace Marti, August Schell Brewing Company Sponsor: Cigar City Brewing Tags: beer, craft beer, lager, wood aged, Minnesota, tradition, peacocks, fruited beer, generations, Advertising: Ryan@beeredge.com 

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 morning. They drank some champagne and  some of the beers Carton has been working on. They talked about building out recipes, fine dining influences on his brewing career, and how observing interactions, tastings, and general curiosity from his father, mother, and their friends laid the ground work on what he is trying to accomplish today.  Each week on our show Holl sees Carton tease out flavors from beers that are poured blind, and while the brewer is always confidant and occasionally wrong, he does manage to bring some nuance to the forefront most of the time. So, that's where the conversation begins: on flavor.  For more Drink Beer, Think Beer or to check out Beer Edge: The Newsletter for Beer Professionals, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge and subscribe to our beer industry focused newsletter. There is more information, articles, and engaging content at Beer Edge.Hosted By: John HollGuest: Augie Carton of Carton Brewing Co. Sponsor: Cigar City Brewing Tags: beer, craft beer, quad, DDH,  fine dining, Star Wars, Blue Milk, barrel-aged, growth, sales, marketing, New JerseyAdvertising: Ryan@beeredge.com