Beer Sessions Radio (TM)

This week, Jimmy welcomes Kyle Larkin, head brewer at Resolute Brewing Company in Centennial, Co, and Jerry Siote, co-owner and director of brewing operations at Lone Tree Brewing Company in Lone Tree, CO, to discuss their recent collaboration. The gang get cozy as the weather cools to talk about everything from the tradition and function of rice in lagers to malted sunflower seeds. First and foremost, the gang dives into Kyle and Jerry’s collaboration: It started loosely, with seasonal, experimental intentions: new malts, new hop, new technique. Called Abundant Forest, this dark lager is made from Leopold Bros. pilsner malt, flaked rice, and chocolate malt, along with Ariana and Callista German hop varietals. The duo are proud of how much of a fluid and collaborative process the project was.Also, Em Hutto, founder of RadCraft Beer and co-organizer of the episode, pops in to give her perspective on Kyle and Jerry’s collab. Grab a cozy lager and warm up with BSR!Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Beer Sessions Radio by becoming a member!Beer Sessions Radio is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Happy Thanksgiving from Jimmy, BSR, and HRN! Today we’re joined by culinary writer and historian John Taylor who calls in from the future, based 12 hours ahead in Cambodia. He’s here to talk about his new anthology book, Charleston to Phnom Penh: A Cook’s Journal, as well as to dish out some Thanksgiving food for thought.To start, John takes Jimmy way back to the ‘80s, when John first moved to Charleston, South Carolina to open Hoppin’ John’s bookstore. There were only a handful of restaurants at the time, and John tracked the city’s culinary renaissance over the years as a culinary historian (he is not a chef, he insists). After initially finding a vacuum, he watched as Charleston’s food scene blossomed by going back to its culinary roots (shrimp and grits, anyone?).Later on in the episode, John goes over some of the recipes you can find in his book. How does roast chicken with butter beans, rice, piccalilli, okra, and mustard greens with a hot pepper and vinegar relish sound for Thanksgiving dinner? Maybe pair it off with your favorite craft cider.We’re thankful for you here at BSR!Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Beer Sessions Radio by becoming a member!Beer Sessions Radio is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Recap this year’s Franklin County CiderDays from western Massachusetts with Steve Garwood, who runs Ragged Hill Cider Company with his daughter in West Brookfield, MA just east of Amherst.Jimmy and Steve reminisce on drinking farm ciders fermented in whiskey barrels, which is an old New England tradition. Steve gives us a little history lesson, explaining how after whiskey distillers were done with them, American oak whiskey barrels would be snatched up by farmers to facilitate the making of something special out of New England apples.From there, Jimmy recounts the spirit of being at this year’s CiderDays - his first time there. He was impressed with how hands-on the event is; there is even specially pressed Apple juice made by local orchards available for cider enthusiasts to start tangy and tart fermentation experiments of their own!Grab your earbuds, pop a cold one, and take a juicy trip through CiderDays! Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Beer Sessions Radio by becoming a member!Beer Sessions Radio is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this special episode of BSR, Jimmy is joined by the current USBG Presents World Class Sponsored by Diageo Bartender of the Year for the USA, Jessi Pollak!Jessi and Jimmy chat about everything from her seven-year bartending journey, to the arc of the USBG Presents World Class competition, as well as her award-winning cocktail creations. Jessi also gives Jimmy the lowdown on Diageo Bar Academy during this jam-packed episode. DBA equips bartenders, servers, managers, and hospitality professionals with the insights, stories, and tools to be better!Want to try your hand at the biggest bartending competition in the world? All hospitality professionals age 21+ can apply by the November 15th deadline for the 2023 USBG Presents World Class Sponsored by Diageo competition! Apply today.Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Beer Sessions Radio by becoming a member!Beer Sessions Radio is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

To celebrate Cider Season, this week we're talking with the Founder & President of Original Sin Cider, Gidon Coll, as well as Damin Sawyer, the creator of Bone N' Bottle Reviews. Together they discuss how the sweetness of early cider imports led Gidon to start Original Sin back in 1996, and reminisce about the early iterations of Cider Week.  Gidon also shares some of the secrets for making a great fruited cider using his own "Black Widow", a blackberry cider, as one example, and illuminates some of the guiding principles he uses to run his own apple orchard. If you're in the Boston area on November 12th, check out Cider Feast.Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Beer Sessions Radio by becoming a member!Beer Sessions Radio is Powered by SimplecastSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Inspired by the Bowl of Zole Brooklyn festival, this episode is all about corn and Mexican alcoholic beverages. This week Jimmy is joined by Gabriel Velazquez Zazueta, Agave Educator at  TUYO; Tom Pavlich, Division Manager at B. United Importers; and Patrick Dacy, owner of Dukes Liquor Box. Together they go over the foundations of Mexico's craft beverages, including how corn gets processed, which spirits come from which plants, and how we might evaluate "authenticity" in agave spirits.If you're new to Agave spirits and you want the real  101 course, Gabriel and Patrick put together a great article to get you started. Plus, Tom's shares how B. United is applying lessons learned from importing Italian and Japanese beers to their more recent Mexican imports.Beverage List: La Brü, Maíz Azul Monstruo de Agua Cerveceria, Nochtli Casa Leon Rojo, Mauthia Mezcal Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Beer Sessions Radio by becoming a member!Beer Sessions Radio is Powered by SimplecastSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Join Jimmy on his inaugural visit to Buffalo, NY with our guide Ethan Cox, co-founder and co-owner of Community Beer Works. Returning guest Ethan is an esteemed brewer, beer judge, beer history writer, and overall authority on beer in the state of NY.Ethan details the journey from homebrewer to Community Beer Works, which started after he got immersed in Irish pub culture while studying abroad. After coming back to Boston, the next step for Ethan was buying a beer making kit. From there, Ethan trekked up state to Buffalo, NY where he joined local home brewing clubs.There was only one brewery in Buffalo when Ethan moved there - all the historic breweries in town went out of business in the early 70’s - and he saw a gap in the beer scene that needed filling. That took the form of Community Beer Works, which started as a nano-brewery (just 3 half-kegs per batch!), but has grown into an award-winning institution of Buffalo’s West Side.If you want to dig deeper into Buffalo beer, check out “Buffalo Beer: The History of Brewing in the Nickel City”, by Mike Rizzo and Ethan Cox.Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Beer Sessions Radio by becoming a member!Beer Sessions Radio is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This special episode was taped live on location at Flounder Brewing - one of the busiest brewery taprooms in New Jersey. Situated on a 250-year old farm in Somerset County, they share the property with their neighbors Bellemara Distilling and have become an incredible craft beverage destination. Jimmy was joined by “Flounder” himself, Jeremy Lees; Cam Winkelstein, Head Distiller of Bellemara; and Melonie Marano, Somerset County Commissioner Deputy Director. They talk about everything from barn historians to smoked beers.Plus, learn how to snag a sweet t-shirt by checking out craft beverage makers around Somerset County through their “Sip & See” program!All this and more, live with BSR in Somerset County, NJ!Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Beer Sessions Radio by becoming a member!Beer Sessions Radio is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on BSR, a Brooklyn rendezvous in Massachusetts! Jimmy is joined by former Brooklynites Sarah Real and Mike Dell'Aquila of Hot Plate Brewing Company in Pittsfield, MA. After listening in to the NYC Beer Bar Buds episode, the pair had to get in on the BSR action! They reached out to Jimmy, and now they’re here to talk about building a brewery from a dream.After some quick shout outs to the Bierwax and Beer Witch bars in Brooklyn, the gang settles in to discuss the journey to Hot Plate Brewing; taking home brewing to pro brewing, coloring outside the lines of technicality, breaking down styles, the excitement and terror of opening a new brewery, and making friends all around the world through brewing beer “potions”! Get away from it all in Pittsfield, Mass - grab some headphones and grab a glass!Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Beer Sessions Radio by becoming a member!Beer Sessions Radio is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, Jimmy decides to host a book club on Beer Sessions Radio with Claude Jolicoeur — the author of “Cider Planet: Explore the Producers, Practices, and Unique Traditions of Craft Ciders and Perry from around the World.” Inviting Boutique Wines’s Paige Flori and @hardciderguys’s Adrian, the gang will serve you a three-course meal of cider history with a side of Jimmy’s superb French techniques. For our first course, you will be served Claude’s journey as a writer and cider maker from his first book to the stories behind “Cider Planet.” Paige then cooks up a plate of her education as a cider enthusiast/retailer/up-coming certified pommelier and an app of question for Claude titled “Is Cider a Beer?” Claude also shares with us the French and many other traditions around the world, before Adrian jumps in with his intro and how he’s learning to join the big league of cider through the minority scholarship at the Cider Institute of North America. After a short break, entree is now out with a toast to Farnum Hill Ciders — for being on Paige's gigantic apple tree tap and in Jimmy’s hand. We’ll now dig up the possible first apples in the world from Kazakhstan, before talking Roman’s conquest and prohibition along with their impact on cider making. A dish of hand-crusting apples and acidity balance will also sit neatly on our delicious table. Last but not least, ice cider is up for dessert and will be served with the special “Je m’appelle Jimmy” syrup. At the bottom of the bowl, you might be able to find the secrets to how Paige keeps up with all the things she has in store and Adrian’s next location for cider tasting. Grab your spoon and have a taste of our cider planet right now!Photo Courtesy of Claude Jolicoeur.Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Beer Sessions Radio by becoming a member!Beer Sessions Radio is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.