Beyond the Pour Podcast Episode 11: Introduction to Beer Geekery
It’s been awhile since the last BtP episode, and I know people are just chomping at the bit for it… right? Probably not, but I apologize for the delay nonetheless. This was recorded about three weeks ago, and given a combination of work, school, and personal life I’ve just now gotten around to editing and posting it.
This week we decided to do an episode about getting started in craft beer, strategies for navigating the often-confusing world of barley, hops, and yeast for the new enthusiast. The conversation gets a lot more wide-ranging, and we do ramble on a bit, but it’s all in good fun.
Show Notes
0:00 to 1:05: Introductions and Salutations! This episode Ryan and I are joined by Winton, aka Beerichituba/Yuichituba on Youtube, the man who originally coined the term “beertuber.” He’s a buddy of ours so we’re all too happy to have him.
1:05 to 6:57: Winton’s in Utah at the moment, and is drinking a Uinta Anniversary Barleywine. For some reason it turns out there’s significantly less Pliny the Elder in Utah than in his hometown of San Francisco! Who would’ve thought? Ryan’s drinking the Firestone Walker Reserve Porter, because who can argue with that? It’s at least fifteen months old, and he’s still getting hops! Amazing. I’m drinking a Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA, because at the time of this recording DFH had just come back to my market, and why not?
6:57 to 18:10: Our main topic: Getting started in craft beer. Winton just tried the Conflux #1 from Deschutes, and found it to be, well, a bit much. A blend of several different beers, aged in several different barrels, then blended. Is it worth it, especially at the price point? Can even a very sophisticated palate really get the complexity?
18:10 to 40:07: An extension of the above (it’s all based on trying to share great beer with new drinkers this time). Ryan’s been reading the last Zymurgy magazine which has a piece from Stan Hieronymus of appellationbeer.com on “Beer Rules.” It turns out this whole list is on his website, which you can find here: http://appellationbeer.com/ We spend a lot of time on this list, and could’ve probably spun every single item on that list into its own episode, so definitely check it out and send us comments at beyondthepour@gmail.com if you have thoughts.
40:07 to 41:30: Interlude. I have two musicians on this show, and yet I have no official theme song. What gives?
41:30 to 103:35: The official main topic! Finally! (Just kidding, guys.) Introducing new people to beer. You’ve had that first great beer, the one that convinced you that beer could be great, where do you go next? I get ideas from the guys to share with the world. (Hint: The BeerAdvocate Top 100 list is not the place for you right now.) Winton recommends finding food flavors that you like and match beers that way. Ryan says to try all the beers from a particular brewery you like. Both say try pretty much everything and go from there. Or maybe just pick a style you like and go from there.
103:35 to end: We took a little break and came back with more beer. I found another bottle of the Stone Ruination 10th Anniversary, so of course I’m drinking that. Winton’s still working on his Uinta Anniversary Barleywine, because apparently he can’t drink a beer properly (I kid!) and Ryan’s doing some homebrew. I decided to let this episode run a bit long because I had had a bottle share with a couple of friends of mine who are still getting into craft beer, and wanted to share with my audience. We get a little more unfocused during this section of the podcast, but there’s some fun stuff in here.
Beyond the Pour Podcast Episode 10: The Homebrew Episode (With Special Guest Chad from Chad’z Beer Reviews)
Wow, it’s been awhile since I’ve uploaded an episode. Ryan and I recorded an episode a few weeks ago, but I had technical issues in the editing and that one will likely never see the light of day. We make occasional reference to it in this episode (which was recorded before I had discovered the technical issues in the last one) so sorry about that.
Anyway, in this episode Chad from Chad’z Beer Reviews joins us for a conversation about homebrewing and other topic. Chad has recently gotten into homebrewing, so I figured it’d be interesting to ask him what he’d learned in the process.
I’m trying to get on a more regular schedule of posting this podcast, but my class and work schedule has been insane lately. Sorry.
0:00 to 0:40 A quick administrative note.
0:40 to 8:20 Introductions and what we’ve been drinking. Regular co-host Ryan and I are joined by fellow Youtube beer reviewer Chad9976 of Chad’z Beer Reviews, and he’s been drinking a ton of homebrew, having recently gotten into the hobby. He also recently tried Kona’s Coffee Porter. Ryan is drinking on a Coronado Double Dorado, a local Double IPA that has only recently come back into bottles from an approximately two year absence. Me? I’m checking out a Samuel Adams Noble Pils, a beer that I haven’t had in several years and have realized I’ve been completley wrong about. I also have been drinking quite a bit about the Stone Ruination 10th Anniversary IPA, which you should definitely try if it’s in your market and still fresh at the time you listen to this episode.
8:20 to 11:53 Grupo Modelo has been bought by AB Inbev. What does this mean, really?
11:53 to 14:18 Green Flash opening up an east coast brewery. Yet again microbreweries are expanding. A theme for the podcast so far.
14:18 to 20:52 Our feature topic: Homebrewing. Chad mailed us both a bottle of one of his buddy Shaun’s homebrews, which we reviewed with him for his Youtube channel, and I thought it’d be a great thing to be able to talk with Chad about his newfound homebrew hobby and what he’s learned about beer since starting a couple of months ago. Chad talks about the basics of sanitation and hop additions.
20:52 to 28:24 Chad is interested in learning to make wild beers. We go off on a significant tangent here about the theory and practice, despite the fact that none of us have ever made a sour beer. Whoops. I make reference to the Mad Fermentationist in this section. http://www.themadfermentationist.com/
28:24 to 31:58 The fermentation temperature discussion. Ryan calls this the most critical part of homebrewing. Ale brewing in the basement, and the possibility of lager brewing during the winter.
31:58 to 37:15 After a pee break, we come back into some other areas. Chad wanted to talk about a couple of his brewery pet peeves, and talks about lack of ABV listing on the bottle, and bottle dating.
37:15 to 54:35 The retailer’s responsibility for fresh beer? Versus the brewery’s responsibility to only sell beers across the country that can take some age?
54:35 to 1:03:14 Our favorite local breweries. Also our favorite local places to drink, and stuff that’s pretty much always in our fridge.
Check out Chad’z Youtube channel here. Also check out Ryan, Chad, and myself reviewing one of Chad’z friend’s homebrews here.
Beyond the Pour Podcast Episode 9: Quality Control Issues
It’s been about three weeks since the last episode, largely because the beer news world has been pretty slow lately. We came back strong, though, with a long conversation about quality control at breweries and what a brewer’s responsibility to their customers is when bad beer is released.
Download this episode
View in iTunes
Show Notes:
0:00 to 7:50 Introductions and what we’re drinking. I’m doing a super-fresh Bell’s Pale Ale, and Ryan’s got an even fresher Stone Sublimely Self Righteous Ale. Was Sublimely Self Righteous the first black IPA?
7:50 to 30:37 Quality Control in Breweries. At a bottle share in San Diego, Ryan had a bottle of an Upland Brewery sour that gushed nearly a foot in the air and left him with only half a bottle left. This got him to thinking about breweries and their quality control, and what they might owe the consumers that get obviously flawed beer. Should a consumer get compensation for a bad bottle? I talk about issues I’ve had with Jolly Pumpkin beers, as well as Keweenaw brewing. Also mentioned: Deschutes, the Lost Abbey, Dark Horse, and more. Lots of breweries have occasional or continuing issues with quality control; what is the proper response to these issues? We’d love to hear your thoughts and if we get enough responses we’ll do a bunch of emails in a future episode, so please listen and respond at beyondthepour@gmail.com.
30:37 to 35:15 Taking a bit of a tangent off of that, as beer reviewers we tend to try to make sure we’re getting the freshest and best beer possible for review on the show, but that’s not always a fair representation for what’s on the shelf and available in the market. Do we bend over backwards a bit too much to make sure we’re “fair” to the products we review?
35:15 to 55:53 What we’ve been drinking lately and our wrap-up. Ryan had an out-of-town guest in his house last week, none other than fellow Beertuber Master of Hoppets, so we talk a bit about that. I also talk about being back in school and the way that that has effected my beer drinking. We talk a lot about how great the people in the craft beer community are, and end another episode imploring people to engage in bottle shares.
Beyond the Pour Podcast Episode 8: Beer Competitions
I’m about a week late on this episode, and I apologize. I started back to complete my undergraduate degree last week, and that’s definitely affected the amount of time I have to natter on about beer on the internet. This podcast is a priority for me, but doing well in the classes I’m paying a small fortune for is a higher priority, so the schedule may suffer a bit going forward until I can get things back in order.
Anyway, we’ve decided to switch up the format a little bit. Previously we’ve done what we’ve been drinking first, and sometimes it felt like we had to squeeze a bunch of topics in at the end of the episode. So we’ve decided to try putting the more informal chat into a separate podcast so that those people who want to hear that stuff can still hear it, but those looking for the news and commentary can get it without having to wade through the rest.
For this episode, it’ll be two separate files, but we may end up adjusting that as time goes on. You can always email us at beyondthepour@gmail.com with comments, questions, and suggestions.
Check us out on iTunes!
Show Notes:
0:00 to 1:42 Introductions and general comments. We’ve changed up our format a bit here so fans of the show should definitely listen to this bit.
1:42 to 8:45What we’re drinking right now. Ryan’s drinking the Firestone Walker Wookie Jack Black IPA, and I’m doing a Bell’s Consecrator Dopplebock. Ryan also makes passing mention of the Lost Abbey Track #5 release, and I talk about Bell’s lagers in general.
8:45 to 18:17 Revisiting prior topics covered on the podcast. First, responding to our friend Jamison’s (http://www.youtube.com/Tantrum777) criticism of the way we handled terroir.
18:17 to 29:00 Session Beer! Firestone Walker believes that session beer should be local beer, and we agree. I also take back some stuff I’ve said about session beer in the past and discuss some comments from other beer writers on the concept.
29:00 to 32:17 Michigan Brewing Company has had its brewery locked by their landlord — apparently they weren’t paying their rent on time. Is Celis White a cursed beer recipe?
32:17 to 36:43 Bell’s possibly being sold? What’s up with Larry Bell wanting to get rid of the brewery? I think it’s really just a restructuring, although Budweiser’s been wanting to buy the brewery for a number of years now.
36:43 to 40:20 Grand Rapids ties in the Beer City USA poll with Asheville, NC. Does this mean anything?
40:20 to Sam Tierny, brewer at Firestone Walker, wrote a piece about beer competitions. Do these kinds of beer competitions mean anything? How about homebrew competitions? What’s the value of awarding medals to beers?
Aftershow
No time codes here, but we talk about Imperial Pilsners and Imperial Witbiers, how many hops really go into Dogfish Head’s 120 Minute IPA, twelve ounce versus twenty-two ounce bottles, and Ryan makes an impassioned plea for more people to do bottle shares. And more, of course — it’s a fun time.
Beyond the Pour Podcast Episode 7: Location, Location, Location!
Ryan and I are back again in this episode, and we hadn’t talked at all since recording the last episode due to conflicting schedules, so this was a treat for us. Consequently, we spend a bit longer than usual talking about what we’ve been drinking and generally just chatting, but we move into more serious topics soon enough.
Show Notes:
0:00 to 25:15 What We’ve Been Drinking. Ryan starts with a Karl Strauss 23rd Anniversary Old Ale, one that we’ve both enjoyed quite a bit. (He sent me a bottle in his last beer mail.) He’s also tried some of the recent Lost Abbey Track Series, and talks quite a bit about various bottle shares he’s been to over the last week. Since he lives in San Diego, there’s always a bottle share going on somewhere. We also share some love for Goose Island King Henry, which is a phenomenal barrel-aged barleywine. We’ll be talking more about Goose Island later in the podcast.
On my end, I’ve been drinking a lot of oak-aged sour beers lately, particularly several Livery beers, included 3 Weiss Men provided in growler form for me by brewer Sawyer. (I do a video review of 3 Weiss Men here.)
25:15 to 32:00 Goose Island is quadrupling their barrel program, and will be making their Bourbon County Brand Stout a year-round offering. Has the ABInbev buyout of Goose Island been good for Goose Island?
32:00 to 38:45 Three Floyds is opening up a brewing facility/brewpub in Chicago, and possibly eyeing a location to co-own a brewpub with Mikkeller somewhere in Europe. Chicago is becoming a world-class beer town, and more and more craft breweries are expanding via location.
38:45 to 56:35 Location, location, location! Ryan and I discuss the concept of terroir as it relates to beer, in response to a viewer of mine on Youtube who asked me the question during a Q&A segment I’m working on. Special thanks to Youtube user Donut8Danggs for the question! Will Sierra Nevada’s move to brewing some of their beer in North Carolina make those beers “different?” Are there any beers for which a change in location really does make a significant difference to the “soul” of the beer?
Thanks as always for listening, and remember that you can always send us feedback, comments, and questions to beyondthepour@gmail.com.
Beyond the Pour Episode 6: Beer Regionality, More on Session Beer, and Breweries Expand!
Time for another episode! I’m always excited on New Podcast Day. Ryan is back, so we’re back to our usual crew this time.
Download Episode 6: Beer Regionality.
Podcast RSS.
Show Notes:
0:00 to 18:00 What We’ve Been Drinking. Ryan’s drinking a session IPA (around 5.2%) and just got back from Germany, so he’s had tons of hefeweizen, schwartzbier, and a bit of Berliner Weisse. Lots of Weihenstephaner. I’m drinking a Bell’s Two Hearted, which is a major shock to those who know me. I’ve been trying to drink beers that are not among my favorites lately, but in this episode I’m back to those favorites in a big way, as later I open up a Short’s Huma-Lupa-Licious. I mention that I would have Samuel Adams Tasman Red posted by the time this podcast went up, but I had issues with the video files and will have to re-shoot in order to upload it.
18:00 to 29:45 In our very first episode we talked about Sierra Nevada adding a second facility in Asheville, NC, and now New Belgium has picked Asheville as their location for a new facility. Since Lagunitas announced that they’re putting in a facility in Chicago, this seems to be a very real trend among the mid-sized and large-scale microbrewery market. Will the larger breweries “drown out” their smaller, more local competitors? Will there be ingredient shortages in things like malt and hops? I also mention the Beersmith Podcast 32, where Brad Smith talks about developing hop varieties.
29:45 to 33:30 We took a little break, and when we come back Ryan is cracking his last bottle of Three Floyds’ Zombie Dust. Ryan also teases us because he’s going to the Cask Ale Festival in San Diego where he’ll get to have Zombie Dust on cask. Bastard.
33:30 to 45:30 Session Beer Day! Lew Bryson founded it, and noted beer internet curmudgeonDing has some issues with it. Namely, that session beer can never be more than 4.0% ABV, despite the general American standard of 4.0%. Is a half a percent really worth this much argument? Ryan has a proposal for those Englishpersons who attack those of us who refer to beers above 4.0% as “session,” by saying that he’d like to take the term “IPA” from the Brits — if you’re not making a six or seven percent beer with huge hops, you’re not making an IPA.
45:30 to 60:01 Beer Regionality. Where you’re consuming the beer you’re consuming matters, at least in terms of what your palate is used to and what you’re most likely to enjoy. German beers, English beers, Czech beers, and various regions of the US are mentioned. Also, a shout-out to the guys at Craft Beer Radio. I think that’s three different podcasts I name-checked in this one episode; do I win a prize?
Beyond the Pour Podcast Episode 5: Beer Hipsters and Session Beers (Special Guests! Chris Steltz of Beer Geek Nation and Zak Davis of Shmaltz Brewing)
Ryan had to take a last-minute trip to Germany for work, so he couldn’t join me for this podcast episode. I’m sure he’ll tell us all about it next time. In his stead, I asked my friend Chris Steltz of Beer Geek Nation to join me, and he brought a friend, Zak Davis from Shmaltz Brewing. It was a great time, but I’m looking forward to getting Ryan back for the next episode.
RSS link here. Psst! We’re now on iTunes!
Show Notes
0:00 to 1:10 Introductions. I’m joined today by Chris Steltz of Beer Geek Nation and Zak Davis from Shmaltz Brewing. Thanks to both for joining me.
1:10 to 7:00 What we’ve been drinking. Zak is drinking one of Shmaltz’s own beers, a Reunion 2011, produced in conjunction with Terrapin. Chris doesn’t have anything special at all, just a Coronado Idiot IPA. Poser. And I’m drinking a Short’s Prolonged Enjoyment Session IPA in honor of our main topic, Session Beers. Also a momentary mention of the Occupy movement, Bell’s Oberon, and a peek at some beers Chris may be reviewing on his Youtube channel shortly.
7:00 to 14:25 The incredibly confusing nature of Shmaltz Brewing. Chris and I give recommendations of Shmaltz beers to try.
14:25 to 32:22 “Beer Hipsters.” Vimeo user John Smith has created a series of videos about the newest wave of the so-called beer geeks. We’ve all seen the videos and discuss the phenomenon. I start out a bit snarky towards the newbies, but Chris sets me straight by telling me I’m just as bad as the worst of the beer hipsters, and Zak helps put the whole thing in perspective. Always great to get feedback when I’m being a dick.
32:22 to 43:14 Our feature topic: session beers. Lew Bryson is trying to set up this upcoming April 7 as “Session Beer Day.” What is a session beer, and do they have a real future in the American market. This could be a subject we cover for four hours by itself, so by necessity our conversation doesn’t cover everything, but I think we hit the high points of this topic.
43:14 to 44:57 Wrapping up, where to find our stuff on the Internet. Thanks to the guys for joining me on the podcast! Remember that you can email the podcast at beyondthepour@gmail.com if you have questions, comments, concerns, or ideas for future episodes!
Beyond the Pour Podcast Episode 4: Craft Beer in Alabama, Founders KBS, and Pouring Pliny the Younger Down the Drain
It’s time, once again, for another Beyond the Pour podcast. I know you guys have just been itching to hear what Ryan and I have been up to, haven’t you?
Apologies once again for the slightly rough feel. Allergies and cold-like symptoms struck me the day we needed to record this, so I ended up coughing quite a bit. I’ve edited out as much as I could. Also, eagle-eared listeners will hear my cats begging for attention once or twice towards the end.
Show Notes
0:00 to 24:04 What we’re drinking right now and what we’ve been drinking lately. Lightning Thunderweizen and Three Floyds Lord Admiral Nelson. Also: Stone’s AHA Homebrew Rally, and is Dark Lord is Three Floyds’ worst beer? The growing craft beer scene in Alabama since the passage of the Gourmet Beer Bill, and finally, melony IPAs as the wave of the future?
23:52 to 31:45 Listener email: stores not being able to get specialty beer releases unless the carry the standard line from that brewery. Fair or unfair? (If you have questions or comments for us at the podcast, please email beyondthepour@gmail.com.)
31:45 to 33:22 Ryan opens another beer: the Sam Adams Cinder Bock. A bacon-barbecue kind of aroma.
33:22 to 39:45 San Diego beer bar “The Neighborhood” is fighting against another San Diego location because they want to start selling beer to-go in the area. This made the national beer news websites, so I asked Ryan to talk about it.
39:57 to 46:14 The shitshow that was this year’s KBS release.
46:02 to 59:03 Ryan’s visit to the Churchill’s Finest Hour Release, and nearly dumping a pour of Pliny the Younger down the drain.
Thanks as always for listening, and I am still working on getting us onto iTunes to make this more convenient for everyone. Cheers!
Beyond the Pour Podcast Episode 3: Beer Fests (AKA The Unedited Episode)
Sorry for the relatively rough form of this podcast, but I had to leave town only a day after recording this and didn’t have the time to get it quite as polished as I’d have liked to. I figure getting these out on a regular schedule but with a bit of “roughness” is better than making you guys wait a week and a half to get the content.
Anyway, the conversation in this episode is a bit less formal than in the last two. I think Ryan and I are really getting to the point of comfort with the podcast, and I’m excited to keep sharing it with him and with our listeners.
Download here.
Show Notes:
John Conlin’s rant over at the Aleheads website about the three-tier system and “Prettiest Girl at the Dance” craft breweries. Warts and all, this is probably the best defense of the three-tier system I’ve seen, and it’s worth a look. (Also check out the Aleheads podcast sometime — it’s excellent.)
Somebody (likely from LA) put a growler of Alpine’s Exponential Hoppiness on Ebay, and the brewery announced that they would no longer package the product. Fair response? What is it about the gray market for beers on Ebay anyway? Has trading gotten a little insane?
All that, and some Zombie Dust too. Thanks for listening!
Beyond the Pour Podcast Episode 14: Catching Up is Hard to Do
I’ve been terrible about posting in this spot lately. What can I say? Classes have taken up about 113% of my available time, and I’ve just not had the opportunity to post stuff here.
Anyway, I’m trying to be better. So here’s the most recent podcast episode in which Ryan and I catch up on what’s been going on when we haven’t been podcasting. I didn’t put together show notes for this episode (sorry) but it’s a fun listen. If you’ve missed prior episodes, you can check out our iTunes page here.
Episode 14: Catching Up is Hard to Do
Download. iTunes.
Enjoy!
PS I think our last episode got a little lost in the mix, so I’m going to post it here as well. We’re joined by Youtube’s own Tantrum777, our fellow Youtube beer reviewer Jamison, and talk about rare beer culture and our personal top five historically-important beers. It was a fun episode, and it’s a bit underseen, so I figured I’d point it out here as well.
Episode 13: Rare Beer Culture and a Top Five
Download. iTunes.