Beer Me!

There is a certain level of magic behind beer, in the fermentation alone. Those little yeasty cells are working hard to convert sugar to alcohol and CO2, but what else? Disco parties?  Courtney Iseman, a Brookyn-based beer journalist, has recently published a zine: "Beer Tarot: Pulling Cards, Pouring Beer, & Discovering Self." She suggests adding a little mysticism, a little magic to the consu...

The mix of wonderful and hilarious people one meets in the beer world is a marvel. There is no better time to celebrate those friends than Thanksgiving, or a few weeks after.  Beer Me welcomes back to the show Carl Crafts, Sam Nellis, and Grant Vaught. We all met working at Birch & Barley/Churchkey in DC and all have gone off into various directions - but still mostly in beverage.  It is a tra...

"What are your hopes and dreams for the American Craft Beer Industry as a whole?"  This impossibly hard-to-answer question was asked of three beer industry veterans during a live show, in the rain, during their first hour of the Snallygaster Beer Festival .  Beer Me Radio returned to our "recorded live" roots for one special show during Snallygaster beer festival in Washington, DC, in a podcast te...

Successful collaborations are a hallmark of the brewing industry. There are countless examples of collaborations between breweries, brewers with restaurants, and even brewers with bands. The result of these collaborations is the beer, which is formed through many (MANY!) decisions that lead to the desired result (hopefully).  As Beer Me Radio relishes in its "cheese era", the newest episode builds...

"It was just a day of horse racing" explains Andreas Krenmair, Beer Author and Historian and most recent guest on Beer Me, as he describes the first Oktoberfest.  Austrian-based Andreas has done significant research on the Vienna Lager style and Austrian and German beer & brewing history. Most recently he joined the Beer Me podcast to begin to scratch the surface of Oktoberfest history.  He ex...

Jack's Abby Craft Lagers opened in 2011 in Framingham, MA by three brothers: Jack, Eric, and Sam Hendler. They set out to only produce lagers, in a world of IPAs, and have stayed true to that vision.  Rob Day, the VP of Marketing for Jack's Abby, described how Jack Hendler studied brewing in Germany and continues his education in German brewing with an annual trip to traditional and modern brewing...

When boiled down (pun intended) beer is an agricultural product, as is chocolate. This is one of the many similarities between the craft beer and chocolate worlds.  Chocolate is produced from the seeds of a fruit that grows on a tropical plant. As with beer, chocolate is also a fermented product, and much like beer, there is craft production and mass production.  David Nilsen, beer writer, and edu...

After our last episode, talking beer and cheese pairings with Anne Becerra , we needed more cheese. As one does. And there are so many parallels between beer and cheese, both in the production and storytelling possibilities.  This week we welcome to the show, Megan Vaughan, cheese expert and owner of Vaughan Cheese in North Beach, Maryland to discuss beer-washed cheese. Megan breaks down the chees...

Almost as ubiquitous as a beer and pretzel, there is the classic pairing of beer with cheese. This pairing is also an excellent gateway into the beer world for those just starting on their beer journey, so we decided to do an episode dedicated to beer and cheese.  We welcome Anne Becerra (Cicerone, Speaker, Consultant: annelikesbeer.com ) back to the show to talk through her process of pairing bee...

Homebrewing has been a topic of discussion many times here on Beer Me, but we haven't had many opportunities to dive into what it looks like to transition from hobbyist to professional. While it is a path that requires tenacity, there are certainly rewarding moments along the way.  This week, we welcome to the show Jason Bell, Founder of Living the Dream Brewing in Littleton, Colorado. He takes us...

Corn has never been given a fair shake.  The evils of high fructose corn syrup have been bellowed from every soapbox, the most commonly grown corn is for animal feed, and is generally, not a much-beloved ingredient.  This has also been the case in beer. Even as recent as 2019, Bud Light ran an ad during the Super Bowl calling out Coors Light and Miller Lite for using corn syrup in their beer. But...

Over the past few months on Beer Me! we have explored different parts of the Homebrewing world, including competitions. One aspect of competitions we haven't had the opportunity to discuss is beer judging. Thankfully, Jen Blair joins the show this week to dive into that.  Jen Blair is an Advance Cicerone, National BJCP Judge, and co-host of the beer and brewing podcast " False-Bottomed Girls ". La...

Homebrewing conversations here on Beer Me often trumpet the same message: “It’s easy to get into! Just get a gallon kit!”. Well, what we don’t talk about is how the hobby is SO fun, SO engaging, next thing you know, you have a mini fridge in your garage with your own yeast strains and a mass of homebrew equipment slowly taking over your living space. Ok, maybe it doesn’t snowball to quite that lev...

A fairly common scene: grocery and food market patrons judiciously select their produce from pristine displays. And what happens to the fruit that isn't selected? The produce with a slight blemish or a unique shape. More often than not, it ends up as food waste in a landfill, which is both harmful to the environment and wasteful.  One effort to combat this? Beer.  Atlas Brew Works of DC has partne...

With Homebrew Conference right around the corner (June 22-24 in San Diego), we thought we needed another episode focusing on homebrewing.  This week, Julia Herz executive director of the American Homebrewers Association (AHA)—the nation’s largest hobbyist not-for-profit organization for homebrewers and fermented beverages joins the show.  Julia gives us a little history on The Homebrew Conference,...

Plenty of regions come to mind when talking about hop-growing regions: the Pacific Northwest, Hallertau, Lubin, etc. But what about regions that have come and gone, the former hop-growing regions?    Jennifer Jordan is in the process of researching her new book and joins the show to share some of the stories she has uncovered. She is a professor of Sociology at The University of Wisconsin Milwauke...

Jeff O'Neil, founder of Industrial Arts Brewing Company in the Hudson Valley is back for part two of sustainable brewing practices. In our last show "From Grain to Bottle" (air date 3/25/22) Jeff shared how malt production has changed throughout the years in the Hudson Valley and we began to discuss water conservation at Industrial Arts.  For this episode, Jeff explains the sustainable practices t...

The beer world continues to morph and become a more inclusive space. There are too many people involved in that evolution to name here, but one person doing a lot of good for the beer world is Michele Wonder.  Michele got her start in beer as a homebrewer and quickly got involved in organizations like the Pink Boots Society and The Oregon Brew Crew.  She has contributed to the beer world in many p...

In homage to the tail end of coolship season (for most of the world), we decided to do a coolship 101 episode. Garrett Crowell joins the show to explain what a coolship is, its history, and how it can be used in brewing. He draws on his experience as the former head brewer of Jester King in Austin, Texas, and founder of Yokefellow in Johnson City, Texas.  MUSIC CREDIT: The following music was used...

Our guest this week, Jérôme Rebetez takes us through the journey of founding and growing his brewery Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes in the Jura mountains of Switzerland.  Jérôme studied winemaking, but after winning an entrepreneur tv competition, he opened his artisanal brewery in 1997.  He has made countless styles of beer over the years, but one we dive into is L’Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien and...

To kick off the new season of Beer Me! we spoke with someone who was kicking off their career in beer. Amanda Burke, Assistant Brewer for Ladybird Brewing in Winfield, Kansas joined the show to share how she got her start in the beer world through the Brewers Association Mentorship Program.  She shares what it's been like to be guided into brewing by some excellent mentors, how the culture built b...

Welcome to a new season of Beer Me! Radio. Host Sarah Jane Curran shares what is in store for upcoming episodes.  MUSIC CREDIT: The following music was used for this media project: Music: Funky Intro 31 by TaigaSoundProd Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/9552-funky-intro-31 License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

As the days get cooler in the DC area, we thought it would be fun to highlight the coolest beer  (literally) style, Eisbock. While it isn’t trending, it is a style begging for a deep dive. Michael Stein, champion of all lagers, joins the show to explain how the style (possibly) came to be, why it’s so cool, and why it’s so challenging to make.

The season of gifting is upon us! Erika Goedrich, owner of the Craft Beer Cellar in DC , joins the show this week. We dive into tips on buying beer in a retail setting, what styles are best for different kinds of beer drinkers, and what are some cool beer releases to look out for on the shelves. Reach out with any beer gifting questions!

It's that time of year again! Beer Me celebrates Thanksgiving by inviting some of our friends to the show. We share what beers we would bring to a Thanksgiving feast, beers that pair well with food, and awkward family questions. We go down a few side streets on hard seltzer and gin but eventually find the road back to beer. Kick back with your favorite fall beer.