Barrel to Bottle, The Binny's Podcast

Barleywine! All the cool kids are drinking it. It's a perfect food beer, especially with the holiday season approaching. Our third Barleywine episode is finally being recorded during appropriate weather, and Roger couldn't help but bring a delicious spread of cheeses, dried fruits, and crackers. Barleywine used to be all the rage with beer nerds, but sadly it has fallen by the wayside. But the sty...

As sprawling as the Binny's Handpicked Single Barrel program has become, it all started with a single cask of Scotch in 1997. The Whiskey Hotline's 2023 Signatory Handpicked Single Barrels have hit stores and this week we're sampling all eight offerings. Signatory labels are very information-heavy but leave a lot to be desired stylistically. The liquid inside is far from boring though because with...

It's that time of year again, when we at Barrel to Bottle have the opportunity to visit the Goose Island Barrel Warehouse and sample the new line-up of Bourbon County Stout. Then we race back to the studio to record our thoughts on this year's beers. Before we get into it though, we grabbed some of Goose's new Christmas IPA because Roger knows it's right up Greg's alley. It's a West Coast IPA! It'...

The Binny's Tasting Panel and wine consultants from all 45 Binny's locations have curated a list of the top 50 wines under $50 for 2023.  This week on Barrel to Bottle, we wanted to draw your attention to 10 wines that we really think you should check out, especially as the holidays approach. Trimbach Riesling 2020 Sigalas Santorini 2022 Lange Chardonnay Three Hills Cuvee 2021 Delille Cellars Chal...

Byron Copeland has worn a lot of hats at the Jack Daniel's Distillery. He started in their cooperage, where he led teams in various points of the barrel making process from making heads, to hoops, to toasting, charring, and seasoning of barrels. He's now an ambassador for Jack Daniel's and Manager of Leadership Acceleration and Maturation Innovation. Byron is also a master taster and conducts barr...

We're opening some big Napa wines that are always popular around the holidays, along with some other Napa favorites that are perfect for gifts or holiday feasts. These aren't outrageously-priced and they aren't hard to find. Today, we're tasting wines side-by-side from the Napa area to prove that there is a lot of diversity in this region. Featured this week on Barrel to Bottle: Keenan Cabernet Sa...

The Whiskey Hotline has a tough job; traveling the globe for the best spirits at the best price sampling all these spirits, making the hard decisions about which ones meet their high standards. That also means you, the customer, always have something new and unique to try. Sometimes it can be hard to make a choice, and that's where Barrel to Bottle steps in. We're here to round up some of the late...

All the way from Scotland, Stewart Buchanan is the Global Brand Ambassador for Glenglassaugh, BenRiach, and Glendronach. Stewart is one of the few global brand ambassador's Pat knows that worked in a distillery. Stewart brought three bottles of the latest offerings from Glenglassaugh. The distillery had previously been mothballed from 1986 to 2008 but since its reopening it has been subsequently s...

Chris brought too much sherry, too much food and made too many cocktails and we didn't want you to miss out so here's a bonus episode from our recent deep dive into sherry. You can see all the cocktail recipes on our blog . 

Sherry, what is it? What do you do with it? What does it go with? The answers to these questions are much simpler than you might think. Sherry isn't just for Brits. It's actually very popular with tapas, so next time you're digging into some small plates, skip the sangria and go for some PX, Manzanilla, or Cream. Like a bunch of sardines in a can, Chris has packed a lot into this week's episode. W...

If it feels like we've done multiple episodes about amaro, it's because we have a loud guy on the show who always has some amaro on him. It's actually been almost four years since we had an entire episode dedicated to Pat's favorite bitter Italian liqueur. Last time we had twelve amari, and that was only scratching the surface. Roger is back, to have his taste buds tortured by these Italian bitter...

Chartreuse has been around for centuries and always popular with mixologists. It took a global pandemic to make the French herbal liqueur a household name though. Carthusian monks have been making it by hand since the 1700s and were always able to keep up with demand. In the last few years, they have decreased production to focus more on being monks instead of liquor executives. Now you can pretty...

Brent Elliott has been master distiller since the legendary Jim Rutledge stepped down in 2015. Brent was hired as a chemist 20 years ago, when Four Roses was only available overseas and in Kentucky. Because it was a skeleton crew, they needed help everywhere, so he was able to learn about multiple facets of production. Four Roses Small Batch Select Kentucky Straight Bourbon   Four Roses Elliott's...

It seems like Oktoberfest beers come out earlier and earlier every year, which means we're recording our regular Oktoberfest beer podcast earlier and earlier. This year we're tasting these blind, with producer Jim as our dungeon master. We're sampling 12 Oktoberfest Märzens, both import and domestic, along with a line-up of delicious meat sticks from Pat's favorite butcher. Great Lakes Oktoberfest...

What's new in beer? New bottles and cans are constantly showing up on our shelves, so it can be difficult to keep track of everything. Fatigue is certainly setting in because of the pervasiveness of certain styles. Luckily some brewers are stepping up to resurrect forgotten styles and put new spins on existing ones. Roger is here with a slew of new (and two old) brews to try from some of our favor...

It's Sangria Season! Following our episode on easy-going outdoor drinkin' wines, Chris threw together four sangria recipes at the last minute, which is impressive. Part of the process of making sangria is fine-tuning the sweetness, the strength or anything else you might want to add or subtract. Follow the recipes on our blog or make them your own. If you have a question for the Barrel to Bottle C...

Legendary director, producer and writer Steven Soderbergh is passionate about Singani63 . But what is Singani? This week on Barrel to Bottle, Steven and Casa Real distiller Luis-Pablo Granier will answer all our questions. What is it? How is it made? What does it taste like? How can you use it?   If you have a question for the Barrel to Bottle Crew, email us at  comments@binnys.com , or reach out...

The wine department finally brought in a respectable amount of wine for a podcast. It's not quite a full Brophy's worth, but they're stepping up their game for tasty summer wines that will go great with picnics. Don't say porch pounders though! These are easy-going, outdoor drinkin' wines that are off the beaten path. Pascal Arnoux Bourgogne Aligoté 2021   Mr. Brightside Gamay Noir Blanc 2022   Mu...

What's new in Binny's Handpicked Casks? This is an episode we could probably do every month, because the Whiskey Hotline is always scouring the globe for unique and interesting single barrels. It's time for the Hotline Handpicked Round-up! JP Wiser's Signature Series Binny's Custom Blend #AA1782 JP Wiser's Signature Series Binny's Custom Blend #AA1783 The Whistler Irish Single Malt Finished in ex-...

Hot cracker, it's another edition of BOOZE IN THE NEWS! Our correspondents have traversed the globe to bring you, our listening public, fresh off the presses news about suds, hooch and vino! [prod. note: this episode was recorded before Sapporo announced that it would be completely shuttering Anchor Brewing] Big news from Anchor Brewing in San Francisco New Belgium has changed both the packaging a...

Firestone Walker's Matt Brynildson is a legend in the brewing community. Roger is a big fanboy but this won't be an episode of the Chris Farley Show. Not only is Matt an award-winning brewer, he's a hop evangelist. This week on Barrel to Bottle we're talking brewing and hops with a craft beer icon, as well as sampling Firestone classics and new releases. Firestone Walker Pivo Pils Firestone Walker...

It's another Whiskey Hotline episode! Bruce Joseph is the master distiller at Hotaling & Company, formerly Anchor Brewing & Distilling. Hotaling is best known for their Old Potrero ryes. Bruce started working at Anchor Brewing straight out of college in 1980. He was a brewer for 13 years until they got licensed to distill and he switched over. Fritz Maytag was interested in making rye whiskey, par...

How did an outwardly Italian man end up in Eugene, Oregon making amaro? This week we're talking to Andrea Loreto, co-founder of Elixir Spirits about his journey to making botanical liqueurs in the Pacific Northwest. Andrea's love of cooking led him to discover liqueur recipes in his grandmother's cookbook. After three years of tinkering he had his first product, Calisaya. Elixir Spirits Calisaya C...

It's summer, the perfect time to drink hot coffee and barrel-aged coffee stouts, right? This is part three of Roger's coffee beer trilogy. This time, we're trying four classic coffee beers that have stood the test of time. Roger still loves tea, but he has gotten really into coffee even if he doesn't like the fussy process of brewing it.  Just like previous episodes, we're going to try the beers t...

A few weeks ago, Roger had us trying different beers out of different glasses. It was an enlightening experience and inspired Pat to do a similar episode with various spirits in three different glasses, along with a control plastic tumbler. The Spirits: Clark & Sheffield Bottled in Bond Bourbon   Rye & Sons Rye Whiskey   Bruichladdich Scottish Barley 'The Classic Laddie'   Lagavullin 8 Year Old  ...