Beer Sessions Radio (TM)

In honor of the upcoming Bowl of 'Zole Festival, Jimmy talks about the festival's featured food and drink: pozole and mezcal. He is joined by one of Bowl of 'Zole's curators, Arik Torren of Fidencio Spirits, in addition to Leslie Vinyard of Roberta's Pizza and Chris Crowley of Grub Street . Arik draws on his experience importing spirits as the group talks about the traditional process of making me...

On the eve of their fourth year in business, the team from Hopewell Brewing comes to the studio from Chicago. Jimmy talks to married couple Samantha Lee and Stephen Bossu of Hopewell about building an inclusive environment in the taproom and having a brewery that supports its staff. Tom Pavlich of Remarkable Liquids is also on hand, as is Katie Cochrane of Carton Brewing who once wrote a thesis ba...

In anticipation of Beer Boom, the upcoming documentary on New York City brewing, Jimmy talks to the people who made the movie possible. Filmmakers Eric Schleyer and Andrew Coury, and producer Aaron Bell of Canataro Park Avenue Financial join Jimmy in the studio alongside one of the documentary's main characters, Rich Castagna of Bridge and Tunnel Brewery. The five years Schleyer and Coury spent fi...

This week, Jimmy talks to his guests about the challenges of owning a craft beer bar in New York City. He is joined by Kyle Radzyminski of The Baroness Bar, Gerry Leary of One Mile House, Megan Rickerson and Brian Winget of Someday Bar, and Ryan Brower of Gear Patrol. Hear them discuss the ups and downs of their labor of love, as well as the value of independent craft beer seals and lasting effect...

Bronx brewers come to Brooklyn to discuss a new collaboration: Mama's Candied Yams Imperial Ale. Jimmy talks with Joel Suarez and Matt Negron of Uptown Beer Society, Rey Cortez and Oscar Santiago of First Boro Brewing , Paul Ramirez and Anthony Ramirez of The Bronx Beer Hall , and Dave Lopez of Gun Hill Brewing . Dom Cook, the founder of Beer Kulture and author of This Ain't the Beer That You're U...

Recording at Top Hops Beer Shop, Jimmy is joined by Bill Shufel, the founder of Athletic Brewing , a non-alcoholic beer company. Some of his early supporters are around the table as well: Ted Kenny of Top Hops , Dan Lamonaca of Beer Karma , and Josh Bernstein the author of Drink Better Beer . Top Hops started serving beers from Athletic Brewing when they didn’t have a liquor license, but what bega...

Jimmy welcomes the Beer Table team for a surprise tasting of 10 Belgian Trappist Ales. Justin Phillips, Gavin Murphy, Noah Levin, and Evan Rose are in the studio to share the history and flavor profiles of these beers as well as to discuss the naming of dubbels and tripels, the smell of De Dolle's beer, the kinds of beer that abbeys made hundreds of years ago, the popular image of monks with beer,...

This week Jimmy talks about starting a beer brand in New York City with Gage Siegel of Non Sequitur Beer Project , Tara Hankinson and Johnny Osborne of Talea Beer Co ., and Eric Shulz of Little Blind Beer . Hear them discuss barriers to entry in the New York brewing scene, supporting immigrants through beer, building brands that reach more women, holding tastings at Bloomingdale's and Elle Magazin...

Christian Weber of Common Roots Brewing and Melanie Fronhofer of Fronhofer Design return to talk about how Common Roots has recovered from the fire at the brewery.  They discuss keeping everyone employed during the rebuild, designing a canning line, holding a workshop on rebuilding pumps, improving the sustainability of the brewery, and night skiing.  They also ask if there is American "lambic" an...

This week on Beer Sessions, Jimmy welcomes Josh Bernstein to talk about his latest book Drink Better Beer . Jason Sahler of Strong Rope Brewery and Drew Kostic of Circa Brewing join them in the studio as well. The group begins by talking about quality control, before moving on to the special moments that propelled them into beer, and diving into a discussion about food pairings. Their conversation...

In this Cider Week NYC bonus episode, Jimmy hosts Eleanor Leger of Eden Cider ; Dan Wilson of Slyboro Cider House and Hick’s Ochard; and Cathryn Gaylord, a farm apprentice at Eve’s Cidery . Jimmy awards Eleanor with the third annual Scion Award to honor her leadership in the cider industry. Dan and Eleanor discuss their decade long journey making orchard-to-glass cider, which has spanned various s...

After the Shelton Brothers' festival in Buffalo, Jimmy debriefs with Joel Shelton and BR Royla of Shelton Brothers; Amber Watts and Ron Extract of Garden Path Fermentation; Casey Wellman of Brouwerij De Ranke; Xavier Bailleux of Au Baron; Stefano Marin of Casa Bruja; Pete Lengel-Fushimi of KCBC; and Miguel Rivas, The Beer Trekker. Hear them talk about the beer scene in South America, the philosoph...

In celebration of New York City's Cider Week, Jimmy talks to Melissa Madden of Good Life Farm ; Rachel Freier of New York Cider Weeks ; Maria Kennedy who writes the blog Cider with Maria ; Jahil Maplestone of Descendant Cider Company ; and Page Fiori and Gennaro Fiori of Boutique Wines, Spirits and Cider . They discuss why the Finger Lakes are the promised land for growing apples, the debate about...

This week, Jimmy sits down to talk about Justin Kennedy 's new book The Bucket List: Beer: 1,000 Adventures, Pubs, Breweries, Festivals with Katherine Kyle of Blind Tiger , Evan Watson of Plan Bee , and Justin Kennedy himself.  They discuss their personal beer bucket lists, Michael Jackson's writings on beer, Kennedy's previous book The Scratch & Sniff Guide to Beer: A Beer Lover's Companion,...

Jimmy travels to Blind Bat Brewery in Centerport, Long Island to talk about the Choose L.I. initiative, which is encouraging investment in local farms and makers. That includes farm breweries as well as seafood! Jimmy is joined by Augie Ruckdeshel from the Suffolk County Department of Economic Development & Planning ; Check Westfall, the owner of Thatch Island Oyster Farms ; Paul Dluglokencky...

This week Jimmy talks all things Rye with journalist Liza Weisstuch , Tom Potter of The New York Distilling Company , Daric Schlesselman of Van Brunt Stillhouse , Christopher Briar Williams of Coppersea Distillery , and Raphael Lyon of Enlightenment Wines Meadery .  Hear them discuss the role of rye in New York State history, drinking tap water in different regions, and how terroir affects rye. Be...

Jimmy sits down with Joe Grimm of Grimm Artisanal Ales , Sebastian Sauer of Freigeist , and Joel Shelton of Shelton Brothers .  Hear them discuss carbonic maceration, a hat called a bollenhut, and how they use labels to market their beer. Beer List: Grimm's Gathering Quetsch Plums Grimm's Gathering Red Currants & Peaches  Grimm's Tracery Join Heritage Radio Network on Monday, November 11th, fo...

This week, Jimmy talks all things cider with Ron Sansone of Spoke + Spy Ciderworks ; Gidon Coll of Original Sin Cider ; Paige Flori of Boutique Wines, Spirits and Cider ; Tyler Graham of Kings Highway ; Petra Paredez of Petee's Pie ; and apple photographer William Mullan . Hear them discuss the market for single varietal ciders, the unidentified apple varieties living in the Hudson Valley, and the...

Jimmy sits with visiting guests 2 days before the 10th annual Pig Island NYC event in red hook, brooklyn. He is joined by Heritage pig farmer Tank Jackson, from Holy City Hogs ; Phil Wingo, from Pork Mafia ; & Mauro Chiefari, the reigning brisket king of NYC, from Juicy Lucy BBQ in Staten Island. Together they discuss how BBQ is collaborative and how low and slow wood smoking is like baking. P...

In a crowded studio, Jimmy talks about the Shelton Brothers ' upcoming festival in Buffalo, NY with Joel Shelton and BR Royla of Shelton Brothers, Peeter Keek of Põhjala Brewery , Bobby Carlo of Barrier Brewing Company , Yvan De Baets of Brasserie De La Senne , and Jamie Cruickshank of Naparbier . Hear them discuss the brewing culture in Belgium, Estonia, and Spain; what The Festival means to them...

For the 500th episode of Beer Sessions, Jimmy discusses the business of food and beverage with Matt Archambault of Fifth Hammer Brewing and Brewed in New York, brothers Danny and Luke Bruckert of Groundlings Pizza, and Shinobu Kato of Kato Sake Works. Hear them talk about pairing food with beer and sake, how the food truck culture in New York compares to Portland, and the state of sake in America....

This week, Jimmy talks homebrewing with Jeff Lyons of Keg & Lantern Brewing , Brett Taylor of Wild East Brewing , and John Lapolla of Bitter and Esters . Hear their thoughts on what makes the homebrewing scene in New York City different, how homebrew shops have changed over time, and the best way to talk to a homebrewer when you don't like their beer. Beer List: Keg & Lantern's The Other W...

On the heels of the tenth annual Pig Island Festival, Jimmy sits down with chefs Danny Mena of La Lonchería and Cenobio Canalizo of Morgan’s Brooklyn Barbecue , and spirits importer Arik Torren of Fidencio Mezcal. They talk about what inspired their Pig Island dishes, Danny’s new book, Made in Mexico: The Cookbook , the challenges of importing authentic Mexican ingredients, the unique subtleties o...

Long Island City is home to six breweries, all in a two-mile radius. Five of them joined Jimmy in the studio: Kaitlyn Acosta of LIC Beer Project , Pat Fondiller of Alewife Brewing , Mark Hirst of Big aLICe Brewing , Laszlo Fodor of ICONYC , and Matt Archambault of Fifth Hammer Brewing and the Emmy Award-winning TV series Brewed in New York . They shout out their fellow LIC brewery, Rockaway Brewin...

Sara Hagerty of Origin Malt in Columbus, Ohio and Ivan Dedek of LIC Beer Project join Jimmy to talk about the annual Beers With(out) Beards event, LIC Beer Project’s American craft lager made with Origin’s two-row barley malt, how specialty crops like barley can revive agricultural communities, and why they predict that beer lovers will one day say “I can’t wait for Marden season!” Beer Sessions R...