Beers with Nigel

The official opening is set for March 5, but Nigel and Nick just couldn't wait to meet up with the crew at River Bluff Brewing's new location in Kansas City. Zack (without an 'h', he says this is very important), Hootie (not the blowfish guy) and Chris (he's the boss who gets the big pour) join in to share their craft beer origin stories, the process for naming beers and professing their love of a...

The Cider Jawns — Ashley and Jasmine — drop in on Nigel and Nick to provide a little education. First and foremost, they explain a little Philly slang and give the definition of "Jawn." And then, they get down to business for a cool conversation about ciders and their road to not only spreading the gospel of this brew, but also becoming brewers themselves. The official "Junior" drinking list for t...

Our first episode of 2022 and it's a doozy! I mean, come on, it's the one with the Bedonkadunkel. Jenna Munoz, from Crane Brewing and Jessica Bloom, from Border Brewing, join Nick and Nigel in the studio to share secrets of past lives (one of them used to be an attorney!), finding love (of beer) and the good works done by the Kansas City Chapter of the Pink Boots Society. Beers consumed: Qui Bit F...

In the final episode of 2021, Mark Myers and Blake McCarter from Fringe Beerworks drop by the studio for a conversation about their now 5-year-old brewery and taproom. Blake tells the story of how he went from beer tender to brewer and Mark blows our minds when he tells us what we’re tasting isn’t what we’re tasting and he’s just messing with our heads through the chemistry of brewing. Also making...

The Angry Swede ain't so angry anymore... unless the Vikings are losing. Nigel and Nick hit the road this week for a quick road trip to St. Joseph, AMERICA and a little brewery called the Angry Swede. Owner/brewer Mike "The Swede" Olinger and occasional general manager/full time billboard Marcus "Mad Dog" Miyamto sit at the table to talk about the beer, the brand and the tap room. Oh, and for the...

One of the coolest stories we’ve heard of how a brewery got started. Jake Keyes' dream of owning a brewery was due in large part to his father. After his dad passed away, it became even clearer. Armed with his dad’s recipes, Skydance Brewing, the first Native owned brewery in Oklahoma was born. We talk to Jake about watching his father brew and how he is very intentional in how Skydance brewing po...

Our tour of area breweries continues with a visit to Transport Brewery in Shawnee. Nigel and Nick sit down with two members of the ownership team, Sean Greenwood and Jason Leib, to talk about their favorite beers, their unique space across from Shawnee City Hall and plans for a second location. Drinkers: Prost! Kolsch and Record Breakin' Red IPA — Transport Brewing; Transporting Vines Black Lager...

We haven’t had guests in the studio is awhile, but YouTubers Two Blondes Drink Beer, Candi & Cara, brought it! Oh, and they also brought beer & swag! These BFF beer nerds talk beer on their show while judging the beers based on Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) guidelines. We talk about how they got into beer and how their show was created because of the pandemic. We get in on the act by jud...

We told you on a previous episode you can open a brewery for only $15k (not true). But, apparently, you CAN write a brewery business plan in your car! Just ask Act 52 guests Brian & Mary Rooney. BKS Artisan Ales was born from Mary buying Brian a Mr. Beer kit & is now one of the most popular breweries in KC. BKS just celebrated its 4th anniversary, so we talk about how their success has surprised t...

Jay C. Willams bills himself as just a regular guy. With articles appearing in magazines such as Wine Enthusiast and other publications, he’s hardly regular. This beer writer, and overall beer enthusiast, tells Nick & Nigel about his home brewing days, how he got into writing about beer and how he lives in Connecticut and NOT Delaware. Also in the episode, we have an important discussion about swe...

A labor of love. That’s the only way to describe the just released beer documentary One Pint at a Time. When Aaron & Brigitte Hosé started filming at the inaugural Fresh Fest Beer Fest in 2018, they had the film they wanted to produce in mind. Add 4 years, a global pandemic and the evolving storylines about people of color in beer, One Pint at a Time took on a life of its own. We’re happy to have...

Nigel and Nick hit the road again, this time hanging out with Jonathan Williamson at his Sandhills Brewing location in Mission, Kansas. Jonathan talks about his totally lazy process for choosing beer names, his staunch belief he's a better brewer than his brother (who runs their Hutchinson, Kansas) and talks about that time he thought all he needed was $15,000 to start a brewery. Drinkers (from Sa...

Brewer, dad and traveler are just a few of the words Act 48 guest Damon Arredondo uses to describe himself. Damon fell in love with brewing as a home brewer & has traveled the country trying to find his place in the industry. The former head brewer at Strange Days Brewing is now working to bridge the gap between the LatinX community & craft beer. Does Damon have a brewery in the works? He didn’t s...

Nigel and Nick are headed to the Barrel & Flow Fest Sept. 10 - 12, so they just had to have festival creators Day Bracey and Ed Bailey back on the pod. (Side note: if you're looking for someone to blame for the absurdity that is the Beers with Nigel podcast, you're welcome. The hosts of the Drinking Partners podcast and their festival are the sole reason Nigel grabbed Nick and uttered those fatefu...

"The practice of brewing beer is as old as human civilization. It is a craft that was originally practiced by women in parts of the world we now refer to as Africa and the East, but looking at the modern, craft brewing industry in the United States, you would never know..." Documentarian, attorney and activist Atinuke "Tinu" Diver joins the show to talk about beer and her current documentary proje...

When counting female owned breweries, we haven’t been doing due our diligence. We’ve been forgetting co-owners. We learned that when we visited Rockcreek Brewing co-owned by Sara Charlson & several others in Mission,  KS. Our apologies, Sara! Nigel and Nick chat with Sara & head brewer, Trent Wiegers, and learned Trent is really into Belgian styles and Sara tells us about the beer with her avatar...

Nick & Nigel died and went to heaven for Act 44. Not really, ‘cause that would be a violation of Rule # 1. But, where can you find beer, bbq sauce and rubs, food AND whiskey and bourbon all in the same place? BeerSauce! That’s where. Don’t know about BeersSauce? Well, check out this episode and hear Rick “The Sauce Guy” Duree tell us about this amazing concept and drop knowledge on everything beer...

We actually found someone, like Nigel, who has 50-11 (that’s a shit ton) things going. Act 43 brings beer influencer, assistant brewer, podcaster, beertender and brewery bus tour guide (just to name a few), James Higgs aka Pass the Hops to the show. We talk the Rocherster, MN beer scene, how he became big time on the Insta and how he wants to help the craft beer evolve. Drinking beers: Finback Bre...

Nigel and Nick are back on the road, and for Act 42 they're in "mid-town" Lenexa Kansas talking with Pat Davis of Lost Evenings Brewing. Lost evenings is yet another brewery opening its doors during the heart of the pandemic. But that's Ok. COVIDworld was hard on everyone, but craft beer makes everything better and Pat's serving up his solid brews in a perfect neighborhood taproom. Apologies to Ju...

Woodie Bonds is back on the show for Act 41. Woodie’s a part of the biggest KC beer news in a long time. Vine Street Brewing, opening in 2022, will be the first black-owned brewery in Missouri. Yes, the first! Woodie along with Kemit Coleman join us to talk about their vision for the brewery and their plan to bring new faces into the craft brew scene. We had a first on the podcast as we chugged a...

It’s Act 40 of Beers with Nigel and we realized we’ve talked about Windshift Brewing and drank lots of Windshift beer over the last 39 episodes, so we thought it was high time to have them on the pod. Head Brewer Tony DiPlacito joins us and talks about his journey in brewing and opening a brewery. It’s actually all his wife Lynn’s fault. Nick flipped the script and brought his own mystery beers, s...

At first glance, the now 1-year-old Pathlight Brewing's logo catches your eye for its simplistic and clean design. But take a second to talk with head brewer Tanner Vaughn and you'll soon find, that like their beer, there's really a lot going on. And by a lot, we're talking some serious and beautiful nerd-dom here — mathematics, science and Star Wars. Tanner joins Nigel and Nick for the second sto...

“Craft beer for the soul." — That’s how Act 38 guest Smittox Brewing bills themselves. They may not have a physical location yet, but that hasn’t stopped them from making a name for themselves. They’re promoting the Smittox brand by pouring their beer at pop-ups and brewing collabs with other breweries in the Dallas area. We talk to the Smittox crew about their entry into craft beer, their plans f...

No mystery beers this week (sorry, Junior). Nigel and Nick hit the road for the first time, this year and cross the state line to visit Courtney Servaes at Servaes Brewing. Even fan-boy Nick was shocked to learn his queen of the fruited sours doesn't actually like the sours. But like all of us, our best work comes when we're trying to please our beloved soulmates. It was a full, rich travel day fo...

If you’re drinking good beer you gotta have the proper glassware, right? That’s where craft beer brand 17% Drip comes in. Who is 17% Drip? Well, 17% Drip is focused on the best Drip Gear for the craft beer trendsetters & influencers who are putting in the work to bridge the gap between the Urban Lifestyle & Vibe and the Hipsters. You’ll be dripping after this cool episode. Drinkers: Celestial Beer...