Beervana Podcast

In the latest article in the Sightglass Series, I’ve spoken to a number of women in the beer industry to highlight how their creative expressions have changed the way we make, market, write about, and of course, drink beer. It’s a process entirely of addition, and we are all the beneficiaries of their work.

Today we have a Beaver vs Evergreen State IPA showdown, tasted blind, for what will surely be the most coveted award in the beer world. Yes, in Show 144 we have the first annual Northwest IPA Smackdown! In this episode we feature the preliminary round, where we describe each of the sixteen beers and begin to flesh out what "good" looks like when you're dealing with modern IPAs on a bitter-to-juicy...

Every beer contains a whiff of history. Traditional Berliner weisse, which went extinct in the mid-aughts before enjoying a revival years later, contains more than a whiff. Yesterday, at Portland’s Zoiglhaus brewery, I sampled both the ghost and its reincarnation.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Beervana Show has been on a five-week hiatus, and during that time, the old mailbag has fattened up. On today’s show, we’re going to turn to you and answer questions, respond to your commentary and opinion, and offer a much-delayed update on our mascot, Maris Otter, and the t-shirts she will soon be adorning.

As my perambulations take me around the beautiful sort-of post-Covid City of Roses, I have been finding a number of great beers to try. Today we have a look at stouts at Assembly, hoppy wild ales at Little Beast, and cask summer ales at Upright.

We love good beer, finding good beer, talking about good beer. But identifying what that “good” is in beer—that’s a lot harder. Truly great beers are defined by subjective, often subtle elements of a beer. Yet they aren’t unknowable. Here’s a proposal for how to identify them.

We are delighted to be back in a brewery! On today’s show, we are visiting Unicorn Brewing with owner Zach Vestal. We’ve been impressed with the tiny brewery’s beer over the past year, and wanted to come see the operation—which includes a homebrew shop and u-brew operation.

Following each new disruption, I keep looking for a return. Normalcy can’t be that hard to restore. Yet each disruption carries darker connotations than the event itself. I feel the need to publicly acknowledge that sense of danger the small animal feels. It has been growing in me for years now.

I will tell you a secret. It’s controversial and you will resist this information, but it’s true: hazy pale ales are better and more reliably good than their bigger IPA brothers. As summer heats up, find one and see if you don’t agree.

A provocative piece in this month’s Atlantic argues that “America has a drinking problem.” But does it? The evidence paints a fuller, more prosaic picture: things have been very stable for a decade now.

Last week we spoke to Nick Harris of Berkeley Labs about the ways in which bioengineering may remake brewing. That’s the latest example of technology’s impact on brewing, but it’s far from unusual. This week we’re going to look back at some of the pivotal technologies that changed brewing forever, even working a little beeronomics into the mix.

Seltzers, canned cocktails, hard teas, flavored malt beverages: these represent a complex regulatory stew of products but may in many cases be called “beer.” Once a small enough market it didn’t matter, they are now such big business they may destabilize the entire alcohol industry.

One of the country's best breweries continues to turn out incredible beer in relative obscurity. Taste Midnight Reflection, however, and you'll see why Portland's Upright really is that good.

For Show 140 we have a fascinating discussion about the scientific frontiers of brewing. Nick Harris, one of three founders of Berkeley Yeast, joins us today. Founded by scientists from UC Berkeley, the team at this lab is busy bio-engineering beer yeast to do amazing things.

After revolutions in hop breeding and product development and micromalting, yeast is getting its moment in the sun. A proliferating number of yeast labs offer organic and genetically-modified strains that do things like ferment without diacetyl or finish in half the time.

Celebrating the breweries owned and operated by underrepresented groups in no way diminishes the accomplishment of White, male brewers. Our celebration of Tonya Cornett does not come at Ken Grossman’s expense.

The past year has been so tough because it forced us into bubbles of stasis. We are creative, social beings who crave the way new experiences rewire our brains. We hunger to mix our minds with others. Few places are as good as breweries in delivering that charge of electricity we need to live.

An embryonic start on a resource for finding breweries led by underrepresented groups.

Hazy IPAs are the style that launched a thousand breweries. Yet their fusty old predecessors haven’t been banished entirely, and Fremont’s new release, Ollie, shows why.

The Covid pandemic, for all its ravages, did create a few positive opportunities. A year ago, as breweries looked at their empty tanks and blank brewing schedules, many launched long-term projects like barrel-aging stouts. They were able to fire up the kettles to replenish, expand, or even start new barrel-aging programs, salting away stores for later release. Breweries like Breakside are just now...

Breweries managed to survive the pandemic far more ably than anyone expected a year ago. They did it by retrenching and focusing on core customers rather than chasing those tantalizing customer just beyond reach. The “fan service” approach may be Covid’s greatest legacy.

The blossoms have begun to scent the air, which is turning warmer and drier, all sure signs that winter is going. That means more time drinking lighter, more summery beer. On today’s show, we’ll discuss one of the all-time great session ales, and a fine spring and summer beer to boot—kölsch, that specialty of Cologne. As much as a beer style, it’s an amazing cultural force. We’ll discuss its histo...

A new documentary looks at craft brewing through a familiar lens—scrappy, unorthodox risk-takers setting out to make their mark. The movie brings in founding figures and places their story in a familiar narrative. It’s a fun movie and well-told. But what if the story is all wrong?

Hammer and Stitch has been open seven months, but debuted in October, just as the pandemic entered its most debilitating phase. For most people venturing out with the spring sunshine, it is a brand new brewery. Here’s a first look.

Audioblog: The Complex, 500-Year-Old Story of Reinheitsgebot by Jeff Alworth & Patrick Emerson