Drink Beer, Think Beer With John Holl

Show notes from John Holl: "As I’ve mentioned, I’m always on the lookout for new-to-me breweries, especially ones that are bucking the normal trends. Todd DiMatteo of Good Word put Wheatland Spring Farm and Brewery on my radar, and I’m thankful.    I’m talking with John and Bonnie Branding, the couple behind the brewery that sits on 30 acres of farmland, about an hour west of Washington, D.C. Ther...

"Lagers continue to get the love in the craft beer space and this week I’m glad to have Dana Henion on the show. She is the co-founder, co-owner and brewer at Van Henion Brewing , a new operation that opened in a brewery space that was previously occupied by Boneyard Brewing in Bend, Oregon.    She runs the brewery with her husband Mark and long time friend and colleague John Van Duzer. Together t...

By now, you might be familiar with Troy Casey and his beer career. After graduating from the University of California at Davis he took a job with the company then known as MillerCoors, working in their Colorado brewery in the A.C. Coors division. It was a research and development facility where they would test out various recipes, noodle around with new ones and see if anything stuck that could ev...

On this episode of This Week in Rauchbier special co-host Erik Lehto talks about home brewing rauchbier and the smoke beer scene in Sweden. Then we're joined by Bill Cherry, the founder and brewmaster of Switchback Brewing in Vermont who shares stories and the inspiration behind the brewery's Flynn on Fire Series. As always, Bart Watson of the Brewers Association joins the show to talk about the s...

It’s great fun to have Mirella Amato on the show this week. I’ve had the good pleasure of knowing her for years and have enjoyed her writings and keen insight into the proper way to pair beer and food.    Amato is a Master Cicerone, as well as a Doemens Bier Sommelier. She the also the author of Beerology: Everything You Need to Know to Enjoy Beer…Even More , which is available where books are sol...

I’m excited to have Sam Tierney on the show this week. He’s been running Firestone Walker’s Propagator in Los Angeles for the six years it’s been open and has unique insight on creating small batches that could one day be scaled, experimenting with ingredients, and finding the sweet spot for drinkers.    He’s a passionate brewer who takes the role seriously and is constantly trying to find ways to...

Show notes from host John Holl "A few weeks ago I was in Rochester judging the New York State Beer Competition and on the last day of judging, my pal Lew Bryson walked into the room wearing a shirt that asked: "Got Milktubes?"   It was from Human Robo t, a Philadelphia brewery that has leaned in hard on its love of lagers.   When the brewery opened two years ago in the site of the former St. Benja...

Show notes from John Holl:  "If you’ve been listening to this show as well as Steal This Beer over the last few weeks there’s been a focus in and around the Rochester, New York area breweries.    Rochester is of course well known for Genesee Beer, but over the last decade has emerged as a craft beer destination, fueled by small breweries who are paying careful attention to recipes, integrating int...

Show notes from host John Holl: "When you think about Great Lakes Brewing, Edmund Fitzgerald Porter likely comes to mind. It’s the flagship beer of a brewery that has helped shape craft beer in America and fostered the career of many in the industry. There's more to the Cleveland, Ohio than that one flagship and the brewery has been working to adapt to changing palates and trends.    For insight o...

Brewers tend to get excited when Jeff Bagby is around. As one of the most awarded brewers in the country and a staunch voice for classic styles and  well balanced beers, he extolls pleasures of creating lagers and ales that lend to a good time.    After a career that saw him on the brew decks of noted breweries like Stone and Pizza Port, where he was the director of brewing operations, he and his...

While the announcement a few years back might have surprised some, internally at Other Half the move into a brewery space in New York’s Finger Lakes region , just south of Rochester made sense.    The brewery had done a number of popups in the area and consumer reception was strong. When a brewery sitting on eight acres suddenly closed in the town of Bloomfield the brewery jumped at the chance, fo...

Friendly bets have become popular under the backdrop of the Super Bowl . Mayors of cities that host game-bound teams engage in banter designed to boost tourism, friends take on each other, and small businesses go toe to toe and show off team pride.    Breweries are no different. This year as the Cincinnati Bengals take on the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California we welcome on...

Julian Shrago is the co-founder and brewmaster of Beachwood Brewing , which already boasts several locations in Southern California with more on the way.    He’s a thoughtful brewer, who takes big ideas and brings them down to a manageable level that are executed well and in my interactions with him over the years, at festivals, at the brewery, and just in the wild, I’m always struck by his though...

Jenny Pfafflin is the marketing and creative manager at Dovetail Brewery in Chicago. She’s also one of the four brewers on staff. That means she gets to spend her days talking about, thinking about, making, and drinking some of the most traditional and flavorful beers made in the U.S. today.  Dovetail is no stranger to this show. Episode Five featured Hagen Dost and Bill Wesselink the co-founders...

For a brewery less than a decade old, it’s been a hell of a ride for Trillium in Massachusetts. Starting in  a small cramped space near Boston’s waterfront, to now boasting a growing roster of locations including restaurants and a farm, the brewery has been celebrated and scrutinized but always focused.    This is most apparent in the beers themselves. Sure, there are hazy IPAs and big imperial st...

Before he started in the brewing industry Kevin Abbott was a wine steward. His time in restaurants helped form his idea behind food and beverage – something that exists to this day. He started as a homebrewer and then jumped into the deep end of the pool, starting as the head brewer for Funky Buddha in Florida back when they were launching into brewpub operations.    He stayed there for nearly fou...

A lot of experiences are lost in the digital age. We get so accustomed to seeing places virtually on a screen, or reading pieces built for short bursts that when a book like the World Atlas of Beer comes along we all should take notice.    This 3rd edition is completely revised and authors Tim Webb and Stephen Beaumont take us on a tour of the world through its beer culture. This isn’t a travel bo...

Show notes from John Holl:  "A lot of us had high hopes for 2021 and getting back into normalcy, old routines, and sitting down on familiar barstools.    It didn’t turn out as we’d hoped.    Again, over the course of this past year, I’ve talked with a lot of brewery owners and brewers about how COVID-19 has impacted them and changed the brewing industry, but like we did at this time last year, I w...

For the second year in a row, as we end a year amid a pandemic, there continues to be innovation and uncertainty in the beer space. To reflect on it all host John Holl gathered some of his friends and fellow writers to talk about the year that was and what might be coming over the horizon of 2022.    Guests this week are:  - Christopher Shepard the senior editor of Craft Brew News, published by Be...

A lot of ink has been spilled writing about Spotted Cow, the behemoth flagship of New Glarus Brewing Co. , but there are a good number of beers that the brewery puts out each year, including seasonals and one offs that go beyond the bovine.    It’s the limited edition beers that often capture the interest and attention of beer fans – if they can get them. Recently New Glarus released two small bat...

Show notes from Host John Holl : "Wine Enthusiast Magazine released its Top 50 Beers of the Year list earlier this week. I’m the contributing editor for beer in those pages, and you should give it a look if you haven’t already. In thinking about the list and all the beers I was lucky enough to taste on the blind panels this year I wanted to bring together some brewing industry folks – those who ar...

Sam Riggins is making the most out of his brewery. Cosmic Eye Brewery is his long running vision of a brewing operation that he could call home. Starting as a home brewer and then working for Nebraska Brewing Co., he and his wife started the Lincoln, Nebraska based brewery about four years ago, envisioning it as a local taproom that could also make beer to for the local market.   The pandemic, of...

Notes from Host John Holl: A well conceived and executed beer dinner is a wonderful thing. It is a combination of a chef's creativity and a brewer's best efforts coming together on one table. It is best paired with companions that are enthusiastic about flavor and exploration.    One of the best beer dinners I’ve ever attended was at The Ruck , a great beer bar in Troy, New York. The chef at the t...

Inspired by Belgium and its beers, Matt Manthe has a strong respect for wild microbes, spontaneous ales, and the results that come from letting cultures express themselves. His professional brewing career and studies have taken him from South Carolina, to Berlin and now to Florida, where he did the work of shift and head brewing making clean beers for thirsty customers.    Behind the scenes and at...

Show notes from host John Holl: "You’ll hear how I first met Sean Lilly Wilson a little later in the show, but what I didn’t know back then and what I’ve come to experience over the course of nearly a decade, is his commitment to food, drink, hospitality, creativity, culture, and community.      Outside of Fullsteam , the brewery he launched in 2010, much of the growth of North Carolina as a premi...