Good Beer Matters Podcast

This episode is for those who appreciate that behind every beer is a complex dynamic of human interaction. But, how do we engage with each other in a way that is both productive and authentic? Also, what does beer have to do with all of this? Listen in and get schooled with Dr. J.

In this episode we’re going to break down how cheese is made, discuss variations and get into what makes a great pairing with author, and cheese and pairing expert Steve Jones.

Many of us consume fermented food items on a daily basis and don’t even realize it. It’s surprising to think about how poorly most of us understand the fermentation process despite the impact it has on our culture. My next guest is our guide into the mysterious and tiny world of yeast and fermentation. Check out White Labs .

For years brewers, hop growers and maltsters have claimed that terroir influences the ingredients in our beer, but surprisingly there was no real data, no real evidence to prove what we’ve suspected for a long time. That is until my next guest asked the question and put together a team to empirically prove the world of hop terroir. This is Good Beer Matters . These are the stories of us, of great...

Behind every beer is a story of how and why it came to be. My next guest is a writer and an educator who helps people understand the stories beer has to tell.

What are Gypsy Brewers? They are the rogues, the mercenaries, the A-Team of the brewing world. And, my next guest is one of the best brewers you’ve never heard of. Visit me at Good Beer Matters

An American Brewer pursues his dream of living in board shorts and brewing craft beer in Mexico. But like all good stories, this adventure brings loss, disaster and making a choice to continue when the challenges seem far too daunting.

A small brewery in Hawaii is taking the challenges of isolation and high cost of raw goods and turning it into an environmental experiment that, if successful, could change the way the world makes beer, wine and spirits. Check out Ola Brewing.

 I read a quote online recently that goes, “Challenges are what makes life interesting, and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.” It made me think back to the early days before the craft beer movement was a thing. In the 60s and 70s home brewing was illegal, ingredients were hard to come by, equipment was built by hand, information was scarce and nobody drank dark, flavorful beer. T...

 Beer writers have the semi-glamorous and sometimes inglorious honor of traveling to various places to taste a lot of really good and really bad beer. This is all to inform and entertain the rest of us. They’re responsible for mundane beer reviews, technical essays on the next industry changing gadget, as well as inspiring stories of travel, adventure and flavor. But, every once in a while a...

 Decades ago, when craft beer was the wild west of flavor and ingredients were hard to come by, assuming someone knew what to do with them, studying the quality of beer was unheard of. Sure, the big breweries probably had food scientists in their employ, but I’ll bet you a beer that was to ensure consistency for the sake of revenue. The small brewer’s who tinkered in their garages with salvag...

 The pilgrims on the Mayflower may have been the first Americans to create beer policy when the beer supplies, which was their only source of hydration, ran low and forced them to land short of warmer lattitudes. During the US Civil War, immigrant and first-generation American brewers demonstrated their patriotism by forming one of the first trade organizations, the US Brewer’s Association. S...

The Brewer’s Association crunches numbers and stats for the benefit of independent breweries in the US. Today’s guest helps us understand these stats and gives a little insight as to how these breweries can differentiate themselves despite the crowd.  

A poorly maintained draft system can cost bars and restaurants money and lost customers. Master Cicerone®, Neil Witte, is a man with a plan when it comes to keeping beer fresh and delicious.

In this episode, Advanced Cicerone® Cliff Mori and I discuss beer education as a business, the sophisticated beer scene in Asheville NC, and how restaurants and bars can easily differentiate themselves and improve sales through better beer education.

With so many choices, beer can be overwhelming. Ray Daniels created Cicerone.org to make sense of all the noise and facilitate a great drinking experience for those who seek something better.

My next guest is an American expatriate and professional writer who has since become the authority and unofficial ambassador between Eastern Europe and the U.S. for beer. We talk about why we should enjoy Czech beer and, why it matters.

CAMRA, or Campaign for Real Ale, began in 1971in response to industrial beer. Since then it has become one of the most successful consumer and political campaigns… ever.

With 1,000 plus breweries, France is on its way to becoming an influencer in world beer culture. Ninkasi Brewery in Lyon has become an American inspired, Belgian influenced French brewery in the heart of the gastronomic capital of France for two decades.

Barcelona is making its way into the world beer community due, in part, to the Barcelona Beer Festival, but especially to one of its organizers, beer writer Joan Villari-Martí.

My next guest is a young man caught between two countries who found adventure by becoming an accidental ambassador to the Netherlands for craft beer and, ironically, American BBQ.

My next guest literally wrote the book on the artful world of beer cocktails. He speaks to us about the 7 ways to use beer in drinks, and that boiler makers aren’t even the half of it.

Bitterness in beer is complex and poorly understood. Judging a beer’s bitterness by IBUs is similar to gauging one’s fitness level by looking at his weight on a scale. I discuss all of this with global expert and hop researcher, Dr. Tom Shellhammer.

What would you do if drinking one beer sent you to the hospital? In this episode of Good Beer Matters, we talk to a woman who endured this experience and ended up with a beer in her hand and a worldwide blog that helps others with similar problems.

Age old wisdom tells us to not let our past define us, but instead, let it be our guide. If Sidor’s story tells us anything, it is that the future of beer will be decided by the beer each of us chooses.