Idaho Booze Podcast

It’s a solo slosh fest on this week’s Idaho Booze Pod. Luckily for me, Jaialdi is back, so I talk all about what’s happening during the big Basque blow-out in downtown Boise. Idaho wine perceptions: some fair and some not. I go over some of the more popular ones and talk about why they exist and how to better market Gem State Vino across Idaho. Then, we delve into the Boise Beer Buddies Community...

Skinny Pete himself, Bryan Mead, is on the show talking about his love for the Old Fashioned. We talk all about the beginnings of Skinny Pete and what’s next for his cocktail mix company. Then, we look into the Boise Beer Buddies Community Calendar to see what’s going on, and we wrap up the show with a few thank yous. Subscribe on Substack, Apple Pods, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever quality pods ar...

I am excited to announce this new venture for breweries — Tap Into Taste! It’s a marketing tool for breweries to battle this recent downturn in craft beer. Learn all about the tool, how it will help you, and hopefully, I will answer a lot of questions about how it works for small to medium-sized breweries. If you have no interest in that, fast forward to the 11-minute mark, where I tell you all ab...

It’s the Fourth of July, and we are celebrating at the Idaho Booze Podcast by ranking stuff with little to no research. In our inaugural Panel of One segment, I rank the patios of Idaho. Completely biased. Completely without merit, and it’s all on tape (or whatever MP3 is) for you to hear. Warn Reserve gives us an amazingly spritzy summer cocktail perfect for the Fourth, plus we delve into the Boi...

It’s Idaho Wine Month, and we are celebrating on the Idaho Booze Pod with an interview with Idaho’s only organic winery, Holesinsky Wines. Caitly Holesinsky comes on the show and talks all about her award-winning wines, how she stays true to most traditional French methods, and the popularity of her labels designed to bring young adults into wine. I also talk all about my trip to Northern Idaho an...

Veer Wine Company’s Will Wetmore and I sit down to talk Grenache! Click Here to Subscribe Today! Get full access to Idaho Booze at idahobooze.substack.com/subscribe

Kicking off Idaho Wine Month with Aukai Manson from Langtry Farms Winery. He tells us all about his former life as a competitive rower, why he chose to attend both UCLA and USC, and just how much influence a 19th-century star of stage and screen has on his life at Langtry Farms Winery. Oh, and all the amazing wines his estate vineyard is producing. Plus, I wax poetic about Mountain Brewer’s Fest,...

I love Idaho Beer and, more importantly, I have a deep respect and love for the people behind the liquid. That’s why I had to take an hour and talk about our favorite beverage in our favorite state. Idaho Beer: Where are we now, where are we going, and how the hell did we get here? Also, we have a new sponsor! Please visit Snake River Wine Tours for an amazing tour of the Snake River Valley Wine R...

Warn Reserve Cocktail Company is back, packing some serious flavor into your summer cocktail program. The cocktails: delicious. The new promo code and deal: amazing. You will love Adrienne’s twist on classic cocktails that she shares with us on this week’s show. That plus lots going on this Memorial Day Weekend, so we go over everything in the Boise Beer Buddies Community Calendar. Subscribe today...

Where do you start with somebody like Meredith Smith? She started at Sawtooth when it was still a small winery in South Nampa and quickly rose to become probably the most important winemaker in Idaho. We talk all about the current state of Idaho Wine and where we would like to see it go in the future. Meredith also schools us all on growing, harvesting, and picking out the right grapes for her win...

Jeffrey Badigian, owner and brewmaster at Spring Creek Brewing in Eagle, joins me today to talk all about starting a brewery that’s a little off the beaten trail. What I found was a hidden gem, making some seriously delicious beers and putting out a great assortment of food. Jeff talks about the trouble he had starting up during the pandemic, and what it’s like owning a brewpub in a neighborhood a...

I mean, where do you start with a guy like Jed Glavin. He has transformed the way people drink wine in Idaho and has brought adventure, curiosity, and creativity to the Idaho wine scene. His excellent wines are just as crushable in cans and kegs as they are in the bottle, and the artist’s approach that he brings to winemaking certainly sets him apart from his peers. Savor and enjoy this amazing in...

Templin Family Brewing has landed in Idaho, and it brought some tasty beers! See what one of the finest breweries in the Beehive State has to offer. In Friday Night Pints, I go over some fun new IPAs that I found wandering around the Treasure Valley, and our Warn Reserve Cocktail of the Week will turn more than a few heads. Get this episode on Spotify, Apple Pods, YouTube, or wherever they stream...

Spring releases are releasing around Idaho, and I was fortunate enough to hit up Telaya Winery to sample their new Idaho wines. Hear my thoughts on those, plus my newest venture . Then, in Friday Night Pints, I visit a couple of old haunts, then hit up Oldspeak, the new book bar from our friends at Aliteration Ales. My thoughts on if they were able to succeed in creating a cozy safe space for beer...

It’s Masters week, so we talk about how to raise that BAC while lowering that score out on the course. It’s also Idaho Craft Beer Month (it can be two things), and somebody put out a mix pack of Idaho brewers that is banging. I review the whole pack to let you know if it's the right box for you. Then, I have a special announcement at the end of the show. Lots happening on this guest-less version o...

Bittercreek Alehouse is probably where you had your first real beer, and the founder/owner/operator of Bittercreek is on the show to talk about his excellent restaurants and his other interests, including Woodland Empire Alecraft! Dave has been pushing craft beer in Idaho since the 90s, and his passion for it has never been bigger since he purchased Woodland Empire. Hear how he is turning Woodland...

Boise’s very own music festival, Treefort Music Fest, is happening right now in the City of Trees. On this week’s show, Bert’s Brewing comes on the show to talk about the official beer of Treefort, Pure Imagination. Then David Roberts, the head of Alefort, comes on to talk about all the fun things going on at this year’s frothiest fort. Download the pod here on Substack, or at Apple Pods, Spotify,...

Where do you start with Barbarian? They make unique and amazing beers, have an amazing vibe at both locations, and they’ve done it all without compromising themselves to the horrors of distribution! Bre Hovely sits down and talks with me about all this and more, plus I’m talking more Trump tariffs and how they will affect the price at the tap in addition to in the can. Lots going on this weekend i...

Host of the Get Hoptimized podcast and owner of the marketing agency of the same name, Chris Overlay, is on the show today. Chris’ agency is unique in that he only caters to craft beverage makers. So, if you own a brewery, winery, cidery, kombuchery, or any other ‘ery out there, this is the show for you! Chris and I talk about what cash-strapped breweries should be doing right now to maximize thei...

Jake Black is on the pod this week. He is the founder/big boss man at Lost Grove Brewing in Boise. This conversation was a lot of fun because I have known Jake for quite some time, and we have had many experiences in the craft beer world. We wandered through his journey starting Lost Grove that included him working at just about every restaurant in downtown Boise, plus Jake tells us about the fun...

I am all by my lonesome again for this week’s episode, so I talk about … me! The local media picked up on my Trump talk from last week’s show, so I did them one better and picked up their coverage of my story for my story this week. Sockeye decides to cut bait on its putt-putt golf course concept, what this means for one of Idaho’s biggest breweries. Loose Screw Brewing in Meridian invites me out...

Happy Valentine’s Day my darling drinkarinos! On today’s show, I go over Trump’s proposed 25% tariffs on imported steel and aluminum and how that will affect you (and me and everyone). Then we play a new game called Innovative or Intolerable featuring some new kind of fruit-flavored malt for brewers, on Friday Night Pints, I review Fremont’s new Head Full of Dynamite Hazy IPA, Crux’s Bochi Bochi,...

This week’s pod starts innocently enough, with the Super Game Drinking Bowl! Be the envy of your friends at this year’s Super Bowl LIX party with this amazing game. You will turn some heads, and maybe even meet a doctor or two. Then, Chris Baker from Mother Earth Brewing Company comes on the pod to talk all about Idaho’s largest brewery, the good ole days in San Diego, and why you should Love Your...

It’s another episode of the Idaho Booze Podcast! In this, the 4th episode of 2025, we Veer back into wine country to speak with Will Wetmore, the head winemaker and creative genius behind Veer Wine Project. What’s that? You haven’t heard of Veer Wine Project? Well, after this episode, you will be tap, tap, tapping away at your phone to order some of Will’s amazing Snake River Valley wines. We tast...

I am rolling solo on this episode of the Idaho Booze Podcast and I have a little to say about a lot. Darigold gets got for dumping shit water into the river and that got me thinking about what Agg gets away with compared to other Idaho businesses. Bob Huebbler from Boise Beer Culture released his Look Back on Idaho Beer for 2024, so I go over that and talk about what’s actually happening to cause...