The HOP: A Craft Beer Podcast

In our first episode of 2023, The HOP boys travel to the Pacific Northwest for a stop at Deschutes Brewery! Gary Fish first opened Deschutes as a community-focused brewpub during the early days of the craft beer boom in 1988. The company quickly gained a following, outgrowing the original location in downtown Bend, OR by 1993 and moving to a nearby production facility. Today, despite growing into...

The boys are staying sober this week which means a return to our THROWBACK THURSDAY series! Enjoy this trip down memory lane and we’ll be back with a brand new episode next week. Originally posted 2/27/2020 We’re heading back East for Round 9 to visit one of the boys’ favorite NYC breweries! Sixpoint Brewing out of Red Hook, BK has been growing quickly since they started releasing cans in 2010. Th...

As 2022 draws to a close, Stephen & Gabe are back on the mics to reflect on yet another year of beer podcasting! Despite transitioning to a biweekly show schedule, this year we’ve still managed to sample 67 beers from 37 breweries, including beer from 13 states and 4 countries. For those keeping track, this brings us to 280 beers all-time! As always, the boys dig into the HOP archive this week...

The boys are staying sober this week which means a return to our THROWBACK THURSDAY series! Enjoy this trip down memory lane and we’ll be back with a brand new episode next week. Originally posted 12/24/2020 It’s the holiday season and Stephen & Gabe are feeling festive! A Christmas Ale can be many things, as proven by this week’s lineup of holiday offerings from across the USA. First up, we’l...

The boys are staying sober this week which means a return to our THROWBACK THURSDAY series! Enjoy this trip down memory lane and we’ll be back with a brand new episode next week. Originally posted 11/4/2021 When Richard and Mengistu Koilor founded Two Locals Brewing in 2018, they chose a name making it clear that they are Philadelphia through and through. This is beer brewed by Philly, in Philly,...

December’s here and it’s cold outside, so the boys are heading down south for a little fun in the sun at Florida’s South Beach Brewing Company! Founded by entrepreneur and former Bachelor Lorenzo Borghese, South Beach aims to celebrate the Sunshine State in their beers, branding and overall mission. The small but mighty beer lineup features ales brewed with a proprietary electrolyte and 100% real...

The boys are staying sober this week which means a return to our THROWBACK THURSDAY series! Enjoy this trip down memory lane and we’ll be back with a brand new episode next week. Originally posted 7/1/2021 TWO breweries! THREE beers! ONE Taproom Special! This week’s episode is truly jam packed. First, Stephen & Gabe head down to the Baltimore area and stumble upon White Marsh Brewing Company....

It’s Thanksgiving Day and the boys from The HOP are back with a brand-new episode to help entertain you as you cook the big feast. Roasted, broiled, grilled, smoked, deep-fried or heated up in the microwave, we say turkey always tastes better with a beer in your hand! This year, we’ve got two standout offerings, (we like to call them “event beers,”) to highlight the libations we’re truly thankful...

The boys are staying sober this week which means a return to our THROWBACK THURSDAY series! Enjoy this trip down memory lane and we’ll be back with a brand new episode next week. Originally posted 12/3/2020 Stephen & Gabe kick off December with a full sampling of Harpoon’s Dunkin’ Dozen! Released this past fall, the Dunkin’ Dozen features a trio of brand new, Dunkin’-inspired beers joining the...

The boys are back in New England this week, heading to New Hampshire for a stop at Great Rhythm Brewing Company! Scott Thorton founded this Portsmouth-based microbrewery in 2012 on a mission to design, brew and share the kinds of beers he loves to drink. The operation was a success and the company has become a local mainstay driven by a passion for beer, sustainability and community engagement. St...

The boys are staying sober this week which means a return to our THROWBACK THURSDAY series! Enjoy this trip down memory lane and we’ll be back with a brand new episode next week. Originally posted 6/25/2020 This week, Stephen & Gabe stop by SingleCut Beersmiths, a Queens-based brewery with a passion for rock music and a distinctly "New York" identity. Founder Rich Buceta sold his collection of...

Fall is in the air, Spooky Season is here and The HOP is back with an all-new, blood-curdling, bone-chilling episode just in time for Halloween! Per tradition, Stephen & Gabe hit the mics once again to sample a wide variety of pumpkin ales. Despite the divisive nature of the style, there’s nothing better than a balanced and well-crafted pumpkin ale to help celebrate All Hallow’s Eve. First up,...

The boys are staying sober this week which means a return to our THROWBACK THURSDAY series! Enjoy this trip down memory lane and we’ll be back with a brand new episode next week. Originally posted 12/10/2020 To celebrate our 50th episode, we take a trip up to Franklin, MA for a visit to 67 Degrees Brewing! Originally from Haiti, owner Olivier Edouard opened the brewery this past January on a missi...

New York, New York, a helluva town… The Bronx is up and The HOP is in town! This week, the boys land on Gabe’s side of the country for a celebration of all things NY. The craft beer industry is alive and well in the Empire State, with more than 440 licensed breweries currently in operation and more than 1.2 million barrels of beer produced every year. We’ll kick things off with the return of our T...

The boys are staying sober this week which means a return to our THROWBACK THURSDAY series! Enjoy this trip down memory lane and we’ll be back with a brand new episode next week. Originally posted 9/2/2021 When Stephen & Gabe passed through Philadelphia this summer, they were given one piece of advice: “You guys have to go to Love City!” We went, we drank, we felt the love and we’re excited to...

O’zapft is! Lederhosen, beer steins, bratwurst, pretzels and dirndls, it’s that time of year again and The HOP is back with our annual Oktoberfest celebration! The infamous festival wraps up in Munich this coming weekend, having drawn millions of visitors to the city for the first time in 2 years. We may not have made it to Germany, but Stephen & Gabe are back on the mics with a stellar lineup...

The boys are staying sober this week which means a return to our THROWBACK THURSDAY series! Enjoy this trip down memory lane and we’ll be back with a brand new episode next week. Originally posted 10/15/2020 As Hispanic Heritage Month draws to a close, we’re marking the occasion with a selection of craft imports from several Spanish-speaking countries. Craft beer continues to boom internationally,...

This week, Stephen & Gabe are back in SoCal for a stop at Casa Agria Specialty Ales! Founders Eric Ward and Michael Weyandt opened this boutique brewery in 2015 with a focus on barrel-aged wild ales, a style rarely found in Ventura County. Based in Oxnard with a name translating to “Sour House,” Casa Agria operates with a taste for the funky and the fermented. The mission is clearly popular wi...

The boys are staying sober this week which means a return to our THROWBACK THURSDAY series! Enjoy this trip down memory lane and we’ll be back with a brand new episode next week. Originally posted 7/30/2020 This week, Stephen & Gabe make their way up North to the great state of Vermont! (We can’t believe it took this long.) Lawson’s Finest Liquids was founded in 2008 by husband and wife, Sean...

Weathered Souls Brewing Company rose to national prominence in 2020 by starting the Black is Beautiful Initiative. The international collaboration became one of the most successful craft beer initiatives of all time, with 1,221 participating breweries across 22 countries to date, (not to mention an entire episode on Round 48 of The HOP!) But Weathered Souls Brewing is so much more than one beer. F...

The boys are staying sober this week which means a return to our THROWBACK THURSDAY series! Enjoy this trip down memory lane and we’ll be back with a brand new episode next week. Originally posted 6/10/2021 Anderson Valley Brewing has been in the craft beer game since before it was cool. The Northern CA company was founded in 1987, and despite several changes in ownership the mission has always re...

And now for something completely different… The HOP goes non-alcoholic for the first time ever this week as Stephen & Gabe pay a visit to Athletic Brewing! When it comes to the rapidly growing category of NA “near beer,” Athletic Brewing has a reputation for industry-leading innovation. Co-founder Bill Shufelt teamed up with head brewer John Walker on a mission to make great-tasting craft brew...

The boys are staying sober this week which means a return to our THROWBACK THURSDAY series! Enjoy this trip down memory lane and we’ll be back with a brand new episode next week. Originally posted 5/14/2020 Brewing quality beer in a semi-dry state can’t be easy, but Uinta Brewing has been at it for more than 25 years. This Salt Lake City-based brewery has established a comfortable home in the moun...

This week, Stephen & Gabe head up north to the Pine Tree State for a stop at one of New England’s preeminent IPA breweries. Maine Beer Company is a family affair, founded by brothers Daniel and David Kleban in 2009. The pair set out on a mission to “Do What’s Right,” a motto that continues to guide their business today, most notably as members of the 1% for the Planet initiative. Known primari...

The boys are staying sober this week which means a return to our THROWBACK THURSDAY series! Enjoy this trip down memory lane and we’ll be back with a brand new episode next week. Originally posted 10/21/2021 Aloha! This week, The HOP travels across the Pacific to the great state of Hawaii. Maui Brewing Company was founded in 2005 and has since grown to become the largest brewery in the state. Desp...