BAOS: Beer & Other Shhh Podcast

Discovering new breweries is always super fun, so when Cee stumbled upon Dallas, TX's Celestial Beerworks at our fave WNY store, Brewed & Bottled, thanks to a suggestion from the owner, Chris, he immediately reached out to get them on the pod. Matt and Molly joined Cee to chat about their long craft beer journeys from the 1990s 'til now, how the lack of haze in Texas led to a solid homebrew scene...

Niagara Falls is home to one of the most versatile breweries in the province, who not only brew killer beer but their taproom experience and food is also top tier. Counterpart was our favourite discovery of 2023, so we were well overdue to catch up. Greg hung out with Cee and Nate to chat about their major Halloween drop for 2024 (7 beers!), their approach to distributing their products, the pros...

Ontario's Prince Edward County is a region we hype up on the pod regularly, so we were stoked to have the newest brewery in town hang out and crush some brews. Husband and wife team Colin and Steph VanderMeulen joined Cee and Nate to chat about the Dune Hopper story and Colin's history in craft beer, why they try not to fit in but offer something different to their neighbours, their approach to th...

Fall is our favourite beer time of the year, and while in 2023 we did a deep dive into all things pumpkin ales, in 2024, we switched it up and dove super deep into Fest Biers! Cee and Nate picked up every Fest Bier available at the LCBO (the provincial liquor store in Ontario for those outside of the region) and ran through them while getting into the BJCP definitions of both Fest Biers and Märzen...

Quebec has been brewing some of the best beer in Canada for a hot minute, and one of the stars of the province is Sir John. Located around 45 minutes north of Montreal in Lachute, Sir John is renowned for their juicy, hazy IPAs and bold, pastry stouts, so we were stoked to finally get the fellas on the podcast. Joel and Simon joined Cee and Nate to chat about their humble homebrewing beginnings, t...

This might be a podcast-first: seven custom-designed and printed glasses just for this episode. Glassware is arguably the most important element of craft beer as it's the actual vessel through which we get to experience it, yet it rarely obtains the shine it so glaringly deserves. Tonight, we fix that. Dan of Zenan, the largest glassware company in Canada, and Adin of Henderson Brewing, join Cee a...

Independent bottle shops were one of the biggest wins from the pandemic for Ontario craft beer drinkers, and in this latest episode of The Business of Beer, we catch up with two bottle shops x contract breweries that approached it completely differently. Michael of Gather Brewery & Glassworks and Alexander of Lovebird Snack Club joined Cee and Nate to chat about the logistics and challenges of ope...

The American three-tier distribution system can be a bit of a confusing beast to comprehend, with different rules in each state and more variances than any individual human could ever remember. Good friend of the show Kevin Abbott of Barrel of Monks in Boca Raton, FL joined Cee for a deep dive into the three-tier system and how it works, why they decided to close Odd Breed Wild Ales, why so many b...

One of our most watched videos on YouTube is about the life of a craft beer sales rep, and strangely it's something we've never explored at length on the podcast before. Micah Overton of Lilypad, a "CRM crafted for beverage suppliers and distributors to stay organized and sell more liquid", joins Cee to talk about a day in the life of a beer sales rep, the difference between self-distributing and...

Ayr, Ontario is an unlikely town to find some of the best beer and spirits in the province, but the lords at Willibald have been taking care of the community for years now. Cam and Gordo joined Cee and Nate to catch up on what's been happening with them for the last two years, why they chose their Hell Lager as their flagship and the thinking behind the move into 12-packs, the importance of travel...

One of the most important aspects of marketing in craft beer in recent years is Social Media. We've spoken about it at length via the original The Business of Marketing Craft Beer three-part podcast series, but we figured it was time to really dive deep into all things social. Tiffany Alexis, Co-Founder of both BAOS and High Season Co., joins Cee to get into the origins of the Business of Beer sea...

At thirty-seven years in the game - that's right, 37 years - Etobicoke's Great Lakes Brewing are certified OGs and are essentially unstoppable. Face of the brand (among other more important things) Troy Burtch joined Cee and Nate to chat about their approach to craft beer over the decades, how craft beer in Ontario has changed, the impact of Gen-Z drinking less alcohol, the importance of the LCBO...

Prince Edward County is one of Ontario's most exciting craft beer scenes, and the jewel of PEC is Slake Brewing - both for its view and quality brews. Co-Founder and Brewer Nick joined Cee and Nate to chat about beers that you don't have to think about (ie No Thinkies), their barrel program and why they dialled it back, their approach to beer, hop contracts, how they've diversified their taproom o...

Ottawa's Tooth & Nail is both one of Ontario's most heralded and more underrated breweries at the same time. They've made our Top 10 Breweries in Ontario list every year due to their incredibly well-crafted beers, and it's a crime that we waited three years to catch up with Matty. Cee and Nate chatted with Matt about how they got their initial traction via Vim & Vigor, why he doesn't dry hop Pilsn...

The second episode of our new season, The Business of Beer, brings in the Co-Founders of the breweries represented in Episode #1. Jeff Talmey of Town and Andrew Silver of Fine Balance join Cee and Nate to chat about the current state of the craft beer industry, being a boutique craft brewery versus a growth-oriented craft brewery, the pros and cons of selling craft beer in the LCBO, brewing and se...

While Quebec was slow to enter and embrace the haze game, they've delivered on a level that has made the province some of the best producers of the style in the country. Montreal's Messorem Bracitorium opened in the summer of 2019 and the fanfare was immediate - clearly the hazeboiz and hazegirlz were ready for something local that paralleled their US faves. Co-Founder and Graphic Designer Marc-An...

Welcome to our brand new season, The Business of Beer! This whole thing started in early 2024 when Cee and Tiff did a pod focused on why so many craft breweries are closing, and that led to a whole slew of episodes focused on varying aspects of the craft beer industry. These episodes became so popular with guests reaching out to be on the pod to not talk about their own brewery that the team figur...

While Toronto's Henderson Brewing feels like they're Ontario OGs, they're only 8 years old and it's well overdue that we have them on the pod. Co-Founder Adin Wener joined Cee and Nate to chat about their gateway approach to beer, their incredible partnership with Rush, how the expiration of the Master Framework Agreement isn't going to be the craft beer boom a lot of people think it will be, why...

In 2024, it's never been a tougher time for craft breweries and brewpubs, but for Toronto's Laylow Brewery, the recent closure of their taproom opened up amazing new possibilities. Co-Founders Dan and Colin joined Cee at home in Hamilton to chat about their first canned beer ever thanks to Avling Brewery, the pivot from brewpub to beer and lifestyle brand, the impact the community has had on them,...

We love seeing a brewery grow and thrive from inception, and we've had the pleasure of watching Montreal's 4 Origines do just that since 2018. Keegan and Mike joined Cee and Nate to catch up on the last few years, they touched on their upcoming 6th anniversary, the opening of their West Island brewery Origine Brasse, the differences between beer tastes in Montreal and Dorval, why food is such an i...

While our main focus here at BAOS is craft breweries, chatting with the folks who take care of the ingredients is just as important. Colin Byrne of Le Labo, a yeast company based in Quebec, joined Cee and Nate to chat about all things yeast, the lineup of beers all used Le Labo yeast so it was great to compare and taste different beers side by side that use the same yeast, they touched on the diff...

The winner of the 2023 BAOS Top Brewery in Ontario, Godspeed has been crafting elite-level beers for almost 7 years now. After an unusually large break of 6 years from the pod, Bim joined Cee and Nate live from Tokyo, Japan to chat about his journey in the world of Czech beers, his travels to Pilsen and around the world that inspired him, exactly how a LUKR works, what a pitch-lined barrel is and...

It brings us a lot of joy to continue to shine a light on the amazing craft beer scene in Australia here on the pod, and the latest returning Aussie legend is Mirek from The Mill. First appearing on the podcast back in 2018, Mirek joined Cee to catch up on what's been happening for the last 5 years, the growth of the beer scene in Collingwood (a suburb of Melbourne where The Mill is based), their...

One of the reasons the BAOS team started visiting Hamilton, ON was MERIT Brewing, and it's well overdue to have them on the pod. Co-Founder and Head Brewer Aaron Spinney, affectionately known as Spinney to everybody but his mother, joined Cee and Nate to chat about his beginnings in beer via Niagara College, his history with Sawdust City's Sam Corbeil (friend of the show), his passion for wine bee...

Prince Edward County, an island on a lake in Ontario, is one of the most picturesque places in the province that just happens to have an impeccable craft beer (and wine) scene. Nestled in the quaint town of Bloomfield, Matron Fine Beer have really made a great home in PEC. Co-Founder and Head Brewer Justin joined Cee and Nate to chat about his brewing history in Ottawa and Kingston, the difficulti...