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Sweet Tea and Dragons with Fire Maker Brewing

The crew from Atlanta’s Fire Maker Brewing Co. joins us in the studio this week to talk sweet tea, dragons, winning awards, and beer laws.

Brewery founder Elliott Hall has worked across all three tiers of beer - wholesale, retail, and now as a brewery owner.  This experience gives him unique insight into what it takes to be successful in today’s competitive craft beer landscape.  As Vice President of the Georgia Craft Brewers Guild Elliott is working to improve the laws for Georgia’s craft brewers and bring the brewing community closer together.

Marketing Director Rachel Bramer makes sure the brewery has a solid identity that people can connect with and shares the latest on Fire Maker via interesting videos and social media.  The team’s efforts won them a Craft Beer Marketing Awards, known as a “Crushie”, in 2021 for their can artwork of their core beers.

Head Brewer Kevin Wright brings experience from a large corporate brewery and well known breweries in Chicago with some island brewing in Hawaii.  He keeps a careful eye on beer trends and makes sure Fire Maker’s fans enjoy every drop that they brew.

Check out this episode!

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50 States, 50 Beers with Jason Murphy

Cheers to American Beer

Around the world there are still plenty of people that see American beer as watery lagers with no real character.  We may have taken a while to catch up, but today American beer offers a huge variety of top notch styles in every state.  Jason Murphy, staff writer for PorchDrinking.com, wanted to explore the map of American beer so he set out on a mission to try a brew from all 50 states and write about his adventure.  It was a huge undertaking but he came out victorious.  You can read his full article right here - Craft Beer Across America | 50 Beers From 50 States.

Jason is local to the Atlanta area and we've chatted on Instagram about the beers and breweries we enjoy.  He's even suggested breweries for the show that he was impressed with, like South Dakota's Covert Artisan Ales who joined us on the show a few month's ago.  We thought what Jason was doing was pretty darn cool and we'd discussed getting together for a beer so we said, why not turn it into a show.  So, here we are.

In the lead up to this episode I gave the heads up to some of our friends and radio affiliates that we'd be featuring breweries in their states and which ones we we talk about.  When I reached out I may have said these were smaller, lesser known breweries.  People took offense to that.  My bad.  What I should have said is that these are some breweries that may not get as much hype or press as some others, but they are still stellar breweries that people need to know about.  That's what I should have said.  It's likely you'll recognize a lot of these names, but you're sure to find a few new ones as well.

We sampled a few of the beers on his list as we talked about how this came to be and what trends he saw as he gathered his breweries.  We didn't have time to mention all 50 breweries, but definitely hit the link up there to see the full list.  Jason tells us some of the stand outs for him and we grieve on Untappd a bit.

Give this episode a listen, read Jason's article, and go out and find a new favorite brewery.

The Beer List

Epic Big Bad Baptist In The Rye

Dogfish Head Utopias Barrel-aged World Wide Stout (not in the article, but we wanted to drink it.)

Zony Mash King of Carrot Flowers (Carrot, Tangerine, Mango, Lactose)

Icarus Brewing - Build Me Up Butternut (Butternut squash, Guajillo & Chipotle Peppers)

Finch - Songbird Pilsner

Check out this episode!

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Silver Bluff Brewing loves Mexican Lager

Silver Bluff Brewing is passionate about Mexican Lager

Jeff Coyle loves Mexican lagers.  So much so that he wrote a detailed article to help others understand the style.  If you think Corona when you think of Mexican beers, you should definitely read the article.  But first, make sure to listen to our interview with Jeff and his brother Kevin Coyle.  The duo are part of the team behind Silver Bluff Brewing Co.

Their Mexican lager is a hybrid of sorts.  Riding the line between the Clara (Corona) and another traditional Mexican style, the Vienna Lager.  Right, Vienna Lager, traditional Mexican beer.  Seriously.  Locals went crazy for their take on this refreshing brew and it's their top selling beer now.  If you're looking for something else they've got plenty of other beers on tap.  As we talked they had just brewed a Dry Irish Stout to get ready for St. Patrick's Day, making us realize the holiday is closer than we realized.

The Brothers Coyle love their community almost as much as they love beer and making a place where people could gather over a well-made, approachable pint is something their most excited about at Silver Bluff.  If the beer and beer garden don't reel you in maybe the coastal scenery of Georgia's Golden Isles will.  Maybe both?

For now, their beer is distributed in a fairly small area but they are making more beer and hope to expand even further soon.

Silver Bluff Brewing Co. 1325 Newcastle Street Brunswick, GA 31520

The Beer List

Silver Bluff Brewing Piercing Point Juicy Pale Ale

Silver Bluff Brewing Holiday IPA with juniper berries

Highland Brewing Cold Mountain Super Spice

Iron Hill Brewery Dystopias | Imperial Stout aged in Sam Adams Utopias barrels

Check out this episode!

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Primitive Beer and Spontaneous Brewing

Who's ready for some hot, flat beer?

For most breweries a review saying a beer was "hot and flat" would be an insult.  Not so much for Primitive Beer.  If you attended their recent Hot Bierfest in Colorado then you had a choice of a few beers to try, with one being flat ("still" sounds better, let's go with that) and... hot. Glühbier, literally "mulled beer", is served like a mulled wine or cider.  Warmed with cinnamon, honey, and spices  If you're not feeling spicy then maybe go for a mug of beer you take out by the fire and have a red hot poker plunged in it.  You want unique beer?  You got it.

Brandon and Lisa Boldt aren't all about hot beer. Their "beer blendery" offers a great variety of spontaneously fermented brews.  Some aged in spirit barrels or blended with fruit, and even some served still in a bag-in-box container.  Even if some of their methods aren't trendy with the masses they know a thing or two about great beer.  We're big fans after sampling their Circular Logic, Willfully Obtuse (still/uncarbonated), and Back in Vogue.

Primitive Beer practices spontaneous fermentation for all of their beers.  The results are somewhat unpredictable, although you can increase the chance of success with a bit of knowledge and practice.  The real magic comes in the blending where they can create the exact profiles they are looking for.  You won't find a hazy IPA or pastry stout from Primitive Beer, but if you're looking for some unique and complex beers they've got you covered.

Primitive Beer 2025 Ionosphere St. Longmont, CO 80504 primitive.beer

Check out this episode!

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American Craft Sake with Setting Sun Sake

American craft sake is creeping on a come up

This isn't the first time we've talked about sake on the show, but it is the first time we've talked to a sake brewer.  Josh Hembree of Setting Sun Sake Brewing Co. is one of a small handful of American craft sake brewers.  A few short years ago there were only 5ish in the states but that number has grown to over 20.

Although sake is usually referred to as a rice wine the brewing process is more closely related to beer.  Hembree tells us about the different types of sake, the differences in brewing beer and sake, what Americans get wrong about sake, and how American brewers put their own, beautiful spin on the process.  We also talk about good pairing and get some tips on how to pair outside of the typical sushi and other Asian cuisine.

Kanpai!  Sampling sake

The traditional Japanese toast is Kanpai!  Which, literally translated is "dry sake cup."  More than likely the translation would be approximately "drink your cup dry."  OK, if you insist.  We sample a few sakes (including one American brewed version) and give our 100% uneducated opinions on each one.

The Sake List

Kiku-Masamune Junmai Taru Sake

We Sake (Junmai Ginjo)

Sake One Joy (Junmai Ginjo Genshu)

Choya Umeshu (Japanese plum wine, which we thought was sake when we bought it.)

Check out this episode!

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Sam Calagione talks 26 years of Dogfish Head beers

Sam Calagione talks 26 years of of Dogfish Head

Many people consider Dogfish Head's Sam Calagione to be one of the pioneers of modern American craft beer.  Sam is quick to clarify he's part of the 2nd wave of craft and others, like Sierra Nevada's Ken Grossman, paved the way for his off-centered ales.

Calagione's method of continuously hopping his beers throughout the boil allowed him to pack in immense hop flavor without making the brews overly bitter.  The contraption he used to add the hops in his early batches of 60 Minute and 90 Minute IPA was fashioned from a vibrating football game and now sits in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Museum.  The brewery also offers 120 Minute version of their IPA at a whopping 15-20% ABV and revivals of beers from the past in their Ancient Ales series as well as big stouts, pilsners, light sours like Sea Quench and soon, Crush-inspired canned cocktails.  Although his beer may have been 2nd wave, Dogfish Head was one of the first brewery's to add distilling to their portfolio.

If it wasn't enough to found such an iconic brewery, Calagione is also an accomplished author and TV personality.  His latest book, The Dogfish Head Book: 26 Years of Off-Centered Adventures, takes a look back at the brewery's history and the life and business lessons he's learned along the way.

The Beer List

Dogfish Head Craft Brewery

Slightly Mighty Lo-Cal IPA

60 Minute IPA

Bitches Brew (2013)

Check out this episode!

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100 years of Shiner Beer

Why are Shiner bottles twist-off?

So you can get the beer out!

We had a blast talking with Brewmaster Jimmy Mauric and Brand Manager Nick Weiland about the long history of Shiner Beer.  We don't talk with many 100+ year old breweries, so we had plenty to talk about. Jimmy's been with the brewery for 44 years so he knows a thing or two about the history. He tells us how the brewery survived Prohibition by selling ice and non-alcoholic (wink wink) Near Beer, and how their Bock dates all the way back to 1913.

Jimmy admits that the shift into these crazier brews was a bit tough for him at first, but he's all on board now. Berries and Cream beers, trail mix ales (that absolutely nails the flavor) and even cocktail-inspired seltzers.

The Beer List

Shiner 1909 Heritage Lager

Shiner Holiday Cheer

Shiner S'more

Shiner Trail Ale

Shiner Toasted Amber

Shiner Tall 'Tails Mexican Martini (Hard Seltzer)

Check out this episode!

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100 years of Shiner Beer

Why are Shiner bottles twist-off?

So you can get the beer out!

We had a blast talking with Brewmaster Jimmy Mauric and Brand Manager Nick Weiland about the long history of Shiner Beer.  We don't talk with many 100+ year old breweries, so we had plenty to talk about. Jimmy's been with the brewery for 44 years so he knows a thing or two about the history. He tells us how the brewery survived Prohibition by selling ice and non-alcoholic (wink wink) Near Beer, and how their Bock dates all the way back to 1913.

Jimmy admits that the shift into these crazier brews was a bit tough for him at first, but he's all on board now. Berries and Cream beers, trail mix ales (that absolutely nails the flavor) and even cocktail-inspired seltzers.

The Beer List

Shiner 1909 Heritage Lager

Shiner Holiday Cheer

Shiner S'more

Shiner Trail Ale

Shiner Toasted Amber

Shiner Tall 'Tails Mexican Martini (Hard Seltzer)

Check out this episode!

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IPA Evolution and more with Harpoon Brewery

Harpoon Brewery is an East Coast IPA OG

In 1986 Harpoon Brewery received brewery permit #001 in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  The first brewery in the state since Prohibition, only 35 years ago.

IPAs were more of a West Coast thing at the time and the launch of Harpoon IPA in 1993 was a bold move for an East Coast brewery.  Fans to took these crazy, hoppy beers and the rest is history.

Chief Brewing Office Al Marzi, Senior Brewery Mike Kelly, and Director of Digital Strategy Megan Baker cracked a few cold ones with us as they shared their knowledge with us.  We chat about the evolution of the IPA, emerging ingredients in craft beer, what it means to be an employed-owned company, and smattering of other topics.

It's hard to believe the craft beer scene in the Northeast is a mere 35 years old.  Harpoon was there to see (and make) it happen, and there's more to come.

Oh yeah, how could I forget... this is EPISODE 300 of Beer Guys Radio.  Woot!

Check out this episode!

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Christmas Beer Showdown 2021

Best Christmas Beers of 2021

Christmas, the most wonderful time to drink beer

Ahhh, who am I kidding?  It's ALWAYS the most wonderful time to drink beer.  But, Christmas is a great time for beer.  Beautiful Belgian ales, spiced Winter Warmers, maybe some glühkriek?

Christmas beers are some of our favorites and we look forward to this show each year.  With a sampling of Christmas brews from around the world we blind taste them with our friends and pick our favorites.  This year, Ron and Michael from Rainy Day Brewery joined us on the show.  We didn't even think about the fact they are Jewish when we invited them over for Christmas, but they were happy to join us and the show became a nice, interfaith celebration. L'chaim!

There are no set rules for our "competition."  We simply taste the beers and decide if we like them.  Make some notes, share our favorites, and then tally the scores for a top three.

To keep things festive we share some fun trivia and facts about Christmas and drinking traditions.  Wassailing and such.  It's a good time all around.

The Beer List

Anchor Christmas 2021

Brasserie d'Achouffe N’ice Chouffe

Delirium Noel

Deschutes Jubelale

Highland Brewing Cold Mountain

St. Bernardus Christmas

Samuel Adams Winter Lager

Samuel Smith’s Winter Welcome Ale

Sierra Nevada Celebration

Southern Tier 2XMas

Sweetwater Festive Ale

  Check out this episode!

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Dokkaebier - Korean-inspired craft beer

When Dokkaebier founder Youngwon Lee attended craft beer festivals he noticed he was one of the few (or only) Asian people at the events.  He said everyone was friendly and welcoming, he just wanted to find a way to attract more diversity to craft.  Bring on the Dokkaebier.  Many of their beers are both familiar and unique.  A Pilsner with bamboo tea, a Kimchi kettle sour made with lactobacillus cultured from actual kimchi.

What started as a pop-up served with Korean tapas blossomed into a full brewing venture.  Working with local brewers to gypsy brew his offerings, Dokkaebier is now available in stores and shipping across California, with more expansion planned in the future.

THE BEER LIST

Dokkaebier - Bamboo Pilsner - Classic Pilsner with bamboo tea - DIPA - Lemon Ginger Kettle Sour - Milk Stout - With green peppercorns and cardamom - Yuza Blonde

Check out this episode!

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Textile Brewing Co.

If you brew it, will they drink?

Textile Brewing is just a few miles from the Field of Dreams.  My clever mind thought of the "if you brew it" line as soon as I heard this fact.  Of course, it's the same line that everyone thinks of.  Great minds, right?

I managed to hold off for most of the show on making the "joke," but it is a fun fact about the brewery.  Another fun fact, founder Tom Olberding had no brewing experience when he decided he was going to open a brewery.  To compliment his skills he hired Nick Ashton as his assistant brewer, who also had no brewing experience.

Lack of experience aside, Textile is offering up some really tasty beers.  We sampled a Blonde Ale, Vienna Lager, IPA, and a coffee-pumpkin ale and all were damn good.  Cheers to the new guys.

If you find yourself in Dyersville, IA stop in and find out for yourself.  We hear their beer pairs great with a Canadian bacon and sauerkraut pizza.

Check out this episode!

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Diving in to Dark Lager

There's a lot more to lager than just Pilsner

We all have a friend that has made a statement like, "I don't like lagers," or, "I don't like dark beer."

It's likely the lager-hater is thinking of something like a Pilsner when they think lager, and the dark beer-averse has a thick and boozy stout on their mind.  Dark Lagers are here to change those opinions.

There's a huge variety of flavor in the dark lager world.  On the lighter end, something like a Czech Dark Lager will deliver a touch of toffee, dates, and chocolate.  On the bolder end an Eisbock can be sweet and boozy, with big malt presence of toasty caramel.  If you like Imperial Stouts and Quads, give an Eisbock a try.

German Beer Terms

The Germans make it pretty easy to know what you're getting in your beer.  Learn these terms and you'll be ready to do some shopping.  

Doppel = Double

Dunkel = Dark

Hefe = Yeast

Schwarz = black

Weiss = White

Weizen = Wheat

Bock = Male goat / Buck (Listen to the show to see how this became associated with beer.)

Now you know that Dunkelweizen is a darky, wheat beer.  Boom.

Drink Local, Give Local

Our friend (and show sponsor) Adam Silverberg from The Nest Kennesaw joined us this week.  We sample some brews and he tells us about his annual event to help those in need at the holidays.

Through his Drink Local, Give Local event and The Nest you can enjoy some great brews and get on on the raffles for some awesome beer gifts.  Bring a toy for MUST Ministries to add to their holiday store to make sure everyone can have something under the tree for Christmas.

If you're not in the metro Atlanta area there's sure to be a similar organization near you.

The Beer List

Aventinus Eisbock (Germany)

Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock (Germany)

Duck-Rabbit Schwarzbier (US)

Samichlaus Doppelbock (Austria)

Einstock Icelandic DoppelBock (Iceland)

Arches Mystic Bock (US)

Ayinger Altbairisch Dunkel (Germany)

    Check out this episode!

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Getting Spooky with RockSolid Brewing

This week we have RockSolid Brewing head brewer Bryan Crass joining us in the studio!

Plenty of places offer up craft beer pairing suggestions for your favorite Halloween candy,  Reese's Cups, Skittles, Snickers.  We've got some pairings as well, but our suggestions are for that bottom-of-the-bag candy as we pick the Top 5 most hated candies to pair up.  Necco Wafers?  Got it.  Circus Peanuts?  Check.  You know you'll be eating the leftovers your kids don't want so you might as well have a nice beer to go with it.

Bryan shares some info about his time brewing in California and making his way to Georgia,  collabs with other breweries and even one with a haunted house.  We make some recipe plans to go full circle with his blueberry cheesecake beer, and sample his BBA Barleywine as he tells us about their 1st anniversary plans.

Happy Halloween, Y'all!  Go Braves!

Check out this episode!

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Top Secret info from Covert Artisan Ales

About a month ago Jason Murphy from porchdrinking.com hit me up on Instagram and said, "You gotta check out Covert Artisan Ales."  So I did. 

Covert founders Dan and Stacey Berry joined us this week to talk about their Sioux Falls, South Dakota brewery.  SD was a holdout on jumping on the BGR train.  Back in 2018 we even did a Sucking up to South Dakota segment in one of our episodes with Stan Hieronymus.  I'm happy to say that SD is now one our Top 50 states for listeners.

As we talk about controversial beer opinions and pleated pants we sampled some of Covert's brews.  Gin and Rye barrel-aged BANG! BANG! mixed fermentation ales, Dana wild ale dry hopped with Nelson Sauvin, and my favorite, Basis sour quad fermented on blueberries then aged in bourbon barrels.  Dan shares some of the meaning behind the shapes and colors of Covert, and everyone gets an invite to visit South Dakota to enjoy the beer, the parks, and the food.  Let's do it.

The Beer List

Covert Artisan Ales

DANA | American wild ale dry hopped with Nelson Sauvin

Basis | Sour quad with blueberries conditioned in a select bourbon barrel.

Gin Barrel-Aged Bang! Bang! | Mixed fermentation ale aged in gin barrels

Rye Barrel-Aged Bang! Bang! | Mixed fermentation ale aged in rye barrels

Primtemps - Wild ale fermented in red wine barrels, dry hopped with Nelson Sauvin

Check out this episode!

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More sexy NA beer talk with Partake Brewing

Partake Brewing takes their non-alcoholic brews from the Dragon's Den to distribution

Partake Brewing founder Ted Fleming was (is) a huge craft beer fan.  He loves hanging out with friends and sharing a brew.  Unfortunately, after a visit to the doctor diagnosed him with Crohn's Disease he had to ease off the alcohol, and eventually give it up all together.

But Fleming wasn't ready to give up sharing a drink with friends.  He did some research on the non-alcoholic beer market and discovered there weren't a lot of great offerings to be had at home in Canada, or in North America in general.  This led him to building a website to offer what he did find, many from Europe.  His website turned into a passionate community and when he finally decided to launch Partake he had a lot of support, even though it meant he would have to give up his website.

Partake even visited the Dragon's Den, Canada's version of America's Shark Tank. Fleming got a deal on the show but says they were ultimately not able to finalize it.  He did have a strong backing on a Kickstarter with an IPA and got the ball rolling.

Now offering a full lineup of core beers as well as seasonal offerings like Lime (an easy-drinking lager'ish brew with a lime hint) and a Peach Gose.

The NA beer market continues to grow, and we are all here for it.  You know we love a good, boozy brew but it's nice for those that can't or don't want to have alcohol to still be able to enjoy a craft brew.  They're popular with health-conscious folks and some of the brews have only 10 calories in a 12-oz can.  Madness.

With the Cheers to Adulting campaign Partake Brewing is encouraging everyone to consider Sober October.  With the extravagance of the holidays just around the corner that may not be a bad idea.  Maybe next year.

  Check out this episode!

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Country roads taking me home to Big Draft Brewing

Big Draft Brewing is helping to bring small town West Virginia back to life

Big Draft Brewing is located in the tiny town of White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.  Population 3,000, give or take.

The town, and the larger Greenbrier Valley community, has faced some hard times in recent years.  The opioid epidemic chipped away at the community and the "1,000 year flood" of 2016 caused widespread destruction and loss of life.

Our show this week is as much about the tenacity of the residents of White Sulphur Springs as it is about beer.  You'll have to humor me, this one is kind of personal.  My family is from White Sulphur Springs and I spent some of my childhood Summers there.  It's a close community with strong family ties.  Turns out, by complete chance, my family ties run right to Big Draft Brewing.  It's quite a story so make sure to listen in to hear the full scoop.

Founders David Bostic, Clay Elkins, and JW Groseclose join us on the show this week to talk about their brewery and the overall revitalization of their town.  They've built up a city block with Big Draft Brewing, a BBQ spot, a cafe and coffee house, and a concert hall and events venue.  They intend to grow it as as destination that reaches far beyond the city line.

But we do talk about beer plenty as well.  JW is the brewmaster and his goal is to make classic and approachable beers that everyone can enjoy.  We sampled the Foreman American Lager, Sudsy's Pale Ale, Bo Red Bohemian Red, and the seasonal Festbier and can vouch for all of them.  There are barrel-aged beers in the works, a saison in the fermenters, and some mad scientist brew utilizing ramps (the wild vegetable) in the works.

In addition to tasty beer and BBQ the crew tells us about the fishing, hunting, hiking, and off-roading adventures in the area.  Sounds like a great time all around.  I better get on those country roads now.

Side note.... you may not know White Sulphur Springs by name but you may have heard of The Greenbrier Resort.  It's got quite a story, you should check it out.  If you're a gamer and a fan of Fallout 76, you might recognize the Greenbrier as The Whitespring Resort.

Check out this episode!