Good Beer Hunting

About 20 miles outside downtown Austin, Texas, it's easy to forget you're a short car ride away from one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. Sitting partially hidden in the middle of spacious farmland is one the crown jewels of modern U.S. beer: Jester King Brewery. Enthusiasts make the pilgrimage from all over, waiting in line to try some of the most beloved wild, sour, and spontaneous beers being made today, every one of them with a purpose of time and place. It's the brainchild of Jeff Stuffings, co-founder of the family-owned business and an advocate for all the ways making beer can be an intimate process. Plenty of wooden barrels and stainless steel tanks comprise a modestly sized brewhouse at the farm brewery, but it's the ideas of what beer could and should be that have made Jester King such a popular brand among drinkers. And as you'll find out in this conversation, the process of what's taken Stuffings and his team to this moment in time—not to mention what he hopes to achieve in years to come—is very much based on a connection to the land and people around him.

Welcome back to another episode of the GBH Collective, where we bring you the stories behind the stories from our writers and photographers all over the world, and from our studio team based here in Chicago. This week we've got Kyle Kastranec from Ohio who was GBH's first new voice back in 2014. We recently launch a sub blog of sorts where he explores his own perceptions of beer and the ever-evolving culture that surrounds it. We also talk to Claire Bullen, a writer we recently brought on who is based in London, but originally hails from the States. Her recent profile of The Kernel is one of my favorite pierces we've ever published. She also recently made time to write about beer and cheesesteaks on a stop in Philly. Listen in.

I first met Miguel Rivas a few years ago when I was learning about the Brooklyn beer scene. He was an avid photographer, beer geek, and all-around welcoming guy who I've since followed on his journeys all over the world through Instagram. He travels regularly to Costa Rica, so today we talk a lot about that, what he's been up to in Brooklyn these days, and the general state of being an influential beer geek. Listen in.

The UK brewing market is getting pretty crowded. It's now home to more than 2,000 breweries, including nearly 110 in London alone, all crammed onto an island that's roughly the size of Michigan. And when you consider the divide between modern and traditional breweries, constant debates over cask, keg, and the price of beer (to mention only a few of the oft-discussed topics), its no wonder conversations about British beer can maybe get a little…tetchy…these days. Despite it all, the UK's most forward-thinking breweries, be they young or old, are still finding ways to thrive and expand. It's almost as if all of this competition has become a driving force for the most eager and entrepreneurial beer makers out there. When U.S. expats Tom Palmer and Todd Matteson founded Mondo Brewing Company three years ago just a stone's throw away from London's iconic Battersea Power Station, it became London's 81st brewery. Although they've dabbled with distributing throughout the capital and into some of the UK's more buoyant beer markets such as Bristol or Manchester, their local market of South London is where they've really thrived. Through pubs and bars in boroughs such as Brixton and Clapham, as well as their own brewery taproom, they've quietly built up a reputation for producing a solid range of beers. They might not be as talked about as, say, Cloudwater or Beavertown, but having just undergone an expansion that will see Mondo increase capacity by 80%, and with plans to open their first London bar in 2018, this is certainly one London brewery that's riding an ascending curve. The trick for smaller breweries like Mondo, of course, is to find the right balance between own-premise sales and through key accounts. For Palmer and Matteson, it's all about building strong, personal relationships. An example of this is the relationship Mondo has with restaurant chain Dishoom, for whom Mondo brews the house beer. Keeping up with these relationships, while ensuring steady turnover at its own sites, will be key for this London brewery's success in the long term. We talk about all that and more today. Listen in.

Welcome to another episode of The Fervent Few podcast. Every few weeks we present you with this bonus episode of the GBH podcast where we chat with members of our subscriber community, The Fervent Few. Members subscribe to GBH like a magazine, making a monthly contribution via Patreon. Members also join us in a forum to talk about a wide range of topics well beyond beer. Each week, we pick one of these topics and present the community's answers to readers in the form of an article posted to Good Beer Hunting. Learn more at patreon.com/goodbeerhunting. On this episode, we talk to Quinn Thompson a Supply Chain Manager for the Craft Brew Alliance about beer packaging, recycling, and the meaning of the word "infinite." But first, Michael and I chat about Uppers and Downers Chicago and the events surrounding it, the recent U&D Beer Dinner in Grand Rapids, and Bryan Roth being put in charge of charts at GBH.

This week's guest was recently part of an Uppers & Downers dinner we did in Grand Rapids at the Sovengard. It was spectacular. But more recently, I've gotten to know Nathan Walser from his latest project, which is his own brewery, Greyline. In a city like Grand Rapids, it's easy to get carried away with thinking of it as Beer City, USA, and there's good reason for that. There are a ton of breweries in this midwestern town. It's partially defined by its breweries. And the national success of a place like Founders really sets the tone there. But I'll be honest: I tend to go to the same few places every time I visit. That is, until recently, when I went out of my way to the far-north side of the city to visit Greyline. I'd heard it was a bit small and some people thought the service was a bit severe (at least according to Yelp), and all that made me want to go. I figured, if that's what the locals liked, who are more accustomed to gigantic restaurants and malty, hoppy beers from the '90s, then this was probably my kind of place. And it was. I was really taken with the beer. And as I started asking questions of the bartender, they started making nervous eye contact with the guy to my right. "You work here?" I asked. "Yeah," he said with his head down. "You brew here?" "Yeah," he said again. "You own the place, or what?" "Yeah, I do," he said, and finally started opening up. That was all I needed to dive headlong into what made Greyline tick. Since then, I've had multiple run-ins with Nathan, talked about his beer to a level of detail rarely captured on the mics, and have been enamored ever since. And to top it all off, Nathan's career as a journeyman Michigan brewer weaves its way through everything that makes Grand Rapids Beer City, USA—a title it sometimes deserves, and sometimes falls short of. We'll talk about why that is, too.

Welcome back to another episode of the GBH Collective where we bring you the stories behind the stories from our writers and photographers all over the world, and from our studio team based here in Chicago. This week we've got Hillary Schuster, our Experience Director at GBH. Hillary is in charge of all the events we produce as Good Beer Hunting, and working with our clients around the world to develop their own concepts and engagements with their fans. Her background in innovation planning lends a unique perspective on these things, and how the beer world can think more broadly about the audiences they attract and the experiences they create for them around beer. Not only is she my business partner, but we've been married for more than six years. Listen in.

When it comes to beer, there is plenty on which we can disagree. Tastes, smells, brands, breweries—these are all things beer lovers embrace and debate on a regular basis. But one thing we can all agree on? We just want good beer. But even on that, there's plenty of subjectivity. Or is there? What makes a beer "good" or "bad" is often put into the context of our taste buds, not always with analysis through a literal and figurative microscope. This is where Kate Lee excels. She's a trained scientist who spent more than a decade working for Anheuser-Busch, a business famously known for its focus on consistency and quality from batch to batch. Since 2014, she's helped lead a quality program for Richmond, Virginia's Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, building on an existing foundation to take Hardywood's focus on quality to the next level. As director of quality assurance and director of operations, her job at the brewery has consistently evolved as production levels and brewer ambitions have grown. It's not just about running tests, but collaborating with staff to ensure the right ingredients are producing the right beer every step of the way. And as you'll hear, that's not always an easy decision.

As the growth of craft beer and its various offshoots continues to find its niche in smaller and smaller cities and towns, a remarkable thing is happening. Some of the most obscure styles of brewing are making their homes far from the urban centers where most of the drinkers they tend to attract actually live. Breweries like Jester King and Hill Farmstead have long embodied this anomaly. And increasingly, there's a new gelatin of sorts that's had experience working in these sought-after breweries who are venturing out on their own, a bit like settlers, as they return to a place they call home and set up shop. They're not met with instant success very often—even as they take on the challenges of making beers inspired by the Lambic, Gueuze, and wild traditions, they're also met with the challenge of finding their audience in these smaller, out-of-the-way markets. Speciation Artisan Ales is one of the newest of these in the midwest. After an immersive education experience brewing for Black Project in Denver, Mitch Ermatinger and his wife Whitney decided to return home to the Grand Rapids area of Michigan, find some cheap industrial space, and start making wild ales of their own. Having learned a good deal of the brewing, aging, and blending side of things, they had to learn how to run a business, create a selling strategy, and start attracting an audience for a region of the country that simply doesn't have much exposure to these kinds of beers—not to mention the way in which they were going to be sold. Even with a brewery like Jolly Pumpkin in his backyard, and being named Beer City USA, this was still a novel idea in 2018 Michigan beer. Listen in as we talk through how it came to fruition.

In craft beer, so many of the conversations we lead are less about the beer we're drinking and more about how we identify with it, or the person who made it, or who owns that company and how that reflects back on our own self-image. Craft beer is a foggy mirror that way. And we get caught up in so many contradictions, hypocrisies and, in some cases, some serious self-hatred as a culture. Basically, we're a consumer base and an industry ripe for satire. Today's guest is one of the most effective in that regard, sometimes holding up that filthy mirror to the populace, other times to himself. Don't Drink Beer is a weird website that started on the fringes and worked its way to the middle using satire and self-reflection as a way to expose some of the more insane things we do as beer makers and drinkers. The trading circuit, the line-waiting, the valuations we put on certain bottles while ignoring others, and the oft-enraging debates that start in Facebook groups and forums. Don't Drink Beer is a persona that often catches its intended audience off guard. And sometimes plays straight into it. And after following it for years, the pattern reveals it for what it is—the evolution of a comedian. Alex Kidd, the guy behind the site, is a professional comedian. He studied and practices law in California, and as you can tell from some of his more elaborate beer reviews, he's also a studied writer, reader, and music history sponge. And describing him this way, so earnestly, just feels so wrong. He was in Chicago this past week on tour with a comedy show about beer called Barley Wine is Live, for which we'll talk about the inspiration in the interview. But we also talk about the long history of Don't Drink Beer and its relationship with Chicago and the Midwest, as an antagonist of sorts from the West Coast. Oh, and where all this is going, if it is, indeed, going anywhere.

Fuller Smith & Turner—or Fuller's as it's more commonly known—is the oldest surviving brewery in London, as well as being one of its largest. Fuller's has been brewing at The Griffin Brewery in Chiswick, West London, for more than 160 years. The face of the British brewing industry has undergone tremendous change many times over during the course of its existence. Now, in 2018, the brewery faces fresh challenges. For instance, finding relevance in a market that constantly craves the rare and the new, while still championing traditional styles in an age of Hazy IPAs and Pastry Stouts. Surprisingly, this hasn't phased Fuller's one bit. Along with some of the UK's other historical breweries, such as Adnams in Suffolk and Harvey's in Sussex, Fuller's is ensuring that styles such as Porter and ESB remain as relevant to the beer market as ever. Behind it all is the ebullient Brewing Director, John Keeling, who has been employed by Fuller's for 37 years. Keeling has worked in the brewing industry since the 1970s, initially for the now-defunct Watney's, then studying brewing science at Heriot Watt University before finally settling at Fuller's. He became Head Brewer in 1999, a role he passed on to Fuller's current Head Brewer Georgina Young in January 2017. Over this time he's witnessed Fuller's shift from being a completely manually operated brewery, to one that is almost entirely automated and state of the art. Keeling has been instrumental in ensuring that Fuller's legacy be preserved. Be it by reviving historical recipes from the archives, by collaborating with the UK's latest crop of brewers such as Fourpure and Cloudwater, or by constantly championing the simple pleasures found within a pint of Fuller's flagship beer, London Pride. In October 2018 Keeling will retire, leaving an illustrious brewing career behind him. The industry won't be getting rid of him that easily, however, as he's just been voted chairman of The London Brewers Alliance, a guild that supports the collective interests of London's independent breweries. Over the next hour we discuss—or perhaps I should say John discusses—subjects ranging from the history of Fuller's, to the importance of cask ale, to the price of beer, all the way up to his favorite subject: the philosophy of brewing.

This episode is part of a series of interviews recorded in December at Salud Sourfest, an annual beer festival hosted in Charlotte, North Carolina. The event attracts a curated selection of skilled, sour-making breweries from around the country, with a heavy presence from the Mid-Atlantic region. Sourfest represents a kind of festival that's rapidly growing in popularity, where attending breweries often run in the same circles or share a like-minded ethos, making for a special occasion for attendees instead of an event with any and every brewery that would care to send a keg. As drinkers sipped on a variety of wild and sour beers, I was able to pull a collection of brewers and business owners aside for brief conversations about their companies, specialties and what's catching their eye in the industry. This episode and others run about 20 to 25 minutes, so we had time to dig in a little bit, but the interviews are a bit more focused than the free-ranging talks you hear most weeks here on the podcast.

This episode is part of a series of interviews recorded in December at Salud Sourfest, an annual beer festival hosted in Charlotte, North Carolina. The event attracts a curated selection of skilled, sour-making breweries from around the country, with a heavy presence from the Mid-Atlantic region. Sourfest represents a kind of festival that's rapidly growing in popularity, where attending breweries often run in the same circles or share a like-minded ethos, making for a special occasion for attendees instead of an event with any and every brewery that would care to send a keg. As drinkers sipped on a variety of wild and sour beers, I was able to pull a collection of brewers and business owners aside for brief conversations about their companies, specialties and what's catching their eye in the industry. This episode and others run about 20 to 25 minutes, so we had time to dig in a little bit, but the interviews are a bit more focused than the free-ranging talks you hear most weeks here on the podcast.

This episode is part of a series of interviews recorded in December at Salud Sourfest, an annual beer festival hosted in Charlotte, North Carolina. The event attracts a curated selection of skilled, sour-making breweries from around the country, with a heavy presence from the Mid-Atlantic region. Sourfest represents a kind of festival that's rapidly growing in popularity, where attending breweries often run in the same circles or share a like-minded ethos, making for a special occasion for attendees instead of an event with any and every brewery that would care to send a keg. As drinkers sipped on a variety of wild and sour beers, I was able to pull a collection of brewers and business owners aside for brief conversations about their companies, specialties and what's catching their eye in the industry. This episode and others run about 20 to 25 minutes, so we had time to dig in a little bit, but the interviews are a bit more focused than the free-ranging talks you hear most weeks here on the podcast.

This episode is part of a series of interviews recorded in December at Salud Sourfest, an annual beer festival hosted in Charlotte, North Carolina. The event attracts a curated selection of skilled, sour-making breweries from around the country, with a heavy presence from the Mid-Atlantic region. Sourfest represents a kind of festival that's rapidly growing in popularity, where attending breweries often run in the same circles or share a like-minded ethos, making for a special occasion for attendees instead of an event with any and every brewery that would care to send a keg. As drinkers sipped on a variety of wild and sour beers, I was able to pull a collection of brewers and business owners aside for brief conversations about their companies, specialties and what's catching their eye in the industry. This episode and others run about 20 to 25 minutes, so we had time to dig in a little bit, but the interviews are a bit more focused than the free-ranging talks you hear most weeks here on the podcast.

This episode is part of a series of interviews recorded in December at Salud Sourfest, an annual beer festival hosted in Charlotte, North Carolina. The entire series of interviews is here! These episodes feature: Jason Glunt, founder of the festival host, Salud Beer Shop of Charlotte ,North Carolina Barry Labendz, co-founder of Connecticut's Kent Falls Brewing Jason Pellett, founder and brewmaster of Atlanta's Orpheus Brewing Patrick Woodson, head brewer and co-founder of Raleigh, North Carolina's Brewery Bhavana Scott Shor, owner of Charleston, South Carolina's Edmund's Oast The event attracts a curated selection of skilled, sour-making breweries from around the country, with a heavy presence from the Mid-Atlantic region. Sourfest represents a kind of festival that's rapidly growing in popularity, where attending breweries often run in the same circles or share a like-minded ethos, making for a special occasion for attendees instead of an event with any and every brewery that would care to send a keg. As drinkers sipped on a variety of wild and sour beers, I was able to pull a collection of brewers and business owners aside for brief conversations about their companies, specialties and what's catching their eye in the industry. This episode and others run about 20 to 25 minutes, so we had time to dig in a little bit, but the interviews are a bit more focused than the free-ranging talks you hear most weeks here on the podcast.

When I tell people I'm originally from Upstate New York, it typically comes with a qualifier: an extra "up" tacked on as an awkward prefix to create Up-Upstate New York. If I just stick to regular, old "Upstate," there's a good chance people will assume I'm talking about some place in Westchester County. It's a never-ending discussion, trying to figure out non-specific geographic boundaries, but the real reason it has importance is because it paints the picture that there is so much more to New York than its namesake city. The area where I grew up offers plenty, and for generations, its drinking culture was based around wine produced in the Finger Lakes. Craft beer was Genny Cream Ale or Saranac Black Forest, a beloved Schwarzbier. But in recent years, the idea of what beer is and can be has rapidly changed as local production has come to be defined by small businesses. As I visited my hometown of Geneva, New York this summer, I was excited to see how the beer scene has changed. One of the more recent additions was Bottomless Brewing, barely outside Geneva's limits, built inside an old dairy barn and located amongst rolling farmland so ubiquitous for the area. Its name connects to the "bottomless" depth of nearby Seneca Lake, one of the bodies of water connected to the region's Finger Lakes name. I sat down with Jennifer Myers, head brewer, and one of the founders, Tom Thompson. Jennifer is something of a veteran of the very young Finger Lakes beer scene, having worked in beer for seven years and acting as brewer for six of them. Over the course of our interview, you'll hear Tom pop in and out - a natural part of being the one running a business - as he takes care of opening the space, welcoming customers and tending bar. It was actually a good example of what it takes to run a small business: you've got to be a jack of all trades at all times. Throughout our conversation, the three of us talk about what it takes to open a brewery and, most important, change minds and succeed in a region where some people are still figuring out what "craft" beer means to them.

Welcome to another episode of The Fervent Few podcast. Every few weeks we present you with this bonus episode of the GBH podcast where we chat with members of our subscriber community. The Fervent Few subscribe to GBH like a magazine making a monthly contribution via Patreon. Members join us in a forum to talk about a wide range of topics that doesn't just stop at beer. And every week we pick one of these topics and present the community's answers to readers in the form of an article posted to Good Beer Hunting. You can find out more information by visiting patreon.com/goodbeerhunting On this episode we talk to Tyler Jackson of Chicago's Present Tense Fine Ales a brewery that wants to serve beer exclusively on cask. Then we talk to Carla Jean Lauter, a prolific beer writer and tweeter, about a successful battle against a brewery that opened with a very terribly named beer. But first Michael and I will talk about Founder's Harvest Ale and the way a very minor question can become very meaningful content for GBH. Finally, we start to think about the best beers we had in 2017.

There's a lot beer lovers may miss when they travel to the Pacific Northwest, a region overwhelmed not just with breweries, but really good ones. And while there are plenty of businesses that captivate beer geeks, one in particular has long caught my eye. Seattle's Reuben's Brews is something of rocket ship in an area pleasantly saturated with some of the best beer in the country. The name might not sound familiar to those outside Washington, but Reuben's is one of the fastest growing breweries in the state. Not long before I sat down with owners Adam and Grace Robbings in September, their business was growing at just over 100 percent in IRI-tracked dollar sales in their home state compared to 2016. Since opening about five years ago, Reuben's has expanded into a pseudo compound spread across a few different buildings in as many blocks in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood, where they run a brewery and taproom, packaging facility, barrel-aging space and more. I came to know their beer years ago when my brother sent me a bottle of their award-winning Porter, but their lineup and my expectations have expanded rapidly since then. Amongst the phenomenal growth of Reuben's Brews, Adam and Grace have faced typical challenges not entirely unique to their company, ranging from the kinds of brands they make to how they're sold. However, Adam's methodical processes and logical focus continue to push together aspects of art and science that drives the brewery's core ethos. You'll find the way he talks about making beer - and the level of detail he requires to do so - is rather inspiring. Above all else, however, this is a family business. The beer is important, but not as much as the people that surround it. The namesake of the brewery - Adam and Grace's son, Reuben - is seen as a future. There's been plenty of success so far, but this is still the start of a much longer journey.

Our resident composer for the podcast and our commercial video work, Andrew Thiboldeaux, is writing original scores devoted to beers he finds fascinating. These are interpretations of the experience of drinking them. But they're also just great tunes.

The UK's independent brewing scene is booming. Recent figures from the British Beer and Pub Association put the number of active breweries in the UK at more than 2,000, meaning that the UK has more breweries than any other European nation. At the heart of this growth have been the UK's metropolitan areas, cities such as London, Manchester, Newcastle, Bristol, and many more. But thankfully, that growth hasn't been restricted to the cities, with more breweries choosing to establish themselves in smaller towns and in rural areas. We've even seen established city breweries such as Redchurch in London, start to build production facilities outside of these city hubs. Earlier this year I interviewed Dan Lowe, who co-founded Fourpure Brewing Co. with his brother Tom in 2013. Dan spoke to me about how Fourpure was planning a move similar to Redchurch's, in that they were looking at expanding to a purpose-built brewery on a greenfield site on the outskirts of London. But Fourpure changed its plans (for the time being, at least), choosing to invest more than £2 million ($2.7M) in its existing site in South London. This expansion will involve a new brewhouse, more capacity, and more lab and QC space. Eventually, they'll also double the size of their taproom. This, along with a whole bunch of other local breweries, including Partizan, Pressure Drop, and Mondo, also investing in their London sites, is indicative that there is still a lot of room here for growth. This growth is also giving newer, smaller breweries a chance to establish themselves too, as the expanding breweries move into other markets, thus freeing up space at the point of entry. Recently, I headed down to Fourpure, at the end of the Bermondsey Beer Mile, to catch up with both Dan and Tom. We talk about everything above and more.

Welcome to another episode of The Fervent Few podcast. Every few weeks we present you with this bonus episode of the GBH podcast where we chat with members of our subscriber community. The Fervent Few subscribe to GBH like a magazine making a monthly contribution via Patreon. Members join us in a forum to talk about a wide range of topics that doesn't just stop at beer. And every week we pick one of these topics and present the community's answers to readers in the form of an article posted to Good Beer Hunting. You can find out more information by visiting patreon.com/goodbeerhunting On this episode we talk to James Hernandez who works for a beer wholesaler in Southern California. But first Michael and I talk about some exciting new taprooms that have opened in the area and of course Hazy IPAs.

This past fall when GBH experience director Hillary Schuster and I were in London for the Beavertown Extravaganza and Uppers & Downers, we were thrilled to get outside the city for a couple of days to visit one of my favorite cider makers in the world, Tom Oliver. He was pouring at the Extravaganza, of course, right next to Other Half, which made me laugh a bit as I entered. There were dozens of people rightly waiting in line for Other Half's beers and almost no one in line for Oliver's ciders, which I would put up against any Wild Ale, Lambic, or Geueze in the world in terms of its fermentation complexity, natural, rustic condition, and agricultural qualities. It's really one of the most fantastic fermented beverages you can buy. And at the fest, you could just walk right up to his booth and get a pour because we still have a strange relationship with cider. In the U.S., we have a strange tension between these artisanal orchard-based producers and "craft" cider makers selling quick fermentations in a six pack of cans. Some are even produced by breweries as an alternative offering. That also exists in the UK, but the biggest tension there is among the sort of country cider, known as scrumpy, which is maybe more akin to moonshine, and the mass market ciders, called white ciders, which people drink for their functional effects, not so much their flavors. Cider makers like Oliver have a hard time cutting through. But it's getting easier. Oliver's ciders were re-branded beautifully this year, which is getting some notice. And as more and more beer drinkers follow their palates into the more complex side of fermentation, they're finding something resonate in mixed-fermentation beers, natural wines, and maybe, finally, orchardist ciders. We went out to Oliver's multi-generational family farm in Herefordshire near the Welsh border and stayed for a couple days to get a lay of the land. We ate meat pies and drank some beautiful things, and eventually GBH UK editor Matthew Curtis and I sat down in the dining room of Oliver's cottage to talk about the future.

The Brewers Association loves to tout the ever-growing number of small and independent breweries that are popping up across the country. It's gotten to the point where there's really no type of geographical area that's without some "hometown" beer. In North Carolina, the number of breweries has ballooned in recent years, with businesses finding homes all over. While you might have heard of places like Asheville, Charlotte, Raleigh, or Durham, the town of Hillsborough is less commonly known. But it's this location—population: about 7,000—where we'll visit today for the chance to hear from Erik Lars Myers, the founder and CEO of Mystery Brewing. In July 2010, Erik's brewery was the first in the U.S. to successfully crowdfund a portion of its startup costs, something that seems near-ubiquitous in today's marketplace. Since then, his business plan and Mystery Brewing have evolved rapidly. In our conversation, which is far ranging and really in-depth, you'll hear me refer to him as something of a futurist. A lot of what Erik decided just as the American craft beer industry was really starting to take off was adventurous at the time. But now a lot of it is simply stuff people do: heavily rotating brands, focusing on bringing people to a taproom, wearing your heart on your sleeve. This is a long conversation. But so much of what we discuss is really topical to drinkers and business owners alike. Erik's honesty and love for beer and its industry made for one of those interviews that you just ride out. There are tips and insights that highlight how Erik and his team are doing something special, and I hope his story and point of view expresses something new and interesting to you, too.

Welcome to another episode of The Fervent Few podcast. Every few weeks we present you with this bonus episode of the GBH podcast where we chat with members of our subscriber community. The Fervent Few subscribe to GBH like a magazine making a monthly contribution via Patreon. Members join us in a forum to talk about a wide range of topics that doesn't just stop at beer. And every week we pick one of these topics and present the community's answers to readers in the form of an article posted to Good Beer Hunting. You can find out more information by visiting patreon.com/goodbeerhunting On this episode we talk to Matt who is about to start a new job in Georgia but as luck would have it he has to do training in the suburbs of Chicago. So we talk to him about his trip to the burbs, what his beer buying experiences are like back home, and the best $5 he spends a month. But first Michael and I talk about going to the woods, what's been going on in the Fervent Few Slack, and how terribly wrong I am about semi-dry ciders.

Today's episode is part of a series of talks we recorded at the Shelton Brothers festival back in August in Atlanta — a phenomenal gathering of some of the best brewers in the world, as well as a few niche cider and wine makers, all holding their own in one of the most diverse and interesting product portfolios that's ever been assembled. The folks from Shelton Brothers gave us a room, and free rein to curate talks with anyone we wanted, on any topics we wished. It's a somewhat speedy series of interviews, much shorter than you're used to on GBH, and that's because we wanted to see if a series of topics might emerge — a pattern of sorts, that might give us an indication of what's on people's minds at this point in time, in this particular portfolio of producers. And sure enough, it worked. On a few of these episodes, other folks from GBH drop in from time to time as well, so you'll also here from Blake Tyers and Kyle Kastranec

Today's episode is part of a series of talks we recorded at the Shelton Brothers festival back in August in Atlanta — a phenomenal gathering of some of the best brewers in the world, as well as a few niche cider and wine makers, all holding their own in one of the most diverse and interesting product portfolios that's ever been assembled. The folks from Shelton Brothers gave us a room, and free rein to curate talks with anyone we wanted, on any topics we wished. It's a somewhat speedy series of interviews, much shorter than you're used to on GBH, and that's because we wanted to see if a series of topics might emerge — a pattern of sorts, that might give us an indication of what's on people's minds at this point in time, in this particular portfolio of producers. And sure enough, it worked. On a few of these episodes, other folks from GBH drop in from time to time as well, so you'll also here from Blake Tyers and Kyle Kastranec

Today's episode is part of a series of talks we recorded at the Shelton Brothers festival back in August in Atlanta — a phenomenal gathering of some of the best brewers in the world, as well as a few niche cider and wine makers, all holding their own in one of the most diverse and interesting product portfolios that's ever been assembled. The folks from Shelton Brothers gave us a room, and free rein to curate talks with anyone we wanted, on any topics we wished. It's a somewhat speedy series of interviews, much shorter than you're used to on GBH, and that's because we wanted to see if a series of topics might emerge — a pattern of sorts, that might give us an indication of what's on people's minds at this point in time, in this particular portfolio of producers. And sure enough, it worked. On a few of these episodes, other folks from GBH drop in from time to time as well, so you'll also here from Blake Tyers and Kyle Kastranec

Today's episode is part of a series of talks we recorded at the Shelton Brothers festival back in August in Atlanta — a phenomenal gathering of some of the best brewers in the world, as well as a few niche cider and wine makers, all holding their own in one of the most diverse and interesting product portfolios that's ever been assembled. The folks from Shelton Brothers gave us a room, and free rein to curate talks with anyone we wanted, on any topics we wished. It's a somewhat speedy series of interviews, much shorter than you're used to on GBH, and that's because we wanted to see if a series of topics might emerge — a pattern of sorts, that might give us an indication of what's on people's minds at this point in time, in this particular portfolio of producers. And sure enough, it worked. On a few of these episodes, other folks from GBH drop in from time to time as well, so you'll also here from Blake Tyers and Kyle Kastranec

Today's episode is part of a series of talks we recorded at the Shelton Brothers festival back in August in Atlanta — a phenomenal gathering of some of the best brewers in the world, as well as a few niche cider and wine makers, all holding their own in one of the most diverse and interesting product portfolios that's ever been assembled. The folks from Shelton Brothers gave us a room, and free rein to curate talks with anyone we wanted, on any topics we wished. It's a somewhat speedy series of interviews, much shorter than you're used to on GBH, and that's because we wanted to see if a series of topics might emerge — a pattern of sorts, that might give us an indication of what's on people's minds at this point in time, in this particular portfolio of producers. And sure enough, it worked. On a few of these episodes, other folks from GBH drop in from time to time as well, so you'll also here from Blake Tyers and Kyle Kastranec

Today's episode is part of a series of talks we recorded at the Shelton Brothers festival back in August in Atlanta — a phenomenal gathering of some of the best brewers in the world, as well as a few niche cider and wine makers, all holding their own in one of the most diverse and interesting product portfolios that's ever been assembled. The folks from Shelton Brothers gave us a room, and free rein to curate talks with anyone we wanted, on any topics we wished. It's a somewhat speedy series of interviews, much shorter than you're used to on GBH, and that's because we wanted to see if a series of topics might emerge — a pattern of sorts, that might give us an indication of what's on people's minds at this point in time, in this particular portfolio of producers. And sure enough, it worked. On a few of these episodes, other folks from GBH drop in from time to time as well, so you'll also here from Blake Tyers and Kyle Kastranec

Today's episode is part of a series of talks we recorded at the Shelton Brothers festival back in August in Atlanta — a phenomenal gathering of some of the best brewers in the world, as well as a few niche cider and wine makers, all holding their own in one of the most diverse and interesting product portfolios that's ever been assembled. The folks from Shelton Brothers gave us a room, and free rein to curate talks with anyone we wanted, on any topics we wished. It's a somewhat speedy series of interviews, much shorter than you're used to on GBH, and that's because we wanted to see if a series of topics might emerge — a pattern of sorts, that might give us an indication of what's on people's minds at this point in time, in this particular portfolio of producers. And sure enough, it worked. On a few of these episodes, other folks from GBH drop in from time to time as well, so you'll also here from Blake Tyers and Kyle Kastranec

Today's episode is part of a series of talks we recorded at the Shelton Brothers festival back in August in Atlanta — a phenomenal gathering of some of the best brewers in the world, as well as a few niche cider and wine makers, all holding their own in one of the most diverse and interesting product portfolios that's ever been assembled. The folks from Shelton Brothers gave us a room, and free rein to curate talks with anyone we wanted, on any topics we wished. It's a somewhat speedy series of interviews, much shorter than you're used to on GBH, and that's because we wanted to see if a series of topics might emerge — a pattern of sorts, that might give us an indication of what's on people's minds at this point in time, in this particular portfolio of producers. And sure enough, it worked. On a few of these episodes, other folks from GBH drop in from time to time as well, so you'll also here from Blake Tyers and Kyle Kastranec

Today's episode is part of a series of talks we recorded at the Shelton Brothers festival back in August in Atlanta — a phenomenal gathering of some of the best brewers in the world, as well as a few niche cider and wine makers, all holding their own in one of the most diverse and interesting product portfolios that's ever been assembled. The folks from Shelton Brothers gave us a room, and free rein to curate talks with anyone we wanted, on any topics we wished. It's a somewhat speedy series of interviews, much shorter than you're used to on GBH, and that's because we wanted to see if a series of topics might emerge — a pattern of sorts, that might give us an indication of what's on people's minds at this point in time, in this particular portfolio of producers. And sure enough, it worked. On a few of these episodes, other folks from GBH drop in from time to time as well, so you'll also here from Blake Tyers and Kyle Kastranec

Today's episode is part of a series of talks we recorded at the Shelton Brothers festival back in August in Atlanta — a phenomenal gathering of some of the best brewers in the world, as well as a few niche cider and wine makers, all holding their own in one of the most diverse and interesting product portfolios that's ever been assembled. The folks from Shelton Brothers gave us a room, and free rein to curate talks with anyone we wanted, on any topics we wished. It's a somewhat speedy series of interviews, much shorter than you're used to on GBH, and that's because we wanted to see if a series of topics might emerge — a pattern of sorts, that might give us an indication of what's on people's minds at this point in time, in this particular portfolio of producers. And sure enough, it worked. On a few of these episodes, other folks from GBH drop in from time to time as well, so you'll also here from Blake Tyers and Kyle Kastranec

Today's episode is part of a series of talks we recorded at the Shelton Brothers festival back in August in Atlanta — a phenomenal gathering of some of the best brewers in the world, as well as a few niche cider and wine makers, all holding their own in one of the most diverse and interesting product portfolios that's ever been assembled. The folks from Shelton Brothers gave us a room, and free rein to curate talks with anyone we wanted, on any topics we wished. It's a somewhat speedy series of interviews, much shorter than you're used to on GBH, and that's because we wanted to see if a series of topics might emerge — a pattern of sorts, that might give us an indication of what's on people's minds at this point in time, in this particular portfolio of producers. And sure enough, it worked. On a few of these episodes, other folks from GBH drop in from time to time as well, so you'll also here from Blake Tyers and Kyle Kastranec

A series of talks we recorded at the Shelton Brothers festival back in August in Atlanta — a phenomenal gathering of some of the best brewers in the world, as well as a few niche cider and wine makers, all holding their own in one of the most diverse and interesting product portfolios that's ever been assembled. YOU CAN LISTEN TO THE ENTIRE SERIES OF INTERVIEWS FROM SHELTON FEST 2017 HERE! Interviews include: Hannah and Drew Fox of 18th Street Brewery in Indiana Paul Jones of Cloudwater Brew Co in Manchester, UK Chris Hall of Brew by Numbers in London Harold Krabbe of Frederikstal Kirsebaervin Sarah and James Howat of Black Project Ales in Denver, Colorado Todd Boera of Fonta Flora Brewery in North Carolina Jack Van Paepeghem of Oxbow Brewing in Maine Henry Nuygen of Monkish Brewing in Torrance, California Adair Paterno of Sante Adarius and Brad Clark of Jackie O's Amber Watts, Ron Extract, and Jason Hansen of Garden Path Fermentation in Washington Chris Herron of Creature Comforts in Athens, Georgia Paul Brouwer of Oedipus Brewing in the Netherlands

I've been writing for GBH for going on two and a half years now. Over that time you may or may not have noticed that I've gradually been trying to build a picture of the modern British beer scene. We've looked at the likes of Beavertown and Brew By Numbers in London, BrewDog up in Scotland, Cloudwater in Manchester, Magic Rock and Northern Monk in Yorkshire and most recently Lost & Grounded in Bristol. It's Bristol that we find ourselves in today, or at least, that's where today's guest Bruce Gray, and his brewery Left Handed Giant, is based. Gray has worked in the beer industry for a number of years now, working in BrewDog's bar division before heading to Bristol and setting up a distribution company. He also opened a specialist beer bar called Small Bar, which now has a second site in Cardiff, South Wales. From here he began "cuckoo brewing," as Gray puts it, under the Left Handed Giant brand. Things snowballed for the fledgling brewery, as they are wont to do in a British market hungry for more young brands like his, and now they're nestled into a permanent site, brewing 15 barrels at a time. Bristol seems to be the perfect incubator for the ambitious plans for his brewery. It's perhaps because Gray has had the opportunity to work at all ends of the chain that he's able to articulate his experiences within the beer industry so well. He does so regularly on his brewery's blog, where he's earned a reputation for being honest and forthright. On this podcast he's no different, giving in-depth opinions on issues such as the much-debated price of beer. He also gives his opinions on CAMRA as well as SIBA, the Society for Independent Brewers, which is the closest equivalent the UK has to America's Brewers Association. We have a great conversation here that covers all of the above and more. Listen in.

It's hard to be objective when it comes to such a subjective thing like beer. We're all driven by our own preferences and tastes mapped out by sensory experiences of flavor and aroma. Things are good and bad, sought after whales and shelf turds. Beer is an experiential good and our exposure varies on time of day, mood, company and more. But there are still plenty of cold, hard facts that factor into the social, cultural and business side of beer, which is why this week's guest is a special one for me. Bart Watson deals with numbers. Truthful, verifiable, factual data. As one of only several economists who work within the beer industry, it's his job to offer context and insight into what's changing, and often, what's to come. His logical and well-cited reason is regularly seen on the Brewers Association website and increasingly in media around the country. When some may be focusing on the hot take du jour, Bart can be found writing a blog post or interacting on Twitter with calculated answers. And it's about beer. As the BA was preparing to kickoff the Great American Beer Festival in early October, I sat down with Bart inside the Colorado Convention Center to geek out, talking about the new challenges within the beer market, including price points, marijuana use, distribution and more. With thousands of people scurrying around the building ready to celebrate craft beer, it was exciting to take a fittingly calm moment to evaluate the state of the industry and where beer lovers should be looking in 2018. Who knew economics could be so cool?

Our resident composer for the podcast and our commercial video work, Andrew Thiboldeaux, is writing original scores devoted to beers he finds fascinating. These are interpretations of the experience of drinking them. But they're also just great tunes.

As someone who thinks way too much about beer way too often, I'll always consider myself lucky for the sheer fact I get to spend some of my time talking about this beverage we love so much. There have been lots of great conversations about beer shared with friends and people in the industry, with some of my favorites simply nerding out with fellow writers I meet during my travels. This fall, I made my first trip to Portland, Oregon, where I had the chance to have one of those kinds of talks with two of my favorite writers covering beer, Jeff Alworth and Jason Notte. The pair represent two brilliant sides of reporting on the same topic. Jeff has long been one of my go-to sources for cultural and historical insight and commentary, while Jason's acumen on the business side of things makes him stand out. We met at Portland's Wayfinder Beer and grabbed a table outside where our conversation meandered in many of the same ways it would have without microphones in front of us. We talked about our process, the latest news about the likes of Sam Adams and trends we've been following. This was at the beginning of October, right before the Great American Beer Festival, when the Brewers Association was set to celebrate their new seal of independence—an ideal time for Jason, Jeff, and I to share our own takes on what such a thing means and why it's important…or not important. Whenever I sit down to record a GBH Podcast, I like to preface it as a conversation, not necessarily an interview. This talk with Jeff and Jason felt very much like that.

Welcome back to another episode of the GBH Collective, where we bring you the stories behind the stories from our writers and photographers all over the world. This new series of episodes is made possible by our Patreon subscribers. Patreon is a way our readers and listeners can become a part of GBH with a monthly contribution, just like subscribing to a magazine. We give back to our subscribers, which we call the Fervent Few, through events, discounts, exclusive gear and art, and a host of other perks. To us, being a Fervent Few member makes you part of the team. And the 70 or so subscribers we have already are enjoying the Slack channel we set up as a direct connection with the GBH crew and each other. You can join them, too. This week we've got myself, Bryan Roth, and Matthew Curtis, all fresh on the heels of GABF in Denver. We discuss the North American Guild of Beer Writers awards, the value of GABF, and some of the things that make GBH tick.

Last week, GBH flew me to Aberdeen, Scotland to visit BrewDog—the fastest growing brewing company in Europe. I first visited the brewery in 2015, and what I experienced on that trip would eventually materialize as my first ever GBH story. Since then, operations at what can now only be described as BrewDog's "campus" in the town of Ellon, around 30 minutes from Aberdeen itself, have expanded exponentially. For starters, there's a brand new, purpose-built brewing facility featuring a 255-barrel German brewhouse. Once fully operational, it will be brewing up to 10 times per day. Also inside this new build is a labyrinth of offices, which amongst them features a brand new lab and quality control department—the result of a $2.6 million dollar investment. There's also Lone Wolf, BrewDog's brand new spirits division. And the expansion doesn't stop there. They have a standalone sour beer facility, Overworks, which is nearing completion, coolship and all. Following a comprehensive tour of these facilities, I sat down with BrewDog co-founder James Watt. You might be more familiar with his more extroverted and outspoken persona. He's prone to standing on bar tops a'la Stone's Greg Koch (a mentor of Watt's), but on this occasion he cut a far calmer and more softly spoken figure. Over the next hour we tackle pretty much every topic BrewDog's name has come up with over the last few months. This includes selling 22% of the company to a private equity company for £213 million, opening a brewing facility in Columbus, Ohio, and future plans to build similar operations in Australia and China. And, of course, we even discuss whether or not a multinational company with millions of dollars in investment behind it can still be considered "punk."

This episode is something very special to us at GBH. One of our neighbors, who literally lives above the studio here in Logan Square in Chicago, is a woman named Sheerine Alemzadeh. She's a co-founder along with Karla Altmayer of an organization called Healing to Action. Over a few parties here in the studio, we got to know these women and the work they do, which is to help build capacity for solving gender-based violence, which so often occurs in the workplace. One of the industries that struggles with this issue the most, which includes everything from sexual harassment and intimidation to outright physical assault, is hospitality. When we think of hospitality, we rightly think of hotels, restaurants, bars, and the like. But as a design firm devoted to breweries, we've become increasingly involved in hospitality as well. We've helped launch, on average, about a half dozen new breweries a year. And as more of them include a taproom in their concept, we've started to think about the hospitality environment in more depth and as Sheerine and Karla shared more of their experience fighting against workplace violence, we started to realize how pervasive and important this issue is becoming to craft breweries. And that says nothing about the male-dominated manufacturing environments that have their own history of harassment and violence. So we decided to partner with them to bring your a unique conversation combining their important work with the context we know so well: craft brewing. We all got together at Hopewell Brewing's taproom right here in Logan Square, along with Melissa Josephs of Women Employed, Jacyada de Oliviera of Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, and Samantha Lee of Hopewell Brewing Company. The goal was to have an open conversation that would encourage brewery owners and taproom staff to recognize the threats to their business and their staff as they cross into he hospitality industry. But also to take a look at what a traditionally male-dominated manufacturing culture brings with it as well. These two worlds coming together create an intersection where a lot of people are at risk. And the solutions, as they usually are, start with understanding and communication—and a willingness to address the issue.

HAZED AND CONFUSED Is the New England IPA the end of the style's evolution or a resistance to a status quo? Host: Matthew Curtis, Good Beer Hunting Guest Speakers: Soren Parker Wagner, Dry & Bitter Brewery Wayne Wambles, Cigar City Brewing Company Patrick Ware, Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co. Good Beer Hunting was thrilled to partner with Beavertown Brewery at their Extravaganza anniversary celebration this year to bring you some compelling discussions and presentations about the state of craft beer in 2017. A wide range of topics and personalities were available to discuss some of the more pressing, and exciting pursuits in beer. You can learn more about Beavertown's educational investments on their blog.

GROWING HORIZONTALLY Finding Ways to Expand the Beer Bubble Host: Michael Kiser, Good Beer Hunting Guest Speakers: Jacob Alsing, Mikkeller Brewing Jos Ruffell, Garage Project Andrew Cooper, The Wild Beer Co. Good Beer Hunting was thrilled to partner with Beavertown Brewery at their Extravaganza anniversary celebration this year to bring you some compelling discussions and presentations about the state of craft beer in 2017. A wide range of topics and personalities were available to discuss some of the more pressing, and exciting pursuits in beer. You can learn more about Beavertown's educational investments on their blog.

UNDER THE MICROSCOPE What will it look like when yeast has its moment? Host: Matthew Curtis, Good Beer Hunting Guest Speakers: Yvan de Baets, Brasserie de la Senne Glenn Castelein, Brouwerij Alvinne Jamil Zainasheff, Heretic Brewing Company Good Beer Hunting was thrilled to partner with Beavertown Brewery at their Extravaganza anniversary celebration this year to bring you some compelling discussions and presentations about the state of craft beer in 2017. A wide range of topics and personalities were available to discuss some of the more pressing, and exciting pursuits in beer. You can learn more about Beavertown's educational investments on their blog.

THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD How hyper-local changes everything Host: Michael Kiser, Good Beer Hunting Guest Speakers: Andrew Schwartz, Modern Times Beer Lauren Lister, Beavertown Brewery Connor Casey, Cellarmaker Brewing Co. Good Beer Hunting was thrilled to partner with Beavertown Brewery at their Extravaganza anniversary celebration this year to bring you some compelling discussions and presentations about the state of craft beer in 2017. A wide range of topics and personalities were available to discuss some of the more pressing, and exciting pursuits in beer. You can learn more about Beavertown's educational investments on their blog.

A NEW TAKE ON TERROIR How are surroundings and the environment influencing modern brewers? Host: Matthew Curtis, Good Beer Hunting Guest Speakers: Tom Oliver, Oliver's Cider & Perry Mark Tranter, Burning Sky Brewery Averie Swanson, Jester King Brewery Good Beer Hunting was thrilled to partner with Beavertown Brewery at their Extravaganza anniversary celebration this year to bring you some compelling discussions and presentations about the state of craft beer in 2017. A wide range of topics and personalities were available to discuss some of the more pressing, and exciting pursuits in beer. You can learn more about Beavertown's educational investments on their blog.

FOREVER YOUNG (PART 2) Staying Relevant in the Modern Beer Landscape, Part 2 Host: Michael Kiser, Good Beer Hunting Guest Speakers: Meghan Waites, Thornbridge Brewery Dande Bagby, Bagby Beer Company Sam Richardson, Other Half Brewing Company Good Beer Hunting was thrilled to partner with Beavertown Brewery at their Extravaganza anniversary celebration this year to bring you some compelling discussions and presentations about the state of craft beer in 2017. A wide range of topics and personalities were available to discuss some of the more pressing, and exciting pursuits in beer. You can learn more about Beavertown's educational investments on their blog.