Next time the show will revolve around Rouge’s Double Dead Guy Ale, so scrape up some for drinking along if you can find it. And if you happen to be a fan of horror fiction, especially of the podcasted variety, crack open/download your favorite novel or short story and get reading/listening.
The Beeriniverse has its share of luminaries: people whose hard work, vision and creativity have been instrumental in bringing about the Good Beer Renaisance we are all enjoying today. Names like Fritz Maytag, Jim Koch, Tomme Arthur, and Sam Calagione spring immediately to mind, but along with those and a few other heavy-hitters, there is a “long tail” of thousands of passionate beer people whose collective endeavors are raising the quality of our favorite libation. Today’s show is a conversation I had with one such hard-working individual fighting the good fight to raise the profile of what beer is, and ought to be, in the mind of the public at large. His name is Mikal Merlina, and he works for Whole Foods Market. Yes, he’s the guy you see stocking the beer case and checking on the supply of cheese in the cooler, but he’s also much more. Mikal has used his position to educate and influence hundreds and hundreds of people as to what makes a good beer, how to enjoy beer more, and how decide which beer to purchase out of the stunning variety he was able to get on to the shelves at his store. It was a pleasure to sit down and talk with him and find out how the world looks from the perspective of a foot soldier in the craft beer revolution.
