Speaking of Beer

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.

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (6161)

Joe Murphy was a talented podcaster and inspiring human being who passed all too soon from the planet. Here’s a show where two mutual friends (and friends of SoB) Jack Mangan and Tee Morris remember his legacy. Raise a root beer, and enjoy.

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (3291)

And so we come to the end…

After two big and strong (if not universally loved) brews, why not change it up? Because big and strong is what’s called for this time of year, so bring on some more! Foregoing the Belgian theme, round three of this post-Thanksgiving evening show turns to a different Holiday thread: the gift. We cap things off with Founder’s Breakfast Stout, a generous present from The Beer Report that was part of the annual Beer Safari Beer Exchange. Of the guests (and once again that’s my lovely wife Carolyn, Brewing Compadre Shawn, Sheila Dee, Evo Terra, and Jack Mangan) who’ve been struggling with the Belgian beers, will this big stout from the Midwest be a welcome thing? Tune in and find out!

Picture by Groucho from The Beer Report

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (5327)

And the evening wore on, and our revelers continued in their revelry…

Beer #2 for the evening is Delirium Noël, the holiday entry from the storied brewers at Belgium’s Huyghe Brewery, who’ve brought us many other fine beers with “Delerium” in their names. Amongst the post-Thanksgiving crowd (to review, that’s my lovely wife Carolyn, Brewing Compadre Shawn, Sheila Dee, Evo Terra, and Jack Mangan) the gloves come off, as the relative merits of beer #1 vs. beer #2, or Belgian beer vs. non-Belgian beer in general, get a surprisingly heated going-over. There’s even a couple of cheap shots hurled around the table, but then, this is the Holidays. Who’s dissing whom while getting more and more jolly? Tune in and find out!

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (3550)

The Holidays are once again bearing down on us with their relentless festiveness, and there’s no better time to explore the world of beer. Like Oscar-baiting movie studios, breweries the world over save their best, most interesting, and most profound brews for the year-end season. To celebrate this bounty, Speaking of Beer turns this year to Belgium, the land of diverse, sublime, and often butt-kicking brews. Once again I invite my Thanksgiving dinner guests to drink with me as the turkey is still settling in our tummies, and this year I’m honored to be joined by my lovely wife Carolyn, Brewing Compadre Shawn, Sheila Dee, Evo Terra, and Jack Mangan. So much fun was had that I’ve decided to split this up into three installments, the first of which features Gouden Carolus Noel. I was a big fan of their Grand Cru, but how does their Christmas brew go down with a slap-happy group of all-over-the-map outspoken party-goers? Tune in and find out!

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (4062)

Today’s show is another Beer As Folk interview, this time with Mike Mellow (yes, that is his real name) from Ballast Point Brewing Company in cerves-o-centric San Deigo. Mike was in town recently (unfortuantely, technical problems intervened to make it longer ago than I would like) to host a beer event at a local Whole Foods Market, and I managed to squeeze in a few minutes to talk about Ballast Point, and what it offers in a market already crowded by such crowd-pleasers as AleSmith and Stone. Hint: everybody wins, especially the beer lovers.

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (5064)

Our favorite libation has been evolving for thousands of years, and part of the fun of riding along with the current craft brew revolution is watching that evolution unfold before your eyes. America’s west coast turns out to be a pretty good place to grow hops, so the brews that emanate from there carry that wonderfully distinctive hop signature. This has captured the attention of the Beerniverse, and brewers the world over are now taking inspiration from the luscious herbal “American” hoppy goodness. Today I’m joined by lupulo-centric Friend of SoB Evo Terra as we tackle two “American” beers brewed far, far from American soil.

First Up: Nøgne Ø India Pale Ale. Neither Evo nor I can pronounce the name, but it’s story is a great one. Imagine West Coast American attitude filtered through the people who brought you lutefisk…Isn’t that an oxymoron of some sort? We’ll see what happens when American attiude meets Viking vigor.

Sudsy Song Segment: For a little pop with our hops, here’s a ditty from one of my personal favorite bands (shared in common with my pals at The Beer Report), Too Much Joy. It’s their song King of Beers, which has already been played on this podcast, but this time it’s the “rare accoustic version.” Oooooh…

Last Up: The beer journey now takes a turn, as Evo and I leave the style of IPA altogether and dive into Schneider and Son’s Hopfen Weisse. A collaboration between brewers on separate continents, this amped-up, hopped-up hefe could easily sail off the proverbial rails. So..does it? Tune in and find out!

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (2452)

Today’s show is a Beer As Folk interview with Zak Davis from the Shmaltz Brewing Company. If that name has you scratching your head, you might recognize their flagship beer, He’Brew Genesis Ale. Even if you haven’t tried it, you’d no doubt recognize that cool Hebrew-inspired font on their labels. In any case, Zak and I chatted at a local Whole Foods prior to a tasting, and I found out there’s a lot more to Shmaltz than wildly imaginative beers combined with hilarious and unappologetic Semitism. For instance, they have surprising ties to sideshow freaks. Oh, and zombies, too.

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (3621)

Prebeer Preamble: To quote Samwise Gamgee: “Well, I’m back.” Specifically, I’m ba-ha-ha-hack back in black, because on the show today I address the musical question: What happens when you put a bunch of party-goers into a studio, ply them liberally with very very strong black beer, and continually pester them to choose which one they like best? I don’t know what you’d call it, but I call it a Smackdown!

Round 1: East Coast vs. West Coast. We start with a couple of brews from either side of the Mississippi: Old Viscosity from California’s Port Brewing Company and Storm King Imperial Stout from Pennsylvania’s Victory Brewing Company. In a blind tasting, the crowd sips and talks and chews it over. Ultimately, only one can rule. Which one will it be?

Interbeer Interlude: Beer As Folk.Tomme Arthur, brewmaster for the Port Brewing and Lost Abbey beers, gave me a few minutes during a recent beer dinner at my local Whole Foods to talk about his beers and the joy of having a job that “doesn’t suck.” That’s “doesn’t suck” in the same sense as “screwing a porn star doesn’t suck.”

Round 2: Stout vs. Porter. Next I trot out two huge brews for the amusement of all. Titans The Abyss (from Oregon’s Deschutes Brewing Co.) and Decadence Anniversary Ale Imperial Porter (from San Diego’s AleSmith Brewing Co.) duke it out, and leave the crowd humbled and in the throes of massive indecision when it comes to choosing a favorite. But in the end, only one legend can prevail.

Sudsy Song Segment: Possible Oscar “All Out of Beer“. The taps have run dry and the crowd is restless. The party host serenades them to the tune of…well..let’s just say ’70’s AM radio sure had some catchy tunes…

Final Round: Now everyone’s liberally lubricated, let’s do some math! Each taster rated each beer, and the scores are tallied to determine the Best in Show. Who’s the king of this pitch-black hill? Tune in and find out!

[HUGE shout-outs to tasters Doug Kress, Thomas a.k.a geistbear, Emily and Enormous from Australia, Tim Ademec, C.A. Sizemore, Michael R. Mennenga, Kris Mayo, Brian Brown, and Brewing Compadre Shawn]

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (2851)

Today we enter the Build-A-Beer Workshop, for a little beer-geek talk about improving your homebrewing efforts. I’m joined by my Brewing Compadre Shawn as we pit two of our home-brewed babies in a head-to-head comparison. Both are modeled after Stone’s Arrogant Bastard Ale, the first being our original “Monkey Bastard,” and the second it’s “evolved” descendant, the “Neanderthal Bastard.” [Yes, I'm aware that Neanderthals were not in fact descended from monkeys but rather share a common ancestor with them, so off my case, dang it!] To make things a little more entertaining, Shawn and I had already been geeking out on beer rather enthusiastically before we fired up the microphone. So you get what you get: two guys drinking and talking and analyzing beer, all in the name of the perpetual quest for brewing the perfect pint.

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (4473)