329: Best in Beer 2023 Editor's Picks and Readers' Choice with Jamie Bogner and Joe Stange

In this special 100th episode of the podcast, we take a quick look back at your favorites of the first 100 episodes, before Side Project Brewing's Cory King and Neil Fisher of Weldwerks take over the podcast in a previously subscriber-only conversation recorded at the Firestone Walker Invitational earlier this year. This episode is brought to you by: G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): As the brewing industry’s premier choice for glycol chilling, G&D Chillers has set the standard on quality, service, reliability and dedication to their customer’s craft. For 25 years G&D has led the way with innovative solutions for the craft brewing industry. Contact G&D Chillers today at 800.555.0973 or reach out online at Gdchillers.com. Mention Craft Beer and Brewing podcast and you’ll receive up to $1000 worth of glycol with the purchase of any new G&D chiller unit. Tavour (https://about.tavour.com): Tavour makes it possible to access and discover the highest-rated craft beers from all over the world through the free mobile app. Twice a day you get access to a new limited beer from an independent craft brewer. Imagine sipping a Vanilla Ice Cream Stout from Wild Leap Brewing in Georgia or Juicy Bits IPA from WeldWerks in Colorado. Join the independent beer community today and get $10 in beer money with code “brewing”. Clarion Lubricants (https://www.clarionlubricants.com): Clarion Lubricants, balancing barley and hops is your expertise, food-grade lubricants is ours. The team at Clarion knows that when it comes to making great beer, you’re the expert, and when it comes to supplying food-grade lubricants backed by service-oriented professionals, they're the experts. Clarion will work with you to create an efficient lubrication program that helps protect your brewery. To speak with an expert dial 1-855-MY-CLARION (855-692-5274) or visit clarionlubricants.com. Clarion Lubricants. The expert that experts trust. Hopsteiner (https://www.hopsteiner.com): Hopsteiner is a vertically integrated global hops supplier dedicated to delivering the finest hops and hop products available. For six-generations Hopsteiner has partnered with breweries of all sizes, offering unique hop varieties and innovative hop products designed to enhance flavor, aroma, consistency, and flexibility for brewing and beyond. Learn more at https://www.hopsteiner.com.

13 Sep 20191h 3min

Ask ten brewers about the secret to brewing a great hazy IPA, and you’ll likely get ten different answers. For Gary Gulley and Alarmist Brewing, the answer is “threading the needle”—riding that delicate line between hops intensity, bitterness, sweetness that brings out the hops character, and dryness for drinkability. Achieving that elusive balance is no small feat, and in this episode Gulley discusses just how they do it. From yeast selection and treatment to dry hopping timing and techniques, employing lactose with a soft touch, and more, it’s a deep dive into the things that made Le Jus number one on the tastebud’s of last year’s GABF judges. Winning the medal has changed everything for Alarmist, and this episode delves into why. This episode is brought to you by: G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): As the brewing industry’s premier choice for glycol chilling, G&D Chillers has set the standard on quality, service, reliability and dedication to their customer’s craft. For 25 years G&D has led the way with innovative solutions for the craft brewing industry. Contact G&D Chillers today at 800.555.0973 or reach out online at Gdchillers.com. Mention Craft Beer and Brewing podcast and you’ll receive up to $1000 worth of glycol with the purchase of any new G&D chiller unit. Tavour (https://about.tavour.com): Tavour makes it possible to access and discover the highest-rated craft beers from all over the world through the free mobile app. Twice a day you get access to a new limited beer from an independent craft brewer. Imagine sipping a Vanilla Ice Cream Stout from Wild Leap Brewing in Georgia or Juicy Bits IPA from WeldWerks in Colorado. Join the independent beer community today and get $10 in beer money with code “brewing”. Clarion Lubricants (https://www.clarionlubricants.com): Clarion Lubricants, balancing barley and hops is your expertise, food-grade lubricants is ours. The team at Clarion knows that when it comes to making great beer, you’re the expert, and when it comes to supplying food-grade lubricants backed by service-oriented professionals, they're the experts. Clarion will work with you to create an efficient lubrication program that helps protect your brewery. To speak with an expert dial 1-855-MY-CLARION (855-692-5274) or visit clarionlubricants.com. Clarion Lubricants. The expert that experts trust. PakTech (https://paktech-opi.com): PakTech delivers the highest quality and most environmentally responsible packaging handles to the craft beer industry. PakTech handles are made from 100% post-consumer recycled material and are repurposed from recycled milk jugs. In addition, they are also 100% recyclable. PakTech recently launched its own recycling program to ensure PakTech handles are properly recycled and repurposed. They are easy to apply by hand or increase your packaging efficiency with their robust line of automated applicators. PakTech’s packaging solutions deliver better market presence, enhanced consumer value, environmental awareness, and improved sales. PakTech handles are the smart and sustainable packaging choice. Contact PakTech today at 541.461.5000 and visit at https://www.paktech-opi.com.

6 Sep 20191h 3min

Once upon a time, brewing barrel-aged stouts was a simple case of putting one batch into a barrel then pulling it out and releasing it. But for Revolution Brewing, a happy accident led to a new way to think about blending stocks of barrel-aged beers in order to achieve more depth and complexity. Today, the brewery now intentionally brews to replicate that effect, and has extended the concept behind it across the various styles of barrel-aged beers they brew. In this episode, they discuss the details of this process—manipulating mash temperatures to produce sweeter and drier versions of each of their base recipes, aging those different versions for different lengths of time, and blending percentages of beer at different ages and sweetness levels to create beers that achieve the metrics they’ve developed for “balance value” and “malt complexity value.” “[By having] all these barrels with extended aging and different finishing gravities, it allows us to put a metric on it and create and design a beer rather than just having it go into a barrel and then emptying it every year," says Scott. In addition to barrel-aging, Cibak discusses their approach to the newly released Hazy Hero IPA, including their counterintuitive approach to hops—bittering with hops extract in the whirlpool and dry hopping the yeast pitch—and more. This episode is brought to you by: G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): As the brewing industry’s premier choice for glycol chilling, G&D Chillers has set the standard on quality, service, reliability and dedication to their customer’s craft. For 25 years G&D has led the way with innovative solutions for the craft brewing industry. Contact G&D Chillers today at 800.555.0973 or reach out online at Gdchillers.com. Mention Craft Beer and Brewing podcast and you’ll receive up to $1000 worth of glycol with the purchase of any new G&D chiller unit. Tavour (https://about.tavour.com): Tavour makes it possible to access and discover the highest-rated craft beers from all over the world through the free mobile app. Twice a day you get access to a new limited beer from an independent craft brewer. Imagine sipping a Vanilla Ice Cream Stout from Wild Leap Brewing in Georgia or Juicy Bits IPA from WeldWerks in Colorado. Join the independent beer community today and get $10 in beer money with code “brewing”. Clarion Lubricants (https://www.clarionlubricants.com): Clarion Lubricants, balancing barley and hops is your expertise, food-grade lubricants is ours. The team at Clarion knows that when it comes to making great beer, you’re the expert, and when it comes to supplying food-grade lubricants backed by service-oriented professionals, they're the experts. Clarion will work with you to create an efficient lubrication program that helps protect your brewery. To speak with an expert dial 1-855-MY-CLARION (855-692-5274) or visit clarionlubricants.com. Clarion Lubricants. The expert that experts trust. Country Malt Group (https://countrymaltgroup.com): With over 200 years of combined experience in the craft beverage industry, Country Malt Group’s dedicated sales and support staff understand the importance of excellent ingredients, product knowledge, and expertise in making great beer. Country Malt Group’s mission is to provide the products and services you need while making the process of ordering ingredients easy – the focus is to inspire your best craft! Order online at shop.countrymalt.com (https://shop.countrymalt.com) | @CountryMalt

30 Aug 20191h 13min

The brewpub model might be seen by some as a relic of craft beer's past, but it's actually a helpful barometer of what is happening among customer preference. This week Mark Edelson, one of the cofounders of Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant, now with nearly 20 locations in the east, talks about why staff training is important, a useful path towards a brewing career, and how sometimes you need to get out of a comfort zone to be truly successful and grow a business. This episode is brought to you by: G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): As the brewing industry’s premier choice for glycol chilling, G&D Chillers has set the standard on quality, service, reliability and dedication to their customer’s craft. For 25 years G&D has led the way with innovative solutions for the craft brewing industry. Contact G&D Chillers today at 800.555.0973 or reach out online at Gdchillers.com. Mention Craft Beer and Brewing podcast and you’ll receive up to $1000 worth of glycol with the purchase of any new G&D chiller unit. Tavour (https://about.tavour.com): Tavour makes it possible to access and discover the highest-rated craft beers from all over the world through the free mobile app. Twice a day you get access to a new limited beer from an independent craft brewer. Imagine sipping a Vanilla Ice Cream Stout from Wild Leap Brewing in Georgia or Juicy Bits IPA from WeldWerks in Colorado. Join the independent beer community today and get $10 in beer money with code “brewing”. Clarion Lubricants (https://www.clarionlubricants.com): Clarion Lubricants, balancing barley and hops is your expertise, food-grade lubricants is ours. The team at Clarion knows that when it comes to making great beer, you’re the expert, and when it comes to supplying food-grade lubricants backed by service-oriented professionals, they're the experts. Clarion will work with you to create an efficient lubrication program that helps protect your brewery. To speak with an expert dial 1-855-MY-CLARION (855-692-5274) or visit clarionlubricants.com. Clarion Lubricants. The expert that experts trust. Hops Direct (https://hopsdirect.com): Five generations of hops grown in Yakima Valley, Washington, sold directly from our farm to you. Skip the middleman, go for the farm fresh green! Our hops are harvested, processed and kept in cold storages here on our farm until shipping straight to you. Find 100+ domestic and imported varieties in Pellet and Leaf year-round on our website by the pound at wholesale pricing. Thanks for supporting family-owned - shopping small is a BIG deal. www.hopsdirect.com | info@hopsdirect.com | @hopsdirect

23 Aug 201956min

The cofounder of St. Louis’ most popular brewer of progressive hazy styles shares the techniques and philosophy behind their sought-after beers, and debunks some misperceptions in the process. Creating a sense of unique character and difference within a popular beer style like hazy IPA can be a challenge for brewers, but for Jeff Hardesty and Narrow Gauge Brewing, the answer is nonstop experimentation and testing on their small 6 bbl brewhouse. In this episode, he discusses how they move beyond the “easy button” hops (Citra, Mosaic, Galaxy) and blend hops for unique flavor expressions, how trial and error led them to ditch expensive hops in the whirlpool in favor of less expensive bittering hops, using a less-common British ale strain for fermentation that provides an alternate to more standard London Ale III or Conan flavors, the ways they use different base malts to achieve flavor goals and create differentiation, how they construct complex recipes that delicately balance acidity, sweetness, hops, and fruit in sour fruited IPAs, and more. This episode is brought to you by: G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): As the brewing industry’s premier choice for glycol chilling, G&D Chillers has set the standard on quality, service, reliability and dedication to their customer’s craft. For 25 years G&D has led the way with innovative solutions for the craft brewing industry. Contact G&D Chillers today at 800.555.0973 or reach out online at Gdchillers.com. Mention Craft Beer and Brewing podcast and you’ll receive up to $1000 worth of glycol with the purchase of any new G&D chiller unit. Tavour (https://about.tavour.com): Turn your fridge into the best craft beer bar around with the Tavour app. Get access to hard-to-find, 100% independent craft beer from 47 states. Only buy the beers you want and skip the ones you don’t. Ship any amount of your hand picked beer to your doorstep for one flat fee (yep, any amount). Download the free Tavour app today and get $10 in beer money with code “brewing”. Clarion Lubricants (https://www.clarionlubricants.com): Clarion Lubricants, balancing barley and hops is your expertise, food-grade lubricants is ours. The team at Clarion knows that when it comes to making great beer, you’re the expert, and when it comes to supplying food-grade lubricants backed by service-oriented professionals, they're the experts. Clarion will work with you to create an efficient lubrication program that helps protect your brewery. To speak with an expert dial 1-855-MY-CLARION (855-692-5274) or visit clarionlubricants.com. Clarion Lubricants. The expert that experts trust. Brew Guru (https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/brew-guru/): Brew Guru, the free mobile app that alerts you to local discounts on beer, food, and homebrewing supplies! Created by the American Homebrewers Association, Brew Guru is your essential guide to brewing and drinking great beer. Start a 30-day free trial, no credit card info required, when you download Brew Guru for iPhone or Android.

16 Aug 20191h 9min

The Referend Bier Blendery uses its own mobile coolship and other people's breweries to create spontaneously fermented beers. In this episode, founder James Priest talks about process, pitfalls, and working in the elements and his relationship with farmers to secure the best produce possible. From pre-acidification methods, to using the right wood, Priest dives into his methodology. This episode is brought to you by: G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): As the brewing industry’s premier choice for glycol chilling, G&D Chillers has set the standard on quality, service, reliability and dedication to their customer’s craft. For 25 years G&D has led the way with innovative solutions for the craft brewing industry. Contact G&D Chillers today at 800.555.0973 or reach out online at Gdchillers.com. Mention Craft Beer and Brewing podcast and you’ll receive up to $1000 worth of glycol with the purchase of any new G&D chiller unit. Tavour (https://about.tavour.com): Tavour is the tastiest way to explore the world from the comfort of your home. Select delicious craft beers on the Tavour app that you cannot find in your area and get them delivered right to your door. It's not a beer of the month club where you end up with lagers you have to give to your grandpa. Download the free Tavour app today and get $10 in beer money with code “brewing”. Clarion Lubricants (https://www.clarionlubricants.com): Clarion Lubricants, balancing barley and hops is your expertise, food-grade lubricants is ours. The team at Clarion knows that when it comes to making great beer, you’re the expert, and when it comes to supplying food-grade lubricants backed by service-oriented professionals, they're the experts. Clarion will work with you to create an efficient lubrication program that helps protect your brewery. To speak with an expert dial 1-855-MY-CLARION (855-692-5274) or visit clarionlubricants.com. Clarion Lubricants. The expert that experts trust. Hops Direct (https://hopsdirect.com): Five generations of hops grown in Yakima Valley, Washington, sold directly from our farm to you. Skip the middleman, go for the farm fresh green! Our hops are harvested, processed and kept in cold storages here on our farm until shipping straight to you. Find 100+ domestic and imported varieties in Pellet and Leaf year-round on our website by the pound at wholesale pricing. Thanks for supporting family-owned - shopping small is a BIG deal. www.hopsdirect.com | info@hopsdirect.com | @hopsdirect

9 Aug 201955min

The brewing duo behind Festus, Missouri’s local brewpub-turned-stout factory share their thoughts on adding adjuncts to stouts, blending batches, parti-gyle brewing, and more. When he launched the business in 2011, Main & Mill cofounder Denny Foster had no idea they’d be bottling barrel-aged stouts that would be shipped around the country by zealous traders. The goal at that point was a standard local brewpub with great beer and great food—a place for locals to enjoy some pints and each others’ company. But by the time they opened in 2014 (delayed by a painful three year renovation of a historic building), the market had already changed. Foster, and head brewer Brandon Bischoff embarked on a two-pronged strategy of lower ABV beers on tap for their local audience and bigger, bolder bottled beers for a metro Saint Louis audience that craved imperial stouts. Here, they discuss what they’ve learned over the past few years fo brewing big beers on a very small pub system—building base recipes for big stouts, adding adjunct ingredients by using a keg as brink for high-intensity infusions then dosing the blend back into the main tank to achieve the perfect balance, using small-scale blending and beer specifically brewed for characteristics like body to tweak other batches, making the most of a small brew system by using the parti-gyle process to get more beers out of each mash, the importance of naming and descriptions in selling beer, using natural extracts along with natural ingredients to heighten aroma in flavored beers, and the arms race around stout body that’s forcing brewers to rethink the balance of drinkability. “We’re still trying to find that happy medium,” says Foster, “where people in the industry don’t say it’s thin, but it’s still able to be drinkable where you can also enjoy it, share, and not feel like your eyes are blown back because it’s essentially just a few points away from Hershey’s syrup. We’re always trying to figure that out.” Note- at approximately the 23 minute mark, Foster intended to say that Ethiopian coffee was more prototypical “coffee” flavor, as opposed to the more fruity and acidic Guatemalan coffee. This episode is brought to you by: G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): As the brewing industry’s premier choice for glycol chilling, G&D Chillers has set the standard on quality, service, reliability and dedication to their customer’s craft. For 25 years G&D has led the way with innovative solutions for the craft brewing industry. Contact G&D Chillers today at 800.555.0973 or reach out online at Gdchillers.com. Mention Craft Beer and Brewing podcast and you’ll receive up to $1000 worth of glycol with the purchase of any new G&D chiller unit. Tavour (https://about.tavour.com): Tavour is the tastiest way to explore the world from the comfort of your home. Select delicious craft beers on the Tavour app that you cannot find in your area and get them delivered right to your door. It's not a beer of the month club where you end up with lagers you have to give to your grandpa. Download the free Tavour app today and get $10 in beer money with code “brewing”. Ska Fabricating (https://skafabricating.com):Ska Fabricating is the craft industry’s leading choice for packaging line automation. Specializing in depalletizing, repalletizing, conveyance, rinsing, drying, fill detection and date coding, Ska Fab has over 600 installations in breweries, wineries, and distilleries worldwide. With a reliable team of engineers dedicated to fast, reliable customer service, you can count on us to provide systems custom tailored for your specific needs. Contact Ska Fab today at (970) 403-8562 or reach out online at skafabricating.com. Clarion Lubricants (https://www.clarionlubricants.com): Clarion Lubricants, balancing barley and hops is your expertise, food-grade lubricants is ours. The team at Clarion knows that when it comes to making great beer, you’re the expert, and when it comes to supplying food-grade lubricants backed by service-oriented professionals, they're the experts. Clarion will work with you to create an efficient lubrication program that helps protect your brewery. To speak with an expert dial 1-855-MY-CLARION (855-692-5274) or visit clarionlubricants.com. Clarion Lubricants. The expert that experts trust.

2 Aug 20191h 4min

When you’re more than 2,000 miles from the nearest country there’s a tendency to rely on all things local. That’s what Batch Brewing Co., a Sydney, Australia brewery has in mind when it is creating recipes. From supporting local maltsters to getting the pick of Southern Hemisphere hops, cofounder Chris Sidwa talks about why he’s happy to stay local and what that can mean for the overall health of his business. An American who moved down under a decade ago and is now back on his native soil, he talks about brewery growth, burnout, and how owning a business can take a toll on creativity. How can brewery owners keep that creative spark alive among all the paperwork? It might be a return to their roots. This episode is brought to you by: G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): As the brewing industry’s premier choice for glycol chilling, G&D Chillers has set the standard on quality, service, reliability and dedication to their customer’s craft. For 25 years G&D has led the way with innovative solutions for the craft brewing industry. Contact G&D Chillers today at 800.555.0973 or reach out online at Gdchillers.com. Mention Craft Beer and Brewing podcast and you’ll receive up to $1000 worth of glycol with the purchase of any new G&D chiller unit. Tavour (https://about.tavour.com): Tavour is the tastiest way to explore the world from the comfort of your home. Select delicious craft beers on the Tavour app that you cannot find in your area and get them delivered right to your door. It's not a beer of the month club where you end up with lagers you have to give to your grandpa. Download the free Tavour app today and get $10 in beer money with code “brewing”. Clarion Lubricants (https://www.clarionlubricants.com): Clarion Lubricants, balancing barley and hops is your expertise, food-grade lubricants is ours. The team at Clarion knows that when it comes to making great beer, you’re the expert, and when it comes to supplying food-grade lubricants backed by service-oriented professionals, they're the experts. Clarion will work with you to create an efficient lubrication program that helps protect your brewery. To speak with an expert dial 1-855-MY-CLARION (855-692-5274) or visit clarionlubricants.com. Clarion Lubricants. The expert that experts trust. PakTech (http://www.paktech-opi.com): PakTech delivers the highest quality and most environmentally responsible packaging handles to the craft beer industry. PakTech handles are made from 100% post-consumer recycled material and are repurposed from recycled milk jugs. In addition, they are also 100% recyclable. PakTech recently launched its own recycling program to ensure PakTech handles are properly recycled and repurposed. They are easy to apply by hand or increase your packaging efficiency with their robust line of automated applicators. PakTech’s packaging solutions deliver better market presence, enhanced consumer value, environmental awareness, and improved sales. PakTech handles are the smart and sustainable packaging choice. Contact PakTech today at 541.461.5000 and visit at www.paktech-opi.com

26 Juli 201946min