This is a special edition of This Week in Rauchbier as we celebrate Memorial Day Weekend 2023 with a visit to Camp Rauchbier. Recorded at Barrique Brewing and Blending in Nashville, Tennessee before a live and enthusiastic audience John Holl is joined by Spencer Longhurst in the co-host chair. Guests include Jack Hendler of Jack's Abby Craft Lagers and Khristopher Johnson of Green Bench Brewery. For more Drink Beer, Think Beer check out All About Beer. Hosts: John Holl and Spencer Longhurst Guests: Jack Hendler, Khristopher Johnson Tags: beer, craft beer, rauchbier, smoke, Memorial Day, Nas ..read more

A lively conversation over two beers with Vinnie Cilurzo recorded before a crowd at the 2023 Funk Fest in Nashville. Cilurzo talks about the relationship between wine and beer, dialing in acidity, and surprises and delights with pours of four-day-old Pliny the Elder. As one of the leading voices in hop-forward beers and proper barrel-aging he offers unparreled insights into what goes into making world class beer. For more Drink Beer, Think Beer check out All About Beer. Host: John Holl Guest: Vinnie Cilurzo Sponsors: All About Beer Tags: Beer, Wine, IPA, California, Acidity, Styles ..read more

This week on the show I’m glad to have Mary and Brian Rooney of BKS Artisan Ales in Brookside, Missouri. They are here to talk about consumer preferences, tinkering with styles, near endless choice, and the regionality of brewing. A few weeks ago I had the chance to meet and chat with them. They were pouring as part of the Little Beer Festival and we had a lot of fun batting around ideas while I learned about their brewing philosophy and approach to hospitality.      They opened BKS in 2017 and the name comes from the commonly used abbreviation of the brookside neighborhood of ..read more

A lot of the focus in beer today focuses on the now. There is a wealth of history that exists and on the show today I’m talking with Clint Lanier, the author of “Ted Mack and America's First Black Owned Brewery: The Rise and Fall of Peoples Beer.” There are some excellent history books about beer that exist in the world. Most will focus on broad categories, but there are some that do a deep dive into a single topic or person that really give us a sense of time, place, and purpose.    There are often lessons to be learned about where beer is today.    One such book is “Ted ..read more

The Craft Brewers Conference is an annual event that brings brewers from around the world into a selected city for a few days of education, equipment buying, and camaraderie.    Brewers have also been using the occasion to get together in advance to create and then release collaboration beers. One of the most ambitious – at least from what I’ve experienced in recent years – will be released on May 1 by Embrace the Funk, the wild and wooded side of Yazoo Brewing.    Brandon Jones, the brewer behind ETF called his friends – Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River, Jason Perkins of Al ..read more

It’s a love of lagers episode from four brewers that have fully embraced the traditions to the style and are working to have modern conversations in the space. You’ll hear from Bierstadt Lagerhaus, Bagby Beer, Heater Allen, and Cohesion Brewing. It was a beautiful weather day in Duluth, Georgia last weekend as Good Word Brewing put on its third Little Beer Festival. Todd DiMatteo, who you’ve heard on this show, hosted a celebration of low ABV lagers and ales from top-notch brewers from around the country.   The brewery has already set the date for Little Beer IV: Saturday April 13, 2024 ..read more

Is craft lager having a moment? It’s certainly gained popularity on taproom menus around the country and is showing us the diversity of styles and flavors that can be enjoyed in this category. But where does craft malt fit into these styles that are so driven by the flavors and functionality of malt?  This a special episode, recorded on location at the Craft Malt Conference that was recently held in Portland, Maine. It brings together three brewers from the Northeast to discuss their lager programs and how, when, and why they choose to use or not use craft malts in the development of the ..read more

Welcome to This Week in Rauchbier for April 1, 2023.   Our Brewers Roundtable goes deep into the smoke with Spencer Longhurst of Barrique Brewing & Blending, Logan Ackerley of Wallenpaupack Brewing, and Will Gomez of The Brew Bridge.   Then Bart Watson of the Brewers Association joins us to share the latest growth and success of Rauchbier in the marketplace.  Enjoy these audio smoky delights.  Thanks to Hagen and Bill for the inspiration to do this show. Hear the genesis of This Week in Rauchbier on episode 5 of Drink Beer, Think Beer. For more Drink Beer, Think Bee ..read more

A decade ago Zach Page and Nick Bonadies met as homebrewers who volunteered to help launch Trillium Brewing Company.   Zach, who handles a lot of the brewing responsibilities, moved to maine and worked at Lone Pine Brewing Company where he facilitated their expansion.    Nick, who now does a lot of marketing, naming, and other managerial responsibilities, stayed in Massachusetts for a while where coordinated Trillium's expansion projects.    Eventually they got back together professionally and brought their wives Melissa and Katie into the fold, with the four of them o ..read more

Wisconsin is one of those places that lives in the imaginations of Americans largely in the form of caricature. Full of cheese curd eating, beer loving, Harley riders, the state rarely gets the respect it deserves.  In reality, Wisconsin is all of those things and so much more. I grew up 90 minutes south of Milwaukee but it might as well have been a totally different country. Chicago is Midwestern in the way that non-alcoholic beer is beer, in name only.   Wisconsin, on the other hand, is pure Midwest. From Friday night fish frys to the homey environs of supper clubs and a relatively ..read more