Host Ben Rice travels to Roseville, CA to sit down with Andy Klein, brewmaster and owner of the Monk's Cellar, to discuss their upcoming 10th anniversary (taking place October 15-19, 2024). Joining us on this journey is BJCP judge, softball star, and all-around badass Amber Dalske. We sip on some anniversary ales as well as the Monk's Cellar Festbier, since we recorded during their Oktoberfest celebration. Obviously, I am most excited for their final anniversary event, the return of FIRKINFEST! Which we discuss at length, sure, but you can also hear about body-changing saisons, harvesting yeas ..read more

Barley & Me host Ben Rice travels to Sacramento's New Helvetia Brewing to tag team owner Dave Gull with the fine fellows, the bombastic barbers, the jazzed-up joys Jason Dunn and Justin Williams of the A Little Off The Top Podcast. We'll crisscross topics like city planning, podcasting for profit, New Helvetia's new kitchen, and the best biscuits and gravy while also telling intense stories about best friends, power hours, and a dash of state-sanctioned insurance fraud. Plus! The ALOTTP interesting convenience store find of the week, vasectomies (and other dude stuff), and old Old Sacramen ..read more

Host Ben Rice travels to Fort Collins, CO, to continue Maltster May(hem) with Chris Schooley and Steve Clark of Troubadour Maltings and Carol & Tim Cochran of Horse & Dragon Brewing. We talk craft malt's humbling beginnings, coffee paparazzi, and hemorrhaging money in pursuit of your passion! Plus! Malt extraction processes and efficiencies, what "consistency" means in beer now, disgusting old roasts, the challenges of brewery ownership, and a surprising fact about the next generation of Fort Collins. All this and more, on episode 145 of Barley & Me. Enjoy! Find out more about Hors ..read more

Host Ben Rice travels to Rocklin, CA, to talk about the inaugural I Can Fight Cancer Brewfest with organizer/creator Steve Hayer, beertender at Moksa Brewing and co-founder of Sacramento Beer Enthusiasts. The brewfest is taking place on Saturday, October 5, 2024, at The Village Green Park in Rancho Cordova, from 1pm-5pm for VIPs and 2-5 for everyone else. This the bigger, better, more marketable version of Steve's initial project, F*** Cancer, which we discussed last year. In this episode, we talk about why this fundraiser is so important, who it helps, how it helps, and all the breweries that ..read more

Host Ben Rice travels to Elk Grove, CA, to talk to their newest brewery owner, Enrique Silva of Coatza Brewing, as well as Daniel Savala, partner in CervezaLandia, Sacramento's only bottle shop to focus Mexicano/Chicano-brewed beer. In addition to discussions on the culture itself and the rarity of these brewers/breweries, we also talk up the debut CervezaLandia pop-up beer festival and market, taking place Sunday, June 9, 2024, from 2-6pm at Cesar Chavez Park in Sacramento, which features 8 Mexicano/Chicano-owned breweries, arts and crafts, vendors, music, and more. You can find tickets on Ev ..read more

Host Ben Rice travels to Sacramento, CA, to sit down with Sacramento Area Brewers Guild president Chris Keeton (head brewer at Alaro) and vice president David Weiss (brewer at Blue Note) to talk about Sacramento Beer Week 2024 (happening April 26-May 5). We discuss this year's iteration of the Rising Together guild collaboration (among other things). In past years, it's been an IPA using certain ingredients, but this year, in honor of the Sacramento Brewers Showcase happening on Saturday May 4 (at Heart Health Park), they're honoring May the 4th Be With You, by letting breweries choose the Lig ..read more

Host Ben Rice travels to Rancho Cordova, CA, to sit down with the new owner of LogOff Brewing and longtime collaborator Kenny Terry, plus San Diego by way of Seattle by way of Uganda comedian Birungi Birungi. These three new(ish) fathers sit down to discuss parenting techniques, nearly dying while couch surfing, business ownership, and pursuing passions, while also finding time to drink an absolutely fabulous green tea Japanese rice lager and a killer new version of LogOff's Lazy Hazy Days IPA. Plus! Even more strange connections between us all, the oddities of axe throwing, beer pong, perhaps ..read more

Host Ben Rice travels to Sacramento, CA, to his favorite midtown bar, The Golden Bear, to recap 2023 over a bucket of Miller High Life (among other things) with friends and comedians Stephen Furey (@scubastevefurey), Emma Haney (@ehaneycomedy), and Alfonso Portela (@fonsitocaballito). We'll discuss the ups and downs of 2023, what we're looking forward to in 2024, and what is going on with Alfonso's head. Plus! Psoriasis, being 86'd, the closing of a hallowed comedy venue, the TikTokification of stand-up, and the worst pipelines in Sacramento. We're looking at a pretty solid 2024, y'all, so get ..read more

Host Ben Rice travels to Sacramento, CA, to pay yet another visit to New Helvetia Brewing. This time, he sits down with current owner Dave Gull to discuss New Helvetia's newly-announced move to a public co-operative model and their recent 11th anniversary (and Ben's secret lineup pop-up show at said anniversary party). While we do get into specifics about what the co-op model means for him, the company, its employees, the city of Sacramento, and potential members, first, we take our sweet-ass time getting there by wishing Dave a happy 50th birthday (because he was kind enough to sit down with ..read more

Host Ben Rice travels to Elk Grove, CA, to discuss Sacramento Beer Enthusiasts co-found Steve Hayer's fundraising campaign F Cancer, with Flatland Brewing owner Andrew Mohsenzadegan. Over pints of delicious Flatland beers, we discuss the reason Hayer started this campaign, how you can support it now and in the future, and the 4 F*** Cancer beer collaborations coming to the Sacramento area in October. This campaign goes to support local cancer-fighting charity Albie Aware. You can support by grabbing a collaboration pint at Urban Roots on October 7, at Flatland on October 14, at Claimstake on O ..read more