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Writer Kenny Gould got his start with beer by running a tasting club in college. He was passionate about the subject so it remained on his mind after he graduated and moved to New York to work for Gear Patrol magazine. In his spare time, Kenny and a friend developed the concept for Hop Culture. In the beginning, the goals were simple, a place to post their articles about beer. A basic blog. But the idea quickly grew from there, developing into a daily online lifestyle magazine for craft beer enthusiasts as well as a seller of custom beer merchandise and host of craft beer festivals across the country.Before COVID hit, Hop Culture planned to host a dozen fests around the country in 2020. But the pandemic grounded those plans. After running the business for four years and in the midst of a pandemic, Kenny made a key realization that many reluctant or unexpected founders fail to appreciate: he wasn’t built to scale his own business. He preferred working on the creative aspects of the business. So he decided it was time to find a partner. So in late 2020, Kenny found one in Next Glass, parent company of Untappd, Beer Advocate, and Ozner. Kenny recently moved back to his hometown of Pittsburgh from New York City, another pandemic influenced decision. At Next Glass, Kenny is now the creative director for the company’s growing list of brands, including one time competitor Beer Advocate. In this role, Kenny helps direct branding for Untappd and BA as well as for Untappd’s business clients as well as continuing Hop Culture’s successful event and merchandising elements.  In our conversation, we discuss Next Glass’s plans for the future, including its direct to consumer plays, and where he hopes the company’s brands go. We also discuss our mutual love of Pittsburgh and its distinctive beer scene. For more information on the Beer Edge Podcast, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge. And visit Beer Edge for more articles and engaging content.Host: Andy CrouchGuests: Kenny GouldTags: beer, craft beer, Kenny Gould, Untappd, Beer Advocate, Next Glass, Pittsburgh craft beerSponsor: Arryved - Facebook: @arryved - Instagram: @arryved - Twitter: @arryved_pos 

One of the best parts of covering the beer industry is watching fresh new voices enter the space. The craft beer industry has long suffered from a tendency to highlight the same people over and over again and beer media is no different. We in the beer press tend to group around well-known individuals and help elevate their thoughts and opinions while failing to dig deeper to hear from others. It’s a known issue and one we need to work to change. Also, such myopia deprives us of the new experiences and perspectives that others can bring to the table. It’s like drinking the same, staid Amber Ale forever. Having the occasional one is great but is that really how we want to live our shared lives?Samer Khudairi certainly qualifies as one of those new voices. Based here in my home city of Boston, Samer has worked with breweries such as Jack’s Abby on its digital marketing efforts. He’s also a writer who covers design, music, action sports, and craft beer. It’s the last of those that caught my attention, including a long form piece exploring his own Iraqi family’s unlikely history with brewing. He’s also written lovely, intricate profiles of quirky beer industry personalities, such as Chris Lively of Ebenezer's Pub in Maine.As you’ll hear in this wide ranging discussion, Samer is excited and passionate about craft beer, as interested in the business side of the industry as he is with the art and charm of the product itself. He’s a little excited and giddy about craft beer but also with a clear focus on what is important. And while we’ve never met in person, he’s an engaging personality and someone I’m excited to have beers with when we get on the other side of the pandemic.For more information on the Beer Edge Podcast, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge. And visit Beer Edge for more articles and engaging content.Host: Andy CrouchGuests: Samer KhudairiTags: beer, craft beer, Samer Khudairi, Boston craft beer Sponsors: Arryved - Facebook: @arryved - Instagram: @arryved - Twitter: @arryved_pos and Bolide Communications 

This week we're catching up with Chalonda and Nik White to check out the Chicago beer scene that they both represent so well. Chalonda White represents one of the freshest voices on craft beer. And her husband Nik White is an old school Chicago beer guy. Together, this dynamic husband and wife squad are helping push the craft beer community forward. From her Afro Beer Chick handle on Twitter, Chalonda spits fire and truth, celebrating the breweries and beers that she loves while also keeping the industry honest with her unique brand of speaking the truth. In addition to her strong social media game, Chalonda also lights up audio channels with her own podcast, This Chick Talks Beer, which often highlights and promotes Black owned and operated breweries. In addition to talking about topics that are rarely covered in the beer world, such as sex and marriage, she also dishes on a wide range of serious social issues, ranging from sexual harassment to racial discrimination. Her contributions to the beer space are powerful and a bright spot for the future. Chalonda founded the Chicago chapter of Girls Pint Out,  a national craft beer organization that seeks to build a community of women who love craft beer. Many in the beer industry got to know Chalonda when in September of 2019, she received a message, filled with racist and sexist vitriol, including three uses of the N-word, and telling her that she had no business writing about beer. Most people would be forgiven for responding with expletives to such a racist troll, but Chalona took a different approach, writing “Well you seem so upset ... wanna have a beer and a discussion? I can’t take you serious when you hide behind technology.”Her experience led to the creation of the powerful #IAmCraftBeer hashtag, that cascaded across social media with selfies and bios from people across the globe reminding us of the incredible diversity in craft beer. It was a beautiful moment in the face of naked bigotry. And Chalonda continues to move the conversation forward every day and week in her channels. I’ve known Chalonda’s husband, Nik, for probably a decade or more. I’m from Chicago and whenever I would be back visiting, I’d hit up some local beer bars or breweries. And nine times out of ten, I’d run into Nik at some point. He was like an unofficial ambassador in the Chicago craft beer scene and it was always great to catch up and have a few beers. Nik is a co-founder of Chicago Beer Geeks, which is a site dedicated to promoting beer events and locations around Chicago and surrounding suburbs. He also runs Chicago Beer Pass and the long-running podcast of the same name with his partner Brad, where they do deep dives into their favorite Chicago breweries and beers. By my mind, there are no two better people to catch up with to hear what’s happening in my hometown.For more information on the Beer Edge Podcast, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge. And visit Beer Edge for more articles and engaging content.Host: Andy CrouchGuests: Chalonda and Nik WhiteTags: beer, craft beer, Chalonda White, Nik White, Afro Beer Chick, Chicago Beer Pass, Chicago craft beer Sponsors: Arryved - Facebook: @arryved - Instagram: @arryved - Twitter: @arryved_pos and Bolide Communications 

We start today with writer, editor, and my friend, Ben Keene, the former editor of Beer Advocate Magazine. Founded in 2007, BeerAdvocate Magazine went on to become one of the beer industry’s best publications. And to be sure, I’m a little biased. I wrote a monthly column for the magazine for more than a decade. In more than 130 columns, I wrote about my love of lager, the rise and fall and rise again of extreme brewing, and about all the little idiosyncrasies that make the craft beer industry the colorful place that it is. And for five of those years, I was fortunate enough to have Ben Keene edit my work. Ben moved out to Seattle a few years ago and Beer Advocate Magazine quietly faded from existence. He had a kid and spends a lot of time, as I do, balancing the joys and challenges of parenting and the rigors of trying to write words about beer during a pandemic. The loss of Beer Advocate Magazine, while sad, has given Ben the opportunity to write more. He regularly contributes to VinePair, Sip Magazine, Craft Beer and Brewing, and many others. We discuss some of his recent articles in our conversation and hear about how the Seattle beer scene has fared in the past year.For more information on the Beer Edge Podcast, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge. And visit Beer Edge for more articles and engaging content.Host: Andy CrouchGuest: Ben KeeneTags: beer, craft beer, Ben Keene, Seattle Beer, Beer AdvocateSponsors: Arryved - Facebook: @arryved - Instagram: @arryved - Twitter: @arryved_pos and Bolide Communications 

Old pals John Holl, Neil Witte, Carla Jean Lauter, Josh Noel, and Andy Crouch get together to discuss 2020, the year that wasn't. This is part 2 of the conversation.For more information on the Beer Edge Podcast, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge. There is more information, articles, and engaging content at Beer Edge. Host: Andy Crouch Guests: Neil Witte, Carla Jean Lauter, Josh Noel, and John Holl Tags: beer, craft beer, Portland Beer, Neil Witte, Carla Jean Lauter, Josh Noel Sponsor: Arryved - Facebook: @arryved - Instagram: @arryved - Twitter: @arryved_pos

Looking back on 2020, one of the things I miss most is getting together with other folks in the beer industry, trading gossip and news, arguing a bit, and laughing over beers. Back in March, right before the long quarantine set in, my partner John Holl and I traveled up to Portland, Maine to speak at a beer conference. On the night before the conference, John and I hit up some of our favorite breweries around Portland, including Allagash where we ran into draft beer genius and longtime industry stalwart, Neil Witte, who was also speaking the next day. We headed back into town, where we met up with fellow beer writer, Carla Jean Lauter, at Novare Res. We debated, argued, and celebrated beer for hours before retiring to a local dive bar for round after round of karaoke. It turned out to the last real night out that any of us have had this year. In this conversation, John and I get the gang back together, with Neil and Carla joining us. We’ve also invited our buddy Josh Noel of the Chicago Tribune back on the show. Josh is the author of the excellent, Barrel Aged Stout and Selling Out about the sale of Goose Island to Anheuser-Busch InBev. Folks, Christmas is coming up and this book makes a great holiday gift for your loved ones. Carla is a beer writer based just outside of Portland, Maine, and the creator of the Is This Beer Name Idea Ok?, a flowchart that may save your brewery some serious social media fallout. And Neil is a Master Cicerone, a former Draft Quality Ambassador for the Brewers Association, and independent draft specialist and owner of TapStar.We'll have part two of this conversation available in our next episode.For more information on the Beer Edge Podcast, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge. There is more information, articles, and engaging content at Beer Edge. Host: Andy Crouch Guests: Neil Witte, Carla Jean Lauter, Josh Noel, and John Holl Tags: beer, craft beer, Portland Beer, Neil Witte, Carla Jean Lauter, Josh Noel Sponsor: Arryved - Facebook: @arryved - Instagram: @arryved - Twitter: @arryved_pos

Welcome to the second and final episode of the Beer Edge extended interview with Peter Bissell of Bissell Brothers Brewing in Portland, Maine. If you haven’t heard the first episode, I’d recommend going back and giving it a listen. With that said, you can also just listen to this one. Do whatever works for you.In the first episode, we talked with Pete about hockey, his relationship with his younger brother and partner Noah, and how their shared vision for the Bissell Brothers business developed and evolved over time.In this episode, we dig a little deeper and wax a bit more philosophical about business, beer, and life. Bissell discusses his influences, both in the beer industry and business in general, the importance of having one thousand true fans, and why it’s important that some people hate you. Pete is an avid consumer of books on business and philosophy and he’s prioritized a rare combination of introspection and regularly taking in the view from 30,000 feet. The beer business moves quickly, even before COVID. Pivoting, responding, keeping your head down and grinding is the everyday reality for nearly every brewery owner. Too few take much time to consider their circumstances and consider how and whether to change them For more information on the Beer Edge Podcast, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge. There is more information, articles, and engaging content at Beer Edge. Host: Andy Crouch Guest: Peter Bissell Tags: beer, craft beer, Maine craft beer, Bissell Brothers Brewing, Peter Bissell Sponsor: Arryved - Facebook: @arryved - Instagram: @arryved - Twitter: @arryved_pos

On this episode of the Beer Edge podcast, with Peter Bissell of Bissell Brothers Brewing, one of the beer industry’s most interesting voices. Founded in 2013, with a mission to change people's perceptions of what beer and the beer experience can be, while always staying dedicated to its home state of Maine, the Bissell brothers were unlikely owners of a craft brewery. As you’ll hear, Noah, who runs the technical and brewing side of the business, was only 21 years old when he pitched his older brother Peter, who runs the business and marketing sides of the operation, to open the brewery. In this first episode of a two part series, we go deeper with co-founder Peter Bissell to capture more of the essence of Bissell Brothers and explore Peter’s engaging and introspective business philosophy. For more information on the Beer Edge Podcast, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge. There is more information, articles, and engaging content at Beer Edge. Host: Andy Crouch Guest: Peter Bissell Tags: beer, craft beer, Maine craft beer, Bissell Brothers Brewing, Peter Bissell Sponsor: Arryved - Facebook: @arryved - Instagram: @arryved - Twitter: @arryved_pos

Welcome back to the Beer Edge podcast. In last week's episode, we talked with Joey Redner of the Cigar City Brewing Company about his origin story, what got him into beer, and the state of the beer scene in Florida when he started his brewery. If you haven’t listened to that episode, I’d recommend pausing this one and going back and giving it a listen.  In part two of the interview this week, we explore how Redner started to think about Cigar City’s future and what gave him second thoughts about navigating it alone. We go into detail about his thought process leading up to the sale of his brewery, his interactions with Anheuser-Busch and why that deal didn’t go through, and why going deeper into debt scared him. Redner tells us how the brewery eventually got so big that it grew beyond both his talents and interests. He always envisioned running a small, innovative brewery. And Cigar City was no longer a tiny operation. We also talk about Redner’s thoughts on the evolution of the American craft beer industry, how it has changed and changed him, his love of classic beer styles, how he hopes that Dunkel becomes the next rage.  It bears repeating that this interview was recorded about a year ago, long before the pandemic. But it remains a pretty compelling listen. Here’s the second half of our conversation with Joey Redner.  For more Beer Edge Podcast or to check out Beer Edge: The Newsletter for Beer Professionals, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge and subscribe to our beer industry focused newsletter. There is more information, articles, and engaging content at Beer Edge. Host: Andy Crouch  Guest: Joey Redner of Cigar City Brewing  Tags: Beer, Craft Beer, Florida, Anheuser-Busch, Cigar City Brewing Sponsor: Arryved - Facebook: @arryved - Instagram: @arryved - Twitter: @arryved_pos

Before Cigar City Brewing got its start in 2009, the beer scene in Florida was a shell of its current self. There were a couple dozen small brewpubs largely scattered in tourist areas around the state. And the quality of beer was, well, enough to drive you to buy Michelob Amber Bock and Yuengling. In the midst of all of the middling amber and brown ales served in local brewpubs, one local beer geek dreamed of something more. At the time, Joey Redner was writing a beer column for a local newspaper in Tampa. He had a passion for beer but his options were pretty limited on the gulf side of Florida. But as you will hear, with the support and encouragement of his father, Joe Redner, Joey took the blind leap into opening a small brewery in a state that didn’t seem to care about flavorful beer. The timing couldn’t have been better. Craft beer was continuing its march across the country and with so many craft beer loving northerners visiting Florida in the winter months, there seemed like a natural base to build on until the locals came around. Despite some initial reluctance, those locals did see the light. After opening, Joey had to send beer to New York and Philly to make sales. But pretty quickly, Cigar City retrenched in St Pete and Tampa and started to go deep in the local scene.And Joey discovered a knack for capturing the attention, passion, and ultimately the dollars of craft beer geeks. The annual Hunahpu’s Day became a must attend event for beer geeks and helped influence the modern day ticker/trader movement. In 2016, Redner faced a crossroads in determining how to manage the fast growing brewery’s future. His decision shocked many in the beer industry: he would sell the brewery to Oskar Blues Brewery and Fireman’s Capital. In this interview, Joey goes into great detail about the events leading up to the sale, including his unrequited flirtations with Anheuser-Busch, and what convinced him to sell. To tell the story of the godfather of craft beer in Florida, now one of the nation’s most engaging beer scenes, we’re spreading it out over two episodes. In this first episode, we start with the early days of Cigar City and work our way up to just before the sale. In the next episode, we’ll talk in detail about the sale, how the brewery moved forward, and what the future holds for both Joey and Cigar City.For more information on the Beer Edge Podcast, or to check out Beer Edge: The Newsletter for Beer Professionals, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge and subscribe to our beer industry focused newsletter. There is more information, articles, and engaging content at Beer Edge.Hosts: Andy CrouchGuests: Joey RednerTags: beer, craft beer, Joey Redner, Cigar City Brewing, Florida beerSponsor: Arryved - Facebook: @arryved - Instagram: @arryved - Twitter: @arryved_pos

Here's a piece of advice: find someone who talks about you the way Theresa McCulla talks about Charlie Papazian’s brewing spoon. As the curator for the American Brewing History Initiative at the National Museum of American History in Washington, DC, McCulla spends her time trying to capture modern American brewing history and manifesting it for the viewing public to experience and learn from. Yes, McCulla is a beer historian but she’s already heard all of your jokes. She’s got the greatest job in the world. She must drink beer all day long. How can you get her gig? One way to do it is through more than a decade of dedicated study and scholarship at Harvard. When the Smithsonian hired her in 2017, a bit of a media whirlwind followed, replete with good-natured ribbing and laughs about the position. But McCulla’s work provides a critical and much needed understanding of “how Americans have used material and visual culture to define race, ethnicity, and gender, especially in the realm of food and drink.” Specifically in her work as curator of the American Brewing History Initiative, McCulla collects objects, documents, and oral histories from the “talented women and men who make the American brewing industry the most creative in the world,” as she notes. This includes selecting and preserving key or curious items from American craft brewing history, including Papazian’s homebrewing paraphernalia. Contained in a museum that also displays Julia Child’s full kitchen, the American Brewing History Initiative is the first national-scale, scholarly effort to collect the histories of homebrewing and craft beer in the 20th and 21st-century United States.Breweries in other countries have long made it a practice of preserving their beer histories. And while the biggest American breweries typically have private archives that are rarely open even to scholars, smaller craft breweries haven’t given much if any thought that what they were doing would be of interest to historians. McCulla is trying to change that mindset by collecting and displaying some of the industry’s historic items.In our wide-ranging conversation, McCulla talks about homebrewing with her dad when she was a kid. We also discuss the importance of taking a broader approach to the history of beer and brewing in America, one told through a very different lens than what you usually read in modern beer histories. And we talk about what a museum based historian does when her museum is closed for months due to a pandemic. For more information on the Beer Edge Podcast, or to check out Beer Edge: The Newsletter for Beer Professionals, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge and subscribe to our beer industry focused newsletter. There is more information, articles, and engaging content at Beer Edge. Hosts: Andy Crouch Guests: Theresa McCulla Tags: beer, craft beer, Theresa McCulla, National Museum of American History, American Brewing History Initiative, Charlie Papazian

Garrett Oliver has been on a bit of a media blitz in recent months following his announcement of the formation of the Michael Jackson Foundation for Brewing and Distilling. The foundation, as you will hear, will fund technical education and career advancement opportunities for black, indigenous, and people of color in the brewing and distilling industries. Oliver is obviously well-known as the long-time Brewmaster of the Brooklyn Brewery. And in that role he has seen the beer industry change and evolve in amazing ways. He’s also seen it stay the same in some troubling others. Oliver stands in a unique position in the craft beer industry at this point in time. In one sense, he is a statesman for flavorful beer, one of its longtime and most popular advocates. He is a renowned author, a frequent speaker and teacher at events around the globe, and a James Beard award winner. In another, he is routinely one of the only Black people to be found at industry events, even those that have thousands of attendees. Lately, Oliver has been ruminating on the topic and he has a lot to say. During his many recent media interviews, Oliver has frequently noted that in his decades at Brooklyn, he had never had a black person apply for a brewing job there. At first, the line strikes you as a bit shocking. But after a few moments of reflection, you start to winder, “How is that possible?” Never had a single application? How did Brooklyn Brewery, located in one of the most diverse places on earth, let that go on for so long? It’s a question that Oliver is still grappling with and he discusses the issue at length in this interview. He also grapples with the criticism that his high standards, which require a formal brewing education for brew side staff, has served as a restrictive force, an act of gate keeping that kept out Black applicants. And while you will hear him contemplate the subject, you’re not going to hear him apologize for reaching for excellence in his staffing. In this interview, Oliver takes us all the way back to the beginning, talking about his upbringing in Hollis, Queens, and where he developed his special relationship with food. We also discuss the state of beer journalism, his thoughts on Dave Infante’s article on Black people in the beer industry that we discussed on last week’s podcast, and his plans for the Michael Jackson Foundation.For more information on the Beer Edge Podcast, or to check out Beer Edge: The Newsletter for Beer Professionals, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge and subscribe to our beer industry focused newsletter. There is more information, articles, and engaging content at Beer Edge. Hosts: Andy Crouch Guests: Garrett Oliver Tags: beer, craft beer, Garrett Oliver, Michael Jackson Foundation. beer journalism, Dave Infante, Brooklyn Brewery

Writer Dave Infante spent nearly a decade cranking out articles on a wide range of topics for Thrillist, from the best Snapchat filters to why he only packs dirty clothes when he’s traveling. He also wrote a lot about craft beer. For his work on this latter topic, Infante won two James beard awards. He’s not an inside baseball craft beer writer. He’s not a fan boy or a zealot. Instead, he’s a self-trained reporter, a teller of colorful and poignant stories. He has a keen eye for an interesting story and has the ability to get out and cover all the angles. He has an engaging voice and a casual but pulsating style that draws you in. He’s also a funny and entertaining interview.Infante has also written for the New York Times, the Guardian, and Huffington Post. But it was his work for Thrillist that gained him notice in the beer world. One article that he wrote in 2015, titled “There are almost no black people brewing craft beer. Here’s why.” netted him one of those Beard awards. That particular article has continued to reverberate around the craft beer world, including recently. It’s not usual that brewers remember something that a beer writer produces, but this particular piece stuck with Brooklyn Brewery Brewmaster Garrett Oliver who gently called out Infante by name in an Instagram post announcing the creation of the Michael Jackson Foundation for Brewing and Distilling. And in an unplanned twist, you’ll get to hear from both Infante and Oliver on back to back Beer Edge podcast episodes. They’ll discuss their interactions and opinions on the much heralded and challenged piece. Today we talk with Dave and next week we have Garrett on to discuss the Jackson Foundation and the Infante piece. Infante somewhat recently moved from New York City to Charleston, South Carolina. He landed a gig as a part time writer for the local paper, the Post and Courier, where he covered booze and the local restaurant and food scenes. When COVID hit, he got laid off and returned to freelancing. And he’s now out with a new email newsletter covering drinking culture, being online, and beyond. It’s called Fingers (he’ll explain why in the episode), which you can subscribe to at fingers.substack.com. Go subscribe. So far he’s covered serious issues, such as racial diversity and inclusion in the beer industry as well as his open letter application to become White Claw’s new chief of marketing.For more information on the Beer Edge Podcast, or to check out Beer Edge: The Newsletter for Beer Professionals, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge and subscribe to our beer industry focused newsletter. There is more information, articles, and engaging content at Beer Edge. Hosts: Andy Crouch Guests: Dave Infante, Fingers newsletter Tags: beer, craft beer, beer journalism, Dave Infante, Thrillist, Fingers, Garrett Oliver, Brooklyn Brewery

Julia Herz has been a passionate advocate for American craft brewers for nearly two decades. In her role as craft beer program director for the Brewers Association, Herz helped build public appreciation for craft beer all while helping to promote the interest of member breweries. She wrote a book on tasting beer, gave dozens of keynote addresses at conferences, and countless interviews to the media. Perhaps more than anyone else at the organization, Herz was the public face of the BA and by extension of craft brewers. That was until June 2020, when budget cuts at the BA resulted in Herz and many other longtime employees being laid off. Julia is smart, polished, and an effective voice for craft beer and breweries. And despite her departure, she has nothing but kind words for her former employer. In this interview, we discuss the early days of the BA, how it developed into the massive organization that it was in early 2020, and how the layoffs effected her and others. We also discuss the BA’s diversity and inclusion initiatives, her future plans, and whether she has any seltzer in her fridge. For more information on the Beer Edge Podcast, or to check out Beer Edge: The Newsletter for Beer Professionals, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge and subscribe to our beer industry focused newsletter. There is more information, articles, and engaging content at Beer Edge. Hosts: Andy Crouch Guests: Julia Herz, former Craft Beer Program Director for the Brewers Association Tags: beer, craft beer, Julia Herz, Brewers Association

Andy Crouch reads an essay on the importance of quality and independent beer journalism and the responsibility to ask people in power the tough questions. Then Beer Edge co-founder John Holl joins Andy for a chat about the state of the beer industry, the likely long term impacts of COVID-19, a rage of IP theft cases recently, and why we welcome seasonal creep when it comes to Oktoberfest beers. For more information on the Beer Edge Podcast, or to check out Beer Edge: The Newsletter for Beer Professionals, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge and subscribe to our beer industry focused newsletter. There is more information, articles, and engaging content at Beer Edge. Hosts: Andy Crouch and John Holl Guests: John Holl of Beer Edge  Tags: beer, craft beer, John Holl, Beer Edge

With his signature long hair, faded trucker hat, and baby face, Ben Howe could easily pass for a newbie assistant brewer, which is what he once was. You could also be forgiven for carding him before serving him a drink. Despite his youthful appearance, Ben has a long history of brewing experience under his belt. He has brewed with some of the world’s best, cutting his teeth under Will Meyers at Cambridge Brewing Company before opening his own short lived place, Enlightenment Ales. His brewing travels have taken him from Boston to the rural coast of Denmark and then to the West Coast and Wayfinder Beer in Portland, Oregon. For Ben, everything had been building to this moment. The one where he leveraged his years of hard work, training, and study to help open a place of his own. He and his wife and business partner Karolina were ready. And then COVID-19 hit. A pandemic definitely wasn’t in the business plan.Earlier this year, Ben and Karolina planned to open their new brewery and taproom, Otherlands Beer, in the town of Bellingham, Washington. COVID substantially delayed everything, from permitting to construction and sourcing necessary items as seemingly easy as hand soap. So Ben and Karolina built the taproom’s bar themselves. They brought in family to help paint and finish other odds and ends. They stressed over everything, from the small to the substantial. After COVID delayed their target opening date of early Spring, Otherlands finally opened to the public in late June.Ben is supremely dedicated to the science of making better beer. He’s constantly seeking to improve himself and his craft. We spoke with Ben a few weeks back, before Otherlands opened, and you can hear the anxiety and concern of the unknown in his voice. If you’ve ever wondered who would dare open a new brewery in the midst of all this chaos, let us introduce you to Ben Howe of Otherlands Beer. For more information on the Beer Edge Podcast, or to check out Beer Edge: The Newsletter for Beer Professionals, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge and subscribe to our beer industry focused newsletter. There is more information, articles, and engaging content at Beer Edge. Hosts: Andy Crouch and John Holl Guests: Ben Howe, CEO of Otherlands Beer Tags: beer, craft beer, Ben Howe, Otherlands Beer

As brewers work to figure out how to survive until a time when their operations can return to full business, the trade organization that represents them is also feeling the pain. Based in Boulder, Colorado, the Brewers Association represents more than 5600 US breweries and nearly 50,000 homebrewers, the allied trade, beer wholesalers, retailers, and other individuals. Its mission is to promote and protect American craft brewers, their beers, and the community of brewing enthusiasts.And the person in charge of the entire association is Bob Pease (P-E-A-S). Bob has worked for the BA for nearly thirty years, helping run its operations before ascending to the vice president and chief operating officers position. In 2014, following the retirement of founder and longtime leader Charlie Papazian, Bob took over as CEO of the Brewers Association. In that role, he has helped the BA substantially grow its revenue, largely from events such as the Craft Brewers Conference and the Great American Beer Festival, but also by expanding membership. In his tenure, the BA has grown to become a nearly $30 million association. And its efforts on behalf of trade members and craft beer fans have grown substantially, including ramped up lobbying efforts in Congress and across state legislatures, broader craft beer education programs, and online. The coronavirus has not spared the BA. With the cancellation of its signature events, CBC and GABF, comes the loss of a substantial portion of the association’s revenue. And with the virus continuing to rage and in person large scale events unlikely to return any time soon, Bob and the BA’s board of directors have had to make some very tough decisions. The BA has undertaken two rounds of staff layoffs including several very well-known individuals such as Julia Herz and Acacia Coast, among others. And Bob and the BA are having to plan for a very different future than they expected. In our lengthy conversation, Bob walks us through the BA’s decision to cancel the CBC, what the association plans to focus on in the future now that its revenue has been slashed, he goes into detail about the hiring of beverage attorney Marc Sorini and he discusses the criticism that he has received from some members of the beer media for their coverage of this hiring at a time of other staff layoffs. Bob has also been the focal point for some criticism on social media for the BA’s handling of issues relating to diversity, inclusion, and racial justice. We spend a lot of time in the episode asking Bob some tough questions about the BA’s own diversity efforts, whether the BA should kick out breweries that have a demonstrated history of racist or otherwise objectionable behavior, and whether he believes the craft beer industry is inclusive. For more information on the Beer Edge Podcast, or to check out Beer Edge: The Newsletter for Beer Professionals, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge and subscribe to our beer industry focused newsletter. There is more information, articles, and engaging content at Beer Edge. Hosts: Andy Crouch and John Holl Guests: Bob Pease, CEO of the Brewers Association Tags: beer, craft beer, Bob Pease, Brewers Association

Hard core craft beer fans like to talk about the first names club in craft beer. The reference often applies to so-called rock star brewers who have become relatively famous among a sub set of craft beer enthusiasts. These names include Jim, Sam, Garrett, Tomme, and Vinnie among others. The list is almost always male, reflecting the long term tilt of focus in this largely male dominated beer industry. And that’s unfortunate. Because looking a little closer reveals a strong contingent of women who should also qualify for first name status: Mariah, Carol, Kim, and Lauren, among many others. And there is one more name that certainly deserves inclusion: Natalie. Namely, Natalie Cilurzo, the president of Russian River Brewing in Santa Rosa, California.Natalie is a long time industry veteran who has run Russian River with her husband Vinnie since 2003. While Vinnie gets a lot of the public love, Natalie runs the day to day operations and controls the business side of the brewery, which has grown considerably from its origins as a small pub in downtown Santa Rosa. In 2018, she and the Russian River team completed her dream brewery, opening a massive new production facility in Windsor. She is the recipient of the Brewers Association Recognition Award, which is presented each year to an individual or company whose inspiration, enthusiasm, and support have contributed to the craft brewing movement. In her work as a long time member of the California Craft Brewers Association, including two years as chair, she has a macro level view of the state of the craft beer industry in the nation’s biggest brewery state. In our discussion, we of course talk Pliny, how she and Vinnie thought they might lose their brewery to COVID-19, and how the industry still has work to do on issues of diversity and inclusion. For more information on the Beer Edge Podcast, or to check out Beer Edge: The Newsletter for Beer Professionals, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge and subscribe to our beer industry focused newsletter. There is more information, articles, and engaging content at Beer Edge. Hosts: Andy Crouch and John Holl Guests: Natalie Cilurzo, the co-founder of Russian River Brewing Tags: beer, craft beer, Russian River Brewing, Pliny

On this episode of the Beer Edge podcast, Andy Crouch speaks with Greg Avola, the co-founder of Untappd, the leading beer ratings app. Founded in 2010, Untappd jettisoned any pretenses about beer and simply presented users with a location based social networking service that allowed them to check in beers and share them with friends. Untappd’s early focus on an app instead of a flashy website presaged the dominance of cell phone based beer ratings in a way that its competitors never fully embraced. Untappd didn’t need thousands of hard core beer geeks posting lengthy beer review screeds or tapping out long posts in internet chat forums. Instead, it focused its efforts on developing and improving its app, drawing in millions of users in the process. Back in the days when you could visit a bar, it was a pretty common sight to watch someone, whether alone or with friends, quietly tapping away at the familiar yellow hued app. Searching for the beer they were drinking, tagging the location, maybe adding a photo, and clicking on the number of bottle caps out of five that they gave the beer. In the process, users earned badges as a fun way of marking their progress and in a way almost gamifying the beer drinking process.Untappd has come in for plenty of criticism over the years, often from brewers steaming over a negative review. Others decry the so-called “ticker” culture where pubgoers spend more time on their phones checking in beers than interacting with others around them. Putting the criticisms aside though, Untappd is undoubtedly a force in the beer industry. And this once tiny upstart has now pretty clearly won the beer ratings site wars. It even now owns BeerAdvocate, which it purchased earlier this year.Crouch recently spoke with co-founder Greg Avola about the development and history of Untappd, how he and his partners navigated the early days and secured funding and support for its substantial growth, and how COVID-19 has impacted its plans for 2020 and the future. For more information on the Beer Edge Podcast, or to check out Beer Edge: The Newsletter for Beer Professionals, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge and subscribe to our beer industry focused newsletter. There is more information, articles, and engaging content at Beer Edge. Hosts: Andy Crouch and John Holl Guests: Greg Avola, the co-founder of Untappd Tags: beer, craft beer, Untappd, beer ratings, Beer Advocate, Greg Avola

On this episode of the Beer Edge podcast, Andy Crouch speaks with Khris Johnson, the head brewer and co-founder of Green Bench Brewing in Saint Petersburg, Florida. Crouch first visited Green Bench shortly after they opened and he has made it back just about every year since then. The brewery produces a wide range of styles, ranging from totally classic to creatively innovative. And the space is just inviting. The star of the show is a multi use beer garden that welcomes the community to get together, converse, watch a movie, and enjoy each other's community. Indeed, a very different existence than today. On arriving, head brewer and co-owner Khris Johnson jumped behind the bar to start what would be a several minute long process of pouring Green Bench’s excellent take on the slow pour pils. Khris is a big presence, big smile, dripping with passion and thirst for knowledge. Having a hungry mind is one of the best compliments I can give a person. And Khris has an incredible hunger for knowledge about beer, business, and culture. He’s an engaging guy with plenty of stories and an unmitigated love of beer.  He and his co-owners also share a common passion for the city of St. Petersburg, which has quickly become one of the country’s fastest growing beer cities. Green Bench is a complicated place, down to the brewery’s name itself, and Khris is a multi-layered individual. The conversation covers a lot of ground and we can only fit about half of it into this episode. We hope you enjoy it as much as Andy did that pils.For more information on the Beer Edge Podcast, or to check out Beer Edge: The Newsletter for Beer Professionals, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge and subscribe to our beer industry focused newsletter. There is more information, articles, and engaging content at Beer Edge. Hosts: Andy Crouch and John Holl Guests: Khris Johnson, the co-founder and CEO of Green Bench Brewing Tags: beer, craft beer, Florida Beer, Green Bench Brewing, Khris Johnson