Beervana Podcast

Patrick and Jeff discuss the recent op-ed by Boston Beer's Jim Koch in the New York Times which sounds a warning about the future of craft beer in the face of consolidation among the macro brewers. Patrick discusses the economics behind anti-trust actions and gives his take on why the government has allowed consolidation. They discuss the plight of the mid-size brewers and ease some recent examples of beers from large craft brewers that are trying to cater to current trends.

Jeff and Patrick discuss Jeff's recent trip to Mexico where he got to learn about the craft beer scene in Mexico and interview Enrique Acevas brewer at Crveza Loba Artisinal in Guadalahara. They also taste beer made with lupulin power, a new hop product from Yakima Chief.

In the second part of this podcast, Jeff and Patrick are given a tour of the OSU Fermentation Science program's brewery by Tom Shellhammer and they meet up with Jeff Clawson, Pilot Brewery Manager. With Tom and Jeff, they taste some of the beers produced by fermentation science students and discuss brewing topics such as biotransformation.

Jeff and Patrick pay a visit to Tom Shellhammer, Nor'Wester Professor of Fermentation Science at Oregon State University, to talk all things beer but particularly to learn more about hops. Tom discusses the flavor and aroma compounds in hops, how he and his students at OSU study hops and how they test them both in labs and in practice.

Jeff and Patrick visit Imperial Organic Yeast to find out how yeast is produced, the changes in brewing yeasts, the yeast business and what it means to be organic. They interview Jess Caudill, Owen Lingley and Jason Stepper, the men behind Imperial.

Jeff and Patrick discuss the worth of superstar brewers, are they being paid their true value? They also take a look back at 2016 and look forward to 2017 in the word of beer.

Jeff and Patrick follow up their deep dive of lambics to explore the world of wild ales beyond Belgium. They pay special attention to the various ways wild ales are made outside of the constraints of lambic.

Patrick and Jeff return to Patrick's favorite topic: Beeronomics! They first talk about the evolution of U.S. breweries from over 4000 in the 19th century to 80 in the late 1970s to over 5000 today. Then they interview Nicole Fry, Managing Partner for First Beverage Group, about the spate of mergers and acquisitions and what makes a brewery an acquisition target. Finally they discuss scarcity in beer and Patrick opines on why it might be in a brewery's best interest to keep a popular beer scarce.

Jeff and Patrick solve the mystery of the lambic, the spontaneously fermented beer of Brussels. They talk to Frank Boon of Brouwerij Boon and Jean Van Roy of Cantillon about the process and art of lambic and describe the complex processes by which it is made.

Jeff and Patrick take a deep dive into Stock Ale - an historic beer style recently revived by beer historian Ron Pattinson and Goose Island. They discuss the history of the style, the process of reviving a dead style, and the process by which Pattinson and Goose Island re-created a version of Stock Ale. Includes interviews with Ron Pattinson and Mike Siegel, Goose Island Brewing Innovation Manager.