Brewery Adventures

This week Joel from Brewery Travels joins me to talk about Bierstadt Lagerhaus and Denver breweries in general. My wife and I made a trip to Denver for Great American Beer Festival in 2023, and we enjoyed visiting many of the breweries in the Mile High City.

Joel and his family lived in Denver for a few months in 2022 and we discuss what the city means to the beer community as a whole.

Check out more Brewery Adventures ⁠here⁠.

You can follow Joel ⁠@BreweryTravels⁠.

This week I have a very special episode for you. Joel Geier from Brewery Travels and I met up in Louisville to record a live episode on site at Butchertown Brewing. It was the first visit for both of us to the brewery and we gave our full review and of course drank some beer.

Check out more Brewery Adventures here.

You can follow Joel @BreweryTravels. Brewery Adventures is brought to you by Rivalry Brews. Use code “BeersBeards10” on RivalryBrews.com for 10% off your order.

This week I travel to Youngstown, Ohio for a live episode at Penguin City Beer Co. Penguin City co-owner Aspacia Lyras-Bernacki joins me to discuss opening a massive brewery right in the heart of downtown earlier this year, and all of the fun things going on at the brewery including boxing and MMA events, weddings, beer releases, and more. DOPE Cider House & Winery is located in the same building as Penguin City, and DOPE owner Hannah Ferguson joins me as well to discuss her space. Hannah is the first Black female brewer in the state of Ohio and she has big growth plans for her brand.

Check out more Brewery Adventures here.

Brewery Adventures is brought to you by Rivalry Brews. Use code “BeersBeards10” on RivalryBrews.com for 10% off your order.

This week Joel Geier joins me to discuss Wisconsin's New Glarus Brewing Company. New Glarus was founded in the 1990s and they have grown into the 12th largest craft brewery in the country. They've won 33 medals at the Great American Beer Festival  and are generally regarded as one of the best breweries in the US.

Check out more Brewery Adventures here.

You can follow Joel @BreweryTravels. Brewery Adventures is brought to you by Rivalry Brews. Use code “BeersBeards10” on RivalryBrews.com for 10% off your order.

This week, I was on site at Fibonacci Brewing in the Mt. Healthy neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio, as two special guests joined me. First, Fibonacci co-owner Bob Bollas joined me to discuss the history of the brewery and their place in the Cincinnati craft beer scene.

Then, Diana Keller from the Keep Moving Forward Podcast joins me to discuss her podcast, as well as the upcoming release of her book, Stop Talking About the Weather. Diana is hosting multiple book release events at breweries around Cincinnati in the next two months.

Brewery Adventures is brought to you by Rivalry Brews. Use code "MMAMcKinney" on RivalryBrews.com for 10% off your order.

Craft breweries selling out to "big beer" has been happening for almost as long as long as craft beer has been a thing (check out a timeline here), and Stone Brewing is just the latest in a long line of favorites that did just that.

Stone Brewing was sold to Japanese brewer Sapporo for $165 million just a few weeks ago, and many in craft beer are still digesting the sale.

On this week's episode of Brewery Adventures, Joel Geier joins me to discuss Stone Brewing and breweries that sold out.

We talk a little about the history of Stone, from their beginnings in the 1990s as a fiercely loyal independent brewery to their multiple lawsuits protecting their brand in recent years. Along the way they built some incredible and memorable taprooms, including their locations in Escondido, San Diego, and Richmond. We discuss the locations that we've visited.

We also discuss the beer of course - Stone was a pioneer in bringing the West Coast style IPA to the masses across the country, and their "Arrogant Bastard" was the rude introduction to craft beer for a lot of young, brash drinkers.

We also discuss other craft breweries that "sold out" to the big boys, including breweries like Leinenkugel's dating all the way back to the 1980s. Of course Anheuser-Busch has been a big buyer of craft breweries, including their Goose Island purchase that sent shockwaves through the industry.

A few recent sellouts seem to have gotten passes as drinkers are less harsh on them than the others - we're talking about brands like Bell's, New Belgium, and Lagunitas among others. We discuss why we think some of these brands are still highly regarded while others seem to be put on the back burner.

We also discuss how we handle visiting these non-craft breweries when we plan trips for Brewery Adventures and Brewery Travels across the country. We've both been to multiple breweries that are no longer considered craft, and we attempt to explain our rationale.

Check out more Brewery Adventures here.

You can follow Joel @BreweryTravels. Brewery Adventures is brought to you by Rivalry Brews. Use code “MMAMcKinney” on RivalryBrews.com for 10% off your order.

This week, Kevin from Brewhahaing in Ohio join me to discuss the breweries from Athens, Ohio, including Jackie O's, Little Fish, and Devil's Kettle. We also discuss Ohio Brew Week, which happens in Athens every July. You can follow Kevin & Maria @brewhahaing_in_ohio. Brewery Adventures is brought to you by Rivalry Brews. Use code "MMAMcKinney" on RivalryBrews.com for 10% off your order.

Joel Geier joins me once again, this time to discuss Hershey, Pennsylvania's Tröegs Independent Brewing. Since being founded in 1996, Tröegs has been a fan favorite and is currently the 24th-largest craft brewery in the United States. You can follow Joel @BreweryTravels. Brewery Adventures is brought to you by Rivalry Brews. Use code "MMAMcKinney" on RivalryBrews.com for 10% off your order.

Joel Geier joins me once again, this time to discuss Chicago's Pilot Project Brewing, a brewery incubator. We also discuss other brewery incubators, including District Brew Yards in Chicago. To learn more about Pilot Project, check out this great article on Hop Culture. You can follow Joel @BreweryTravels. Brewery Adventures is brought to you by Rivalry Brews. Use code "MMAMcKinney" on RivalryBrews.com for 10% off your order.

This week a very special guest - my wife Angie - joins me for the first time to talk about one of our favorite Cincinnati breweries, Esoteric Brewing Co. Since opening in 2020, Esoteric has become a community hub in the Walnut Hills neighborhood. You can follow Angie @_angiemckinney. Brewery Adventures is brought to you by Rivalry Brews. Use code "MMAMcKinney" on RivalryBrews.com for 10% off your order.