Cincy Brewcast

Things are weird… that’s the obvious thing that needs to be said. We’re all holed up in our homes, ordering beer to-go or to be delivered from our local taprooms, we’re all worried about how our beloved breweries will weather the storm, it’s strange times for craft beer fans. Today’s episode is the first of my not-so-experimental-anymore socially distanced studio shows. Craft Beer Joe joins me via the interwebs, to talk about what’s been going on.

We crack open a few beers, talk about how we’re coping, and bring a little light into this weird time.

I love getting the chance to sit down with a brewery that I don’t know very well. There are not that many chances to listen to someone’s story in their own words, and to help provide that opportunity for everyone is one of my true pleasures in having this podcast.

For this week’s episode I was joined in studio by the folks from NEW Ales in Middletown. It was at the start of all of this Coronavirus craziness, but we hadn’t gone down the full rabbit hole yet… It was a great opportunity to grab a drink and get to know what they’re all about (as well as try a couple of their beers for the first time!)

This one’s a great one. As the world attempts to socially distance themselves from the global Covid-19 pandemic, it’s a breath of fresh air to listen to this show that we recorded last month. Sitting around a table, sharing some beers and getting a little nerdy… it’s exactly what I wish I could be doing right now.

I was joined by Shawn Carson from Hopped Farms, Eric Baumann from Karrikin and Nick Wayne from ATavola. We gathered to talk about fresh hops, and especially the collaboration between the group with Campo, fresh hopped Saison, but as things usually go – we talked about a few other things as well. From the journey of a hop, to the state of beer in Cincinnati it’s a big show… and was an experience that if I could figure out how to bottle it… would make me a rich man.

It’s insane that this is how we start our sixth ‘Volume’ of the show… it’s all shut down for now, Every bar and restaurant. I started putting this episode together not knowing that we’d be here by the weekend… but here we are. An interview with the amazing folks at Brewgooder has transitioned into a show where a couple places talked about what they’re doing about this virus… and what it means. This is as real, and as raw as it gets… and scratches the surface – there’s a lot to be said about it in the coming weeks.

Almost all of us collect something, whether we know it or not. These guys collect A LOT and are part of a group of like-minded folks who do the same thing. The BCCA is getting ready to host their big ‘Luck O The Irish’ show on St. Patrick’s day weekend.

I took the chance to grab Beer Dave Gausephol and Doug Groth and get them in the studio to talk all things collecting Breweriana as well as to just chat about local beer (while having a couple to drink along the way!)

Wooden Cask’s food partner, Drunken Hog Barbecue is so freaking delicious, and goes so perfectly with the beer that they put out, I couldn’t resist but stop by to get them on the show to talk about it a little bit. We covered all of the new stuff that’s been going with the brewery as they enter what owner/head brewer Randy is calling their year of doing stuff.

As the city’s beer scene keeps evolving and growing, it’s always nice to take a step back and talk to some of the people that have been a part of it from early on – if for no other reason than to get a perspective on what it all means, and how each place can find their own corner of Cincy beer to call home.

If you like the show – and I hope you like the show – make sure you share it with your friends and of course, subscribe! You can support the show, the site and all the fun stuff that I have planned by going here!

It seems that we say this every time we sit down with someone from Braxton Brewing Company, but it’s been a whirlwind of growth for them lately. The past year has shown an insane flurry of action around their VIVE seltzer products and it’s easy to get lost down the rabbit hole of what that’s all about. Today’s episode? It brings us back to something that is very much at the heart of what makes Braxton who they are in Cincinnati.

The Graeter’s partnership.

These are two companies that have a lot in common – just at very different parts of their life. Like an extended family they’ve come together again this year for a series of products to showcase not just who they have been (in the case of Graeters… for 150 years) but who these companies are at their core today – and who they hope to be in the coming years. There’s a lot to this, and we dove into it all to see what it’s all about.

If you are curious about the beer itself. (or one of the beers that we’ll see from this collaboration in 2020) you can read tasting notes here – or read about the release here – but in my book – you can do no better than hearing Evan talk about the collaboration (and then heading out to buy some when it hit’s a shelf close to you)

I love bottle shops. I especially love a bottle shop that bucks the trend and helps create a new category of what that means the way that places like Higher Gravity has – and much like I say way to often anymore (that might mean something about how much fun stuff is happening in Cincinnati) this is far too long in the making. I’m thrilled to have this week’s episode take place at Northside’s Higher Gravity where we talked about who they are, and where the came from – along with some great insight into why they’re opening a second location in Blue Ash soon. It’s a peek behind the curtain, and a great insight into the type of people they are.

I can’t give enough thanks to Jason and Nick for taking a few moments out of their busy schedule to make this one happen, and even to Mike Stokes who thought he was going to just grab a quick beer on the way home an ended up getting roped into a second half of the episode.

I might have just met them… but I like these guys – a lot.

They might be small, but Off Track has a few things going for them that I’m absolutely in love with. Number one? Their beer is delicious. Number two? The freaking Dunlap Cafe serves as their “unofficial” taproom since they are a production only brewery right now. We talk all things Off Track to get to know the folks behind the brewery, as well as how they got started. We even take a peek into the future to see where they plan on this all going someday.

This episode asks the questions that you’ve all been asking about Off Track, and hopefully gives you a peek behind the curtain to see why you should make your way down to the Dunlap to snag one (or two) of their beers and show them some love!

We caught up this week with the folks from the upcoming Firehouse Grill and Brewery in Blue Ash to get a picture of who they are and what they’re all about. Firehouse Grill has been a staple of Cincinnati’s craft beer scene for years now, and the next step to open up their own brewery is a natural one. We talk about their beers, and how they plan to integrate the kitchen into their beer program even deeper now that they’ll be brewing their own. It’s an exciting evolution for them, and a fun one for all of us drinkers to take part in!