MadTree Brewing Company is certainly a household name here in Cincinnati. They make great beer, they have a killer taproom, and they provide an excellent company that is able to create a place where people can build their careers. When you look at it from the outside in, they nailed it. It's not enough for the company, though, as it rounds the ten year mark. They're constantly trying to improve everything. The very essence of who they are to their core has been a huge focus over the last few years - and I wanted to talk about what that means.

When people ask what Cincy Brewcast is all about - what 'The Voice of Cincy Craft' really means - I tell them that it's about the brewers, the owners, and the drinkers of Cincinnati craft beer. It's those voices that tell the story of Cincy Craft. This is definitely one of those episodes that illustrates that well. Elijah Moreland is a great craft beer fan, and it's always a pleasure to chat with him. I've been trying to get him on the show for a while, and we finally made it work out (even if we had to commandeer the table at Higher Gravity where Truth, Beer, and Podsequences usually record their show... with them in tow.)

We discussed how Elijah got into craft beer and homebrewing and his love for Urban Artifact. It was an absolute blast, and no one got tied to railroad tracks, which is always good.

Guests This Episode

Elijah Moreland

Marco Penilla

Julia Rohs

From The Beer Fridge

Urban Artifact - Bushel

Little Fish - Reinheitsgewhat?!

West Side - Lo-G

Show Links

Elijah On Instagram

Truth Beer Podsequences

It always seems to feel this way with new brewery projects - but BC's Brewing Company feels like they've been in planning forever. I know that if it feels like that for me, it has to feel like a lifetime to the folks that are working their butts of to make it happen! If that doesn't sound like a good opportunity to sit down for an episode of Cincy Brewcast, I'm not sure what does!

I was joined at BCs over in Liberty Township by Brian, Caleb, and Ryan (their new head brewer) to talk about how things are going at their new brewery in Mason. We talk about the journey to get here and if they would do anything different if they could travel back in time. We also explore a little bit what we think attracts people to their favorite watering holes and how that's changing (or how it has changed) in today's craft beer world.

This is a great episode - and I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed making it! If you like what I do here (or anywhere I'm creating content) you can support over here - but the biggest help is if you share the show with a friend or someone that you think would enjoy it!

Guests This Episode

Brian Brownlow - BC's Brewing Company

Caleb Colbert - BC's Brewing Company

Ryan Johnston - BC's Brewing Company

From The Beer Fridge

Resident Culture Brewing - Complicated Patterns

On this week’s episode, we head down to Alexandria, Kentucky, to head to (you guessed it) Alexandria Brewing Company. I sat down with owner and brewer Andy Reynolds to chat and have a few beers.

We kicked things off with one of the most unique slow pours that I’ve ever had, as well as a discussion about what exactly a slow pour is and what this take is supposed to accomplish for a beer drinker looking to try something a little different.

We talked about Alexandria finding their role in an ever-changing world of craft beer and finding the right ways to do what they do while listening to the drinkers who show up to enjoy their beer.

I love this place, I love Andy - and I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for craft beer drinkers like me!

Guests This Episode

Andy Reynolds - Alexandria Brewing Company

From The Beer Fridge

Alexandria Brewing Company - Eternal Fury, The Wrath Within, Scorched By The Fire That Sent Me

Alexandria Brewing Company - T-Ball Dunkel

Alexandria Brewing Company - Garden of Heaton

Alexandria Brewing Company - Eon Pale Apocalypse

I Love Adam Mills.

I said it, and I'm not ashamed. I'm head over heels in love with this dude.  Adam is one of those people, though, that when you meet them, you can't help but fall in love with them - not only is he smart, not only is he dedicated to his craft, he's a freaking great guy.  He's one of those people you want to be able to call your friend.  Adam is not only the Director of Brewing Operations over at Sonder Brewing, he's also at the helm of a growing social media machine that is appropriately called 'Adam Makes Beer' where he brings his teaching history head to head with his current career path of brewing.

I needed to talk about this.

His approach to content creation is down to earth, packed full of information, and one of those bright spots in a world of social media content creation that many of us desperately search for.  He's a guy that you need to know.

Guests This Episode

Adam Mills - Sonder Brewing Company, Adam Makes Beer

Show Links

Adam Makes Beer - Instagram

Adam Makes Beer - YouTube

In a big move for a brewery that's relied on a great food partner for ten years - MadTree made a lot of waves this month when they announced that they'd be bringing their food program under their own MadTree banner starting next year.  While I'm still working on a BIG blog post to talk all about my thoughts on the changing world of food inside of our craft breweries - I couldn't resist the urge to head out to MadTree to sit down and chat about how they feel about it, as well as what we can expect when they roll out their new food program next spring.

After a long season, with 35 different packaged Oktoberfest beers battling it out to see who is the best this year... we're finally there.  The finals were recorded live at MadTree Brewing Company (last year's winners), and it was a really, really tough decision.  The decision was so difficult that I had to call on help from Marco and Julia from Truth, Beer, Podsequences to help me judge - AND had to get help from DIPA Josh to make sure that the contest was all on the up and up by helping us with the pouring.

In the end, though, as always - there could be only one winner, and this year Sonder took home the Golden Gnome as the first-ever double-winner of the contest.

It was fun, it was chaotic... it was a good episode!  Enjoy!

Guests This Episode

Marco Penilla - Truth, Beer Podsequences

Julia Rohs - Truth, Beer Podsequences

Special Appearances By:

Danny Herold - Sonder Brewing Company

Caroline Ludwig - Craft Parenting Pod

Joe Ludwig - Craft Parenting Pod

DIPA Josh - He does drink other beers that aren't DIPAs

From The Beer Fridge

In order of this year's final results!

Sonder - Oktoberfest

Wandering Monsters - Ludwig Festbier

Braxton - Oktoberfuel

MadTree - Ziegler

Third Eye - Drittes Auge Festbier

I love the folks at Common.  I love what they've built in Mason, Ohio.  I also LOVE every chance I get out to record an episode of the Brewcast with them.  I headed out to hang out recently to see how things have been going, as they settle down after their fifth anniversary and to hopefully show you exactly why a small neighborhood brewery like theirs can 100% stand out, even in a busy beer city like Cincinnati.

This is definitely the type of show that makes me remember why I enjoy Cincy Brewcast - and I hope you have as much fun as we did!

Guests This Episode

Mark Lortz

Amy Lortz

Mike "Mikey P" Parsons

Mark "Quick Trip" Miller

From The Beer Fridge

This Dark Cloud Won't Get Me Down

Festicuffs

Wheat You Talkin' About Willis?

Caramel Mikey

This episode is always a blast, bringing with it more than its fair share of chaos! Big Cis is a collaboration beer that we brew every year in memory of Mike Cisneros, who helped start this show back in 2015. To be fair, the show was his idea, and I was just along for the ride until he passed away only a year and a half after we had been making it.

The beer honors him. It honors who he was and represents a lot of what drives me forward as a beer blogger here in Cincinnati.

This year we brewed the beer down at Darkness in Bellevue, KY - so I sat down with owner Eric Bosler to chat about Mike, about Big Cis, about their journey... it was a ton of fun, even if the recorded sound is a little rougher than you're used to. I'll nail the whole live event thing one of these days!

Guests This Episode

Eric Bosler - Darkness Brewing

Mike Almoslechner - Bellevue Education Foundation

From The Beer Fridge

Darkness Brewing - Big Cis

Show Links

Bellevue Education Foundation - Facebook

I LOVE this event every year. Sonder and Friends Oktoberfest perfectly represents what I love about craft beer, and I make sure to fire up the podcast every year to celebrate. I sat down with Justin and Danny from Sonder and friends Mark (and Amy later) from Common Beer Company and Brian from BC's Brewing Co.

We drank a bunch of Oktoberfest beer and just sort of let the conversation take us wherever it wanted to!

Guests This Episode

Danny Herold - Sonder

Justin Neff - Sonder

Mark Lortz - The Common Beer Co

Brian Brownlow - BCs Brewing Co

Amy Lortz - The Common Beer Co

From The Beer Fridge

Sonder - Oktoberfest

Common Beer Co - Festicuffs

For the full video version of this episode - head over here to YouTube!