Good Beer Hunting

Today we’re going to take to Charles Adler, co-founder of Kickstarter and most recently the founder of Lost Arts in Chicago. I’m going to let him tell you all about that. But first, I wanted to explain the connective thread I see between Charles, and the beer world. First, both are incredibly entrepreneurial. And in many ways, entrepreneurialism has come to define what craft beer is. The things that Charles has created, and what craft beer values, are things like transparency, innovation, and community connections. But in my conversation with Charles, I think you’ll also hear some other familiar things — like a heads-down approach to building something. A desire to grow, but also remain steadfast in your values and goals. The need to be a generalist, but also value specialization. It’s the constant need to balance of a hundred different things that are all in tension with each other, in order to get from point a, to point b. There are also a lot of parallels between my personal background and Charles’ that make for some pretty quick and interesting learning — even insights in to what GBH is at its core, and how it came to be. I’m thankful for that. In this conversation, I hope you take away as many insights as I did about how I can think about my own business differently. Charles has that affect on people. And we talk about how a brewery might just be relevant to his new project too.

Today's guest is someone I've been waiting to interview for a couple years now. Since I first started the podcast, he was high on my list, but for one reason after another, it always seemed like we should wait. We just didn't know what we were waiting for, exactly. Ryan Burk is the cidermaker for Angry Orchard, specifically running their new innovation cider house in Walden, NY. He was the former cidermaker at Virtue Cider in Fennville, Michigan. And before that, he was a homebrewer in Chicago. I met him just as he was transitioning from brewer to cidermaker, pouring some of Virtue's earliest batches. You may have seen GBH, and me in particular, take a keen interest in cider over the past couple years. We've written about E.Z. Orchards in Salem, Oregon, Rack and Cloth in Mosier, Oregon, and Virtue, among others—and visited many more. Ryan is the reason for all that. He held the door open for me. And in many ways, he still does. Thanks to Ryan, I was able to translate the many things I love about the most exquisite beers in the word, like Saison Dupont and Hill Farmstead, into an equally beautiful and delicious world of cider making. From there, I've ventured into natural and low-interventionist wine making as well. And it all started with Ryan. He's become one of my best friends in the world. In fact, the day this podcast episode was published, I was officiating his wedding to Eva Deitch—another name you might be familiar with, as she's one of the many photographers GBH has collaborated with over the years. I was honored to be asked. As part of Angry Orchard, Ryan also honored our business by asking us to design the labels for his personal collaborations with cidermakers all over the world that will start releasing in the coming months and years. So it's safe to say that my relationship with Ryan is one of the more profound I've had in my life. I'm forever thankful for the impact he's had on me as a person, as a drinker, and the influence we've had on each other professionally. That's what this whole business of GBH is about for me, and nowhere does it come true more than right here.

oday’s guest is someone I’ve been waiting to interview for a couple of years now. Since I first started the podcast, he was high on my list — but for one reason after another, it always seemed like e should wait — we just didn’t know what we were waiting for exactly. Ryan Burk is the cidermaker for Angry Orchard cider, specifically running their new innovation cider house in Walden, NY. He was the former cidermaker at Virtue Cider in Fennville, Michigan. And before that he was a home brewer in Chicago. I met him just as he was transitioning from brewer to cider maker, pouring some of Virtue’s earliest batches. You may have seen GBH, and me in particular, take a keen interest in cider over the past couple years. We’ve written about E.Z. Orchards in Salem, Oregon, Rack and Cloth in Mosier, Oregon, and Virtue among others, and visited many more. And Ryan is the reason for that. He held the door open for me. And in many ways, he still does. Thanks to Ryan, I was able to translate the many things I love about the most exquisite beers in the word, like Saison Dupont and Hill Farmstead in to an equally beautiful and delicious world of cider making. From there, I’ve ventured into natural and low-interventionist wine making as well. And it all started with Ryan. He’s become one of my best friends in the world. In fact, today, while you’re probably listening to this, he’s honored me by asking me to officiate his wedding to Eva Deitch, a name you might be familiar with on GBH as she’s one of the many photographers we’ve collaborated with over the years. And as part of Angry Orchard, he’s also honored our business by asking us to design the labels for his personal collaborations with cidermakers all over the world that will start releasing in the coming months and years. So it’s safe to say that my relationship with Ryan is one of the more profound I’ve had in my life. I’m forever thankful for the impact he’s had on me as a person, as a drinker, and the influence we’ve had on each other professionally. That’s what this whole business of GBH is about for me — and nowhere does it come true more than right here.

This week's guest is the stuff of legend—Tomme Arthur, the founder and brewmaster of Lost Abbey. He's a brewer associated with both San Diego's hop-forward dominance in craft beer, but also the world of barrel-aged Saison and Belgian-inspired farmhouse beers that continue to carve out a niche amongst the geekiest of beer drinkers in the U.S. And Tomme continues to impress both of these highly critical audiences. But Tomme's also a big part of the future. His voice carries weight. His opinions matter to the next generation. And his expectations only seem to get higher for others, not to mention himself. I first met Tomme when we helped judge the Brewbound Start-up Brewery Challenge in San Diego. Later, we'd meet up again, this time in Belgium at Brasserie Dupont when GBH was there filming our mini-documentary about Saison Dupont. We also were lucky enough to document the historic collaboration between Tomme and Olivier Dedeycker, Dupont's fourth-generation owner, that occurred that day. On the site, we described that collaboration as "punching a hole in time." As hyperbolic as that might seem, to the people involved that day, it barely served to capture the feeling. So when Tomme came to town for the Windy City Expo, an annual showcase with his distributor parter here, we decided to get together at the Hopleaf, a place that's supported Lost Abbey from its early days, and have a conversation with a small group of fans in the upstairs bar. We also had some bottles from the cellar that Michael Roper was kind enough to share —and drink—with us. Here, we dig into Tomme's origin story, San Diego then and now, brand, portfolio, and barrel-management, and at least a dozen other things. Plus, we had a great Q+A at the end with the folks in the room.

This weeks guest is the stuff of legend to many - Tomme Arthur, the founder and brewmaster of Lost Abbey. A brewer associated with both San Diego’s hop-forward dominance in craft beer, but also the world of barrel-aged saison and Belgian-inspired farmhouse beers that continue to carve out a niche amongst the geekiest of beer drinkers in the U.S. And Tomme continues to impress both of these highly critical audiences. But for all the stuff of legend, Tomme is also a big part of the future. His voice carries weight. His opinions matter to the next generation. And his expectations only seem to get higher for others, and himself. I first met Tomme when we helped judge the Brewbound Start-up Brewery Challenge in San Diego. Then later, we met up in Belgium at Brasserie Dupont when GBH was there filming our mini documentary about Saison Dupont. We also were lucky enough to document the historic collaboration between Tomme and Olivier Dedeycker, Dupont’s fourth-generation owner, that occurred that day. On the site, we described that collaboration as like punching a hole in time. And as hyperbolic as that might seem — to the people involved that day, it barely serves to capture the feeling. So when Tomme came to town for the Windy City Expo, an annual showcase with his distributor parter here, we decided to get together at the Hopleaf, a place that’s supported Lost Abbey from its early days, and have a conversation with a small group of fans in the upstairs bar and some bottles from the cellar that Michael Roper was kind enough to drink with us all. We dig in to Tomme’s origin story, San Diego then and now, brand, portfolio, and barrel-management, and at least dozen other things. Plus, some great Q+A at the end with the folks in the room.

Drew Larson is one of those people that's everyone's favorite person. He's funny, smart, affable, and, other than brewers themselves, I don't think there's a guy in Chicago that works harder behind the scenes to bring you great beer. Drew has an interesting road to beer. He was in the military, went to culinary school, became a sommelier, then a cicerone, then studied draft technology while he was managing the beverage program at the Hopleaf. He's also an incredible hobbyist, and we get to that right at the start here. Eventually, all that obsession and curiosity lead him to start a company called Leaders Beverage. He now handles the design, installation, and maintenance of draft systems in a growing number of bars, breweries, and restaurants in Chicago. And he does it all with a singular approach to quality and businesse sense that you won't find in most people who just want to clean your lines. This guy cares about the health of the industry overall, and his clients' businesses specifically. In fact, his company maintains the six lines we have here at GBH studio. He's the reason I'm confident in having six stainless steel flow control taps pouring some of the best beer in the city on any given day. I know it's going to taste right. So let's get into it with Drew and learn a lot more about draft maintenance, how it affects the beer you drink and the business that's selling it. And of course, all the other fun stuff he does.

Drew Larson — he’s one of this people that’s everyone’s favorite person. He’s funny, smart, affable, and other than brewers themselves, I don’t think there’s a guy in Chicago that works harder behind the scenes to bring you a great beer. Drew has an interesting road to beer — he was in the military, went to culinary school, became a sommelier, then a cicerone, then studied draft technology while he was working at the Hopleaf managing the beverage program. He’s also an incredible hobbyist. We’ll get in to that right at the start here. And eventually, all that obsession and curiosity lead him to start a company called Leaders Beverage. He now handles the design, installation, and maintenance of draft systems in a growing number of bars, breweries and restaurants in Chicago. And he does it all with a singular approach to quality and businesses sense that you won’t find in most people who just want to clean your lines. This guy cares about the health of the industry overall, and his clients’ businesses specifically. In fact, his company maintains the six lines we have here at GBH studio. He’s the reason I’m confident having six stainless steel flow control taps pouring some of the best beer in the city on any given day. I know it’s going to taste right. So let’s get into it with Drew and learn a lot more about draft maintenance, how it affects the beer you drink and the business that’s selling it. And of course, all the other fun stuff he does.

This is going to be another deep dive into the world of brewing malts. We previously chatted with a micro maltster, Troubadour, in Fort Collins. That gave us some insight into the niche world of specialty craft malts. But today's guest covers a much wider spread. She's Sara Hagerty of Malteurop's U.S. division. She has an incredible technical background in biology, chemistry, yeast, and now, malt sales. It's an interesting role, working across so many different kinds of breweries in a large region of the U.S., trying to meet their needs with barley malt. And in her time with Malteurop, she's seen the company adapt to fit the rapidly changing needs of craft brewers after so many years of providing for the largest brewers in the world. It's quite a different beast. I met Sara at the Hopleaf recently, and within minutes of talking about her job, I knew, or at least hoped, that we'd get her in to the studio for a podcast interview so that I could share her insight and experience with you all. Thankfully, her insane travel schedule lined up with my own, and we found an hour to dig in.

This is going to be another deep dive into the world of brewing malts. We previously chatted with a micromalster, Troubadour in Fort Collins. That gave us some insight into the niche world of specialty craft malts. But today's guest covers a much wider spread — she’s Sara Hagerty of Malteurop, specifically their US division. She has an incredible technical background in biology, chemistry, yeast and now malt sales. It’s an interesting role, working across so many different kinds of breweries in a large region of the US, trying to meet their needs with barley malt. And in her time with Malteurop, she’s seen the company adapt to fit the rapidly changing needs of craft brewers after so many years of providing for the largest brewers in the world. It’s quite a different beast. I met Sara at The Hopleaf recently, and within minutes of talking about her job, I knew, or at last hoped, that we’d get her in to the studio for a podcast interview so that I could share her insight and experience with you all. Thankfully, her insane travel schedule lined up with my own, and we found an hour to dig in.

The landscape of the British beer industry has seen a seismic shift over the last few years as the influence of American craft beer culture has become ever more pervasive. But what we're seeing now is breweries that were influenced by U.S. beer culture when they were young are now shaping this to form their own ideal. A new, brighter, and more energetic British beer community. One of these breweries is Beavertown, of Tottenham, North London, which was founded by Logan Plant—son of none other than Led Zeppelin frontman Robert—in 2012. After finding inspiration in the beer and food culture he discovered in Brooklyn, Plant returned to London and opened a restaurant called Duke's Brew and Que in a little pocket of East London called De Beauvoir town—"Beavertown" to the locals. In less than four years, Plant has gone from brewing by himself on a six-barrel kit in the kitchen of his restaurant, to employing a 40-strong team at a state of the art 30-barrel facility. In part, this has been thanks to the great beer his brewery produces, but much of Beavertown's success is also due to the strength of its brand and its great design. Creative director Nick Dwyer joined Beavertown part time shortly after they opened, even pulling a few shifts at Duke's Brew and Que while the brewery got on its feet. His unique design work, featuring signature skulls and spacemen, has rapidly ensured that Beavertown has become one of the most instantly recognizable beer brands in the UK. And the brewery is already gaining traction in the U.S.—they were the only UK brewery invited to pour at the Firestone Walker invitational last month. Nick's story of how he accidentally found his way into the beer industry after graduating from art school is a fascinating one. Working in beer might never have been his intention, but now, through his artwork, he's helping to drive and inspire the UK's new breed of craft brewers.