Good Beer Hunting

Welcome to a special edition of the Good Beer Hunting podcast—a series of episodes made in partnership with Guinness devoted to one of the world's most iconic brands from Dublin to the United States, to Nigeria and the Caribbean.

Guinness became an underwriter of Good Beer Hunting 18 months ago, helping us bring you a series of stories called Coming to America, exploring the relationship between imports and the U.S. beer drinker in the age of local craft. And more recently, they helped us start up a new series called Mother of Invention, where we explore the technical innovations, past and present, that have transformed the beer in your glass in surprising ways.

And now we're taking the opportunity to explore the story of Guinness itself in a unique way for GBH. Guinness made it possible for us to visit historic St. James Gate in Dublin, and their new brewery in Baltimore County in the U.S., and gave us free rein to pull at the strings of the stories we've so often heard in the form of legend, but rarely had the first-hand experience to dive in to. We wanted to turn legends into learning.

They also gave us free rein of their brewing sites, both in Baltimore, home to their new brewery and taproom, called the Open Gate Brewery, which shares a name with the public-facing innovation brewing taproom located in Dublin, and historic St James Gate—which, to be honest, took some real doing. It's not a place open to tourists, at least beyond the visitor center. And much of the more historical aspects are either in disrepair or preserved, and gaining access to those people and places isn't easy for a film and audio crew. So for all the rigamarole we caused with our persistence, we're thankful and grateful we were able to get past the gates, and into some of the more fascinating aspects of the various Guinness operations.

And it was all in pursuit of understanding one thing: What makes Guinness Guinness? And how has that changed over the years?

Welcome to a special edition of the Good Beer Hunting podcast—a series of episodes made in partnership with Guinness devoted to one of the world's most iconic brands from Dublin to the United States, to Nigeria and the Caribbean.

Guinness became an underwriter of Good Beer Hunting 18 months ago, helping us bring you a series of stories called Coming to America, exploring the relationship between imports and the U.S. beer drinker in the age of local craft. And more recently, they helped us start up a new series called Mother of Invention, where we explore the technical innovations, past and present, that have transformed the beer in your glass in surprising ways.

And now we're taking the opportunity to explore the story of Guinness itself in a unique way for GBH. Guinness made it possible for us to visit historic St. James Gate in Dublin, and their new brewery in Baltimore County in the U.S., and gave us free rein to pull at the strings of the stories we've so often heard in the form of legend, but rarely had the first-hand experience to dive in to. We wanted to turn legends into learning.

They also gave us free rein of their brewing sites, both in Baltimore, home to their new brewery and taproom, called the Open Gate Brewery, which shares a name with the public-facing innovation brewing taproom located in Dublin, and historic St James Gate—which, to be honest, took some real doing. It's not a place open to tourists, at least beyond the visitor center. And much of the more historical aspects are either in disrepair or preserved, and gaining access to those people and places isn't easy for a film and audio crew. So for all the rigamarole we caused with our persistence, we're thankful and grateful we were able to get past the gates, and into some of the more fascinating aspects of the various Guinness operations.

And it was all in pursuit of understanding one thing: What makes Guinness Guinness? And how has that changed over the years?

Welcome to a special edition of the Good Beer Hunting podcast—a series of episodes made in partnership with Guinness devoted to one of the world's most iconic brands from Dublin to the United States, to Nigeria and the Caribbean.

Guinness became an underwriter of Good Beer Hunting 18 months ago, helping us bring you a series of stories called Coming to America, exploring the relationship between imports and the U.S. beer drinker in the age of local craft. And more recently, they helped us start up a new series called Mother of Invention, where we explore the technical innovations, past and present, that have transformed the beer in your glass in surprising ways.

And now we're taking the opportunity to explore the story of Guinness itself in a unique way for GBH. Guinness made it possible for us to visit historic St. James Gate in Dublin, and their new brewery in Baltimore County in the U.S., and gave us free rein to pull at the strings of the stories we've so often heard in the form of legend, but rarely had the first-hand experience to dive in to. We wanted to turn legends into learning.

They also gave us free rein of their brewing sites, both in Baltimore, home to their new brewery and taproom, called the Open Gate Brewery, which shares a name with the public-facing innovation brewing taproom located in Dublin, and historic St James Gate—which, to be honest, took some real doing. It's not a place open to tourists, at least beyond the visitor center. And much of the more historical aspects are either in disrepair or preserved, and gaining access to those people and places isn't easy for a film and audio crew. So for all the rigamarole we caused with our persistence, we're thankful and grateful we were able to get past the gates, and into some of the more fascinating aspects of the various Guinness operations.

And it was all in pursuit of understanding one thing: What makes Guinness Guinness? And how has that changed over the years?

Welcome to a special edition of the Good Beer Hunting podcast—a series of episodes made in partnership with Guinness devoted to one of the world's most iconic brands from Dublin to the United States, to Nigeria and the Caribbean.

Guinness became an underwriter of Good Beer Hunting 18 months ago, helping us bring you a series of stories called Coming to America, exploring the relationship between imports and the U.S. beer drinker in the age of local craft. And more recently, they helped us start up a new series called Mother of Invention, where we explore the technical innovations, past and present, that have transformed the beer in your glass in surprising ways.

And now we're taking the opportunity to explore the story of Guinness itself in a unique way for GBH. Guinness made it possible for us to visit historic St. James Gate in Dublin, and their new brewery in Baltimore County in the U.S., and gave us free rein to pull at the strings of the stories we've so often heard in the form of legend, but rarely had the first-hand experience to dive in to. We wanted to turn legends into learning.

They also gave us free rein of their brewing sites, both in Baltimore, home to their new brewery and taproom, called the Open Gate Brewery, which shares a name with the public-facing innovation brewing taproom located in Dublin, and historic St James Gate—which, to be honest, took some real doing. It's not a place open to tourists, at least beyond the visitor center. And much of the more historical aspects are either in disrepair or preserved, and gaining access to those people and places isn't easy for a film and audio crew. So for all the rigamarole we caused with our persistence, we're thankful and grateful we were able to get past the gates, and into some of the more fascinating aspects of the various Guinness operations.

And it was all in pursuit of understanding one thing: What makes Guinness Guinness? And how has that changed over the years?

Welcome to another Fervent Few episode of the Good Beer Hunting podcast where myself, Jim Plachy, and GBH's strategic director, Michael Kiser, catch up. We'll talk about the topics and discussions that took place in our membership community in the last couple weeks. Our 500 or so subscribers are scattered all over the world. Sometimes we meet up with them when we're on the road, or they hang out with each other, but it all comes together in our community forum on Slack. If you value the content and experiences that GBH produces, you should join. Your monthly subscription gets you access to the community, special events, and exclusive gear deigned just for members. I joined, and now I manage it all. Plus, it's my favorite place on the Beer Internet. Visit goodbeerhunting.com/ferventfew to strike up a conversation in beer.

"It's just beer" is a mantra screamed into the social void daily. Its believers just want to enjoy a beer in peace, to escape the world for a damn second. The problem is, it isn't just beer. Beer is both an artisanal and commercial product. Craft is a social construct. Small batch brewing is a way of life, its marketing often an act of rebellion. So drinking it is a statement whether you want it to be or not. What we drink, where we drink it, how it gets there, and what we pay are all infused with politics. So what happens when a brand embraces that by stamping its beliefs on its cans, or plastering them on their social media, or making viral campaigns preaching to their customers? Should a company be allowed to do that? And on the flip side, do they have a responsibility to do so? My guests today believe this decision is made for them by the juxtaposition of their beliefs and the way the world is heading. Save for their anti-Trump beer, Ben Duckworth and Steve Grae of South London's Affinity Brew Co don't cram their left-wing ideas down people's throats. But anyone with a passing interest in British politics will note the roses on their cans and Labour Party slogans that make up many of their beer names. In doing so, they hope to encourage friendly debate and keep politics at the forefront of drinkers' minds during one of the greatest political upheavals in British history. Inside their beautiful cans and bubbling through their Belgian-inspired session beers there is even more room critical thought—the responsibilities of a brewer to moderate alcohol levels, regulate serving sizes, and to challenge the government's approach to alcohol licensing. But first lets just talk about beer. This is Ben Duckworth and Steve Grae of Affinity Brew Co. Listen in.

Welcome to the GBH Collective, a special series of interviews where we have the chance to dive a little deeper with Good Beer Hunting contributors and friends on topics of writing, beer and the stories you read and hear from GBH. Today's episode is one of those great conversations you don't want to end, when you're talking with someone talented and uniquely good at what they do. You'll see by the timestamp that there is, in fact, a stop time to my chat with Kate Bernot, but I can only hope you get the same kind of impression. Kate has a long background in journalism, but beer fans may recognize her byline from DRAFT magazine, where she served as associate editor and then beer editor over several years, or her current role as associate editor at The Takeout, a food and beverage site from the A.V. Club. Kate's approach to her writing brings a variety of humor and skilled nuance, depending on what she's writing about that day, from dealing with frozen beers to daily topics impacting the beer industry. It just so happens that we both recently covered the idea of Flagship February, and you'll hear a chunk of this conversation dissecting what that effort means and the story behind her story written for The Takeout asking if beer loyalty is dead. There's plenty more, including her thoughts on drinking beer in her new home state of Montana. This is Kate Bernot, writer, reporter, and advocate for Big Sky Country's flagship brands. Listen in.

On every home game day, tens of thousands of baseball fans filter into the San Francisco Giants' ballpark. Many of them will buy beer, and thanks to Brian Carriveau, their options now include more than the predictable lineup of macro lagers. Last season, after convincing the eco-conscious ballpark managers to allow him to sell aluminum cans, baseball fans found they could buy 16 ounces of locally-made craft beer by nearby breweries — some of which weren't available elsewhere in the city. Carriveau is the Director of Catering at Bon Appétit Management Company, which handles food and drink menus at Oracle Park — formerly known as AT&T Park — as well as the attached Public House restaurant and a posh, members-only bar inside the park called the Gotham Club. After beginning his career in hospitality at the famed Awahnee Hotel in Yosemite, he took to San Francisco. Now with Bon Appetit, he handles concessions for an average of 40 thousand people every home game during the baseball season. It's a busy, exciting job, not just because the Giants have won three World Series titles since he began working at the park, but also because it gives Carriveau a major league platform to share his love of craft beer with a huge audience. That's not without its challenges. Buying alcohol for a bar is one thing; buying beer for a literal stadium full of people is quite another — and it's Carriveau's job to do both. Can a ballpark cater to every kind of drinker? I don't know, but Bon Appetit is sure going to try. This is Brian Carriveau, Director of Catering at Bon Appétit Management Company for the San Francisco Giants' Oracle Park. Listen in.

What does it take to open a brewery these days? And what happens after you do? These questions are at the center of two conversations we have in this Sightlines addition of the podcast. First, we hear from Scott Janish and Michael Tonsmeire, co-owners of Maryland's Sapwood Cellars. I sat down with the pair for episode #144 from October 2017, and have been tracking their progress since. Back then, they were working on recipes and trying to perfect an approach to New England IPA, all while finding the physical space for their business. They opened a year later, and when I caught up with them in January, we took some time to reflect on their first three months in operation. You'll hear about challenges and triumphs and the changes that have occurred at the brewery and in their lives. After that, we check in with Scott Wood, who opened New Orleans' Courtyard Brewery a little over four years ago, and also happened to be featured on Good Beer Hunting in the fall of 2017, just weeks before the guys from Sapwood. Scott just announced a second, larger production space for his brewery that aims to open in 2020, and even though he's been in business for years, this is a big step for his business. It's one that he admits in our conversation took a long time to get ready for personally and professionally. Here we have two breweries, years apart in experience, but still learning and changing. What does it take to operate a brewery in 2019? Let's get an idea. This is Scott Janish and Michael Tonsmeire of Sapwood Cellars, then Scott Wood of Courtyard Brewery. Listen in.

Today's guests represent a kind of brewery that lives, sometimes tenuously, in the spaces in between traditional brewery models in American craft brewing. They's very small. They have an alternating proprietorship arrangement with another local brewery, which means they use another brewery's system to brew their beer. But on that particular brew day, they technically own the license. They brew, package, and sell that beer via self-distribution. And their portfolio, for reasons both of constraint, personal interest, and identity, is hyper-focused on Hazy IPA, Double IPA, and adjunct Stouts. While the growth in craft brewing slows, and 2019 looks to be a topsy-turvy year for many folks, a brewery like this could either be seen as exceptionally vulnerable, or crazy like a fox. They have low overhead, even if expenses are relatively high due to small volumes. They have a strong alt-prop relationship with a good local brewer, but that means they're dependent on someone else's business stability. And they have a great brand and profile in Chicago, but there's always somebody new coming for their share of the pie. So, how do they balance all that uncertainty, while also finding the mental energy to be creative, connect with their fans, and explore the nerdier side of hoppy beers that seem to consistently delight those drinkers? Good question! This is Jude and Jeremiah from Hop Butcher for the World, a Beer Company. Listen in.