Good Beer Hunting

Our resident composer for the podcast and our commercial video work, Andrew Thiboldeaux, is writing original scores devoted to beers he finds fascinating. These are interpretations of the experience of drinking them. But they're also just great tunes.

Our resident composer for the podcast and our commercial video work, Andrew Thiboldeaux, is writing original scores devoted to beers he finds fascinating. These are interpretations of the experience of drinking them. But they're also just great tunes.

When beer lovers think of what goes on behind the scenes at a brewery, thoughts may drift to barrels or exotic ingredients or post-shift taste trials of the latest, trendy creation. Rarely does it concern the long hours, professional development and rather yeoman work it takes to become good at a job that straddles art and manufacturing. Here in the U.S., we recently celebrated Labor Day, a holiday to give thanks to all the effort our workforce provides to help our country and economy chug along. This kind of effort should never be lost on the behind-the-scenes staff who make the American beer industry what it is. I didn't expect to follow this kind of thematic path when I sat down with Chris Leonard, brewmaster and operations manager at Heavy Seas Beer, not far outside of Baltimore. But over the course of our recent conversation, I became enamored with his perspective on recruitment, retention, and professional development. These are unsexy HR terms we don't often think about when it comes to beer, but they're also the key tenants to an otherwise apprentice profession that uses these learning opportunities to create some of the most thoughtful, innovative, and efficient brewers in the country. And there is a lot that goes into teaching a brewer, let alone running one of the most successful brewing operations in the country. Over the course of our conversation, Chris will offer you perspective on what it's like to oversee a collection of young brewers, but the impacts and considerations he has to weigh when it comes to creating and improving some beloved brands. These are the kinds of conversations I love to have, when I can step back from the excitement of daily news and dig into the day-to-day issues that directly impact what happens to the beer in our glass. As we'll come to learn, Chris' voice is a worthwhile one to consider.

When beer lovers think of what goes on behind the scenes at a brewery, thoughts may drift to barrels or exotic ingredients or post-shift taste trials of the latest, trendy creation. Rarely does it concern the long hours, professional development and rather yeoman work it takes to become good at a job that straddles art and manufacturing.

Here in the U.S., we recently celebrated Labor Day, a holiday to give thanks to all the effort our workforce provides to help our country and economy chug along. This kind of effort should never be lost on the behind-the-scenes staff who make the American beer industry what it is.

I didn’t expect to follow this kind of thematic path when I sat down with Chris Leonard, brewmaster and operations manager at Heavy Seas Beer, not far outside of Baltimore. But over the course of our recent conversation, I became enamored with his perspective on recruitment, retention, and professional development. These are unsexy HR terms we don’t often think about when it comes to beer, but they’re also the key tenants to an otherwise apprentice profession that uses these learning opportunities to create some of the most thoughtful, innovative, and efficient brewers in the country.

And there is a lot that goes into teaching a brewer, let alone running one of the most successful brewing operations in the country. Over the course of our conversation, Chris will offer you perspective on what it’s like to oversee a collection of young brewers, but the impacts and considerations he has to weigh when it comes to creating and improving some beloved brands.

These are the kinds of conversations I love to have, when I can step back from the excitement of daily news and dig into the day-to-day issues that directly impact what happens to the beer in our glass. As we’ll come to learn, Chris’ voice is a worthwhile one to consider.

I spent the better part of last week traveling around the Baltimore area for the first time. I was there to shoot a series of short documentary videos we're producing for Guinness as part of our Coming to America series . It was a fantastic few days of eating and drinking and shooting around Baltimore—places like WC Harlan, Bar Clavel and Woodberry Kitchen. I have a ton of stuff to share from that part of the trip, but I'm going to start at the end, because that's where my heart still lingers. I drove three hours south across the bay to Chincoteague Island, a long barrier island off the coast of Virginia, to visit a guy I met a few years ago at Wicked Weed's Funk Fest—a brewer named Josh Chapman. I'll never forget him popping up out of nowhere late at night at the fest to tell me a story of a time he was visiting a cidery in Virginia. And as he started poking around in the back of the place, he got to chatting with the producer, and they started setting up for dinner in the back, a staff meal of sorts, and they causally invited him to join. He was stunned by the invitation, to what seemed like an intimate gathering. But he slipped right in, sat down, and did what he described as his own little version of "doing the Good Beer Hunting." There's a lot packed into that summary of events, described as Good Beer Hunting, but it was all quite familiar to me. So many of my best memories are from unexpected invitations into someone's small world where you learn what drives them, how they live, and how all that supports how they do business. A few years later, Josh has his own little brewery out on Chincoteague called Black Narrows. It's a small, family business with his wife and her parents, and it supports his two young children, the newest of which is only a few months old. So he invited me by, set the table with some oysters and clams and corn and tomato pie, and had me sit with his staff for a meal. While he prepped dinner in the kitchen, and the grandparents Bob and Wendy sat at the table with me, and his wife and business partner Jenna held the baby, and their little girl and her friend ran around the house, I turned on the mics, and did what Josh might call "the Good Beer Hunting."

I spent the better part of last week traveling around the Baltimore, area for the first time. I was there to shoot a series of short documentary videos we’re producing for Guinness as part of our Coming to America series. It was a fantastic few days of eating and drinking and shooting around Baltimore — places like WC Harlan, Bar Clavel and Woodberry Kitchen.

I have a ton of stuff to share from that part of the trip.

But I’m going to start at the end, because that’s where my heart still lingers.

I drove three hours south across the bay to Chincoteague Island - s long barrier island off the coast of Virginia, to visit a guy I met a few years ago at Wicked Weed’s Funk Fest — a brewer named Josh Chapman.

I’ll never forget him popping up out of nowhere late at night a the fest to tell me a story of a time he was visiting a cidery in Virginia. And as he started poking around in the back of the place, he got to chatting with the producer, and they started setting up for dinner in the back, a staff meal of sorts, if I recall correctly, and they causally invited him to join. He was stunned by the invitation, to what seemed like an intimate gathering. But he slipped right in, sat down, and did what described the experience as his own little version of doing the Good Beer Hunting.

There’s a lot packed into that summary of events, described as Good Beer Hunting, but it was all quite familiar to me. So many of my best memories are from unexpected invitations into someone’s small world where you learn what drives them, how they live, and how all that supports how they do business.

A few years later, Josh has his own little brewery out on Chincoteague called Black Narrows. And it’s a small family business with his wife, and her parents, and it supports his two young children, the freshest of which is only a few months old.

So he invited me by, set the table with some oysters and clams and corn and tomato pie, and had me sit with his staff for a meal.

While he prepped dinner in the kitchen, and the grandparents Bob and Wendy sat at the table with me, and his wife and business partner Jenna held the baby and their little girl and her friend ran around the house — I tend on the mics, and did what Josh might call, the Good Beer Hunting.

Suarez Family Brewery has become something of a North Star for our editorial staff—not to mention many brewers and drinkers around the country—for everything that's right about craft beer in 2018. Sessionable, delicious beers made by a family in the Hudson Valley that's part of a small community of farmers and small businesses in the area: What's not to love? To top it all off, Dan Suarez's brother owns an essential restaurant in Germantown called Gaskin's. At the little brewery on U.S. Route 9 across the from the corn fields and housed in an old lighting factory, the Suarez family makes exquisite Pilsners and Pale Ales alongside what they call Country Beers—those that are barrel-aged or wild-fermented, but still every bit as delicate and balanced. Their taproom is family-friendly, in large part because they have a small, young family of their own. How could it not be? Our Editorial Director Austin L. Ray's profile of the brewery in 2016 was something of a coveted assignment amongst our team, and one of the few that Austin claimed for himself. It's a moving portrait. You should read it. But like any small business so closely tied to the family that runs it, there's struggle, too. And it's about more than just making ends meet. While the beers may be the epitome of balance, balancing one's life is every bit as difficult and necessary. Managing the start-up pace of a small, hands-on brewery, expanding the market for those beers via delivery runs to New York City, raising a toddler, and maintaining a busy taproom that's increasingly becoming a destination for beer fans? These things, perhaps even more than trying to crack the code on these so-called "crispy little beers," are what's keeping Taylor and Dan Suarez up at night. Not that you'd believe they struggle with anything. Their reputation for being very relaxed, chill folks with a small town brewery is, at least on the surface, the epitome of the small brewer dream in America. Taking a deeper look, as we do today, will only make you love them more.

Suarez Family Brewery has become something of a symbol for our editorial staff, and many brewers and drinkers around the country, for everything that’s right about craft beer in 2018.

Sessionable, delicious beers made by a family in the Hudson Valley, that’s part of a small community of farmers, and small businesses in the area, in fact their brother owns an essential restaurant in Germantown called Gaskin’s.

At the little brewery on U.S. rout 9 across the from the corn fields and in an old lighting factory, the Suarez family makes exquisite pilsners and pale ales alongside what they call Country beers, those beers that are barrel-aged or wild fermented, but still every bit as delicate and balanced. Their taproom is family friendly — in large part because they have a small, young family of their own, so how could it not be?

Our Editorial Director’s profile of the brewery in 2017 was something of a coveted story assignment amongst our team, and one of the few that Austin Ray reserved for himself. It’s a moving portrait. You should read it.

But like any small business so closely tied to the family that runs it, there is struggle too. And it’s about more than just making ends meet. While the beers may be the epitome of balance, balancing one’s life is every bit as difficult and necessary. Managing the start-up pace of a small, hands-on brewery, expanding the market for those beers na making delivery runs to New York City, raising a toddler, and a busy taproom that’s increasingly becoming a destination for beer fans — these things, perhaps even more than trying to crack the code on these so-called crispy little beers is what’s keeping the due of Tailor and Dan Suarez up at night. Not that you’d believe they struggle with anything - as their reputation for being very relaxed, chill folks with a small town brewery is, at least on the surface, the epitome of the small brewer dream in America. Taking a deeper look, as we do today, will only make you love them more.

They’re pretty fantastic.

Before we get started today I want to tell you about a couple of upcoming GBH events happening right here in London this September. First up, we're incredibly excited to be bringing New Belgium's wonderful sours to British shores for the first ever time, in an event called Into the Wild. They'll be pouring their 2018 iterations of Le Terroir, Transatlantique Kriek and, of course, La Folie, alongside some incredible cheeses selected by Cheesemonger Ned Palmer, meats from The Charcuterie Board and sourdough from Bread by Bike. We've also hand picked a small selection of brewers, cider makers and winemakers to pour alongside them, in an effort to showcase all things delicious and fermentation driven—and crucially—what they all have in common. Along with New Belgium themselves we'll be joined by, Burning Sky, Cloudwater, Beavertown's Tempus Project, Boundary, Oliver's Cider and Perry and New Zealand's Garage Project, who'll be bringing natural wines from their Crushed series. It's happening on September 5th at the Beer Merchants Tap in Hackney, and I hope to see some of you there. We're also busy prepping for this year's Beavertown Extravaganza. We'll be there again this year with two days worth of panel talks happening over the course of both sessions on the 7th and 8th of September. A few tickets are still available, but they're selling fast, so head over to beavertownbrewery.co.uk to grab yours now, and we'll see you there. Now onto this week's episode—an experiment of sorts that ended up being a lot of fun to record. A couple weeks back I travelled to Sligo, on the West Coast of Ireland to visit The White Hag brewery, which happened to be celebrating its fourth birthday with its annual Hagstravaganza Festival. I can't tell you how many emails and tweets I've had over the years from Irish beer lovers asking me when I was going to visit and experience the Emerald Isle's thriving beer culture for myself. So, while at the festival, I tried to capture as much of that culture as possible in a series of shorter interviews. I hope you'll agree that the passion, and enthusiasm for Irish beer is infectiously evident in each one of them. Over the next couple of hours you'll hear from The White Hag's head brewer, Joe Kearns. Tom Delaney, head brewer at Galway Bay Brewery, and his own mixed-fermentation project Land and Labour. Cormac Wall, an Irishman working for Honest Brew in London, who also recently started contributing to GBH's b-Roll blog. Wayne and Janice Dunne, who collectively as The Irish Beer Snobs author a blog, and host a podcast of their own. Mark Twig and Maurice Deasy of Canvas Brewery, and Francesca Slattery, of London's Five Points Brewing Company, who lives in Dublin and works as the brewery's rep out in Ireland. The Irish beer market is a fascinating one, and also one not without its struggles. It's an industry dominated by the giants of Heineken and Diageo via its Guinness Brand—the latter going as far as to serve as a core part of this nation's identity for so many. However, what I found, was that if you scratch below the surface—even just a little—you'll soon find a thriving set of young, entrepreneurial brewers, each one desperate to prove that the beer scene here is composed of far more than merely "the Black Stuff." A quick note—this episode was recorded at a working beer festival, so there is some noise. But hopefully that'll convey how fantastic the atmosphere was at this event.

Before we get started today I want to tell you about a couple of upcoming GBH events happening right here in London this September. First up, we’re incredibly excited to be bringing New Belgium’s wonderful sours to British shores for the first ever time, in an event called Into the Wild. They’ll be pouring their 2018 iterations of Le Terroir, Transatlantique Kriek and, of course, La Folie, alongside some incredible cheeses selected by Cheesemonger Ned Palmer, meats from The Charcuterie Board and sourdough from Bread by Bike.

We’ve also hand picked a small selection of brewers, cider makers and winemakers to pour alongside them, in an effort to showcase all things delicious and fermentation driven—and crucially—what they all have in common. Along with New Belgium themselves we’ll be joined by, Burning Sky, Cloudwater, Beavertown’s Tempus Project, Boundary, Oliver’s Cider and Perry and New Zealand’s Garage Project, who’ll be bringing natural wines from their Crushed series. It’s happening on September 5th at the Beer Merchants Tap in Hackney, and I hope to see some of you there.


We’re also busy prepping for this year’s Beavertown Extravaganza. We’ll be there again this year with two days worth of panel talks happening over the course of both sessions on the 7th and 8th of September. A few tickets are still available, but they’re selling fast, so head over to beavertownbrewery.co.uk to grab yours now, and we’ll see you there.

Now onto this week’s episode—an experiment of sorts that ended up being a lot of fun to record. A couple weeks back I travelled to Sligo, on the West Coast of Ireland to visit The White Hag brewery, which happened to be celebrating its fourth birthday with its annual Hagstravaganza Festival.

I can’t tell you how many emails and tweets I’ve had over the years from Irish beer lovers asking me when I was going to visit and experience the Emerald Isle’s thriving beer culture for myself. So, while at the festival, I tried to capture as much of that culture as possible in a series of shorter interviews. I hope you’ll agree that the passion, and enthusiasm for Irish beer is infectiously evident in each one of them.

Over the next couple of hours you’ll hear from The White Hag’s head brewer, Joe Kearns. Tom Delaney, head brewer at Galway Bay Brewery, and his own mixed-fermentation project Land and Labour. Cormac Wall, an Irishman working for Honest Brew in London, who also recently started contributing to GBH’s b-Roll blog. Wayne and Janice Dunne, who collectively as The Irish Beer Snobs author a blog, and host a podcast of their own. Mark Twig and Maurice Deasy of Canvas Brewery, and Francesca Slattery, of London’s Five Points Brewing Company, who lives in Dublin and works as the brewery’s rep out in Ireland.

The Irish beer market is a fascinating one, and also one not without its struggles. It’s an industry dominated by the giants of Heineken and Diageo via its Guinness Brand—the latter going as far as to serve as a core part of this nation’s identity for so many. However, what I found, was that if you scratch below the surface—even just a little—you’ll soon find a thriving set of young, entrepreneurial brewers, each one desperate to prove that the beer scene here is composed of far more than merely “the Black Stuff.”

A quick note—this episode was recorded at a working beer festival, so there is some noise. But hopefully that’ll convey how fantastic the atmosphere was at this event.