Good Beer Hunting

Beer people love to talk about how the beverage they care about so much has brought the same kind of sentiment with other human beings. We're often finding ways that malt, barley, hops and yeast have given us another figurative ingredient: friends. For those of us who think about beer too much, it's always a treat to find like-minded others wherever we go. In June, I found myself in downtown Madrid while staying in the city as part of short media tour hosted by Mahou San Miguel. I wanted to find some local craft beer and Google led me to Bee Beer Craft Beer and Cheeses, a small bottle shop with brands from around Spain, most notably the namesake brewery of the business. It was there I wound up chatting with owner Xavier Losada, learning about what led him to open a craft-focused store in a market where that kind of beer still feels a little new. Xavier has a curiosity to create something new that wouldn't feel too out of place in an American market and he's working to change the mentality of locals, not just tourists like me who wander into a welcoming bar that feels like home. These kinds of conversations, where there's an international insight to trends or interests we may take for granted stateside, can be so valuable. It's a time to meet others who are watching what's happening in beer with a new perspective and better grasp all the changes taking place as craft beer becomes increasingly important around the globe. I heard all that from Xavier, who also actively watches the boundaries of flavor as he creates new brands to serve under the Bee Beer banner.

Beer people love to talk about how the beverage they care about so much has brought the same kind of sentiment with other human beings. We’re often finding ways that malt, barley, hops and yeast have given us another figurative ingredient: friends. For those of us who think about beer too much, it’s always a treat to find like-minded others wherever we go.

In June, I found myself in downtown Madrid while staying in the city as part of short media tour hosted by Mahou San Miguel. I wanted to find some local craft beer and Google led me to Bee Beer Craft Beer and Cheeses, a small bottle shop with brands from around Spain, most notably the namesake brewery of the business. It was there I wound up chatting with owner Xavier Losada, learning about what led him to open a craft-focused store in a market where that kind of beer still feels a little new. Xavier has a curiosity to create something new that wouldn’t feel too out of place in an American market and he’s working to change the mentality of locals, not just tourists like me who wander into a welcoming bar that feels like home.

These kinds of conversations, where there’s an international insight to trends or interests we may take for granted stateside, can be so valuable. It’s a time to meet others who are watching what’s happening in beer with a new perspective and better grasp all the changes taking place as craft beer becomes increasingly important around the globe. I heard all that from Xavier, who also actively watches the boundaries of flavor as he creates new brands to serve under the Bee Beer banner.

Today's guest sit at the intersection of so many aspects of Irish craft beer. He's an importer of American brands like Lagunitas. He's a distributor of Ireland's domestic craft brands like Galway Bay. He's also the country's first, and perhaps only official Beer Sommelier. So his perspective accounts for the curation, sales, distribution, and education of craft beer in a small country that's recently flipped a switch in terms of its interests, with many people now drinking small craft, trendy beers like New England IPA alongside traditional beers like Guinness and Murphys. And in a market with incredibly entrenched brands as Ireland has, that sudden new interest has a major uphill battle to fight to gain awareness and shelf and tap handle space in the country's on and off-license establishments, better known in the US as on and off premises - namely bars, restaurants, and liquor store and bottles shops. As of yet, there really isn't a taproom model to speak of, with very few exceptions. So to get a crash course on the many factors influencing Irish craft beer right now, for better and worse, I sat down with Phil Tavey of Grand Cru beers. We posted up at a bar called Sine é in Dublin who's tap lists were a perfect representation of the state of things, running the gamut from Guinness to Galway Bay and a host of other small brewery offerings. This is Phil Tavey of Grand Cru Beers, listen in.

Today’s guest sit at the intersection of so many aspects of Irish craft beer. He’s an importer of American brands like Lagunitas. He’s a distributor of Ireland’s domestic craft brands like Galway Bay. He’s also the country’s first, and perhaps only official Beer Sommelier. So his perspective accounts for the curation, sales, distribution, and education of craft beer in a small country that’s recently flipped a switch in terms of its interests, with many people now drinking small craft, trendy beers like New England IPA alongside traditional beers like Guinness and Murphys. And in a market with incredibly entrenched brands as Ireland has, that sudden new interest has a major uphill battle to fight to gain awareness and shelf and tap handle space in the country’s on and off-license establishments, better known in the US as on and off premises - namely bars, restaurants, and liquor store and bottles shops. As of yet, there really isn’t a taproom model to speak of, with very few exceptions.

So to get a crash course on the many factors influencing Irish craft beer right now, for better and worse, I sat down with Phil Tavey of Grand Cru beers. We posted up at a bar called Sine e in Dublin who’s tap lists were a perfect representation of the state of things, running the gamut from Guinness to Galway Bay and a host of other small brewery offerings.

For this latest version of the GBH Collective, I sat down with Oliver Gray, a fellow writer at Good Beer Hunting who recently took his love for beer by going pro. He's currently helping launch Guinness' new brewery in Baltimore as the marketing manager for the Guinness Open Gate Brewery and Barrel House. As a bit of disclosure, while Guinness is an underwriter for GBH, the reason Oliver and I sat down together was a rare occasion that we found ourselves in the same city at the same time, having both traveled to Nashville for the recent Craft Brewers Conference. For the sake of full disclosure, Oliver is one of my best friends, and we've shared lots of long conversations about beer, life, writing and more and it just so happened that I had my podcast equipment this time around. I've done hundreds, if not thousands, of interviews in my life as a reporter, but there's something special about getting to ask questions of people who are close to you as a way to share them with others. Oliver is an important person in my life, and he's been a valuable part of the Good Beer Hunting team whether it's through his byline or expertise behind the scenes. I'm glad we had the chance to talk as a way to share more with you.

For this latest version of the GBH Collective, I sat down with Oliver Gray, a fellow writer at Good Beer Hunting who recently took his love for beer by going pro. He’s currently helping launch Guinness’ new brewery in Baltimore as the marketing manager for the Guinness Open Gate Brewery and Barrel House.

As a bit of disclosure, while Guinness is an underwriter for GBH, the reason Oliver and I sat down together was a rare occasion that we found ourselves in the same city at the same time, having both traveled to Nashville for the recent Craft Brewers Conference. For the sake of full disclosure, Oliver is one of my best friends, and we’ve shared lots of long conversations about beer, life, writing and more and it just so happened that I had my podcast equipment this time around. I’ve done hundreds, if not thousands, of interviews in my life as a reporter, but there’s something special about getting to ask questions of people who are close to you as a way to share them with others. Oliver is an important person in my life, and he’s been a valuable part of the Good Beer Hunting team whether it’s through his byline or expertise behind the scenes. I’m glad we had the chance to talk as a way to share more with you.

Today's guest is Natalya Watson of Duvel Moortgat. Watson's upbringing was something of an adventure, born to Northern Irish parents in Canada, then living back in Northern Ireland before growing up in California. Watson would then go on to live in New York, before eventually putting her British passport to good use, and moving to London in 2015. The start of her new adventure in beer here in the UK began behind the bar at Mother Kelly's—an East London bar and bottle shop that's become something of an institution among beer fans. Shortly after this she landed her current gig at Duvel Moortgat, where she's held her role as UK marketing manager for almost three years. The Duvel-Moortgat family currently consists of 12 of brands spread acrossmainland Europe and the United States. However, it doesn't presently have a stake in a UK brewery. The UK arm of its business looks after seven of these brands within this territory, which are: De Koninck, Vedett, Maredsous, Liefmans, Brasserie Achouffe, Boulevard in Kansas City and Duvel itself. Not all of the brands in its portfolio fall under Duvel UK's jurisdiction, however, with examples like California's Firestone Walker and Bernard in Czechia acting autonomously in this market. It's an interesting time for Duvel in the UK—the British beer market is a landscape that's unrecognizable from what it was 10, maybe even 5 years ago. It needs to find a way to compete in this space but in a way, the activation of the modern UK beer market has been a benefit to the Belgian company. In fact Duvelas a beer saw a 16% retail sales jump in 2017, and this year that figure might be closer to 25%. Remarkable numbers for a beer that will be celebrating itscentenary in 2023. Perhaps this is because as a beer, Duvel no longer looks so alien on the supermarket shelf to some consumers. In Britain—a land built on the back of sessionable ales—an 8.5% Belgian Golden Ale is nothing if not a little intimidating. Now, Duvel has been joined on these shelves by Double IPA's, Imperial Stouts, Saisons and more, somehow making it feel more accessible than ever. Over the course of the next hour we'll also find out why Duvel has decided to roll out a new draft version of its flagship using a unique dispense system. And we'll speak about its US brands like Boulevard, Ommegang and Firestone Walker, examining why some of them are more prevalent here in the UK than others.

Today’s guest is Natalya Watson of Duvel Moortgat. Watson’s upbringing was something of an adventure, born to Northern Irish parents in Canada, then living back in Northern Ireland before growing up in California. Watson would then go on to live in New York, before eventually putting her British passport to good use, and moving to London in 2015.

The start of her new adventure in beer here in the UK began behind the bar at Mother Kelly’s—an East London bar and bottle shop that’s become something of an institution among beer fans. Shortly after this she landed her current gig at Duvel Moortgat, where she’s held her role as UK marketing manager for almost three years.

The Duvel-Moortgat family currently consists of 12 of brands spread acrossmainland Europe and the United States. However, it doesn’t presently have a stake in a UK brewery. The UK arm of its business looks after seven of these brands within this territory, which are: De Koninck, Vedett, Maredsous, Liefmans, Brasserie Achouffe, Boulevard in Kansas City and Duvel itself. Not all of the brands in its portfolio fall under Duvel UK’s jurisdiction, however, with examples like California’s Firestone Walker and Bernard in Czechia acting autonomously in this market.

It’s an interesting time for Duvel in the UK—the British beer market is a landscape that’s unrecognizable from what it was 10, maybe even 5 years ago. It needs to find a way to compete in this space but in a way, the activation of the modern UK beer market has been a benefit to the Belgian company. In fact Duvelas a beer saw a 16% retail sales jump in 2017, and this year that figure might be closer to 25%. Remarkable numbers for a beer that will be celebrating itscentenary in 2023.

Perhaps this is because as a beer, Duvel no longer looks so alien on the supermarket shelf to some consumers. In Britain—a land built on the back of sessionable ales—an 8.5% Belgian Golden Ale is nothing if not a little intimidating. Now, Duvel has been joined on these shelves by Double IPA’s, Imperial Stouts, Saisons and more, somehow making it feel more accessible than ever.

Over the course of the next hour we’ll also find out why Duvel has decided to roll out a new draft version of its flagship using a unique dispense system. And we’ll speak about its US brands like Boulevard, Ommegang and Firestone Walker, examining why some of them are more prevalent here in the UK than others.

To some, vacation prep can feel almost as time consuming as act of being away itself, sorting through an endless number of online suggestions and guides with what you simply can't miss in whatever location you may be visiting. And like so many other beer lovers, I've got the process down to a science. When I'm off to visit someplace new, I love tips of where to and what to drink. On a recent stop in Kansas City, I was thrilled to have seen one small up-and-comer pop up several times over. BKS Artisan Ales - like so many other breweries in the City of Fountains - is helping to establish a new era of beer in Kansas City. Boulevard Brewing has long been an attraction, but there are more and more small producers catching the eye and taste buds of beer enthusiasts, with BKS being a prominent one. Best of all, BKS is still growing. After opening toward the end of 2017, the neighborhood taproom has been forced to expand its hours - from one day to two - as owners Brian and Mary Rooney find ways to strike work-life balance with a passionate local fanbase eager to line up for their New England IPAs, saisons and more. They haven't even been open for a year, but have already considered what small changes to their space can mean in terms of production, efficiency and quality. It's amazing what a canning machine can mean for saved time and sanity. Having navigated local laws to finally get open, the business has set itself up for an exciting future in Kansas City. All you have to do is check online message boards to follow along, but maybe the cat's out of the bag now.

To some, vacation prep can feel almost as time consuming as act of being away itself, sorting through an endless number of online suggestions and guides with what you simply can’t miss in whatever location you may be visiting. And like so many other beer lovers, I’ve got the process down to a science.

When I’m off to visit someplace new, I love tips of where to and what to drink. On a recent stop in Kansas City, I was thrilled to have seen one small up-and-comer pop up several times over.

BKS Artisan Ales - like so many other breweries in the City of Fountains - is helping to establish a new era of beer in Kansas City. Boulevard Brewing has long been an attraction, but there are more and more small producers catching the eye and taste buds of beer enthusiasts, with BKS being a prominent one. Best of all, BKS is still growing.

After opening toward the end of 2017, the neighborhood taproom has been forced to expand its hours - from one day to two - as owners Brian and Mary Rooney find ways to strike work-life balance with a passionate local fanbase eager to line up for their New England IPAs, saisons and more. They haven’t even been open for a year, but have already considered what small changes to their space can mean in terms of production, efficiency and quality. It’s amazing what a canning machine can mean for saved time and sanity.

Having navigated local laws to finally get open, the business has set itself up for an exciting future in Kansas City. All you have to do is check online message boards to follow along, but maybe the cat’s out of the bag now.