Good Beer Hunting

Welcome to this special edition of the GBH podcast, which forms part of our Coming to America series, brought to you in collaboration with Guinness. Before we get started today, I want to tell you how excited I am about bringing our Uppers and Downers festival of coffee, beer and coffee beers to London this May. It takes place at Mick's Garage in Hackney Wick on Saturday May 19th and will feature over 30 exceptional brewers and roasters—including today's guests, Boundary—each collaborating on some new and exclusive beers that you'll only be able to try at the event. Tickets are limited and selling fast, so head over to goodbeerhunting.com and hit get tickets to secure your space. In our Coming to America series we've brought you stories about upstart and iconic breweries from around the world that have been impacting U.S. drinkers for generations, and those that are just beginning to make the journey. Stories like how Pilsner Urquell originally came to the US, and how young breweries like Denmark's Alefarm are trying to find their place in the same market in the age of modern and local. Today's guest is Matthew Dick, co-founder of Boundary Brewing Cooperative, based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. If you read our article on Boundary back in May 2016 then you'll already be somewhat familiar with this Northern Irish upstart, which is only the second brewery to open in Belfast. Using the cooperative model as a base, which Dick will explain in detail later in this episode, Boundary began its journey in 2015, thanks to the investments made by over 1000 owner-members. It's a model that's relatively unique within the UK brewing industry, but its one that's so far proved successful for this young business Before the brewery opened however, Dick spent many years living out in the United States. He met his wife in Reno, Nevada, where he lived for several years, and latterly he spent some time in Austin, Texas, where he worked for the now defunct homebrew equipment manufacturer, Brewbot. To say that the US brewing scene inspired Dick—in particular breweries working with barrels and mixed-fermentation beers like Jester King—would be something of an understatement. An American-inspired entrepreneurial spirit resonates through everything that Boundary does. With three years under its belt it's starting to become established in its home markets of the UK and Ireland, but this isn't without its challenges, especially with the ever-darker clouds of Brexit looming on the horizon. Now, however, Boundary is beginning to look further afield and after securing a distribution deal with Shelton Brothers it has started to export its beer to the US. Boundary had the honor of taking over the taps at DC's Churchkey this past St. Patrick's Day. It also recently debuted its beer in New York City with an event at The Jeffrey. In this episode we'll learn about the value of these US exports to such a small brewery, and how it balances this alongside activity the needs of its domestic market.

Welcome to this special edition of the GBH podcast, which forms part of our Coming to America series, brought to you in collaboration with Guinness.

Before we get started today, I want to tell you how excited I am about bringing our Uppers and Downers festival of coffee, beer and coffee beers to London this May. It takes place at Mick’s Garage in Hackney Wick on Saturday May 19th and will feature over 30 exceptional brewers and roasters—including today’s guests, Boundary—each collaborating on some new and exclusive beers that you’ll only be able to try at the event. Tickets are limited and selling fast, so head over to goodbeerhunting.com and hit get tickets to secure your space.

In our Coming to America series we’ve brought you stories about upstart and iconic breweries from around the world that have been impacting U.S. drinkers for generations, and those that are just beginning to make the journey. Stories like how Pilsner Urquell originally came to the US, and how young breweries like Denmark’s Alefarm are trying to find their place in the same market in the age of modern and local.

Today’s guest is Matthew Dick, co-founder of Boundary Brewing Cooperative, based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. If you read our article on Boundary back in May 2016 then you’ll already be somewhat familiar with this Northern Irish upstart, which is only the second brewery to open in Belfast. Using the cooperative model as a base, which Dick will explain in detail later in this episode, Boundary began its journey in 2015, thanks to the investments made by over 1000 owner-members. It’s a model that’s relatively unique within the UK brewing industry, but its one that’s so far proved successful for this young business

Before the brewery opened however, Dick spent many years living out in the United States. He met his wife in Reno, Nevada, where he lived for several years, and latterly he spent some time in Austin, Texas, where he worked for the now defunct homebrew equipment manufacturer, Brewbot. To say that the US brewing scene inspired Dick—in particular breweries working with barrels and mixed-fermentation beers like Jester King—would be something of an understatement.

An American-inspired entrepreneurial spirit resonates through everything that Boundary does. With three years under its belt it’s starting to become established in its home markets of the UK and Ireland, but this isn’t without its challenges, especially with the ever-darker clouds of Brexit looming on the horizon.

Now, however, Boundary is beginning to look further afield and after securing a distribution deal with Shelton Brothers it has started to export its beer to the US. Boundary had the honor of taking over the taps at DC’s Churchkey this past St. Patrick’s Day. It also recently debuted its beer in New York City with an event at The Jeffrey. In this episode we’ll learn about the value of these US exports to such a small brewery, and how it balances this alongside activity the needs of its domestic market.

I didn't expect to talk about a serial killer when I sat down with Devon Kreps recently, but sometimes life can be full of surprises.

For a while, that was a recurring theme for Devon and her brewery, 7venth Sun, which she co-owns with Justin Stange. As you'll hear in our discussion, natural disasters and local tragedies played an unexpected and unfortunate role in the early story of their brewery's new production space in Tampa, Florida. But when we got together, it was in the cozy confines of their original brewery and taproom in Dunedin, a sort of golf cart community also on the western side of the state.

Devon and Justin opened 7venth Sun in 2012 after meeting at Sweetwater Brewing, and her roots in beer go back to a degree in fermentation science from Oregon State University and time spent with Anheuser-Busch. You'll hear from Devon on a lot of similar topics craft brewers are facing today, from finding a niche in a local market to learning how to best run a business and, perhaps most important, overcome unexpected challenges for which you have no control. Through it all, Devon has helped run one of the flagship breweries in the greater Tampa area providing growth and excitement for her team and customers alike.

Grab a Florida weisse, relax in a reclining chair and think of sandy beaches.

I didn't expect to talk about a serial killer when I sat down with Devon Kreps recently, but sometimes life can be full of surprises. For a while, that was a recurring theme for Devon and her brewery, 7venth Sun, which she co-owns with Justin Stange. As you'll hear in our discussion, natural disasters and local tragedies played an unexpected and unfortunate role in the early story of their brewery's new production space in Tampa, Florida. But when we got together, it was in the cozy confines of their original brewery and taproom in Dunedin, a sort of golf cart community also on the western side of the state. Devon and Justin opened 7venth Sun in 2012 after meeting at Sweetwater Brewing, and her roots in beer go back to a degree in fermentation science from Oregon State University and time spent with Anheuser-Busch. You'll hear from Devon on a lot of similar topics craft brewers are facing today, from finding a niche in a local market to learning how to best run a business and, perhaps most important, overcome unexpected challenges for which you have no control. Through it all, Devon has helped run one of the flagship breweries in the greater Tampa area providing growth and excitement for her team and customers alike. Grab a Florida weisse, relax in a reclining chair and think of sandy beaches.

Welcome to another episode of The Fervent Few podcast. Every few weeks we present you with this bonus episode of the GBH podcast where we chat with members of our subscriber community. The Fervent Few subscribe to GBH like a magazine making a monthly contribution via Patreon. Members join us in a forum to talk about a wide range of topics that doesn't just stop at beer. And every week we pick one of these topics and present the community's answers to readers in the form of an article posted to Good Beer Hunting. You can find out more information by visiting patreon.com/goodbeerhunting On this episode we talk to Zach Rothman (an attorney and beer blogger) and Chase Brooks (a cidermaker) about the recent uptick in lagers, and Nick Yoder, a distribution sales rep, about how he plans his beer travel.

Welcome to another episode of The Fervent Few podcast. Every few weeks we present you with this bonus episode of the GBH podcast where we chat with members of our subscriber community. The Fervent Few subscribe to GBH like a magazine making a monthly contribution via Patreon. Members join us in a forum to talk about a wide range of topics that doesn’t just stop at beer. And every week we pick one of these topics and present the community’s answers to readers in the form of an article posted to Good Beer Hunting. You can find out more information by visiting patreon.com/goodbeerhunting

On this episode we talk to Zach Rothman (an attorney and beer blogger) and Chase Brooks (a cidermaker) about the recent uptick in lagers, and Nick Yoder, a distribution sales rep, about how he plans his beer travel.

This is our second interview recorded during San Francisco beer week - and it happened to be our second interview with someone who works at HenHouse Brewing up in the north bay. When I first contacted Sayre to come on the podcast, I didn't even know he worked for Henhouse, which becomes part and parcel of the conversation. Sayre Piotrkowski is a great example of someone who's hustled their way through a variety of jobs in the beer world, from door man, to bartender to beer buyer and sales rep. The variety of his experiences comes together to form a uniquely complex and interesting take on the implications of today's beer market - how the biggest players affect communities, and how the smallest movers motivate change. Sayre's also been quite vocal about his opinions. He wrote an op-ed outlining his opposition to the Golden Road pub moving into Oakland that garnered a lot of attention - and we'll talk about that in depth here. But it's the underlying principles at play that really drive this conversation into interesting territory for me. And at times, Sayre and I sort of wander into the wildness together as we sort through the nuance of our own opinions and the questions we're asking of each other. So pardon the looseness of this one if you can, and just come along for the ride. Some of the things we discuss are still haunting me a bit, as unresolved as they are. But I enjoyed every minute of it, and I hope you do too. This is Sayre Piotrkowski of Henhouse brewing, listen in.

This is our second interview recorded during San Francisco beer week - and it happened to be our second interview with someone who works at HenHouse Brewing up in the north bay. When I first contacted Sayre to come on the podcast, I didn’t even know he worked for Henhouse, which becomes part and parcel of the conversation.

Sayre Piotrkowski is a great example of someone who’s hustled their way through a variety of jobs in the beer world, from door man, to bartender to beer buyer and sales rep. The variety of his experiences comes together to form a uniquely complex and interesting take on the implications of today’s beer market - how the biggest players affect communities, and how the smallest movers motivate change.

Sayre’s also been quite vocal about his opinions. He wrote an op-ed outlining his opposition to the Golden Road pub moving into Oakland that garnered a lot of attention - and we’ll talk about that in depth here. But it’s the underlying principles at play that really drive this conversation into interesting territory for me. And at times, Sayre and I sort of wander into the wildness together as we sort through the nuance of our own opinions and the questions we’re asking of each other. So pardon the looseness of this one if you can, and just come along for the ride. Some of the things we discuss are still haunting me a bit, as unresolved as they are. But I enjoyed every minute of it, and I hope you do too.

This is Sayre Piotrkowski of Henhouse brewing, listen in.

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.