Good Beer Hunting

Beer Writer is a term that gets tossed around a lot these days, but it's used to describe a wide variety of amateurs and professionals alike. Everyone from a personal blogger to a freelancer writing for magazines, to an author with half a dozen books under their belt, to people who cover the business of beer for established outlets like the Tribune or the New York Times. But each of these kinds of beer writers has their own audience and their own angle on the beer world, which of course is also incredibly diverse in terms of the types of beers being made, business models they support, and the markets those brands are active in. Everything is changing all the time. One of the writers I like the most here in Chicago is Peter Frost who writes for Crain's, a business focused publication that has increasingly written about smaller breweries over the years as they collectively started to occupy a sizable portion of the market, which makes them a factor in the lives of investors and entrepreneurs - the heart of a business publication's audience. But there's also clearly a personal interest being expressed by Peter as some of the writing he's produced around smaller breweries isn't about the business angle at all — at times it's been a bit personal and review-like. Something quite uncommon for a publication like Crain's. I wanted to sit down with Peter and get the wider view on how he ended up writing about beer for a place like Crain's and how a reporter like him thinks about the industry at large. But also, what motivates him and his publication to keep doing it at all. Peter is a beer writer, but also a business and food industry writer. Before that he wrote about healthcare and a host of other things. He's one more fascinating part of our world.

Beer Writer is a term that gets tossed around a lot these days, but it’s used to describe a wide variety of amateurs and professionals alike. Everyone from a personal blogger to a freelancer writing for magazines, to an author with half a dozen books under their belt, to people who cover the business of beer for established outlets like the Tribune or the New York Times. But each of these kinds of beer writers has their own audience and their own angle on the beer world, which of course is also incredibly diverse in terms of the types of beers being made, business models they support, and the markets those brands are active in. Everything is changing all the time. One of the writers I like the most here in Chicago is Peter Frost who writes for Crain’s, a business focused publication that has increasingly written about smaller breweries over the years as they collectively started to occupy a sizable portion of the market, which makes them a factor in the lives of investors and entrepreneurs - the heart of a business publication’s audience. But there’s also clearly a personal interest being expressed by Peter as some of the writing he’s produced around smaller breweries isn’t about the business angle at all — at times it’s been a bit personal and review-like. Something quite uncommon for a publication like Crain’s. I wanted to sit down with Peter and get the wider view on how he ended up writing about beer for a place like Crain’s and how a reporter like him thinks about the industry at large. But also, what motivates him and his publication to keep doing it at all. Peter is a beer writer, but also a business and food industry writer. Before that he wrote about healthcare and a host of other things. He’s one more fascinating part of our world.

Beer Writer is a term that gets tossed around a lot these days, but it’s used to describe a wide variety of amateurs and professionals alike. Everyone from a personal blogger to a freelancer writing for magazines, to an author with half a dozen books under their belt, to people who cover the business of beer for established outlets like the Tribune or the New York Times. But each of these kinds of beer writers has their own audience and their own angle on the beer world, which of course is also incredibly diverse in terms of the types of beers being made, business models they support, and the markets those brands are active in. Everything is changing all the time. One of the writers I like the most here in Chicago is Peter Frost who writes for Crain’s, a business focused publication that has increasingly written about smaller breweries over the years as they collectively started to occupy a sizable portion of the market, which makes them a factor in the lives of investors and entrepreneurs - the heart of a business publication’s audience. But there’s also clearly a personal interest being expressed by Peter as some of the writing he’s produced around smaller breweries isn’t about the business angle at all — at times it’s been a bit personal and review-like. Something quite uncommon for a publication like Crain’s. I wanted to sit down with Peter and get the wider view on how he ended up writing about beer for a place like Crain’s and how a reporter like him thinks about the industry at large. But also, what motivates him and his publication to keep doing it at all. Peter is a beer writer, but also a business and food industry writer. Before that he wrote about healthcare and a host of other things. He’s one more fascinating part of our world.

A few years ago on vacation on Long Island, I stumbled across a few local beers that caught my attention—Toasted Lager and Rastafa Rye were two of them, both beers from Blue Point. After some searching, we found the brewery a road just a short walk from the center of a sleepy town. It was closed that day, so I didn't get to visit, but the image of that building—a sort of repurposed gas station with an old school dive bar for a tap room—stuck with me. Shortly after, I started seeing the growth of Toasted Lager as close as Michigan, and the Bluepoint story started to become regional. That little brewery on Long Island had contracted their Lager in upstate New York, like so many growing brands on the east coast. And it was about this time that AB InBev took notice as well, acquiring the brewery in a deal that was largely ignored compared to the uproar that came with some of their other acquisitions. Who was Blue Point? And why did AB want to buy them? Those questions were the common refrain. I'll admit, other than the regional advantage, it seemed like a curious choice to me at the time, too. But watching the brand evolve since the acquisition, some themes emerge. The coastal story is more prominent. The connection to the local culinary culture is there. And of course, they had a unique Lager that was already scaling up and reaching new markets. Now? They're distributing to Chicago for the first time. In all that change, Blue Point brought on a new brewmaster, a guy who came up through the St. Louis Budweiser brewery, a trained engineer who found his passion for beer. When the opportunity opened up for a role in one of AB's craft breweries, he leapt at the chance. It's a career story that can only exist in 2017 with America's talent pool starting to move back and forth from big and little breweries within the same ownership structure, as each seek out a particular expertise. Whether it be engineering or cultural, both work to define innovation for themselves, and as some talent graduates, along with opportunities for scaling up or down, your focus as a brewer becomes valuable. Interesting times.

A few years ago on vacation on Long Island, I stumbled across a few local beers that caught my attention - one being Toasted Lager and another being Rastafa Rye, both beers from Bluepoint, which after some searching, we found on a road just a short walk from the center of a sleepy town. It was closed that day, so I didn’t get to visit, but the image of that building, a sort of repurposed gas station with an old school dive bar for a tap room, stuck with me.  Shortly after, I started seeing the growth of Toasted Lager as close as Michigan. And the Bluepoint story started to become regional. That little brewery on Long Island had contracted their lager in upstate New York, like so many growing brands on the east coast. And it was about this time that AB-Inbev took notice as well, acquiring the brewery in a deal that was largely ignored compared to some of the uproar that came with other acquisitions. Who was Bluepoint? And why did AB want to buy them? was the common refrain. I’ll admit, other than the regional advantage, it seemed like a curious choice to me at the time.  But watching the brand evolve since the acquisition, some themes emerge - the coastal story is more prominent, the connection to the local culinary culture, and of course, a unique lager that was already scaling up and reaching new markets. And now, they’re distributing to Chicago for the first time.  In all that change, Bluepoint brought on a new brewmaster, a guy who came up through the St Louis Budweiser brewery, a trained engineer who found his passion for beer, and when the opportunity opened up for a role in one of the AB craft breweries, he leapt at the chance.  It’s a career story that can only exist in 2017 with America’s talent pool starting to move back and forth from big and little breweries within the same ownership structure, as each seek out a particular expertise whether it be engineering or cultural and both work to define innovation for themselves, and as some talent graduates, and opportunities for scaling up, or down, your focus as a brewer become available.  Interesting times.  This is Bluepoints brewmaster, Dan Jansen, listen in.

A few years ago on vacation on Long Island, I stumbled across a few local beers that caught my attention - one being Toasted Lager and another being Rastafa Rye, both beers from Bluepoint, which after some searching, we found on a road just a short walk from the center of a sleepy town. It was closed that day, so I didn’t get to visit, but the image of that building, a sort of repurposed gas station with an old school dive bar for a tap room, stuck with me.  Shortly after, I started seeing the growth of Toasted Lager as close as Michigan. And the Bluepoint story started to become regional. That little brewery on Long Island had contracted their lager in upstate New York, like so many growing brands on the east coast. And it was about this time that AB-Inbev took notice as well, acquiring the brewery in a deal that was largely ignored compared to some of the uproar that came with other acquisitions. Who was Bluepoint? And why did AB want to buy them? was the common refrain. I’ll admit, other than the regional advantage, it seemed like a curious choice to me at the time.  But watching the brand evolve since the acquisition, some themes emerge - the coastal story is more prominent, the connection to the local culinary culture, and of course, a unique lager that was already scaling up and reaching new markets. And now, they’re distributing to Chicago for the first time.  In all that change, Bluepoint brought on a new brewmaster, a guy who came up through the St Louis Budweiser brewery, a trained engineer who found his passion for beer, and when the opportunity opened up for a role in one of the AB craft breweries, he leapt at the chance.  It’s a career story that can only exist in 2017 with America’s talent pool starting to move back and forth from big and little breweries within the same ownership structure, as each seek out a particular expertise whether it be engineering or cultural and both work to define innovation for themselves, and as some talent graduates, and opportunities for scaling up, or down, your focus as a brewer become available.  Interesting times.  This is Bluepoints brewmaster, Dan Jansen, listen in.

Welcome back to another episode of the GBH Collective where we bring you the stories behind the stories from our writers and photographers all over the world. This is our second edition of this format - and if you're liking it, let us know. The team really enjoys sharing their perspectives, and I can say personally, I'm enjoying hearing more about their adventures. And of course, this new series of episodes is made possible by our Patreon subscribers. Patron is a way that our readers and listeners can subscribe to GBH with a monthly contribution, just like subscribing to a magazine. We give back to our subscribers, which we call the Fervent few through events, discounts, exclusive gear and art, and a host of other perks. Because tot us, being a Fervent Few member makes you part of the team - and you'll see that come true when we launch the community section of the website in the next month. So to all those who signed up already, thanks so much - you're already enjoying the fruits of that subscription. If you want to join, visit patreon.com/goodbeerhunting, or click on the link on our show notes. This week we've got our new Australian writer, Luke Robertson who lives in Melbourne. He'll be sharing his experience of documenting the Mountain Goat story, and talking about some of his upcoming work for GBH. We'll also check in with Oliver Gray, one of our newest recruits who recently published a great interview with Chris White from White labs. And finally, Cory Smith, our storyteller out of Brooklyn talking about his recent travels through Spain and the southwest where he connected with the guys from Arizona Wilderness. An incredibly diverse range of topics from some great storytellers.

Welcome back to another episode of the GBH Collective where we bring you the stories behind the stories from our writers and photographers all over the world. This is our second edition of this format - and if you’re liking it, let us know. The team really enjoys sharing their perspectives, and I can say personally, I’m enjoying hearing more about their adventures. And of course, this new series of episodes is made possible by our Patreon subscribers. Patron is a way that our readers and listeners can subscribe to GBH with a monthly contribution, just like subscribing to a magazine. We give back to our subscribers, which we call the Fervent few through events, discounts, exclusive gear and art, and a host of other perks. Because tot us, being a Fervent Few member makes you part of the team - and you’ll see that come true when we launch the community section of the website in the next month. So to all those who signed up already, thanks so much - you’re already enjoying the fruits of that subscription. If you want to join, visit patreon.com/goodbeerhunting, or click on the link on our show notes. This week we’ve got our new Australian writer, Luke Robertson who lives in Melbourne. He’ll be sharing his experience of documenting the Mountain Goat story, and talking about some of his upcoming work for GBH. We’ll also check in with Oliver Gray, one of our newest recruits who recently published a great interview with cChris White from White labs. And finally, Cory Smith, our storyteller out of Brooklyn talking about his recent travels through Spain and the southwest where he connected with the guys from Arizona Wilderness. An incredibly diverse range of topics from some great storytellers.

Welcome back to another episode of the GBH Collective where we bring you the stories behind the stories from our writers and photographers all over the world. This is our second edition of this format - and if you’re liking it, let us know. The team really enjoys sharing their perspectives, and I can say personally, I’m enjoying hearing more about their adventures. And of course, this new series of episodes is made possible by our Patreon subscribers. Patron is a way that our readers and listeners can subscribe to GBH with a monthly contribution, just like subscribing to a magazine. We give back to our subscribers, which we call the Fervent few through events, discounts, exclusive gear and art, and a host of other perks. Because tot us, being a Fervent Few member makes you part of the team - and you’ll see that come true when we launch the community section of the website in the next month. So to all those who signed up already, thanks so much - you’re already enjoying the fruits of that subscription. If you want to join, visit patreon.com/goodbeerhunting, or click on the link on our show notes. This week we’ve got our new Australian writer, Luke Robertson who lives in Melbourne. He’ll be sharing his experience of documenting the Mountain Goat story, and talking about some of his upcoming work for GBH. We’ll also check in with Oliver Gray, one of our newest recruits who recently published a great interview with cChris White from White labs. And finally, Cory Smith, our storyteller out of Brooklyn talking about his recent travels through Spain and the southwest where he connected with the guys from Arizona Wilderness. An incredibly diverse range of topics from some great storytellers.

Like so many other breweries, the team at Aslin Beer Company is new to the industry, part of roughly 500 breweries that opened in 2015 and more than 3,000 that have appeared in the last five years. Alongside many contemporaries, the rise of Aslin can be seen through the lens of what online beer enthusiast communities can do for a small business. In less than two years, Aslin has become a hot commodity on the trading circuit and an unsurprising presence on top beer lists among some of the most popular rating websites. It should come as no surprise, really, when that attention is spurred by creating one beloved New England IPA brand after another. The rotating collection of hazy, hoppy beers coming from Aslin has helped push the brewery to its production limits. Of all places to have met co-founder Kai Leszkowicz, in a strange way, it felt fitting we crossed paths in another country. I met him while visiting Reykjavik, Iceland, when both of us were in town as part of the annual Icelandic Beer Festival. As a former homebrewer who has quickly made a name for himself and his brewery, it oddly didn't feel too out of place to first meet him a world away from our home region of the Mid-Atlantic. If there was any time in the history of the beer industry, now would be it when a brewery making 2,000 barrels of beer a year would be on the radar of Scandinavian beer lovers. That's the power of the internet. Which is why I found Kai's perspective as the part-owner of a young business so interesting. The excitement and hardships, the new ideas and challenges he faces, are ones taken on by so many other breweries who have to learn to balance growth with word of mouth fame.