It's officially Summer! Hope everyone is doing well and kicking back with some refreshing beers. We are excited to bring you another episode of Good But Not the Best to hopefully aid in that relaxation. We kick things off with an update on our acronym guesses from one of the reviews we discussed last episode and a new review/acronym that came in after we had already recorded the June show. That discussion leads us into Andrew giving us an update on the Underscore series, and a general look back at June 2020 in the world of Dancing Gnome, which includes an unfortunate mishap that robbed us of another Barrel Aged Black Clouds release. After a quick look ahead into July 2020, we are joined by our guest, Pete Kurzweg of the Independent Brewing Company, Hidden Harbor and Lorelei. We start off by talking about COVID and how his businesses have handled the stay at home orders and their plan for re-opening, followed by a great discussion on beer in general, the Pittsburgh market, and how he would like to see the Pittsburgh market evolve. We end the show with another round of Watch, Listen, Learn.

Intro & Outro music by: Kabbalistic Village
Break music by: Joseph McDade

Reunited!! I'm happy to say that we are back together for the June episode of Good, But Not the Best! We were able to record in the taproom (from a safe distance, of course) and were joined by Rob Dillman, of Old Thunder Brewing, after 2 episodes without a guest. We start off by reading some of the new reviews submitted by listeners since the last episode, including 2 reviews that included acronyms! Then, we take a look back into May 2020, which was dominated by Lustra Day(s) and their first mixed culture release, Barrel Lustra. We discuss Andrew's lack of passion for mixed culture beers and whether we will be seeing more of them from Dancing Gnome. Next, we are joined by Rob of Old Thunder Brewing, which is a new brewery that will be opening in Blawnox, just up the river from Dancing Gnome. Rob tells us about the building they are currently working on, what kind of beers they'll be brewing, what it's like trying to get a brewery open during a pandemic, whether the coronavirus has made them revise any of their plans, and much more. We finish the episode with Watch, Listen, Learn and reveal our guesses to the listener review acronyms.

Intro & Outro music by: Kabbalistic Village
Break music by: Kevin MacLeod

Thanks for checking out the latest episode of Good But Not the Best! We're sticking with the socially distanced set up for this episode but are hopeful that we will be back recording in person for June. We switch things up slightly at the start of the show by first looking ahead into May 2020 which will be dominated by Lustra variants. Unfortunately, Lustra day can't happen this year but we are still going to be able to celebrate this Dancing Gnome flagship with the release of Lager Lustra, Half Lustra, Lustra, Double Lustra, Triple Lustra and a secret 6th variant that Andrew will tell everyone about at a later date. In addition, we can look forward to 2 Tree Series releases in May as well. Next, we take a look back at April 2020. Before we get into specifics, Andrew gives us a "state of the union" for Dancing Gnome and we discuss the state of the Pittsburgh craft beer scene in these strange times. Then, Andrew tells us about the Black Clouds online release, and we talk about the reactions following the release, both good and bad. We close things out with a loaded edition of Watch, Listen, Learn. Thanks for listening!!

Intro & Outro music by: Kabbalistic Village
Break music by: Joseph McDade

We're back with a socially distanced episode of Good But Not the Best. Due to the ongoing coronavirus measures, we were unable to record this episode in person, but thanks to the miracle of technology, we were still able to get an episode out to our listeners. We don't have a guest on this episode, for obvious reasons but with everything that has happened since we last recorded, we had plenty to talk about. We kick things off with a look back at the month of March, which Andrew described as "the longest month of his life." We discuss how the current situation has affected Dancing Gnome, how they are dealing with it and how it may end up affect breweries in general as time moves along. Due to the uncertain future, we couldn't take much of a look forward into April, but we do discuss some of the upcoming releases for the month. After a quick break we finish up the episode with a round of Watch/Listen/Learn that we hope can fill some time during social isolation. Thanks for listening and stay safe!!

Intro & Outro music by: Kabbalistic Village
Break music by: Joseph McDade

It's March!! Much to the delight of Andrew, we are through February and into March, which as we decided on this episode, means it is Spring. Before long, we'll be seeing buds on the trees, Spring flowers pushing their way toward the sunlight and the color green returning to Pittsburgh. But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, we want to take a look back at the month that was February in the world of Dancing Gnome and beyond. We start by discussing the release of the 2nd barrel aged offering of Black Clouds (coffee cake), the release of the first of the Tree Series (Eastern White Pine), and other collaborations/fests. Against Andrew's wishes, I bring up his now infamous tweet regarding children in breweries and we touch on the backlash/support that he received. Then, we take a look ahead into March and Andrew tells us about two collaborations that may be happening with two different bands that he likes, some upcoming fests and the March Tree Series release/style. Next, we are joined by our guest Luke Cypher of Blue Sparrow! We kick of the convo with Luke telling us about the Blue Sparrow bus, which is coming up on it's 1 year anniversary before diving into his reasons for starting the Blue Sparrow food truck and why he decided on the "global street food" theme. Then, we discuss the food truck culture in Pittsburgh or lack thereof, relationships between food trucks locally and nationally and what's next for Blue Sparrow. Finally, Andrew and I close the show with a Stephen King heavy round of Watch, Listen, Learn. 

Intro & Outro music by: Kabbalistic Village
Break musis by: Kevin MacLeod

We're back with the February episode of Good, but not the best... a Dancing Gnome podcast! We start by taking a look back at January at Dancing Gnome, including the release of their first West Coast IPA and their collaboration and corresponding show with local band, Starship Mantis. Then, we briefly take a look ahead into February, which will bring the release of the first in the Tree Series. Andrew also gives an update on the styles that will be included in the Tree Series. Next, we talk with Aadam Soorma of Very Local Pittsburgh and Porter Brewery Tours. Aadam tells us about his involvement with Porter and their current status as well as how he came to Very Local Pittsburgh and what they are all about. Aadam and Andrew discuss their days running cross country in college and their current running habits (or lack thereof). Aadam sits in with us as we close the show with our Watch/Listen/Learn segment that includes a discussion of the Mandolorian/Star Wars, the Fast and the Furious franchise, celebrity deaths that have/would affect us, and much more!

Intro & outro music by: Kabbalistic Village
Break music by: Joseph McDade

Happy New Year! Thanks for checking out the first full episode of our new podcast! We kick things off by taking a look back at some of Dancing Gnome's notable moments in 2019, including the Bird Series and their first bottled beer, Barrel Aged Black Clouds. Andrew talks about some of the process changes with specific Bird Series releases and what they learned throughout the Bird Series. Next, we take a look ahead both at this coming month at Dancing Gnome and then 2020 as a whole. Then, we are joined by our first ever guest, Joe Stavish from Tree Pittsburgh. Joe tells us about his role with Tree Pittsburgh, their role in the community, and their involvement with Dancing Gnome's 2020 monthly series, the Tree Series. We wrap up the show with a segment we are calling Watch, Listen, Learn; where we each talk about shows/movies we have been watching, music we have been listening to, and other things we have been learning about/experiencing. 

Intro & Outro music by: Kabbalistic Village
Break music by: Kevin MacLeod

An introduction to the new podcast from Andrew Witchey of Dancing Gnome and Jaron Barton of the Craft Beer Industry podcast.