Graining In

With the decade coming to a close, the guys are in a particularly reflective mood. Matty's ready to completely reinvent himself, Noah's standing ground with arms folded, and per usual, the resulting dialogue finds itself in a happy medium. The conversation reflects on the good, bad, and ridiculous that seven months of podcasting has brought the guys, and touches on their hopes and dreams (or lack thereof) for 2020. The pseudo-psychiatric self indulgence wraps up with Noah and Matt sharing their three respective most memorable beer drinking experiences of the past year. Onward and upward.. fingers crossed.

Matty and Noah find themselves on the docks of Boston this week. They're not there to sneak onto a Ben Affleck movie, but instead to talk to Anna Jobe, Innovations Brewer at Nightshift's newest location on Lovejoy Wharf. Anna's been with the brewery since nearly the beginning, which made for an easy, eclectic, and very interesting chat. Anna gives a brief arc of the brewery's culinary-inspired focus when she started and the transition into the present, where they make just about everything in the realm of beer. We talk about finding inspiration in the brewhouse, in and outside of the beer world, touch of lagers, and even venture into the verboten territory of seltzers in what was an incredibly fun conversation.
Music: "Mountain Climb" by Jake Hill and Deep Creek

The guys venture into the woods of Newcastle, ME to talk with Mike Fava, head brewer of Oxbow Brewing. The conversation - held inside a literal farmhouse next to the brewery - makes a great case for the podcast's best so far. Fava (as he's known by essentially everyone) cut his chops brewing at Dock Street and Nodding Head in Philadelphia, and he walks us through how he ended up going from pub to farmhouse brewer with some help from a guy known as "The Dude". He shares his thoughts on what defines saison, the value in displaying production time on a beer's label, and how Oxbow came to be champions of the Italian-style pilsner through both brewing Luppolo and hosting Pils & Love. After a mutual gushing over spontaneous fermentation and Oxbow's Native/Wild, things wrap up with a Three Bay involving two of Fava's favorite things: lambic and VHS. All said, it's a truly inspiring conversation, and got Matty and Noah immediately thinking about Part II.
Song: Mountain Climb by Jake Hill and Deep Creek

All sides of holiday spirit are in full effect on this week's episode! After getting some heavy ghosts of Christmas Pasts out of the way (i.e. self-indulgent reminiscing), it's onto a series of Christmas-themed reflective beer questions. What beer would the guys drink if stranded for a week (Home Alone)? What beer did they fall in love with in the past year (Love Actually)? What events in the beer world surprised and scared them the most (Rudolph and Krampus)? And finally, to cap things off with some sharp cheddar, what feelings of gratitude ultimately reminded them that It's A Wonderful Life after all? Get on your elf ears and come along for this audio sleigh ride.

Recorded at Noah's house, the guys get to talk shop with Drue Nickerson, owner of 320 Ink. Drue's company has been responsible for printing virtually all of the brewery's merch over the last 3-4 years, and while talking textiles might be like inherently dry subject matter, it turned out to be anything but. Drue gives the guys a 101 class in the mysterious art of screen printing, but it quickly shifts focus to business in general, determination, and the importance of doing things differently. He also provides an extremely sturdy breakdown of why he thinks the apparel industry has grown so much within beer, as well as other industries. Truly a can't-miss if you've ever worn branded clothing or have a dream in entrepreneurship. Matt also inexplicably brought a sewing machine to the table (literally), so there's that, too.

The guys are privileged to sit down with Austin Miller, co-owner of Mami Restaurant. Though he grew up in Montana, he became obsessed with Japanese food by way of the woman he eventually married and hasn't looked back since. He tells the story of acquiring the food truck the business was born out of, a feat that demanded an absurd amount of resolve and set the ethos for how he and his wife would go on to run their business. We also talk Yelp (it sucks), his ramen pilgrimage to Japan (it did not suck), and get into his philosophy as a chef that refuses to stop learning.  His enthusiasm for cooking, Japan, and the intersection of the two is profoundly inspiring, and a perfect example of what the goal of Graining In has always been - finding the motivation to get better at what you do. Enjoy the ride.

Matty and Noah are reunited to talk broken bones, Charleston, and a topic of surprising depth: beer names. With an ever-growing number of conceptualized or finished beers requiring monikers, the need come up with a fitting name for a given beer - and the process of getting there - is starting to weigh heavy on the guys' minds. As some thinly-veiled therapy,  they let their polar perspectives clash by listing and explaining their respective five "favorite" beer names out there, in hopes of finding some semblance of direction as to what the hell to christen those beers piling up in Milo. 

Noah - while regretfully Mattless again - is in the beautiful city of Charleston, SC, talking with Adam Goodwin. The conversation picks up right as Adam's brewery, Charles Towne Fermentory, wraps up its third annual There Will Be Hops beer festival. After discussing the value of fests through brewer eyes (and the impetus to host one), the guys talk about Adam breaking into the brewing industry as an early employee Tired Hands, later becoming head brewer at Trillium, and his experience opening a brewery in a city he knew very little about. This one's a little shorter (plane to catch) and noisier (recorded in working brewery) than usual, but Adam effortlessly provides a ton of valuable perspective, and will make Yankees proud with a perfectly executed Three Bay that involves some famous Charlestonians. 

Recorded at the Partisan in Washington, DC, Matty and Noah get to talk with the Michael Jordan of beer and hospitality expertise - Greg Engert. In addition to being Matt's personal hero, Greg is the beer director for Neighborhood Restaurant Group, an organization that operates roughly twenty bars and restaurants in the capital region, including Bluejacket and Churchkey. He sheds invaluable light on the benefits of having so many irons in the fire, weighs in on the changes he's seen in craft beer culture since starting with NRG (spoiler alert: they're not all good), and explains why we should all be drinking more cask beer. The podcast is also blessed with it's first live poetry reading, and you can be as sure there's value here as you're sure ice cream melts.

After a chunk of heavy hittin' guest episodes, the guys take a minute to reflect on some of the traveling that happened to make them happen. D.C. in particularly is discussed, from its "lawless" beer scene, Snallygaster, and Matt's ambiguous experiences there in middle school. Additionally, Matt reveals his mom would really like the language on the show cleaned up a bit, despite her proclivities towards southern rap, while Noah reveals big (i.e. impossible) podcast plans for his upcoming stint in South Carolina, and brings the three bay to a new low.