Grit & Grain Podcast

Break out your gloves, goggles, and your pH strips! For Episode 91, the Grit & Grain Podcast dives into the rarely talked about, but supremely important, sector of the beer world — line cleaners.

You may have heard our co-host Bethany Carlsen discuss her line cleaning business, The Funk Busters, but this week we get into the gritty stuff she has seen on the job (AND IN BEER LINES!). Bethany, and her partner and business partner, Greer Hubbard, cracked a few cellar bottles and regaled us with stories of beer stones, black mold, and stubborn bar owners. Ron also forced them to take the Brewers Association’s Draft Line Cleaning Quiz live! Tune in to see if they passed and to learn about why this part of our wonderful industry is so crucial.

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Alright, Grit and Grainers! Email us at [email protected] with your comments, opinions, and concepts for the show, “Whose Beer Line Is It Anyway.” You can subscribe to GGP on Amazon, Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play, and iHeartRadio, and please leave us a review. Be sure to also follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

If this podcast is not what you expected, please alter your expectations. No such thing as a bad time to visit Tacoma. No such thing as too much barleywine. Tune in next Friday for more sweet chatter. Cheers!

The post Episode 91: Clean Lines and Dirty Minds appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

Happy April Fools’ week!

This week, we couldn’t help but embrace our delinquent side and R.J., being the gold standard human being that he is, was kind enough to let us T.P. him so we could get it out of our system.

But afterward, he hung out with us for an hour to talk about all kinds of stuff: The latest and greatest projects by the amazing folks at Sierra Nevada, his bucket list beer festivals, and his favorite brewery April Fools goofs. He and Ron also give us a snapshot of their experience at the world-famous Festival of the Dark Arts hosted by Fort George Brewery in Astoria, Oregon.

It’s the perfect episode to kick off a rainy weekend. Crack a dark beer and tune-in Episode 90!

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Alright, Grit and Grainers! Email us at [email protected] with your comments, opinions, and the nicknames you chose for your lawnmowers. You can subscribe to GGP on Amazon, Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play, and iHeartRadio, and please leave us a review. Be sure to also follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

If this podcast is not what you expected, please alter your expectations. No such thing as a bad time to visit Tacoma. No such thing as too much barleywine. Tune in next Friday for more sweet chatter. Cheers!

The post Episode 90: Light and Dark with R.J. Adler appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

Happy lawn mowing season!

No better way to ring in the first few sunny days of the year than a review of our favorite warm-weather beers that pair perfectly with your yard work regimen. Crack a crispy boi for this one and hang out while we discuss what we think is a solid array of beers you might pick for lawn mowing — from Coors Light to Ayinger’s legendary Bräuweisse. We discuss the styles, the differences, and which beers we might pick.

Also, we talk about hotdogs a lot. Like … a lot.

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Alright, Grit and Grainers! Email us at [email protected] with your comments, opinions, and the nicknames you chose for your lawnmowers. You can subscribe to GGP on Amazon, Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play, and iHeartRadio, and please leave us a review. Be sure to also follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

If this podcast is not what you expected, please alter your expectations. No such thing as a bad time to visit Tacoma. No such thing as too much barleywine. Tune in next Friday for more sweet chatter. Cheers!

The post Episode 89: Lawnmower Beers appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

The Grit & Grain Podcast does our best to be window into the beer world keeping an ear to the ground on local and national happenings … turns out Phantasm powder isn’t the only thing bringing the juice these days. We know. We’re hilarious.

We invited our Browns Point Homebrew Club buddies Tristan and Dustin to the podcast this week for another homebrew episode — but a little bit different this time. After some interesting announcements from the American Homebrewers Association, and an even more interesting recent appearance by AHA’s executive director on John Holl’s podcast, Drink Beer, Think Beer, we asked Dustin and Tristan how they felt about AHA changes, Homebrew Con, and the homebrew community as a whole. We also get into what the Browns Point Homebrew Club is doing to attract new members and how an attitude shift overall could be the key to positive changes.

Crack a homebrew, if you have one, or another delicious local beer, and tune in for the juice.

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Alright, Grit and Grainers! Email us at [email protected] with your comments, opinions, and homebrew beer names. You can subscribe to GGP on Amazon, Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play, and iHeartRadio, and please leave us a review. Be sure to also follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

If this podcast is not what you expected, please alter your expectations. No such thing as a bad time to visit Tacoma. No such thing as too much barleywine. Tune in next Friday for more sweet chatter. Cheers!

The post Episode 88: Homebrewing appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

There have been plenty of episodes where you’ve heard us sing the praises of the fantastic breweries in Spokane, Wash. It’s time we grabbed the story behind one of the best.

Bret Gordon, founder, and head brewer at Lumberbeard Brewing, hung out with the team to tell the story of his fantastic brewery and his origins in the beer industry. Lumberbeard has been making waves since opening in 2020 and their momentum hasn’t bucked one bit; holy cow it was easy to see why as we tasted through his various fresh cans and his truly world-class barleywine, Anniversary Ale: Year 4.

Bret also gave us the scoop on his brewery’s name, the work behind his fantastic can designs, their iconic logo (totally a self-portrait … we don’t care what he says), and much more. Crack a can of Lumberbeard and tune in for the scoop behind one of the best new breweries in Washington.

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Alright, Grit and Grainers! Email us at [email protected] with your comments, opinions, and favorite Lumberbeard beers. You can subscribe to GGP on Amazon, Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play, and iHeartRadio, and please leave us a review. Be sure to also follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

If this podcast is not what you expected, please alter your expectations. No such thing as a bad time to visit Tacoma. No such thing as too much barleywine. Tune in next Friday for more sweet chatter. Cheers!

The post Episode 87: Bret Gordon of Lumberbeard Brewing appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

Checking in with Ilk Beer!

Abe and Pat came back this week to catch us up on everything they’ve been doing since episode #22; and holy crap have they been busy!

They fill us in on the struggles and blessings of their first year operating a brand new brewery, the hard decisions they have to make to keep progressing, and the balance they need to find when making decisions with the passionate team behind the brewery. Plus they even make a few awesome announcements towards the end of the episode that you won’t hear anywhere else (trust us, it’s amazing news).

Crack a beer and hang out while we chew it up with part of the insanely talented team behind one of the most exciting new breweries in Washington.

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Alright, Grit and Grainers! Email us at [email protected] with your comments, opinions, and ilk. You can subscribe to GGP on Amazon, Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play, and iHeartRadio, and please leave us a review. Be sure to also follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

If this podcast is not what you expected, please alter your expectations. No such thing as a bad time to visit Tacoma. No such thing as too much barleywine. Tune in next Friday for more sweet chatter. Cheers!

The post Episode 86: Ilk Beer, Part 2 appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

The Grit & Grain Episode 85 is all about understated lagers and non-capital letters.

Local sweetheart beermakers Chris Smith and John Marti from Lowercase Brewing discuss everything from starting up their tiny brewery in Seattle’s South Park to their newest, brewed-in-Tacoma beer project, Douglas Beer. The 100-percent locally sourced and brewed American lager hits the shelves Tuesday.

Crack a beer and listen to the fantastic grit-filled stories of their journey in the beer world and the philosophy that frames their outstanding work.

And don’t forget to look for Chris’ number on your Douglas Lagered Beer bottle and text him your favorite beer meme. He loves that!

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Alright, Grit and Grainers! Email us at [email protected] with your comments, opinions, and your favorite lowercase letter. You can subscribe to GGP on Amazon, Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play, and iHeartRadio, and please leave us a review. Be sure to also follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

If this podcast is not what you expected, please alter your expectations. No such thing as a bad time to visit Tacoma. No such thing as too much barleywine. Tune in next Friday for more sweet chatter. Cheers!

The post Episode 85: Lowercase Brewing appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

This week local beer sales rep, and our favorite New York transplant, Billy Manton hung out to tell some of his favorite stories from his days at one of the OG New York City craft beer distributors. Running a sales route in one of the most densely populated and competitive beer markets in the country will drain anyone; after a while Billy decided to get out of the big city and move to a more laid-back small town, like Seattle, where he quickly began repping a local Tacoma favorite, Narrows Brewing.

Hang out to hear about some of the most famous beer spots in NYC, some of the ancient beer laws still in place there, and some of Billy’s favorite breweries from around his hometown.

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Alright, Grit and Grainers! Email us at [email protected] with your comments, opinions, and your favorite New York City brewed beers. You can subscribe to GGP on Amazon, Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play, and iHeartRadio, and please leave us a review. Be sure to also follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

If this podcast is not what you expected, please alter your expectations. No such thing as a bad time to visit Tacoma. No such thing as too much barleywine. Tune in next Friday for more sweet chatter. Cheers!

The post Episode 84: Love Letter to the NYC Beer Scene appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

It’s Valentine’s week! So, for Episode 83, we sat back, cracked a few fancy bottles, and talked about the current happenings in the industry while enjoying homemade baked goods.

We discussed everything: the return of the Washington Brewers Festival, new brewery openings, rumors of new laws about beer, marketing concepts for breweries, and some beer trends — both past and future. Crack a beer, tune in, and let us know what current events we might have missed!

Since we’re on the subject of love, we just want to say how much we love all of you. We started this whole thing to be an easily accessible window into the beer world for people inside and outside of the industry, and it’s just been non-stop fun ever since. Thanks a million times over for listening to us every week!

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Alright, Grit and Grainers! Email us at [email protected] with your comments, opinions, and your favorite President’s Weekend beers. You can subscribe to GGP on Amazon, Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play, and iHeartRadio, and please leave us a review. Be sure to also follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

If this podcast is not what you expected, please alter your expectations. No such thing as a bad time to visit Tacoma. No such thing as too much barleywine. Tune in next Friday for more sweet chatter. Cheers!

The post Episode 83: Mashing In News, Love Edition appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.

TODAY IS GONNA BE A TREAT!

And not because of all the candy …

Rikki Welz is back for Episode 82 of the Grit & Grain Podcast, and this time she’s dialing the OHAI meter all the way up to 11! Rikki took a night off from her work at Haas Farms rubbing hops, leading sensory panels, and memorizing the Thesaurus of Smells to hang out and dig even deeper into the world of our favorite flower!

We talk some of her favorite new beers that feature a fantastic array of hoppy aromas, hop water trends, advanced hop products, and the professional hop analyst’s lexicon. She even brought homework! We actually calibrate live, our sensitivity to lime-based aromas using various lime-flavored candy and juices.

Every time Rikki comes, we always leave the room way smarter than when we arrived, so tune in and join us in our hop education!

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Alright, Grit and Grainers! Email us at [email protected] with your comments, opinions, and your favorite lime-flavored beers. You can subscribe to GGP on Amazon, Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play, and iHeartRadio, and please leave us a review. Be sure to also follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

If this podcast is not what you expected, please alter your expectations. No such thing as a bad time to visit Tacoma. No such thing as too much barleywine. Tune in next Friday for more sweet chatter. Cheers!

The post Episode 82: Sensory Science with Rikki Welz appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast.