Reuben's Sightglass

Today we sit down with Lamar Neagle and Sam Zisette, two of the co-founders of Ballard FC. Ballard FC is a USL 2 team based in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle, and had its inaugural season in 2022. USL 2 is the fourth tier of the US professional soccer system, MLS being the top tier, USL 2 being a semi-professional fourth tier.

I first met Kyle Larsen in the UK when he was head brewer for Siren Craft Beer. In quite a crazy coincidence, Kyle - originally from Seattle - was working at a brewery very close to where I was originally from in England. We kept in touch, and as he moved back to US he opened his own brewery Kings and Daughters. A wonderful brewer, with a wonderful brewery, we've brewed a couple of collaborations already and it's always fun sitting down and having a beer with him. Or chatting over a podcast!

Jeff Heck and Peter Kiley from Monday Night Brewing came to Seattle in December 2022 to brew, and so we couldn't resist the chance to sit down and talk beer. We discuss personal journeys into craft, the future of craft beer, what breweries should focus on, and the changing perception of authenticity in craft.

As we wrap up 2022, Kendall Jones (Washington Beer Blog) and Adam Robbings take a look at the bigger beer trends in 2022 and make our 2023 predictions for craft beer.

John Harris, the legendary Oregon brewmaster and owner of Ecliptic Brewing, joined us at the Reuben's Brews Taproom in March 2022 to celebrate the launch of Cri-Star IPA, a collaboration between Ecliptic and Reuben's Brews. Adam Robbings, co-founder of Reuben's, sat down for a Q&A and public tasting of our Crikey IPA, Ecliptic's Starburst IPA, and the collaboration mashup of the two: Cri-Star. Listen in to the conversation along with the dozens of craft beer fans who were in attendance.

We are a brewery well known for our use of rye malt in some of our beers but we also recognize that it often is a misunderstood and under-appreciated ingredient in beer. In this panel conversation Adam Robbings, our co-founder, James McDermet, our Director of Brewing Operations, and Thor Stoddard, our Breadth Manager, delve deep in to a flight of our current-release rye beers to explore the wide world of rye. This special episode, hosted by Kendall Jones of the Washington Beer Blog, was recorded on November 23rd, 2021 to celebrate our annual Rye Fest at Reuben's Brews.

In this special episode Adam speaks with Darren Anley, founder of UK's Siren Craft Brew. Despite an ocean between us, our two breweries have a lot in common. We explore what's the same in our brewing scenes, and what's unique about craft beer in the UK (including some crazy tax codes!)

In this finale episode of Season 4 of Reuben's Sightglass, which explores the Business of Beer, Adam and Matt catch up with Ben Butler, the founder of Top Hat and a long-time collaborator with Reuben's Brews. This Pittsburgh-headquartered agency is a leader in craft brewing design and branding, amongst other talents, and is who Reuben's Brews trusted with their brand refresh in 2019. This episode dives deep in to the passion for branding and identity that Ben, Adam, and Matt share, and explores the nuance of storytelling and design that sets craft breweries apart.

Nat Pellman and Matthew "Vern" Vandenberghe run one of the most iconic beer institutions in Seattle, which automatically includes them in the most iconic in the whole craft beer world. Sightglass dives in to better understand what makes this restaurant so iconic and loved, and learn more about the story behind the founding of this legendary beer bar and restaurant. And perhaps, the secret to why we love Brouwer's is as much the long-lived food menu as the ever-changing taplist.

Since the end of prohibition the alcohol industry in the United States has been governed by the Three-Tier System, separating suppliers, wholesalers, and retailers. Perhaps the least understood is the middle tier, the wholesalers, and that is where we jump in for this week's episode of Sightglass. Scott Cook leads NW Beverages as General Manager, helming an important organization in Western Washington that works closely with hundreds of suppliers (like Reuben's Brews) and thousands of accounts (like your favorite bottleshop or local convenience store.) And what is one of the main take-aways from this conversation? That you - yes, you! - have more power than you know in influencing how retailers, wholesalers, and suppliers like Reuben's Brews get you the beer that you want. Listen now to find out how exactly that happens.