The Brewery Underground Podcast | Craft Beer Interviews, Reviews and Beer Travel

Welcome to 2025 and Season 2 of The Brewery Underground Podcast!

Before Steve Sullivan and Scott Touron jump into another year of brewery adventures, we're taking one final look back at 2024 and handing out some hardware with the BUPA Awards.

We start with our personal year-in-review stats from Untappd, including how many unique beers we checked in, our most popular beer styles, the badges we collected and some of the numbers behind a very busy year of drinking craft beer.

Then it's time for the BUPAs.

We hand out 52 awards recognizing some of our favorite beers across a variety of beer styles from the breweries we visited and beers we drank throughout 2024. Some breweries walk away with multiple awards, and there are definitely a few winners that might surprise you.

Along the way, we revisit some memorable beers and brewery experiences from the past year while debating which beers deserve to take home a BUPA.

We also look ahead to 2025, including Nashville-area breweries we still haven't visited, places we want to explore and some of our goals for Season 2 of Brewery Underground.

Thanks for being part of our brewery adventures and joining us for the start of another season.

Cheers!

Season One of The Brewery Underground Podcast comes to a close with a countdown of our favorite new brewery discoveries of 2024.

In Episode 54, Steve Sullivan and Scott Touron each reveal their own Top 10 New Breweries we visited during the year, counting down from #10 all the way to our favorite new brewery experience of 2024.

Did any breweries make both of our lists? How difficult was it to narrow an entire year of brewery adventures down to just ten? And what criteria did we use to decide which breweries deserved a spot?

Along the way, we revisit some of our favorite brewery experiences, memorable beers and destinations from a year filled with craft beer adventures.

Steve also has some breaking news to share—but you'll have to stick around to find out what it is.

It's a chance to look back at some of the breweries that impressed us most, relive our favorite moments from 2024 and officially close out Season One of The Brewery Underground Podcast.

Grab a beer and join us for the countdown!

Cheers!

Steve's been busy—and this time he's bringing back plenty of stories from Cincinnati.

In Episode 53 of The Brewery Underground Podcast, Steve Sullivan and Scott Touron are joined by our good friend Liz of Everyday I'm Bubbling, who proceeds to take control of the show while we recap Steve's latest brewery adventures.

Steve starts with his Thanksgiving trip to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he met up with Liz several times to explore breweries, drink some fantastic beers and discover a few places he hadn't experienced before—including a rather magical gas station in White Oak.

We talk about the Cincinnati breweries and beer destinations they visited, some of the beers they discovered and why Cincinnati continues to be such a great city for craft beer.

Then Steve gives us the final report from his “Summer of Cider and Seltzer Tour.”

He shares the ciders and seltzers he enjoyed, a few that didn't quite make the cut, where the tour took him, how much planning went into it and whether he'd ever do it again.

Liz brings plenty of cider and seltzer knowledge of her own, sharing some of her favorites and adding a Cincinnati perspective throughout the conversation.

From Cincinnati breweries and beer adventures to cider, seltzer and one unusual gas station, this episode covers a lot of ground.

Hopefully Steve and Scott eventually get control of their podcast back.

Cheers!

What do you learn after visiting more than 1,000 breweries across all 50 states?

In Episode 52 of The Brewery Underground Podcast, Steve Sullivan and Scott Touron welcome back Joel Geier of Brewery Travels to talk about his book, “Flights Across America,” and the incredible brewery journey behind it.

Joel has traveled across the United States exploring craft beer and visiting breweries in all 50 states. His experiences—and the detailed notes he kept along the way—became the foundation for “Flights Across America.”

We talk about why Joel decided to turn his brewery travels into a book, how long the project took to complete and the amount of research and organization that went into documenting more than 1,000 brewery visits.

Joel also explains how “Flights Across America” can serve as a resource for craft beer travelers planning their own brewery destinations and beer-focused road trips around the country.

From brewery travel and craft beer destinations to visiting breweries in every state, Joel has built an incredible collection of experiences—and now he's sharing them with other beer travelers.

Grab a beer and join us as we talk brewery adventures and “Flights Across America” with Joel Geier.

Cheers!

We made our list and checked it twice. Now it's time to find out which beers were naughty or nice!

In Episode 51 of The Brewery Underground Podcast, Steve Sullivan and Scott Touron are joined by our good friend Chris Finen to look back at the beers we drank throughout the year and reveal our Top 10 Favorite Beers of 2024.

But we're not only celebrating the good ones.

We also share some of the beers that didn't quite live up to expectations, hand out a few special categories and look back at some of the most memorable beers and drinking experiences from the year.

Then things get interesting.

For our holiday blind taste test, we break out several beers that either none of us had tried before—or hadn't touched since the days when we may not have known any better.

Which beers still hold up? Which ones belong on the naughty list? And can we actually identify what we're drinking when we can't see the label?

It's our year-end craft beer celebration filled with favorites, disappointments, surprises, laughs and a few beers we won't soon forget.

Grab a beer and join us as we wrap up 2024 Brewery Underground style.

Happy Holidays!

Anthony Davis, President of East Nashville Beer Works, returns for Part 2 of our conversation about beer, taprooms and building community around a Nashville brewery.

In Episode 50 of The Brewery Underground Podcast, Steve Sullivan and Scott Touron dig deeper into what makes East Nashville Beer Works more than just a place to grab a beer.

Anthony talks about the people behind the brewery, the food menu, their core beers and the effort that goes into creating genuinely family-friendly taprooms where parents, kids and the entire community can feel welcome.

We also hear the story behind the East Nashville Beer Works name, talk about the brewery's involvement with Music City Brew Hop and discuss some of the practical things that matter when visiting their Nashville and Lebanon locations—including that all-important question of where to park.

Anthony shares an example of what community means to him personally, reinforcing the philosophy behind the East Nashville Beer Works slogan: “Beer is Community.”

We even get into some of the fun things happening at the taprooms, including a holiday Home Alone-themed pop-up.

From craft beer and food to family-friendly taprooms and community involvement, this conversation gives us another look at the people and philosophy behind East Nashville Beer Works.

Cheers!

East Nashville Beer Works has expanded beyond Nashville with a brand-new brewery and taproom in Lebanon, Tennessee.

In Episode 49 of The Brewery Underground Podcast, Steve Sullivan and Scott Touron are joined by East Nashville Beer Works President Anthony Davis to talk about the brewery's growth, its beers and the importance of community to everything they do.

We sample several of East Nashville Beer Works' core beers while Anthony takes us through the brewery's story, how they stay current with changing craft beer trends and where you can find their beer beyond the taprooms.

We also talk about the importance of creating family-friendly brewery spaces and what East Nashville Beer Works does to make its taprooms welcoming destinations for the entire community.

A major focus of the conversation is the brewery's expansion into Lebanon, Tennessee. Anthony takes us inside the new brewery and taproom, including why they chose Lebanon, the increased brewing capacity, multiple bars, massive beer garden, covered patio and even a dog park.

The new location represents a significant expansion for East Nashville Beer Works and gives the brewery an opportunity to bring its “Beer is Community” philosophy to another part of Middle Tennessee.

From Nashville craft beer and brewery growth to the new Lebanon brewery and taproom, we packed so much into our conversation with Anthony that we needed two episodes to cover it all.

Cheers!

Michael Williams, Historian and Advanced Cicerone with Great Lakes Brewing Company, returns to The Brewery Underground Podcast for another deep dive into one of Cleveland, Ohio's best-known breweries.

In Episode 48, Steve Sullivan and Scott Touron talk with Michael about the thought, planning and history that go into creating Great Lakes beers—including one of the brewery's most popular seasonal releases, Christmas Ale.

Michael explains what makes Great Lakes Christmas Ale so popular, how the beer became such an anticipated tradition and some of what goes into producing a beer that people look forward to year after year.

We also explore the business side of Great Lakes Brewing Company, including how the brewery has expanded its distribution into markets across the country and what goes into deciding where its beer will be available next.

At the time of our conversation, Great Lakes beer wasn't distributed in Tennessee, giving Steve and Scott a chance to ask the obvious question: Could that eventually change?

Michael also gives us a look at what's ahead for Great Lakes and how this family-owned Cleveland brewery continues to evolve while staying connected to the beers and traditions that helped build its reputation.

Cheers!

Great Lakes Brewing Company has been an important part of Cleveland, Ohio's craft beer scene for decades, and in Episode 47 of The Brewery Underground Podcast, we're diving into the brewery's history.

Steve Sullivan and Scott Touron are joined by Michael Williams, Historian and Advanced Cicerone with Great Lakes Brewing Company, for a conversation that had so much ground to cover it became a two-part episode.

In Part 1, Michael takes us back to the beginning of Great Lakes Brewing Company and shares the story of how the brewery got started, how it has grown and evolved over the years, and its place in Cleveland's craft beer history.

Of course, we couldn't talk about Great Lakes without drinking some beer.

We sample several Great Lakes beers while Michael explains the stories behind some of their names, the beer styles they brew and some of the history and inspiration that have helped shape the brewery.

From Cleveland beer history and classic Great Lakes beers to the stories behind the brewery and its brands, Michael's knowledge as both a historian and Advanced Cicerone makes this a fascinating look inside one of Ohio's best-known breweries.

Cheers!

Normally Steve Sullivan and Scott Touron are the ones asking the questions. This time, we're the ones in the hot seat!

In Episode 46 of The Brewery Underground Podcast, we head to the home of our friends Tom and Frankie Shumacker, who turn the microphones around and start asking us the questions.

We give them some of the inside scoop on Brewery Underground, how we approach the podcast and what goes into creating the show.

But things don't stay serious for very long.

We debate one of the great craft beer questions—flights or full pints?—before heading into a lightning round filled with questions we definitely don't encounter during our normal brewery interviews.

Is a hot dog a sandwich? What kind of beer would Scott create if given the opportunity? And what happens when the podcast hosts no longer control the conversation?

This one's less about interviewing someone from the craft beer industry and more about letting listeners get to know the guys behind Brewery Underground.

Grab a beer and join us for a fun, unpredictable look behind the scenes of the podcast.

Cheers!