Episode 63 : Beer Fests and Good Vibes

Alex and Nick both went to beer festivals this weekend. We compare and contrast pros and cons of each and really just enjoy the fact that beer brings out the best in everyone. Alex went to Pittsburgh Beer Fest at Stage AE and he recaps the event first. Alex thought this festival was great for drinking but not the best for rare beers and “craft” breweries. Check out his review of Lancaster Brewing Co.’s Shandy in our previous post. Up next was Nick’s experience at Good Vibes Beer Fest by Voodoo. All the breweries brought the best of the best to this festival. The cost is high but Nick felt it was worth it to have some of the best beers in the world. Nick has a mega man crush on Will from Equilibrium Brewery. After Nick’s experience we get into the pros and cons and that takes us to the end of this week’s recap.

Beers We Drank:

Hazy Vibes - Voodoo Brewery (NEIPA - 7.3%)

Zangief (2019) - Voodoo Brewery (Imperial Stout - 14.6%)

Mash Tun Time Machine - Other Half (West Coast IPA - 8%)

Episode 62 : Documentaries, Dream Cannons, and Double IPAs!

Nick and Alex are back for the post Independence Day pod. We discuss a few of Alex’s favorite documentaries and Nick tries to be relevant with old stuff he’s seen. Nick gets opinionated on holiday hours. After that, we move into the star of the summer: The Beer Fest Season! Nick is heading to Meadville for Good Vibes on Saturday! Alex recaps his meet up with Sean P of Untappd Fame and we crack a Dream Cannon: Summer Sorbet, because its the season for summer beers. Strange Roots comes up because Taco Mania is back and their regular IPAs are quickly becoming notable. Alex is struggling to form sentences but he apologized for it so it’s all good, right? Nick kills spiders while we wrap up the podcast this week. Alex talks about his Cinderlands food experience and their expanding beer list. Series’ are the focus at the end here and we talk about Kaboom, Test Piece, Birds, Flowers, Whole Punch, JREAMS, Out of Order, etc.

Beers We Drank:

Inner Earth - Dancing Gnome (Double IPA - 8%)

Dream Cannon Summer Sorbet - Eleventh Hour (Sour - 4.4%)

Wardrobe Change - rar x Dancing Gnome collab (Double IPA - 8%)

Episode 61 : Sometimes JREAMS Explode

For this episode, we bring in our friend Anthony! Our first FaceTime guest came in all the way from his couch in Albany, NY. Originally from New Jersey he shares some of his favorite recent beers and of course answers our weird guest questions. As the conversation goes on, we get into how spread out NY beer scene can be and who to look out for. Weird beer laws, crazy named towns and Rick and Morty take over for longer than we’d like to admit. Nick tells the story of the JREAMS that became a nightmare. Anthony takes us through his emoji use. After quite a few laughs, we revisit etiquette on dogs and then of course we bring up kids in a brewery. We dabble into wine drinking and then Anthony kinda breaks up at the end. Thanks again for listening!

Beers we drank:

Dream Cannon - Eleventh Hour Brewing (Sour Ale w/ Cherries - 4.4%)

Arnold Shaman - Grist House (Sour Ale - 5.5%)

Barracuda - Grist House (IPA - 7.1%)

Static Nature - Hitchhiker Brewery (DIPA - 8.2%)

Episode 60: When You Must Recap

Jake’s in Florida so Nick and Alex keep the streak alive with episode 60. We discuss can releases and rare brewery sightings in Pittsburgh. Social media is the main focus as we cover Steel City Beer Wholesalers release of Equilibrium beers and we talk about Shane and the community as a whole. From there we talk about supporting local breweries and businesses as a whole. Getting back to beer we break down Nick’s love/hate relationship with the sour beer trend, and Alex’s part in bringing him around to them. Nick and Sara went to Inner Groove, hear Nick’s review. To round out the episode Alex talks about his experience at Apis Meads and his love of Scott and Rosanna. We finish with Mikerphone’s Smells Like Bean Spirit and our love of music puns. Listen as we read a listener review and add a contest, is it you? We’ll give you a beer!

Beers We Drank:

dHop 17 - Equilibrium Brewery (DIPA - 8.5%)

Power Sour Moscow Mule - Shubrew (Gose - 7.0%)

Smells Like Bean Spirit - Mikerphone (Breakfast Stout - 8.0 %)

Episode 59: Austin, We Have A Problem

In this episode, we celebrate Austin’s last episode in studio. Nick got his ticket to Good Vibes which is, ya know, vibey. Alex posed a good question and we answer what beers we would love to see at your summer parties/weddings/family reunions/etc. From there, we go off the rails through gym culture and fitness beers. After that, just listen cause we keep trying to stay on point but it gets weird.

Beers we drank:

Uncle Bud’s Brownies - Butler Brew Works (Hoppy Milk Stout - 6.5%)

Subsurface Blackberry - Hitchhiker Brewing (Sour Smoothie Ale - 7.0%)

Voltan - Hoof Hearted Brewery (Russian Imperial Stout - 9.5%

paper scissors - Dancing Gnome (TIPA - 11%)

Episode 58: Weekend At Jake’s

Jake made his way back to Pittsburgh for the weekend to hang out and share some of his Northwest beers. We start off talking about beer styles and trends. From there, we dive head first into the beer festival culture and the types of people those fests attract and what we want to see from them moving forward. Toward the end we spoil Game of Thrones for Alex and the podcast gets LOUD! Sorry for the screaming. To wind down the episode Jake poses the question “What do we want out of outdoor areas this summer at breweries?” and we all get into our wants/needs/hates when it comes to outdoor areas.

Beers we drank:

Cheer Team - 3Floyds Brewing (NEIPA - 7.1%)

Double Stack (Maple) - Great Notion (Imperial Stout - 11%)

Alpha King - 3Floyds Brewing (Pale Ale - 6.66%)

Aiight Chill - Other Half x Monkish (Imperial Sour IPA - 8%)

Green Dreams - Triple Crossing Brewery (DIPA - 8%)

Episode 57 : The Weekend Approaches

Jake, Alex and Nick are looking to get back to normalcy this episode so obviously we discuss can design! Of course, from there we discuss beer names and puns. Jake makes smoothies and he’s really proud of himself. We talk about what we’re looking forward to this summer and what beer trends we want to see. Alex told us about his weekend and all the cool spots that he hit on Saturday including the PA Market, Cinderlands Warehouse and the rest of the strip district. We’re excited to try the Breweries In PA collab for Memorial Day called Hurry Up and Wait IPA. Alex asks Jake about the beer culture in Bend, OR. We’re gonna bring back the brewery of the week eventually and Jake has some opinions. Buy a Vet a beer this weekend!

Beers We Drank:

How Many Planets - Hitchhiker Brewing (DIPA - 9.0%)

Decadent Delight - Evil Twin x Decadent Ales (Imperial Stout - 11.7%)

Breakfast Buffet - Hitchhiker Brewing (Imperial Stout - 9.0%)

Episode 56: Pittsburgh Brewery Anniversary Bonanza!

This week the brothers get back to recapping the weekly events. We review all the anniversaries and parties coming up for Memorial Day weekend and beyond! Grist House, Hitchhiker and Brew Gentlemen all celebrate 5 years! As we cover all the can/beer releases going on these next 2 weekends, we talk about all the podcasts (fake) that we run too. To wrap this episode, Jake recaps his travels to San Francisco, or “Frisco” for those who are wrong, and really takes us down the rabbit hole of California craft beer.

Beers we drank:

NeverGonnaGetIt3 - The Veil (Sour Ale - 5.3%)

Magic Mushroom Pixelated IPA - ShuBrew (NEIPA - 7.5%)

Tropical Whip - Levante (Sundae IPA - 6.9%)

Episode 55: Beyond the Veil

Trevor joins us again! Nick and Sara took a day trip to Richmond to visit The Veil and hit the Answer and Triple Crossing while they were there. Jake got a haircut. Alex enjoys sour beers. Trevor educates us on black mold and its use in the food industry, wikipedia was involved. Listen for our take on some of the beers we drank and we’ll be back to normal sessions soon!

Beers we drank:

Triple 3 Scoops - The Answer (Imperial Fruited Sour Ale - 9.0%)

Sleeping Forever - The Veil (Imperial Stout - 12%)

VAST: Four - The Veil (Mixed Fermie TM - 7.5%)

Mise En Rose - Brew Gentlemen (Table Beer - 4.8%)

I Have Nipples Greg - The Answer (Imperial Milk Stout - 9.5%)

Episode 54: The Food Truck/Brewery Love Story

Alex and Nick start off this week by discussing line shares, can releases and food trucks! Jake joins in about halfway through and shares his opinions while not being nearly as disruptive as last week. Jake goes in on food and beer and really lays out his thoughts on blending the two together. To wind down this week’s episode we took our turns at the #beerbio trend on twitter.

Beers we Drank:

Shoots Like a Girl - Shubrew/Pink Boots Society (IPA - 6.8%)

Pancake With a 6-Pack - Shubrew/Cellarworks (Golden Stout - 10%)