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Homebrewing has been a source of passionate online chatter over the last week after the American Homebrewers Association announced it would put its annual Homebrew Con on “hiatus” in favor of smaller events and demonstrations located within the Great American Beer Festival in Denver. Julia Herz, the executive director of the AHA is here, to explain the change.  For more Drink Beer, Think Beer check out All About Beer. Host: John HollGuest: Julia HerzSponsors: All About BeerTags: Beer, Homebrewing, Conference, Festival, Denver

There’s a lot to love about beer. And that can be tough to remember at times. So in honor of Valentine’s Day, we've asked three enthusiastic folks - Aaron MJ Gore, Annette May, and Tom M. - to come on and share what makes their heart flutter when it comes to lager and ale. For more Drink Beer, Think Beer check out All About Beer. Host: John HollGuests: Aaron MJ Gore, Annette, May, Tom M.Sponsors: All About BeerTags: Beer, Cask, Love, EducationCover art: AI image created by Canva. 

There are some trends worth paying attention to these days around the beer space. One of them is THC seltzers. They are popping up on menus in certain states alongside IPA and lager. THC Seltzers are taking off. On this show last year Scott Selix of Lua and Climbing Kites talked about his brewery's entry into the space. Their beverage is being contracted out of Minnesota’s Fair State Cooperative Brewery, which also has its own line of seltzers. The brewer putting in the work to make and develop these is Joe Wells.    Wells has been in the craft beer industry for over a decade, from California to Canada and the last five years at Fair State where he serves as Head Brewer.    On this episode he talks about how these THC seltzers are made, how they came about in the first place, and what the market is doing in response to their availability.     For more Drink Beer, Think Beer check out All About Beer. This Episode is Sponsored By: The Best of Craft Beer Awards Attention brewers: registration is now open for the 2024 Best of Craft Beer Awards. Now in its 10th year, this is a BJCP sanctioned event judged by fellow brewers, professional judges, and industry leaders. Judged in Oregon, it’s the third largest professional brewing competition in North America and is a chance to have your hard work evaluated and rewarded. In addition to traditional styles, new this year is the smoothie sour style category, and the collaboration competition. Learn more and register your beers through January 31, 2024 by visiting www.BestofCraftBeerAwards.com/register Host: John HollGuest: Joe WellsSponsors: Best of Craft Beer Awards, All About BeerTags: Beer, Seltzer, THC, CBD, Hemp, Business, Growth

A conversation with Chris Shields, the Director of Education at Rhinegeist Brewery. For more Drink Beer, Think Beer check out All About Beer. This Episode is Sponsored By: The Best of Craft Beer Awards Attention brewers: registration is now open for the 2024 Best of Craft Beer Awards. Now in its 10th year, this is a BJCP sanctioned event judged by fellow brewers, professional judges, and industry leaders. Judged in Oregon, it’s the third largest professional brewing competition in North America and is a chance to have your hard work evaluated and rewarded. In addition to traditional styles, new this year is the smoothie sour style category, and the collaboration competition. Learn more and register your beers through January 31, 2024 by visiting www.BestofCraftBeerAwards.com/register Host: John HollGuest: Chris ShieldsSponsors: Best of Craft Beer Awards, All About BeerTags: Beer, Education, Food, Ohio, Hospitality, Business, Growth

There’s a lot happening inside the walls of Cleveland, Ohio’s Noble Beast Brewing. All of it is good. On this episode it’s a conversation with owners Shaun Yasaki and James Redford about food, hospitality, creativity, and tradition. For more Drink Beer, Think Beer check out All About Beer. This Episode is Sponsored By: The Best of Craft Beer Awards Attention brewers: registration is now open for the 2024 Best of Craft Beer Awards. Now in its 10th year, this is a BJCP sanctioned event judged by fellow brewers, professional judges, and industry leaders. Judged in Oregon, it’s the third largest professional brewing competition in North America and is a chance to have your hard work evaluated and rewarded. In addition to traditional styles, new this year is the smoothie sour style category, and the collaboration competition. Learn more and register your beers through January 31, 2024 by visiting www.BestofCraftBeerAwards.com/register Host: John HollGuests: Shaun Yasaki and James RedfordSponsors: Best of Craft Beer Awards, All About BeerTags: Beer, Bars, Food, Ohio, Hospitality, Lager, Rauchbier, Flanders Red

There are some iconic beer bars in America, and on the Mt. Rushmore is Hopleaf, the venerable Chicago institution. Michael Roper, its long-time publican, who recently announced his retirement is on this episode.  Late last year  Roper, who founded the Hopleaf in Chicago in 1992 announced that he’d be retiring from the bar. He’ll stay involved in various ways, as you’ll hear shortly, but the day to day is now the responsibility of others. His retirement came on the occasion of his 70th birthday, we recorded this a week after. It’s hard to overstate the importance of the Hopleaf in terms of beer bars in America.    Located in the city’s Andersonville neighborhood it has been the place for a well curated and uncompromising beer list and an equally thoughtful food menu. Roper will walk us through the history of the bar and thoughts for the future of hospitality, and along the way gives us a reason to strive for better bar experiences.  For more Drink Beer, Think Beer check out All About Beer. This Episode is Sponsored By: The Best of Craft Beer Awards Attention brewers: registration is now open for the 2024 Best of Craft Beer Awards. Now in its 10th year, this is a BJCP sanctioned event judged by fellow brewers, professional judges, and industry leaders. Judged in Oregon, it’s the third largest professional brewing competition in North America and is a chance to have your hard work evaluated and rewarded. In addition to traditional styles, new this year is the smoothie sour style category, and the collaboration competition. Learn more and register your beers through January 31, 2024 by visiting www.BestofCraftBeerAwards.com/register Host: John HollGuest: Michael RoperSponsors: Best of Craft Beer Awards, All About BeerTags: Beer, Bars, History, Chicago, Hospitality

This episode features a conversation with the legendary Teri Fahrendorf, the long-time brewmaster and founder of Pink Boots Society. She’s here for a wide ranging conversation about her career, brewery safety, recipe development, creativity, and forging a path in the beer industry. After a storied career in beer, Fahrendorf recently entered a working retirement. She’s helmed breweries, judged competitions around the world, and founded the Pink Boots Society, which she later ran for nearly a decade. She’s been a safety advocate, outspoken critic, historian, and sounding board in her more than 30 year career.   After countless brew days and then a turn selling raw ingredients, she’s focused today on her art, crafting pottery from her studio in the pacific northwest. It’s another creative outlet for this one-time computer programmer who forged a career through determination and will when the craft brewing industry was still in its infancy.    She joined the show in early January 2024 to share some stories and insights, more of which can be found on her her blog and website terifahrendorf.com     Fahrendorf isn’t leaving beer completely – she says she still plans to judge competitions and stay involved in various other ways, but for the first time since the 1980s bee is not her primary job focus. This seems like a good time for an introspective.    For more Drink Beer, Think Beer check out All About Beer. This Episode is Sponsored By: The Best of Craft Beer Awards Attention brewers: registration is now open for the 2024 Best of Craft Beer Awards. Now in its 10th year, this is a BJCP sanctioned event judged by fellow brewers, professional judges, and industry leaders. Judged in Oregon, it’s the third largest professional brewing competition in North America and is a chance to have your hard work evaluated and rewarded. In addition to traditional styles, new this year is the smoothie sour style category, and the collaboration competition. Learn more and register your beers through January 31, 2024 by visiting www.BestofCraftBeerAwards.com/register Host: John HollGuest: Teri FahrendorfSponsors: Best of Craft Beer Awards, All About BeerTags: Beer, Bars, History, Education, Pink Boots

Lets ease into the new year with a panel discussion from some of my other All About Beer podcast hosts and colleagues. We’ll discuss thoughts and trends for 2024, and have some fun reminiscing on 2023 along the way.  Today on the show I’m joined by some of the voices and bylines you’ve come to expect from All About Beer. It’s not quite our holiday office party, but it’s a chance for us to get together for a good time and to talk about what we’ve experienced on the job and what might be on the horizon.    For this episode I’m joined by Andy Crouch, the publisher of All About Beer, Don Tse better known as the Don of Beer, and Em Sauter, better known as Pints and Panels. Together they co-host the bi-weekly All About Beer Podcast. Plus, Sarah Jane Curran, the host of Beer Me! Radio, who joined our podcast group in 2023.  For more Drink Beer, Think Beer check out All About Beer. This Episode is Sponsored By: The Best of Craft Beer Awards Attention brewers: registration is now open for the 2024 Best of Craft Beer Awards. Now in its 10th year, this is a BJCP sanctioned event judged by fellow brewers, professional judges, and industry leaders. Judged in Oregon, it’s the third largest professional brewing competition in North America and is a chance to have your hard work evaluated and rewarded.   In addition to traditional styles, new this year is the smoothie sour style category, and the collaboration competition. Learn more and register your beers through January 31, 2024 by visiting www.BestofCraftBeerAwards.com/register Host: John HollGuests: Andy Crouch, Em Sauter, Don Tse, Sarah Jane CurranSponsors: Best of Craft Beer Awards, All About BeerTags: Beer, Bars, Draft Beer, Conversations, Hospitality, Resolutions

Beer bars play an important role in delivering a world class experience while offering a curated list that can surprise, delight, or just be a comfort. This is our annual episode where we check in on the state of beer bars with thoughtful publicans.  So, What is the state of beer bars in America in 2023? Two bar owners, Jeff Bruning and Devin Cox, share their experiences and insights.    For more Drink Beer, Think Beer check out All About Beer. Host: John HollGuests: Jeff Bruning and Devin CoxSponsors: ProBrewer, All About BeerTags: Restaurants, Beer, Bars, Draft Beer, Conversations, Hospitality

It’s our annual end of the year wrap up with writers from around the globe who cover the beer industry. You’ll hear from Matt Kirkegaard, Christopher Shepard, Brandon Hernandez, and Melissa Cole. Listen in as these venerable journalists discuss the trends of 2023, give analysis on the news, and offer insight that impacts all beer drinkers.  For more Drink Beer, Think Beer check out All About Beer. Host: John HollGuests: Matt Kirkegaard, Christopher Shepard, Brandon Hernandez, and Melissa ColeSponsors: ProBrewer, All About BeerTags: Festivals, Beer, Hops, History, Conversations, Non-alcoholic beer 

This is our second annual show dedicated to homebrewing. Drew Beechum and Denny Conn are here to talk about what’s happening with the hobby, to answer a listener question, and to spread some holiday cheer.  Conn and Beechum are longtime homebrewers and noted personalities in the space. They are the co-authors of Simple Home Brewing and Experimental Homebrewing, which is also the name of the podcast they co-host. This Episode is Sponsored By: ShopifyShopify’s already taken the cash register online, helping millions sell billions around the world. But did you know that Shopify can do the same thing at your retail store? Give your point-of-sale system a serious upgrade, with Shopify. Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at shopify.com/drinkbeer and take your retail business to the next level today. For more Drink Beer, Think Beer check out All About Beer. Host: John HollGuests: Drew Beechum and Denny ConnSponsors: Shopify, All About BeerTags: Homebrewing, Cans, Hops, History, Festivals, Conventions 

Last week, Westbound & Down Brewing announced that it had acquired two breweries, Aspen Brewing and Capitol Creek Brewery’s brewpub, both in Colorado’s Roaring Fork Valley.    The deal, says Jake Gardner the Director of Brewing Operations at Westbound & Down Brewing Company, is part of a plan the brewery has been eyeing for a while. There was a desire to expand in a meaningful way, while still staying true to the brewing ethos that has guided Westbound and Down since it opened in 2015.    We’ll talk business and the growth projections, and how Aspen’s 7,000 barrel capacity, and Capitol Creek Brewery’s brewpub will blend with the existing infrastructure.    But we’re also going to talk about IPA, barrel-aged beer, and how the brewery wants to be great at all that it does.    That goal squares with Gardner’s background. He started professionally brewing at Breckenridge Brewery in 2011 before transitioning to Hogshead Brewery where he worked his way up to head brewer in 2013. While working at Hogshead he connected with three mug club members who ended up becoming partners in opening Westbound & Down Brewing.  This Episode is Sponsored By: ShopifyShopify’s already taken the cash register online, helping millions sell billions around the world. But did you know that Shopify can do the same thing at your retail store? Give your point-of-sale system a serious upgrade, with Shopify. Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at shopify.com/drinkbeer and take your retail business to the next level today. For more Drink Beer, Think Beer check out All About Beer. Host: John HollGuest: Jake GardnerSponsors: Shopify, All About BeerTags: Colorado, Craft, Restaurant, Growth, IPA, Barrels