Advertise on podcast: BeoirFest: Let's Talk Beer

We've been following the birth of Checkerhead Brewery on Vancouver Island for a while. Street Juggles David Aiken is creating a lifestyle micro-brewery that will allow him to meet his financial needs and also have a great quality of life. It's been almost a year since we last spoke. How is the project getting on? --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/beoirfest/message

The caricature of the Irish involves a lot of alcohol and drunkenness. It often comes as a surprise when people discover just how widespread and culturally ingrained temperance and teetotalism is in the country. Father Theobald Mathew's temperance crusade was the single most extraordinary social movement in pre-famine Ireland, enlisting millions of Irish men and women to give up drink for life. This coincided with, and arguably enabled, a national identity which coincided with Daniel O'Connell, and the mass-meetings he organised. Professor Paul Townend of University of North Carolina, Wilmington wrote the book "Father Mathew, Temperance, and Irish Identity" and is an expert on Father Mathew and the temperance movement. He joined me for a fascinating chat. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/beoirfest/message

Lambic brewing around Brussels has a long tradition. After many years of decline it has in recent times gone through a revival. Existign breweries have grown and a handful of new breweries have opened. Brewery Kestemont is a family-owned brewery located in another Lambic brewery that closed in 1968. Run by brothers-in-law Lias Kestemont and Wim Krieckemans the brewery produced its first beers in 2020. They use the traditional spontaneous fermentation and local organic products, and have just been accepted as the newest member of the Lambic Brewers Association, HORAL. Join us for a live beer chat to learn all about lambic traditions and the challenges of opening a new lambic brewery. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/beoirfest/message

Austin has a big and exciting craft beer scene. But surpringly there is only one female-owned brewery where the owners do all the brewing. That is Lass Haüs Ales. Founded by Amber McCullough and Kris Carpenter the brewery specialises in Belgian-style ales. They've experienced their share of ups and downs in trying to bring a brewery to life and they'll be sharing their experiences during our live beer chat. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/beoirfest/message

Not everyone iopens a brewery by mistake. Or gets national publicity before they do. But Dave Henderson from Northern Ireland did just that when he bought a brewing system off Gumtree in Australia. When that happened himself and his wife felt that had to go ahead. Join Dave for a chat about his experiences and be amazed at the accuracy of his Australian accent! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/beoirfest/message

Apiwe Nxusani-Mawela is one the the driving forces behind craft beer across Africa. She's the founder of Tolokazi Beer in South Africa, the first brewery to be owned by a black woman in the continent. She's holds Master Brewer qualification from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling in the UK and was the first black woman to be accredited as a trainer with them. Apiwe is not only a force in South Africa but has helped breweries through the continent, most recently helping Kweza get their brewery set up in Rwanda. You'll remember Apiwe from our series of chats on traditional African brewing, something she's passionate about. I'm thrilled to be able to chat to her about her own experiences and projects, especially the release of her beers in the UK. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/beoirfest/message

Sonja Mitchell had the same experience many of us have, we want a beer but have to be up early the next morning. And like us she was not happy with the non-alcoholic beers available to her. Unlike the rest of us she decided that she should brew her own. And so she started Jump ShipBrewing, Scotland's only exclusively non-alcoholic brewery. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/beoirfest/message

There is much we still don’t know about beer in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Historians of food and drink have produced a huge amount of research that explores its deep and complex importance to everyday life. But what did that beer look and taste like? How much alcohol did it contain? How nutritious was it? Though some researchers have tried to answer these questions using the written records left behind by brewers, they have typically made assumptions based on modern ingredients, equipment and techniques. Dr. Susan Flavin set out with a small team to answer those questions. Armed with a 15th Century Irish recipe her team at FoodCult.eu gathered ingredients that match as closely as possible to the originals, and even went as far as building a brewhouse of the time. Susan is joined by food historian Marc Meltonville who had responsibility for recreating the brewery itself for a chat about the project and its findings. You can learn more about the project at https://foodcult.eu/exhibition/brewing-historical-beer/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/beoirfest/message

Commercial Craft Beer is relatively new to Uganda. One of the pioneers in the scene is Banange Brewing in Kampala. Founded by friends Adam and Pall, who met through their mutual passion for freestyle kayaking on the Nile the brewery has established a strong place for itself in the Ugandan Craft Beer Scene. Co-founder Adam Cameron joined me to tell me the story of how a Canadian and Icelander built Uganda's third largest brewery. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/beoirfest/message

The National Centre For Brewing and Distilling is based in Carlow, as part of Teagasc. It's a new initiative that aims among other things to focus on the testing of raw materials for malting and the production of small batches of specialised malts for the craft beer sector, and of test batches for the malting and distilling companies. As the Irish drinks industries continue to thrive, the country has seen significant growth in both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drink sales. Manager Lisa Ryan joins me for a chat about heritage grains, the potential for Irish grains in Irish beer and whiskey and lots more. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/beoirfest/message

The American craft beer scene is pretty white and male. Only something like 4% of breweries are owned by minorities. This makes Mad River Brewing very unique. The brewery got its start 30 years ago at the beginnings of the craft beer revolution in California. But in 2019 it was bought by the Yurok tribe, making it perhaps the only tribally-owned brewery in the country. The mandate is for the brewery to promote Yurok culture, generate employment and income, and act as an example to Yurok and other tribes. It is also women-led, with all its senior management being female. Mad River CEO Linda Cooley (also part-Irish) took time to tell me how she manages these demands while still brewing great beer. We covered a lot of ground in what was a really enjoyable and informative conversation. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/beoirfest/message

Velten Tiemann was born in Zambia but spent most of his career working in the wine industry in Germany and Australia. On returning to Zambia and realising he wanted to ferment something, Velten and his wife started Wild Dog. The decision was driven by the fast turnover, no waiting a year between projects. Since brewing that first 100-litre batch Wild Dog has grown and won many awards. Velten joined me for a chat about the potential and the difficulties of brewing inn Zambia. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/beoirfest/message