This week, we speak with friend of the show and host of RocknRoll Beer Guy Podcast Eddy Torres about his career as a Road Warrior in the beer industry. Eddy has been a craft beer sales rep for Brown Distribution, Modern Times and more. Items of discussion include:
- How he became a beer sales rep.
- Early years of craft beer in Florida.
- Joining Cigar City Brewing
- Educating customers and retailers on good beer.
- Taking a leap to the West Coast
- Repping Modern Times in a new city
- The shock and challenge of working at Iron Triangle Brewing
And much more!
This podcast is sponsored by Hopsy.beer. Please visit TheFullPint.com for daily craft beer news, reviews, event information and more!
This week we are change it up a bit and chat with the President of the California Homebrewers Association, Andy Carter. We run down a list of topics one would want to know about home brewing.
- Getting the itch to home brew.
- Starting off
- What kind of equipment to buy
- Mastering a few batches
- Using clone recipies
- Creating your own recipies
- Moving to "all grain"
- The itch to buy more equipment
- Joining a club
- Enterting competitions
- Thinking about going pro.
And much more
This podcast is sponsored by Hopsy.beer. Please visit TheFullPint.com for daily craft beer news, reviews, event information and more!
We are back from our Jet Ski Party with JC Hill over at Alvarado Street Brewery in Monterey, CA. We talk about many current topics including:
- Introduction to Alvarado Street Brewery
- Approach to brand identity and beer identity
- Lager's current role in beer
- Designing cool cans
- Managing collaborations
- The old guard vs. new guard in Northern California
- Secondary / black markets.
And much more!
We move up the California Coast this week with our guest Jack Dyer, owner/co-founder of Topa Topa Brewing in Ventura, CA. Topa Topa is finding great success just turning 3 years old. Items of discussion include:
- South Jersey / Philadelphia roots
- Introduction to Topa Topa Brewing
- Ventura / Oxnard beer scene.
- Tasting room demographics in Ventura.
- The Thomas Fires
- The approach to the beer lineup
- Current packaging situation.
- Brut IPA
- Kids and dogs in the tasting room!
- And much more!
This podcast is sponsored by Hopsy.beer. Please visit TheFullPint.com for daily craft beer news, reviews, event information and more!
We are joined by industry veteran and new owner and brewer at Urban Roots Brewing & Smokehouse in Sacramento, CA. Peter has just opened his doors to Urban Roots and shares the long and winding road to get there. We discuss the following:
- Peter's brewing resume
- His shift to Brewery Supply Group
- Nut Rolls?
- The Legacy of Odonata Brewing
- Planning Urban Roots Brewing & Smokehouse
- The risks considered in opening a brewery in 2018.
- Not compromising on what's being brewed and how it's being sold to customers.
- Relationship with Sante Adairius Rustic Ales in Capitola
- Lagerbier and much much more!
This podcast is sponsored by Eat Drink Vegan and Hopsy.beer. Please visit TheFullPint.com for daily craft beer news, reviews, event information and more!
We are joined by owner/founder/brewer of Santa Fe New Mexico's Rowley Farmhouse Ales, John Rowley. John shares his strong and fun views on many topics such as:
- An introduction of Rowley Farmhouse Ales
- His love of Saison / Farmhouse Ales
- John's inspiration for making mixed culture beers
- The Sante Fe Beer Scene
- Is he forced to brew/serve IPA?
- Thoughts on BeerAdvocate, RateBeer and Untappd
And much more!
This podcast is sponsored by Eat Drink Vegan and Hopsy.beer. Please visit TheFullPint.com for daily craft beer news, reviews, event information and more!
We are joined by Southern California Craft Beer OG "Dr." Bill Sysak of Wild Barrel Brewing. Doc shares his transition from Stone Brewing as their craft beer ambassador to Co-Founder and CEO of a new brewery in North County San Diego. Items of discussion include:
- How Danny and Bill met.
- The "Dr." Moniker
- An introduction to Wild Barrel Brewing
- Starting off with Kettle Sours
- Selecting San Diego County for a new brewery
- Picking a core lineup that pleases the geeks and new drinkers.
- The San Diego IPA.
- Running the beverage program at Stone Brewing
- Stone's place in the beer geek world
- Imperial Stouts
And much more!
This podcast is sponsored by Eat Drink Vegan and Hopsy.beer. Please visit TheFullPint.com for daily craft beer news, reviews, event information and more!
We are joined by industry legend Chris Black of Falling Rock Tap House in Denver, CO. We chat about many things related to the current climate of the craft beer industry and the current state of the pub business with Chris including:
- A recap on Chris putting Oskar Blues on blast for opening up a destination in Downtown Denver.
- Avery Brewing's minority sale.
- Thoughts on Colorado being over saturated?
- The current health of Falling Rock Tap House and the day to day happenings.
- Brand loyalty, permanent tap handles.
- How Stone and Russian River fit into the Hazy IPA and short attention span market.
- And much more!
This podcast is sponsored by Eat Drink Vegan and Hopsy.beer. Please visit TheFullPint.com for daily craft beer news, reviews, event information and more!
On the heels of all the Green Flash Brewing controversy, we are joined by legendary brewer, founder and former owner of Alpine Beer Co., Pat McIlhenny. We rundown the entire timeline of the relationship between Pat, his company Alpine Beer Co. and Green Flash from 2013 all the way to the present. Items of discussion include:
- Preliminary talks with Cold Springs Brewing out of Minnesota in 2013.
- Limited distribution and relationship with Artisan Distribution.
- 2013 contract brewing relationship with Green Flash.
- The outright acquisition of Alpine Beer Co. to Green Flash Brewing.
- The initial batches of Alpine beer brewed at Green Flash.
- Green Flash Brewing's tactic for selling Alpine Beer.
- Pat's new role post merger.
- Controversy surrounding two different facilities producing Alpine Beer Co. and the Asterisk.
- The lengthy process on attempting to scale up Alpine recipies.
- Thoughts on Green Flash announcing East Coast expansion, including the Alpine brand.
- Chuck Silva leaving Green Flash.
- Why Duet never returned to its original form?
- What happened with Nelson?
- Green Flash putting 120 day date codes on Alpine Beers.
- Green Flash changing West Coast IPA.
- Thoughts on the two beers Green Flash decided to can from the Alpine portfolio.
- Green Flash Brewing layoffs in 2017.
- And much more.
This podcast is sponsored by hopsy.beer and brought to you by TheFullPint.com, a craft beer website with daily news updates, beer reviews and opinion articles.
This week we are joined by owner and head brewer James Long of Barbarian Brewing out of Boise, ID. Items of discussion include:
- James transition from being an ER nurse to brewery owner and operator.
- Finding a name for a new brewery.
-Running a business alongside his family
- Picking Boise to start a brewery
- Starting off with a barrel aged sour program.
- Procuring barrels.
- Finding the balance in a sour ale.
And much more!
This podcast is sponsored by hopsy.beer and brought to you by TheFullPint.com, a craft beer website with daily news updates, beer reviews and opinion articles.
Derek Gallanosa returns to the show to talk about his latest venture as the head brewer of Moksa Brewing in Rocklin, CA. We talk about many things including:
- Derek's transition from Abnormal Beer Co. to Moksa Brewing.
- Why Derek's stouts are the cornerstone of his portfolio.
- The trend of quick turn pilsners and pliner-style ales.
- The underserved Sacramento market and the shift from old guard to new.
- The H-Word.
- Debate on secondary and trade markets.
- Balancing a stout so it's not deemed 'Beetus.'
- Strong relationship with Wakefield and Mostra Coffee.
- Collaborating around the country.
- Approach to IPAs.
And much more.
This podcast is sponsored by hopsy.beer and brought to you by TheFullPint.com, a craft beer website with daily news updates, beer reviews and opinion articles.
This week, we are joined by well known pub owner and brewery owner from San Diego county, Grant Tondro. Grant is the owner of Urge Gastropub, Brother's Provisions, Mason AleWorks and much more.
We talk about the following:
- Balancing dad life while being in the beer industry.
- The rundown of all of Grant's restaurants and breweries.
- Starting out in the unchartered territory of North County San Diego.
- How Stone and Lost Abbey helped Grant grow his businesses.
- The change in gastropub landscape over the years.
- Has Sculpin changed?
- The birth of Mason Ale Works.
- The Mexican Lager trend.
- A look at San Diego beer culture.
- A look at the Green Flash situation.
This podcast is brought to you by TheFullPint.com, a craft beer website with daily news updates, beer reviews and opinion articles.
We are joined by legendary, awarding winning brewer and owner of Bagby Beer Company, Jeff Bagby. Items of discussion include:
- Jeff working his way up the ranks in San Diego Beer.
- Brewing every classic style in the English and Belgian beer book.
- Thoughts on the recent news of Green Flash shutting down the new Virginia location.
- The current health of San Diego beer.
- Competition being tougher for GABF.
And much more!
This podcast is brought to you by TheFullPint.com, a craft beer website with daily news updates, beer reviews and opinion articles.
We are joined by co-founder of Ale Asylum Brewing in Madison Wisconsin. We talk about the following topics:
- How Ale Asylum got started.
- Ale Asylum adhering to German Purity laws.
- The story behind Hopalicious.
- How Wisconsin approaches IPA
- The year of the craft lager
- Expansion strategy
And much more!
This podcast is brought to you by TheFullPint.com, a craft beer website with daily news updates, beer reviews and opinion articles.
We are joined this week by the man behind many-a-brand, Christian Helms of Helms Workshop in Austin, TX. Christian and his creative agency are behind many of the most beautiful and well thought out craft beer brands and labels. Items we discuss include:
- Who/what Helms Workshop is.
- Some of Helms most notable clients.
- The process of launching a brand from the ground up.
- The process of rebranding a well established brewery.
- Handling bad ideas from clients.
- Thoughts on today's usage of typefaces.
- Thoughts on the current issue with juvenile and sexist beer labels.
And much more!
This week, we are joined by co-founder Bobby Fitzgerald of Gunwhale Ales in Costa Mesa, CA. Gunwhale Ales is a fairly young brewery with a focused lineup of beers crafted to drink by the sea. Items of discussion include:
- How Gunwale Ales was born and what the term Gunwales means.
- Their approach to their region based lineup.
- The risk in opening in a very expensive area of California.
- Short term and long term goals.
- Keeping up with demand and getting handles at bars.
- Participation in the newly formed OC Brewers Guild.
- Hot takes on the latest beer trends.
This podcast is brought to you by TheFullPint.com, a craft beer website with daily news updates, beer reviews and opinion articles.
We are joined by longtime friend and head brewer Brian Herbertson aka Herbie at Simmzy's Pub in Burbank. We talk about many brewing related topics including:
- Herbie's latest role over at Simmy's Brewpub in Burbank, CA.
- The comradery in the budding Burbank beer scene
- Herbie's homebrewing journey starting back in the 90's
- Advice on starting homebrewing for the first time
- Why homebrewers lean towards old world styles and style guidelines
- Poking holes in NEIPA and other fads
And much more!
This podcast is brought to you by TheFullPint.com, a craft beer website with daily news updates, beer reviews and opinion articles.
In light of the recent news about Stone Brewing suing MillerCoors over the STONE trademark, we invited Eugene Pak, who practices law specializing in Craft Beer intellectual property cases.
We discuss the following:
- The big news regarding Stone's lawsuit against MillerCoors
- Other notable cases surrounding beer marketing and branding
- Difficulty staying compliant
- Is regulation needed for the smallest brewers?
And much more!
This podcast is brought to you by TheFullPint.com, a craft beer website with daily news updates, beer reviews and opinion articles.
This week we are joined by 2 of the 3 founders of Aslin Beer Co. out of Virginia. Andrew and Kai share their journey in starting a very small brewery and subsequently catching fire. Items we discuss include:
- Aslin's beautiful packaging.
- Inspiration for brewing IPAs.
- Dealing with negative online feedback.
- What lead to their tasting room closing.
- Reaction to the South East blowing up.
- Dealing with supply and demand.
- The next big craze in craft beer?
- And much more!
This podcast is brought to you by TheFullPint.com, a craft beer website with daily news updates, beer reviews and opinion articles.
This week, we are joined by owner / brewer Matt Garcia of Homage Brewing. Homage is a very young brewery out of Pomona California, brewing hoppy ales, mixed fermentation and barrel aged sour ales. We talk about the following items:
- Homage's beginnings
- Decision to open up in Pomona of all places
- The choice to do crowdfunding at the beginning.
- Being blessed by Chris Quiroga
- The synergy with brewer Jeremiah
- Keeping bugs out of the clean beer
- Recent and future collab projects
- Pressure to expand
- And much more!
This podcast is brought to you by TheFullPint.com, a craft beer website with daily news updates, beer reviews and opinion articles.
We are joined by award winning veteran pro brewer Todd Ashman. We talk about Todd's stories career all over the country and we touch on the following topics.
- Todd's transition from homebrewing to brewery supply sales
- Todd's transition from brewery supply to pro brewing.
- Pingpong'ing from Flossmoor Station to FiftyFifty.
- The history of Eclipse Imperial Stout and the hype surrounding it
- Barrel sourcing
- Being typecasted
- Today's brewing trends
- And much much more!
This podcast is brought to you by TheFullPint.com, a craft beer website with daily news updates, beer reviews and opinion articles.
We are joined this week by Eric Ruta, founder of Magnify Brewing in Fairfield, NJ. We get familiar with this young brewery and learn the following:
- How Magnify got started
- Challenges to opening in New Jersey
- How the NJ scene has changed in the last 10 years
- Balancing core beers with rotation beers
- Fanfare on can release days
- Maine and New England's influence on Magnify
And much much more.
This podcast is brought to you by TheFullPint.com, a craft beer website with daily news updates, beer reviews and opinion articles.
We are joined this week by legendary brewmaster Chuck Silva alongside his wife Mary Jo. While we recorded under less than ideal conditions, we touched on many interesting topics including:
- Chuck and MJ's decision to leave Green Flash Brewing
- Thoughts on Green Flash recipe changes
- Silva Brewing's mission statement
- The Central Coast craft beer market
- The Return of Silva Stout??
- And Much More
This podcast is brought to you by TheFullPint.com, a craft beer website with daily news updates, beer reviews and opinion articles.
We are joined by owner/founder of Wren House Brewing Co. in Phoenix Arizona. Wren House Brewing Co. is a fairly new Southwest brewery making a big name right now. Items of discussion include:
- Being the new cool kid on the block
- The slow creation of a "beer scene" in Arizona
- Anxiety in starting up a brewery
- Creating and selling a barleywine in Arizona
- Expansion descisions
- Keeping with trends
- The festival circuit
This podcast is brought to you by TheFullPint.com, a craft beer website with daily news updates, beer reviews and opinion articles.
This week we are joined by longtime friend of the show, Conor Hunter. Conor of 2nd Craft Brewing, who takes us on his journey from quitting alcohol to being knee deep in the middle of the Southern California craft beer scene where he roasts coffee specific beer and designs for breweries.
Items of discussion include:
- Starting a micro coffee roasting company
- Popular and classic coffee beers on the market
- Craft Beer x Craft Coffee collaborations
- Mikkeller Raspberry Blush
- Off flavors in coffee beers
- Freelance art design for craft beer
- The current labeling and design trends
- Treating beer as a collectible
This podcast is brought to you by TheFullPint.com, a craft beer website with daily news updates, beer reviews and opinion articles.