Beer Edge – Details, episodes & analysis

Denver holds a special place in my heart. I’ve watched as the local beer scene has grown and then exploded, with dozens and dozens of breweries cropping up in parts of town that didn’t even really exist, such as RiNo. Denver has long had a formidable beer scene but today it is one of the country’s best. And on this second episode of the Beer Travelers podcast, we’re going to talk with two local experts, Tristan Chan of PorchDrinking and Jonathan Shikes of the Denver Post. These two are as knowledgeable as they come and as we’ll hear, they are full of advice for planning your visit to the Mile High City. 

Stay tuned at the end of the episode for my personal favorite suggestion for Denver. Hint: it’s the perfect place for a nightcap or to end your trip.

In this episode of Beer Travelers, we discuss all that the city has to offer in this episode so let’s start our trip to Denver, Colorado with Tristan Chan and Jonathan Shikes.

This Episode is Sponsored by:

Pub Culture Beercations

Stop living vicariously through other people's social media posts and get out and make some memories of your own! Join Pub Culture Beercations for one of our upcoming tours and start exploring the world one pint at a time with us. Visit PubCultureBeercations.com for more information.

For original articles or to read the vast archives or to check out All About Beer.  follow us on Twitter @allaboutbeer and Instagram @allaboutbeer. Support Journalism by visiting our Patreon Page.

• Host: Andy Crouch
• Guests: Tristan Chan and Jonathan Shikes
• Sponsor: Pub Culture Beercations
• Tags: Denver beer, Bierstadt Lagerhaus, Avery Brewing

Welcome to the first episode of the new All About Beer podcast. In this premiere episode, co-hosts Em Sauter and Don Tse examine the Cold IPA with Kevin Davey, of Wayfinder Beer, who is credited with creating the style. From the specs and flavor, process and debunking myths, this show will explain and examine every facet of craft beer’s newest style.

Subscribe to the All About Beer Podcast wherever you get your podcasts and please leave us a review. We appreciate your support.

This Episode is Sponsored by:

Athletic Brewing Company
Athletic Brewing Company’s award-winning, craft, non-alcoholic beers are fit for all times. Down time, work time, game time, even gym time. Pick a time and grab an Athletic, because it’s about time you could enjoy a great-tasting brew, any time you want. Even right now. Head to athleticbrewing.com and get some fresh brews delivered. New customers can even get 20% off with code AllAboutBeer20 and free shipping on two 6-packs or more.

For original articles or to read the vast archives or to check out All About Beer.  follow us on Twitter @allaboutbeer and Instagram @allaboutbeer. Support Journalism by visiting our Patreon Page.

• Hosts: Em Sauter and Don Tse
• Guest: Kevin Davey of Wayfinder Beer
• Sponsors: Athletic Brewing Co.
• Tags: Cold IPA, Oregon, Lager, Hops, Brewing

The following music was used for this media project:
Music: Awesome Call by Kevin MacLeod
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/3399-awesome-call
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Artist website: https://incompetech.com

Paul Verdu is the vice president and head of Tenth and Blake, which is the craft focused arm of its parent company, Molson Coors. Under this umbrella, Coors, then later MillerCoors, and now MolsonCoors, have each sought to launch, develop, and promote flavorful beers. Its portfolio has shifted over the years, once including Blue Moon until it outgrew the group and moved onto the bigger leagues. It has also been an active buyer of craft brands. As it stands today, Tenth and Blake includes the Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company, Saint Archer, Terrapin, Hop Valley, Revolver, AC Golden, as well as relative newcomers Atwater and TRU Colors. It also houses a host of imported brands, including the much beloved Pilsner Urquell. 

We talk a lot about craft beer on this podcast but we rarely delve into the world of big beer. Today we’re fortunate to speak with Paul Verdu, whose career in the beer business has taken him around the world and offered him a rare view of both the craft and big beer spheres. He’s long worked in the CPG space, originally selling bug killers and air fresheners before moving on to work for Miller. We go through his background and what got him into the beer industry, the pains of the failed launch of Saint Archer’s Gold in the face of a pandemic, and Tenth and Blake’s intriguing investment into a brewery that employs active gang members in an attempt to quell gang violence. 

We also talk about my favorite subject, pilsner, discussing the future of Pilsner Urquell in the US, and why Barmen Pils is secretly one of the best lagers in the states.

For more information on the Beer Edge Podcast, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge. And visit Beer Edge for more articles and engaging content.

Host: Andy Crouch
Guest: Paul Verdu
Sponsors: Arryved 

Emma Janzen and I have known each other for years. Well, in the sort of way that two people on Twitter who have never met in person can. We’ve traded messages, likes, and retweets. She’s a talented writer and photographer who possesses a great eye for detail while not losing focus on the story. She’s someone whose work I’ve followed for a long time and who I’ve wanted to have on the podcast. 

Her career is a melange of multimedia endeavors. After focusing on audio and video editing, she graduated with a degree in film. She didn’t plan on being a journalist but her background skills set her up perfectly for the new coming age of reporting and social media. 

She started her career working at the Austin-American Statesman in Texas after college. Living, working, and drinking in Austin, Emma had a front row seat for the nascent cocktail scene growing in the city. She reported on all things drinks there, shooting photos and video to accompany her articles, years before this would become regular practice in the industry. Emma then moved to Chicago, where she worked as a freelance writer, which is where she started focusing more on beer. She then got a job with Imbibe Magazine as the digital content editor. 

Emma is responsible for everything you see on Imbibe’s website. She runs the editorial calendar, helps select and write stories, shoots photos, sources and curates recipes for the publication. She’s also the author of several books, including Mezcal: The History, Craft and Cocktails of the World's Ultimate Artisanal Spirit, which was nominated for a James Beard Foundation award in 2018. Her latest book, a collaboration with co-author Julia Momose of Kumiko in Chicago, is The Way of the Cocktail: Japanese Traditions, Techniques, and Recipes.

We don’t talk a lot about beer in this episode, though there is some. We’re mainly talking about booze this week, about how little I understand and appreciate mezcal, the beauty and art of Japanese bar culture, how much we both miss travel, and whether the RTD and NA spirits trends have legs. 

We also talk a lot about the business of journalism in the modern age. Emma offers advice on how to take better photos of your drinks. And we talk about how to maintain a healthy work life balance and the importance of re-energizing your creativity in the face of the burnout that so many of us are facing.

We start this week by talking about the state of alcohol journalism and how her employer, Imbibe Magazine, has managed to succeed where so many others have tripped up. And how the romance of the printed page endures.

For more information on the Beer Edge Podcast, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge. And visit Beer Edge for more articles and engaging content.

Host: Andy Crouch
Guest: Emma Janzen
Sponsors: Arryved - Novozymes

Perhaps it’s because we’ve been trapped in our houses and then our cities and counties and states for too long, but my mind has been on San Diego a lot lately. In recent episodes, we’ve had some great guests from the area and today is no exception. About 2 years ago, a small earthquake shook the craft beer world. Ballast Point, whose sale only a few years earlier for a billion dollars to Constellation, had gobsmacked everyone from the tap room on Main Street to Wall Street board rooms, had unexpectedly been sold again. This time to a tiny little brewery outside of Chicago that absolutely no one had heard of. The story seemed crazy and I certainly thought the whole situation was a bit nuts. But as it turns out, the new owners weren’t crazy, just smart, experienced business people with a vision for the future. 

At first glance, Brendan Watters seems to be quite a character. With his Australian accent, wide brimmed outback hat, and mile wide smile, Brendan appears on the surface an unlikely person to purchase a brewery once valued at a cool billion dollars. But the aphorism about books and covers should be kept in mind. Because behind the camp is a successful, credentialed businessman with the right timing and connections to get this deal done. 

He has recommitted the company to the local San Diego market and is building back the loyalty and respect of San Diegans piece by piece. And by most accounts, this improbable story appears on the way to a happier ending. Local beer writers are impressed with how Brendan and his team have operated Ballast Point and with their future plans. 

Two years on, the Ballast Point story continues to evolve and Brendan is at the center of it. And he’s not done yet. While he plays a bit coy about future prospects, Brendan and his team appear ready to continue purchasing craft breweries in the years to come.

In this episode, Brendan and I discuss his background in business and why he and his partner Chris Bradley started Kings and Convicts in their putative retirement, how the Ballast Point sale came to be, and how he and his partners have worked to regain the trust of Ballast Point’s employees and consumers.

For more information on the Beer Edge Podcast, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge. And visit Beer Edge for more articles and engaging content.

Host: Andy Crouch
Guest: Brendan Watters
Sponsors: Arryved - Novozymes

My guest today is Chris Leguizamon, a beer educator and marketer living and working in San Diego and one of the new voices of craft beer. Chris has worked at several of southern California’s top breweries, including the aforementioned Stone and Alesmith, as a tour guide and brand ambassador. From his earliest work in the industry, Chris recognized the importance of education, both for himself and for visitors taking his tours. He has honed his approach to beer education tour by tour, helping to engage with his audience. And he’s pretty good at it. Or at least his girlfriend must think so. They met on one of his tours.

San Diego is one of those beer cities that has incredible significance in the history of American craft beer. Heavyweights such as Stone, Port Brewing, the Lost Abbey, Alesmith, and others helped define what beer could be. But beer drinkers are a fickle lot and many of these OG breweries are struggling to redefine themselves in the new world of craft beer. Staying relevant isn’t easy, especially when you’ve been in the game a while. And while these folks try to figure out whether dry, bitter West Coast IPAs have any place in our new hazy world order, the undeniably positive side to all of this is all of the new voices we’re getting to hear from. 

For San Diegan Chris, beer education is the key to keeping the audience engaged.

Chris uses his popular Instagram account (chris.thebeereducator) to promote knowledge about craft beer and to deepen connections to beer. Education is core to Chris’s beer identity, both personally and professionally. Through his hard work he’s even managed to achieve the Advanced Cicerone designation after studying on bus rides to his beer job. 

When the pandemic hit, Chris had to figure out how to migrate his beer education efforts, which had largely relied on tangible and in person events, to a new reality of learning at a distance. With the blessing and support of his employer, Pure Project, Chris took to hosting Instagram Live events and started a Virtual Book Club. Focused on taking his audience through beer writer Jeff Alworth’s The Beer Bible, Chris teamed up with a local beer store, Bottlecraft, to curate a monthly six-pack to accompany each episode of his book club. He also worked with Alworth’s publisher, Workman, to provide e-copies of the book to his audience at a discount.

His education efforts are engaging, interesting, and creative, just the kind of energy that craft beer needs to sustain itself in an uncertain future. 

In our conversation, Chris and I discuss his beer education efforts, his success on social media, how he manages to avoid burning out when things get tough, and what makes a good tour guide. I start Chris out with a tough question and it leads to a loooooong pause in his response and some confusion. 

For more information on the Beer Edge Podcast, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge. And visit Beer Edge for more articles and engaging content.

Host: Andy Crouch
Guest: Chris Leguizamon

One of the biggest stories of the year has unquestionably been the mistreatment of women in the beer industry. Long simmering just below the surface, the issue rose to the surface recently on Instagram and took off from there. The erasure of women in the retelling of craft beer’s story and history has also long been a problem. And it’s one that my guest today has been focused on fixing.

My guest today is Tara Nurin, a longtime beer writer and the author of the upcoming book, “A Woman's Place Is in the Brewhouse A Forgotten History of Alewives, Brewsters, Witches and CEOs.” A former television writer and reporter, Tara transitioned to writing about beer and travel when she saw both on the rise. She now works as a freelance writer who covers lifestyle trends with a focus on craft beer, alcohol, and culinary tourism. She is perhaps best known as the beer and spirits contributor to Forbes. I’ve always been curious about how Forbes.com works and Tara goes into substantial detail about the inner workings of that relationship. As a writer, and hopefully for those in the audience, it’s a fascinating listen and gives insight into what the Forbes name really means. 

A self-described “lifelong feminist,” Tara’s work has often focused on women in the craft beer industry. She candidly acknowledges having fallen into many of the traps that befall reporters covering women in brewing, like asking them what it was like to be a female brewer in a male dominated industry. After getting push back from female brewers, Tara soon realized the subject was far deeper and nuanced. 

In addition to her writing, Tara also does marketing for several beverage related companies, and we talk about the tricky ethics of balancing both sides. 

And for those who think this episode is only about wonky journalism talk, think again. Tara’s soon to be released book is an enjoyable read that uncovers the stories and forgotten history of some of the women founders in the early days of craft beer. 

Here is my candid and often opinionated discussion with beer writer and author Tara Nurin.

For more information on the Beer Edge Podcast, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge. And visit Beer Edge for more articles and engaging content.

Host: Andy Crouch
Guest: Tara Nurin

I’ve lived in the Boston area for more than 20 years now and it’s just a weird city when it comes to beer. Perhaps due to Sam Adams and Jim Koch, the city has earned an outsized reputation in the craft beer world. Compared to any other city our size population wise, we should have way more breweries and beer bars. Yet, Boston’s beer reputation is big. And there is one likely reason that Boston is considered such a great beer city and that is the focus of our episode today. 

Smart, dynamic, and funny, and with a deep-seeded passion for continuous improvement, Esther Tetreault was destined to run Trillium Brewing, the business she started with her husband JC in 2013. And while JC collects all the accolades for the beers he creates, it’s Esther who literally runs the show. And quite a show it has become. 

Entrepreneurship is rooted deep into Esther’s essence and Trillium is the perfect vessel into which to pour her considerable talents. She and JC have grown their once tiny nano operation into one of the most unlikely success stories in craft beer. Trillium is somehow only 8 years old but in that time, it has expanded exponentially, growing into a mini-empire. And that’s the result of this partnership between its founders, one on the creative side, one on the business end. 

The story behind Trillium’s founding and rise is a good one. Starting in a tiny space that was never meant for brewing in downtown Boston, Trillium has grown to multiple locations throughout greater Boston. Esther and I discuss what it’s like to be on a non-stop rollercoaster of growth and expansion, whether Boston is a great beer city, and what the future holds for her Mrs. Trillium brand.

For more information on the Beer Edge Podcast, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge. And visit Beer Edge for more articles and engaging content.

Host: Andy Crouch
Guest: Esther Tetreault

The debate over which is the best American beer city has raged from the earliest days of craft beer. Powerhouse names such as Portland (both Oregon and Maine), Asheville, Denver, Chicago, and others have each made convincing cases. And right there from the beginning has been San Diego, basking in its sunshine and style defining West Coast IPAs, and smiling knowingly at its competition. 

This week we have one of the most dialed in people following the San Diego beer scene. Beer writer and marketer Brandon Hernández has been deeply plugged into the southern California beer scene for more than a decade. He has helped direct marketing at some of the area’s best known breweries, including Stone, Alesmith, and Societe. In 2019, the long-time writer decided to focus his efforts on creating a new interactive resource for fans of the area’s beer scene with the founding of San Diego Beer News. 

The site is a bit of a throwback to the earlier days of beer blogs and local brewspapers. Instead of doing deep dives into broad, weighty topics of national import, Brandon focuses on providing detailed and tangible information about San Diego breweries and beer bars. SD Beer News offers brewery maps, tap lists, interviews with local brewers and beer players, and lots of local beer news. 

A native San Diegan, Brandon is one of the most informed sources you’re going to find about that beer scene. And despite having worked for several local breweries and generally trying to promote San Diego beer, he’s not afraid to express opinions and offer critical thoughts as he does throughout this interview. It’s a refreshing break from so much retread that so often constitutes beer writing today. He also opens up in personal terms about some sensitive topics, including his own experience with sexual harassment at the hands of a local brewery owner. 

We also chat about the roller coaster that has been San Diego beer in recent years, touching on Ballast Point, Stone, Alpine Brewing, and the reckoning involving Modern Times and others.

Here is my conversation with writer and San Diego beer ambassador Brandon Hernandez. 

For more information on the Beer Edge Podcast, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge. And visit Beer Edge for more articles and engaging content.

This Episode is sponsored by:

Source Brewing Company

We talk with Greg Taylor about Source Brewing Company's Inclusion & Diversity Scholarship, which offers underrepresented groups the opportunity to receive a world class education from the Siebel Institute in Chicago. Source is also proud to announce the opening of its second location, in the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia. If you are interested in the Inclusion & Diversity Scholarship, or are interested in working at Source in Philly, reach out to scholarshipcareers@sourcebrewing.com.

Host: Andy Crouch
Guests: Brandon Hernández
Sponsor: Source Brewing Company - Facebook: @sourcebrewing - Instagram: @sourcebrewing

In the world of bars, pubs, and dives, one of the greatest signs of respect is to have a bar stool named after you. John Holl has a bar stool named after him in a Tennessee brewery. And the late great publican Don Younger of the Horse Brass Pub in Portland, Oregon, had a corner seat at the now closed Falling Rock beer bar in Denver named after him. With its recent closure, I wonder what happened to that chair. In the beer industry, one legit sign of respect is to have a brewery name a beer after you. And it’s not something that often happens for beer writers. It’s an honor I have not yet had and that’s probably for the best. Instead, SandLot Brewery in Denver years ago won some GABF medals for its Vienna style lager, playfully named Clueless Beer Writer. 

But then there are writers like my guest today. 

Norm Miller has been a professional journalist for almost 20 years, having worked at the same paper in Central Massachusetts that entire time. He’s from the region, and indeed lives in the house he grew up in. He jokes that there’s not much to do around there other than apple picking and some fishing. 

Norm was a little hesitant to be interviewed and as a fellow journalist, I get that. We’re used to asking the questions and it can be a little uncomfortable handing the recorder to someone else. But I’m happy he agreed to chat as he’s a colorful character with some great stories to tell. 

Norm is an interesting guy, so it’s easy to see why Wormtown Brewery in Worcester, Massachusetts decided to name a beer after him. It’s a great story that matches a great beer and he tells it in this interview.

Norm and I have known each other for a long time and we have some unusual things in common. First, we’re both trained journalists, folks for whom writing and and reporting are not just a passion but ingrained in ourselves. We’ve both written books about Massachusetts breweries. And as longtime beer writers, we’ve both covered beer in New England for decades. But we also have another connection, one I don’t often discuss. Beyond my work as a beer writer, my more full-time gig is as a criminal defense attorney in the Boston area. And Norm’s primary beat has long been crime and the justice system. We both speak a language unique to the courts and the Commonwealth, we know a lot of people in common, including lawyers, judges, and even defendants. And we both know it’s never a boring day in the world of crime.

He’s been covering it for almost 20 years for the MetroWest Daily News. He’s covered a lot of serious crimes, including murders, and too many trials to count. We talk about his experiences as a crime reporter, and how he wants to evolve his reporting beyond simply the details of day to day offenses. Norm wants to more deeply report on why these crimes are happening, their underpinnings, and he is also growing increasingly concerned about the ethics of reporting on crime in an age where the Internet never forgets. 

For a reporter at a reasonably small market paper, Norm has a knack for going viral. His first experience with Internet fame came as part of a crazy few minutes he had at a local police station when a woman came in and threw bacon against the reception window. He talks about what that was like and the experience of going viral.

More recently, however, Norm went viral for the column he wrote when he retired as a beer writer. The column garnered coverage around the globe because of its candid nature. Norm wrote that he was giving up beer writing because he needed to stop drinking. He talked about the impact his tasting was having on both his physical and mental health. It was a bold and honest piece of writing and should be required reading for everyone in the beer industry. Spend anytime at a beer event or industry get together and it quickly becomes obvious that some and perhaps many in the beer business have an unhealthy relationship with the product they sell. Whether it’s overconsumption, drinking and driving, or forgiving behavior that would otherwise be unforgivable but for the presence of alcohol, it’s the third rail of the American beer business, one that few dare to touch. But Norm’s column dared to go there and we discuss it and his present thoughts on the issue in our conversation.

We also talk about his star turns as a television commentator on Nancy Grace, his love of 80s slasher films, and what it's like to work in the trenches on the police beat for so many years. 

For more information on the Beer Edge Podcast, follow us on Twitter @thebeeredge. And visit Beer Edge for more articles and engaging content.

This Episode is sponsored by:

Source Brewing Company

We talk with Greg Taylor about Source Brewing Company's Inclusion & Diversity Scholarship, which offers underrepresented groups the opportunity to receive a world class education from the Siebel Institute in Chicago. Source is also proud to announce the opening of its second location, in the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia. If you are interested in the Inclusion & Diversity Scholarship, or are interested in working at Source in Philly, reach out to scholarshipcareers@sourcebrewing.com.

Host: Andy Crouch
Guests: Norm Miller
Sponsor: Source Brewing Company - Facebook: @sourcebrewing - Instagram: @sourcebrewing