Good Beer Matters Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Craft beer was meant to be better, to create an artisanal experience out of flavor, history, and culture. But sometimes, we overindulge and lose sight of what brought us here. My next guest reminds us that, for a great experience, mindful drinking is mandatory, but alcohol is optional.

We find great experiences at the intersection of craft and culture. These are the stories of us, of great food and the beer that brings it all together. For the Craft and Culture of Beer, this is episode 144 of Good Beer Matters with Certified Cicerone and AFicioNAdo founder, Meagen Anderson.

Show Links

AFicoNAdo Certification Program

GBM 111 with Meagen and Spencer

GBM 135 with Ted Slingerland

GBM 105 Ceria Brewing

GBM 121 Athletic Brewing

GBH Culture of Over-Drinking article

AFNA book

Dr. Andrew Huberman -Huberman Lab - Alcohol your body and your brain

In this final episode, I want to thank all the guests who came on the show to share their stories and their experiences. And, I want to thank all of you who’ve listened. At this point, I’m pressing pause on the Good Beer Matters podcast because I’ve said what I was compelled to say. Now, I want to take Good Beer Matters in other directions. It’s not good by forever, just goodbye for now.

So, consider this the end of the beginning, not the beginning of the end. There are more stories to tell and great beers to be experienced. But for now, the rest of this journey is yours. I would love to hear what stories resonated with you the most, and what you’re doing to make beer culture even better. 

Don’t forget to grab a beer, hang out with your friends, and let your world open up.  

Thank you for listening all these years.  

Cheers

I wanted to have a little fun and celebrate the holidays with you. There's also a little announcement in this episode. I wish you all wonderful beer and pairings, a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a fantastic New Year.

Cheers.

Why does beer flavor matter so much? I mean, as long as it tastes good, what else is important? Can we actually get a sense of place through flavor? My next guest seems to think so and is here to share this, and Australian culture through the flavor of beer. 

In his book “Tasting Beer”, Randy Mosher tells us, “Like any aspect of a consciously lived life, enjoying beer to the fullest takes education, experience, and a proper frame of mind.” That’s why educators like Briony are so important. Without them, a beer is just a beer, which would be a shame, because it is so much more. 

We find great experiences at the intersection of craft and culture. These are the stories of us, of great food and the beer that brings it all together. For the Craft and Culture of Beer, this is episode 134 of Good Beer Matters with Certified Cicerone® and Sensory Analyst, Briony Liebich.

Show Links

Flavour Logic

Free Beer Stuff from Flavour Logic

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This is a short series called Beer With Benefits. Armed with a smile and a tasty beer in their hand, these guests are changing the world for the better, one sip at a time.

This one goes out to all the men.

I know… I get it… I’m one of you. We feel the burden of the world on our shoulders. We may even have learned to just toughen up, to walk it off and act like we’re bulletproof. Then one day we realize, we’re not. 

It might be an injury that drops us to our knee. It might even be the words, “You have Cancer.” Luckily, when that day comes, there will be a community of men, and women, who will be there to lend a hand, and a rare pint.

My next guest spent his career writing and educating about beer. Now, he uses beer as a means to save the lives of men everywhere.

My next guest began with a passion for the environment and sustainability, then he discovered beer. He managed to put the two together when he founded his Portland, Oregon brewhouse in  2007. Eventually his brewery would become one of the only breweries in the world with B-Corp status, Salmon Safe Certification, and 1% For The Planet membership. In this episode he talks about beer and sustainability, positive steps that any brewery can take, and collaborating with one of the largest outdoor gear companies in the world, all for the sake of better beer.

Times have been tough this year for many of us. For those who are normally accustomed to life’s grand adventure, we’re probably ready for some stability. For those unprepared for uncertainty, we’ve been shaken to our core.

If there was a time to come together, to share best practices and to build a community as well as a business, I’d say now is a pretty good time.

But who can we turn to guide us through the chaos? Wouldn’t it be nice if there was someone who could pick us up by our bootstraps, tell us like it is and help us move on to something better?

If you need help clarifying the strategy and the finances of your beer business, I know a guy, and I want to introduce you to him.

My next guest will help your business not only survive, but set you up to thrive.

There are many things that influence our decisions as beer drinkers, branding, advertisements, flavor, etc. Most of us take for granted the wealth of beers available to us everywhere we go. But, what about those things that influence our decisions that are completely outside our control? What about the nefarious business practices such as price undercutting or tied houses that are meant to gain control over the drinkers and monopolize the system for the sake of profits? As some of the guests on the Good Beer Matters Podcast have shared, there are places around the world where these practices still exist. But, if you’re like me, you love your beer and you’re willing to stand up for something better.

My next guest has been leading consumer rights groups for decades and wants to give both good beer and power back to the people.

I want you to think back to that one perfect night you replay in your head over and over. You know the one. It’s the night that if you could go back in time, you wouldn’t change anything. Instead, you’d just sit back and relive the magic. It was the night where the food was amazing, the beer pairing sung like angels and the conversation flowed like a cold lager on a hot day. Have you ever wondered what made that night so special? What if we could deconstruct that experience and put it back together at will? What if events like this had less to do with magic and more to do with physics or, gastrophysics.

My next guest has studied and written about the psychology and the science behind events like this for years. In this episode, he shares some secrets to creating your next best night ever.

We may not always be able to recreate the magic. Frankly, if every night were special, then none of them would be. But with the principles that Dr. Spence described in his books and on this podcast, you can certainly improve your odds that more of your events will be remembered for a very long time.

There are men so devoted to their faith, they sequester themselves from the outside world. In order to sustain themselves and give to charity, they make a variety of products. Luckily for us, some of these products are the best beers in the world.

Trappist beers, as we know them, have been around for close to a hundred years. They have become a hallmark of quality, flavor and especially good for pairing with food. Many secular breweries make their own versions, called Abbey-style beers, but there is still an allure and a demand for tasting the real thing straight from the source. In recent years the number of Certified Trappist Breweries nearly doubled, and with it, some new variations in old traditions.

My next guest honored us with one of his first podcast interviews to tell us about the inner workings and process of becoming America’s first and only Trappist Brewery.

International Trappist Association (ITA)

Spencer Abbey Brewery - USA
Westmalle Brewery - Bel
Chimay Brewery - Bel
Achel Brewery - Bel
Orval Brewery - Bel
Rochefort  Brewery - Bel
Westvleteren Brewery - Bel
Stift Engelszell Brewery- Aus
La Trappe Brewery - Neth
Zundert Brewery - Neth
Tre Fontane Brewery - Italy
San Pedro de Cardeña - Spain
Tynt Meadow Brewery - Eng
Mont des Cats Brewery - France

Learning to pair beer with food is a lifelong pursuit that is all about the journey, not the destination. A great pairing has a way of elevating the experience, the discussion, the memory, and with some luck, the relationships with those around us.

I’ve spent a fair amount of time learning, thinking about and experimenting with food and beer pairing. Not everything works. Sometimes we inadvertently create a zing-boom-dud effect. That’s when we need help learning what went wrong and what to do about it. My next guest is one of the leaders in the food and beer pairing vanguard. And she wants to help you create better pairings.