Nine years ago, almost to the day, we recorded our first episode of the Beervana Podcast. All things must end, and it is with deep gratitude and appreciation that we announce this is our last show. If you'd like to read a bit more of a formal obit, we have one here.https://www.beervanablog.com/beervana/2024/5/2/old-podcasts-dont-dieThanks for every…

At this year’s Central European Brewers Festival, Polish brewer Marek Kamiński gave a presentation on the briefly extinct style of Grodziskie that has been making a comeback in its homeland. Jeff and Marek later sat down to discuss this fascinating style, its history, and how it’s doing today. We have that interview, along with the news and mailbag…

Today we’re going to go to Prague and Budapest, where Jeff recently spent ten days. He was there to speak at the Central European Brewers Conference, and had a chance to get caught up on the beer scenes in the region. The countries there have very diverse brewing backgrounds, from the Czechia, with local intact traditions dating back centuries, to …

Not long ago, we received a very interesting email in the mailbag. It came from Pete Hoppins of Portland’s British-influenced brewery, Away Days. It was the length of a short article and came with a color-coded graph. The essence of the email boiled down to a pithy question he posed about the viability of small breweries today. Pete asked: “Do you …

Audioblog: Singha Beer, Don't Ask No Questions by Jeff Alworth & Patrick EmersonBy Jeff Alworth & Patrick Emerson

In September, Dublin's Guinness Brewery opened its second American site, this time in Chicago. Jeff went to the Windy City to check it out and while he was there, sat down with Ryan Wagner, who helped see the project over the finish line, and brewer Megan Schwarz.By Jeff Alworth & Patrick Emerson

A brand new podcast from The Feed, The Sauce features Vicki Ravlich-Horan from Nourish Magazine and Tash McGill, the Spirits Writer from More Good Drinks chatting all things saucy - sometimes sweet and sometimes spicy. Subscribe at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/tash-mcgill0/episodes/The-Sauce-on-Cookbooks-e2c8bgg.…

A juicy wee update from Vicki Ravlich-Horan and Tash McGill about all things happening at The Feed as we introduce a brand new podcast called The Sauce. Please update your links in your favourite podcast app!

When we think of different beers, our minds almost immediately frame them in terms of “style.” IPAs and witbiers and Czech dark lagers: this is how we’ve come to understand beer. Today we get philosophical and ask the question: what if styles aren’t the only way to think about beer? What if, rather than illuminating something essential about beer, …

Today we are joined by hop grower Max Coleman for a special edition of Beeronomics. Hops are a very unusual crop, sold only to a single industry for one purpose. How does this business relationship work? We’re going to ask Max how he knows which hops to grow and how many, and how the market for hops works.Photo: Max enveloped by a field of Mosaic h…

Several years ago, beer experienced its “tulip mania” moment in the form of a pumpkin ale bubble. Many of those were bad—but that was the breweries’ fault, not the style’s. These should function like fun autumnal rituals. The new crop may bring you back.By Jeff Alworth & Patrick Emerson

Today we are pulling out our green eyeshades and squinting at some data—it’s another episode of Beeronomics. Our intrepid economist is going to walk us through some numbers. Inflation, draft numbers, taprooms—we’re digging deep so you don’t have to.Cover photo: Midjourney (prompt: beer economics) Beer Tasting: Buoy Festbier…

For the second year in a row, we have decamped to Loyal Legion, a local pub that reliably has one of the best selections of fresh hop beers in town. As we sit here and turn our tongues green, we’re going to discuss the hop harvest. Patrick and Jeff went down to Coleman Farms a few weeks back to witness it, and we’re going to walk you through the pr…

After screwing around on the margins for a while, this week I really plunged into the fresh hop marketplace. What I've discovered has been both unusual and enlightening. Here's an early-season report.By Jeff Alworth & Patrick Emerson

We're not dead and neither is the podcast. Bear with us, kind and forgiving listeners.By Jeff Alworth & Patrick Emerson

As everyone knows, the three great lager-brewing regions are Bavaria, Bohemia, and Austria. Wait, Austria? Sure it was famous in the last century for Vienna lager, but what has it done lately? We have Franz Hofer on the show today to answer this very question. Franz splits his year between Oklahoma and Vienna and writes about the lager-lands on his…

In their latest Fireside Chat, Breakside Brewery's Ben Edmunds and Beervana's Jeff Alworth speak with three brewers whose breweries do not make hoppy ales. We wanted to hear why they chose this path, and what it entails. Because IPAs are overwhelmingly popular among craft beer drinkers, these breweries have had to create interest in other types of …

We have an unusual transcontinental edition of the Beervana Show for you today. We thought it would be fun to compare and contrast our summer vacation destinations. I’ve been in Maine for a couple weeks and Jeff took a trip to Oklahoma. We both visited breweries, drank some beer, and we will give our full report.…

Both Jeff and I are about to go on excursions out of the state and away from our microphones, so today we’re doing the one, time-sensitive task left to us: addressing your mailbag comments and questions.Illustration courtesy Midjourney. Prompt: drinking beer on holiday in the sunshineBy Jeff Alworth & Patrick Emerson

Nearly a quarter century ago, veteran brewer Vinnie Cilurzo brewed a one-off double IPA at Russian River Brewing for a local festival. It would become a regular, bearing the somewhat obscure name of a Roman naturalist—Pliny the Elder. Pliny pretty soon became a cult phenomenon and ultimately the brewery’s calling card. But what makes it special—wha…

In 1976, a blind tasting of Chardonnays known as the Judgment of Paris changed the wine world forever. Today, in this podcast, we offer you no less an earth-shattering blind tasting, the Judgment of Lents. That’s right, it’s part two of our mass market lager blind tasting, held in a luxurious conference room at Zoiglhaus in the Lents neighborhood o…

A Breakside-Beervana Fireside Chat. How did the American IPA tradition start? Are West Coast beers just about the bitter? Did hazies change everything? What did West Coast breweries take from the east—and how much did East Coast breweries crib from the west? Are there actually two different traditions? Just one? Dozens? American brewers, in reinven…

Today we have a very special show, along with a special guest. In Show 180, we kick off a two-part taste off of … are you ready? … mass market lagers! While connoisseurs eschew these beers because they have slight and occasionally objectionable flavor profiles, they constitute the vast majority of beers sold in the world. We have an international l…

In our last show, we delved into the strange, wonderful tale of Belgian witbier. But that story was really just the first chapter in a wave of Belgian-inspired beers and breweries that got going thanks to witbier’s success. For more than a decade and a half, Belgian beer seemed to be growing in popularity, but then it cratered. Now it’s very diffic…

We’re less than a month away from the summer, and that means shifting down from big, boozy beers to lighter thirst-quenchers. We thought it would be a great opportunity to do one of our studies in style and look at that perfect Belgian summer ale, the witbier. If you think that sounds like a tame topic, stay tuned, because we’re going to get into t…

[Note: Dodgy audio! Our field mic may be on the fritz! Apologies!]It’s been a minute since our last show. In the weeks since we last spoke, various events have transpired. Patrick has been to London and back. Jeff has been to Tillamook. The King of England was fêted by BrewDog—and then unfêted. The Belgians expressed displeasure with the Champagne …

A couple of weeks back, Portland enjoyed the return of one of its most unusual events—the 8th edition of SheBrew. As the name suggests, the event celebrates women, and includes two components: a national female-only homebrew competition, and a one-day festival of beer made by women at professional breweries. We’re going to learn about SheBrew from …

In Show 175, we are delighted to be joined by pFriem’s Campbell Morrissy. Campbell is currently the Head Brewer at pFriem, and recently crafted the recipe and formulation for a collaboration pFriem is doing with Jeff. In designing the beer, a pub-strength pilsner, Campbell used a California-grown floor malt. It seemed like a perfect opportunity to …

In part two of our conversation, we talk to Ben Love and Van Havig about some of the challenges facing breweries as the year nears its end.By Jeff Alworth & Patrick Emerson

Today we join you from the industrial tract in Southeast Portland that Ben Love and Van Havig selected ten years ago when they founded Gigantic Brewing. At the time, they expected it would blend in with its surroundings, and they devoted little attention to the tiny taproom space they called the Champagne Lounge. To their surprise, it has become a …

Invivo Wines have taken a unique approach to the world of winemaking and spirits, collaborating with Graham Norton to produce approachable wines, gin and now - vodka. Tim from Invivo Wines and Dave Ryan from Black Pineapple join Tash McGill to talk about collaboration, all things Irish and to introduce the incredible Tay-to-tini, available in a lim…

Camille Rope and Sophie Gilmour are well known for their hospitality ventures. Sophie is the co-owner of Fatima's Restaurants, and Camille is a chef and consultant and together they run advisory firm Delicious Business. But earlier this year, they took the trouble to stop and think about what makes for success. The result was AUT Co-Starters: the H…

The cold weather seems to come fast. Through October, crisp mornings often give way to sunny afternoons. After Halloween, however, the days grow short and the sun disappears behind gray clouds. Once we fall back after daylight savings end, darkness starts arriving at the end of the workday and the sun makes a slow, sleepy return. Winter is coming, …

A few weeks back, Jeff’s editor at Craft Beer & Brewing wrote to explain that the magazine was shifting to its original quarterly format. The reason wasn’t declining revenues, but efficiencies—it’s less expensive and simpler to put out four issues a year than six. That got us thinking: how do magazines work? How has Craft Beer & Brewing survived wh…

This week Vincent speaks with Nick Carey, from Green Meadows. The Carey family have been farming in Taranaki for 120 years. But in 2012 they stepped into the unknown, launching a butchery and an online store to take their grass-fed Angus beef directly to the public. Ten years on, that online store is thriving but Green Meadows is also now in major …

James Smith started his working life as a night-shift worker in a small butcher shop. Thirteen years later he’s won multiple awards, including the 2020 NZ Butcher of the Year and was selected for the New Zealand Sharp Blacks team - that’s right, there is such a thing. But it was in a Sydney competition that earned the title, The Tattooed Butcher, a…

For most of the 20th century, if you wanted to point to an actual American style of beer, you had to face San Francisco. Steam beer, a frontier concoction brewed fast for thirsty gold miners, became a signature of the city. Many breweries made it in the latter half of the 19th century, but they all died out, save one: the Anchor Brewery, which was …

We join you from the best place on the planet for Show 169—a pub, smack dab in the middle of fresh-hop season. We recorded this show on-site at Portland’s Loyal Legion, which is reliably stocked with these little gems throughout the season. While we sipped on them, we discussed hops, the harvest, and the seasonal, regional delight that are fresh ho…

[Warning: raw audio of spotty quality] In this Pod Extra, Jeff interviews legendary London brewer Derek Prentice, beer historian Ron Pattinson, and Goose Island Innovation Brewer Mike Siegel. They teamed up on a special project to recreate a 1960s barley wine made by London's now-defunct Truman brewery--where Derek started brewing in 1968,Double Ea…

It’s hard out there for a brewer. Heat, drought, supply-chain issues, metal shortages, war, and inflation—all these things seem to be conspiring against them. On today’s show we’ll have a look at these headwinds, assess how bad they are, and how soon brewers might see some relief.By Jeff Alworth & Patrick Emerson

Though many Americans may not realize it, Scotland is one of the world’s great old brewing countries. Even if you have heard of 80 shilling ales and wee heavies, however, you may not be familiar with the vat-aging tradition Gareth Young mines at Epochal Ales in Glasgow. Drawing on archival records, Young is bringing attention to beers like stock al…

When Stone Brewing launched in the mid-90s, its aggro “you’re not worthy!” vibe captured the counter-culture zeitgeist of craft brewing. It was able to build a brand on the rising popularity of IPAs—one that took it to Virginia and ultimately Berlin. Yet all that reversed itself in recent years and Stone found itself flailing in a new world that di…

American novelist and filmmaker Rex Pickett is in New Zealand roaming around in a campervan, travelling to our best wine regions and Winetopia, all in search of the storyline for the next sequel to Sideways, his renown novel that was made into an acclaimed film of the same name in 2004. We spoke about his impressions of New Zealand's wine country s…

If a Portland brewery wants to drive a keg of beer across the river to Vancouver, WA and they have filed the proper paperwork with the state, they’re allowed to. The State of Oregon, however, forbids Washington breweries from doing the same. This rankled Justin Leigh, owner of Dwinell Country Ales in Goldendale, WA. He’s a lawyer, and he was pretty…

Lyre's Spirits Co. have been thoughtfully changing the way people think about non-alcoholic cocktails and mindful drinking on both sides of the bar. We spoke with Lyre's Flavour Architect, David Murphy about how he creates flavour, mouthfeel and an approach to cocktails that feels fresh and comforting.…

It has been a while since we did a classic style dissection, but thanks to a listener request, we have a lovely, overlooked tradition to present today: bière de garde, France’s signature style. It has a history dating back to the 19th century, but the current examples look a lot different. In today’s show, we’ll discuss that transformation, what ca…

Beervana is New Zealand's premier craft beer event, offering the best from NZ and Australia and a few handpicked craft beers from around the world. It’s also a mind-bending, palate expanding wonderland that fills Wellington’s Sky Stadium on August 19/20 with 80+ breweries 400 beers. From outrageous brewery displays to the best culinary bites, excit…

Wellington on a Plate launches in the last weekend of this month and runs through August. Kicking off in the first weekend is pop up experience, The Sea Breeze Inn, celebrating Aotearoa New Zealand's fresh, seasonal and sustainable kaimoana. The Inn will run over three-nights, 29- 31 July. With a nod to nostalgic childhood family restaurants, expec…

Portland has many breweries. Old breweries, new breweries, big breweries, small breweries. But which, among this dense thicket, are the best? For visitors to Portland, that’s an important question, and we’re here to help! This past week, Jeff posted his annual Best Portland Breweries list, and we go through it and discuss the breweries he chose—and…

Shelagh Mooney is Associate Professor and Research Lead at the School of Hospitality & Tourism, Auckland University of Technology, Aotearoa-New Zealand. Her research has most recently been focused on diversity, barriers to equitable employment and gender imbalance in tourism and hospitality. Shelagh collaborates with others in Australia, the United…