barrel aged beer

We met up with Mike Johnson and Jameson Wright on a brew day to chat about beer and their new brewery in Carver Mass. Unfortunately Jameson didn't get any air time, but gets a well earned shout out for taking over the brew day so we could get a chance to make our podcast. So glad to finally get a chance to check out all of their beers and seltzers! The Girls make a special guest appearance at the end of the show. Cheers everyone!

If you want to learn more about us check out The Girls Brewery on Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok

Toppling Goliath Brewing Co. makes big beer in small batches

What do you talk about when you get one of America's most legendary breweries on your show.  Mushroom hunting, of course.  As we chatted with Toppling Goliath Brewing Co.'s founder Clark Lewey and brewmaster Mike Saboe before the show we discovered we shared a love of mushrooms.  We want to hunt morels, and they're experienced morel hunters.  They love them so much they even brewed a beer in honor of morels, Scorpius Morchella.  We promise the whole show isn't mushroom talk, but for a beer show there is a hell of a lot.  Hang in there with us, we'll get to the beer soon enough.

Toppling Goliath has some pretty major accolades.  They're the 2021 US Beer Open Grand National Champions and Beer Advocate ranked them the #2 brewery in the world.  Their Kentucky Brunch Brand Stout has held the #1 highest rated beer spot on Untappd since 2015.   Clark and Mike say the high praise keeps them on their toes and they always strive to keep up their high standards.

We sampled a couple of their brews, including Strawberry Shortcake Fandango, which is stellar.  This leads us into lactose talk (there's no lactose in the Fandango) and ponder if it's the MSG of beer, as well as discussing another MSG-like contender, Phantasm powder.

Stouts and Stouts and Stouts

With beastly stouts like Assassin, Mornin' Delight, and the sought after Kentucky Brunch Brand Stout we talk... stouts.  What goes into making a beer like this?  Brewing, aging, blending.  We talk secondary beer market, where a 2014 bottle of KBBS can cost up to $1,300.  If you want the more affordable version get your name in the hat for a ticket to the release, where a single 12 oz. bottle will cost you $100.  Not all Toppling Goliath stouts will cost you a C-note.  Their Rover Truck is an easy-drinking Oatmeal Stout that you can grab for around $10 for a 16 oz. 4-pack.  Now that's a deal.

We haven't tried the KBBS yet, but we've got plans to get back on with the TG Brews crew for an online tasting.  Until then, I'll keep trying to invite myself to bottle shares for a taste.

Craft Beer News

• Modern Times faces court-ordered receivership sale

Thanks for listening to Beer Guys Radio! Your hosts are Tim Dennis and Brian Hewitt with producer Nate "Mo' Mic Nate" Ellingson and occasional appearances from Becky Smalls.

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Hopefully distance does make the heart grow fonder, because Matty and Noah have found themselves alone once again. We reflect on the handful of guest conversations we've been privileged to over the last five weeks, but end up back where we always do: Allagash. Jason Perkins brought Brettanomyces to the forefront of Matty's mind via thoughts of Allagash's almighty Bret Michaels. So he uses a recent BBB3R release - Fire Road - to set the stage for a conversation all about the most misunderstood yeast in the game. 
We talk about the seemingly infinite kinds of flavors that Brett can leave its mark through and try to go further than the grossly overused note of "funk" and "horse blanket", seriously questioning the percentage of the beer-drinking populus that has ever come within 100 feet of an actual barnyard. Noah also shares the brewery's method to try to actually become familiar with sensory "notes" commonly associated with Brett fermentations, like mango, passionfruit, lemongrass (Spoiler alert - the trick is to smell and taste the real thing). We also get into the rationale behind dry-hopping a mixed-ferm beer like Fire Road, the effect dry hops can have on the finished product, and the status of his quest to develop a true house culture for the brewery.
Regardless of its many, many different possible attributes, the overall "wild" character Brettanomyces can add to a beer is described as such for a reason, and this is not the first nor the last time we'll dive into a conversation exclusively about this beautifully confusing microorganism. Even so, it felt like we made some modicum of process...If not, at least the Three Bay is fun.............................     .................................................     ......................................... Music: "Mountain Climb" by Jake Hill

This week, it's a star-studded episode of Beer Sessions Radio! Not only do we have Dave Lopez and Chris Prout from Gun Hill Brewing, but Mark Aldrich and Jimmy Ludwig join in to chat about Rise Up Rye, the official beer of the musical Hamilton! The new brew is a collaboration between Gun Hill and the two Broadway actors, who also host a booze-themed web series under the name Happy Hour Guys. Plus, Javier Muñoz, the alternate for the role of Alexander Hamilton, calls in to the show! You want to be in the room where it happens!