Drink Beer, Think Beer With John Holl

All About Beer

Drink Beer, Think Beer is a weekly conversation with brewers, growers, and other brewing industry professionals that explores the art, culture, and business of craft beer. Hosted by John Holl and recorded on location, this podcast gets to the bottom of every pint and offers insight into the dynamic world of beer. read less
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Episodes

Navigating the Current Beer Industry Challenges
3d ago
Navigating the Current Beer Industry Challenges
Last weekend in New Hampshire, amid the revelry of the Schilling Beer Co. Oktoberfest – a festival I’ll say should be on your radar for next year – I got together with some brewer owners from around the country to record this conversation. There is a lot of uncertainty in the industry these days and folks are trying to figure out the path forward in real time. Talking with and listening to smart people offers up a lot of perspective.  Guests  Peter Kiley is Brewmaster and Co-Owner of Monday Night Brewing, and is an award winning brewmaster, winemaker and distiller from Atlanta, Georgia. From Monday Night’s inception, Kiley’s creative vision, recipe development and multifaceted approach to alcohol production have set the groundwork for the brewery’s worldwide notoriety. Kiley is a founding member of the MBAA Georgia chapter, a member of The Hop Quality Group, a published scientific author and has presented at both The World Brewing Congress and The Craft Brewers Conference.   Tom Beckmann is the Owner and Head Brewer of Goldfinger Brewing Company in Downers Grove, Il.  Upon graduating from the World Brewing Academy Master Brewer's Diploma program through Siebel Institute of Technology and Doemens Akademie in Munich, Germany, Tom became a production brewer at Lagunitas Brewing and later worked several years as a pub brewer at Emmett's Brewing Company. He established Goldfinger Brewing, an exclusively lager beer producer, in the summer of 2020 and has acute experience with lager brewing as well as what it is like to scale up a small, lager-centric, craft brewery.  Jeremy Grinkey, co-founder at Everywhere Beer Co has spent 20 years in the alcohol industry. Having spent half of that time making wine on the Central Coast of California and the remainder of that time managing beer production. Before co-founding Everywhere with a few industry colleagues, he was the Director of Production at The Bruery. Everywhere Beer Co was founded in 2022 and is focused on growing its community and delivering fresh beer as well as esoteric offerings to its dedicated fans. For more Drink Beer, Think Beer check out All About Beer.Host: John HollGuests: Jeremy Grinkey, Tom Beckmann, Peter Kiley Sponsors: All About Beer, Denver Rare Beer TastingTags: Business, Lager, Brewing, Economics, Photo: Zac Porter
John Mallett Drives Home the Importance of  Brewery Safety
Aug 14 2024
John Mallett Drives Home the Importance of Brewery Safety
A conversation recorded in Providence, Rhode Island with longtime brewmaster John Mallett, formerly of Bells Brewery who is currently happily retired. It’s a chat about brewery safety, building recipes, and insight from a career that impacted so many. Last week I was in Rhode Island to help judge the inaugural Rhode Worthy Beer Cup. It was happening along side the state brewer’s guild conference. John Mallett, the long-time Bells Brewery brewer and production manager was giving the keynote. He’s an Ocean State Native, and was kind enough to take some time to cross the road after his talk and sit down with me for a conversation at the newly opened Buttonwoods Brewery location.  If you don’t know Mallett, maybe you’ve been living under a rock.  In addition to his work at Bells, which spanned more than 20 years, helping develop and shepherd many of the brands beloved beers to market, he’s also the author of Malt: A Practical Guide from Field to Brewhouse (released by the Brewers Publications in  2014). He served on many boards and technical committees, including the Master Brewers Association of the Americas, Brewers Association, Hop Quality Group – of which he was a founder -  and American Malting Barley Association.Mallett retired a few years ago but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have anything left to share or teach. He is passionate about brewery safety, and finding ways to bring creativy, knowledge, and passion to an industry that he has loved for so long. For more Drink Beer, Think Beer check out All About Beer.Host: John HollGuests: John MallettSponsors: All About BeerTags: Rhode Island, Bells, Safety, Hop Quality GroupPhoto by John Holl
Learning Life Lessons with Lew Bryson
Jul 10 2024
Learning Life Lessons with Lew Bryson
Lew Bryson is on the show this week. He’s a long-time writer in the beer and whisky space, a voice of reason, and honestly just a force of good and positivity in an otherwise dreary world.I’ve been fortunate to call  Bryson a friend for the better part of 20 years now. As a writer starting off in the beer space he was one of a few that was generous with his time, advice, and expertise. That’s not a unique to me experience. Lew has helped so many better understand drinks and culture.  He’s kind and intelligent with the kind of resume that can only come with being among the very best. He was managing editor of Whisky Advocate magazine for 20 years. He is the author of Tasting Whiskey, and Whiskey Master Class, and writes a column for Craft Spirits Magazine.  His work has appeared in countless publications, including a long stint in All About Beer.  Bryson is a Kentucky Colonel, and a member of The Order of The Writ, an honorary association of the bourbon industry.  He lives in central Pennsylvania, which is the topic of his podcast, “Seen Through A Glass." – a show you should tune into regularly.  A few months back we were approached by Rich Colli of Varga Bar to do an event for Philly Beer Week. It was great fun, pouring and talking about whisky and beer. Before all that we sat down at Victory Brewing in Philly, to talk about writing, careers, home bars, and more.  For more Drink Beer, Think Beer check out All About Beer.Host: John HollGuests: Lew BrysonSponsors: All About BeerTags: Lager, Whisky, Home Bars, BooksPhoto by John Holl
The 2024 Hop Report
May 22 2024
The 2024 Hop Report
If you listen to this show regularly, you’ve likely heard me talk about some of our other podcasts, like Brewer to Brewer and the All About Beer podcasts. If you search All About Beer on your favorite podcast platform, you’ll find them.  You should also go to AllAboutBeer.com and read some of our recent articles, including an interview with a Massachusetts brewer, making beers through grief, and a hot take on hazy IPA from Andy Crouch.  This week, I’m glad to bring you an episode of the All About Beer podcast with Em Sauter and Don Tse on how the 2024 hop crops are shaping up. That’s coming up next, and I’ll be back with an original episode of this show next week. In the meantime, to support our work in the beer space, please go visit patreon.com/allaboutbeer.  We mean it when we say a few bucks go a long way, and there is an option for breweries and industry-affiliated companies to get involved. ---Right now around the world, the hops industry is in two modes: In the Northern Hemisphere, the hop farmers are prepping the poles for twine, making sure the bines that start to grow are the perfect plant to make the arduous climb up, and are preparing the farm for the busy season ahead.While in the Southern Hemisphere, harvest has been over for weeks, so the hop farmers are composting, cleaning the kilns, and are taking a well deserved break. On this episode we talk to two hop farmers, Eric Desmarais of CLS Farms in Yakima, Washington and Andrew Sutherland, hop farmer at Oast House Farms in Upper Moutere, New Zealand about what they are currently doing around their farms and the differences seasonality makes.This Episode is Sponsored by:Estrella GaliciaEstrella Galicia is an independent, family-owned brewery  in northwest Spain, founded in 1906.Estrella Galicia Cerveza Especial is a world class lager, brewed using the finest Spanish malts, locally  cultivated Galician hops and the best brewing practices, in a state-of-the-art facility in La Coruña . Recognized around the world for quality and exceptional character. Estrella Galicia is “A beer like no other.”Hosts:  Don Tse and Em SauterGuests: Eric Desmarais and Andrew SutherlandSponsors: Estrella Galicia, All About BeerTags: Hops, Yakima Valley, New Zealand, FarmingThe following music was used for this media project:Music: Awesome Call by Kevin MacLeodFree download: https://filmmusic.io/song/3399-awesome-callLicense (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-licenseArtist website: https://incompetech.com