Beervana Podcast

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 line-up, and to help us taste them, we invited friend-of-the-pod Alan Taylor to join us. Alan is the German-trained master brewer at Zoiglhaus, and he has a trained and nuanced palate. We invited him to help us all understand what we’re tasting in these beers. Beers Tasted: Round 1 1. Budweiser 2. Kokanee 3. Hamm’s 4. Busch 5. Heineken 6. Foster’s 7. Rolling Rock 8. Coors 9. Beck’s Round 2 1. Singha 2. Modelo Especial 3. Miller High Life 4. Kirin 5. Rainier 6. Stella Artois 7. Michelob Ultra 8. Pabst 9. Narragansett

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 difficult to find a Belgian style on a taplist—even witbier. We thought we’d try to figure out what happened. Tasting: Block 15, Garden Path

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 the deep history of the style and describe a beer that bears no resemblance to Blue Moon. Tasting: Hoegaarden, Breakside Belgian White

[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 of Beers. Portland lost an icon. Lots of stuff to talk about, so for this show, we thought we’d head to a pub and do a proper catch-up over beers.

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 one of the organizers, Jenn McPoland, and hear how it has accelerated the integration of women into brewing. PHOTO: SheBrew

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 have him on the show and dig into malting. It’s a subject that can get technical pretty fast, but it’s critically important in making beer taste the way it does. In this show, Campbell walks us through malt's secrets.

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.

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 success, encouraging them to open a second taproom during Covid and, last month, a third. In today’s pod, we’re going to ask them about the new place, their tenth anniversary, and how things have changed since 2012.

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, and bringing the cold and wet with it. On today’s show we offer a tonic that’s at least a thousand years old—the winter warmer, a beer to heat body and soul. Tastings: Ninkasi Sleigh'r, Anchor Christmas Ale, Deschutes Jubelale, Double Mountain Fa La La La La

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 when so many other magazines folded? How do the internet, social media, and newer delivery systems like podcasting impact print media--should we be thinking in terms of media companies rather than magazines? In today’s show, we have Jamie Bogner, Craft Beer & Brewing’s publisher, on to give us the low down about how they do it.

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 rescued from bankruptcy in 1965 and helped jump-start craft brewing in America.

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 hop ales.

[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 Eagle combines a wood-aged barley wine inoculated with wild yeast (Brett C), blended with fresh barley wine. In the interview, Jeff learns about the history of the beer, Derek's career, and many other lovely tidbits along the way. It is the raw audio, so there's no intro or outro.

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.

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 ale and Glasgow porter. In Show 167, we get on the horn with Glasgow and have a fascinating chat with Gareth.

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 didn’t admire aggro anymore. It got us thinking about how breweries go through a familiar life cycle, one that would make a worthy topic. Beers tasted: Fort George 3-Way, Sierra Nevada Hazy Little Thing Photo: Sierra Nevada's first brewery (photo: Sierra Nevada)

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 sure that didn’t pass legal muster. A few weeks ago, three breweries sued Oregon for the right to self-distribute South of the Columbia. Today we have Justin on the line, and we’ll talk to him about the lawsuit and the way protectionism hampers breweries’ access to markets.

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 caused it, and what you can expect from this elegant, unexpected style. Note: We had trouble with Zencastr again--and this will be the last time we use it. Sorry for the poor audio. Tasting: Thiriez Ambrée

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 whether his choices are correct.

Today's post kicks off Portland Travel Week. To get things started, I’ll offer an overview of the Rose City, a bit of beer-centric history, and some of the key features of the local drinking culture. Craft breweries follow a familiar model, and if you just go from one to the next, you might miss some of the character behind all that steel.