Beervana Podcast

Having been neglectful about actual, tasty beer, I offer a round-up of recent discoveries, both in trends and individual beers.

The Covid pandemic has been especially brutal on downtown businesses, and last week claimed one of the most important independent bars in Portland, Bailey’s Taproom. It counts as its legacy a host of breweries it championed and a richer, more interesting beer scene.

Today we unveil a new logo for the show featuring our newly identified mascot “Maris Otter.” On today’s show we’re going to talk branding and design with Maris’s creator, Jordan Wilson. Jordan is a branding expert responsible for the incredible design and marketing at Old Town, as well as a redesign of 54-40 and the branding of new brewery, Foreland. In a special two-part show, we’re going get under the hood of this fascinating process and see how it works.

American brewers invented cream ale as a way to cheaply combat the rise of pale lager. It was neither creamy nor especially ale-like, and it wasn’t until well after Prohibition that breweries found commercial success with the style, none more than Rochester’s Genesee.

You may recall a recent podcast extra in which Jeff and I sampled beer sent from New England—and these included a milkshake sour the brewery described as “Berliner weisse.” But was it? Today we’re going to unpack one of the world’s great beer styles, going into the history and classic brewing techniques, and then see how these modern, fruity interpretations fit in.

Located in the West Flanders city of Roeselare, Rodenbach has been making dark ales for 200 years in a brewery that inspires the reverence of an old church. The brewery’s history, their process, and the beer’s quality make Grand Cru one of the most important beers in Belgium.

Today we’re going to welcome a guest to discuss a new business model that developed as a reaction to the Covid pandemic. Casey Armstrong is behind Road Beers, a direct-to-consumer delivery service with a growing slate of brewery partners. We’ll slingshot off that discussion to expand our inquiry and give it the Beeronomics treatment. In what ways will the pandemic permanently alter the way we do things? What will snap back to the way things were before the interruption? We’ll look at the beer industry, of course, but also consider the wider economy.

For decades, Americans have been warned of the dangers of the “tied houses” and the sterling virtues of a three-tiered system of production, distribution, and retail. But is this all hogwash? Craft breweries are testing the theory.

The sense about craft beer right now, with assaults from a global pandemic and hard seltzer, is often morose. In purely financial terms, beer seems to be sputtering. But as a cultural force, it has never been stronger.

On February 5, 2021, Portland Brewing will close its doors for the last time. The brewery’s closure marks the end of that scrappy, DIY era of craft brewing. And while it’s sad, a review of what Portland Brewing accomplished also reveals what a success its 35-year run was.

Today I welcome two new partners to the blog—but these aren’t ordinary advertisers. Together, pFriem, Reuben’s Brews and I plan to try a new model that strengthens rather than cheapens reader experience, and will result in a series of in-depth, interesting posts.

Darkness has fallen. Winter has come. And amid these cold, dark tidings, a pandemic rages. Jeff and I talk often about how we’re coping—which of course means thinking about which beers will allay which forms of malaise. On today’s show, we offer a pandemic survival kit of beers that will help you survive the winter. And because vaccines are on the way, and because warmth inevitably follows the cold, a celebratory beer as well.

A moment passing through a warm, cheery pub brought back vivid memories of cozy evenings I’ve missed the past nine months. As 2021 dawns, I kindle the hope we’ll be drinking together sometime this year.

I don’t pretend the beer I’ve chosen for 2020 is the “best”—that kind of designation is a fool’s errand. But this year’s selection is a perfect example of where American brewing is at this moment, and it’s an amazing beer.

Everyone is dying to leave 2020 behind, to forget its traumas and tragedies, and allow themselves to look forward with a glimmer of hope. Despite the pain, however, much about the year should be remembered. We may be too near events to extract their lessons, but the mere act of remembrance reminds us of what we’ve seen.

Alesong's Matt Van Wyk, one of three men behind Alesong Brewing in Eugene, Oregon, joins us on today's show. Alesong recently won two medals at the GABF to add to the six they’ve already won. The brewery focuses entirely on barrel-aging, working with aged ales as well as wild and spontaneous beers. Founded in 2016, the brewery has quickly become one of the most-decorated in the state, and its unusual approach makes it a fascinating subject for today’s discussion.

On today’s show we’re going to delve into one of the hottest old things in beer—kveik yeast. These old farmhouse strains of yeast have been around for generations—and longer—as brewers in Western Norway pass them from one generation to the next. Lately, IPA brewers have repurposed them to make bright, juicy IPAs, but the possibilities extend far beyond hoppy styles. Today we’ll dig into kveik and farmhouse brewing. IMAGE: LARS MARIUS GARSHOL

On today’s show we are going to discuss one of the most interesting projects in the beer world, the Oregon Hops and Brewing Archive. On hand is the architect of that project and its archivist, Tiah Edmunson-Morton. The archive, founded in 2013 and housed at Oregon State University, contains extensive records of published books and periodicals, photographs, and memorabilia. In addition, Tiah has initiated a collection of oral histories with brewers, growers, scientists, with a special focus on women who have worked in the industry. It’s a hugely valuable resource—not just for Oregonians, but beer fans everywhere.

Today we do something we swore we never would--sit around drinking beer. But wait!--there's a method to our madness. A Boston listener sent us some very special beer from New England, and we taste a Maine-grown Cascade fresh-hop saison. Also, Patrick and Jeff encounter East Coast juice tarts from Trillium.

On October 16, the GABF awarded 271 medals to 240 breweries in their annual competition. On today's show, we look at those winners and see what patterns we can discern. Do different states and regions perform better in certain certain beer styles? We've crunched all the numbers and have all the answers!