Craft Beer Talk » Craft Beer Talk

What's so great about bock beer? Just about everything, Duh! The coming of spring, the historical background, the cute little goats on the labels and for $%@! sake the malt depth! When you're tired of hearing the "This beer is 9,000 IBU's and has 17lbs. of hops per barrel!" line..like I am lately, Bock is a wonderful place to go. I view beer like the cross section of a tree, roots and all. Hops are the leaves and malt, the roots. I like hanging out on the branches as much as the next guy but the ground and below is a much more comfortable place, especially in the late winter...you wouldn't want to build a fire in a tree, unless you're crazy. This week we take a look at Yuengling Bock, Anchor Bock and Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock as our 3 choices to discuss. Cheers and thanks for listening!

This week we take a look at three new beers (to W.N.Y.) from Ballast Point Brewing Company - their ultimately literal Pale Ale, Big Eye IPA and the highly revered Sculpin IPA. Nick joins us for a pre-beer section chat via Skype from Baton Rouge, Louisiana to discuss beer rating systems, hype, local pride and what it all means to us in the craft beer world we live in. Ethan and I get to the beer in the second half of the show starting with the Pale Ale (Kolsch) and do a side by side comparison of Big Eye and Sculpin. Enjoy the show and have fun in the snow. Cheers!!

Hello, friends. Did you know that Cortland Beer rearranges to Redolent Crab? This week we take a look at three beers from the Cortland Beer Company in Cortland NY. We get owner Dan Cleary on the line via skype and talk with him about his Firehouse Pale Ale, Red Dragon Red Ale and Sunrise Coffee Stout. Cortland Beer is cranking out some delicious brews available in 22oz bombers which recently became available, exclusively at any Consumers WNY location. It's always awesome to see another New York State brewery hit the shelves. Enjoy the show and be sure to pick up some new beer...Cheers!

While on a recent trip to Louisiana, Nick stopped in to see the gents at Tin Roof Brewing Co. in Baton Rouge. Long time friends and co-founders William McGehee and Charles Caldwell were kind enough to take a bit of time out of their day and hang with Nick for an interview and some sampling. In studio we take a look at their Voodoo Bengal Pale Ale and Perfect Tin Amber Ale...in cans!! Take a listen and if you're down their way, be sure to stop in and say hello.

Gents, Ladies, it's been awhile. A lot has happened since our last show..and we mean A LOT! We are back to kick off our third season with 4 beers, 2 from Quebec and 2 from the states. The lineup: Mons Abbey Witte (Amos, QC), Mons Abbey Dubbel (Amos, QC), Slumbrew Flagraiser IPA (Somerville, MA) and Bar Harbor Brewing's Cadillac Mountain Stout (Bar Harbor, ME). We're excited to be back and doing what we love...talking about beer! We'll be posting audio only podcasts for a short while and coming quite soon...on to bigger things...you'll just have to listen to the show to find out what those things are! Hope all is well in your world...

If I was to be any one ingredient in beer, I would choose yeast. Yeast is the quiet thinker, the steady worker, the heavy lifter and the guy who gets things done...but never brags about it. Yeast is the reason beer works. This episode we've taken a look at three beers with a specific strain of Brettanomyces (yeast) as an ingredient and discuss the aroma, flavor and finishing effects on each. Sierra Nevada / Russian River collab brew BRUX is first up, followed by Green Flash's Rayon Vert and then the classic Orval Trappist Ale finishes the show. Enjoy, with friends!

This week we're taking a look at four German beers brewed by a seemingly little known brewery around these parts; Veldensteiner. A surprisingly low cost to quality ratio is the neatest thing about these beers, coming in at $2.99 each..in brown swing-tops to boot! We start with Veldensteiner Pils, move into the Veldensteiner Lager, then Veldensteiner Landbier and finish with Veldensteiner Weissbier. Doing a little research on this brewery reveals that they recently won Gold in the 6th Annual DLG (German Agricultural Society) Food-Days awards held in Darmstadt, a very prestigious award for the best of the best. We concur, it's deserved. Cheers to them and looking forward to trying any of their other beer that makes its long treck across the Atlantic and eventually into our glasses. Prost!

Hey there. Welcome to Episode 30 of Season 2 of Craft Beer Talk. You're probably wondering what the show title means... In a fit of randomness we decided to go themeless for this episode and talk about some beer that we haven't had yet. Hailing from Loveland, Colorado, Grimm Brothers the Griffin Hefeweizen is first on deck, followed by Rochester, NY's Three Heads Brewing - Cobbs Hill Black Lager (label sporting a backpacking insect). Finishing out the show is a quite hilarious, lost in translation type label from India..."Old Monk 10,000 Super Beer, For sale in U.S.A. County Only". Another interpretation of the title? Chris is the Ant, Nick is the Griffin and Ethan is well...the Monk, cause he's older than we are. Hope you enjoy the show..we'll be back next week with a full lineup of delicious (and cheap!) German Beer from Veldensteiner. Cheers!

Ladies and gentlemen, Western New York just got a little bit cooler. Earlier this week, Founders Brewing Company (Grand Rapids, Michigan) beers were released to market and are now available across the region at your local beer store and better beer bars. We decided we would take a look (and sip) at three Founders' beers including their wonderful Centennial IPA, Red's Rye PA and their seasonal Cerise (cherry fermented) ale. We are very excited to add yet another great brewery to the already outstanding list of available beers in Upstate New York. To this we say "Cheers and Thanks!" to Founders and everyone involved in making what we do so enjoyable. Enjoy the show!

Japan's craft beer movement is on the rise. A relaxation of strict Japanese alcoholic beverage tax laws in 1994 gave rise to microbreweries and brewpubs throughout the country. What they are experiencing now is akin to the US craft beer rise roughly 15 years ago. A leader in the Japanese Craft Beer revolution since their inception in 1996 - Hitachino Nest Beer - is our topic today. We've brought in 4 beers from them including Hitachino Real Ginger Brew, Hitachino Nest Weizen, Hitachino Commemorative Ale 2010 and Hitachino Espresso Stout. Each of these beers hold quite unique characteristics which make them a fun experience. Hope you enjoy the show just as much as we enjoyed the beer! Kanpai!

On a recent trip to Paso Robles, California, I had the good fortune of stopping and picking up (more than) a few beers to pack in my purposely half empty/full suitcase. Wrapping each bottle carefully in paper bags, socks and pant legs, I trusted that the bottles would not break in the hands of a luggage handler at the airport...and I was right! I've had success in the past having brought beer back from the Pac NW in the same fashion. Three of the beers I brought back were for this episode - West Coast IPAs. Ethan, myself and our friend Anthony (filling in for a sick Nick) tackle 2 classics and 1 newbie. Speakeasy Big Daddy is first up followed by Figueroa Mountain Hoppy Poppy IPA, finishing out with Ballast Point Sculpin IPA. Hope you enjoy the show! Cheers! P.S. Nick is all better now.

Season 2 – Episode 26: Popping Wittes (or “Errrbody in the Club Get Witte-sy)

To finish out our round of personal favorites, Ethan brings three of his top beer picks for the show. We decided to skip the blind tasting portion for the reveal of these beers and simply enjoy them. All three beers are certainly tops on a lot of peoples lists and wonderful examples of their style. We experienced a range of flavors and aromas including delicate fruit, tang, fresh peach, spicy rye, bold citrusy hops, roasted bitterness and 1976. While not very pointed, these hints will make more sense after listening to us babble about where the midwest is defined. We swear. Cheers folks!

As the warm months approach, we find ourselves looking for lighter bodied, crisp, low alcohol beers to keep us covered at spring / early summer parties. A perfect beer to suit is a Kolsch (style) - a wonderful beer that walks the line between a pilsner and a golden ale. Kolsch is about subtleness; a balancing act comprised of a very simple malt bill and noble hops. What makes a Kolsch unique is the cold conditioning (lagering) it undergoes after primary fermentation is finished. This allows the beer to develop the clean, crisp characteristics of a lager while maintaining the slightly fruity notes of an ale. This episode we take a look at 3 examples including Reissdorf Kolsch (Cologne, Germany), Steven's Point 3 Kings Ale (Steven's Point, Wisconsin) and a beer from our hometown...Flying Bison Buffalo Kolsch 716 (Buffalo, New York). Hope you enjoy the show just as much as we enjoyed making it. Cheers! Stay Cool!

What do you get when you mix Unicorn blood, gnome's breath and a little magic? A flemish sour ale. Well....not really but we'd like to think so. This episode we take a look at a few classic examples of Flemish Sour Ale in the forms of Rodenbach Grand Cru, Duchesse De Bourgogne, Liefman's Goudenband (Oud Bruin) and a secret surprise beer to finish out the show. Listen for a bit of history on the style, what makes it sour, differences between reds and browns and most of all, what we think of them. This is a show we've been looking forward to doing for some time and we're glad to share it with you. Sour ales are certainly not for everyone just as big hoppy beers aren't as well. Remember, keep and open mind and share with friends. We're certain you'll have a great time.