Beer Guys Radio Craft Beer Podcast

Gwinnett County is metro Atlanta's second most populous county. However, until recently, it lacked one thing: Its own craft brewery. Lawrenceville's Slow Pour Brewing Company changed that earlier this year.  One of Slow Pour's founders, John Reynolds and brewer Chase Medlin joins us on the show this week to talk about their journey...and their beers.   We also head to SweetWater Brewing to check out a collaboration with Relix Magazine and Kyle Hollingsworth of the String Cheese Incident. 

You know that we love craft beer. But sometimes, it’s good to take a little break. So in the studios with us are two co-founders of Treehorn Cider, Justin Pierce and Andrew Wheeler. Plus, we recap of a busy week in beer, including a Creature Comforts collaboration, a preview of Roswell’s newest brewpub, and homebrew talk with Gary Glass, the director of the American Homebrewer’s Association!

Phillip Barnes and Eric Levin were beer traders at first.  One day, they realized that the distribution system in Georgia was broken, and worked to find a better way to do it.  That idea is now Modern Hops. We talk to Philip, Eric and Michael Lowenberg about the craft beer scene in Georgia, what they are doing to change it, and what's been different since SB85. We also get a chance to talk to Jekyll's Josh Rachel about Southern Juicy Juice, andBrian Hewitt reviews a revival of an old school cigar

Georgia Senator Hunter Hill joined us on the show this week. He was instrumental in passing SB 63 - which led to this year's passage of SB 85. We talk small business, sensible laws, and why he's running for governor.  We also talk to Chris Morley, owner of Mason's Brewing in Brewer, Maine. He got an interesting letter from ABInbev's legal department.

To some, making a cocktail out of beer is a sin.  But it's a delicious sin!  Jason Santamaria, one of the founders of Second Self, started experimenting with beer cocktails in college as a way to make cheap beer taste better.  Today? You could call him a mixologist. He regularly crafts cocktails for friends and family, and they dabble a little bit in (non-alcoholic) mixers at Second Self's taproom. 

Chattabrewchee Southern Brewhouse is making history.  It's West Point (Georgia)'s first brewery It's the first brewery in the state to have self-serve taps It's the first brewery in the country to have a female, active duty military owner.  We talked to co-owner Mike Denehy and brewmaster Barry Stevens this week. They are stepping up production, ready to go and are dedicated on becoming a must-visit location for beer lovers. 

For the Beer Guys, every season is beer drinking season.  But Oktoberfest is another level entirely.  Plates of sausages and spaetzle, liters of lager...it's a great celebration to mark fall.  Atlanta's Der Biergarten is the closest you can get to Munich. With an authentic experience, traditional German fare and a great German beer list, it's the home of Bayern Munich soccer fans, so there you go. 

With a core brand of "Drinking Beers" (Kolsch, Pale Ale, IPA) on bottle shop shelves and a rotating tap of seasonals and one-offs in the tap room, Eventide has become a gathering place for locals in the Atlanta neighborhood.  Speaking of gathering place, we broadcast on-location at Your Pie Perimeter. Not only are they one of our awesome sponsors, but they sling some great pie, with an amazing tap list. Thanks for their hospitality! 

Green Bus doesn't distribute, rarely sells its beer outside its taproom, and they're OK with that.  When Jason Sledd named his homebrewery (Green Bus Brewing), many people joked that it was just a matter of time before he went "pro."  But to Jason, that sounded like a great way to turn his hobby into drudgery. Learn more about Huntsville's "first neighborhood brewery" this week!  More info: www.beerguysradio.com Support: www.patreon.com/beerguys 

Is there a more overused term than "farm to table"?   Probably not. But the meaning is still important - bringing fresh, local ingredients into a restaurant has been a big trend in dining.  Tim Stevens, owner of From the Earth Brewing Company, is bringing that to Roswell.  With an amazing menu, the veteran of fine dining establishments in Atlanta and Birmingham is bringing his love of beer along as well. 

A historic show this week.  Finally, direct sales are here. That's right, you can actually go into a Georgia brewery and actually buy their product! To celebrate, we talked to Nancy Palmer, Executive Director of the Georgia Craft Brewers Guild and Taylor Harper of Taylor, Feil, Harper, Lumsden & Hess (aka “The Georgia Craft Beer Lawyer”). They joined us in studio to talk about the fight to get to this point and what’s in store for the future. More: www.beerguysradio.com Support: patreon.com/Bee

There are a lot of similarities between the craft beer world and making music.  Creativity, self-expression, and the fight to stay (or become) independent.  Atlanta/ Kentucky rap legends Nappy Roots and Monday Night Brewing had an immediate connection over these common themes.  Their first collaboration, Front Porch Pale Ale, was brewed and served up for their album release party at Monday Night for Another 40 Akerz.

Take a trip down memory lane, as Sarah Belanger and Kamara Davis, authors of the brand new book "North Alabama Beer: An Intoxicating History" joined us this episode. We talked about:  - The brothers who opened the first brewery in Alabama who had a "Badlun" of bad luck - The city of Cullman, founded by German immigrants, became famous for its alcohol-free Ocktoberfest - The time noted abolitionist Carrie Nation visited Huntsville - The Free the Hops movement's key role in shifting the Alabama laws.

It's Shelton Fest week in Atlanta and we took advantage of it! Michael Kiser, founder of Good Beer Hunting and writer Austin Louis Ray joined us in the studio. We had a great conversation about branding, what "selling out" really means and more! Meanwhile, Brian Whitley from Macon's Piedmont Brewery and Kitchen also joined us. More: www.beerguysradio.com Support: patreon.com/beerguys

What goes better with good beer than good food and good times? How about some good people too. We welcomed Michael Goot from Ormsby's and Billy Streck from Hampton & Hudson to the studios this week. For more, visit www.beerguysradio.com