This week Beer Sessions Radio™ on The Heritage Radio Network welcomes Shelton Brothers Imports into the studio. Brother Joel and French beer specialist (and regular BSR guest) B.R. Rolya are pouring some of their favorite European imports, while fellow Good Beer Seal bar owner Joe Carroll (Spuyten Duyvil) reminisces about being one of the very first bars to have Shelton Brothers beers in NYC.
Host Jimmy Carbone admits that Shelton’s portfolio holds the kind of “beers that inspire us to get into craft beer to begin with.” Joe echos Jimmy’s sentiment, noting that 11 years ago, there weren’t a lot of domestic craft beers distributed in NYC and the European beers were “big beers” that didn’t appeal to the north Brooklyn community that frequented Spuyten Duyvil. They were looking for German Lagers, and Mahr’s Bräu was one of the first imports they brought in.
Joel discusses the early days of the company, when he would wander Europe with copied pages of Michael Jackson’s The World Guide To Beer, wandering from pub to brewery in search of finding the best beers (Dan Shelton was friends with Michael Jackson before the latter’s death). Shelton’s philosophy is finding beers that reflect “a sense of place or a new beer tradition.” Shelton Brothers look for beers with an emphasis on balance and depth and simple quality. “It’s always about the beer taste, not the ingredients themselves.”
Joe names his top five brands:
- Cantillon
- Fantôme
- Mahr’s (also a favorite of B.R.’s)
- de Ranke
- Jolly Pumpkin
And Jimmy admits to loving Dieu du Ciel! from Quebec. Listen to the entire episode here.