It’s another “founding father” moment this week on Beer Sessions Radio™, as host Jimmy Carbone welcomes Lagunitas Brewing Company founder and CEO, Tony Magee, who is on the show promoting his new book, So You Want to Start a Brewery: The Lagunitas Story. His “unintentionally” inspiring story covers the rise of craft beer in California in the 1990s, including how Lagunitas became synonymous with the India Pale Ale.
Also in the studio is one of our favorite co-hosts, Jimmy Ludwig of Happy Hour Guys, who discusses the “intestinal fortitude” needed to launch a brewery. Joe Carroll of Spuyten Duyvil, Fette Sau and St. Anselm chimes in on how Lagunitas helped shape the craft beer scene in NYC. Plus, we’ve got frequent guest Tony Forder of Ale Street News and Mark Sljukic (also of Lagunitas).
Learn about the origins of Lagunitas, which happened almost by accident when a local CA bar got mad at Sierra Nevada’s distributor and decided to swap out their tap with Lagunitas. Tony Magee learned from that experience that if you can “create” a style of beer, then you can influence the consumer who—back in the day, at any rate—would associate a style with a brand (hence, Sierra Nevada “invented” the pale ale; Lagunitas the IPA).
And the panel weighs in on the “full circle” of craft beer now being made in Europe, which is bringing Double IPAs among other beers to a new market. As Lagunitas’ founder notes, “The entire global beer industry is gradually being handed over to another generation of brewers.”
Hear all about it and the beers on this week’s episode.