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On a very special episode of Beer Sessions Radio™ on the Heritage Radio Network, host Jimmy Carbone welcomes back to the show Good Beer Seal co-founder and Blind Tiger owner Dave Brodrick. Jimmy is announcing a July Good Beer Month preview: The Good Beer Seal is expanding to Vermont and Toronto!

Dave talks about taking a tour along the “IPA Highway” (route 89) recommending a pub tour beginning in Brattleboro, VT:

• Whetstone Station Restaurant and Brewery to
• Dave’s Worthy Burger in Woodstock, VT, to
• Three Penny and Positive Pie in Montpelier, VT, to
• Prohibition Pig and Blackback Pub in Waterbury, VT, ending at
• Farmhouse Bar & Grille in Middlebury, VT

Will any of these great establishments be awarded the Good Beer Seal? You’ll find out in July! In the meantime, Dave talks about what makes a bar a Good Beer Seal bar: Great beer, building relationships with brewers and importers, and having knowledgeable and educated staff.

Dave and Jimmy are also taking the Good Beer Seal international to Toronto, and Tomas Morana of Bar Volo weighs in on the Toronto craft beer scene, which has grown dramatically in the past five years. Both Tomas and Dave talk about how educating customers is a key part of building a craft beer bar. Tomas and his parents went so far as to launch their own import company to get around the highly regulated beer business in Ontario.

The group is talking about summer beer festivals, including Coney Island On Tap, which will take place at the Cyclones’ Stadium in Coney Island. Dave mentions Vermont Brewers Festival (“which sells out in 90 seconds”) and Pub House Jam in Bolton Valley (Labor Day weekend). Tomas and his family began Cask Days in 2005 with 20 firkins of questionable quality. The 2013 Cask Days had expanded to more than 250 firkins from across Canada and the U.K. This year’s Cask Days will run October 24-26.

Plus, Brandon Carter, Executive Chef of The Inn at Palmetto Bluff in Hilton Head, SC, talks food and his favorite foods (including oysters) and the beer pairing menus he’s curated at his restaurant (and his exploration of the Brooklyn restaurant scene while he’s in town). He and Jimmy are talking gumbo and “southern” beers. Don’t leave before you try the buttermilk fried chicken.

We’re pairing beers and drinking, too! It’s another great episode of Beer Sessions, so bring your favorite brew and listen in (here).

Belgian beer and heritage meat: Is there a better pairing for a Tuesday afternoon on radio? Tune into an especially fun episode of Beer Sessions Radio (here) as host Jimmy Carbone is joined by Dominique Friart of Brasserie St. Feuillien, a brewery in Le Roeulx, Belgium. They’re taking NYC by storm!

Plus the authors of The Carnivore’s Manifesto: Eating Well, Eating Responsibly, and Eating Meat, Patrick Martins and Mike Edison are in the studio to pair meat with Belgian beers. The book features fifty ways to be an enlightened carnivore, while taking better care of our planet and ourselves. The crew discusses the true meaning of taste and drink a whole bunch of delicious Belgian beers on air.

This week on Beer Sessions Radio™ on the Heritage Radio Network, host Jimmy Carbone welcomes an eclectic (and international) group. Locally, Niko Krommydas talks about the Craft Beer NY ap, “an all-encompassing beer guide for the beer geek in New York City.” The international contingent comes by way of Juan and Alfredo Rodriguez and Sven Bosch of Naparbier, who are doing a North American tour that includes bar visits, tastings and collaboration brewing. They’re joined by B.R. Rolya of Shelton Brothers Imports.

Jason Perkins, Brewmaster at Allagash, calls in from Belgium’s Night of the Great Thirst, an all-lambic beer festival outside of Brussels. It’s a bottle event that has nothing but spontaneously fermented beers. The festival was started as a response to legal restrictions on lambic beers in Belgium in an effort to save cool shipping (Allagash Brewing was the first brewery in the U.S. to add a traditional coolship to their facility in Maine). Allagash wanted to see if they could replicate the wild beer and spontaneous fermentation that was previously exclusive to the Belgium region. Jason also talks about the new tasting room at their Portland brewery, and the thriving craft beer scene happening in the state.

The time it takes to create wild beers precludes mass production, but the panel discusses their love of sour beers, such as the Cantillon Gueuze.

Sven talks about his Spanish brewery’s journey from launching five years ago with two beers to their current 14-beer portfolio, which includes a barreling system. He discusses the challenges of making beer in a country with a strong wine heritage. And B.R. reveals the secrets of how brewers decide to collaborate (hint: hit up the festival circuit). You can hear the entire episode here.

Several weeks ago, Beer Sessions Radio™ host Jimmy Carbone led a blind tasting of commercially available IPAs, and on this week’s episode of Beer Sessions Radio™ on the Heritage Radio Network we hear the results! Joining Jimmy are BJCP judges Dru Nichols and Michael Cafaro, who admit that the top three IPAs at the blind tasting were all winners. The list of IPAs included Bell’s Greenflash, Gun Hill Brewery (newest Bronx brewery), Sixpoint, Stone, Two Roads, Sam Smith (Rebel IPA), Great Divide and Long Trail. Jimmy announces the top three, with a (spoiler alert) great call in from Stone brewmaster Mitch Steele of Stone Brewing.

Mitch gives us a bit of a history lesson on the real IPA story (get his IPA book here).

Other guests on this show include Ally Centonze of Green Flash Brewing, Whitney Wright of Southern Living Magazine, and Rich Blair of New Holland Brewing & Distillery. Ally talks about the difference between east and west coast IPAs, while previewing the new higher ABV Hop Head Rye. While Whitney Talks about the thriving craft beer scene in the south (Alabama has the most growth of any state in craft beer). And how can we talk about the Southern beer revolution without a(n almost subliminal) shout-out to Ale Sharpton?

During the last segment, we switch beers to talk about whiskey, vodka and other liquors. How can a brewery go from making good beer to making a distilled spirit based on beer? Learn about how the innovation of American craft beer translates well into the artisanal spirits industry, as Rich discusses New Holland’s foray into distilling. They talk about a “hopquilla,” beer barrel bourbon and their beer schnapps.

And find out why Dru thinks, “Yeast are fickle little bitches.” Only on this week’s episode of Beer Sessions Radio™!

This week on Beer Sessions Radio™ on the Heritage Radio Network, host Jimmy Carbone welcomes Staten Island’s Flagship Brewing Co. head brewer, Patrick Morse, whose beer pedigree includes having written his college thesis on beer (we love this brewer already!) plus time working for Harpoon Brewery, Greenpoint Beerworks (he made the Patrick’s Belgian Blonde that is at Houston Hall) and Eagle Rock in CA; he’s pouring his hoppy American Wit (we love this beer already!). They’re brand-new brewery (yup, they bought it new) and they’re doing their “soft” grand opening this Saturday, May 17th (they’re an 8-minute walk from the ferry or first stop on the SIRR). Hear how Staten Island’s first brewery since the 1960’s got its start,

Marty Mattrazzo of The Farmhouse Brewery, whom Jimmy met at last month’s New York Wine, Beer and Spirits Summit with Gov. Cuomo, calls in to talk about his malting room, hop farm and brewery upstate. All their grain is bought from NY State farms, which they malt and sell back to NY State breweries. Learn all about how they “steep, germinate and kiln” in one system in a 12’x16′ space (sounds like it would fit in a Brooklyn apartment!). They’re the first of roughly a half-dozen malt houses that are expected to come online in the next year or so.

On the oenology side of things, wine educator Tess Anne Rose is in the studio, making wine accessible though her classes. She’s facing off against Zach Mack of Alphabet City Beer Co., who together with Tess Anne will be hosting a wine v. beer food pairing next Tuesday (May 20th) at Jimmy’s No. 43. Zach talks about his first “food and beer” perfect pairing moment, while Tess Anne appreciates the challenge of wooing with wine by finding the complementary vintage whether or not beer has an inherent advantage when it comes to food pairings. Keith Beaver (owner of In Vino) pops in to say “hello” at the end of the show.

Listen to the full episode here.

Joe “Craft Beer Coach” Callender joins Spiro to chat about kombucha beer, which takes the fermented tea to a whole new level. While Jimmy L. comments, “People are so habitual in their beverage choices. The craft world is all about expanding people’s horizons and aksing people to be brave and try something new.”

Florida brewers recently tried to get something new through their legislature: the ability to sell beer in 64 ounce growlers. While the measure didn’t pass, no new restrictions were placed on Florida breweries, bringing a small success to the Florida Brewers Guild. Justin also talks about the beer they’re brewing and where Florida is heading in the industry.

And Michael discusses his impetus for launching Judgement [sic] of Brooklyn, a tasting event with a line-up of 32 beers and 32 wines that Jimmy C. thinks will be “the best thing to happen to Brooklyn” on May 17th.

Finally, Father Miller talks about the “universal language” of God and beer (“I can walk into any city and find a pub and a parish.”). Is there beer in heaven? We certainly hope so!

Listen to the full episode here.

This week on Beer Sessions Radio™ on the Heritage Radio Network (a.k.a. “The Free Beer Show”), host Jimmy Carbone welcomes Ohio-native Josh Bernstein back to the studio, along with Matt Barbee of Rockmill Brewery, whose Belgian-style brews are part of a craft beer resurgence in the Buckeye State. Matt tells of his journey from wine guy (his grandfather owned a vineyard and Matt formerly worked as a sommalier in Chicago) to failed film producer to successful brewer (his beers are being introduced to NYC starting this month).

Matt’s evolution into craft beer was largely based on how it paired with food. Thus, his brewery built on a former horse farm is creating beers from a water source similar in its mineral content of water found in Wallonia, Belgium. As the first great craft beer he drank was Dupont Saison, Matt decided to create beers in the Belgian Farmhouse tradition.

Also joining in is regular guest and Happy Hour Guy, Jimmy Ludwig. He and Josh debate the merits of growing up in the midwest, where Family (the new “f-word”) is a key part of identity, and hard work is a core value. Josh offers food pairing tips (to compare tastes, cut the flavor, or contrast) and cites the tired maxim (his words), “If it grows with it, it goes with it.” Matt’s more eloquent assessment: “Wine and cheese is like arm wrestling; beer and cheese is like holding hands.”

Finally, surprise guest Mark Muecke of Singlecut Beersmiths previews the Astoria brewery’s spring Kim Hibiscus Sour Lagrrr!, a Berliner Weissbier. And the whole gang toasts to Matt’s newly departed pooch, Scooby, who will have a beer named after him. Rockmill is coming to NYC  soon, so be on the lookout for it.

Listen to this week’s episode here.

When d.b.a. co-founder Dennis Zentek died suddenly last month, we were in shock. Beer Sessions Radio™ host Jimmy Carbone had been working with Dennis and he was scheduled to be on the podcast on Heritage Radio Network later this spring. Thus, it was with heavy heart that we attended his memorial service this past Wednesday at d.b.a. (East Village) and neighboring Marble Cemetery on a beautiful cold day with cherry blossoms harkening new life despite the sadness of the ceremony taking place.

We know that Dennis has been reunited with Ray and they will be drinking the good stuff together, reminiscing on their all-too-brief but profound impact on the craft beer world.

It’s a walk down memory lane as Brooklyn Brewery co-founder Steve Hindy reminisces about being a member of the “Class of 1988” and breaking into the craft beer scene back when Bushwick was a battleground and New York was a huge beer import town. Steve joins Beer Sessions Radio™ host Jimmy Carbone as he discusses his new book, The Craft Beer Revolution: How a Band of Microbrewers Is Transforming the World’s Favorite Drink. While the book encompasses the beer revolution dating back more than forty years, Brooklyn Brewery was one of 13 breweries launched (most originally as brewpubs) in 1988 that have gone on to greatness (Rogue, Deschutes, Goose Island among them).

Among the changes Steve highlights is the growth of craft beer breweries (up to 2800) and the number of Craft Brewers Conference attendees (at the first CBC in 1984, Steve said there were fewer than 50 people; last week’s conference held 10,000 participants). He also reveals a history of competing against big brewers and how the camaraderie of craft beer makers has allowed them to gain a foothold of 10 percent of the market (with approximately 16 percent of money spent).

And it’s Queens Beer Week! From April 18th-27th, Queens will be celebrating its burgeoning craft beer scene (latest brewer Anthony Accardi of Transmitter Brewing Co. in Long Island City, talks about his month-old brewery) with a kick-off party a Singlecut Beersmiths this Saturday at “Taste of Queens” from 7-11 p.m. Joining Anthony from Queens are Tommy Ortega (owner of Good Beer Seal bar Sunswick 35/35), Dan Bronson (organizer of Queens Beer Week), and Ben Sandler (also a GBS bar owner at Queens Kickshaw). The group is tasting “Queen of Tarts”, the official Queens Beer Week brew, made by our good friends (and honorary Queensians) Barrier Brewing Co.

Steve talks about his “frenemy” Jim Koch and how his beer almost was called the Brooklyn Eagle Beer. Plus, get the lowdown on his interviews with distributors as a watershed moment in the evolution of the craft beer revolution.

And Mike Lovullo chimes in on behalf of Union beer distributors and his own birthday party today (Wednesday, April 16th) at Blind Tiger.

It’s a great episode for both historians and new brew lovers alike. Listen to the full episode here.

What’s in your glass? This week on Beer Sessions Radio™, host Jimmy Carbone serves up beer in proper glassware as Riedel/Spiegelau Vice President Matthew Rutkowski discusses the company’s new line-up of beer glasses. Aside from their now famous IPA glass, Matthew introduces the recently launched Stout goblet (a collaboration with Rogue and Left Hand Brewing Co.). The breweries are present and accounted for, as Brett Joyce (from Rogue Ales & Spirits) and Left Hand Brewing Co. founder Eric Wallace discuss the year-long effort to design a perfect Stout glass.

Plus Justin Phillips from Beer Table talks about his journey in the competitive craft beer field as great beer is poured into perfect glasses on this week’s episode (listen here).