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What could prompt Beer Sessions Radio™ host Jimmy Carbone to utter the words “Anheuser Busch” during the show? Well, if you’re sitting in with Dan Kopman and Stephen Hale of Schlafly Beer, you start to appreciate the long shadow cast by the industry giant that was sold to InBev in 2008, resulting in a seismic shift in the beer scene in St. Louis. Learn how Dan’s dad came to know Tom Schlafly, with whom Dan formed a brewery in 1991 that for years barely sold beer that wasn’t over the bar. Dan honed his skills at Newcastle in Scotland and London’s Youngs where he learned European styles of brewing. Schlafly has officially entered the NYC market, but it wasn’t an easy journey.

In addition to  Schlafly, Ben Granger (Bierkraft) discusses their foray into brewing beer andhow craft beer in NYC has changed since Bierkraft’s birth twelve years ago. Ed Berestecki of Mugs Ale House is back in (raiding his impressive cellar to share a vintage Schlafly Imperial Stout from 2008). Plus Augie Carton of Carton Brewing stops by to talk about beer collecting, and why vintage collectors can learn a thing or two from wine geeks. Phil Richman also chimes in on the Brooklyn beer scene from a distributor’s perspective.

And cask evangelist Alex Hall (Wandering Star) drops by to talk about the Cask Marque accreditation program and the upcoming Williamsburg Cask Festival at dba Brooklyn.

Cider Week NY returns for the third year as does our annual cider broadcast! Host Jimmy Carbone welcomes beer (Sean McCain of Bronx Brewery), cider (David Spies of Angry Orchard and John Belliveau-Flores of Rowan Imports), and beer/cider (Sam Smith IV of Samuel Smith Brewery) professionals to this week’s episode of Beer Sessions Radio™ (listen here). Rounding things out, Ben Sandler (Queens Kickshaw) returns to the show talking about what his Good Beer Seal Bar is up to for Cider Week NY.

Learn about how cider continues to grow, the challenges of being a cider maker in markets big and small, the different ways cider is being produced today and how cider’s new-found popularity (or is it old-found… cider is the original alcoholic beverage of the Colonies) is changing today’s food and beverage marketplace.

 

We’re closing out the fall Fest season with a bang! We know Oktoberfest is over, so on Saturday, October 26th from noon to 9 p.m., we’ll be co-producing an “alt” experience with BBQ, craft beer, tap dancing and a Sam Adams Stein-hoisting competition, featuring Chili Takedown maestro Matt Timms as MC! Our  Williamsburg Alt-Toberfest is a day-long celebration on the East River (at 110 Kent, next to Smorgasburg). Aside from great beer and food, the indoor-outdoor event features include:

Craft Beer:

• From Shiner, Kelso, Sam Adams, Captain Lawrence and Coney Island, among others
• The Sam Adams Stein-hoisting Competition will take place at 3 p.m. (anyone present may enter)

Live Entertaiment:

• Bands—including Sistermonk and The Strung Out Stringband—will play throughout the day
• Undertoe Dance will be giving “Tappy Hour” tap-dancing demonstrations at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Food Vendors:

• A total of 10+ artisanal food vendors will be selling options ranging from BBQ and grilled meats to pretzels and cheese
• Bronx Bakery, Jackie Brooks and Campbell’s Cheese will offer great options to pair with beer

Your $20 ticket gets you admission to Alt-Toberfest plus your first two beers. Ticket information can be found here.

The Good Beer Seal and Beers Sessions Radio™ are happy to be co-hosting the return of Harvest Beer & Cider Sessions, the official launch party of the 3rd Annual Cider Week NY. This year’s event features cider makers from the region who are the core of Cider Week’s mission, plus as part of the Wide World of Cider the event includes ciders from the U.K., Spain and France, in addition to some great ciders from other regions across the U.S.

We hope you’ll join us this Saturday, October 19th from 1-4 p.m. at Jimmy’s No. 43 in the East Village. You’ll enjoy dozens of ciders in a walk-around tasting format with food samples and the chance to hobnob with the cider makers of the region and beyond. Your $50 ticket (available here) includes offerings from:

• Harvest Moon Cidery/Critz Farms Four Screw (on draught),
• Virtue Sidra (on draught) with Greg Hall (who will be giving a special presentation at 6 p.m.),
• Breezy Hill with Elizabeth Ryan,
• Steampunkt (Oakes Winery),
• Slyboro,
• Aaron Burr with Andy Brennan,
• Eden (Ice Ciders),
• Naked Flock,
• and Farnum Hill with Steve Wood (presentation at 4 p.m.),
• Henney’s and Olivers (from U.K.),
• Drouhin and Dupont (from France),
• Spanish Sidra from Asturias region,
• Others TBA.

On the beer side of things, there will be special fall brews (fresh hop and harvest beers) from Carton, Barrier, Bridge & Tunnel (join Rich Castagna at 3 p.m. for a special beer seminar), along with other brewers who will be in attendance. Your ticket to Cider Sessions grants you free admission to the post-event talks with Steve, Rich and Greg!

This week on Beers Sessions Radio™, host Jimmy Carbone continues last week’s trip down memory lane as Mugs Alehouse’s Ed Berestecki returns with more stories about owning a bar for 21 years in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He’s celebrating the bar’s anniversary with last year’s specially brewed Blood Brothers IPA 20th Anniversary Ale, which Brooklyn Brewery created for Mugs.

Ed and Jimmy are joined by two of the Beerded Ladies: Haley Karl and Meredith Heil. Plus, Lea Rumbolo, brewer at The Ship Inn Brewery in Millford, NJ, discusses her focus on English-style beers and being the first brewpub in NJ. Zach Mack from ABC Brewing Company weighs in on the merits of the new beer laws in NY that allow for hybrid bottle shop/restaurants.

What’s the best way to store and serve from a cask? How does an interest in wine lead to careers in beer? Who is Ed Raven? Why is Ringwood yeast so difficult to use for brewing?

Find out the answers to all this and more on this week’s episode (listen here).

This week on Beer Sessions Radio™, host Jimmy Carbone is joined by several of Brooklyn’s finest, ranging from the old guard (Ed Berestecki of Mugs Alehouse, which is turning 21 this month… buy that bar a drink!) to the new (Brandon Chamberlin and Matthew Ricke of The Exley, which is turning one a few blocks over “In the Shadow of the BQE”). Find out how much (and how little) has changed regarding the challenges of opening up a bar in Williamsburg. Hint: a side job is probably required, at least during the first few years.

Also, Heather McReynolds, one of the brewers at Sixpoint Craft Ales, talks about her beginnings in beer, and why women are getting involved with the craft beer scene. What’s it like being a woman brewer in a male-dominated field?For Heather, it’s pretty simple: “You’re judged by the quality of the beer you make.

And Sixpoint has made a lot of quality beers, including many place- and event-specific brews (their smoked Rauchbier, Signal, was a huge hit at this year’s Pig Island, which was held in their backyard, aka Red Hook). Heather shares a bunch of Sixpoint brews with the boys in the room, while Ed tries to up the ante, digging into Mugs’ rich vault with several vintage beers he brought to the HRN studios!Catch the full episode here.

What does a bio-chemist who doesn’t want to work for a pharmaceutical company do these days? Why, buy a defunct brewery and make it his own, of course!

That’s the background of Tommy Keegan of Keegan Ales, one of the many dynamic guests Beer Sessions Radio™ host Jimmy Carbone welcomes to this week’s show (listen to the full episode here). Also in the studio are former frequent co-host and Blind Tiger owner Dave Brodrick, who made the trip from Vermont to talk about his new restaurant, Worthy Kitchen, in Woodstock, VT.

Tommy is accompanied by brewer Geoff Wenzel, but they aren’t the only Hudson Valley brew team in the house. John Rubbo, Nick Califano, and Sharif Taleb from Yonkers Brewing talk about their beginnings in winemaking and why they still need to defend their their contract brewing operation.

Learn about how Tommy took over the former Woodstock Brewing Company after a stint brewing for Blue Point Brewing (hint: he got by with a little help from his friends, or—in his words—”There aren’t too many industries where we all play nice together.”

Plus, Chase Healey of Prairie Artisan Ales calls in to talk about the Oklahoma craft beer scene, where “People (are) really thirsty for creative beer.” And much closer to home, Event Director Rosemary Jorda calls in to talk about next month’s Brooklyn Pour.

Catch up with friends both old and new on this week’s episode of Beer Sessions Radio™!

Call this our east meets west episode. Or, perhaps, David walks into a bar with Goliath (but since beer’s involved, no one had to pull out a slingshot). We’ve got breweries big and small, and old and new on this week’s episode of Beer Sessions Radio™ as host Jimmy Carbone welcomes Robbie Crafton, Kyle Hurst, and Scott Berger of Big Alice Brewing, which brewed 53 different beers this year from its 1/3-barrel system in Long Island City. Across the table is one of the world’s largest brewers, Pilsner Urquel, in the form of Václav Berka, Zee Bartos, and Hospoda bartender and Master Bartender Competition winner Frantisek Stastka. Also in the studio is Good Beer Seal bar owner Ben Sandler from The Queens Kickshaw.

Whether discovering the first Pilsner by happenstance (it happened on October 5th, 1842, in case you were wondering) or carefully planning out a micro-micro brewery (and how to keep supply up with demand), pretty much everyone on the show could agree with Václav when he says, “Behind each barrel of beer is the heart of a brewmaster.”

And is NYC at a saturation point for new breweries? Unlikely. Thad Fisco from Portland Kettle Works (a maker of handcrafted professional brewing equipment in Oregon) weighs in on the Portland beer scene. As it turns out, per capita Portland has 40 times the number of breweries that NYC has (mainly because, you know, NYC is 14 times more populous than Portland), but most of these are brewpubs pouring to their own customers.

So, can a small pub in NYC create a brewpub space in the back of their restaurant? It’s legal now, and Thad is happy to talk you through the process. Listen in to here more.

“Daddy only drinks Peekskill Eastern Standard IPA!” Thus jokes author Josh Bernstein, making fun of host Jimmy Carbone’s beer choices while talking about craft beer across the country.

On this week’s Beer Sessions Radio™, Jimmy and Josh are joined by one of the show’s interns (himself a beer writer) Justin Kennedy to discuss the breweries they visited this summer and what makes for good “beer tourism.” You’ll hear about Josh’s second book, the recently released The Complete Beer Course, which he wrote with the lofty mission of getting everyone to talk in common terms about craft beer to make it approachable to all beer drinkers.

Plus, Enlightenment Wines’ winemaker Raphael Lyon discusses the definition of wine (hint: it may or may not include grapes) and how artistry in alcohol needs to include a business model. Hear about his hopped black currant mead plus his maple wine!

How did you spend your summer vacation? Find out where Beer Sessions Radio™ was (and listen to this week’s episode) here.

It’s getting pretty FOAM-y up at Cooperstown as host Jimmy Carbone continues his round of interviews with the various beer personalities who gathered up at Ommegang earlier this month for the annual Belgium Comes to Cooperstown (if you missed the first half of this episode, you can listen here).

First up are Mark, Joey, Scott and Greg from FOAM, aka the Fitchbug Order of Ale Makers, from Massachusetts. They discuss their homebrew scene and admire the hops growing on the vine at Ommegang, which is currently working with Cornell University to grow 15 varieties of hops (which they hope to expand to 25 varieties by next year). They are joined by Pete Valez of Hop Union, the west coast company known for helping source hops that is now working with east coast hops farmers.

Sustainability and conservation are the message of the hour, as Jimmy discusses the watershed and hydrofracking concerns with Ommegang’s Phil Leinhart and Peekskill Brewing’s Jeff O’Neill. You’ll meet a whole new set of colorful characters here on this week’s episode of Beer Sessions Radio™!