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This week on Beer Sessions Radio™, host Jimmy Carbone is talking with leaders in the local artisanal spirits scene. Among the guests are Nicole Austin of Kings Co. Distillery, Bianca Miraglia of Uncouth Vermouth, Steven Baird of The Owl Farm, Spirits Writer Brad Japhe, Daric Schlesselman of Van Brunt Stillhouse, and frequent co-host Dave Brodrick of Blind Tiger. The gang discusses the use of hops in spirits, the art of beer distillates, and what has changed for local distilleries in the past few years!

Listen to the full episode here.

This week on Beer Sessions Radio™, host Jimmy Carbone welcomes back Jessica García-Agulló of Iberian Beer United to talk about how they went from a two-person team (Jessica and her husband Johnny Brilliant were doing everything from selecting the beers to importing them to distributing) to teaming with Remarkable Liquids (represented on the show by Matt Hartman). Jessica is looking forward to getting back to Spain in 2015 and meeting with new and existing brewers and catching up on the quickly evolving craft beer scene in Spain. She also brought back her Catalonian Caga Tió log to celebrate the season!

Matt talks about the genesis of Remarkable Liquids and how his business came about (with his business partner Spencer Noakes). Plus, Chris Balla, beverage director at Mile End Deli, talks about choosing beers for a busy retail establishment. The conversation touches on everything from distribution to food pairings. Learn about the beer scene in Spain, how self distributing works, what pairs best with Mile End cuisine and more!

Listen to this week’s episode here.

Is the vessel from which you drink your brew of any great importance? Well, on this week’s special bonus episode of Beer Sessions Radio™, host Jimmy Carbone tastes beer in specialty glasses courtesy of the Spiegelau Showroom in NYC. Spiegelau has teamed with Michigan’s Bell’s Brewing to create the perfect wheat/wit beer glass! Hear from Laura Bell and John Mallett of Bell’s Brewing, Matt Rutkowski of Spiegelau, and Beer Experts James Tai, Brendan Woodcock and Justin Phillips.

The full episode can be found here.

Take a trip to Rhode Island this week on Beer Sessions Radio™! Host Jimmy Carbone is joined by Rhode Island native Chris O’Leary, Zach Mack of ABC Beer Co., and Niko Krommydas, frequent guest and beer writer. The panel discusses how much the Rhode Island beer scene has grown in the past couple of years (now boasting 14 brewpubs/breweries) and its claim to being “the biggest little state in the union” (take that Delaware!).

Joining the panel on the phone are Rhode Island based home brewer Lamel Moore and Foolproof Brewing brewer Dammy Olsson. They all discuss the rising scene of craft beer in Rhode Island the general landscape of the small state, including its unique accent. Later in the show, Justin Kennedy briefly phones in to talk about Allagash’s coolship program (we hope to hear more about Justin’s brew day when he’s back in the studio). Plus surprise guests Sarah Annese and Giancarlo Annese stop by to promote the 2014 Holiday Book Market.

You can listen to this week’s full episode here.

It is with great sadness that we bid farewell to one of the founding Good Beer Seal bars: dba Brooklyn is closing today after five years of making Williamsburg more cool and less hip. Sadly, after the death of dba’s partners Ray Deter and Dennis Zentek, the Brooklyn craft beer haven became ripe for tenants looking to take over the space. As of now, there’s no word that dba Brooklyn will re-open in another location. We hope you’ll get a chance to drop by for one last pint today, and say goodbye to this establishment that truly embodied what it means to be a Good Beer Seal bar.

And on a happier note, dba in the East Village did find a new owner who has pledged to keep the bar “as is,” and we hope that we’ll be able to remember Ray and Dennis there.

We’re drinking NY for Thanksgiving, and we’re taking the show on the road as this week’s Beer Sessions Radio™ heads to Westchester County to record at Jon Bloostein’s latest venture, Portchester Hall. Joining the Heartland Brewery owner and host Jimmy Carbone are Joe Ciccidomini of Craftsman Ale House, Tim Reinke of Birdsall House, and Chris and Joe DeCicco of DeCicco Family Markets!

This week’s episode is all about beer outside of NYC – learn about the bar scene, the breweries, the trends and our northern neighbor’s community as the group talks about everything from holiday beer sales to serving up beer at family-friendly establishments. Take a ride on MetroNorth, and discover what we already know: Westchester is up and coming as a craft beer destination!

Listen to the full episode here.

This week on Beer Sessions Radio™, we’re playing degrees of separation, bringing the disparate worlds of Massachusetts and Alaska together by way of Staten Island and Roberta’s in Brooklyn (where we record). And for good measure, we’re bringing along a wine lover to our beer broadcast!

Host Jimmy Carbone is welcoming Mark Zappasodi – former NYC homebrewer – of The Malt Shed, a Massachusetts farm where he’s growing hops (cascade, centennial, nugget). Mark used to grow hops (on a much smaller scale) when he lived on Staten Island. There, he was close friends with Jason Bullen, Master Brewer of 49th State Brewing Company out on the final frontier: Alaska’s Denali Park (owing to weather, the brewpub is only open eight months of the year).

Continuing on our degrees of separation, we’ve got Amy Zavatto, who writes about wine and spirits for Imbibe Magazine, and who was first introduced to craft beer by Matt. Amy is chatting along with Cory Bonfiglio of Proletariat and Beer Street about the differences between wine and beer drinkers. Plus, Josh Richholt of The Well Brooklyn. chimes in on the importance of finding the vocabulary to talk about beer beyond “beer geeks” (Josh: “Wine people have the vocabulary that beer people don’t have”).

Josh also talks about the challenges involved in trying to open a large beer hall in the old Hiddleman Brewery built in 1875 (it took his team almost three years to bring the building up to code). The Meserole Street beer bar opened last week.

And of course, the group is drinking some great beer, including barley wine (the Alaska Barley Wine festival is in January) and wet hopped beers using hops from Matt’s farm. Catch the full episode here.

This week on Beer Sessions Radio™, host Jimmy Carbone welcomes a diverse group of brewers from near (Dave Lopez—owner—and Chris Sheehan—brewmaster—of Gun Hill Brewing Co. in the Bronx) and far (Richard Burhouse of Magic Rock and Colin Strong of Buxton Brewery both from the U.K.). Adding color (pun intended, and read on) is Evil Twin Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø and B.R. Rolya of Shelton Brothers Imports. Among other topics, the brewers are discussion the Rainbow Project, a collaboration event that takes place each year involving British and European brewers who take their inspiration from the colors of the rainbow (ROY G BIV, for those who remember the mnemonic).

B.R. describes the very technical process of how the brewers are matched with each other and their color: Ryan Witter-Merithew of Siren Craft Brew in the U.K. literally draws names from hats and then picks a color at random. The only bar in the U.S. that will have all seven beers on at the same time is Good Beer Seal bar Tørst. The match-ups are as follows:

Magic Rock + Evil Twin (Denmark) – Red
Beavertown + Naparbier (Spain) – Orange
Buxton + Omnipollo (Sweden) – Yellow
Hawkshead + Lervig (Norway) – Green
Partizan + Mikeller (Denmark) – Blue
Wild Beer Co + Toccalmatto (Italy) – Indigo
Siren + De Molen (The Netherlands) – Violet

As B.R. notes, some of the beers are directly related to color (Richard talks about how he and Jeppe chose to make a Flanders Red Ale, for example), whereas others are more obscure. The results, however the brewers came to their beers, are delicious!

Plus Dave and Chris are discussing their recent gold medal victory at the Great American Beer Festival (Chris is a repeat winner, having previous won both gold and bronze medals with Chelsea Brewing), and how much harder it is to get beers into the world’s largest beer competition.

The brewers discuss the challenges of barrel aging beers and how the U.K. market is changing in terms of a new wave of craft breweries coming online. So, pour yourself a pint, and listen in to this week’s episode here.

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.