• Beer headlines
• Homebrewing with your kids
• Summer vacation post-mortem
• “This or That”

Download it here: Hop Talk Podcast ep. 10

…or subscribe with iTunes

Show notes:

Beer Headlines

IPA is now the #1 craft beer style in the U.S.

It has beat out pale ale for the first time, based on sales in supermarkets and big-box stores. More interesting, perhaps, is the difference in the other items in the shopping basket between craft beer purchasers and those that purchase industrial light lager.

eBay’s black market for beer

Why it’s happening and what brewers are trying to do about it.

Washington hops harvest under way in Yakima Valley

Washington leads the nation in hops production, but the harvest is down about 5 percent this year to about 23,000 acres due to oversupply.

New Jersey Beer Co. flooded by Hurricane Irene

But the beer is okay! It was brewed the same day as the earthquake, too. No sign of locusts.

Homebrewing with your kids

Lifehacker pointed us to an article by a homebrewer who talks about brewing with his kids as a way to demystify alcohol and grow closer as a family. We offer our opinions. Geek uber-celebrity Wil Wheaton wrote recently (at length) about his great experience homebrewing for the first time with his son, as if to reinforce the point.

Joffre the Giant: Alcohol and Kids part 1 – a ramble

What we drank:

• Ron: Sierra Nevada – Ghidora IPA, Best of Beer Camp, #29
• Max: Young’s Double Chocolate Stout (review) (Beer-a-Day #273)
• Don: Brooklyn Brewery Oktoberfest (a long-time favorite)
• Al: Flying Dog Dogtoberfest (Beer-a-Day #191)

Spot a discrepancy? Something missing? Let us know. contact@hop-talk.com Follow us on Twitter: @hoptalk and @hoptalkron

Music credits:

Background music at bar during intro:
Artist: Gnappy
Song: Best Not FUnck Around

Main intro:
Artist: A Thousand Knives of Fire
Song: She’s Yours

Outro Music:
Artist: Aphasia
Song: Metal Tank

Transition Music:
Artist: Devil In A Woodpile
Song: Beer Ticket Rag

Hop Talk Podcast #10 – We’re back! is from Hop Talk - Beer. Life. Blog.

• Wine ties beer for most popular booze
• Anheuser-Busch fakes local beer
• Craft brewers sell in fewer places to sell more beer
• and, Hop Talk’s Anniversary!

Download it here: Hop Talk Podcast ep. 9

…or subscribe with iTunes

Show notes:

Beer News

In a Gallup poll, beer and wine tied as the most popular alcoholic beverage among Americans. We wonder why women so overwhelmingly declare wine as their preference.

• Business Insider: Wine Matches Beer In U.S. Drinkers’ Preferences This Year

Anheuser-Busch is seeking trademarks of three-digit numbers that match up to iconic area codes, like ”303″ (Denver), “713″ (Houston), and “702″ (Las Vegas). Is this related to the newly-acquired Goose Island 312 Urban Wheat Ale? What is A-B up to?

• Anheuser-Busch wants to trademark area codes in the U.S.
• Brookston Beer Bulletin: Area Code Beer

Some craft brewers are pulling back from expanding and are in fact contracting in order to meet local demand. Good idea?

• Craft brewers look local for untapped demand

Five Years of Hop Talk!

Can you believe we’ve been blogging for five years? Neither can we. We talk a bit about our origins.

Bottle vs. Cans

We’re looking for more craft beer that is available both bottled and canned. If you know of any drop us a line.

What we drank:

• Ron: Bar Harbor Cadillac Mountain Stout
• Max: Saranac Irish Red Ale (Beer-A-Day #88)
• Don: Stone IPA (Beer-A-Day #326)
• Al: Terrapin Beer Company Hopsecutioner

Spot a discrepancy? Something missing? Let us know. contact@hop-talk.com

Follow us on Twitter: @hoptalk and @hoptalkron

Music credits:

Background music at bar during intro:
Artist: Gnappy
Song: Best Not FUnck Around

Main intro:
Artist: A Thousand Knives of Fire
Song: She’s Yours

Outro Music:
Artist: Aphasia
Song: Metal Tank

Transition Music:
Artist: Devil In A Woodpile
Song: Beer Ticket Rag

Hop Talk Podcast #9 – Shut up and drink your damn beer! is from Hop Talk - Beer. Life. Blog.

• MillerCoors loses their license in Minnesota due to government shutdown
• Flying Dog fights for the First Amendment in Michigan
• Sunoco tests selling craft beer in growlers at convenience stores
• and, our contest winner!

Download it here: Hop Talk Podcast ep. 8

…or subscribe with iTunes

Show notes:

Beer News

MillerCoors got caught up in the government shutdown in Minnesota and temporarily lost their license to sell beer there. That’s 40% of the market suddenly gone. But, crisis averted?

• Star Tribune: MillerCoors kicked off state shelves
• Minnesota Survives A Cold Near-Beer Experience

“All Beers Considered“, from Aleheads, pointed us toward this issue, where Flying Dog’s best-selling beer was originally blocked for sale in Michigan, but a court reversed the block. However, Flying Dog is continuing to fight for the First Amendment.

• Victory for Raging Bitch, but our First Amendment Fight with Michigan Rages On

Sunoco is conducting a test at 30 of their APlus stores in and around Buffalo, New York. It’s called the Craft Beer Exchange.

• Buffalo News: Fill it up twice at gas station
• Convenience Store News: Craft Beer Pilot Program Flows at 12 Sunoco C-stores

Our Contest Winner!

Congratulations Amanda Brezina!

What we drank:

• Ron: Widmer Rotator X-114 India Pale Ale
• Max: Peak Organic IPA
• Don: Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA (Beer-A-Day #183)
• Al: Brooklyn Summer Ale (Beer-A-Day #133)

Spot a discrepancy? Something missing? Let us know. contact@hop-talk.com

Follow us on Twitter: @hoptalk and @hoptalkron

Music credits:

Background music at bar during intro:
Artist: Gnappy
Song: Best Not FUnck Around

Main intro:
Artist: A Thousand Knives of Fire
Song: She’s Yours

Outro Music:
Artist: Aphasia
Song: Metal Tank

Transition Music:
Artist: Devil In A Woodpile
Song: Beer Ticket Rag

Hop Talk Podcast #8 – It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity. No, it’s the heat. is from Hop Talk - Beer. Life. Blog.

• Homebrewers choose the best beers in America
• Oregonians love Oregon beer
• The Beer Bloggers Conference in Portland, Oregon, August 19-21, 2011
• Pintley, a social beer recommendation engine
• and, our contest!

Download it here: Hop Talk Podcast ep. 7

…or subscribe with iTunes

Show notes:

Beer News

Zymurgy, the magazine of the American Homebrewers Association, polled their subscribers, crunched the numbers and came up with a list of the fifty best beers in the U.S.

• 2011 Zymurgy Best Beers in America

Beervana, Jeff Alworth’s blog, pointed us toward some information about Oregon beer. Not only are there a lot of breweries there, but they make a lot of beer, and a lot of it stays in-state. Lots and lots of numbers.

• Craft Beer Consumption Hits 15% in Oregon

Speaking of Oregon, the Beer Bloggers Conference is coming around again in August. Golly, but we wish we could go. The agenda isn’t yet set, but some of the panels they’ve announced look really interesting.

Beer 2.0

We check out a new (to us) beer recommendation engine: Pintley. It’s a well-done site and after rating a few beers it offers up some good recommendations. There are also iPhone and Android apps, as well as a mobile-optimized website. You can friend us, too. HopTalkRon and HopTalkAl. (Perhaps soon HopTalkMatt as well.) Although we’re not quite sure what to make of the TechCrunch review.

Contest

Don’t forget we’re running a contest to win a free Headcase combination iPhone case and bottle opener.

What we drank:

• Ron: Dundee Summer Wheat in a can
• Matt: Firestone Walker Double Barrel Ale
• Max: Heavy Seas Peg Leg Imperial Stout (Beer-a-Day #15)
• Al: Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA

Spot a discrepancy? Something missing? Let us know. contact@hop-talk.com

Follow us on Twitter: @hoptalk and @hoptalkron

Music credits:

Background music at bar during intro:
Artist: Gnappy
Song: Best Not FUnck Around

Main intro:
Artist: A Thousand Knives of Fire
Song: She’s Yours

Outro Music:
Artist: Aphasia
Song: Metal Tank

Transition Music:
Artist: Devil In A Woodpile
Song: Beer Ticket Rag

Hop Talk Podcast #7 – That’s not a wombat? is from Hop Talk - Beer. Life. Blog.

Download it here: Hop Talk Podcast ep. 6

…or subscribe with iTunes

Show notes:

Beer News

MolsonCoors has launched Six Pints Specialty Beer Co to target the “craft and specialty beer market”. Haven’t we seen this before?

• Financial Post
• Beervana
• Boozin’ Blog

In spite of the sluggish economy, alcohol sales are doing well.

• Brookston Beer Bulletin

We also ran across an opinion piece from Ashley Routson, aka “The Beer Wench”, about Craft Beer and the “Restaurant Hypocrisy”.

Beer Rating – does it make sense?

We discuss the origins of the Unofficial Hop Talk Beer Rating System. Does rating beer make sense? Isn’t beer too personal to try to put an objective measure on it?

Beer 2.0

Looking for something to do this weekend, or maybe next? You owe it to yourself to check out BeerFestivals.org. It has the best and biggest listing of beer festivals I’ve ever seen.

What we drank:

• Al: Spaten Optimator (review)
• Ron: Adirondack Dirty Blonde
• Max: Harpoon IPA

Spot a discrepancy? Something missing? Let us know. contact@hop-talk.com

Follow us on Twitter: @hoptalk and @hoptalkron

Music credits:

Background music at bar during intro:
Artist: Gnappy
Song: Best Not FUnck Around

Main intro:
Artist: A Thousand Knives of Fire
Song: She’s Yours

Outro Music:
Artist: Aphasia
Song: Metal Tank

Transition Music:
Artist: Devil In A Woodpile
Song: Beer Ticket Rag

Hop Talk Podcast #6 – Dirty Blondes and Missing Dons is from Hop Talk - Beer. Life. Blog.

Download it here: Hop Talk Podcast ep. 5

…or subscribe with iTunes

Show notes:

Brad Smith leads a small homebrewing media empire, with software, a blog, a wiki, a social news site, a podcast, and a book. He talks to us about homebrewing, the new version of BeerSmith, and snowballing projects.

• BeerSmith
• BeerSmith Blog
• BeerSmith Podcast
• Brewwiki.com (a wiki for homebrewing information)
• BrewPoll.com (like Digg, but for beer and brewing news)
• Home Brewing with BeerSmith (Brad’s book on homebrewing, featuring the best from the BeerSmith blog)
• Brad also invented BeerXML, an implementation of XML to describe beer recipes

What we drank:

• Ron: Full Sail IPA
• Matt: Rogue Mocha Porter
• Max: Otter Creek Alpine Black IPA
• Don: Lagunitas Wilco Tango Foxtrot
• Al: Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA
• Brad: Homebrewed Belgian Wit

Spot a discrepancy? Something missing? Let us know. contact@hop-talk.com

Follow us on Twitter: @hoptalk and @hoptalkron

Music credits:

Background music at bar during intro:
Artist: Gnappy
Song: Best Not FUnck Around

Main intro:
Artist: A Thousand Knives of Fire
Song: She’s Yours

Outro Music:
Artist: Aphasia
Song: Metal Tank

Transition Music:
Artist: Devil In A Woodpile
Song: Beer Ticket Rag

Hop Talk Podcast #5 – The Beer Smith Empire! is from Hop Talk - Beer. Life. Blog.

• American Craft Beer Week
• Personal Brewing Systems
• August Busch IV
• and Viagra Beer

Download it here: Hop Talk Podcast ep. 4

…or subscribe with iTunes

Show notes:

American Craft Beer Week is May 16-22, 2011. There are lots of events going on and the organizers expect events in all 50 states. More details at CraftBeer.com.

The WilliamsWarn Personal Brewery. It looks impressive; there’s a lot of stainless steel. But is it worth all that money?

August Busch IV resigns from the Anheuser-Busch InBev Board of Directors. The end of an era.

Brew Dog is at it again: Royal Virility Performance (a beer with herbal Viagra and aphrodisiacs in celebration of the Royal Wedding)

What we drank:

• Ron: Custom Brewcrafters Caged Alpha Monkey IPA
• Max: Brooklyn Brewery Black Chocolate Stout
• Don: Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy
• Al: Magic Hat Wacko Summer Seasonal

Spot a discrepancy? Something missing? Let us know. contact@hop-talk.com

Follow us on Twitter: @hoptalk and @hoptalkron

Music credits:

Background music at bar during intro:
Artist: Gnappy
Song: Best Not FUnck Around

Main intro:
Artist: A Thousand Knives of Fire
Song: She’s Yours

Outro Music:
Artist: Aphasia
Song: Metal Tank

Transition Music:
Artist: Devil In A Woodpile
Song: Beer Ticket Rag

Hop Talk Podcast #4 – What is herbal Viagra? is from Hop Talk - Beer. Life. Blog.

Download it here: Hop Talk Podcast ep. 3

…or subscribe with iTunes

Show notes:

You can find Matt’s work at the Hop Talk HomeBrood page as well as Bay Area Craft Beer.

What we drank:

• Ron: Anchor Porter
• Max: Otter Creek Stovepipe Porter
• Don: Magic Hat Blind Faith IPA
• Al: Lagunitas IPA
• Special guest, Matt Amaral: Grand Teton Pursuit of Hoppiness

Spot a discrepancy? Something missing? Let us know. contact@hop-talk.com

Follow us on Twitter: @hoptalk and @hoptalkron

Music credits:

Background music at bar during intro:
Artist: Gnappy
Song: Best Not FUnck Around

Main intro:
Artist: A Thousand Knives of Fire
Song: She’s Yours

Outro Music:
Artist: Aphasia
Song: Metal Tank

Transition Music:
Artist: Devil In A Woodpile
Song: Beer Ticket Rag

Hop Talk Podcast #3 – What’s so funny about beer? is from Hop Talk - Beer. Life. Blog.

Yeah. Sorry. Well, not really. We had a great time. We might be getting the hang of this.

Download it here: Hop Talk Podcast ep. 2

…or subscribe with iTunes

Show notes:

Frederick Beer Week:

May 10-14, 2011 in and around Frederick, Maryland

For a complete list of events, visit frederickbeer.com (@fredbeerwk on Twitter, Frederick Beer Week on Facebook)

“Battle of the Bubbles”, the official homebrewing competition of Frederick Beer Week. For more information: bob.brewcompetition.com (Hurry! Entries must be submitted by April 30)

We talked to Kevin Smith, beer journalist and driving force behind Frederick Beer Week

Kevin covers Maryland for Mid-Atlantic Brewing News as well as a craft beer column for the Frederick based want2dish.com.

Companies/products mentioned in the podcast:

Flying Dog Brewing
Brewer’s Alley
Barley and Hops
Volt and Bryan Voltaggio
DuClaw
Heavy Seas
Stillpoint Farm
Distillery Lane Ciderworks
Orchid Cellar

What we drank:

Ron: Lagunitas Brown Shugga
Max: McSorley’s Irish Black Lager
Don: Sierra Nevada Torpedo
Al: Flying Dog Raging Bitch
Special guest, Kevin Smith: Flying Dog Snake Dog IPA

Spot a discrepancy? Something missing? Let us know. contact@hop-talk.com

Follow us on Twitter: @hoptalk and @hoptalkron

Hop Talk Podcast #2 – The other Kevin Smith is from Hop Talk - Beer. Life. Blog.

So, after one too many get-togethers where the four of us sit around and talk about beer and everything else, have a great time, and somebody says “we should be recording this”…well, this time we did it.

It’s rough. Very rough. Very, very rough. But that’s mostly by design. It is really us just talking, although we did pick a few recent beer news items to kick around just so it wasn’t a total ramble.

We had a lot of fun. So much so, we’re going to do it again. (There. You’ve been warned.)

I hope you enjoy it. If you do, or even if you didn’t, drop us a line.

Download it here: Hop Talk Podcast ep. 1 (fixed link to file)

…or subscribe with iTunes

News:

Anheuser-Busch InBev acquires Chicago-based Goose Island.

• The Pint Glass: Anheuser-Busch buys Goose Island
• Beer News: Chicago Small Brewer, Craft Brewers Alliance to Sell Stakes in Goose Island; Expansion of Chicago Brewery Planned
• Beer Universe: Anheuser Busch to Acquire Goose Island
• Beer Scribe: The Graying Of The Craft Beer Industry…
• Beeronomics: More on Goose Island
• A Good Beer Blog: What If InBev Keeps Everything But Lowers The Price?

Anthony Bourdain alleges that the “Brew Masters” series on the Discovery channel was cancelled due to pressure from big brewers. Discovery’s position is that the show didn’t find an audience, so was cancelled.

• Beer News: Report: Brew Masters not renewed, Bourdain says “Big beer threatened to pull ads”
• Carolyn Smagalski: Did Big Beer Get Brew Masters Canned?
• Beer Scribe: A Brew Masters Clarification and the Crazy Beer Week That Was…

Brewers Association: Craft Beer sales were up by 11% in 2010 (by volume). Up by 12% by dollars.

• Brewers Association Reports 11 Percent Volume Growth for U.S. Craft Brewers in 2010

Listener mail:

Cathy from Scotland wants to know where to find Old Speckled Hen on draught in Edinburgh. Do you know? Drop us a line: http://hop-talk.com/contact/

What we drank:

• Ron: India Pale Ale from Henry Weinhard’s
• Max: Midas Touch from Dogfish Head
• Don: Storm King Imperial Stout from Victory Brewing Company
• Al: Old Man Winter Ale from Southern Tier Brewing Company

(The Unofficial Hop Talk Beer Rating System)

Hop Talk Podcast #1 – I laughed, I cried… is from Hop Talk - Beer. Life. Blog.