Tales From the Cask Craft Beer Podcast (tales from the cask)

As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. And after 344 episodes, it’s time to draw the curtain on our little show. Our parent Mims Distributing is going out of business after 56 years, and so we are winding down Tales too.

We SO appreciate all of the wonderful guests who have shared their time, stories, beers and ciders (and even meads!) with us.

We are most grateful to all y’all who have listened, sent in news items, gave us great feedback, and been our friends since 2013 when we started this, huddled around the mic on a laptop.

We hope you keep finding amazing brews to enjoy and share with others. Beer brings people together!

All the best,

Chip & Jenn

Direct download: talesfromthecask344.mp3
Category:Tales From the Cask -- posted at: 6:00am EDT

We are still getting over the massive Holiday Extravaganza party! So to ring out the old and ring in the new, we are just relaxing at the bar sharing yuletide stories! And of course we have some old and new treats: Foothills Craft Happiness Dream IPA, Sierra Nevada 40th Hoppy Anniversary Ale, and the always lovely Rodenbach Caractere Rouge!

Even though it’s the end/beginning of the year, there is still news. We start with Forbes wrapping up 2019 with the top seven shockers from the year’s beer news. Next up Food & Wine finds that mixing beer and wine is about to get easier in California, while The LA Times reports that Insurgente Brewing tried to reopen its brewery in Tijuana, while the city promptly shut it down again! Then Vinepair (thanks Steve!) reveals a Viking tradition and one-time Norwegian law that required brewing beer for Christmas, and we wind up with WPVI (Philly!) on the art of aging aka a beer club for seniors that’s brewing up fun!

Our carryover #caskquiz asked “what beers did you get in your stocking this year?” This week we want to hear “what’s your beer prediction for 2020?”

We so love hearing from you! Please send in feedback and beer suggestions by calling us at (919) 502-0280, Tweeting us, following our Instagram or friending us on Untappd, posting on and liking our Facebook page, or emailing us! And please rate & review us in iTunes or Stitcher if you haven’t done so!

Direct download: talesfromthecask343.mp3
Category:Tales From the Cask -- posted at: 6:00am EDT

Time just keeps flying by doesn’t it? It’s our lucky 7th time with the kitties as we have everyone up to the bar to celebrate our Holiday Extravaganza! We have whales galore, and stories to share, and of course a song at the end!

To keep the holiday spirit alive, we have a couple of heartwarming stories to share. First Vice UK visits the insanely competitive world of craft beer resales (just in time for Santa’s stocking stuffers!). Then in a great Grinchy trick, Food & Wine finds that craft beer, wine and spirits producers are facing a major tax hike if Congress doesn't get its act together! At the last minute though, the Grinch found the strength of ten Grinches, plus two as reported by KIII (South Texas) in that the U.S. Congress is extending the tax cut on craft beer brewers!

This week we want to hear “what beers did you get in your stocking this year?”

We so love hearing from you! Please send in feedback and beer suggestions by calling us at (919) 502-0280, Tweeting us, following our Instagram or friending us on Untappd, posting on and liking our Facebook page, or emailing us! And please rate & review us in iTunes or Stitcher if you haven’t done so!

Direct download: talesfromthecask342.mp3
Category:Tales From the Cask -- posted at: 6:00am EDT

Cider is the beverage that really makes us feel like fall is here, and our friend Kirby Dean from  Blake’s Hard Cider reminds us why! Kirby shares all the news from the Michigan orchards and the cidery, and then he’s got three delectable treats for us: Classic Apple Lite Cider, Mixed Berry Lite Cider,  and Mojito Lime Lite Cider!

MegaMergerMania news returns via The Charleston Post & Courier (thanks Michael and Steve!) reporting that a new-to-South Carolina craft brewer (among others!) was just bought by the world’s biggest beer company! Next The Motley Fool shows that apart from that big acquisition, AB InBev is now looking to corner the hard seltzer market. Then it’s the Santa Rosa Press Democrat (thanks Mike!) profiling Bear Republic as it looks toward a bullish 2020, and Forbes demonstrates how small, independent distributors are changing the face of craft beer. We close out the week with Paste (thanks Alex!) sharing their ranking of the 50 best American breweries of the 2010s!

We are sad that so few people could answer last week’s #caskquiz which asked “what’s your workout reward brew? And what’s the workout?” This week we are wanting to know “what are your top 5 best breweries of the past decade?”

We so love hearing from you! Please send in feedback and beer suggestions by calling us at (919) 502-0280, Tweeting us, following our Instagram or friending us on Untappd, posting on and liking our Facebook page, or emailing us! And please rate & review us in iTunes or Stitcher if you haven’t done so!

Direct download: talesfromthecask337.mp3
Category:Tales From the Cask -- posted at: 6:00am EDT

The better for you category in craft beer is exploding right now, and we are so lucky to be working with Sufferfest Beer Company and our buddy Margaret Link, their Director of Marketing! Margaret relates the story of the brewery’s origin and tells us how she got into the beer biz (yes, it’s related to being an athlete!). And then she drops three taste treats for us: Repeat Kolsch, FKT Pale Ale, and Head Start Stout!

Climate change leads the news this week via Forbes visiting evacuated Sonoma County breweries who are reopening with electricity but without gas. Next up The New York Times reveals that the merchandising of college sports is leading to team-branded ales, and Forbes asks are you ready for craft malt to change craft beer? Then it’s The Associated Press making a last call as Utah is set to tap out on low-alcohol beer sales, and we wind up with People (thanks Frank!) profiling a North Dakota brewing company that has put pictures of adoptable dogs on its beer cans!

Last week’s #caskquiz question was our annual Series pick question: “Astros or Nats? Or I have no dog in this fight and want a great Series! Or I just want football!” This week’s #caskquiz asks “what’s your workout reward brew? And what’s that Sufferfest-worthy workout?

We so love hearing from you! Please send in feedback and beer suggestions by calling us at (919) 502-0280, Tweeting us, following our Instagram or friending us on Untappd, posting on and liking our Facebook page, or emailing us! And please rate & review us in iTunes or Stitcher if you haven’t done so!

Direct download: talesfromthecask336.mp3
Category:Tales From the Cask -- posted at: 6:00am EDT

We are really fortunate to have so many great people from NC breweries working with us, and Birdsong Brewing’s Ryan McLoughlin and Casey Browning with are two of the best! The guys bring the latest news from the C-Town brew scene (that’s Charlotte y’all!) and they have super beers to share! They are Friends in Low Places IPA, Movin’ on Up Hazy Pale Ale, Rich Girl Imperial Oatmeal Raisin Porter, and Wake Up Porter!

A couple of terrific interviews lead the news this week, beginning with The Arizona Republic talking with a Phoenix woman who started her own brewery because craft beer bars were a boy's club! Then The Takeout chats with Sierra Nevada founder Ken Grossman about craft beer’s past and its future relevance. Next up CNN visits cannabis firms who are hopping on the non-alcoholic beer wagon, followed by The Wilmington Star-News finding that barley is now only for beer, and that’s about it. We close the news with VinePair asking if we got milk stout and craft beer’s hazy respect for iconic intellectual property!

Last week’s carryover #caskquiz question was “what’s the first brewery you remember visiting?” This week in honor of the World Series, we pose the annual Series pick question: “Astros or Nats? Or I have no dog in this fight and want a great Series! Or I just want football!”

We so love hearing from you! Please send in feedback and beer suggestions by calling us at (919) 502-0280, Tweeting us, following our Instagram or friending us on Untappd, posting on and liking ourFacebook page, or emailing us! And please rate & review us in iTunes or Stitcher if you haven’t done so!

Direct download: talesfromthecask335.mp3
Category:Tales From the Cask -- posted at: 6:00am EDT

It’s been a record time the past few years with our buddies Justin Crouch and Zac Smith from Wicked Weed, and now there’s a Guinness World Record to boot! Yes, a 177 tap takeover happened at a huge bar in downtown Raleigh last weekend! The boys helped us get ready with a pretaste of the astounding Crazy? Genius! Barrel-Aged American Sour Ale with Raspberries and Mangoes!

The news begins a bit downbeat this week via The Denver Post which reports that Colorado’s oldest craft brewery is downsizing, ending distribution and laying off 21 employees. Next we head Outsideonline to learn that dirtbags were the original craft beer influencers, and then Forbes reveals that the Craft Beer Marketing Awards has announced their first Award Series. Then we hit the track with Runner’s World as they ask can drinking beer wreck your weight-loss progress from your workouts? We close up with the Iowa City Press-Citizen showing us that Carson King has handed $3 million to the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital!

This week we are carrying over last week’s question which is a spinoff of the “3 Questions”, namely “what’s the first brewery you remember visiting?”

We so love hearing from you! Please send in feedback and beer suggestions by calling us at (919) 502-0280, Tweeting us, following our Instagram or friending us on Untappd, posting on and liking ourFacebook page, or emailing us! And please rate & review us in iTunes or Stitcher if you haven’t done so!

Direct download: talesfromthecask334.mp3
Category:Tales From the Cask -- posted at: 6:00am EDT

Octoberfest beers have finally returned, and Sam Adams’ Jennifer Glanville joins us from Boston to celebrate!! There is no one better to talk about these beers than Jennifer, the Director of Brewing Operations for Boston Beer Company, the home of Sam Adams! We start off chatting about how she got into the beer business with a certain Mr. Jim Koch, and then we gab about the latest brews from Beantown, including the legendary Utopias! After that it’s time to taste! Jennifer naturally talks about (and tries) the granddaddy of them all, Sam Adams OctoberFest, and we also delight in Sam Adams Boston Lager, Sam Adams Kosmic Sour, and Sam Adams New England IPA!

Good environmental news leads the week via Fortune interviewing beermakers who are experimenting with sustainable six-pack designs! Then Bloomberg profiles some enterprising  Czech craft beer makers who are trying to crack into the UK despite the looming Brexit, followed by CNBC’s story of craft brewers facing rising prices as Trump escalates the China trade war. We wind up the week with The San Antonio Current announcing that Texas craft breweries can now sell beer to go!

Last week’s #caskquiz asked “when was the last time you played a beer game and what was it?” This week in the spirit of Utopias we want to know “what’s the wildest/most extreme beer is that you have tried?”

We so love hearing from you! Please send in feedback and beer suggestions by calling us at (919) 502-0280, Tweeting us, following our Instagram or friending us on Untappd, posting on and liking ourFacebook page, or emailing us! And please rate & review us in iTunes or Stitcher if you haven’t done so!

Direct download: talesfromthecask327.mp3
Category:Tales From the Cask -- posted at: 6:00am EDT

To help celebrate Duck Rabbit Brewery’s milestone 15th anniversary, we are delighted to welcome back their sales guru and our good friend Robert Owen! Robert fills us in on all the fun at the recent celebration party at the brewery, plus all the news on the latest releases. Then we are so happy to try the Say What? Wood Aged IPA !

Diversity in the craft beer world remains in the news, beginning with Food & Wine arguing that craft beer has a diversity problem according to a Brewers Association report. Next up Forbes brings us objects of desire or: The Pretentious Beer Glass Company’s high gravity set. Then in companion pieces, Time reports that a beer named after the nuclear testing site Bikini Atoll has been called out for insensitivity, while The Dallas Observer opines that the brewery in question is choosing defensiveness over respect. We wind down the week with The Motley Fool showing how craft beer keeps growing as consumers go local, and Vinepair revealing how Big Beer is eyeing Latinx drinkers with targeted ad campaigns and collabs!

Since we recorded early this week, we are carrying over last week’s #caskquiz asking for your take on the Uproxx/Instagram female craft beer influencer uproar!

We so love hearing from you! Please send in feedback and beer suggestions by calling us at (919) 502-0280, Tweeting us, following our Instagram or friending us on Untappd, posting on and liking ourFacebook page, or emailing us! And please rate & review us in iTunes or Stitcher if you haven’t done so!

Direct download: talesfromthecask325.mp3
Category:Tales From the Cask -- posted at: 6:00am EDT

Summertime demands refreshing brews, and our friends Summer Blaylock and Matt Holmes are in town with treats from Radeberger Brewery that fit the bill! They chat with us about the latest from Frankfurt, Germany, and then they share a couple of tasty light brews with us: Clausthaler Dry Hopped and Schofferhofer Pomegranate!

The news begins locally here in Mayberry via WRAL (thanks Scott!) with the announcement that an Orange County woman has been named the first North Carolinian to be certified as an expert in 'all things cider'! Next we have The Boston Globe opining that the craft beer industry has a diversity problem, followed by The USA Today (thanks Michael!) unveiling an Area 51 raid that has caused Bud Light to offer free beer for 'any alien that makes it out'! Then it’s Food & Wine demonstrating that craft beer drinkers are becoming less adventurous than they used to be, and we close with Boston.com’s list of 6 expert tips for reading a beer label!

For last week’s #caskquiz we wanted to know what beer event/festivals have you done this year or are planning to do? For this week, we ask “do you think you are becoming less adventurous in trying new beers? If so, tell us why!”

We so love hearing from you! Please send in feedback and beer suggestions by calling us at (919) 502-0280, Tweeting us, following our Instagram or friending us on Untappd, posting on and liking our Facebook page, or emailing us! And please rate & review us in iTunes or Stitcher if you haven’t done so!

Direct download: talesfromthecask322.mp3
Category:Tales From the Cask -- posted at: 6:00am EDT