That’s right, we are using the Delorean this week to visit with our friend Dave Burrows and we are having a whale of a good time! How so? By Dave regaling us with tales of the sales side of the beer business, and then by the treasure trove of rarities he shares with us from his extensive tour of the midwest including Shorts Soft Parade, Surly Xtra Citra Pale Ale, Three Floyds Apocalypse Cow, and Alaskan 30th Anniversary Perseverance!

Summer sales are hot, and so is MegaMergerMania! Two stories in that vein lead the news, with The Denver Post reporting that New Belgium is leading an effort to rescue a San Francisco beer maker Magnolia Brewing, and The Miami Herald revealing that beer giant Constellation is buying the Funky Buddha Brewery. Next up The Full Pint asks is Colorado’s craft beer scene oversaturated? Then we close with Allpsych on the psychology of beer tasting and Imbibe Magazine exploring mixed-culture fermentation.

We have your responses to last week’s #caskquiz which asked “what’s the most creative thing you have thought of or done while drinking a pint?” and we are extending it another week due to our time travels!

It’s also time for our 2nd Tales Homebrew Contest! We want to try your best homebrew and there are two categories: true to style and the wildcard! With our recent travels, we are extending the deadline one week! It’s now August 28, 2017! For more details click here!

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!

You know how we love us some tech, so we are fortunate to have at the bar our friend Brent Nolan, a co-founder of the cool app Stealz! Brent tells about how to use the app to check in with all kinds of businesses and get cool swag, and he tries some great beers with us: Schofferhofer GF, Moosehead Radler, Austin Eastciders Blood Orange, and Coronado Beach Break IPA!

Fun news is on tap this week, starting with more MegaMergerMania but in reverse! It’s  via The New York Times reporting that a small Transylvania brewer stood up to a beer giant and survived! Next we have CBC on London, Ontario’s exploding craft beer scene, followed by Mashable telling us to forget Trump's wall because a brewery wants a beer bar on the U.S.-Mexico border. We close with two from the UK: The Coventry Telegraph showing us a craft beer made in Warwickshire has been named best in the UK, and The Sun discovering that drinking beer makes us smart and creative.

We have your responses to last week’s #caskquiz which asked “do you have a favorite iconic beer logo image and if so which one?” and this week we are asking you to share a eureka moment you have had while hoisting a pint!

It’s also time for our 2nd Tales Homebrew Contest! We want to try your best homebrew and there are two categories: true to style and the wildcard! The deadline for entries is Total Solar Eclipse Day in the U.S. which is August 21, 2017! For more details click here!

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!

This week the Rockies return to the bar with our friend Heath Perkins from Colorado’s Left Hand Brewing! Heath shares the latest from Longmont and has some awesome treats for us: Travelin’ Light Kolsch, Saison au Miel, Saison Aux Baies Amères, and the astonishing 2013 Widdershins Barleywine!

We have numbers in the news this week via Fortune showing that the craft beer boom has gone flat. In spite of this, new breweries continue to open and CNN Money has advice on how to start a successful craft beer brewery. Next up we head overseas where American Craft Beer infiltrates Thailand’s craft beer rebellion, then Travel Market Report brings us beer tourism on tap for travel agents, and we close with out of this world Beer Alien joining punk legends NOFX in invading Stone Brewing (the brewery is still standing)!

We have your responses to last week’s #caskquiz which asked “are you using special glassware for your beer and if so what kind?” and this week we are asking “do you have a favorite iconic beer logo image and if so which one?”

It’s also time for our 2nd Tales Homebrew Contest! We want to try your best homebrew and there are two categories: true to style and the wildcard! The deadline for entries is Total Solar Eclipse Day in the U.S. which is August 21, 2017! For more details click here!

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!

At last Chip returns the DeLorean and we are all together in the bar sharing some new faves from Roak, Coronado, and Olde Hickory! Our taste treats include Roak Creative Tension IPA, Coronado 21st Anniversary IPA, and Olde Hickory Flanders Red!

In the news this week, the beloved saga of MegaMergerManiaTM continues in two stories! First is in The Detroit Free Press revealing that Short's Brewing is selling a 20% stake to Lagunitas, and the second story is via Porch Drinking reporting that Brooklyn Brewery is partnering with 21st Amendment and Funkwerks. Next up is CNBC telling us that Goldman is downgrading beer stocks because millennials like wine better, followed by The Boston Globe showing us beer with a lobster background note, and we close with Gear Patrol asking why beer bars are switching to stemware?

We have your responses to last week’s #caskquiz which asked “would you drink a caffeinated beer and if so what style” and this week we ask “are you using special glassware for your beer and if so what kind?”

It’s also time for our 2nd Tales Homebrew Contest! We want to try your best homebrew and there are two categories: true to style and the wildcard! The deadline for entries is Total Solar Eclipse Day in the U.S., which is August 21, 2017! For more details click here!

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!

We are very excited this week and gracious to chat with the oft-travelling Nick Nunns and Kat Wilkinson who are visiting from young but pioneering Denver mixed culture brewery, TRVE.  We learn how they got started and about their unique process for the acidic side of brewing.  They bring us some hard to find and classic brews to try and we sample Ecate, Ostara, Red Chaos and Revengeance

Tony and Jenn handle the news this week with fun beer stories from around the globe!  We talk about the perfect beer to pair with tacos in Texas, an ambitios project to beautify industrial areas with  hops in Pittsburgh. We let you in on the perfect spot to don a kimono and drink unlimited beer in Japan.  In legal news we report on the unfortunate beer naming dispute between Elvis Presley’s estate and Scottish Brewer Brewdog. 

We have your responses to last week’s #caskquiz which asked “Will you buy beer based on the BA seal?”  and this week we want to know if you would still drink a caffeinated beer if they were legal? And what style of beer should it be?

It is also time for our second Tales Homebrew Contest!  We would love to try your best homebrew and there are great prizes, the deadline for entries is August 21st.  Details can be found here. Good Luck and Good Brewing!

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!

The western Piedmont takes over the bar this week with our good friends Shawn “Dink” Densmore, Tony Futrell and Scott Mizerak from Winston-Salem’s Foothills Brewing! The lads relay the latest from the brewery and taste us on two incredible IPAs, Move and Clean!

Before the beers we have more news from overseas! First up is The Guardian (UK) revealing why the pub isn’t the only place drinkers should buy craft beers. Next we have Stuff (NZ)’s opinion that there's too much faulted craft beer on the market. Then we share VinePair asking 14 brewers what beer trend needs to die, and we close with Unilad’s interview with an airplane passenger who checked in one can of beer!

We have your responses to last week’s #caskquiz which asked “have you tried any of the Beer Camp Across the World Beers yet?  What are your favorites?” and this week we want to know if you think there should be a standard way to tell how fresh your beer is and if so what’s your idea?

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!

We take the show on the road and make the best use of a brief intermission from the Beer Tent in Downtown Raleigh. With the promise of an air condition and shaded studio we were able to lure several past guests from the dreaded early episodes. Roger MacKay, Josh McCullough and new guest and current team member Brytni Perkins graciously agreed to sample some new brews and help out with the news in Chip’s absence.

NPR Leads off this week with a popular story about America’s affinity for beer and the history behind it, Austin 360 spikes our curiosity with a new ramen flavored beer. The Brewer’s Association made CNN headlines this week with a new indoctrination aimed at helping consumers sort out choices on the shelf. It wouldn’t be summer without a beer list and Mercury News is happy to oblige with their “Red, White and Blue” beer picks for the holiday. The Denver post sheds some light how to get free beer for life with just one catch in this week’s last news item.

We have plenty of new beers to try on the show this week from a fresh shipment from AleSmith!  The team samples the all new Orange X, revisits the Double IPA, and goes all in with a Triple IPA Collaboration with Pizza Port Logical Choice!  We also try a Rum Barrel aged version of Oskar Blues Ten Fidy that was a recent gift to the Tales Cellar.

We have your responses to last week’s #caskquiz which asked “We want to know if you think there should be a standard way to tell how fresh your beer is and if so what’s your idea?” and this week We couldn’t resist asking if you will be making purchases exclusively based on the BA Seal of authenticity.

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!

We get a visit from Indiana this week with Dusty Howe and Fred Hillenbrand from Upland Brewing! Dusty and Fred tell us the history of the brewery, which is celebrating 20 years in 2017, tease the latest releases, and share some incredible sour ales with us: Sour Reserve,  Cherry, and Cauldron!

In the news we start with a sorta MegaMergerMania item via The Motley Fool reporting that  AB InBev has a clever new marketing strategy in the home-brew market. Next up we head to Tony’s old stomping grounds through The Utica Observer-Dispatch which is asking if a proposed beer museum is golden or flat? We then have The Bulletin (Central Oregon!) positing why it’s so hard to figure out how old that 6-pack of beer is and we go retro with MSN revealing 5 things you didn’t know about Zima, everyone’s favorite ‘90s mistake that's back for 2017!

We have your responses to last week’s #caskquiz which asked “have you tried any of the Beer Camp Across the World Beers yet?  What are your favorites?” and this week we want to know if you think there should be a standard way to tell how fresh your beer is and if so what’s your idea?

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!

What a week with Sierra Nevada and Beer Camp on Tour right here in Raleigh! And with Mr. Brian Grossman to boot! We get a chance to chat with Brian about this year’s version of Beer Camp and the terrific response from brewers and beer lovers. Later we hop in the DeLorean and sample all 12 BCAW beers! In moderation, of course!

We do have fun summer news as well, starting with VinePair answering 7 questions about wheat beer you’re too embarrassed to ask. Next up is Forbes revealing that something's brewing in the craft beer industry -- and it's driving industrial absorption. Finally we have The Sacramento Bee reporting that Pliny the Elder has been knocked from top of American beer heap in new rankings and GQ showing us how to drink beer all summer long without getting a beer gut (according to Science!)

We share responses to last week’s #caskquiz which asked “have you tried any of the Beer Camp Across the World Beers yet?  What are your favorites?” and we are carrying that one over this week!

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!

Tony and Jenn have been brewing up a storm lately but they take a quick break to talk to Carl Hoverstad about his background as a homebrewer and his award winning ESB.  He gives us the scoop on selecting ingredients and the importance of taking notes on past recipes.  We sample the ESB we brewed with him and later in the show Jenn and Tony get to try Anchor’s Los Gigantes!

Chip is out on assignment this week but Tony manages to fill in at the news desk.   He shares some great findings on the economic impacts of  beer on small towns and we talk about Sierra’s long time brewmaster retiring.  We also learn about the severity of fines for one wholesaler who did not play by the ABC rules and how important it is for beer bars to have a curated draft program.  Finally in some fun news, we hear about a Czech beer train concept coming to Chicago and where the Most Interesting Man has found a new job!

We get responses to last week’s #caskquiz which asked “what’s your take on this ratebeer.com  controversy?” This week’s #caskquiz asks “Have you tried any of the Beer Camp Across the World Beers Yet?  What are your favorites? ”

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!