We score bigtime with the ultimate beer-food pairings this week - we have cheeses from France along with our craftbeers! Joining us are Charles Duke, the Director of the French Dairy Board of the Americas and his friends from some terrific French cheese producers: Dan Akhmetshin from Lactalis, Mathieu Quirin from Isigny Ste Mere, and Charlotte Rousseau from Savencia Fromage and Dairy! We talk about the great cheeses from France that are available in the US and get to pair many of them with outstanding craftbeers!

Coronado Snowy Plover with Le Chatelain Brie

Sierra Nevada Estate President with Sea Salt Butter

AleSmith Private Stock with Madrigal

Bear Republic Double Aught with Mimolette

Trinity One Ear with Brie d’Isigny

La Bonte Pear with Isigny Ste-Mère Butter

Blake’s Flannel Mouth with Île-de-France Brie

Olde Ruby Lager with Saint André Triple Crème

Rodenbach Grand Cru with Saint Agur Bleu

With the election so close, we kind of wish we were somewhere else til the ads stop, like say India, so we go all-IPA this week! We have awesome beers including Lawson’s Finest Liquids Super Session #2 IPA, Wicked Weed Metatropics Brett IPA, and two from Trinity: Passion Swing American Fruited IPA and Passion Red Swingline American Fruited IPA! Plus, Tony and Jenn take the Delorean to Winston-Salem, NC to chat with folks at the NC Craft Brewers’ Conference!

What a great time this week - it’s our first-ever costume party with Wil Cooper from Coronado Brewing! We are dressed up as our favorite hops, and Wil joins the fun - you will have to listen or check out our homepage or Facebook to find out which ones we are! Wil also brings along some special treats only available in San Diego at the Coronado brewpub: High Fideli-Tea Belgian Wit, Waste the Days IPA, Belgian Dark Strong, Rush of Hops IPA,  Snowy Plover Winter IPA, and Stupid Stout Imperial Stout!

Chip has to step out for a moment and Sasha and Mark Gibb, owners of Greensboro-based brewery Gibb’s Hundred stop by to talk to Jenn and Tony.  We learn the history behind the brewery and congratulate them on their recent GABF medal wins!   We are excited to sample the gold medal winning The Guilty Party ESB, and they also bring recent silver medal winner Medley of Moods Wheat.  Rounding out the samples is the taproom favorite Blind Man’s Holiday Greensboro Pale Ale.  

The craft beer news is all over the place this week! We begin with Marketwatch’s provocative opinion that New York cares more about craft beer than Portland, followed by The New York Times’ Monday Briefing featuring some beer history, then NBC reveals that coffee and beer win the Twitter food fight. Next up Treehugger shows us engineers in Colorado tapping beer for energy storage, then Adweek shows us a brewer who made the world's most expensive potato chips , CNBC profiles mad scientist brewers stirring up weird beers and we close with Eater reporting that a beer museum is coming to Pittsburgh!

Last week for the #caskquiz we asked “do you add any flavorings to your beer and if so what?” and for the next 2 weeks we want to see your Halloween/Samhain costume!

We love hearing from you! Please send in feedback and beer suggestions by calling us at (919) 502-0280, Tweeting us @talescask, following our Instagram or friending on Untappd @talesfromthecask, posting on and liking our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TalesFromTheCask or emailing written or audio messages to talesfromthecask@gmail.com! And please rate & review us in iTunes or Stitcher if you haven’t done so!

Tony resisted long enough, so Jenn and Chip force the issue by bringing in some terrific fall brews from Fainting Goat, Compass Rose, Two Roads and a spectacular mead from Honeysuckle Meadery & Teahouse! We happily sampled the Fainting Goat Fluffernutter, Compass Rose Munich Masquerade, Two Roads Ok2berfest plus the awesome Honeysuckle Elderberry-Blueberry Blend Mead! And that’s not all: we have exclusive chats with some of our friends who were at GABF last week!

MegaMergerMania once again starts us up with the last story about the ABI takeover of SABMiller courtesy of The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, followed by the announcement that Kirin is betting on the future of craft beer with a Brooklyn Brewery stake, via Bloomberg. Next up The Beaver County Times reveals a blood-red beer-special comic book collaboration brewing for Halloween (you knew Chip had to include that one!) then Grub Street reports that Starbucks is introducing a new drink that combines coffee and beer, Munchies believes your liver will thank you for drinking hoppy beers, and we wind up with The Times-Call News’ profile of a ‘beer archaeologist' who balances invention at Boulder's Avery Brewing with teaching at CU Boulder!

Since we recorded early last week we carried over the #caskquiz “how would a lower excise tax affect the #craftbeer industry? And this week we want to know “do you add any flavorings to your beer and if so what?”

We love hearing from you! Please send in feedback and beer suggestions by calling us at (919) 502-0280, Tweeting us @talescask, following our Instagram or friending on Untappd @talesfromthecask, posting on and liking our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TalesFromTheCask or emailing written or audio messages to talesfromthecask@gmail.com! And please rate & review us in iTunes or Stitcher if you haven’t

With Chip’s return from overseas, we decided to close the bar and kick back with some awesome taste treats from Anchor, Blake’s, and Alchemist! They are the Dry-Hopped Steam Beer, Apple Lantern, and Focal Banger!

MegaMergerMania leads the newstime via Eater reporting that the biggest beer merger in history gets a thumbs-up from shareholders, followed by a companion piece by OPB lamenting when small beers go big time. Next up The Denver Post discusses  The Great American Beer Festival turning 35, then VinePair asks why bars serve salty snacks with beer, Fast Company reveals that Vice Media is launching its very own beer, and we close with Beer Connoisseur on the art of coopering.

Since we recorded early this week we are carrying over last week’s #caskquiz was “how would a lower excise tax affect the #CraftBeer industry?”

We love hearing from you! Please send in feedback and beer suggestions by calling us at (919) 502-0280, Tweeting us @talescask, following our Instagram or friending on Untappd @talesfromthecask, posting on and liking our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TalesFromTheCask or emailing written or audio messages to talesfromthecask@gmail.com! And please rate & review us in iTunes or Stitcher if you haven’t done so!

Show Notes for Episode 178 recorded on 09-28-16

Episode 178- Beverage Director Miki Bryant and California Beers

With Chip absent We take it on the road again in episode 178. We kick off a well rounded news segment with a shocking story of bipartisan cooperation benefiting the craft beer world. The Germans tell us how they really feel about American Craft beer in a piece from Quartz. Next, we visit The Drinks Business with a story on how a  European grocery chain is attempting to corner the ever changing millennial drinker. A new source, My Central Jersey.com has an interview with an app creater that just might make it easier for your to attain some of your favorite out of state brews!

This week we travelled to Chapel Hill to visit a destination that specializes in West Coast beers exclusively. We were lucky enough to catch an all new lineup of beers from California including Road To Helles from the Lost Abbey, Almanac’s great sour, White Label, and a brand new single hop pale ale from Bear Republic!

Last week’s #caskquiz was “who do you think invented the double IPA?” and this week we want you to tell us “how will a lower excise tax affect the craft beer industry?”

We love hearing from you! Please send in feedback and beer suggestions by calling us at (919) 502-0280, Tweeting us @talescask, following our Instagram or friending on Untappd @talesfromthecask, posting on and liking our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TalesFromTheCask or emailing written or audio messages to talesfromthecask@gmail.com! And please rate & review us in iTunes or Stitcher if you haven’t done so!

This week Chip finally gets to go on a road trip to Durham and we are joined by our friend Jenny Brinkman to celebrate Ballast Point’s 20th Anniversary with a killer lineup of special brews! Jenny tells us all about the birthday celebrations and her own recent nuptials, and then we share a powerhouse flight of beers: Cherry Wheat, Nitro Copper ESB, Schwarzbier, Commodore w/Raisin, Sour Wench, and a Double IPA!

More fun news is in the cards this week! First up is The BBC reporting that a glass of beer 'makes people more sociable', followed by Gizmodo revealing that now we know how beer foam stops all that sloshing and Science Daily’s story that music makes beer taste better! Next The New York Times show us a two-mile beer pipeline carring Belgium’s lifeblood to be bottled and we wind up with VinePair on the fact that beloved writer Jane Austen brewed beer!

Last week’s #caskquiz was “are you taking any beer-themed trips this fall and if so where?” and this week we want you to tell us “who do you think invented the double IPA?”

We love hearing from you! Please send in feedback and beer suggestions by calling us at (919) 502-0280, Tweeting us @talescask, following our Instagram or friending on Untappd @talesfromthecask, posting on and liking our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TalesFromTheCask or emailing written or audio messages to talesfromthecask@gmail.com! And please rate & review us in iTunes or Stitcher if you haven’t done so!

We are working overtime to get Wicked Weed out there, and our buddy (and former co-worker!) Kyle Pederson is right there with us! Kyle talks about his history with our friends in Asheville, including how he wandered into the brewpub and how he ended up working for the brewery! Plus, he brings a special treat for us to try: Old Fashioned Barrel-Aged Ale!

The news stories are chocked-full of fun this week! Paste rates 55 Oktoberfest/Märzen beers, then The Denver Post relates how the Denver beer scene made a German beer connoisseur realize he didn’t know much after all, and The Federalist believes that pumpkin beer is super gross, just like Tony does! Next VinePair ranks the 7 best craft beer cities to see fall colors, Fast Company demonstrates how one college student got 3,000 strangers to Venmo him beer money, and we wind up with WFTS Tampa FL’s revealing that 'Hootie & the Blowfish' are celebrating their custom craft beer launch with special concert!

Last week’s #caskquiz was “do you think Oprah and Steadman should FINALLY tie the knot and if so what beer should they serve at the reception?” and this week we want you to tell us “are you taking any beer-themed trips this fall and if so where?”

We love hearing from you! Please send in feedback and beer suggestions by calling us at (919) 502-0280, Tweeting us @talescask, following our Instagram or friending on Untappd @talesfromthecask, posting on and liking our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TalesFromTheCask or emailing written or audio messages to talesfromthecask@gmail.com! And please rate & review us in iTunes or Stitcher if you haven’t done so!

It took us years, and we finally did it - we got Charlie Clement, our VP of Chain Sales, to join the fun at the little bar! Charlie regales us with tales of olden times, when the horses still pulled the beer carts from town to town, and how things have evolved into the 21st Century craft beer world! Plus, we found a few more taste treats from the summer cellar as the season winds down, including Foothills Hop of the Month Azacca Golden Ale, Coronado Guava Islander IPA, and the Wicked Weed/Creature Comforts Collaboration Juiceless IPA!

Election/beer news is our lede this week via Politico asking can a beer keep Trump and Clinton honest? followed by Paste reporting that Brewdog plans to bottle a 55% beer in a taxidermy squirrel. Next up we have two from Thrillist featuring Britain and Ireland’s greatest contributions to beer and craft beer’s dark secrets, and we close up with The HuffPo unveiling the illusion of choice facing America’s craft beer lovers.

Last week’s #caskquiz was “should we have a hops-themed Halloween costume contest?” and this week we want you to tell us “do you think Oprah and Steadman should FINALLY tie the knot and if so what beer should they serve at the reception?”

We love hearing from you! Please send in feedback and beer suggestions by calling us at (919) 502-0280, tweeting us @talescask, following our Instagram or friending on Untappd @talesfromthecask, posting on and liking our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TalesFromTheCask or emailing written or audio messages to talesfromthecask@gmail.com! And please rate & review us in iTunes or Stitcher if you haven’t done so!