Tony and Jenn travel all the way to Durham, NC this week to interview the owner and brewer from Durty Bull Brewing Company at a local bottle shop!  Chip is gone but we still found a few fun news stories including the 19 types of Beer Snobs, more on collecting yeast from Whale Bones, a college program allowing 18 year olds to taste but not swallow beer , a trademark dispute between Red Bull and a small brewery and more repercussions from the Bud Ad, this time inspiring battles in Congress!

Matt Pennisi with Durty Bull Brewing Company joins us to talk about getting his brewery up and running, their brewpub plans, his sour and barrel aging programs; plus he brings a couple of his beers for us to try- Black Gose and a Blended Sour!

Last week our #caskquiz was “What was your take on the Bud Super Bowl ad?” This week we are asking “What beer not currently packaged in cans would you like to see make the move?”

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 @talesfromthecask, posting on and liking our Facebook pagehttps://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 had such a run of incredible people stop by the bar lately, it was wearing us out! So we locked the doors and took a breather to unwind with the latest and greatest from our friends at Foothills Brewing! Three delightful brews were waiting for us: Pilot Mountain Pale Ale, February IPA of the Month “Charlie”, and the sought-after (and back just briefly) Sexual Chocolate Imperial Stout!

We couldn’t fit in all the beer news out this week, but we covered a lot! We start with the controversy of the Bud Super Bowl ad slamming craft beer, beginning with The Chicago Tribune’s interview with a craft brewery co-founder who wasn’t happy with Super Bowl ad snark,then we check out CNNMoney’s position that Bud mocks craft beer but it owns microbrews. Next up is The HuffPo asking is sewage beer the next big thing?, followed by Fortune revealing spirits stole more market share from the beer industry last year, and then Yahoo Sports and a picture of Madison Bumgarner downing a beer with Khal Drogo of 'Game of Thrones'. We move to The Washington Post talking about an NBC interview with President Obama on beer, Deflategate and the Patriots-Seahawks Super Bowl matchup, The Columbia Free Times opining that craft beer goes big — maybe too big, The LA Times demonstrating how brewers turn barley into beer, and wind up with Medical Daily reporting that an antioxidant found In hops prevents cognitive decline.

Last week our #caskquiz was “have you ever bought anything from SkyMall and if so what was it?” This week we are asking “what you think about the Bud Super Bowl ad -  was it good or bad for Bud, good or bad for craft beer?”

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 @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!

How do we top the incredible guests of late? Get another one of course! This week Jonathan Williman from our friends at Bear Republic joins the fun! We talk about their awesome beers, the water situation in northern California, and what we can expect from Bear this year! Then we try their first creation, Red Rocket Ale and follow it with Racer X Double India Pale Ale!

The news begins on a sad note, as The LA Times reports that our beloved Skymall has died, then we move to happier topics via TheBoston Globe on how craft beer fans go to great lengths to buy top-rated brews, and io9 on why grease kills the head on a beer. We follow up on a previous story with NBC as the brewer of 'Gandhi-Bot' beer agrees to rename it after complaints, then hear NPR reporting on brewers taming unpredictable yeast. We finish up with The New Yorker revealing that small is bountiful, Yahoo Food introducing a craft brewer making low alcohol beers, and Fox News celebrating the beer can turning 80 this weekend!

Last week our #caskquiz was “have you ever purchased the wrong beer by accident and if so what beers did you mix up?” This week we are asking “have you ever bought anything from SkyMall and if so what was it?”

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 @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!

Are we slowing down after our road trip? No way! This week we import direct from Baltimore (Ball’mer to the natives) Dave Benfield & Morgan Schell from DuClaw Brewing! They just began selling beers in NC and as you know we have been drinking them before on the show, so they brought some great ones to us this week: Sweet Baby Jesus Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter, Naked Fish Chocolate Raspberry Stout, Neon Gypsy IPA, and the seductive Serum DIPA!

We got so much news this week! Bloomberg starts us off with the story thatSierra Nevada founder Ken Grossman has beome a billionaire, then The New York Times offers options from gluten-free beer to kombucha for health-conscious drinkers, and Mother Jones reveals that craft beer uses 4 times as much barley as corporate brew. Next Reuters reports on brewing goliaths struggling to fit in at a craft beer party, Fox News shows us that self-serve beer taps are coming to a bar near you, and fittingly the Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star asks how 'bout some peanut butter with your beer?

Last week our #caskquiz was “have you ever brewed beer on your own, and if so what was the first style you made?” This week we are asking “have you ever purchased the wrong beer by accident and if so what beers did you mix up?”

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 @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!

A new year and it’s time to hit the road! We roll into Mills River, NC and drink beers with our friends at the all-new Sierra Nevada Brewery! Brian Grossman runs the show at the brewery, and we join him and sales gurus Tommy Gannon and Dave Kemper for fresh-as-it-gets Sierra Nevada! We celebrate Brian’s 30th birthday with Nooner Pilsner, Pale Ale, and Beer Camp Hoppy Lager! And fan fave Aubrey Herbert makes a surpise cameo!

Fun news awaits this week! SFGate reports that the San Francisco Giants are planning a pop-up beer garden. Legal news comes via ChicoER about Lagunitas Brewing dropping a lawsuit against Sierra Nevada over ‘Hop Hunter’ logo after a public outrage, then NBC tells us about a Connecticut brewery stirring controversy with its 'Gandhi-Bot' beer. We finish up with Beer & Brewing suggesting beer pairings for Girl Scout cookies.

Last week our #caskquiz was “what is the hot beer style for 2015?” This week we are asking “have you ever brewed beer on your own, and if so what was the first style you made?”

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 @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!

No Chip this week so we doubled up on guests!  Chad and Martinez, local craft beer bar managers discuss their side of the biz and sample some great brews including Ballast Point Grunion Pale Ale, DuClaw Euphoria, and Olde Hickory’s Hickory Stick Stout!

We clown around this week in the news and talk about a performing arts center using craft beer to raise funds. We also discuss ways you can stick to your resolution to run while enjoying a brew, an Oregon museum exhibit about brewing and craft beer, and hints of some new beer brewing at the Durham Bulls Ballpark.

Last week our #caskquiz was “what New Year’s Beer resolutions have you made?” This week we are asking “What is the hot beer style for 2015?”

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 @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’s time to ring in 2015 with great beers from DuClaw Brewing, Guinness, and Ballast Point! We three relax after the big Christmas spectacular with DuClaw’s Dirty Little Freak Coconut Caramel Chocolate Brown Ale, Guinness’s special release Guinness the 1759 Small Batch Amber Ale, and Ballast Point’s Indra Kunindra Curry Export Stout!

The news is light this week, but there are some really interesting items for you. NPR finds that the Miami Dolphins are using Twitter to deliver beer to fans, while philly.com announces Joe Sixpack's 2014 Beer of the Year. Next the Wall Street Journal talks about  South Korea’s new craft beer makers, the LA Times shows us how to drink your craft beer and coffee at the same time, and we end with the the Business Insider’s cool chart showing everything you need to know about beer.

Last week our #caskquiz was “what was your favorite present this year?” This week we are asking “what New Year’s beer resolutions have you made?”

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 @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!

Christmas time is here! We are drinking beer! (In moderation!) Yes it’s our second annual Christmas special, and we host a great party with many of our old friends. We have the astounding Joe Zonin from Carolina Brewing, Daniel Cruz who just retired from Anchor Brewing, our very first guest Mitchell Peedin, and the incomparable Aubrey Herbert from Sierra Nevada! Plus a few surprise cameos, and Hoda returns to tend bar!

The beers are amazing! We have Longsdon Farmhouse Saison Bretta, the CBC/Trophy collaboration Barrel Aged Pollinator Dopplebock with Honey, Carolina Brewing's Old 392, the Dogfish/Sierra Nevada collaboration Life and Limb 2009 and 2011, DeschutesBlack Butte 23rd Anniversary, the 3 Floyds/Brew Dog collaboration Bitch Please, Mitchell’s own Experimental American Wild Ale, and we finish with AleSmith’s2011 Decadence Barrel Aged Barleywine!

Good news arrives for the holiday! Engadget starts us off with a beer that tells you how much to drink to boost your creativity, then we have The Huffington Post sporting a 'Drinking Jacket' that will open, hold & chill your beer. Then we go west to San Diego’s KPBS on filling growlers in California and end up in San Francisco via DC with The Washington Post detailing 40 years of Anchor Christmas Ale.

Last week our #caskquiz was “do you have any beer-related Holiday traditions?” This week we are asking “what was your favorite present this year?”

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 @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 going hyper-local this week with the incomparable beers from Starpoint Brewing’s Tim Harper! We talk about his day job at UNC and his passion for making craft beer in all his spare time! Then we taste two of his delightful brews: 24/7 Pale Ale and Whiskeytown Imperial Milk Stout Aged in Bourbon Barrels! And yes, that’s the band Whiskeytown!

More news of the holidays is on tap this week! We start with The USA Today and a beer for the Hanukkah holiday, then shift to The Loudon Times reporting on Virginia Governor McAuliffe announcing the first commercial hops facility in the mid-Atlantic in Loudoun VA, followed by The New York Daily News and a planned merger of two of the city's largest beer distributors. We then move to The BBC on the secret world of beer, then drop some science from phys.org regarding beer quality, check out The Los Angeles Times offering ideas on beer gifts for the wine-lovers on your holiday list, and we wrap up with The Union-Leader suggesting three old beer styles for cold winter nights.

Last week our #caskquiz was “what is your fave Christmas/Holiday TV or movie special?” This week we are asking “do you have any beer-related Holiday traditions?”

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 @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!

After all the great guests the past few weeks, we lock the doors and take a breather at the bar. The beers are all for us (and you!) with a hidden treat from Samhain and a couple of yuletide delights! AleSmith gives us two - Evil Dead Red that we had been saving for the right moment and the all-new Winter YuleSmith! Plus we get the final Foothills IPA of the month for 2015, December’s Miss Elle Toe.

Holiday news abounds for us and includes cool history and beer + music! We start with Time and the news that Delta will begin selling craft beer on its flights, then move to Yahoo News with a trip to colonial times and a Virginia brewery tapping a 300-year-old beer recipe. Next up is Thrillist relating what your Norcal beer of choice says about you, followed by The Daily Mail on a rare six-litre Methuselah of Champagne-style beer going on sale in London, and we wrap (not rap!) with Yahoo Music and a story on the vocalist from Swedish band In Flames bringing his own beer to the party.

Last week our #caskquiz was “where do you get your up-to-the-minute beer world info? A blog? Podcast? Local brewery? This week we are asking “what is your fave Christmas/Holiday TV or movie special?”

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 @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!