After our vacations, we are both back, tanned, rested and ready for summer beer time! Who better to kick off meteorological summer than our good friend Kris Harper with DuClaw Brewing? Kris shares the latest news from the brewery and Baltimore, and he has a stellar lineup for us to taste! The treats include Haze of Glory NE IPA, Dad Bod DIPA, My My Key Lime Pie Sour, Sour Me Unicorn Farts, and Sour Me Carolina!

Lots of news piled up while we were away! First up is VinePair (thanks Steve!) reporting that  beer provides more jobs, wages, and economic impact than wine or spirits, with a follow up story from OregonLive providing a deeper dive on those numbers about beer’s economic impacts. Next up The Charlotte Observer tells us that N.C. breweries and distributors have reached an historic new accord that will benefit beer drinkers in the state. Then we have Brewbound (thanks Michael!) revealing that the TTB is slapping Constellation Brands with a $420,000 fine, followed by Food & Wine’s list of the cities that have the most breweries per capita. We wind down the week via The Associated Press offering up craft beer with wild flavors of candy, pickles and ... steak, and Fortune showing that to combat food waste, two Brooklyn businesses teamed up to brew bagel beer!

We took off a week for the #caskquiz while we were on vacation! We have a new one this week asking what’s the wild beer flavoring you want to try? Anything goes!

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!

After taking a couple weeks to go through our cellar and try some beers amongst ourselves we are ready to have some visitors back in the bar!  This week we talk with Greg and Kevin from Wicked Weed and get all the latest on their many facilities in Asheville, there is plenty going on for the summer tourist season!  They’ve got new items on the beer side too and we sample Appalachia, Passionfruit Lychee Burst, Serotina and their own Oak Fermented Cider. 

We had another great round of listener submitted new stories this week- Michael sends us some Mega Merger Mania news from Canada and Steve sends us a great article about two of our favorite things Craft Beer and Cheese!  We also continue our discussion on diversity in the beer world and how the BA is helping with a new grant.  On the educational front we learn how drinking beer can help global biodiversity and review a new exhibit in Denver that covers Colorado’s history of beer.   

Last week’s #caskquiz question was Avengers: Endgame inspired: “what’s the best use of a beer in a movie or TV show? What beer was it?”  This week we are taking a week off from the #caskquiz as both of our hosts are heading out on vacation! 

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 told you last week how many taste treats were piling up in the beer cooler, and we are aiming to increase those depletions this week! So we belly up to the bar for another killer lineup! We start with ciders: Blake’s Traffic Jam Strawberry, Blackberry, and Raspberry Cider,  1911 Established Black Cherry Cider (thanks Dennis!). Then it’s beer time: Bear Republic Thru the Haze IPA, Shubrew No Woman No Rye (thanks Bruce!), and Ballast Point Easy Seas!

We have a colossal MegaMergerMania story leading the news via The Motley Fool, as two craft beer legends, Sam Adams & Dogfish Head, are joining forces! Next up Food & Wine profiles a ‘Beethoven of Brewing’ who makes some of England’s best beers — and she can’t even taste them! Then we move to Westword uncovering the real story behind the Oskar Blues/Guns N' Roses lawsuit, followed by The Charlotte Observer showing that breweries in Charlotte provide a welcome shot to home values. We wind up the week with The Independent reporting that Beavertown Brewery is giving away free beer in exchange for blood donations, and The USA Today spoils (not really) that 'Avengers: Endgame' is giving Creature Comforts its own superhero moments!

Last week’s #caskquiz question asked “how much are YOU spending on craft beer each month?” This week we have a #caskquiz that Avengers: Endgame inspired: “what’s the best use of a beer in a movie or TV show? What beer was it?”

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 had a blast during our extended NC Beer month, and now it’s time to see the rest of America! We hop all over the country, and we have beer delights including Metal Monkey

Bikini Bottom, DuClaw No Way Gose, AleSmith Hi Hoaloha Pale Ale, Coronado Tail and Tooth Hazy IPA, and batting cleanup, Hardywood Park Hopkeeper Double IPA with Virginia Honey!

The news begins overseas this week via The Daily Mail exploring the wine-loving French who are creating British-style beers in their own craft breweries! Next we have Market Watch providing more proof that millennials are beer snobs, followed by Hour Detroit going undercover with a craft beer reviewer, and then Food & Wine reports that ’ice’ beers are no longer recognized by the Brewers Association. Then you guys step up for the final two stories! First WRC-TV (thanks Frank!) looks inside the lives of DC's blue collar cats and Forbes (thanks Jasmine!) profiles 'functional beverages' as the next trend that everyone's going to be talking about!

Last week’s #caskquiz question asked if you are digging any spicy beers, and if so what are they? This week is a #caskquiz rewind: “how much are YOU spending on craft beer each month?”

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!

It seems like only yesterday we were all at redacted in Cary for the Sycamore Brewing kickoff party… in reality it’s been a year! So to celebrate, we have our buddies Archie Gleason and Josh Jolly in the house! The boys share the news about the explosive growth the brewery is enjoying, and they have a cooler filled with taste treats: Mountain Candy IPA, Juiciness IPA, Citropica IPA, and a surprise gift from Archie’s travels up north, 3 Floyds Gumballhead Wheat!

Now that the heat has returned (finally!) to Mayberry, we begin the news with Bloomberg asking what’s craft brewing’s hot new style? Beer made with spicy chili peppers! Next up is another MegaMergerMania event, this time in Canada via the CBC, as Sleeman is making a bid for Calgary's Wild Rose Brewery. Then Fox News is reporting that an Army vet lost 44 pounds only drinking beer for Lent! We wind down the week with VinePair (thanks Steve!) revealing a craft beer pioneer who blames its bankruptcy on pumpkin beer and Ars Technica demonstrating how to brew ancient Wari beer!

Last week’s question was for all the beer-loving “Game of Thrones”-watching/reading folks: which GoT character would you most like to have a pint with? This week we want to know if you are digging any spicy beers and what are they?

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 continuing our celebration of NC Beers this week with our friend Ryan McLoughlin from Charlotte’s Birdsong Brewing! Ryan tells us how he moved from the education field into the world of beers, plus he relates the story of Birdsong! And since it’s his first time on the show, he’s got a powerhouse lineup of awesome brews for us: Rewind Lager, Paradise City Session IPA, Sunshine Gose, Lazy Bird Brown, Pink Robots Kettle Sour, Jalapeno Pale, and Higher Ground IPA! That’s a lot of happy tasting!

It comes in handy with some sad news to start the week from Brewbound (thanks Steve!) reporting that Constellation Brands is closing two Ballast Point locations and abandoning plans for a San Francisco brewpub. Then we learn from Yahoo Finance that brewery openings have plummeted in the UK as that country is nearing peak craft beer. For better news we head out west with The San Francisco Chronicle to find the newest trend in athletic recovery is drinking beer, and via Fortune we hear that low ABV, fruit-flavored beers are having a moment. We wind down the with Fortune asking if it is last call for Ommegang’s 'Game of Thrones' brews while The USA Today 10Best crowns Raleigh beer festival Brewgaoo the best in the U.S.!

Last week we had our first ever double #caskquiz: do you like Jenn’s new voice/should she keep it? And is there a MegaMergerMania deal that would crush you? This week’s question is for all the beer-loving Game of Thrones-watching/reading folks: which GoT character would you most like to have a pint with?

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!

It’s incredible to believe that it took us 6 years to get our good friend Janet Cooper from Foothills Brewing onto the show! We rectify that oversight this week! Janet shares her beer world origins, including her stint at Mims Distributing, plus all the latest from Winston-Salem! Then she unveils treats from Foothills: Malt Shaker Amber Ale and Cabernet Cafe People’s Porter! Then she has two bonus treats from Georgetown Brewing: Bodhizafa IPA and Lucille IPA!

Craft beer MegaMergerMania returns this week via The Oregonian reporting that Oregon’s Ninkasi Brewing has sold a majority stake to a new craft-beer venture. Next up The Motley Fool thinks that craft beer is not dead...yet, and Forbes has a piece on beer brewing bias in a Stanford study that reveals preference for beer from male brewers. Then we wind down with Men’s Journal (thanks Steve!) telling us that Patagonia is suing Anheuser-Busch for selling a beer that suspiciously shares its name and logo and VinePair (Steve again!) surprising us with beer-flavored jelly beans as the Easter gift for the beer lover in your life!

For last week’s #caskquiz we learned in no uncertain terms that you aren’t interested at all in all the NAs coming! This week we are offering up our first ever double #caskquiz: do you like Jenn’s new voice/should she keep it? And is there a MegaMergerMania deal that would crush you?

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 we love our road trips, and with this nice weather we drop the top on Chip’s T-Bird and head over to Durham to visit with our good friends Tim Harper and Nikko Carlson at Starpoint Brewing! The guys share what’s been happening since our last visit, and then we taste their latest brewing magic: Into the Mystic, Tilt, the legendary Tekkno Boy, and Black Pearl Oyster Stout!

In the news, we return this week to the lastest MegaMergerMania courtesy of FoodBev Media announcing that Mahou San Miguel has acquired a majority stake in Avery Brewing. Next is Forbes showcasing Blake's Hard Cider’s 'kinder' side with the release of Rainbow Seeker Craft Hard Cider, followed by Bon Appétit reporting that Big Alcohol is bracing for a more sober future. We wind up the news with The Chicago Tribune reminding us that although craft beer growth is slowing despite a record number of breweries, it is staying ahead of the broader beer market.

For last week’s #caskquiz we asked what you think about the RateBeer acquisition - do you believe the ratings now? Do you think they will be suspect? What about one brewery controlling all that data? This week we want to know “are you interested at all in all the NAs coming? If so, what are you trying/going to try?”

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!

Craft beer has exploded in North Carolina, and it’s time to celebrate NC Beer Month with our friend Rich Greene from the NC Craft Brewers Guild! Rich fills us in on the dozens of beer month events happening all across the state, and he shares the latest news from the Guild. Then we start our month-long exploration of NC craft beers with Sycamore Citrus Gose, Southern Pines Grapefruit Hefeweizen, New Anthem Songs Unsung, and Trophy Slim with the Tilted Brim!

The news field is crowded this week, starting with a long and thoughtful piece in Medium (thanks David!) on how the world’s biggest brewer killed the craft beer buzz. Then we have a Tales news first - 3 stories from one source (hey, you guys found them for us! Cheers!) They are all in VinePair, with the first two thanks to Steve: in one we learn about big beer, big data, and the big implications of AB InBev’s RateBeer acquisition, and in the other we get a short hop take on the beer industry being hit (hard) by aluminum tariffs. Then thanks to Alex we wind up soaring high when we see why the new Avengers movie features Creature Comforts!

For this week’s #caskquiz we want to know what you think about the RateBeer acquisition - do you believe the ratings now? Do you think they will be suspect? What about one brewery controlling all that data?

Don’t miss our new logo! The artwork was done by our friend Mark Des Cotes from Podcast Branding - click on the link to find out more!

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 want to hear about American brewing history from America’s Oldest Brewery? Then listen in this week with our friend Sheryl Yuengling from the legendary D.G. Yuengling and Son Brewery! Sheryl is joined by a couple of friends from the brewery James White and Rah-Lee Hunt. They fill us in on the news about the 190th anniversary of Yuengling (yes, it was 1829 when D.G. started the whole shebang!) and all the latest from Pottsville, PA. Plus we get to try the incredibly refreshing Golden Pilsner!

This week you guys did almost all the news research for us! We start with a couple from our buddy Frank, first in The Stranger reporting that Budweiser, er Elysian Brewing, is closing their Tangletown Pub, and then Yahoo Sports Canada hitting the ice to find the Carolina Hurricanes taking a shot at Don Cherry with a special beer. Next those innovators at Dogfish Head feature in a story from WSB with a craft beer that can also develop film! Then thanks to Thomas, Brewbound shares that a private investment firm is acquiring A-B distributor Silver Eagle Distributors’ Houston territory. We close out the week with a happy ending story from all the recent flooding in the midwest via Brian (zeppelindriver) and WTSP when a couple of guys found a ‘magic fridge’ in a flooded Nebraska field!

For this week’s #caskquiz from the news we learned about Dogfish collaborating with Kodak! We want to know what brewer/corporate collaboration would you like to see? What style?

And we also finally unveiled our new logo! Take a look! The artwork was done by our friend Mark Des Cotes from Podcast Branding - click on the link to find out more!

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!