Craft beer is still growing gangbusters in our neck of the woods, and we this week we have our friend Rich Greene, Executive Director/Beer Czar from the NC Craft Brewers Guild to talk all about NC beer! Rich tells us about his early days at the Guild, the joys of working the NC State Fair, and tries a couple of NC beers with us! Those taste treats are Sierra Nevada Sierraveza and Foothills Spirit IPA!

There’s exciting news to begin the week (thanks Steve!) as our very own hometown of Raleigh makes Number 6 on VinePair’s list of the world’s top 10 beer destinations for 2019! Next we have The Week’s recap of Stephen Colbert’s revelation that the government shutdown is coming for your beer, followed by The Mirror reporting that Icelandair is launching a new craft beer for passengers, and then Boston.com reveals that a New England state was just named the craft beer capital of the U.S. We close up the bar with The Las Vegas Review-Journal’s profile of guitarist and craft beer entrepreneur Keri Kelli talking rock ’n’ roll and beer and Westword’s ten bold predictions for craft beer in 2019!

Last week we wondered “what are your New Year’s (Beers) resolutions?” Dovetailing with the news this week, we want to know “what are your big beer predictions for 2019?”

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 party we had with our 2018 Holiday Extravaganza! It was so much fun and work that we took off the last week of the year before opening up the bar, cleaning the mess, and kicking back just the two of us! To celebrate the new year, we have light and refreshing cider and beer: Austin Eastciders Texas Brut Cider,  Lagunitas Daytime IPA, and Sierra Nevada Brut IPA!

The news is on the light side like our beverages this week, starting with The Motley Fool revealing that the BA’s craft beer definition is changing (again!). Next Paste (thanks Michael!) examines an endangered beer style: American Stout. Then The Guardian (thanks Frank!) has a terrific profile of two Native American women who are upending craft beer, and we close with The New York Times’ pricewatch showing where to get a 6-pack of beer for $26!

Last week we wondered “what frosty malt goodies did you imbibe for the holidays? What did Santa bring you? (Hopefully some beer too!)” To start the new year right, this week’s #caskquiz asks you to reveal “what are your New Year’s (Beers) resolutions?”

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!

Ho ho ho! We are celebrating the season with so many of our friends from the year in our 6th annual Holiday Extravaganza! The little bar is filled with wonderful folks and terrific special beers from everyone’s secret stashes, and it’s a scene not to be missed! Plus it’s our last show for 2018, so as we sing (and you can sing along too!) “we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!”

We wind up 2018’s news in fun fashion, beginning with Punch (thanks Rob!) sharing the Proustian allure of the Miller High Life! Next we have The Sacramento Bee reminding us don’t listen to the naysayers, craft is here to stay! We close out the year with The Denver Post making a final toast to 3.2 beer, a relic but also a way to help kids learn about booze!

Last week we wondered “are you a lager or ale person and what characteristics does that entail for you?” For our last #caskquiz of the year we want to know “what frosty malt goodies did you imbibe for the holidays? What did Santa bring you? (Hopefully some beer too!)”

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 forever since we had our friends from DuClaw Brewing on, and we have a plethora or beers to prove it! Our buddy Kris Harper stops by and shares the latest news from Balmer, plus he has a six-pack of deliciousness to share! We get to try Purple Passion, Sour Me Peach Sherbet, Strawberry Letter 23, Retribution 2018, Caramel Cookie Retribution and Devil’s Due!

In the world of beer news, we start with Ad Age sharing the amazing feat wherein an imported beer brand tricks Facebook’s Search, followed by Digital Trends revealing that LG is rolling out the barrels at CES 2019 with a craft beer machine. We then have The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporting that Schlafly Beer has apologized to 4 Hands Brewing Co. for 'derogatory' claims in anonymous newsletter, and then The New York Post says that your favorite beer says a lot more about you than you think. We wind up the week with Boston.com asking would you like free tunes with your beer? and Grapevine visiting geothermal beer in Hveragerði’s Ölverk Brew Pub!

Last week we wondered “if you could pair your dream band/brewer combination, what would it be? What would the beer style be?” This week we follow up on the ale/lager survey from the news and ask “are you a lager or ale person and what characteristics does that entail for 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!

He’s back America! Yes, our co-founder Tony Walldroff is in the house this week and has some scintillating Sierra Nevada to taste! Tony starts out by filling us in on his new adventures with Sierra, and then he relates the really amazing story of Butte County IPA and the 1000+ brewers helping victims of the Camp Fire. And we get to try wonderful beers for the holidays: Tequila Barrel-Aged Otra Vez, Holiday Haze IPA, Winter Warmer Lager, and Coffee Stout!

The news begins with our old standby MegaMergerManiaTM courtesy of VinePair sharing that with unregulated draft lines and AB InBev investments, Chinese craft beer is at a crossroads! Next we have The Richmond Times-Dispatch reporting that Deschutes won't break ground on a Roanoke brewery in 2019, followed by The BBC revealing that Yellow Belly beer could be discontinued over a trademark dispute. We head over to Forbes visiting a California bakery making bread out of beer, then The Voice of America says new tariffs are tapping into the US craft beer industry. We wind up the week with Food & Wine (thanks sfringer!) stating that Dogfish Head is naming a new brew ‘Possibly the Next Top Rated Beer on BeerAdvocate’ and The USA Today grooving us with a new Grateful Dead beer brewed with granola!

Last week’s we were curious “are you going to try to find some of the Sierra Nevada 1000+ brewery collaboration brew Resilience Butte County Proud IPA? How about brewing some?” This week we invade your record collection and want to know “if you could pair your dream band/brewer combination, what would it be? What would the beer style be?”

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!

As we unwind after our Thanksgiving feasts, we kick back and relax in the bar with some wonderful seasonal cheer courtesy of our friends from Anchor, Foothills, and Lagunitas! We sample three taste treats: Anchor Christmas 2018, Foothills BA Sexual Chocolate with Coffee, and Lagunitas Willetized Coffee Stout!

The news begins this week with a cool piece from Business Insider featuring our friends (and previous guests) Jen and Wendy Yuengling, who share an inside joke that completely explains their business philosophy! Next up is CNBC sharing an invention that keeps bottled beer cold, did $1M in sales in 10 days, and scored a million-dollar deal on 'Shark Tank', followed by The St. Louis Business Journal reporting that Phyllis Schlafly's heirs have lost their trademark appeal over a St. Louis craft brewery's name. We wind down with artsy showing craft breweries who are tapping artists to turn labels into works of art and The USA Today revealing that more than 1,000 breweries have answered Sierra Nevada's call for Camp Fire relief beer! Wow!

Last week’s news about cannabis drove the #caskquiz asking “does seeing a politician drinking a beer make you like them more? Or do you think he or she is just trying to get drinkers’ votes?” This week we want to know “are you going to try to find some of the Sierra Nevada 1000+ brewery collaboration brew Resilience Butte County Proud IPA? How about brewing some?”

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 great year we are having with our friends from Wicked Weed! Our buddy (and brewery sales guru) Justin Crouch stops in to chat, and he brings along a large group of friends to dish on all the lastest from Asheville! Plus he has a couple of timely treats: Dark Age with Coffee and a mystery beer that will be coming out early in 2019!

For Thanksgiving week we have more fun news than we have seen in quite some time! We begin with Extra Crispy revealing why so many brands are getting into beer now, followed by WTOP spotlighting a new exhibit at Heurich House that taps into DC’s history through beer. Next up is a terrific announcement on Facebook (thanks sfringer & evanrnhall!) by Sierra Nevada about their special Resilience Butte County Proud IPA, which has 100% of sales proceeds going to help victims of the Camp Fire conflagration in northern California. Then we go south to Los Angeles Magazine’s musical piece on how a local brewery created a beer worthy of the L.A. Phil’s centennial season, and we close the week with Denver Westword reporting that Colorado Governor Hickenlooper may be leaving office, but the Governor's Mansion beer taps will stay!

Last week’s news about cannabis drove the #caskquiz asking “are you interested in trying a non-alcohol cannabis “beer”? Would you make it part of your rotation? How about alcohol/cannabis beer?” This week we want to know “does seeing a politician drinking a beer make you like them more? Or do you think he or she is just trying to get drinkers’ votes?”

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 got a mead tease from the folks at Honeysuckle Meadery way back in Episode 180 (!), and now mead masters William Costen and Erik Lensch invite us over for a visit and a sampling! The guys share the story of the meadery’s journey thus far, and then we have six incredible meads to try: Elderberry and Elderflower, Blueberry Jam, PawPaw Patch, Midnight Bramble, Raspberry Jam, and the astounding Peanut Butter and Jelly!

As he often does, Chip starts the news out slow and low and builds to a final crescendo! He begins with Bloomberg and the global climate change-related news that your craft beer is about to get more expensive. Next The Twin Cities Pioneer Press reveals the sad news that Great Waters Brewing Co. in St. Paul is closing. Then VinePair (thanks sfringer!) has specious “news” claiming that ​​​​​​​a new AB-InBev video says that ‘craft beer’ will be gone in two years (here come the trolls!), followed by Colorado Public Radio’s opinions that craft beer is finding it harder to stay king of the mountain in Colorado. We close the week with The USA Today’s profile of Blue Moon's founding brewer who is popping the top on a pot-infused beer and Paste’s terrific news that the economic impact of San Diego craft beer has passed the $1 billion threshold!

Apparently everyone was sick of the U.S. election cycle, so we had limited responses to last week’s #caskquiz asking if you were celebrating the election results or drowning your sorrows. This week we are curious to hear if you interested in trying a non-alcohol cannabis “beer”? Would you make it part of your rotation? How about alcohol/cannabis beer?

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 can’t believe it’s been so long since our buddy Wil Cooper from Coronado Brewing joined us in the bar! Wil tells us what he has been up to, and lets us know about the latest and greatest from southern California! And as always he brings along terrific brews: Weekend Vibes IPA, Never Better DIPA, Early Bird Cold Brew Milk Stout, and Coronado’s classic first collaboration (with Libertine Brewing) Shared Waters Sour Blonde Ale!

It’s a financial set of news sources, but don’t worry - there isn’t much finance to worry with! We begin with a couple of stories from Forbes - first up we learn that American craft beer is being inspired by Japanese sake, and then we pivot to find that a new Denver brewery is the world's first devoted to grapes and oenobeers! Next The Chicago Tribune reveals that ​as craft beer sales slow, Two Brothers and other brewers are launching into spirits, while Fortune reports that the BA’s definition of craft brewing may change. Again! We close up the newstime via the dictionary and Merriam-Webster’s list from 'ale' to 'zymurgy' or 8 words about beer!

For last week’s #caskquiz we wanted to know your preference for bottle tops: screw-cap or pop-top? This week we are curious if you were celebrating the election results or drowning your sorrows, and what were you drinking?

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 Halloween and we are on the road to celebrate Samhain with our friends Patrick Woodson and Roxanne Bellamy at a wonderful place to trick or treat: Brewery Bhavana! Patrick tells us all about the awesome brews he is concocting, and Roxanne lets us in on all the latest buzz-worthy news and events at the brewery! Then we share some astonishingly great treats including Pulp IPA, Cart IPA, Bounty 2018, Patina Dark, and Cellar Door No. 3!

Repudiating the thread from last week’s news, we begin this week with a wonderful profile via VinePair on Carol Stoudt from Stoudt’s Brewing, aka ‘The Mother Of Craft Beer’, showing that women in beer are a powerful force. Next we have The Takeout asking Kate “why don’t all beer bottles have screw caps?” We follow that with Food & WIne (thanks @foolintherain!) with what seems like a weekly appearance by BrewDog, and their announcement of the ‘World’s First Craft Beer Airline’. We close the week out with The Growler detailing the evolution of brewing tech and innovations that have redefined beer in the modern age, and local news about Red Hat, IBM and craft beer from ZDNet, who talks software and beer and what open source and craft brewing have in common.

For last week’s #caskquiz we wanted to hear your take on the lead news story regarding the shutdown of the women-only beer forum: was it justified and should they have had to pay? This week we want to know your preference for bottle tops: screw-cap or pop-top?

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!