Tales From the Cask Craft Beer Podcast

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!

Direct download: talesfromthecask88.mp3
Category:Tales From the Cask -- posted at: 11:23am EDT

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!

Direct download: talesfromthecask87.mp3
Category:Tales From the Cask -- posted at: 10:58am EDT

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!

Direct download: talesfromthecask86.mp3
Category:Tales From the Cask -- posted at: 4:45pm EDT

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!

Direct download: talesfromthecask85.mp3
Category:Tales From the Cask -- posted at: 9:50am EDT

This week it’s an award-winning collaboration! NAGBW - blogging award winner Bryan Roth from This Is Why I’m Drunk stops by and we compare our silver medals! Then we try some excellent brews: Anchor BrewingWinter Wheat Beer, Sierra NevadaNeo-Mexicanus Harvest Ale, and Evil TwinImperial Biscotti Break Natale Pretty Please with a Cherry on Top.

 

News comes to us from surprising sources this week, starting with...The Wine Enthusiast and a story asking can you age beer? paired with The OC Weekly explaining 5 ways to wake sure you're actually cellaring beerNext The New York Times talks beer mile racing with ”Cue the ‘Chariots of Fire’ Theme, With Burps”, The Font du Lac Reporter takes us to Wisconsin where Black Friday shoppers come for beer,and The San Francisco Chronicle finds a new app to scan your beer list to help you pick your pint. We wind up with the Wall Street Daily showing a device that could destroy the craft beer industryand the Fusion Network on how to brew a craft beer that doesn’t suck.

 

Last week our #caskquiz was “what is your favorite German brew?” This week we are asking “where do you get your up-to-the-minute beer world info? A blog? Podcast? Local brewery?”

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!

Direct download: talesfromthecask84.mp3
Category:Tales From the Cask -- posted at: 12:26pm EDT

An old friend drops by to share more imported beer goodness this week! Matthew Holmes from Radeberger Gruppe brings stories of the old days riding the British Rails with Chip and he shares a couple of German treats - Radeberger Pilsner and Shöfferhofer Weizen!

It was hard to cull the plethora of news this week! Slate starts us off with the revelation that Americans now drink more craft beer than Budweiser, then The Boston Globe posits that lumpy potatoes are OK, while hoppy beers are not,and The New York Times shows us you can brew your own beer with help from an app. We also learn from DNAInfo about Empirical Brewing wanting you to tell it how to make beer, while The LA Times lists 6 craft beer terms every beer geek should know.We wind up overseas with two stories about Czech, the first from Russia Today quoting the Czech president who stated ‘American beer is just filthy water’ and the second from ABC News who tells us what it's like to bathe in beer inside a Czech beer spa.

Last week our #caskquiz was “what is your favorite pilsner beer?” This week we are asking “what is your favorite German brew?”

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!

Direct download: talesfromthecask83.mp3
Category:Tales From the Cask -- posted at: 3:35pm EDT

An incredible treat awaits you this week! We have two awesome guests from one of the world’s greatest breweries, Pilsner Urquell! Robert Lobovsky is the brewery’s “Beer Master” and he comes to us straight from Pilsen in the Czech Republic, and Chad Wodskow is the Global Marketing Manager. They are in town for the release of a special wooden cask of unfiltered, unpasteurized Pilsner Urquell flown in for a special event here in Raleigh. They talk about the brewery’s storied history and the origins of pilsner beers.

 

There is plenty to talk about this week. We begin with breaking news from Fortune on a potential end to tied-house laws in the UK, move to CNN Money talking about the black market for craft beer, then list The Telegraph ranking of which countries drink the most beer. We follow up with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s story about a beer & food course for beginners,then The Pensacola News-Journal on the return of the Celis family name to quality brewing, and we end up with WGHP from High Point, NC revealing how physicists explain why coffee is more likely to spill than beer.

 

Last week’s #caskquiz was “what beer or beers are you pairing with what dishes for Thanksgiving?” This week we want to know “what is your favorite pilsner 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!

Direct download: talesfromthecask82.mp3
Category:Tales From the Cask -- posted at: 11:56am EDT

Our good friend Kristen Baughman joins us via the Interwebs for our second annual Thanksgiving beer & food pairing episode! We hear all about Kristen’s move to the Big Apple and her new projects. Plus this year Jenn & Tony slaved away in the kitchens to make some delectable treats to go with awesome beers. We feature AnchorChristmas Ale 2014 paired with turkey cranberry meatballs, Sierra NevadaCelebration Fresh Hop IPA paired with chorizo cornbread stuffing, and Bear RepublicBig Bear Black Stout paired with pumpkin cinnamon rolls.

 

The news this week has stories all over the map. We start with The Wall Street Journal on SABMiller considering what to do next,move over to CNBC with a take on what they call Millennials’ war on Big Beer, go to Florida Today’s history lesson on the origins of light beers, and move west to 2 stories from The San Diego Union-Tribune: one on AleSmith beer .394 which honors Tony Gwynn and another on Green Flash merging with Alpine Beer. We follow with mySA introducing a Texas man who will give you free beer for life for $2,000, Adweek revealing Wil Wheaton introducing Newcastle's Scotch Ale, and close with The Greenville Times on a brewery’s yoga classes.

 

For the #caskquiz from last week we wanted to know “what politician would you like to grab a beer with?” This week we want to hear about your Thanksgiving plans: “what beer or beers are you pairing with what dishes for Thanksgiving?”

 

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!

Direct download: talesfromthecask81.mp3
Category:Tales From the Cask -- posted at: 1:46pm EDT

Two worlds collide on this week’s show - tech and beer! We have Bill Kaluza, Mason Koffman & Megan Pullam from beer software company Intervolve. They talk about how they work with beer distributors and brewers, and they help us try some de-licious fall faves: Sierra NevadaBoomerang IPA, FoothillsNovember IPA Of the Month - “NovAmber”, and LagunitasLittle Sumpin’ Wild.

 

The big keep getting bigger in the news this week! We start there with Crain’s Chicago Business on Chicago's Reyes Beverage becoming the top beer distributor in U.S., then head east to The New York Daily News with a look at a brewer recreating an old Belgian beer found in a shipwreck, and join Fast Company revealing the latestGame of Thrones brew called Three-Eyed Raven. After that, we have stories from Thrillist on 9 small cities that deserve national attention for their beers, The New York Post showing us where to buy beer hoodies, and Phys.Org revealing people who are improving the taste of alcohol-free beer with aromas from regular beer.

 

For the #caskquiz from last week we wanted to know “what beer celebrity would you most like to have a beer with?” This week’s is a companion piece to the recent election: “what politician would you like to grab a beer with?”

We love do 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!

Direct download: talesfromthecask80.mp3
Category:Tales From the Cask -- posted at: 6:44pm EDT

We have a definite treat (no tricks here!) for you this week with Veronica Goff from Boston Beer! She stops by to share the latest from Beantown and we get to try three delicious Sam Adams brews: Winter Lager, White Christmas, and Merry Maker.

We have history and gadgets with the news this week. We begin with The Daily Caller reporting that a bar is suing Florida over growler salesmove to The Atlantic with a nice profile of Boston Beer founder Jim Koch, the Steve Jobs of Beer, and check in with the historians at Fox News who answer was George Washington a beer or whiskey man?

We wind up with The Huffington Post on a gravity-defying way to store beer in your fridge and The Wall Street Journal visiting a Detroit brewery that aims to pedal beer. And yes, we spelled pedal correctly!

 

As Halloween arrives this week, last week’s #caskquiz is very timely: “what is your fave fall beer that is NOT a pumpkin beer?” After the Jim Koch piece, this week we want to know “what beer celebrity would you most like to have a beer with?”

We love do 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!

Direct download: talesfromthecask79.mp3
Category:Tales From the Cask -- posted at: 12:11pm EDT