It is June at last! Beer season is rocking, and we head to Virginia for incredible beers courtesy of our friend Chris VanDeWeert from Port City Brewing! To whet our taste buds, we first start in the NC mountains with Andrews Brewing Company Four Lane ESB. Then with Chris’ help, we head up to Alexandria VA’s Port City with their Optimal Wit, Monumental IPA, and finish with the terrific Porter. Plus Chris shares the story of how he moved from the world of finance to the glorious world of beer!

There is a lot of news this week! We feature stories including one from The Washington Post thatmaps America’s beer belly, another in Parade Magazinewith 10 Father's Day Presents for Your Beer-Loving Dad, while the Thrillistshows us a cocktail lover’s guide to beer  and WBTWreports that a South Carolina college professor was fired after his picture appeared on a beer label. We also have an article sent in by longtime listener Bill Donaldson from the Tennesseanabout how Nashville’s airport has loosened rules on carrying alcohol. And we link to a great YouTube video of the Danish bandThe Bottle Boys Playing Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” with beer bottles.

We have several tweets this week with responses to last week’s #caskquiz “What beer would you pair with a really good chocolate?” Join us for this week’s #caskquiz “What beer would you drink near a body of water?”

We love hearing from you! Please send in feedback and beer suggestions by calling us at (919) 502-0280, tweeting us @talescask, 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 if you haven’t done so!

Summer is here! Well, maybe not officially but hey, it’s close enough for us! We celebrate with Lauren Wolken from Boston Beer and take a trip to the Middle Ages with the enchanting Honey Queen Braggot and the incredible and educational Latitude 48 Deconstructed IPA. This variety pack has the original Latitude 48 IPA and 5 beers brewed only with one of the hop varieties that are blended into Latitude - Hallertau-Mittelfrueh, East Kent Goldings, Zeus, Simcoe, and Mosaic.

New news? We have it with stories including a beer mishap from Taco Bell, a writer’s thoughts about returning to Michigan because of beer, CNN Money talking about the craft beer craze in the South, the Street.com with a provocative story about why craft beer needs its own Blue Moon, and two from the New York Times - one about sour beers being easy summer drinking and another about the genetics of yeast and beer.

In our feedback segment we share great tweets and responses to last week’s #caskquiz “what beer brand would you most like to see in your town that isn’t currently available?” Don’t miss this week’s caskquiz “what beer would you pair with a really good chocolate?”

We love hearing from you! Please send in feedback and beer suggestions by calling us at (919) 502-0280, tweeting us @talescask, 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 if you haven’t done so!

It’s almost Memorial Day, so we are ready for the long weekend and the onset of summer with excellent cider and beers! We sample Crispin Original Cider, the awesome farmhouse saison Ommegang Hennepin, and the dark and wonderful Lagunitas NightTime Ale.

As we went to press, new items include a story from the Charleston Post & Courier about a bill to entice brewers to move to South Carolina, an editorial from the Cleveland Plain Dealer regarding an Ohio bill to raise the alcohol limit in beers allowed to be sold in that state, an article from London’s Daily Telegraph detailing some surprising health & beauty benefits of beer,  NPR’s take on the ongoing debate about what constitutes a craft beer, the New York Times on summer beer mixology, and NBC Sports Hardball on Cigar City’s special beer aged on Louisville Slugger baseball bats.

We share an email from a DC area listener who decided to make a career change and join the beer business, really fun tweets, and responses to last week’s #caskquiz “what’s your favorite barrel-aged beer.” Join us for this week’s caskquiz “what beer brand would you most like to see in your town that isn’t currently available?”

We love hearing from you! Please send in feedback and beer suggestions by calling us at (919) 502-0280, tweeting us @talescask, 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 if you haven’t done so!

Ah, San Diego! Another sunny land and home of the insanely great AleSmith Brewing Company! Join us this week as we talk with Abby Heilbron, Account Manager and sales goddess from AleSmith and our guide as we try the draught IPA, Summer YuleSmith, & Speedway Stout, plus a special bottle of the Barrel-Aged Wee Heavy!

At newstime, stories include one from the USA Today about the latest craft beer trends, another from Bloomberg Businessweek detailing the effect of America's thirst for IPAs trickling down to hop farmers, a study cited in the Lafayette Journal & Courier finding that beer could cut a woman’s rheumatoid arthritis risk, and Time’s revelation that revelation that you can now buy Hanson’s MmmHops beer online!

We share an email from a UK listener, some great tweets, and many responses to last week’s #caskquiz “what are you doing for Craft Beer Week?” This week’s caskquiz is “what’s your favorite barrel-aged beer?” Plus check out this cool champagne/saber link video from our friend @geistbear: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCp9-tEHa8U

We love hearing from you! Please send in feedback and beer suggestions by calling us at (919) 502-0280, tweeting us @talescask, posting and liking our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TalesFromTheCask or emailing written or audio messages to talesfromthecask@gmail.com!

Cask nation! Want to know about naming beer brands, breweries, getting trademarks and the law? Then join us this week we learn about that and more with our guest, trademark attorney Chris Sorey from Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP! We pepper him with questions, and he fields them with ease.

We try some wonderful sours from Wicked Weed Brewing out of Asheville, NC including their Bretticent Farmhouse Saison, Genesis Sour Blonde, and Black Angel Cherry Sour.

In the news, we feature an LA Times story about a beer pioneer launching Jordan’s first microbrewery, and a video from Slate showing how a Gentleman opens a beer with no bottle pener. We also discuss two articles on the subject of craft beer, one an interview in The Denver Post withPete Coors, talking about how the big beer industry continues to grapple with craft beers and a follow up from the Annapolis Capital about why one person will happily spend more on a craft beer.

We share some great feedback from last week’s #caskquiz and this week ask “What are you doing to celebrate Craft Beer week May 12-18?”

We’d love to hear your feedback and brew suggestions! Share your feedback by calling (919) 502-0280 or email us at talesfromthecask@gmail.com

We have a tasty Wisonsin craft beer episode for you today!  In episode 53 of Tales From the Cask we are sampling a variety pack from New Glarus.  On tap is Two Women, Spotted Cow, Fat Squirrel, Moon Man, and Apple Ale.

In our news segment we share a USA Today article about 5 myths of storing, aging, and drinking beer, a Baltimore Sun article about The Brewer’s Art renaming their Ozzy beer, the fastest growing alcoholic beverage category (it’s not craft beer), tips for buying the best tasting beer, and a tip from Jim Koch on how to drink and not get drunk.

We also share some great listener feedback including your answers to last week’s Cask Quiz question.

This week’s Cask Quiz question is: “What is your favorite beer name?”

We’d love to hear your feedback and brew suggestions! Share your feedback by calling (919) 502-0280 or email us at talesfromthecask@gmail.com

It’s Episode 52 of Tales From the Cask which means we’ve made it through a whole year of podcasting!  In today’s episode we are joined by Audra Gaiziunas, owner of Brewed For Her Ledger, LLC.  Audra specializes in accounting needs for brewers and is a beer aficionado! 

We talk to Audra about how she got started in the beer business, her various clients, women in the beer world, her most interesting projects and much more!  You can follow Audra on Twitter at @BeerMudderAudra.

We also drink some rare Lagunitas brews!  We have Lagunitas Censored, Waldo, Imperial Stout, and Cappuccino Stout!

In our news segment we have another updated on the potential impact of the FDA’s proposed changes to spent grain, beer lollipops, a craft beer pub crawl in Osaka, Japan, a beer bar in Salt Lake City, and a beer glass froster.

We share some great feedback from our listeners and we throw out a new Cask Quiz question, “What beer’s story convinced you to buy the brand?”

We’d love to hear your feedback and brew suggestions! Share your feedback by calling (919) 502-0280 or email us at talesfromthecask@gmail.com

Episode 51 of Tales From the Cask is here and it’s a tasty one!  Our special guest is Thomas Vincent, aka @geistbear, beer educator and Chief Navigator and Brewer for Compass Rose Brewery.  Thomas is in the process of opening his own brewery in Raleigh and he gives us his unique insight into the beer business. 

Thomas shares the story of how he came to reside in Raleigh, how he got into the beer business, his opinions on spent grain, crowd funding for breweries, the location of his new brewery, what types of beers they will offer and other beer expertise.

We also get into the spring season with Saison beers! We try Twisted Pine la Petite Saison, Bison Brewing's Saison de Wench, Evil Twin's Ryan and the Beaster Bunny, and Sierra Nevada's Ovila Saison with Mandarin Oranges and Pepperocrns.

In our news segment we share stories about the state of domestic and imported beer in the United States, a BusinessWeek article about shandy season, results for NC brewers from the World Beer Cup, 3 myths about skunky beer, and an LA Weekly article about latinos who are driving LA’s craft beer revolution. 

We also share some great feedback from our listeners and their responses to last week’s Cask Quiz. 

This week’s #caskquiz question is, “What’s the next new hot beer style?”

We’d love to hear your feedback and brew suggestions! Share your feedback by calling (919) 502-0280 or email us at talesfromthecask@gmail.com

In Episode 50 of Tales From the Cask we take a look at some tasty Demory Paris beers and French ciders from Latis Imports!  In our news section we share a story of the Huffington Post that will tell you what your next 5 favorite beers will be, new craft beers available on some airlines, how biofuels are following the pattern of the craft beer movement, a couple of wine snobs who discovered craft beer (and loved it), and why beer geography is the best geography.

We also share some great feedback from our listeners and their responses to last week’s Cask Quiz. 

This week’s #caskquiz question is, “What is your favorite imported beer (or cider)?”

We’d love to hear your feedback and brew suggestions! Share your feedback by calling (919) 502-0280 or email us at talesfromthecask@gmail.com

Welcome to Tales From the Cask!  In today’s episode we are joined by Daniel Cruz, Marketing Manager for San Francisco's Anchor Brewing.  Daniel brings along a brand new brew from Anchor, Anchor IPA!  Daniel also shares his story of joining Anchor, the story behind Anchor’s vintage looking labels, tells us what is new with Anchor Brewing, and why they chose to make Anchor IPA now.  He also tells us a great story about why they selected an elephant for the label, the history of beer in California and the role it played in the gold rush.

In our news segment we share stories about beer brewers pushing back against the proposed FDA rule that restricts the use of old grain, making beer with kudzu, a Huffington Post article about the top 50 craft breweries in America, an op-ed piece in the New York Times from Brooklyn Brewing's Steve Hindy, and a new beer from Sam Adams called HeliYUM.

Daniel also answers a listener question, we hear from a listener that binge listened to all of our episodes, and we share some great responses to last week’s Cask Quiz question.

This week’s #caskquiz question is, “When did you have your first Anchor beer and what was it?”

We’d love to hear your feedback and brew suggestions! Share your feedback by calling (919) 502-0280 or email us at talesfromthecask@gmail.com