Our friends at Lagunitas see all the Oktoberfest beers out right now and they say “summer is still here!” So they have some late-summer brews that we just had to try this week with our buddy Mike O: Stoopid Wit and Wilco Tango Foxtrot! Plus, they FINALLY have introduced a canned beer, 12th of Never! As they say on the can:

“And then at the very moment that the lands beyond the River Styx froze over, as the last pig took flight, as the last winged monkey departed the darkly fragrant netherlands, when wishes become horses and all of the beggars rode, when a moon rose newly blued on the morning of the 12th of never, and the second to last craft brewery in America pressed the green button on their canning line. We wanted be the Last Small Brewer in the U.S. to can their beer and maybe by now we are... “

As usual these days, we open with more MegaMergerManiaTM via The Washington Post reporting that amid its deal with Anheuser-Busch, Devils Backbone has been kicked out of its own festival. We follow with Plastics Today on innovative craft beer concentrate packaged in a thermoformed pack, then Bloomberg believes that American beer ain’t what it used to be thanks to European barley and SFGate goes old school (really old) with the East Bay beer that’s 45 million years old! We wrap up this week with VinePair’s suggestions for the ideal wine for every kind of beer lover and C|Net uses virtual reality to ask is beer better in Scotland?

Last week’s #caskquiz was “if your fave brewery were bought by a super megacorp, would you still drink the beer?” and this week we want you to tell us “do you think Devils Backbone should have been banned from the VA event even though they are still independent for now?”

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 or friending on Untappd @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!

The heat is really on outside, so our friend Chris Sorey joins us to escape it and we share some sweet relief from Colorado’s Trinity Brewing! Chris talks about the latest in the world of trademarks and beer, plus he has some fun stories of legal shenanigans! Then we have some of the best beers of the summer from Trinity: Elektrick Cukumbahh Saison d'Été, Menacing Strawberry Fresh Harvest Saison, and Red Swingline IPA Primitif!

We have so much craftbeer news this week! We start with The Daily Beast’s sky-is-falling piece on what they call craft beer’s looming crisis, followed by another example of why that might not be the case: yet one more MegaMergerManiaTM deal via The Dallas Observer who asks does it matter who owns Revolver Brewing? Next is Fast Company showing Sam Adams's secret weapon for winning back the American craft drinker, and then The Guardian reveals how the Soviets helped America’s craft beer revolution. With the Olympics going full-throttle, Thrillist tells us why you need to care about Brazil’s craft beer scene and we close with CBS News reporting on what beer has to do with mosquito bites?

Last week’s #caskquiz was “should we get a doorbell for the bar and what sound should it make?” and this week we want you to tell us “if your fave brewery were bought by a super megacorp, would you still drink the 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 or friending on Untappd @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 finally here - our homebrew competition! We had 7 submissions from listeners and we sample them with special guest judges Leif Larson from Olde Hickory Brewing and internet craftbeer blogging sensation Bryan D. Roth! Who will come out on top?

Before the judging, we have your news! First up is VinePair listing the five egregious beer habits you need to stop right now, followed by Geek showing us a smart glass that earns you free beer. Next we have a terrific in-depth piece by Paste called Let's Talk Beer Styles: IPA, and we close up with Eater (LA) calling an LA craftbeer hotline that’s both hilarious and informative!

Last week’s #caskquiz was “is craftbeer getting too expensive ?” and this week we want you to tell us “should get a doorbell for the bar and what sound should it make?”

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 or friending on Untappd @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 have been hearing a lot from the San Diego area lately!  Chip has returned from a week in the area as well as our very own NC rep Wil Cooper!  They both fill us in on the latest from Coronado Island and we get to try some limited brews along with a new canned beer Easy Up Pale Ale!  Wil tells us the unique story behind Frog’s Breath IPA and we round out the tasting portion with the Hibiscus IPA.

We kick off the news segment with some Mega Merger Mania as MillerCoors has recently gotten into the game acquiring both Terrapin and Hop Valley Brewing in the same week! We continue our calorie counting coverage with the top ten lists for highest and lowest calorie beers.  On the pricing front, we discuss an unfair taxation strategy that was proposed in Canada and ponder if craft beer is becoming too expensive.  We’ve also got the must try list for this summer’s most popular beer style-Gose!

Last week for our #caskquiz we asked:  “What is your Heady Topper Story?  Where were you when you first tried it?”

This week we want to know: “Is craft beer getting too expensive?”

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 us at talesfromthecask@gmail.com.