We fire up the DeLorean again this week and visit redacted with our friends Ethan Boylan and Dan Bond from Lagunitas! The lads share the latest from Petaluma and Chi-Town, and they pony up some awesome whales for us: Plum and Jasmine Gose, Pineapple Yuzu, Sally, WTFarmhouse Sour w/Cherry, Cafe Con Leche Imperial Milk Stout, and a palate cleanse with the amazingly refreshing Sumpin’ Easy!

We open with a couple of sad news items this week, beginning with The San Diego Union-Tribune reporting that Green Flash is closing its Virginia Beach brewery and withdrawing from the East Coast. Then The BBC reveals that pubs are in danger, followed by better news in The Chicago Tribune that the US craft beer industry saw record openings — and closings — in 2017.  Next up: hemp news, first from The USA Today showing that craft brewers are tapping into cannabis-infused beers and then Forbes talking with Blue Moon's creator who aims to get customers Mile-High on his new brew. We close up with Forbes again offering to take you out to the ball game and Boston.com’s news that ‘New England-style’ beers might start winning more awards.

Then we have your responses to last week’s #caskquiz which asked “are you experiencing craft beer burnout, and if so what old-school beer are you returning to?” and this week we want to know “do you have a regular pub or watering hole that you frequent several times a week? Or do you usually consume at home?”

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 took a while to get him into our busy brewing schedule, and it was totally worth the wait for our homebrew contest winner Chris Nadeau to come and make a batch of his incredible Trips Up North New England Stout! It was even better than we remembered! And to top it all off, he shared two great finds from up north, Treehouse Old Man ESB and Industrial Arts Wrench!

With Chip back in the newsroom, he naturally turned to econ courtesy of The Wall Street Journal (thanks Frank!) announcing that the Trump Tariff layoffs have begun! Next up The Brewers Association has released their annual 2017 top 50 brewing companies by sales volume and you may be surprised at the rankings. Then VinePair believes that maybe craft beer’s post snob era is here, followed by The New York Times revealing that something’s brewing in the lab: beer without hops, and then Mumbrella reports that CUB’s Ginger Gene ad has been banned for ‘vilifying’ redheads! Plus we sneak in a little humblebrag about Raleigh placing 11th in Food Truck Nation’s list of the top 20 food truck cities!

Then we have your responses to last week’s #caskquiz which asked ”have you interacted with your local distributor at a retail account?” and this week we want to know “are you experiencing craft beer burnout, and if so what old-school beer are you returning to?”

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 took the show on the road this week to Durham to visit with long time listener and collaborator Bryan D Roth. We catch up and learn of Bryan’s latest explorations in the beer writing world and we delve a little deeper into his piece from Good Beer Hunting. Regarding the changing landscape of traditional beer distribution from several different and often competing perspectives. After our thought provoking discussion We try the new and NC Only Southern Gothic from Sierra Nevada, Coronado’s brand new and unique Coco Chaos, and we wrap up with a pecan pie imperial brown ale from Evolution craft brewing.[Text Wrapping Break][Text Wrapping Break]We hit the news hard this week starting with Mybeerbuzz.com’s note on an anticipated new brew from Bear Republic. We head over to Spectrum Local News who dishes out all the back and forth on twitter regarding basketball,beer and governors. Paste Magazine shows us the dark side of craft beer releases and Travel and Leisure has the inside scoop on a very Royal beer! We then went straight to the source and dove into the aforementioned three part series on modern beer distribution with Bryan Roth of Good Beer Hunting himself! 

Then we have your responses to last week’s #caskquiz which asked “do you think that the tariff on aluminum will change your beer purchases?” while this week we are asking ”have you interacted with your local distributor at a retail account?” 

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!

Everything’s bigger in Texas, and that includes the awesome ciders from Austin Eastciders! Sales gurus Brad McKeever and Ryan McAulay join us in the bar and relate the story of the cidery, the scene in East Austin, and then they share delicious ciders with us: Original Dry, Blood Orange, Pineapple, and Texas Honey!

Much to Chip’s delight, econ news leads the week via The New York Times which asks will Trump’s tariff trade policy fit into a can of beer? Next we have Newsday showcasing an 'Atlas of Beer' that surveys beer culture around the world, followed by two BrewDog stories: one in The Sun reporting that BrewDog is facing backlash over its ‘new’ cheaper Pink IPA beer for girls and the other from ABC News on BrewDog’s crowdfunded craft beer hotel opening this summer in Ohio! We wind up the week with Forbes showing that  hard cider sales slipped and then rebounded!

Then we have your responses to last week’s #caskquiz which asked ”what’s the funkiest alcohol sales rule where you live?” while this week we are asking “do you think that the tariff on aluminum will change your beer purchases?”

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 couldn’t think of a better place to celebrate a quarter millennium of shows than over in Durham with our friends Tim Harper and Nikko Carlson at Starpoint Brewing! And they just had their 1-year anniversary at the site! We discuss their year in Durham, check in with head brewing dog Hobbs, and sample four astounding brews: Dirty D New England IPA, Perception Peach Pale Ale, Whiskeytown, and McKinney Vol. 1!

There was really too much news this week, beginning with The New York Times demonstrating how craft breweries are helping to revive local economies, followed by The Denver Post reporting that New Belgium is cutting 28 jobs. Next is The Independent showing that Brewdog is going to open the DogHouse Hotel in Aberdeenshire, and then The New York Times (again) reveals a new old wave in craft beer. We follow with good news in the Midwest via ABC as Indiana is becoming the last state to allow Sunday beer, wine and liquor carryout! We close out the week with The News & Observer (via Geistbear) stepping into a place for ax throwing and beer drinking that is coming to downtown Durham!

Then we have your responses to last week’s #caskquiz which asked “do you do things like drink diet non-alcoholic beverages or eat low-calorie foods to allow yourself the space to drink craft beers? If so what?” and this week we want to hear ”what’s the funkiest alcohol sales rule where you live?”

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!