Better on Draft | Craft Beer Podcast
Every beer begins with a brewer, here is their story. Recorded Live Every Other Friday at 8:30pm ET on Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, and Kick. Join your hosts Dan Cook, Wendy Taylor, Rob Wilson, and Ken Konarzewski Jr. as they update you on news, events, and bring you interviews with some of the best brewers in the world.
Episodes
Every year, like clockwork, we celebrate the winter solstice in December. Kuhnhenn Brewing is celebrating this year by releasing 13 heavyweight beers. They will be on draft and your preorder bottles are ready for pickup. Wendy and Rob catch up with Eric and Bret on the night before their festival which begins December 20th and they still have a lot of work ahead of them.
Kuhnhenn website with more information!
Wendy and Rob prepare for Christmas with a little beer news and a lot of Christmas beer discussion.
39 Affordable Towns With the Most Craft Breweries Per Capita -- With some suspicious math but could help with planning a move or vacation.
MLive's Analysis of the brewery scene in Michigan with parallels to the US.
The Michigan Craft Beer Community on Discord.
What Christmas beers are you looking forward to? Let us know!
Wendy and Rob talk with Carmen Amato, author of the Galliano Club book series. This series takes place in upstate New York (Rome, NY is the inspiration) during prohibition. Beginning as a murder mystery and continuing as a power struggle for different factions related to the distribution and consumption of alcoholic beverages (such as beer, of course!). We ask Carmen about her research into this series and learn a few things about ...
Wendy and Rob talk to Jeremy, founder and operator of Broken Clock Brewing Cooperative. We talk about what it means to run a business as a cooperative, Broken Clock's philosophy about where they fit in their world, and we get a little off topic here and there...
You can learn more about Broken Clock at https://www.brokenclockbrew.com/
Better on Draft is an independent production. If you or someone you know ...
Wendy and Rob talk about the Great American Beer Festival's medal winners from Michigan, Indiana, and a few other places. We'd love to hear about your GABF experiences as an attendee, brewer, vendor, volunteer, judge, or concerned citizen! Reach out to us on any of our social media sites (we're betterondraft on all of them) and let us know what stuck in your memory from a GABF.
Wendy and Rob are joined by Seth from Elm Street Brewing. Hear how Seth got into brewing at Elm Street and became the head brewer there, designing and brewing his own recipes on a commercial scale. Elm Street Brewing's main space is set up to accommodate large groups easily and serve them delicious food from an exciting kitchen. We also talk about the city on Muncie, IN and why a beer tourist might want to spend a day there.
Wendy and Rob talk to Steve Murray, one of the founders of Burn Em Brewing in Michigan City, IN. Burn Em is in a newer space with an interesting kitchen and lots of good beer on tap. You can find out more at their website. If you would like to see the labels mentioned in the show, those are also on their website.
Wendy and Rob talk to Brian Koch from Phantom Canyon Brewing in Colorado Springs, CO. Colorado's oldest brewpub sits right in the heart of the Springs' downtown and is worth a visit for provisioning your next hike or celebrating your hiking success - or because you want some good food and good drink (you earned it, you woke up today!). Brian has been in the industry for a number of years and talks about his experiences - ...
Wendy and Rob talk to Liz and Chelsea of Berkeley Alley Beer and BodyByBeer podcast.
Berkeley Alley Beer can be found at https://thealleybrews.com/ and in Denver, CO. It is a proudly welcoming space so you should go check it out!
The Body by Beer podcast website https://www.bodybybeerpodcast.com/ has information about the podcast and the books we discussed (and the jerky related to the book).
Wendy and Rob talk to Derek from Unmapped Brewing outside Minneapolis, MN.
You can learn more about Unmappd and plan a visit (maybe for one of their charity events, maybe for their to-be-determined winter parking lot event) by visiting https://unmappedbrewing.com/
NOTE: The brewery from Strange Brew is called Elsinore, not Excelsior like Rob thought.
Rob talks about his recent trip to Grand Rapids aka Beer City, USA. Wendy talks about her upcoming trip to Columbus, Ohio and her cruise from Boston.
Wendy and Rob talk to Steve aka Hold MI Beer about his last year of being a beer writer, bartender, and traveler.
Steve writes for Better on Draft: https://www.betterondraft.com/ and you can follow him and find additional writing on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61562608120577
Wendy and Rob talk to Eric Bean from Columbus Brewing Company.
If you find yourself in Ohio, especially in Columbus, check out some of their beers. Eric talks about how he got started in craft beer in the early 90s all the way up through the things they're doing today (year of the lager!).
Learn more at https://columbusbrewing.com/ and follow them on Facebook
@columbusbrewing, Instagram @columbusbrewing...
It's summer and that's a great time for beer festivals! Rob and Wendy talk about two upcoming (or already-passed depending on when you hear this) beer festivals. Whether you attend these festivals or not you may learn some strategies to apply to your next fest - or have strategies to share with us.
July 19: Indiana Brewers Guild presents Summerfest 2025 - https://drinkin.beer/event/summerfest/
July 25 & 26: Michigan Bre...
Rob has often stated that Books & Brews Brownsburg is the best beer bar in Brownsburg. Wendy and Rob get to talk to Nick Valentin, the owner and proprietor of the best beer bar in Brownsburg!
Books & Brews Brownsburg can be found on Facebook if Brownsburg, Indiana alone isn't a big enough draw for you to visit in person: https://www.facebook.com/BnBBrownsburg
Rob and Wendy talk to Chris Overlay, founder of Get Hoptimized about what a marketing company can do for breweries. You can learn more about Get Hoptimized and listen to their podcast at https://www.gethoptimized.com/
Rob and Ed talk to Adam Ross about his involvement in Twin Span Brewing in the Quad Cities area.
Adam's playing HuntAKiller games, Rob suggested Grand Gamers Guild's 18Escape series.
Your winners of the 2025 March Draftness competition decided to throw a big party at their venue on Saturday May 17th in Portage Michigan, and Ed, Ken, Wendy, and Bill all came down to check it out.
Ed and Ken sat down with the owners and head brewer to talk about the business, fighting through the 2020's, and how they are able to keep progressing forward with a great fanbase and even better beer!
Presidential Brewing Co: ...
Adrienne Banka of Cerveceria Punta Sur joins us (from her distillery) to talk about opening the first brewery in Cozumel, Mexico. From educating the politicos to educating the local community, hear how she has grown a business that serves the local community while managing the tourists in a vacation destination. You can also hear about the joys of learning to make things work when you are brewing on an island and dealing with a lot...
Rob talks at great length about the things he saw and did at and around the Craft Brewers Conference. Sessions, the show floor, events, and other beery trips all show up. Hear his (not an expert) advice to small taprooms based on what he thinks he heard in some of the educational sessions! Most importantly, Barleywine Is Life #BIL.
More information about the Craft Brewer's Conference is available at their website: https://www.c...
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