Hops & Bops Podcast

🍺 𝙃𝙤𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙄𝙡𝙡𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣

📍Blue Point Brewing Co. (Patchogue, NY)

💿 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙧𝙘𝙖𝙙𝙚

🎤 O.A.R.

╰ Joe and Tom are back once again and, this time, are talking about a couple of Joe’s picks. Album-wise, they dig into O.A.R.’s tenth and latest release, which encompasses all of their sounds from their career, such as rock, pop, reggae, and, of course, their college rock sound that put them on the map. All of this jam-pac...

🍹𝙎𝙪𝙧𝙛𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙄𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙏𝙚𝙖 + 𝙑𝙤𝙙𝙠𝙖 📍Stateside Vodka 💿 𝙎𝙖𝙡𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙏𝙖𝙧 🎤 Joey Harkum ╰ Mike and Tom are back once again and, this time, are talking about a couple of Mike’s picks. For tunage, they tackle up and coming artist, Joey Harkum, and his 4th and newest album, Salt and Tar. Mike’s been digging him all summer and this album is short, simple, yet captivating. His sound is a blend of acoustic, reggae, fol...

🍺 𝙁𝙖𝙞𝙧𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙄𝙋𝘼 📍Thomas Hooker Brewery (Bloomfield, CT) 💿 𝘼𝙡𝙫𝙫𝙖𝙮𝙨 🎤 Alvvays ╰ Mike and Tom are at the helm for this episode. They crack open one of their beloved beers, Fairway IPA from Thomas Hooker. A smooth, no nonsense beer that’ll help improve your swing…possibly. For tunes, Tom shares the self-titled debut from dream pop band Alvvays (pronounced ‘Always’). It’s 30 minutes of summery bops and good vibes. Wil...

🍺 𝙍𝙤𝙖𝙙 𝙅𝙖𝙢

📍Two Roads Brewing (Stratford, CT)

💿 𝘼𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙤𝙩 𝙋𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨

🎤 Rex Orange County

╰ Joe and Tom are back exploring a couple of Tom’s picks. For the album, he’s thrown Joe a curveball with one of his favorites, indie artist Rex Orange County’s sophomore effort. His fusion of indie rock, jazz, and bedroom pop makes for an eclectic and versatile sound. To drink, they pop the cap on one of Two Roads’ most p...

🍺 𝙈𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙤 𝙋𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙎𝙀𝙇𝙏𝙕𝙍

📍Tribus Beer Co. (Milford, CT)

💿 𝙎𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙩 𝘾𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙖 𝙀𝙋

🎤 Foo Fighters

╰ Joe has returned to his hosting chair alongside Tom and, to ease his way back in after his hiatus, Joe picked…you guessed it, Tribus and Foo Fighters! The Foos Saint Cecilia EP, released in 2015, is a 5-song quick rocker and a very easy listen. Recorded over the course of 2 weeks in an Austin hotel of the same n...

🍺 Evil Orange Cat 📍Evil Twin Brewing & Fat Orange Cat 💿 Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City 🎤 Kendrick Lamar ╰ Tom And Mike are back! In this week’s episode, we talk about one of Tom’s more anticipated album to review, Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City by Kendrick. It’s his second album, and we’re going to review them all in order eventually, so listen to his progression over time with us! And to pair, we’ve picked up a cool collar between two giant...

🍺 Liquid Death Mountain Water 📍 Austria 💿 Long Dead 🎤 Gravis ╰ Interviewer Tom is back with another one, and this time its a real doozy, as he gets into the weeds with a new band, Gravis. Their debut album, Long Dead, is out now on all streaming services! This metal and riff heavy band began in the pandemic and did the majority of the writing and production remotely, which posed some serious issues going through the album cycle...

💿 Trust The Process out on July 8th! 🎤 KNoWTe ╰ Today we're having a sit down discussion with a talented rapper, songwriter, lyricist and good friend KNoWTe, AKA Jahvon, and we're talking about his newest release Trust The Process. We cover a lot, ranging from storytelling, to influences, to trackless layout, and so much more! Pre-saves are available now as well!  ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Episodes drop weekly on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, & YouTu...

🍺 Labatt's Blue 📍 Toronto, Canada 💿 Honestly, Nevermind 🎤 Drake ╰ Tom's second blind react is to the 6 god himself, the one and only Drake. He just dropped a surprise album this Friday, and what better way to close out the week than with some new music from Toronto's own. Will it surpass expectations or become just another bland Drake album? To double dip into the Canadian specialties, I've gone and found some good ole fashione...

🍺 𝘽-𝙎𝙞𝙙𝙚

📍Alvarium Beer Co. (New Britain, CT)

💿 𝘽𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙅𝙤𝙚𝙡 𝘿𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙝𝙮 𝙍𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜

💁🏻‍♂️ 𝘽𝙞𝙡𝙡 (Tom’s Dad)

╰  In this episode, Tom brought in the big guns… his dad Bill, to talk about someone whose music they’re both passionate about: Billy Joel! They’re ranking his 12 studio albums from worst to best. To drink, they have Alvarium’s New England Blonde Ale to assist in the decision makin...

🍺 𝙏𝙬𝙤𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙣 𝙀𝙖𝙨𝙮 𝘼𝙡𝙚

📍Two Roads Brewing (Stratford, CT) x University of Connecticut

💿 𝙄𝙣 𝙏𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙪𝙚𝙨

🎤 Joji

╰ This week, we’re looking at an EP put out by one of Tom’s faves, Joji. Released in 2017, In Tongues was his first big transition from making comedic, absurd YouTube videos into serious, moody, and heartbroken tracks. And to pair with that, we’re going with TwoConn, a collaboration between Two Roads Brew...

🍺 𝙁𝙖𝙩 𝙏𝙞𝙧𝙚

📍New Belgium Brewing (Fort Collins, CO)

💿 𝙂 𝙉’ 𝙍 𝙇𝙞𝙚𝙨

🎤 Guns N’ Roses

╰ Joe’s back on the pod while Mike is still out in the world. He and Tom are doing a two-fer of EP-centric episodes. First up is Joe’s picks. He’s going with 80s rockers’ Guns N’ Roses’ 1988 EP. An honestly odd collection of tracks, this EP features 4 “live” tracks and 4 acoustic tracks. To drink, New Belgium’s solid and staple amber ...

🍺 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗲

📍Short Throw Brewing Co. (Richmond, VA)

💿 𝗠𝗿. 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗲 & 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗶𝗴 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀

🎤 Kendrick Lamar

╰ Tom’s holding down the fort again and is bringing you Hops & Bops’ first ever 𝐁𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐃 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 to an album! His choice: the 5th studio album by one of his favorite artists, Kendrick Lamar. This episode dropped two days after the album’s release, by the way. This double-album ef...

🍺 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗮 𝗘𝘅𝘁𝗿𝗮

💿 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗔𝗹𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗗𝗿𝘆

🎤 Pusha T

💿 𝗪𝗛𝗢 𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗘𝗦?

🎤 Rex Orange County

💿 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝟮 𝘀𝘄𝗶𝗺

🎤 redveil

╰ Tom is riding solo this week with a MASSIVE episode. He’s talking about 3 albums released this year that you should check out. The first, alternative hip hop artist Pusha T’s 4th album. The second, indie pop artist Rex Orange County’s 4th album. And the third, jazz rapper redveil’s 3...

🍺 𝙊𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙁𝙤𝙤𝙡

📍𝐎𝐍 𝐋𝐎𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍: Tribus Beer Co. (Milford, CT)

💿 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙡 𝙊𝙍𝘼𝙉𝙂𝙀

🎤 Frank Ocean

💁‍♂️💁‍♂️ 𝙅𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙕𝙚𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙨-𝙎𝙤𝙡𝙨𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙞 (Taproom Manager) & 𝙄𝙨𝙖𝙖𝙘 𝙍𝙤𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙪𝙚𝙯 (Beertender)

╰ This is a fucking drop right here. Joe, Mike, and Tom are on location once again; this time, at Tribus Beer Co. in Milford, CT. They also welcome special guests, Tribus celebs, and life-long...

🍺 𝙒𝙖𝙧𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙨 𝙀𝙭𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙚 𝙎𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝘼𝙡𝙚 𝙑𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙩𝙮

📍Artisanal Brew Works (Saratoga Springs, NY)

💿 𝙐𝙣𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚

🎤 Red Hot Chili Peppers

╰ We’ve got a group pick for you in this drop. Remember that forbidden candy when you were a kid, Warheads? Yea, well now you can drink them in beer form thanks to Artisanal Brew Works! We’re taste-testing their 4-flavor variety pack: Apple, Blue Raspberry, Lemon, an...

🍺 𝗔𝗹𝘁𝗕𝗶ë𝗿

📍Tribus Beer Co. (Milford, CT)

💿 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗜𝘀 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗟𝗲𝗳𝘁 𝗧𝗼 𝗟𝗼𝘀𝗲

🎤 Foo Fighters

╰ This episode has Joe written all over it, bringing a couple of his favorite things in life. For the beer, Tribus’ winter German altbiër with hints of toffee, a dark horse in their beer offerings. For the album, the 3rd studio album from the Foos, and first to feature the late, great Taylor Hawkins on drums. Th...

🍺 𝘼𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙤𝙧

📍Two Roads Brewing Co. (Stratford, CT)

💿 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝙍𝙪𝙨𝙝

🎤 Tame Impala

╰ Tom’s picks this episode revisit an artist and brewery that we haven’t featured since our single-digit episodes! His album choice is the 2020 release from psychedelic rockers Tame Impala. This album puts more emphasis on the psychedelic than its predecessor, 2015’s “Currents” (featured on Ep 007). The psychedelic themes ma...

🍺 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙬𝙖𝙮

📍Counter Weight Brewing Co. (Cheshire, CT)

💿 𝙒𝙚𝙡𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙃𝙤𝙢𝙚

🎤 VRSTY

╰ Mike’s behind the wheel for this episode. To the table, he brings the full-length debut album from modern metal band VRSTY, released earlier this year. Their sound is a mix between rock, metal, hip hop, and pop and even has elements very reminiscent of Linkin Park and other nu-metal acts of the early 2000s. To pair with that, he brin...