Modern Brews and Beats Podcast

On episode 234, we talk with Bryan Thomas, head brewer at Ivanhoe Ale Works in Denison, Texas. Bryan shares his experience as a cancer survivor, how he discovered his passion for brewing later in life, and how he helped renovate an early 20th-century theater into the space that Ivanhoe Ale Works is today. On the music front, we discuss the punk band Fire S...

On episode 231, our friend Jeff introduced us to the music and artistry of Boston-based artist Daniel Laurent aka DL. For episode 233, Jeff joins us in a conversation with DL. In addition to DL's music and filmwork, it's a fun discussion on regional hip-hop history and regional foods between Boston, Dallas, and Houston scenes. On the brew front, we discuss beverages from Down East Cider, Time & Material Beer, and Celestial Beerwork...

Co-owners Sean Steeg and David Welsch of Juniata Brewing Company join us episode 232 on Modern Brews + Beats Podcast. We connected with their brewery at Barrel & Flow Festival as they're done past collaborations with Our Culture Brewing and Off The Wall Brewing. For this episode, we discussed Juniata's origin story and the Barrel & Flow collaboration beer they did with The Pennsoulvanians - a Central, PA-based, a seven-piece band. ...

Coffee is back on the docket for episode 231. Jeff returns to discuss a recent article by Perfect Daily Grind on the similarity between the growth and challenges of craft beer and specialty coffee. He learned about it from the creators of Roastguide, which is a new app like Untappd where users can rate their favorite coffees.

In addition to our coffee talk, we discussed recent beverages from Coffee Del Rey, New Province Brewing Co...

For episode 230, brewer Tommy Miller of Rollertown Beerworks is back on the podcast to talk about the brewery's expansion in Frisco, Texas, (slated to open in October 2025) and share his thoughts about the IPA beer style. In fact, he was brewing at Rollertown while talking with us.

Given Miller's background in the Dallas brewing scene (Deep Ellum, Noble Rey Brewing), we discuss the IBU wars of the early 2000s and 10s, the slow acce...

Modern Brews + Beats Podcast began August 11, 2019. On episode 229, we celebrate our anniversary and interview Stefan King of HopLore Brewing in Leesburg, IN. We've partnered with HopLore to make a collaboration beer for the 5th annual Barrel & Flow Festival in Pittsburgh, PA. Learn more about the beer and Stefan's experience in the restaurant industry before going into brewing.  For this episode's Tasting Notes section, Collin Zre...

We're excited to welcome back Jon Renthrope, CEO of Cajun Fire Brewing Company in New Orleans, LA. In addition to his work with Cajun Fire, he is now the President of the Board of Directors for the National Black Brewers Association (NB2A). We discuss NB2A, Crafted for Action, exporting Cajun Fire product in Asia, and the latest developments for the East New Orleans Cultural Hub.

For this episode's Tasting Notes segment, Advanced ...

Kuumba "Smitty" Smith of Smittox Brewing joins us to discuss Black Eyed Peas' 1998 debut album, Behind the Front. Smitty also shares about his collaborations currently at Oak Cliff Brewing, Balanced Rock Brewing, and False Idol as we prepare for his brewery's grand opening.

In our Tasting Notes segment, Collin Zreet discusses flavors and pairings from three stouts - oatmeal, foriegn extra, and tropical. Be sure to get your tickets...

Jeff is a Certified Cicerone based in the Dallas area, a hip-hop fan, and he's one of our "day one" supporters. On episode 223, he shares his experience with coffee classes from White Rock Coffee, and we discuss the sensory comparisons between beer and coffee. In this week's Tasting Notes segment, Collin Zreet shares delicious foods you can pair with American Porter beers. Additional conversation notes include:

Big Cuppa

Bentonvill...

Tony brings a Late-Ass Album Review segment on Gil-Scott Heron's 1981 album, Reflections. Also, Jerry talks about his experience at Little Beer V in Duluth, GA, and Collin Zreet talks food pairing with American Amber Ale.

We did have some garbles in the show due to connection issues. We tried to remove as much of that as possible and apologize for any interruption in your audio experience.

Additional discussion notes

Yukimi - For ...

This week KooTonyD takes the interviewer seat to speak with Mike Williams of Wild Revival Craft Cocktails in Denton, TX. Mike shares how he and business partner Andrew Martin developed the concept of Wild Revival and what makes them unique in the Dallas / Ft. Worth bev-alc scene. Listen to find out where you can grab some cans locally as well as their distribution spots outside of Texas.

For this episode's Tasting Notes segment wit...

Episode 217 takes us to Autonomous Society Brewpub in the historic Cedars neighborhood of Downtown Dallas. Jerry speaks with Assistant Brewer / Bartender / all-around-handy man Tom Graybael, and cellarman / marketing assistant Preston Grigsby. 

Along with learning how they connected with brewpub owner and founder, Dean Weaver, we discuss the inspiration behind our draft-only IPA collaboration release for this month's Saturday Night...

Tony is shining a light on the Houston-connected sights and sounds in the Netflix drama, Mo, starring Mo Amer.

We're also discussing beers from False Idol Brewing in North Richland Hills, and we debut the Tasting Notes segment with Fort Worth-based Advanced Cicerone Collin Zreet.

Additional notes from this episode:

Power and Prescience of Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower

Being Black In Craft podcast

Jerry and Tony with Greg an...