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
While in Denver recently Rob visited Renegade Brewing and pretty much forgot to leave. Wendy and Rob talk to Chris of Renegade about the awesome things going on there. The great beer, community, and fun times that can be had in this lively and exciting place.
https://www.renegadebrewing.com/
We also talk a fair bit about the Ales for ALS project and Renegade's participation this year. You can learn more about this cause an...
In this not-episode Rob explains why this is not an episode!
Upcoming events:
- May 22 - Chris Lane from Renegade in Denver
- May 29 - Rob is at Books & Brews Brownsburg at a Schlafly Tap Takeover
- June will be prerecorded things due to vacations
- July 18 is the Indiana Brewer's Guild Summerfest at Victory Field
- August 20th is the Michigan Homebrew Festival that we heard about in episode 388
Wendy and Rob talk to Greig of Brewaucracy with Bill and Michelle of the Detroit area about beer judging. We get some of our burning questions answered about how to get started and see a bit behind the curtain of what a beer judging session looks like at a competition. If this show piques your interest in getting involved in beer judging or sheds some light on what a style is and why it's important, let us know!
Some organizati...
Kristen Radaich joins Wendy and Rob to talk about her recent book, Beer Hiking Minnesota, Wisconsin & the Upper Peninsula. We talk about hiking with dogs, finding breweries near trails, finding trails near breweries, beer flights, and so much more.
Wendy and Rob get caught up on various pieces of beer news. Some new laws, TTB stuff, mergers, grocery store beer, harbingers of spring, celebrities doing celebrity things, and some cool new technology useful to the beer industry.
March Draftness is coming to May. If you are a brewery in Michigan who wants to be involved, email us!
We had some real-world difficulties this week so cut the show very short.
Episode 386 will be on March 27 and will most likely be a news show.
April 10 we will talk to Kristen Radaich about her book: Beer Hiking Minnesota, Wisconsin & the Upper Peninsula: Great Hikes and Breweries from the Twin Cities to the Northwoods
May 8 we have Nick Lesogor of Exit 12 Homebrew to learn about BrewTubers, an online homebrew club.
Wendy and Rob catch up on some beer news and important lists!
Vinepair's highest rated beer in each state (and DC) using BeerAdvocate's ratings
Vinepair's article about cheersing with a list of equivalent sayings in other languages.
Portland, OR's Shebrew beer festival
USA Today's multiple articles - the final 20 that will be voted on for rankings:
Wendy and Rob talk to Stephen of OPA Design Studio about designing breweries, taprooms, and fun places to visit.
OPA Design Studio's blog with more looks at their projects and related topics: https://www.breweryarchitect.com/blog
The Obituary card game Stephen designed: https://obituarygame.com/
Wendy and Rob catch up in the new year and make some predictions for 2026. Predictions were about apples, the trend with IPAs, big releases, effects of consolidation, average ABV on shelves, and packaging formats.
We also talk about non-alcoholic versions of styles and what that means when you get into things like beer judging, Untappd, or as a consumer looking to purchase a beer.
Is Rob alone in having craft beer singles become rare...
Wend and Rob talk to Jared Williamson, lead brewer at Schlafly of St. Louis. We talk about beer education, some historic styles, Schlafly's growth and role in the community, and the community of St Louis. This episode may cause you to want to visit St Louis!
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.
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