Fear Of A Craft Beer Planet

Sometimes a part 2 gets little hectic and this time is no different. The energy is raw here as a storm was brewing and everyone was gearing up to hit the lots for night 2 of Phish Camden. Tom, RJ, and Mike start us off, then Jen Bernstein joins us. Jen is the former Managing Editor at High Times Magazine and is currently the CEO of What Heals All, a company dedicated to educating consumers about quality CBD products. Their goal is to be a trusted industry and consumer resource for the advancement of CBD. And, oh yeah, she's a massive Phish fan. We were pretty excited that she came to Tonewood for the event and even more excited that she jumped on with us for a few minutes. Cully Naramore from Treehouse Brewing also pops in right before the skies opened up to share some heady brews he brought down from New England.

On Saturday 6/29 we set up outside of Tonewood Brewing for a Phish Parking Lot Pre Party. We encouraged people to swing by Tonewood to pick up their beer for the lot while we did the podcast. We had a slew of special guests stop in through out the day including Tom Marshall and RJ Bee from Osiris Media, Mike Finoia from Amigos Podcast, Michael Shields from Welcome To The Party Pal and Across the Margin Podcasts, and our good friends Aaron, Mel, Apple and Ryder from the No Simple Road Podcast via phone. Our old producer Dan Jacoby stopped by, we hear all about Ryan Egan's first Phish show experience from the night before, and Richard explains that he had an epiphany. This is part 1 of 2 parts.

Part 2 from Forest and Main Brewing finds us hanging with Scott Hatch from Crime and Punishment and Fermentery Form Brewing, Kevin from Hidden River Brewing, and Gerard and Dan, the owners of Forest and Main. There's tons of great info and music talk mixed with some science and even some existentialism for fun. We do a pretty good job of holding the podcast together while the brewers were on, and then the guys from the band The Pool Boys rolled in. That's exactly where the podcast came off the rails. You'll feel it happen as you listen. Sometimes we keep it buttoned up, sometimes we don't, and then there are special times like these where we do both in one podcast.

We're live from June Day at Forest and Main Brewing in Ambler PA! June Day is a celebration of all things Forest and Main with live bands, collab beers, special beers, and all around fantastic vibes! Greg from Forest and Main hangs out and explains the mad science and sorcery that is evidently the daily operation for these guys. The Physical artwork in the brewery is amazing, the liquid artwork is cosmic, the whole place reminded us of Alice in Wonderland for craft beer drinkers. We do our best to describe the situation, but if you're in the Philly area, you need to experience Forest and Main for yourself. This is part 1 of a 2 part episode.

Jim Conroy, Lead Brewer from The Alchemist, joins us to talk about the brewery and the beer that basically changed the craft beer landscape. Jim walks us through his beginnings with The Alchemist and how they struggled to keep up with production, up to now as they have expanded and have been able to make more beer. We talk about old school lot beers, how Heady has become the official beer of Phish lots, and what the future holds for The Alchemist.

This time around we did an episode in our make-shift studio, the Tonewood Brewing glassware closet with no windows and no air, while it was a beautiful Spring day outside. We made the best of our situation by opening 3, 1.5 liter bottles from the Stone Brewing Groundbreaking Collaborations series. All three beers were magical and we decided that with the recent closing of the Stone Berlin Brewery, these bottles are now collectors items. We have a few bottles left in the series that we'll open on a future episode but for this one, it was just us and way too much amazing beer. Guests are cool, but sometimes the beer is our guest and we're A-OK with that.

If you listen to us already and you’re into things that happen in the beer world, then there’s a solid chance you've heard the news that Boston Beer (Sam Adams) and Dogfish Head Brewing have merged to create one company and you probably have an opinion about it. If you haven't heard, then please allow us to break the news here. After the news broke, we had a few days to digest everything and look at it from all sides which some of us needed to do, and others of us did not. As you can imagine, the news was met with mixed emotions. It all gets explained as we break it down from front to back, present the facts as we know them, and help you come to your own conclusions.

Eight and Sand Brewing is located in Woodbury NJ where they’re making great beer in a beautiful facility. We have an old connection to Chris and Chris from Eight and Sand. Before they were making beer commercially, they were home brewers that would buy their beer from Jay Rose when he worked at the beer store back in the early 2010’s. Even back then they would come into the store and talk about plans to open a local brewery. Well, they succeeded. They are making everything from crystal clear, authentic German beers, to Insta-worthy milkshake IPA’s that light up the beer consumption apps. This is a long overdue conversation with great guys, about great beers, in a beautiful spot. Here’s Chris Mazzone, Chris Burke, and Josh Kizitaff from Eight and Sand Brewing explaining their name and all the train references.

This is the first of a 2 segments we recorded at 8 and Sand Brewing in Woodbury NJ. This first segment is just us covering some current events and opening beers. The fine folks at Bear Republic Brewing were nice enough to send us another beer, Challenge Series #11 Brut IPA, we opened it and talked about it on the podcast before the guys from 8 and Sand jumped on.

This one was a long time in the making. We tried a couple times over the last year to do a collab episode with Rob, Eric, and Amy from Jersey Beer Guys and a Girl Podcast but something always seemed to get in the way. No inside joke or speaking in code either, we literally just couldn't get our schedules to line up to do it. Since we were all in AC for the fest, we decided no better place than there and no better time than then to make it happen. We talk about beer in this one. We dissect the biz and how its lightning-fast evolution has created a ripple effect of growth from giant international breweries all the way down to the new brewery on your block. Tons of great beer convo here, you won't even feel the hour go by.

As we sat down to get started, we received a few texts from guests saying they couldn't make it on because they were too busy at their booths. So with zero game plan and zero scheduled guests, we cracked the mics and went for it. What happened next is basically a microcosm of how our podcast works. We ended up with a SLEW of guests from the beginning straight through to the end. If you didn't know better you'd think we planned this, but we did not. That's just how it all works and we're cool with that. Here's who came on: Julia Mayer- Cellar Technician for Stone Brewing Scott Cronick - Radio Host and Owner of The Tennessee Beer Hall in Atlantic City Paul Brown - Head of Spotlight Marketing Solutions LLC and all around force of nature John Couchoud - South Jersey Beer Scene Podcast Jake Glassey - Atlantic Coast Productions

Friday night session 1 at the AC Beer and Music Fest! Joe Turco from Sloop Brewing stops by and gives us the lowdown on Sloop. We crack one of his beers and discuss a Summer road trip up to the brewery to do a proper podcast with them. From there we discuss Richard's health (or lack there of) after a story emerges about an incident that happened during lunch earlier that day. Then our good friend Brad Forman from Great Lakes Brewing jumps on to show us their brand new American IPA as we try to keep our wits about us while doing a podcast with 10,000 people, bands, and bagpipers in the background.

Jon Henderson is the President/Executive Producer/Founder of Good Time Tricycle Productions out of Atlantic City. 14 years ago Jon realized people were starting to seek out better beer, the people producing better beer were all united in a common "Us vs. Them" cause, and he wanted to unite all of those people under one roof. Atlantic City Beer Fest was born. Over the years the fest has evolved into what it is today, The Atlantic City Beer and Music Fest, which is currently the second largest beer fest in the country behind The Great American Beer Fest in Colorado. Listen in as a true innovator talks about how he gets inspired, how he builds a team, and how he stays grounded while chaos swirls around him.

Mike Finoia is a stand-up comedian based in NYC, he's a writer for the show Impractical Jokers, and host of Amigos Podcast on the The Osiris Podcast Network. Mike was working at the Borgata in Atlantic City when Jay and Rob caught up with him at the Tennessee Ave Beer Hall for a few beers and a bite. Richard and Ryan weren't there for the recording of the episode but they recorded an intro and intermission later which we added to the show. We love hanging with Mike and doing the podcast when he comes to town. The conversation is always natural and real, exactly how we like it! Check out Amigos Podcast on the on the Osiris Podcast Network. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/amigos-with-mike-finoia/id1434112140?mt=2

6 months ago we went to Love City Brewing in Philadelphia and recorded what we thought was one of our best podcast to date. Kevin, Melissa, and Mo from Love City were fantastic, it was a beautiful day, the beers were cold and amazing, and things could not have been more perfect. Or so we thought. As great as it was, we had an equipment issue and none of it was recorded. We were devastated and damn near shut the podcast down because of it. Fast forward 6 months and Love City was gracious enough to have us back for take 2! We had Kevin and Mo on to discuss how the brewery came together, how far they've come in six months, and what the future holds for Love City Brewing. They are making AMAZING beer in an amazing space. If you find yourself in Philly for a show, Love City Brewing is a must see. We can't thank them enough for having us back, and we look forward to recording at Love City again in September!

Love City Brewing in Philadelphia was our gracious host for 2 episodes. We did the first one with just us where we opened a brand new beer from Allagash called Sun Drift, an IPA from Oscar Blues called Can-O-Bliss, and a beer from Bear Republic Brewing called Sonoma Tart. Bear Republic sent us a package in the mail with stickers, a bottle opener, a press release, and two bottles of Sonoma Tart to drink on the podcast. Thanks Bear Republic! We also discuss the 30 year anniversary of the release of 3 Feet High and Rising By De La Soul.

Cully Narramore works on the canning line at Tree House Brewing. He drove down to NJ from CT to hang with us on the podcast, and hipped us to all things Tree House. These Tree House Beers stopped us in our tracks and basically left us speechless. Cully is a Phish fan and we managed to hip him to Tonewood Fuego as he was dropping Tree House heat on our heads. This one was fun for us because we always enjoy checking out hype beers from hype breweries. The Tree House hype is REAL. These beers transcend the hype and are 100% worth your attention if you can give it. Thanks Cully, and thank YOU Tree House, for a real good time!

We should explain the title. It's a Beastie Boys reference. Name the song and the album for extra credit. Google might even be stumped by this, so you may have to rely on knowledge alone. We go deeeeep, good luck. This one is just the three of us (thus the title). We tangle with a few IPA's, battle a buzz created by phones instead of alcohol, and luxuriate in the laid back environment of the Tonewood Brewing glassware closet where this was recorded.

Episode 101 finds us in Bridgeport PA at Conshohocken Brewing with Glen Macnow and Don Russell from the "What's Brewing" TV Show on NBC Sports Philly. We've listened to Glen Macnow on Philly sports radio for many years and now he's an investor in Conshohocken Brewing, one of the hottest breweries in the Philadelphia area. Don Russell is a craft beer renaissance man. He's been writing a column about beer for the Philadelphia Daily News for 20 years, he's written books about beer, he helped create Philly Beer Week, now he does a TV show about beer. The man has done it all! On this episode we open a Tonewood Fuego, a beer Don brought from Sacred Vice Brewing, a Conshohocken Black Brute IPA, an Alaskan Smoked Porter, and a 24 year old bottle of Frank Boon Framboise!! How does a raspberry lambic from 1995 taste? Tune in and find out! Thanks again to Glen and Don for taking the time to hang with us. If you're not in the Philly area and want to check out "What's Brewing" here's the youtube link

As you may have noticed, this is our 100th episode. We're as shocked as you are. Believe it or not, we actually PLANNED an entire episode chock full of of beer-soaked frivolity, whimsy, and good-natured shenanigans to celebrate our 100th episode. The universe however, had other plans. We explain what happened in the first few mins of this episode and come to the conclusion that when we plan episodes, it never works. Lucky for all of us, this episode has no plan and it went off without a hitch. We did this episode in the glassware closet at Tonewood Brewing so we could play around with YouTube Live and it seemed to have somewhat worked. If you'd like to see us in a closet doing a podcast, feel free to float on over to youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTRuymF0bjc