Old Peculier is possibly one of Britain’s most well-known and loved ales. The name pays tribute to the unique ecclesiastical status of Masham as a ‘Court of the Peculier’ and is also a reference to the strong characteristic of the beer! For many years it was affectionately referred to as Yorkshire’s ‘Lunatic’s Broth’.
Quinn Bartlett, formerly of Belgian focused Buzzsaw Brewing and now at Hoster's Brewing, joins us to talk about brewing Belgian-style beers. Along the way we try some new offerings from Ommegang and revisit an old classic from North Coast Brewing, while discussing the challenges of selling these beers in the American market.
Bodhi sets the bar for Double IPAs as one of the most sought-after brands in Ohio. It’s a combination of a big, bold ABV that drinks smoother than most classic IPAs. The bold fruit character adds dimension and makes this a staple in the Ohio craft community and truly a beer worth drinking.
If Columbus's own food writer Nick Dekker (Breakfast with Nick) asks why haven't you done a breakfast stout show with him yet, all you can reply is what are you doing Saturday morning? From there good times ensue as we explore breakfast stouts and donut pairings al a Founders, Jolly Pumpkin, Maumee Bay, and Buckeye Donuts.
Rich in color, flavor and tradition, this strong Polish beer has been brewed according to the traditional recipe from 1881, with the Munich malt and special malts for caramel and color plus the highest quality aromatic hops. Everything together creates a unique combination of taste. Head up to Weiland's to grab one and join us for a beer worth drinking.
To celebrate our 50th podcast we hosted a party at Brewcadia loacated upstairs from Barley's Brewing Company downtown. We invited everyone who has been a guest on the show in the past 8 year run of the show for the tapping of a cask of our collaborative brew, called AMP IPA. This collaborative beer was created along with brewmaster Angelo Signorino at Barley's Brewing Co.
We are joined by beer writer Bill Babbitt who popped by the studio to share a Sam Addams Utopias, a boundary bending, barrel-aged beer that blurs the line between beer and fine spirit. At 28% ABV, it’s definitely a beer worth sharing. Its reputation puts it on every beer drinker’s bucket-list and we are indebted to Bill for sharing it!
In tribute to Quebec, Unibroue named this fantastic Tripel after the land encountered by 16th-century French explorers who thought they’d reached the end of the world. To date, it has won 55 medals and honors from top international competitions, including 13 platinum distinctions and 29 golds at prestigious events such as the Chicago Beverage Testing Institute's World Beer Championships and the World Beer Awards. La Fin du Monde is definitely a beer worth drinking!
Do you believe in Columbus style pizza? Jim Ellison, author of Columbus Pizza: A Slice of History and founder of the city's first pizza tour sure does! Jim joins as our guest this episode and chronicles one of the city's favorite foods. Also along for the ride is Columbus craft brewing pioneer Lenny Kolada who takes no back seat when it comes to pairing pizza with beer.
No one has written more extensively and authoritatively on craft beer in the Buckeye state than Rick Armon. A journalist by trade, Rick has published two books on the beers of Ohio – Ohio Breweries in 2011 and 50 Must Try Beers of Ohio in 2017 – in addition to his influential Ohio Beer Blog that covered Ohio beer and breweries throughout the teens. We couldn’t think of a better guest for our 50th episode, so Mark and I made a pilgrimage to Akron where Rick was kind enough to sit down with us and talk about the past, present and future of Ohio beer.
Jackie O's Oil of Aphrodite is an American double stout brewed with locally harvested black walnuts and Belgian candied syrup. English, German, American, and Belgian malts are accompanied by Pacific Northwest hops, creating a sweet and rich springboard for deep nuttiness making this dark brew definitely is a beer worth drinking.
This episode we talk all things cask ale with Angelo Signorino of Barley's Brewing, the only brewery where you can count on getting a cask ale in Columbus. We then pivot to our British correspondent, Nick Smith, proprietor at Steam Machine Brewery in Durham UK to get his perspective on the current state of cask ale in the UK and C.A.M.R.A. (campaign for real ale).
We here at All Things Beer have got something new for you, something we are calling "A Beer Worth Drinking". Think of these as bonus episodes where we’ll introduce you to beers that are world class examples of style, rich in history, story and flavor. Definitely a beer worth drinking, we present Brouwerij Bosteels Tripel Karmeliet, one of the best beers in the world and a capstone for the Tripel style.
Columbus Underground's annual reader survey had a huge response in the category of local breweries for 2023. Join us as we review their list, refute it, explain what we look for in a top brewery, and present our official 2023 All Things Beer Top Ten Columbus area breweries list. Who will be number one? Listen to find out!
Every year for over four decades, Sierra Nevada makes the journey to the Pacific Northwest to hand-select the best Cascade and Centennial hops for Celebration IPA. Once the hops are picked, the countdown begins as race back to the brewery to capture the citrus, pine, and floral notes at their absolute peak.
Dan Shaffer and Ralph Wolfe join us again, this time for a festive look at the Christmas beers of Belgium. During our journey we sample strong Belgian holiday seasonals that include Delerium Noël, Scaldis Noël, Chimay Grande Reserve, and De Dolle Stille Nacht. We finish closer to home with Fathead’s Pimp My Sleigh.
Brewed once per year on St. Nicholas Day, the Triplebock Samichlaus can rightfully be called the OG of extreme beers. Dan Shaffer, head brewer at Land Grant, and Ralph Wolfe join us for a closer look at this cult classic, as well as the Samichlaus-inspired Frogichlaus Swiss Style Celebration Lager from Akron’s Hoppin’ Frog Brewery. Along the way we discuss the historic St. Nicholas, and European traditions surrounding St. Nicholas Day. If you've been naughty, it might be worth your time to check out our primer St. Nicholas' sidekicks Krampus and Zwarte Piet, who deal with the bad kids.
Whether you call them Scotch Ales or Wee Heavies, who can resist the charms of one of Scotland’s best exports. Brian Kimmel, a veteran of several hikes across the Scottish Highlands, joins us for an audio tour of Caledonia. We start in the south at the venerable Traquair House and work our way northward to Orkney Islands for a wee nip of the potent Skull Splitter, before finishing closer to home with Zaftig’s complex barrel aged Wee Heavy.
In this episode, we remain in the UK but cross over Hadrian’s Wall and turn our attention to the malt-forward, yet sessionable family of Scottish Ales. We are joined by the dean of Ohio brewers, Barley’s brewmaster Angelo Signorino, who has been making his unique interpretation of a Scottish Ale for thirty years. Inspired by a Scottish beer that no longer exists, the Barley’s Scottish Ale has captured the fancy of beer writers from Michael Jackson to Rick Armon. Join us for a wide ranging conversation that touches on topics including wort caramelization, maintaining a house yeast strain for decades, the value of a schilling, cask ales, and single malt whiskey.
Continuing our exploration of sessionable British styles we turn our attention to Dark Milds in this episode. Packaged milds are almost impossible to find here in Ohio, but fortunately there are several local breweries that brew this classic low abv pub ale. Ryan Torres from Brew Brothers joins us to talk about his dark mild, Toasty, a two time GABF medal winner, and we head out to Columbus’ newest brewery, Thunderwing, to talk with owner and head brewer Jason Wing about his dark mild, Far Shores.
Ordinary Bitter, Best Bitter, ESB and English Pale Ale are not the easiest style to find here in the USA. Fortunately in and around Ohio there are still some microbreweries being them with pride and English tradition. This month we travel up to Mansfield Ohio to talk with Carmone and Dustin MacFarlane to learn what goes into making a great ESB. Being this is our Halloween episode for the year, it is no coincidence that the Phoenix Brewery is house in an old abandoned mortuary. Their resident ghost Charlie makes his presence known! Hopefully it is not too distracting a listen due to the clawing, shuffling noises, and bumps in the night that we picked up while recording. It was no doubt we were picking up something from the paranormal.
What makes the perfect Saison beer?? Find out in this episode as we explore this remarkable beer style and are joined by fellow BJCP beer judge and returning guest Bill Koeppen and number one All Things Beer mega fan Robert Nauman to determine what makes a great Saison beer. In a blind tasting session, beer steward Ralph Wolfe helps our 4 judge panel navigate through 8 beers ranging from local, regional, and national. In the final round we compare our favorites side by side and pick a winner. We hope you enjoy this listen as we find out what makes the perfect Saison.
In this episode we turn a spotlight on non alcoholic beers, defined as beers with < 0.5% abv. We discuss the science behind various approaches to making NA beers and sample a bakers dozen examples representing styles that include lagers, wheat beers, stouts, pale ales and IPAs both traditional and hazy/juicy.
Fall is the time for beers made with freshly picked whole cone hops and no brewery in Ohio does fresh/wet hop beers like Columbus Brewing Company. In this episode Tony Corder tells us how the hop wizards at CBC conjure up a whopping 10 different fresh/wet hop beers, featuring hops from Washington, Oregon, Ohio, and Michigan.
Ever wonder what makes up a perfect Pilsner beer? Do you prefer a Czech Pilsner, German Pils, New Zealand Pilsner, or maybe an Italian Pilsner? In this episode we explore these beer styles and are joined by fellow experienced Pilsner tasters Jamie Gentry and Hans Gorsuch to determine what makes a great Pilsner-style beer. In a blind tasting session, beer steward Ralph Wolfe helps our 4 judge panel navigate through 10 beers ranging from local, regional and national. In each round we work to narrow down a favorite beer to push forward to a final round where we pick the best overall Pilsner in a side by side comparison. We hope you enjoy this listen as we find out what makes the perfect Pilsner and pick a winner in the All Things Beer Pilsner Challenge.
Held every two years the World Beer Cup is arguably the most prestigious and competitive beer competition on the planet. In 2022, breweries from the Buckeye state took home a total of 14 medals. In this episode we drink and discuss the medal winners from Central Ohio breweries including Wolf’s Ridge Brewing (Daybreak Coffee Cream Ale), Gemüt Biergarten (Woden’s Hunt Dunkel), and Columbus Brewing Company (Lager and Crocodile Tongue).
With a malt bill more poetic than a beer style named by its color may suggest, Pat and Mark are joined by Barley’s Homebrew Competition winner Jim Sudduth to explore this classic beer style and what it takes to make an award winning Brown Ale.
The invention and rise of the American IPA is one of those rare moments in the history of brewing that forever changes the rules of making beer. In this episode we turn our attention to this ubiquitous and hugely influential style by sampling six year-round American IPAs from our home base here in Columbus. We are thrilled to be joined on our journey by Dan Shaffer, head brewer at Land Grant Brewing Co. Dan has a gift for finding hop combinations with flavor profiles that evoke almost any kind of fruit you can imagine, and in this episode he graciously shares his deep knowledge of hops.
March is a month that takes us to Ireland as we celebrate St. Patrick's Day and wrap up the third installment of our three part Stout series. On this podcast, Mark and Pat talk all things Irish with Irish dancer, Guinness enthusiast, and good friend Madeleine Bogard. Join us at St. James Gate as we taste through Draught, Extra, and Foreign Extra Stouts and explore the unique culture surrounding them.
In a continuation of our exploration of stouts, join us as we dive into three more styles - Milk, Oatmeal, and Oyster! We get into a bit of the history on the styles, taste an award winning Milk Stout from Cincinnati's Brink Brewing, take a road trip to Bellefontaine where we find a wonderful small town and an outstanding Oatmeal Stout at the Roundhouse Depot, and come back to our home base in Columbus to share an Oyster Stout at The Pearl restaurant with North High Brewing's Gavin Meyers.