The Brewing Network Presents - The Session

We are going south for this show, all the way to Florida, to chat with Ashley and Thomas from Barley Mow Brewing! Ashley is the head brewer there, and we talk about her journey from what seemed like great brewery to great brewery, ultimately landing the head gig at Barley Mow. She sent out four of her beers - including a Milk Stout, which we enjoy - and they were all tasting really great. Ashley was one of those brewers who offered up grain bills and hops freely, so hopefully you can get a nice base recipe going for these 4 beer styles.

This week The Session welcomes Basqueland Brewing Project from Spain to the show. We talk with brewer Ben Matz about the burgeoning Craft Beer seen in the region and how his brewery fits in the market. Ben tells us about the challenges of producing and selling beer in an unknown market, as well as the styles and types of beer that the Spanish region embraces. We end the show with beer news and a little meltdown from our long lost host, Justin Crossley.

Today on The Session, we welcome Ilan from Insight Brewing in Minneapolis! Ilan seems like one of those brewers who already had a lifetime of brewing experience before he started Insight, traveling the world and brewing at some amazing places. We chatted about his brewing history, his start as a homebrewer, and how he found the perfect business partners to start his own brewery. Then we dive into the beers, of which Ilan sent 5, and they were all solid examples of Insight's talent and love for brewing. It was a great time, and we look forward to more when we visit them during NHC!

Mike Sumaya came out from Full Circle Brewing in Fresno to talk about the emerging beer culture in California's 5th largest city. He brought two beers with him - one was an Imperial Stout with cold brewed coffee added to it, and the other was his version of a New England IPA. We had tried different versions of this style before, but never one as murky as Mike's, so it was good to see what other people are making out there. We also do some Beer News and drink some of JP's homebrew (and didn't choke).

The Session welcomes back Marshall Schott from the insanely popular Brulosophy blog! Normally, he sends us one beer to try on the show, but this time he fired out two, which is great for us because we get extra beer. One was part of his Hop Chronicles series, taking a single hop and trying to get some ultra-detailed information on flavor and aroma, and the other was the classic triangle tests we have done a few times before. We always learn something when Marshall is on, and this show was no exception.

Julian Shrago from Beachwood Brewing joins us live on The Session this week! Julian makes some of the best beers in the country, as evidenced by his many awards, including Best Large Brewpub in the world at the 2016 World Beer Cup. Julian will be in-studio, traveling up from his Long Beach location with lots of beer for us to talk about. Beachwood really covers all styles of beers really well so we can learn a lot from this show, not just hops (although Julian kills it with hops too!). We also make Julian read some if his "bad" beer reviews online. Hilarity ensues.

Join us this week on The Session as we welcome Barley Forge Brewing Company and their partner in crime, the OC Mashups Homebrew Club from Orange County, California. We are joined by Barley Forge Operations Manger Sean O'Shea and OC Mashups COO, Kyle Sherman. The two tell us about the collaborative relationship between the brewery and their local homebrew club. We discuss the many unique beers that result from the relationship and learn how other breweries can do the same. Tune in live to participate in the chat room or call in at 888.401.BEER.

The Session welcomes Jester King Brewery back to the show! We haven't had time to catch up with Jester King since their first appearance back in 2013. They are an authentic farmhouse brewery committed to mixed culture and spontaneous fermentation. Founder Jeffrey Stuffings and new Brewery Production Manager Averie Swanson join us on the show to talk about their new SPON series of beers that are 100% spontaneously fermented. We'll learn about the traditional methods Jester King employs, including the use of a coolship, to brew and ferment in the traditional Belgian method to produce truly unique, spontaneously fermented brews.

Simon Olney from Ol Republic Brewing joins us on The Session to talk about their wonderful Continental Style beers. Located in Nevada City, CA. these guys are brewing amazing examples of traditional UK and German style beers that have won several awards and represent true examples of their styles. We discuss the process of layering flavors, using traditional ingredients to make the beers accurate, and how to get the most flavor out of traditional techniques like spoonding. We also get a visit from Nathan Smith and Nicole Erny, and Justin is back at the helm fresh off his first trip to New Orleans.

The folks from Founders joined us in the studio for some Midwest beer talk! We only had a small amount of time with them tonight, so we jumped right in and pushed Feedback to the end of the show. Founder Dave Engbers, Curriculum Coordinator Mike Wilcox-Steil, and their newly minted historian Francesca Jasinski, gave us some great information on how the brewery started and what the beer landscape was like way back in the early 1990's. It's always a great time chatting with brewers who have been in the game this long, and Founders was no exception!

We dropped our usual Christmas show in favor of some homebrew education! Jamil came down from Heretic and joined Alex from Fieldwork and Beardy as we sat around talking about collaboration brews. Mainly what the process is when commercial brewers plan a beer so we as homebrewers can collaborate on our own recipes. Then we got into the details of actually crafting a recipe on the air – what ingredients to use and why, what parameters to hit, etc. At the end, we got a pretty killer stout recipe out of it, which is our holiday gift to you! Brew it and tell us about it! We also played a new game called, “Spread ‘Em!”

Jeff Hansen, COO and Co-Founder of Wildcard Brewing Company, and Head Brewery Andy Crocker, join us on The Session this week. Located in Redding, CA. Wildcard is one of Northern California's newest breweries. Jeff and Andy tell us about their brewing education in England, their affinity for malt forward beers, and their popular hoppy styles. We also conduct a tasting analysis of off flavors with Craig from Aroxa, the makers of the flavor tasting kits used by the Cicerone Beer Certification Program and others to examine beers and beer styles.

The great Shaun "Sully" O'Sullivan from the 21st Amendment Brewery returns to The Session to let us know what's happening in the world of 21A. The Brewcasters get reacquainted with Sully as he describes his latest creations; El Sully, Blah Blah Blah IPA, El Camino (un)Real and more. We also discuss and taste 4 seasonal/holiday beers and give our recommendations on what to look for when purchasing seasonal beer this holiday season.

Marshal Schott from Brulosophy is back again with another blind triangle test for The Brewcasters. This time Marshall has been very secretive with us so we are not influenced in our blind tasting with too much information. Listen in and see how we do with another great Brulosophy experiment. Marshal also discusses a new project, The Hop Chronicles, that helps us learn more about the unique features of individual hops.

This week on The Session we welcome Dave Marliave from Flat Tail Brewing Company back to the studio to talk about his latest crazy project. Dave and his friends decided to to take a motorcycle ride for six days on the Oregon Back Country Discovery Route and brew small batches of beer along the way. The challenge required them to brew on only camping/backpacking equipment and use natural resources to brew the beers. They had to sort through challenges such as changing fermentation temperatures, mobile fermentors, limited resources, and more. They even had to use saliva to introduce enough enzymes to produce an effective mash....gross! Listen in and find out how the experiment worked out and see if The Brewcasters are willing to taste the challenged beer.