The Gnarly Gnome: All The Podcasts

It’s been far too long since the Brewcast met up with Bircus in Ludlow. Since our show in October of 2017, they’ve been brewing up some great beer for their fans, and doing so in the historic Ludlow Theater, which doubles as their taproom. We took a few minutes to sit down with owner Paul and head brewer Sean to talk about what it means to run Cincinnati’s only beer-Circus and some of the struggles that come along with trying to open a place with such a unique idea behind it. Along the way, of course, we drink a few beers and explore how it all comes together. We even take a sneak peek at what’s in store for both the near, and long term future of Bircus. Guests This Week * Andy Foltz – Co-Hosting* Paul Miller – Bircus* Sean Gregor – Head Brewer From The Beer Fridge * Wunderbar Together – Altbier* Cerveza 1862 – Mexican Lager* Tent of Bees – Honey Blonde* Irregulator – Fruited Berliner* Y’all Means ALL – Fruited Brut IPA

It’s hard to ignore all the things that are happening at Karrikin in Fairfax. They’re putting out some really amazing spirits, operating a great tasting room restaurant to enjoy them and are firing on all cylinders right now. But the beer side of me wants to make sure that everyone remembers – It’s a brewery!! They’ve got a solid lineup of taps that range the style gamut – all of which are brewing brewed by some really incredible brewing talent. It’s more than worthy of you spending an hour with us talking Karrikin, talking beer, and talking about how something that has so many sides to it can work. Guests This Week * Andy Foltz – CoHosting* Jeff Hunt – Karrkin* Eric Baumann – Karrikin From The Beer Fridge * Karrikin – Pilsner* Karrikin – Hazy IPA* Karrikin – Citra IPA* Karrikin – Pale Ale* Karrikin – IPA* Karrikin – Passionfruit Guava Sour

Back again on the show, local beer fan, author and all around fun guy to drink a beer with Michael D Morgan joins the folks from Urban Artifact to help guide us through their latest release, Missing Linck. This beer isn’t a far stray from an approachable golden ale, except the story of how it came to be, and the idea of what it could be in years to come here in Cincinnati. The story is fantastic, the beer is delicious and it’s a show packed full of all the things that make Urban Artifact the favorite brewery to so many people here in Cincinnati. We’ll tackle it all – from inception (or discovery) to the current batch of the beer to the holiday that Urban Artifact hopes to inspire around it… This is definitely an action packed episode of Cincy Brewcast! Guests This Week * Bret Kollman Baker – Urban Artifact* Josh Elliot – Urban Artifact* Andrew Washuta* Michael D Morgan From The Beer Fridge * Urban Artifact – Missing Linck (Read more about the beer here)

There are some beer styles that are considered ‘Trendy’ and two of the ones that jump to mind for me were both on tap at Darkness Brewing when the Brewcast rolled in last week. We grabbed a Brut IPA and a Cascadian Dark Ale and asked owner Eric Bosler about the styles, as well as some “bigger picture” stuff about where Cincinnati is, where it’s going and if it’s possible for a place like Darkness to ever happen again in a city like this. It was a great chance to just get caught up on everything that’s been happening with this brewery – after all, it’s been a while since we’ve really got to sit down with them. From distributing onto the Ohio side of the river, to planning a big anniversary party this summer… there’s plenty to talk about! Guests This Week * Andy Foltz – Guest Co-Host* Eric Bosler – Darkness Brewing From The Beer Fridge * Darkness – Explore 240419, Brut IPA* Darkness – Divergent Parallels, Collaboration with Alexandria And Fibonacci

It’s time to get to know Silverton’s upcoming HighGrain Brewing Company – the project designed to bring beer, food and sustainability head first into each other into a space that celebrates all three equally. Andy Foltz was back again for this episode to help out with the co-hosting duties, and we were joined by Matt Utter, Brian Liscano and Josh Jansen to dive into what makes this place a little bit different than everything else that’s happening in Cincinnati right now. We get a great picture of what they’re going to be offering on both the food front and the beer side of things, and take a peek at the space and how it’s designed to fit whatever mood you might be in – if you leave this episode not excited about checking this place out, I have no idea what to tell you… check your pulse. Guests This Week * Andy Foltz – Guest Co-Host* Matt Utter – HighGrain* Brian Liscano – HighGrain* Josh Jansen – HighGrain

There has been a vibrant, exciting and delicious community of breweries crafting sour beers here in Cincinnati, and I tasked myself with getting them all in the same room together to dive into this often misunderstood and under appreciated art form. We opened a few bottles (some very loudly) and explored as deeply as we could what makes it all work. From what got people into the “sour world” to what it means to spontaneously ferment a beer… there were a lot of topics we touched on… so hang in there for a heck of a ride! You also might want to pay attention this week for the “secret word” – I’m going to be giving some stuff away on social media, but you’ll need that to win! Guests This Week * Chase Legler – Sonder* Garrett Hickey – Streetside* Jason Roeper – Rivertown* Josh Elliot – Urban Artifact* Lindsay Roeper – Rivertown* Luke Cole – Rhinegeist* Luke Shropshire – Sonder* Mitch Dougherty – Rhinegeist* Simon Kretchick – MadTree Show Links * MadTree – Facebook – Website* Rhinegeist – Facebook – Website* Rivertown – Facebook – Website* Sonder – Facebook – Website* Streetside – Facebook – Website* Urban Artifact – Facebook – Website

You’ve been hearing a lot about Fifty West in the news lately – from Del’s beer fast that went viral across the globe, to the recent news that the brewery is going to be opening up their third location late this year (or early next year) in Chilicothe… there’s definitely a lot that’s been going on with these folks. That means it’s prime time to sit down for an episode of the brewcast and catch back up with them! We grabbed a couple pints of beer and sat down with Max and Del to dive in a little deeper into what’s been going on… which means that this is going to be a long one! We explored it all, from the obvious big stuff to a quick trip into the slow pour faucet that the brewpub has on for their lager experimentation… and at the end of the day, it’s easy to see that we just scratched the surface with what we could talk to them about. Guests This Week * Andy Foltz – Guest Co-Host* Max Fram – Fifty West* Del Hall – Fifty West From The Beer Fridge * Fifty West – Strawberry Guava Sour* Fifty West – Twelfth and Central Yuzu Ginger Sour* Fifty West – Slow Pour GoGo Juice

Joined by Michael D Morgan and Andy Foltz, The Gnarly Gnome takes a dive into drinking in OTR. We saddled up to the bar at The Drinkery with Jack Daniels to talk about what this part of Cincinnati used to be like and how drinking culture has changed in the last couple decades.

We had the attention of Michael D Morgan after recording an episode of Cincy Brewcast (you do subscribe to that show too, right?) – and thought that it might be fitting to force him into hanging out for a little while longer so we could pick his brain about The Drinkery, and OTR in general. It’s a part of the city that is known for people’s visiting to drink alcohol – so it’s a fitting place to grab one with the Gnome. OTR has seen a lot, it sees a lot – and it’s sometimes easy to forget what this part of town was just a few years back. For so much change to happen quickly it’s important to take a step back every once in a while and wonder if it was all for the better. Sure, no one misses the danger – but what else went away when the commercial bars moved in? If that’s not enough discussion for you – we also threw back a little bit of Jack Daniels, a spirit that none of us had really dove into for a while – and we were pleasantly surprised that you know what? JD is pretty darn tasty when you really try it. Guests This Week Andy Foltz Michael D Morgan What’d We Drink? Jack Daniels Where Were We? The Drinkery, OTR

It goes without saying that Cincinnati’s beer history is long, and full of great stories. The story of what makes Cincinnati Beer so incredible has been put to paper a few times very well – but none have done it in quite as much detail as Michael D Morgan has in his new book ‘Cincinnati Beer’ – which is why I thought he’d be an incredible guest for this week’s episode We highlight a few of the stories in the book – and explore what makes this city’s history so fun (and difficult) to dive into. We drink a few beers along the way and talk about what things look like in craft beer today vs what they looked like pre-prohibition. Are things really that different after all? Guests This Week * Michael D Morgan – Author* Andy Foltz – Guest Co-Host From The Beer Fridge * Fretboard – Trey* West Side – Common Ale* MadTree – Psychopathy Show Links note – the links to Mike’s books are amazon affiliate links – so they help me, as well as helping him! * Cincinnati Beer By Michael D Morgan – Amazon.com* Over The Rhine, When Beer Was King By Michael D Morgan – Amazon.com

I have been really curious about cider for a while now, and until recently have kept putting off taking the deep dive into the world of fermented apple juice. Even now, I’ll be the first to admit I know very little to none about cider… but I’m on my way. If you don’t know as much about it as you’d like to, there are few places that are as good of a stop to learn more than March First. The brewery/cidery/distillery might be ground zero for the world of Cincinnati cider. Leading up to their first ever ‘Ciderpalooza’ festival this spring, Andy Foltz and I sat down with brewer’s Shae Pridemore and Bryan Fisher along with good friend and their social media guy, Josh Engel (The Raging Hop) for those of you who have been paying attention. The question I posed was pretty simple… what’s cider? The conversation went from there deep down the rabbit hole of distilling and fermenting – but I think we got a great first peek into what makes cider work! Guests This Episode * Andy Foltz* Shae Pridemore – March First* Bryan Fisher – March First* Josh Engel – March First

I’ll admit it, for as much as I love drinking, there are topics that I know only a little bit about. Cider is most definitely one of those topics. The great thing about this show, though is that we are surrounded by people who are knowledgeable about far more than you or I might be – experts in various drinking categories. These people can take us by the hand (or glass) and guide us through the different realms of drinking. This week’s episode finds us back at March First (back, only if you’re a listener to Cincy Brewcast). They’re coming up on their first ever ‘Ciderpalooza’ where they are diving DEEP into the world of cider with some of the area’s finest examples on tap for one massive day of cider drinking (you can read more about that here). What better opportunity for us to learn a little bit more about cider? Guests This Week Andy Foltz – Guest Co-Host Shae Pridemore – March First Bryan Fisher – March First Josh Engel – March First

March First is doing a great job at putting out all of the beverages that they enjoy, and using their status a brewery/distillery/cidery to experiment with whatever their minds dream up. While this episode of Cincy Brewcast drifts from beer a little bit – it’s only expected when you set foot into a place like this. This week they’re hosting their first ever ‘Ciderpalooza’ so I knew we had to sit down with them to chat about what the event is going to be like, as well as dive into some of the stuff they’ve been up to… new taproom, new patio, and a ton of new great products coming down the pike. These guys are fun. Guests This Week * Andy Foltz – Guest Co-Host* Shae Pridemore – March Fist* Bryan Fisher – March First* Josh Engel – March First From The Beer Fridge * March First – Black Lager* March First – Imperial Stout* March First – American Pale Ale* March First – Irish Red

Bryan Booth joins the Gnome to take a peek at the Bourbon Sidecar - sometimes called the Kentucky Sidecar.

Venturing down to Asheville, North Carolina, the Gnome spends a few minutes talking to Hi-Wire Brewing’s Chris McLain about what makes Beer City USA so successful at what they do.