Welcome to the Craft Beer Republic. We've got some fresh beer reviews,

a listener voicemail, tons of updates, and our

favorite Na beer. Let's do this.

Had to snort so much coke for that. Welcome in everybody.

It's the craft beer republic. Hope you're digging the new jams.

I am Greg and over there almost healed up. That is Flex.

What's happening, big fella? It's been about four weeks

running now, and I think I'm finally at like 95%. Just a.

Slight cough here. And there. I think I'm I think I'm doing okay.

Yeah. I'm glad we were able to get you

back from death's door. Jesus. Yeah. I was actually dying.

I went to the doctor and they said. Oh, my God, you went to the doctor?

Yeah, I did. It was a waste of money,

but they said, yeah, good thing you came because you're dying. Oh, yeah.

So, uh, long story short, I'm not dead. So glad to see it.

I wasn't quite sure. Oh, God. Well, happy New Year everybody.

Follow us on the socials. @CraftBeerRepublic of course.

@Flex_me_a_beer. And of course in between.

Uh, 805 538 beer. All that stuff is still in play.

Hope you enjoy the new music or switching things up.

It's new year, it's new us. I don't fucking know.

It's funky fresh. It's funky fresh. Hell yeah.

Shout out to our top listening city last week.

And that was Ashburn, Virginia. Okay, not West Virginia,

not West Virginia. We definitely take it. Yeah.

Also a special little shout out to Hong Kong.

We had this huge like download spike for about a week straight

in Hong Kong. I don't know why. Honestly, I'm a little worried.

I hope I think it's cool. I think it's cool.

I just hope no one's like stealing our voice and making AI

bots or something out of us. I don't know, I actually think that

would probably be even cooler. All right, just give us money or

credit or something. I mean, at least your voice.

I hate my fucking voice. Everybody should know that by now.

You have a voice, my friend. Thanks. If you're gonna steal my voice.

Make it sexy. Steal this. This sounds like Jim Carrey when

he's, uh. What's her name? The workout person on In Living

Color. Like the super buff chick? I don't know, I was a horse.

It made me think of when he hosted Saturday Night Live.

And he was the devil. And he would ride the snake.

That was in living color, too, wasn't it? Oh. Was it? I don't think so.

I love Ride the Snake. Yeah. He was all coked out.

Yeah, that was good stuff. Uh, anyways.

All right, we're still on the push for nerdy podcast stuff,

if you haven't yet. Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts.

Make sure you mention craft beer. Make sure you mention, uh,

beer podcast. It's working. The craft beer rankings are

holding strong. The top five. Last I checked,

I think we were number three. It kind of fluctuates within the

top 4 or 5. Uh, Beer Podcast hasn't picked

it up yet, but a new one that has picked it up is just beer.

If you go to Apple Podcasts and type in beer, we now appear.

I think it was somewhere around like 18 last time I looked.

Okay, so we're we're moving up and when I first saw it,

it was like 56. Move up. That's right to the east side.

So, uh, keep helping us out with that.

And I'm gonna read another review. We got, like I said,

it takes a few days to a week to show up after you leave it.

And then, you know, we've been off for a while, but this one comes from.

I don't know if you've heard of this person. Chew your beer.

Oh, yeah. That guy. Yeah. That guy? Yeah. Where is he? Where are you?

Well, he left us a very nice review. His his craft beer republic,

though he said craft Beer Republic in It's Not a Political Show is

a craft beer podcast that talks about craft beer in its podcast.

It's also a podcast that talks about craft beer,

making it a craft beer podcast. So if you're looking for a craft beer

podcast, you got to listen to Craft Beer Republic's Craft Beer Podcast.

Greg and Flex are the hosts of this craft beer podcast,

and they enjoy talking about craft beer in their podcast.

I totally recommend CBR as your craft beer podcast. Oh my God.

Oh, that. Was fucking fantastic. Bravo! Bravo to Chew for that one.

That is fucking brilliant. Yeah, you nailed it with that one.

So let's see if you guys can can top choose beer or.

You gonna make me cough the rest of the goddamn night with that one.

That was so good. Oh, fuck. All right, before we get into

what's been going on the last couple of weeks, let's get into,

uh, what the big fella over there is sipping on. Oh, you.

In a world where craft beer is king, a world where muscles are bigger

than growlers. Only one tongue can guide us.

One man, one tongue, one Tongue-jobber.

In this world, we must find out what is Flex drinking?

Uh, so I'm really excited about this one. Really?

I try not to take sips of beers before the show,

and I like to get my inaugural sip and have it as natural as possible.

If I haven't had said beer yet, so I haven't had these guys in a while.

Since Young Blood Beer Company out of Madison, the state capital here,

and this is probably my second favorite beer style, uh, a sour IPA.

Um, I think it's super underrated. I think more people need to get

into it. And this one is 6.5% ABV. Relatively new, uh, as my shop

usually gets in some pretty fresh stuff. 96 check ins only.

Oh, and a 401 though for 96 check in, so that's pretty solid.

Starting off strong. It is called Glitterbug as well,

so the name the can't. Check out this cannot the orange.

The blue you know their palm tree logo. Just really wicked looking.

The name Glitterbug got me as well. Oh yeah, that's a chick in it.

That is a. Chick. Yeah, I just noticed that too.

Holy smokes. Wow. It's kind. Of hot. Yeah, I was gonna say, sign me up.

I think I need to take the scan to the bathroom.

Um, but it says, uh, sour IPA with blackberry and cashmere hops.

I know how you feel about cashmere hops. I'm extra hard.

And because I can't read what the can says. Because all the artwork.

Thank goodness we have the old untappd. There we go.

They say you've probably heard of a litterbug.

You know, someone who doesn't seem to care about disposing of their

trash in the proper receptacle. But you may not know about

Glitterbug. These are people who live their lives

so fabulously that they leave a trail of glitter everywhere they go.

Grocery shopping, glitter nail five. Gas station. Glitter on the pump.

Brunch. Glitter on the eggs. Benny Glitterbug. Kind of.

They have a lot of fun descriptions on their beers, but as you see,

definitely have BlackBerry in there. Yeah, that is a lovely, uh.

Like a ruby. Yeah. Ruby. Uh, like red grapefruit juice.

almost. Mhm. Uh,

except it's blackberry on the old, uh, nose buds here. Dig those in.

There's nothing I hate more in this world than glitter.

It is, uh, it is sour. It smells sour. Greg. Oh.

Hopefully everybody else understands that.

I'd say there's a hint of berry in there, but nothing overpowering

on that. Uh, so without further. It's been a while. Get ready.

Without further ado. Oh, yeah. Let's warm up the old

Tongue-jobber here. Whenever, uh, like Christmas

cards or birthday cards or whatever show up in our mailbox,

I always make the wife open them outside. Ooh. There's glitter.

Ooh! Oh! Ooh ooh whee. This was better than the first

couple sips. Holy smokes. Um, so it's effervescent like a sour

is with that, like, small light carbonation. BlackBerry is there.

But what I'm really loving here, it's making me rocked up like

super rocked up. Is that orange marmalade from

the cashmere hops just piling on through after it?

So it's like a blackberry orange jam. Nice. This fucking hits.

I couldn't have started the year with a better beer. Whoa.

I am over the top. Big words in on cloud nine right now.

This beer is not gonna last. Cherry on top, cherry on top.

My shop had a, uh, poor single can selection, which I texted you about.

You did? You were upset. I said these fuckers made me buy

four packs. Cheers to this four pack because

I'm fucking psyched. Nice. I yeah. Wow. I think you're gonna.

Finish. More than just the beer. I was saying, I'm not gonna take

the can to the bathroom anymore. I'm just gonna take the beer.

Take them both. Have a threesome. I like your style. Treat yourself.

Well. Cheers to Young Blood. This is amazing. Yeah. I'm jealous.

Well, mine's not bad either. Uh. Very nice, a couple things.

First of all, new merch, new merch provider.

Uh, I got tired of our merch provider.

They were, um. They were not great. And to make things worse,

I don't know what happened. I think they got bought out or

something. They still owe us, like $85,

and they have for almost a year, and they won't pay.

So I was on a search. I even took down our store for a

while. I was on a search for a new

merch provider and I found one. So far I'm very happy.

In fact, I sent Flex one of the shirts from the. I did get a shirt.

And uh, it feels like a pretty nice shirt and

that wasn't even like their fancy. That was just like their,

you know, regular baseline shirt. They also have some sweet glasses,

so I'm showing Flex. No one else can see it.

But here's a. Oh. Stay hydrated. Sweet. Canned glass. Love that logo.

Came out really nice. Very excited about it.

Uh, so anyways, if you guys are needing some merch,

go check it out @CraftBeerRepublic. Com and click on the store at

the top and, uh, get yourself some shit. Hell yeah.

Also, uh, had a fun little interaction with somebody on thread

threads has been popping off lately. A lot of people are replying to a

lot of the stuff I've been posting. I've this whole push for SEO on,

like the podcast apps. I've also sort of just turned

into like a push for greater SEO all around website socials,

all that stuff. And one of the things we're chat

is helping me do is like ask questions on the gram that like gets

people talking and and answering and usually beer related stuff.

But anyways, I actually was on there replying to someone else's

and this person ended up being the founder of Sticker Junkie, to which

I've now ordered some some fresh stickers from because they're great,

but she is a beer fan as well. And she, after our exchange,

said on a personal note, this is my favorite recipe.

Any quality IPA fresh cut strawberries, lemonade and fresh.

A fresh squeeze of grapefruit. Like as a drink. As a drink?

That's like her beer cocktail. Interesting. Yeah.

Uh, so that is IPA quality. IPA. She said. I was like, yeah, baby.

Yeah. Quality IPA. Yes. Uh, fresh cut strawberries,

little lemonade and a fresh squeeze of grapefruit. Chef's kiss.

So, um, give that a shot. Just garnishing with the fresh

strawberry. Or is she actually. Is she tossing it in there?

She's, uh. She's putting it in there. I'm looking at the picture right now.

I wish I had a better way of showing you, but, um.

Yeah, there's some strawberry in there. I'll tell you what.

I just believe what you're telling me. There you go. Believe me.

God damn it. So anyways, I. I want to try this.

I need to get, like, a good IPA for this.

I figured I'll, uh, I'll try this on the show at some point.

And, uh, I don't know. That's kind of fun.

Yeah, we'll see how it goes. Might be a little sweet for my

liking, but. I'll do it too. It sounds fun. Yeah.

Wait until strawberries are in season. Because January.

Let me tell you, as a Californian, January is not

prime strawberry season. Yeah, that, uh, when you're in

Wisconsin and you get strawberries from all over the country.

No, season is strawberry season. That's.

Well, wait till March when you're getting ours. Look.

Look at the bottom of the package. I bet you'll find Oxnard.

Okay, which is right next to us when we were.

Whenever we're in Colorado, like, we'll go to Trader Joe's

and stock up for Airbnb. And it's always like strawberries.

Oxnard. So it's kind of nice. Yeah. And they're cheaper than we get

them here. It's all local. Well, no, no, I mean,

it's cheaper when we're out of state than when we're at home.

Oh. Oh, really? Oh, all the time. Yeah. Same with wine.

We were at Trader Joe's one time in Colorado, and we started picking

up all these California wines. I was like, these are like,

$3 cheaper than our wine club price. Like, what the hell's going on?

Yeah, that's gonna add up. Yes. Yeah. So anyways, uh, so. Yeah.

So shout out to Andrea for that recipe. I'll, uh.

Yeah, we can do it on the show. We'll call it the beer cock show.

Dot dot dot tail. Cock tail. Uh, all right.

We do have a listener voicemail before we get there.

I just thought I'd check in and see how your fucking holiday was.

Uh, so. Besides the whole sick thing. Yeah, sorry about that.

My holiday was brutal at work. Um, you know,

I caught the Lingus right before, and by the time I got back to work,

it was nine straight days. And then I had Christmas off,

and then six straight days, and I had New Year's off,

and then a couple days. And I finally have today off.

So tons of work. It was like 11 to 13 hour days.

Just total. Totally brutal, but worth it.

It was fun, exhausting. But my my holidays were like super

chill and relaxing. That's nice. Um, nothing overbearing.

We don't have to travel far right. We did my parents for Christmas Eve

there. Uh, three miles down the road. Did my in-laws for Christmas Day.

They're a mile and a half down the road. Perfect.

And again, everything's super low key.

And now our kids, my nieces and nephews, they're all of age where

you don't have to worry about them. They go do their own thing.

Go play. You sit, you eat snacks. You know, the cannibal sandwiches,

shrimp, which you did. Send me a picture. I did. Uh. Bacon.

Bacon wrapped chestnuts, which, by the way, are like low key.

My favorite snack. Oh, I'd never had. Never had. Oh. Huge thing here.

How do you know if I've had chestnuts, let alone bacon wrapped?

Like a water chestnut. I've definitely had a water chestnut.

Yeah, so it's like a bacon wrapped water chestnut. Oh, okay. Yeah.

Toss it in the oven until it gets a little crispy. Ooh.

It comes with a little saucer. And get a little dippy dip. And hey.

Man. I'm in. Oh. It's phenomenal. It's super simple,

but super delicious. Um, had had some Bourbons, uh,

treated myself to a couple beers. Treat yourself. I know.

And then New Year's. Same thing we did.

Stay up till midnight. Some reason my my kids really wanted

to do that again. Even though. So my youngest last year crapped

out at like 1020. That's right. And my oldest just, you know,

kept fighting and kept fighting it, even though I told her that it's

not worth it. You stay up till midnight to watch a

ball drop that you had already seen an hour before that, and they just

replay. It is just not exciting. It's not worth it.

So sure enough, it happened last year and I said, see what I mean?

And she agreed, but still wanted to do it again this year.

So we all made it to midnight. It was brutal.

Uh, probably most brutal for you. Yeah, it was, uh, I kept kind of.

I wasn't never actually fell asleep, but I kept cocking the head to

the side, resting the eyes. Then I'm back up.

But the funniest thing of the night was my kids started

complaining at about 1120 that they were tired and my wife said,

no, you have stayed up this far. You can't go stayed up this long.

You are staying up to midnight, said, I don't care if you go to

bed right at midnight, you are staying up because they're

the reason that we stayed up. So if we're going to lose the sleep,

they're going to lose the. Sleep, right?

Everyone's suffering. Right? So, uh, you know,

we we caught apparently there was a celebration in Chicago

this year that they televised. Shout out to Chance the Rapper,

I guess, for hosting that. And they did a little Midwest

countdown. So that was kind of cool. Ten a nine, A800 missed one. Yeah.

So it was kind of like that. Um, yeah.

Just real, real chill, real low key. My New Year's Day was, uh.

I have a niece who's a New Year's baby.

Oh, so that was, uh, straight into a birthday party for that.

But again, super chill. All my kids, my nephews, my nieces,

they go do whatever the fuck they want. Bourbons, snacks, beers.

College football couldn't have been a better holiday for me. Dig it.

Minus the -100% the Lingus. Because. Yeah, like I said, I thought I was

gonna die. Well, I'm glad you didn't. Glad they revived you. Yeah. Me too.

Yeah. They said, uh, you can't die. And I said, not your time.

That's what they said. So they just sent me off. Yeah.

Sorry. Sons of bitches. So I, I you hate the holidays.

I do. Everybody knows that. You make it pretty well known.

No secret. So how did you make it through?

How were your holidays? Well, I have to say one of the

most fun parts of it. And I'm sorry you couldn't be a part

of it because you were so sick. Was the Christmas episode.

If you guys haven't heard it, go back and listen.

I had I had a lot of fun putting it together because it was so stupid.

So go check that out. Just the last episode. Uh, Festivus.

On Festivus, we did Christmas with, uh, my dad's side of the family.

On Christmas Day, we did brunch with her sister and company,

and then Christmas later on on Christmas Day was my mom's house.

And so three, not the worst by far of the holidays.

If I could just get it down to like, 1 or 2. We're almost there. Yeah.

Getting there. How do you do one? Oh, I don't. Know so much family.

It would be my dream. I wish we had a bigger house.

We have a very small house. If we had a big house, I would just

say, like, everybody come on over. And as it was, you know,

my dad's side had them all over. And I think that was like 12

people and that was a tight fit. So but it was good.

And um, his, I don't know, he, his stepson in law.

I don't know how that works. Sounds. Sounds good. Husband. Yeah.

Brought over some beers and, uh, but they weren't. They weren't cold yet.

I said, hey, check those in the fridge.

We got plenty of beers for you. He goes, well, all I want is stouts.

I don't drink those IPAs. I said, dude, look whose house

you're at. No problem. And, uh, pulled out a I think it

was like a 14 percenter. Okay. Big old bad bitch.

Yeah, that's not a small. Yeah. And I said, if you want a stout here,

this one, you know, this will put hair on your chest.

And he was in for it. He said he loved it.

And he drank it. Loved it. But then, uh, his wife wouldn't

let him drink any more because that thing was, like, 14%.

And he was he was acting a little silly, but, uh. I tell you what.

After, you know, I haven't been drinking anywhere

as much as I used to. Sure, a 14 percenter would probably

make me throw up right now. Yeah, definitely. Strap you on.

Oh, yeah. Take it for a ride. So did that Christmas Day.

I don't did we drink Christmas Day? We might have later on at my

mom's house. I know you had a gummy, uh,

I texted you on Christmas saying, I hope you're making it through.

Oh, yeah, and you said you got something in a gummy.

Oh, I don't think I ended up taking it until later that night.

I think I, I think I did most of Christmas Day until dinner.

I think I did it all sober. Um, that's a big step.

Yeah, it's sad, but yeah, let's be real. That's a big step.

Yeah. What's wrong with me? So, um, but the highlight was we went

to Disneyland a couple days later. No shit.

Yeah, the wife got free tickets. Like, all of a sudden,

one of our vendors were like, hey, we got some tickets. Do you want them?

Yeah, I'll take them. And she gets them.

You had to use them by the end of the year like shit. We better go.

Uh, first time since before the pandemic for you? Yeah, exactly.

We we let our our, uh, season, our annual passes go just by

chance before the pandemic. In fact, we let him go because

Star Wars land was opening, and we don't care about star.

You said you don't care about that. That kills me.

I could I could spend all day in Galaxy's Edge. So we just let him go.

Like we don't wanna wait in the line. So anyways, this is our first

time going to Star Wars land. It was, uh, it was really cool.

It looked really cool. It's really cool. Yeah.

They did a great job. There's only. There's two rides at Disneyland.

Version. I don't know about Florida. I think the same thing.

It's like the Millennium Falcon, the smuggler's run.

Yeah, and then the rise of the resistance. Yeah.

So we only did the Millennium Falcon one because the other one had a

90 minute wait all day long doing. The other one is you do the single

rider line. Yeah, we should have. We saw that later on in the day.

And you get it in in about like 20 minutes. That's not bad.

We will next time we you know like I said we don't hate Star Wars.

We just we don't care. We're neutral. But the Millennium Falcon one

was cool. We were the pilots. We got to drive.

I've never gotten to be a pilot. I've only ever been able to be

an engineer. Oh I'm great. I'm 100% efficiency every time.

Uh, I don't want to brag. I tell you what.

The wife, uh, not the best pilot. Is your door closed? She.

You know, she was telling you, like, okay, do this and, like,

go into hyperspeed and this and that, and I'm hitting all these buttons and

I'm pulling these levers and she's like, she looks over and she's like,

how do you know what to push? I was like, because every time he

tells you something, it starts blinking, right? It lights up. Yeah.

She had not caught on to that yet. And she's like, oh.

Shannon, Shannon, Shannon. And so then like the next time

it happened she goes, okay. And I'm looking over.

I'm like, right, I'm pointing at it. She goes, oh.

And then like she finally hits it. Do you like turn your head back

to the people behind you? Women pilots, am I right?

Shut up. They were all kids. That would have been even better.

Would have been great. Oh. But yeah, it was a good time at

Disneyland. Like. Like I said, I haven't been

there in years, so a lot of fun. Did not drink at the Star Wars

cantina. Mainly because we had to drive

home that night and didn't want to be super tired. Okay.

But I wanted to because I've never drank on Disneyland

property other than club 33. But we did the Olga's Cantina,

I think, uh, back in 2023 and it was super legit.

The atmosphere, just everything inside, like everything you can look

at and just kind of walk around, just makes you feel like you are

immersed in Star Wars. Plus, the drinks were super

delicious. Super badass. I stole all the coasters that

they give you at the table. So I have them all in my

basement here. And yeah,

I've fucking loved that place. Dividends from Brian were upset

that we didn't drink there, so. Sorry. We just. Yeah. Next time.

Like, we, like, actually upset about it. They're just disappointed in us.

Okay. Okay. Which, you know,

sometimes it's worse when Mommy and daddy are disappointed. Yeah.

But. But we really had a fun time. And when's the next time you're

gonna go back? That's the thing. So I don't know,

but we we had such a fun time, which I think in part is because

we haven't been in five years. We're like,

we need to make sure we're doing this at least annually or something.

You know, for us, it's an hour and a half. Two hours. Yeah. Say, it's.

Not a flight to Florida like for you guys.

I should we should be taking advantage.

So, um, did that New Year's Eve, we went to a really nice dinner.

One of our favorite spots out here is called Cork Dork.

It's a wine centric, farm to table type of, uh,

just upscale dinner type place. Oh, you're classy, so we're classy.

We also had a couple gift cards from Christmas, and so, uh, went

and had just a really nice dinner, spent way too much money, came back,

opened a nice bottle of champagne. You and the wife, do you do

Christmas presents with each other, or is this kind of your Christmas

present? We do not. We? Sometimes we'll specify

something like, hey, we're going to go out to Cork.

Cork? That's our Christmas present. We did not do that.

We didn't specify, but we are trying to we're trying

to go on a trip this year. And so our our Christmas present

in quotes is we're going to save, you know, a couple hundred bucks and

put it towards the trip. So okay. I just didn't know because I

know when people grow up, you know, I got kids.

So the whole gift thing is still, you know, Santa gifts.

Everybody gets them. But a lot of people I know,

they're just like, hey, we're just gonna go out to a nice dinner

and like, have a night together. And I'm much more into experiences

than stuff because if it's something I need, I've already bought it.

And, you know, if something I want that I can't afford, she can't

afford it because I can't afford it. So, you know, it's pointless.

So I'm much more into experiences these days.

Yeah, I think that's it's a wonderful concept. Yeah, yeah.

Once those kids are out of the house, you're gonna love it.

Yeah, I can't wait. I tell you what. So, uh. So. Yeah. So did that.

Came home, opened a nice bottle of champagne, uh, watched a

little New Year's stuff on TV. Definitely took a gummy and, uh,

went to bed around, I think two ish. Okay, so you did stay up.

Did stay up. Oh, yeah. That's. Midnight's nothing for me.

That's okay. I would do midnight every night

if she didn't complain. Oh, she wants to go to bed at ten.

I want to go to bed at midnight. So we end up around 11.

Usually, even if you wake up for work at like five.

I don't wake up at five. Six. I mean, the mornings that I do

have to wake up early, which are not that common, Yeah. 11. Okay.

But I mean, what time do you usually wake up then? Like 745.

8:00. Oh, yeah. Okay. Yeah. I have to shower or not,

you know, because, you know, the office is upstairs. I'm probably.

I'm probably staying up till noon or midnight, too. Yeah.

And so she has to wake up around seven. She's a little bit before me.

She starts a little earlier, but. But yeah, she, she wants to go

to bed ten if not nine. She go to bed at nine if she could.

But, uh. I tell you what, I think it's a

wife thing. Yeah, probably. Yeah, that's what it sounds like.

Yeah. So you would go to bed at nine

if you could do. Sure. Now it's a Flex thing.

It's a Flex thing. Yes. Like I said, we have a voicemail

from a listener. It's been a while. Let's check in. Hello?

No one is available to take your call. Psycho. Psycho? Why?

Certainly better. And. Hi, Vanessa. You know who this is? Psycho bear?

Hello, Greg and Flexy. Happy holidays. Well, I was just back out in the

good life right after Christmas, and I thought I'd happen upon Greg,

but I didn't. But I went to Knotty Pine.

It was pretty good. We were going to go to pedals

and pints, but they didn't have any big beers on tap.

Meaning like stouts and barleywine. And tis the season anyways.

Hope you're all doing great. And, uh,

tis the season for football bears, baby. That's right. NFC North champs.

Sorry, Flexy. This guy's gross. Get him off the show.

Again, happy holidays. And, uh, I should be back out in

The Good Life in March. So come join me. Greg.

This is Chicago Bear signing out. Cheers.

So the good life is, uh, the slogan for a local town called Agora.

That's why he keeps saying the good life. Okay. Uh, yeah.

Sorry. It wasn't me. It must have been some other generic

looking white guy with a receding hairline. But it could have.

Been there all over the place. Yeah. Dime a dozen. Uh, 805.

Five. Three. Eight. Beer. Two. Three. Three. Seven.

If you want to leave us a voicemail just like Psycho Bear.

Uh, let me know when you're out here. And as long as you promise not to

murder me like Non-Murderer John, I will come and join you for a

beer or two. I tell you, it's kind of sketchy,

though, with the name, like Psycho Bear. I'm not convinced.

I need something in writing. And when I say writing,

I don't mean in blood. Here is this contract that says you

will not murder me today or tomorrow. Right. You leave the next day.

Murders up in the air. Yeah. Once you're gone. Fair game.

Oh, dear. So. Well, thanks, Psycho bear.

What a way to start off the new year with a call from Psycho Bear.

I must add, by the way, when Flex is sitting there

wishing it was Psycho Bear, I was. I was crossing my fingers.

He truly had no idea it was like zero idea. I hadn't told them yet.

That was awesome. Oh, good shit. Uh, all right,

before we get on some news, let me make a call to the pen over here.

He calls to the bullpen for beer. Yeah. He does.

I'm starting off the new year with a collab from Made West Brewing out here

in Ventura and Beachwood Brewing. Very popular down in Long Beach area.

Nice looking can. Lots of colors. Not quite as cool looking as Flexy,

but. It's still neat. Yeah. Very artsy. I dig it.

This is, uh, 7%. It is a West Coast IPA, has a 3.98,

an untapped with 330 ratings. And from the brewery,

they say West Coast IPA. Brewed in collaboration with our

friends at Beachwood Brewing, this IPA delivers a fresh tropical

fruit profile with notes of pineapple, peach and mango hops.

Used are Idaho's seven, cryo, Hyper Boost, mosaic, cryo, and T90

2025 edition. Ooh. Yes! The schnoz. I really,

really get the peach and the mango. It's coming in deliciously.

And oh, look at this. Perfectly. Oh, I'm. I'm staring at it. That's.

You can see the logo right through the damn beer on the

other side of the glass. Definitely no loaf of bread over

here. Very light body. Uh, on the old Tongue-jobber here.

Get em! Mhm. Look,

this is very much not my first sip. I've been enjoying this for a while,

but, um. Holy shit. So good. This is everything I want out of

a West Coast light body, not a loaf of bread. You.

The tropical flavors from the hops are fucking screaming that mango.

The peach is coming through the pineapple a little less.

A hint of bitterness on the finish finishes up pretty dry.

Makes me want more and more and more. This is where it's at.

Jeez, what a show. I'm rocked. We picked some solid beers, man.

Yeah, that's a good start to the year.

I was rocked up before you got me rocked up again.

I'm just gonna end up end. The show rocked up.

I think that's what's what's gonna happen.

We're gonna have to end the show so we can stand up. So rocked.

Can't even put a thought together right now. Yeah, yeah.

Beer. Oh, dear. Don't have any blood left in my

brain. It's all. It's all moving south, let me tell

you. Oh, sorry. That was the desk. Oh, dear. Sorry, everybody.

That's a dick joke for Deb. Yeah. I'm not, I'm not. Yeah.

There you go, Deb. All right. Little news. All right.

This is a serious one. We talked about Sycamore Brewing

and the owner and what he's being accused and arrested for.

Sycamore brewing will shutter its taproom beginning January 5th, which,

as this releases a couple days ago to allow space for processing,

healing and beginning the work of reimagining the community space,

according to co-founder and owner and his wife Sarah Taylor.

Closure comes three weeks after co-founder and former owner

Justin Brigham Taylor, soon to be ex-husband, according to the letter,

was arrested on charges of rape in a 13 year old girl.

He remains held in county jail on a $11.25 million bond. Uh.

I don't know how they recover. We. I think this was with Erica when

we talked about this story when you were holding us up.

But I like the brewery or the the the bars that are serving

their beer that, you know, instead of dumping it out because

they've already paid for it, they're donating their proceeds to,

you know, rape crisis hotlines and centers and that sort of thing.

I think that's a good move because they've already paid for the beer.

It's not like dumping it out is going to hurt the brewery. Correct.

So I think that's a great idea, but I don't know how you move on and

how people continue to buy this beer. I know he's not going to be a

part of it, but yikes. Yeah, I'd say no way back.

Yeah, it might need to at least change the name or something,

but, uh, too big not to mention is disgusting.

And as much as I didn't want to, we'll move on.

Speaking of disgusting Heineken to expand its non-alcoholic portfolio

with flavor extensions in 2026. Cool. Yeah, they're gonna add cold

pressed lime and nectarine juniper to their 0.0 line. Cool.

In addition, Heineken will take Heineken Ultimate zero zero,

A000 no calories, alcohol or sugar beer in 12 ounce

bottles and slim six packs. You ready for it? I can't wait. Cool.

I'll have to pull that as a drop. Yeah. Can't wait. Cannot wait.

Uh, ghost Fish Brewing to take over the former Pike Brewery

space in Seattle. Dedicated gluten free beer maker

Ghost Fish Brewing has purchased the brewing assets of the former

Pike Brewing production facility in Seattle, acquiring the lease

for the 26,000 square foot space from Fremont Brewing.

Ghost fish co-founder and co-owner Brian Thiel said the move.

That moving Ghost Fish's brewing operations to the former Pike Brewery

will allow the company to produce between 7 and 9000 barrels in

year one, with a goal of reaching 15,000 to 20,000 in year three.

He described the facility, which opened in early 2024,

as setup for serious packaging and off premise growth.

Not gonna lie, I was really hoping his name was going to be Brian

Ghost Fish. That would be good. Name the brewery after himself.

Oh gosh, that would be fantastic. Can't take me anywhere. No.

We cannot. Uh, a few weeks ago, we talked about

the big announcement from Malibu Brewing that they're finally going to

be opening up their second location. Not too far from me.

Yeah, real close to you, I remember that. Yeah. There goes all my money.

Well, they announced something even huger over the holidays.

They are going to be opening up a location at universal CityWalk.

At Universal Studios location? Yes. That's big. Yeah, that is huge.

So look for that in 2026. I'm hoping that they'll be having

food as well as their delicious beers because, uh, I tell you what,

their food is great too. Just as good as their beers.

That's like on premise chef, though, right? Yeah.

They have a chef, a full time chef at their main location.

So they'd have to get a sous chef, maybe. Yeah. I wonder. You don't.

Develop the recipes at location one and then send them to two and three?

I wonder, and kind of travel around to make sure quality is is good.

I wonder how that works. Yeah, it would be fun to find out.

It would. Ryan let us know. Uh, thanks to Scott for this story.

Thank you Scott. We were all waiting for it.

Yeah. We were. This beer is illegal in more

than 50 countries. The beer was intentionally made to

break as many gender based rules as possible, because in some places,

women still legally can't brew, sell, or even handle beer the same

way men can handle it. Handle it. In Lebanon, women are not allowed

to produce alcohol at all, and Sri Lanka they can't work at

breweries that use yeast. Okay. What else would. They.

Maybe they were, you know, they don't want them to get

infections. I don't know, right? Because that's totally how that

works. Uh. Biology in parts of Italy and North

Korea, women can't wear tights or low cut jeans while working.

Uh, nearly two dozen countries ban women from lifting heavy beer

containers. In Wyoming, women. Can't just beer containers.

Just heavy beer containers. Okay, only only light ones.

I wonder what constitutes as heavy. Is that, like over £20?

Over £50? Yeah. At Fedex and UPS it's 70 plus, so.

Okay, maybe that's what it is. Uh, in Wyoming, women can't legally

drink beer while selling it. Uh, in Morrisville, Pennsylvania,

women technically need a permit to wear cosmetics. Oh.

Yeah, but those were shreds from Shred. Let us know.

Is that where you're from? It's Amish country. Yeah.

Uh, the pale ale. This pale ale was brewed

entirely by women at every level by Berlin breweries. Vagabond.

And help me out here. Much craft to draw attention.

Exactly what it is. Nailed it. To draw attention to how absurd

and how often unenforced these laws still are.

The brewers say beer was the perfect medium to start conversations

about why an industry product shouldn't be gendered at all.

The beer itself is a mosaic hopped pale ale, reviewed positively,

and proceeds from the sale go to women for women,

international and global organization focused on gender equality.

I couldn't figure out if it was coming stateside,

but definitely available in Germany. Beer for a cause.

We're always here for that. Absolutely. That is for sure.

And we'll end it off with this one. Thief returns stolen mandolins

to new Jersey guitar store in a social media post on Friday.

Lark Street Music said that two previously stolen mandolins had

been returned to the store, along with a handwritten note,

partly in all caps, that read sorry I been drunk.

Merry Christmas. You are good, man. Damn! God damn it! God damn it!

Just in case anybody doesn't know how big of a fucking grammar Nazi Flex

is. God. I knew he'd love that one. Buzzy Levine,

who has owned the store since 1981, told ABC news that he was shocked

when the instruments were returned. I couldn't believe it.

I said, this is insane. This is like some kind of weird movie

that has a happy ending or something. The store had previously posted

surveillance video online depicting the alleged thief stuffing the

instruments beneath his parka and leaving the store on Monday,

December 22nd. Levine told ABC news that the

mandolins were valued at 3,542.50, respectively.

Those are expensive mandolins. Levine said in his online post

that he saw the alleged thief surreptitiously opened the store's

front door and returned the mandolins in two shopping bags.

An instant later, I wanted to see who did it, and so I went outside

and I saw the guy sort of trotting down the street, and I took chase.

Probably not the smartest thing to do. And then he took off.

He was running really fast and kept looking back to see if I was

catching up or he was gaining ground. And then he took a turn and I

lost him. He added. He then called 911. Christopher.

Captain of investigations for the Teaneck Police Department, Teaneck,

told ABC news they are investigating the crime but haven't made any

arrests. Um. Sorry, I've been drunk. I got a lot of thoughts on this one.

I bet you do. Um, I've been drunk a lot. Sure.

Often? Yeah. Never once in my entire life was I

like. I should steal some mandolins. Never burgled a mandolin while

you were never burgled. Never been handed a mandolin.

Uh, the note almost makes it so much better.

Like, almost forgive the guy for doing it. Yeah, absolutely.

Like, he got home and he he he was like, shit, right? What have I done?

It wasn't a dream. Like I stole. I stole these mandolins. Yeah.

Do you think he woke up the next morning?

He was like, what the fuck are these doing on the couch? Right.

And, uh, lastly, I want to know what the owner would have done if

he caught up to this guy. Yeah. What was your end game? Yeah.

Is he gonna, like, thank him for bringing them back?

Is he gonna question why he stole them and brought him back?

Is he gonna try to get him reprimanded by police?

I assume reprimanded. Reprimanded because after he

lost him, he called 911. Yeah. So, I don't know, maybe he just wants

to, like, hear the guy's story. Maybe. I think we know his story.

I've been drunk. He been drunk? Been drunk? You are a good man.

Yes. That was my favorite part. Yeah. You are a good man.

It would have only been better if good was good. It's like, uh.

It's like a Borat note. Yeah. You are a good man. I've been drunk.

You are a good man. My wife. Oh, it's so good.

Well, I think that's it. I think it's time to wrap things up.

Proper way to end the show. Right there.

I think that's a good way to close things on a very good first episode

of the year with some fantastic beers. I would think so as well.

Excited for some more beers in 2026. Heck yeah.

Thanks everyone for for doing the things for drinking and for joining.

Follow us on the socials. Let's say hi, Vanessa. Hi, Vanessa.

We don't want to forget that. We do not. We would be in trouble.

Not in the new year. Absolutely not. We gotta keep that train rolling.

Uh, follow us on the socials. @CraftBeerRepublic @Flex_me_a_beer

805 538. Beer 2337. I think that's everything.

I hope everyone, whether it's the New year or all year, is staying very

well hydrated. And on that note. Good night everybody.

I almost didn't buy this next one. The only reason I did is because

it was a sour and it was like a five ish something percent.