Welcome in, everybody. It's the craft beer republic.

Thanks for drinking. Thanks for joining.

Let me say you are all safe now. Flex has been fired for the Tapatio

mishap, and we're being joined by, actually, his trainer.

The reason he is as buff as he is. And that is Erica. What's happening?

I'm just as flawed. Stand in for the night.

But I will do my best. And. No, no, no, you are.

You are as jacked, if not jacked at her.

The only thing I could train him in would be like awkwardness or

something. You know, it would be like,

let me teach you a class. And being, uh, the weirdo.

But see if you can out awkward people. Exactly.

But no, I'm happy to be here, and we miss him, but I think I

think we got this. Yeah. Flex is all gassed up right now.

Uh, I hope it's not that. What are they calling it,

like the vomiting disease or something like that?

You heard about this going around? No.

The news keeps calling it like the vomit disease.

I'm like, oh, my God, what is happening? Disgusting. Yeah.

And I have to get on a plane tomorrow.

Maybe I should mask up or something. Oh, dang.

Yeah, he's been getting the gases, so wash your hands, Flex. I mean.

Yeah, why, you dirty son of. A dirty bastard. That's right.

Uh, where were we? Oh, socials. Follow us.

@CraftBeerRepublic at @necknosh. Go find us. Uh @necknosh.

Com @CraftBeerRepublic com. All of that good stuff.

Uh, like I said, Flex has the links. He's out.

And a little programming note. Next week is a very special Christmas

episode of the Craft Beer Republic. We're gonna do something new,

something different. And then after that,

we're going to take a little break for the New Years.

We're going to take a week off and party our ass off and drink

nothing but champagne all week long. And, um, see if we wake up.

Fabulous. All right. Are you. Are you a fan of the champs?

I do, I do like the champs. Now, you all know about my schnog,

right? I mean by itself, not. I do like it. I do like it by itself.

Yes, I, um, I can sip a little champs.

Yeah, I like me some champs, but it does.

Uh, the bubbles go to the head a little quicker. They do go very fast.

I like the the Kirkland Prosecco with the purple label. Oh, yeah.

Not bad. It's very inexpensive. You guys have a real clutch one

that you get from, like Bevmo, don't you? Yeah. Total wine.

It's total. Okay. Yeah. Alma. It's a blue label,

and it's like eight, eight bucks. Seven, eight bucks.

And, uh, it makes a great mimosa. Not a bad champagne to drink for

the price. Nice. Yeah, but. But not a champagne show.

No it's not. We're here for the beer, my friend.

We are here for the beer. Uh, shout out to our top

listening city last week. And that was Miami, Florida. Hey.

Hi, Vanessa. Wow. They just are back. They just love a good abusing,

don't they? I. It's rare that there's a state that

we don't abuse. I mean, it's true. We are pretty equal on our hate,

aren't we? Or we spread it all around.

So, yeah, I mean, some get it a little worse.

Florida. For obvious reasons. Uh, West Virginia just because.

Alabama. You know what you've done? Yeah. Roll tide. So, uh. Yeah.

You know, we we spread it around. But, you know, speaking of Miami,

this was, I swear, just a coincidence, but, uh. Vanessa.

Vanessa likes to comment. She'll. We have a little chat going on

the gram. She'll tell me, you know,

when I fuck something up. Especially like a Spanish word I

have to say. A couple weeks ago when I said that,

uh, crudo is hangover or hungover, like, estoy crudo is. I'm hungover.

She didn't know what the fuck I was talking about.

So then I had to do some some research.

And I think it's because we're on the West Coast, and that's more of like a

Mexican slang where she's in Florida and she's, you know, Cuban, right?

She's like, that just means I'm raw. And I was like, yes, technically.

But here it means I'm hungover, right?

And I even googled it and found that that was true.

Anyways, she called me out on my nasty black IPA that I had, uh,

a couple of weeks ago. Here's here's her voice message,

which I'm now starting to steal from Instagram. Perfect.

So the black IPA from New Mexico. You said it's from Hot Fly Brewing.

There's a brewery in Charlotte called Hot Fly.

I don't think it's the same one. Um, are you sure on that one?

No, no I'm not. Is this your official response to

her, or did you actually respond to her? That's my official response.

Okay. No, I'm not sure. Uh, I know it came from a person

in New Mexico, but maybe he got it from the other hot fly and whatever,

and it made its way west. Okay. Or whatever. I'm not sure.

All I know, it was a drain pour pore express. Okay.

So anyways, uh, if you guys want to leave us a voicemail. 80553 beer.

2337 uh, like Chew always does. Or you can also send us a little

Instagram voice memos like that, and I'll waste my time stealing

them and playing them on the show. Just like that. @CraftBeerRepublic.

Uh, all right, I got questions for you.

But before that, I'm gonna dig into this beer real quick. Yes.

Let's do it. I Love My Beer. I Love My Beer. I Love My Beer.

I Love My Beer. All right, you guys, I did it.

What I found. Sierra Nevada celebration ale.

Oh, my goodness. You didn't only find it,

it must not have been a 24 pack or even a 12 pack. Correct.

I should say I've long found Costco size cases of this,

which I was not interested in. I finally found it at my local

bottle shop aka Trader Joe's. They got a fresh supply in and I

bought exactly two cans. You bought two cans?

Two cans because that's all a brother needs is two cans.

Congratulations on making a commitment and finally getting Ahold

of that beer that we have been hearing you talk about for weeks.

I'm doing I'm doing the work over here.

And, you know, you can't say I'm not committed.

So 2025 celebration 6.8%, 65 IBUs has a 3.73 and untapped

with over 240,000 ratings. Wow. They say the long, cold nights

of winter are a little brighter. The Celebration Ale, wonderfully

robust and rich Celebration Ale, is dry hopped for a lively, intense

Arona aroma. Let's try that again. Brewed especially for the holidays,

it is perfect for a festive gathering or a quiet evening at home.

Um, and from the website they've got Cascade, Centennial and

Chinook and malts or caramel and two row pale on the old schnoz.

Or should I say nose buds? Whiff or sniffer? Whipper sniffer.

Uh, come on, this doesn't change much from year to year, but it smells

like a dank Christmas tree. Okay. It's a little muted compared to

normal, but, you know, it's been a year.

It's because you waited so long to buy your damn cans of season of

Celebration. I've been looking. They've been holding out on me.

I don't want a 24 pack. I don't need an army sized

Costco box of celebration. Yeah, they're they're a little

strong, uh, for having that much. So how is it doing? How is it?

Is it satisfying your expectations? It's there. It's, uh.

It's classic. It's West coast. Um, it's sort of the beer,

the type of beer that I stay away from these days, you know,

sort of a loaf of bread. Hoppy as can be. Bitter.

Um, you know, brushing your teeth with a Christmas tree.

It's it's all there. It just it reminds me of Christmas.

Especially now that stone has sold out and I can't get Djokovic.

Yeah. This is. Nostalgia. Yeah. It's nostalgia.

It's my my last remaining beer Christmas tradition.

And so I have to do it. Even though I would not drink this

the other 11 months of the year, even if it was fresh.

So is the other one like going to be in front of the tree or like

with like a Christmas cigar? Like, what's the moment that this

other one needs some sort of. I mean, that's a lot of pressure.

It is a lot of pressure. Honestly, I don't know.

I don't even know why it was I decided I need two of them and

not just one. Uh, and it was funny because at

Trader Joe's, you know, you can break apart four packs and

six packs and they don't care. But the one I was at, that I found

it. It was a little different. And they didn't have any singles

laying around. And so I actually asked one of

the employees was like, is it still cool to break these apart?

And he goes, oh, I think so. You know, let me look.

And he goes, yeah, it's it's marked. So yeah, no problem.

How many do you want? I was like two. It's like a two okay. Yeah.

Like not not one. Not like you're building a six pack.

Like. No. Just two. Thank you. So I took my two moseyed.

Um, so I don't know. It's a great question.

I, I have no idea. Okay. Um, it's in the fridge.

There's a halfway decent chance somebody'll come over and go.

Hey, what's that celebration now? Like? Yeah, you can have it.

You can. I had my one. Yeah. Merry Christmas or you know,

it'll I'll need it for photos. Maybe that's, you know,

maybe I'll now that the, you know, the light gets light,

the sun goes down quicker because it's winter and all that.

My photos have to be taken around like 4:00, 430.

Otherwise it's too dark. So, you know, it's during work hours.

So maybe I'll have myself a little end of the day work beer.

And to be fair, just taking one is a little weird.

So you kind of had to do to just walk up there with one can of beer.

It's like, okay, buddy, let's do you want this in a brown

paper bag? If you're offering. Yeah. So, uh, I'm glad I had it.

I'm glad I don't have four of these. Sorry. Celebration.

They're just, you know, it's old school.

It's a loaf of bread and a enamel stripper. I think Flex it at best.

Which you couldn't do 12 of these, you'd you'd lose all the enamel

off your teeth, and it would rot your insides so. Strong. You know.

Yeah, exactly. Well, congratulations. I'm happy. Thank you. Yeah. I'm.

Yeah, I'm happy for me. I'm glad I got my one.

And my search is over now. I got 11 months to rest.

I think we're all happy because I've been thinking about it.

I'm like, is he ever going to get that damn beer?

Are we gonna like, you know, gonna be rolling into 2026?

And he's getting the markdown cans like you need to have that beer.

So I'm glad you did it. Maybe I should have waited for

the mark. Anyways. It's fine. I only bought two.

Not a huge investment. Yeah, exactly. Speaking of the the holidays,

you guys doing any festive drinking or anything over there? Yeah.

All the drinking has been festive. And then in the in between, we're

trying to take breaks here. So. Yeah. Um, let's see, we had,

we hosted a, a white elephant ugly or art theme party where you

had to grab something from a, like a thrift store or whatever.

And we get to decide if it's ugly or art. That was super fun.

We had lots of, you know, beers and drinks at that.

And, you know, it's interesting to see what people come up with.

One of our friends brought an eggplant, like a oil pouring thing.

You know how you have, like, the vinegar and oil set?

Oh, sure. It's just an eggplant. It was so incredible.

And was it very phallic? Oh, it was. It had, like, this weird dimple on

it. I was it was just so perfect. You know,

it was it was meant to be some. It probably came with like,

a tomato. And the tomato was gone. Someone wanted the tomato, not the

eggplant. Sure, we have a friend. We have a friend that's from

Nepal and he's like, why is everybody laughing?

You know, and we're like, it's like, talk to you later about it, buddy.

Go on your phone. Yeah. Go. Exactly. It's like, okay, you know this emoji.

If you ever get that run for the hills.

Followed by the water squirting emoji. Yeah, exactly.

That's what I was thinking. But that thing got I stole it

because, you know, and a white elephant you get to steal.

Right. And then it. Got, you had to have an eggplant.

Yeah I know. Is it two steals and it's done.

Is that. Yeah. That's how we did it. So I just kind of had eggplant

envy for the evening, but, um. That's okay.

It was still a good time. Question about white elephant things.

So my wife's company is doing this and it's so dumb.

Like they're being forced to participate basically.

And they're referring to it as a white elephant, but it's not a

gag slash like, junk gift thing. Yeah, it's a real gift.

And I'm like, that's not white elephant. I don't get that.

Yeah, that's just a gift exchange. It is.

That term is getting thrown around so much more than like, you know,

20 years ago or even 30 years ago, my family would throw these and yeah,

it's it's supposed to be hilarious or like, some weird.

It's not a Starbucks gift card that's not a white elephant. Right? Right.

So it's an eggplant balsamic vinegar pouring device. Perfect.

Like someone brought these piano finger gloves and, oh,

just joking about, like, someone's like, son, if you hear

these at night, walk away. And, I mean, there were just so

many funny moments. That's a white elephant.

Not like. Yeah, I don't know. Once again, a coffee gift card

or a nice sweater. No. Right. That's my opinion, I don't know.

No, I'm 100% on board with you. Any ugly sweater parties yet or

anything? Um, no. Ugly. Well, this one it was.

Since it was ugly or art, you were supposed to dress,

like to the nines or something. Just kind of off the wall.

So we had some off the wall stuff there.

Um, and then we know the opposite. Like Mcdreamy's work had a very

fancy schmancy party, and I'm not a fancy schmancy person. I feel you.

It's the Crocker Art Museum, one of those where a ball gown

and heels. Oh, God. I'm. I'm five foot 12, right?

So I put on a pair of heels, and it's like giving raptor,

you know, because I'm like. Who's the lady on stilts? Right?

I'm slightly leaned forward, you know, just trying to balance

waddling like little careful steps, looking each direction before I move.

I mean, people probably thought I was tracking them. It was really not.

Yeah, I cannot stand it. So I'm always on edge when I

have to do that. Um, yeah. The my Raptor evening, but no,

no ugly sweaters. Just the elegant shoes and the

awkwardness that. There's nothing worse than dress

shoes. And this, this is from a guy who

doesn't have to wear heels I still hate like the dress shoes have like a

little bit of a platform on them, like guys dress shoes.

I'm like, I'm out, give me some Nike's.

I don't I'm already six feet tall. I don't need to be taller. No. No.

One of the tallest guys in the room. I don't need help, you know?

Yeah, exactly. I literally had people asking me,

like, I'm trying to find so-and-so and,

you know, can you see over the crowd, no shit. It's so embarrassing. Yeah.

I'm just, like, wrapped my way around.

So, I mean, like T-Rex as far as the height, but

the movement was definitely raptor. You need to work on your raptor

calls. I do,

I only know the turkey call, but. Well, hey, they're related,

you know, raptors, birds. I need cleats, not heels.

People put me in something. Yeah, like that'll get me down into

the ground. It's nice and sturdy. Just feel a little more stable.

That would be so funny. You walk in in, like,

an evening gown and cleats. Yeah. That would be so perfect.

For soccer slides. I need to do that. I think I'm almost at the age

where I'm like, just forget it. I'm wearing slippers.

Just don't care. You should. Do you have some good parties?

No, I've avoided them thus far. We have one coming up this weekend

and that's with Kohli and, uh, and crew. So I'll be, uh, ugly sweater.

Bring it up. My company, bless their souls,

do not do Christmas parties because people are all over the

place and we're very small, but we have few people up north and a

few people down south. And it just. How would you pull that off?

Make you suffer through some stupid zoom thing or something?

Yeah. One time my boss asked me. He goes, what do you think about,

you know, getting the guys up north to come down here?

There's there's a few more people down Southern California.

There's Northern California. What do you think about getting the

guys to come down south and do, like, some sort of get together?

And I was like, I mean, you could. Yeah, if you want. I.

I don't need it. Like, I'm not sitting here going,

man, you are the one thing I wish my job had. Right.

Christmas party? Nope. Just send me a bonus or something.

Thanks. Yeah. Whatever you were gonna spend on that

party, just divide it up and send me a few extra bucks. Like, that's.

That's way more what I'm into. So? So, yeah.

So we'll have Kohl's and that's it. The wife's company doesn't do

Christmas parties anymore for for everyone.

It's just a one day they call everybody in the office and they

do food. And and as I said make them

participate in a not white elephant. White elephant gift. Weird.

So yeah. That's lame. I am glad that I don't have to

participate. I didn't yeah,

I always hate going to those because, you know, she talks about her,

her co-workers, not all of them, but a fair amount of them all the time.

And it's like, oh, so you're the person who was a

total dick to her last week. Oh, hi. Great to see you, asshole.

Right. Yeah. It's hard for me. To play normal.

Well, I actually had, I think, three parties this last weekend.

There was also a cookie exchange. Oh, um, so it was.

And then this week, I'm hosting, like,

my staff from Saint John's program. I'm taking them out to a nice lunch.

Um, just as a little Christmas treat. That's nice.

Something other than cafeteria food is kind of nice for for them.

So that'll be. Cafeteria food and pretzels. Right?

Exactly. Like we're sick of pretzels. Let's do something. It's true.

I better make sure it's something totally different. Yeah, but, yeah.

Back in my, uh, McDonald's days, if I was working Christmas or Christmas

Eve, I would dip into the safe. Even though I got in trouble

every year for it. And whoever was with me,

I just ordered pizza for everybody. I was like, you guys need a break

from burgers? Let's, uh. Yeah. I don't order from the good place

in town, too. Not Domino's. I'd order from toppers.

It's like, all right, who wants toppers?

And what do you guys want on your pizza? Let's get, like, four pizzas.

And I don't care if I get in trouble. Are they gonna do fire me?

It's McDonald's. Right? Yeah. That's perfect. Right.

People liked me for it. Something different. Yeah.

Exactly. How many nuggets? Well, nuggets is a bad example.

I eat a lot of nuggets. How many cheeseburgers could you

really have? So. Yeah. All right. Well, next week, Christmas episode,

everybody. I can't wait. That'll be fun to listen to.

I'm very, very excited to see how I'm almost done with it.

I'm very excited to see how it comes out. Um, also nerd stuff.

I've been talking about this for a few weeks now, looking for the

reviews for people to go on Apple Podcasts, leave a review.

I want it to include two terms, one craft beer and two beer podcasts.

And, uh, it's a weird SEO thing I'm working on. It's working.

We've gotten a few so far, and, uh, we are number as of this evening.

Number two on the craft beer search. Wow.

And we're still not ranking on beer podcast, so I'm.

I need that one to sway a little bit, but I figured we've gotten a few so

far, and I figured I would start reading them on the show. Okay.

And if you've left, if you, the listener, have left any,

it takes a while to show up. They don't show up immediately,

so I don't see them right away, so I will get to them.

Don't be discouraged if you've left it, but this one came from

beer Babe an. Okay. This is a perfectly poured craft

beer podcast. Okay,

@CraftBeerRepublic is the craft beer companion I didn't know I needed.

It's well rounded, wildly entertaining, and smoother

than a fresh pulled pint. The Beer Podcast blends random humor,

solid beer reviews, pertinent industry news,

oddball facts, and just enough chaos to keep me laughing out loud

while learning something new. If you like craft beer content

with personality, wit, and the occasional did they just

say that moment? This is the one. Cheers to my favorite crew for

keeping every episode crisp, clever and crushable. Thanks!

Craft beer an so true. That's just that is well stated. Yes.

So, uh, leave your reviews and, uh, we'll we'll read them on

here as long as they're nice. Don't don't tell me, uh.

If you do read them, you're gonna you're gonna read

it and then add a little some expletives afterwards, I'm sure. Yes.

If they're if they're negative, yes. I will let you know how I feel

about you. Right. I did. So this reminds me.

I haven't thought about this in years.

I used to do a podcast with my friend Jenny.

It was called Awkward Apocalypse. And think of it as, oh, she.

She's a genius, is all her. Yeah. As far as the branding and the

title and all that stuff, and think of it as like sort of a

old school love line type of, uh, you know, sharing your adventures

and dating type of show. And it kind of ended when we

both started seeing people. It had a natural it's like we don't

have dating stories to tell anymore. Okay.

But anyways, uh, somebody left a review once that it was.

I think it was like three stars. It was kind of in the middle.

And it it was a glowing review for Jenny and then finished with.

But I've had enough of Greg thinking he's cool or something like that.

I was like, all right. Nice. Yeah. So fuck you.

Whatever your name. Was. Yeah. You don't have anything nice to say?

Yeah, it was kind of funny. I got weeks of content off of

talking shit about. That's good. I think his name had to do with

Raiders. And we all know how I feel about

the Raiders, so that didn't help, but, um. All right, I found this.

I thought this was perfect to talk about with you on the show tonight

because you are a lover of snog. I mean, it's pretty yummy.

You're the only one. Who's. Converted. I know she's tried. It.

But she doesn't actually like. It for trying. Maybe more than once.

She tried so clearly just a good soul for giving it her all.

And I do think she's a big dog lover. It was just. Yes. Getting past the.

She loves snog and I know she loves shams because we had a whole

champ birthday for her, but yeah. Um, I so this is sort of up that

alley. Okay, okay. Tell me what you think of this.

Uh, in fact, it was Sam Adams who posted this,

and they call it their winter lager. Eggnog. The recipe 2.25oz.

Sam Adams Winter lager. An ounce of dark rum.

An ounce of apple brandy, a teaspoon of honey, one egg and

ground cinnamon for garnish. What do you do with the egg?

Like, do you whip it up like this? Does it?

I think you it doesn't actually say it's just the ingredient list.

Yeah, but I think you whip it up into a nog like concoction.

Ah, because I thought eggnog was pasteurized for the most part.

Oh, to sell it in a store, it's got to be.

Just the idea of an egg in my drink. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's a no for me.

But just like the raw egg thing. Yeah, it sounds like such a

hypocrite, but how disgusting. Who comes up with this?

Who comes up with this shit? Okay,

I found the actual instructions. Combine the egg, honey,

rum and brandy in a shaker. Shake well to emulsify the egg.

Now, here's the weird thing. I would think it'd just be the egg

whites. Yeah. But it doesn't say. It says egg shake.

Well, to emulsify the egg. Add the Sam Adams Winter lager

to the shaker. Gently stir or shake briefly to

avoid foaming. Pour into a festive glass and

garnish with a sprinkle of cinnamon. So we can do raw eggs now.

I thought that was something you're not supposed to do.

Like this whole cookie dough thing? That's a lie.

My parents are lying to me. I just ate the whole cookie dough.

Yeah. Yeah. Do you know how much cookie

dough I ate in brownie batter? Yeah. For sure.

But, I mean, there was guilt and worry. Oh.

My mom's like, go for it. Go for. It. I have the insides of steel now,

thanks to that. Sweet. Yeah. Uh, yeah. I'm. I'm out.

Even if this was eggnog and not egg, I'd very much still out. Lager.

And eggnog is a is a no for me, dog. It's the raw part that gets me.

So, um. I mean, I'm intrigued. Part of it intrigues me.

But it's just the raw. Yeah, I don't know. Interesting.

I probably was more of a discussion piece.

You know, I'm just wondering if. Yeah. But they posted it. They did.

This is from Sam Adams official gram. I'll talk to my people at Sam Adams,

you know. Yeah. Could you hit up your contacts?

I will find out what the hell they were thinking.

All right, we've got news. We've got. I don't know if I said this.

At the top. We have the annual dropping of the

Yule log tonight. While I'm here. While you're here,

we are finally ringing in the Christmas season. What an honor.

But before we get to either of those, let's make a call to the pen.

Find out what you're drinking over there. Okay. Do it.

So jacked up about this yule log. I don't know if I can fuck.

In the bullpen for beer. I will, I'm gonna lock in here.

I'm locking in. So I guess this is our Sierra

Nevada episode because I also have a Sierra Nevada beer.

If Sierra Nevada wants to send some money over for this episode.

I mean, I'll drive up and get it. They're only an hour and a half

from me, so. Yeah, go grab the check for us.

Seriously, I will, I will save them a stamp. Just whatever it takes.

Whatever the cost. Now, $0.50 or something for sure.

So I have the Skiesta, which is pretty cool. I love that name.

Skiing and Skiesta as a little bit of a a vibe there.

And it says Bavarian lager. But Hellas, I mean, I think it

looks prettier than the word Hellas when you're doing like a pretty

little winter can to say Bavarian. But the fact German, whatever, that's

kind of nice and winter and festive. So the reason we bought it was

because I got a case of a nice. They have a neat mix.

I don't know if you guys have it near you.

That's kind of like a wintry festive mix. I don't think I've seen it.

Winter warmer Skiesta this year is the first time I've ever seen it

actually, and we got it for the party and they had some good stuff

in there, so I grabbed this one. Let me tell you about it friends.

It is 4.7 ABV, and it has 7.3 thousand check

ins and a 3.57 rating. Probably not unusual for a lager.

It's a little low. They don't get that hazy hype love.

No. And it says it was after. I'm gonna mess up a lot of words

here. I'm gonna enter my Greg, actually.

Oh. Good luck. Okay, here we go. It was. It was after a powder day.

And Taos, New Mexico, when we first experienced Skiesta.

The tails were tall, the beers beer was cold, and the sunburned smiles

stretched wider than the Rio Grande. Brewed for perfect days and

storied nights, this crisp lager, with its flavorful European malts and

kiss of American hops, promises an easy drinking finish that's just

right for the a pre ski or a pre. Just about anything that's perfect

because I'm done with my skiing days. Oh, no. You and the wife? Yeah.

It's scary. So let me take a look. It's, uh, looks like a lager.

Nice glassware, by the way. Yeah. Oh, yes.

I should have got a picture of that, too. I got my beautiful beer.

Nerd craft beer Republic pint. I washed mine to shit. That's. I see.

You must have a better dishwasher than me. Cause I always do.

And look how nice mine looks. Yours looks great.

It definitely smells bready. Yeasty, which seems to fit.

See, that's the nose job. Now the Yapper flapper.

I love the Skiesta name because I love skiing.

And I love partying. Skiesta. Okay, well, I was thinking,

like, more. Okay, like a siesta. I was thinking ski fiesta.

Oh, and I'm thinking, like, ski nap. We have very different outlooks on

schemes, right? You ski, you nap. Maybe a little fiesta in there too.

But yeah, this this is good. It has, um, the crispness,

a little acidity at first. Um, a little bready finishes.

Sweet. It's a it's a nice lager. I would. Yeah. Keep drinking them.

Thankfully I have a few because they came in a big 24 pack.

Um, I think there were eight of these in there and then two other beers.

So. Nice. Yeah. I'm gonna look out for that.

What were the other beers in there? Do you remember, perchance?

It was a winter warmer and then a, like one of their doubles.

Oh, like like a double IPA or a double like a Belgian double IPA.

Okay, a pretty good mix. And they're just, like,

kind of pretty winter vibes, you know, I like it.

Yeah, like a good winter pack. It's been a while.

I just I need like one of each, not 30 of each.

That's the thing I was like, since we're having a party at work

and we don't, we don't have a ton left. So that worked out good.

But yeah, just for the two of us would have been a waste. So.

Yeah. Yeah, exactly. I'm the only one in the house

that drinks beer anymore. So be a lot of beer. Wine snobs now.

I know, we're so classy. Uh, all right, a little news before

we get to the main event here. Uh, I'm going to warn everyone.

This one is extremely serious. It's not our typical make fun of

Budweiser news. I debated on whether I was going

to read it, but I figured it's such a big news.

It's been going around the gram. It should be at least touched upon.

All right. Uh, North Carolina breweries,

bars and restaurants are responding after the arrest of Sycamore

Brewing's co-founder, Justin Brigham. Brigham was arrested on December 11th

by the Stanly County Sheriff's Office on charges including statutory

rape of a child by an adult, first degree burglary and

indecent liberties with a child. Following the arrest, Sycamore

co-founder and owner Sara Taylor, who is also his wife, announced

on Instagram that Brigham will immediately divest all ownership

interest in the brewery and have no further involvement with the company.

Stanly County Sheriff Jeff Chrisco said additional charges are

expected and that investigators are looking into whether the

alleged assault is part of a broader pattern of behavior.

Authorities say Brigham had been communicating with the minor for two

weeks and knew she was underage. In the days since,

numerous bars and restaurants across North Carolina have publicly

announced they are removing Sycamore beers from their menus.

Others have chosen to continue carrying the brand while issuing

statements of condemnation. One example, Goodfellow's Bar in

Chapel Hill, said it will continue serving Sycamore Beer while donating

a portion of proceeds to the Orange County Rape Crisis Center,

citing support for brewery employees not involved in the allegations.

Sycamore later released a statement acknowledging the situation,

saying trust had been violated and expressing anger, sorrow and support

for the ongoing legal process. I'm not even going to make comments

because it's fucking horrible. The one thing this story doesn't

say is that, uh, I believe the minor in question was 13. Whoa.

Not not even close to, you know. Oh, yeah, she was 18.

Yeah, she was 17, but yeah. Oh, my gosh, it's still.

This is terrible. Yeah. Fucking horrible.

Um, I guess the one good thing is he'll get what's coming to him.

Yeah, he will for sure. It's, uh. Yeah, I saw some chat about it

on the gram today. Um, and some folks had said that he

was a jerk, uh, in the community, and their brewery wasn't great at,

like, um, this is just a few different opinions I had seen.

They weren't great at including the broader community and that

sort of thing. So already some folks had some

low opinion. And then then this, it's like, oh.

Yeah, what a horrible position to be an employee there.

And oh my gosh, for sure. Yeah. Yeah. I thought that, um,

taking the proceeds and putting them toward a crisis center that,

I mean, that's making lemonade out of lemons there at least.

Right? And I like this. I mean, as the bar or restaurant,

they've already paid for the keg. Exactly.

Dumping it would get them anywhere. So. Right.

They already have their money. So yeah, take the take it and and

donate. I think that's a great idea. Yeah. Um.

Whether people will buy it, who knows. But.

Well, there is that right. Um, okay. Back to being able to make fun

of things. Let's do something. Let's lighten this up a little bit.

Anheuser-Busch is set to acquire an 85% stake in beatbox for

about 490 million. We talked a few weeks ago.

They were looking to buy him outright for 700 million.

Uh, now they're getting 85% for 490. The deal is expected to close in

quarter one of 26, pending regulatory approval, and AB plans to move

full ownership after five years under a preset pricing formula.

Earlier reports suggested the sale would reach 700 million bucks.

Co-Founder and CEO Justin Fenchel said the partnership felt like

the next the natural next step, noting their long relationship

with AB and the opportunity to accelerate the brand's growth.

Beatboxes rapid rise began when it shifted from wine and wine spirits

wholesalers to beer distributors, which better serve the

convenience channel. The brand expanded even further in

2021, when it moved from Molson Coors aligned wholesalers to ABS network.

If completed, the acquisition would make Anheuser-Busch the

third largest vendor of flavored alcoholic beverages in the US,

with a combined 9% market share between AB and box. Huh.

This is the one that shakes a part of two. Oh. Is it?

Yeah, it's part of beatbox. And he's helping coach here at

local at Sacramento State. Shaq is. Yeah. No I didn't know that.

Yes. Our um our local college. Here he is helping coach and his son

as well. Or something like that. So my friend's daughter goes there,

we're like, oh, we'll have to go to a basketball game and see if

he's there. That's random. That's funny because your form.

Well, you're you're just outside of Sacramento, but your former

mayor of Sacramento, Kevin Johnson. Kevin Johnson, former son.

Which I make fun of all the time because sons are garbage. Yeah.

You think that maybe he would coach some basketball teams?

Yeah. That's. Yeah. Who knows? Well, beatbox,

forget that stuff. You know. We talked about this with Flex a

little bit. I've never had beatbox. Have you ever had a wine cocktail?

Um. So instead of spirits, it's. It's wine. Like wine based.

Spirits. Can you name one? Like, is there like,

what's what's a wine cocktail? I can't name one because I've

never had one. But I know there's some bars,

like my buddy when we were in our 20s, worked at a bar that didn't

have a full liquor license. So instead of having whiskey and

vodka and all those things. They had bottles of wine based

spirits that they would make cocktails and make cocktails and,

you know, sort of think along the lines of like, uh,

sake or something like that. Yeah, you could use that.

And, and various other things. Basically, it has to be made like

a wine and not distilled. Right. No, I don't I don't think I have, but

definitely I think we talked about it had a beatbox at aftershock and it

was like stepping into a time warp. You know, you wake up the next

morning and you're done. You're like, hey, what happened?

What did I do last night? They are so strong.

And, um, but it's like hot out and you can drink it so fast

because they're like. Like drinking. Fruit punch.

Yeah. So dangerous stuff. I wonder if Deb's had one.

You know, she's a big buzz ball fan. Yeah. Oh, my gosh, I saw the.

They are really expanding their assortment aren't they.

The buzz balls. They got like holiday buzz balls.

And there's balls everywhere we walk. So many balls. So many.

There's a whole end cap of balls. I was like, wow. Um. Eggnog balls.

There were. Yes. There's eggnog. Oh, I've seen them. Yeah, I've.

I almost bought them for Deb. And I was like, ah,

that's too easy. Yeah, yeah, sure. She's already had it. Anyways.

I feel like Coley's had one before. Talked about Beatboxes before. Hmm.

Maybe she may have a story or two. I know, I know,

there was some sort of type of drink that they had at a music festival.

Her and big Dick Nick had a music festival.

I can't remember what it was. Maybe it was beatbox.

I mean, that's they always have, like, it's like a trailer.

They roll up, you know, and you got the ramp.

You're just walking up to your imminent demise like it's.

Yeah, it's pretty crazy. Anytime you get that much sugar

going on, you're gonna have a nasty hangover.

And they're high percent alcohol. So it's like it's it's a lot.

I think they're in the teens. Right. Um. Let's see.

Let's see if I can Google this quickly. Yeah Google that.

And um, and they're always kind of like they, they set it up.

So it's like a fun like they have all these fun colors and stuff going on.

It's very inviting. Like, woo! Beatbox. It's just like. Uh, 11.

Oh 11. So not the worst. But when you combine it with all

that sugar. It's right. It's gonna hurt your next day.

And they're a good size. Yeah, it's it's, um,

not a good idea. Words to live by. Do people actually just buy them

to drink them? Or is it kind of like the Boones

Ferry of. Like the new generation or something?

Because generally they seem like they're dusty on the shelves when I

see them, like in stores and stuff. Like, do people drink these?

I don't know, yeah. I don't think I know anybody

who's actually purchased one. Right. It's at an event, right.

You're handing it for free or they're promoting or it's like all there is.

So you bought one. And um. If anybody out there has ever

purposely gone out sought after and purchased a beatbox. What's the best.

Flavor? What's the best flavor? First of all, just let us know

because I don't think you exist. And then B, if you do exist,

what's the flavor to get? Because I'll try it on the show

and then hate my next day. Hate Thursday morning. Uh.

What else? Oh, more AB news. They're selling one brewery,

closing two others as a part of a manufacturing overhaul.

Yeah, the company will sell its Newark, new Jersey,

brewery to developer Goodman Group and shut down its Merrimack,

New Hampshire and Fairfield, California facilities next year.

Yeah. Abe says production will move to

other breweries as it continues to nearly continues a nearly

$2 billion effort to modernize its manufacturing network.

All 475 full time employees at these three sites will be offered

jobs at other facilities, uh, relocation support or severance,

if they choose not to move. Hey, we're closing up.

You want to move to another state? Yeah. Come make beatbox with us.

Yeah, but the Fairfield one's not far from us.

I think it's like an hour from where we are. Still never, never toured it.

Do they offer tours there? Yeah. Because there's one near us.

I don't think they offer tours. Yeah. Now, where did Flex go and have

that awkward tour? Was that a. He went to Saint Louis.

He went to, you know, the mothership. And it was a Budweiser then?

Yes. Okay. Yeah. They the local one at least years ago

offered tours because our family came and they went and did it.

And I don't know, I wasn't terribly interested.

I kind of regret it, though. I wish I could share that experience.

Yeah. All right. I just looked it up. They don't do tours at the one near

us, which is in Van Nuys, California. You know, there used to be a

whole theme park there. There was a Busch Gardens around

Busch Gardens. Yeah, I think it was Busch

Gardens or whatever they called it back in the day.

Yeah, but there was a whole this was before I was born.

Yeah, but it was a whole theme park and all that stuff.

And apparently it was a big deal. Who knew?

Who knew Van Nuys could be a big deal? What a shithole.

Talking about my own state now, uh, beer board says that this

year's blackout Wednesday did not hit as hard as usual,

at least compared to year over year. Are you, uh, go out on Wednesday

before Thanksgiving and get hammered type of gal?

No, it's stay home and get hammered because family's here and.

Oh, yeah. You gotta get hammered. That's why. I stopped.

You know, when I still lived in my hometown,

I would go hit the bars and see all the people I didn't want to see.

And a couple of random ex-girlfriends that, you know,

sometimes that worked out and sometimes not at all. And, uh.

Yeah, just not for me anymore. I'm like, oh, it's a holiday.

I'll probably get a DUI. I'm staying at home, right?

I'll either get a DUI or I'll have to pay, you know, $900 for an Uber.

Either way, I'm not leaving the house.

Um, draft volume was down 10% and packaged beverage alcohol was

down 15% compared to last year. But compared to the previous

Wednesday, Thanksgiving eve still delivered a big boost.

Draft beer jumped 41.8% week over week and packaged goods rose 31%.

Look at that. So people still have to drink

even more so to get by with their relatives than previous years.

Right. Relatives don't get better. Let me tell you,

I'd argue they get worse. A few brands bucked the year

over year decline entirely. Busch light posted gains in both

draft and packaged. Wow. 30 plus, 30% in packaged.

Uh, Pacifico plus 17.2% in draught. Guinness up 7.5% in draught.

Surfside Iced Tea and Lemonade up 18.3% in packaged.

And then, uh, I don't know why you're doing this on Blackout Wednesday,

but Heineken zero zero up 5.5% in their packaged.

Uh, if you're drinking the night before Thanksgiving,

that better have some booze in it. Seriously, what's the point?

But what is the point? Have yourself a Diet Coke.

Otherwise, I mean, some good news there. People still drinking?

Yeah, I'm not the only one has to deal with in-laws.

That's the good. News, right? I mean. I mean, yay, in-laws.

We leave it there? Yeah. Let's take a trip to Florida,

shall we? Oh, yes. That's a great way to wrap up

the news. Three arrested after deputies

say they were caught having sex in a Winn-Dixie parking lot in

the Florida Keys. Three, two. Let's go. What do we got? Okay.

At a marathon, Florida. Three people arrested while marathon.

That is so apropos. Okay. They were having a marathon.

Three people were arrested after authorities in the Florida Keys

say they were found having sex while heavily intoxicated.

In a Winn-Dixie parking lot in the middle of the day.

No deputies were called to the grocery store around 12 p.m. on

Saturday, where they found all three individuals engaged in sexual acts,

according to the Monroe County Sheriff's Office.

All were taken to jail. Sharon. Helen. Oh, God.

Cieplinski, 45, of marathon charged with unlawful exposure of sexual

organs, disorderly intoxication and resisting without violence.

What does that mean? No. Please don't arrest me. Yeah, right.

I disagree with you. Right? Uh, deputy said it was her

second arrest for similar public conduct in three months.

She's, uh, she's got a streak going. Uh, and then Marshal Adam Lowry,

43, of Key Largo, was charged with committing unnatural and lesbian

acts and disorderly intoxication. And finally, Michael McDonald Howard,

59, of marathon, was charged with unlawful exposure of sexual organs

and disorderly intoxication. Welcome to Florida.

Keep your nooners at home, people. A little afternoon delight.

Yeah. Wow. It's a pineapple crew right there.

Touche. Yeah, yeah. Good job. Get your pineapples ready.

This is so good. Another thing that made me think

of that pineapple. Our friends from Nepal have a

pineapple in their bathroom. Okay. And once again, like,

they're the ones who are like, what's the eggplant?

You know, so they've got this giant wooden pineapple.

So of course, Sterling Flip McDreamy flipped

it upside down and then, like, left it. They didn't say anything.

So he's just like, hey, guys, the pineapple is like,

what are you talking about? It's so fun to mess with them.

But I don't know if they're gonna have that pineapple

anymore now that they know. So it was explained to him what

it meant. It was explained? Yes. Okay. You're gonna go over there.

Gonna be no trace of pineapples. It's gonna be right there on the

front porch, upside down. They're like, hey.

Why do you have ten pineapples? Let's embrace it.

Like, oh, now that we know. It was in the bathroom. Yeah.

You know, you're into what? You're into. Um. No judgment.

Uh. All right. I teased this at the top of the

at the top middle of the show. I guess this is this is the one thing

I look forward to all year long. It's the only Christmas

tradition I truly love. And I'll tell the same story I

tell every year, just in case there's a new listener out there.

Back in the day, Mark and Brian out based out here of, uh,

in Los Angeles morning radio show. They used to play this every year for

the holidays, and it signified the, uh, well, the holidays.

It wasn't the holidays until they played this. I think it was Brian.

Maybe it was. Mark was at a Salvation Army and

found this old Disney cassette tape, and it was like, what is this?

Bought it for, you know, a quarter or whatever,

brought it home and played it. And this was one of the tracks on it.

And so, uh, it's the tradition I try to keep alive.

I started podcasting the same year. They went off the air and retired.

So I figure it's only fitting played every year and all my

various podcasts I've had. So here we are,

the dropping of the Yule log. Christmas Eve is probably the

most exciting night of the year for children.

The warm and fuzzies already. At our house.

The ritual is always the same. Mom hurries dinner out of the way

so that the festivities can begin. First I lay a fire in the fireplace.

I pride myself on the way. I lay a fire to begin.

I crinkle newspaper to put under the grate.

Then I put in the kindling. Breaking the sticks into the

proper lengths. So loud. It's great. The original ASMR.

Then I bring in the Yule log and put it in the grate.

That's the biggest log we've ever had, dad. Yeah, and the heaviest too.

It's like 30 years of that night. I still can't get enough.

There you go. There you have it. Dropping of the Yule log.

Was that supposed to be, like, unironic. Like you said, it was.

Absolutely it was. Disney is from like the 50s.

I mean, this was Christmas Stories and this

was one of the Christmas stories. And he he lights a fire,

he drops the Yule log. And, uh, definitely doesn't

sound like he was taking a dump or anything like that. Yeah.

I mean, it's so funny that and that all these little noises,

which are such a big deal now, right? Like people do the tapping,

you know. Right. And all these funny things and.

Right. They're,

they're trying to make each little moment have its sound experience.

But it kind of it landed wrong just it just didn't quite land the way.

I think it landed just right. It landed right. You know what?

Hear that second, um, celebration. You need to drop your own yule log

while you're drinking a celebration. Okay? I think that's your moment.

That's your special Christmas moment. I'm not a fan of drinking beer in

the bathroom, but I'll get over it. You. You definitely need to do that.

We'll keep it spicy. Speaking of spicy Tapatio.

And for everyone. Now it's got its own drop.

Oh my gosh. Oh, yeah. How can we not have a little Tapatio

before the end of the year? Oh, and. I did not. Right over my head.

I know you said like you had to go back and listen to it.

And I was like, is he talking about Tapatio?

He just he I he went right by it, and I just. Yeah. Nothing.

Just nothing. Yeah. I thought it must be some Wisconsin

hot sauce and. Yeah. Cold soup. That's that's the wisco, uh,

gazpacho. Carpaccio. So just beer. Nothing else. Love it. Oh.

All right, I'm gonna hit a little music over here.

I hope you all feel, uh, festive. And you're ready for the holiday

season. Now that the Yule log has

officially been dropped. You may now officially drop your

yule logs, everyone. That's right. Drop away. Think of us.

Grab your, uh, eggplant shakers and sprinklers. And. Drop your yule logs.

Have a celebration while you do it. Might as well have.

Have two, but not 24. Oh, dear. Well, thanks for being Flex flawed,

Phil. And or standing. I tried my best.

Thanks for inviting me. And, um. Follow us on the socials.

@CraftBeerRepublic @necknosh. Of course.

@CraftBeerRepublic @Necknosh. Com. Get yourself some pretzel

necklaces for your next event too. Oh that's right, in the winter

s'mores packs. Don't forget. Those. I do believe that's everything.

Let us know if you've had a beatbox because I don't think anyone has,

at least not on purpose. I think that's it.

Hope you all are staying very well hydrated. And on that note.

Good night everybody.