[intro music] Welcome in everybody!
It's the Craft Beer Republic.
Thanks for drinking,
thanks for joining.
I am Greg,
I'm being joined by the buffest person on the entire fresh coast,
and that is Flex.
'Sup buddy?
King of the Midwest,
you do this,
you do this.
Exactly!
You like it?
And...
Oh,
I love it.
It's perfect.
That's all I had for today.
Mine wasn't much better,
you're fine.
Whenever I don't come up with something,
I just go back to the fresh coast.
I like it!
And as promised from last week,
to class this join up a little bit,
we're being joined all the way from New York,
from class to podcast Mel.
I should have typed the other one,
because I knew what you were going to say,
and I'm like,
"That does flow so much better." But sadly,
no,
it's just your everyday average beer girl grad student here,
joining my two best buddies in the podcast world.
What's up guys?
Nothing sad about that,
we're glad about that.
I'm smiling,
grinning from ear to ear right now.
Pumped right now.
Yeah.
You are fresh out of being a nerd?
Yes,
yes,
doing lots of nerdy things today.
opened a beer,
figured out how to use a computer,
and here we are.
Yep,
barely.
Took a while.
Took a minute,
but we got there.
That's the main thing.
We got there,
and we didn't even have to yell at Lou throughout the entire process.
I almost text him,
"Please help.
I lied.
Come back upstairs.
I need you." How much he swears in the background.
He swears a lot.
Oh,
so much swearing.
Even when he doesn't think people are listening,
just absolute cuss bomb.
Every other word.
How he speaks.
Yeah.
Does he talk to the kids that way too?
I think he talks to everybody that way,
even in business.
I love it.
They know he's unpolished,
and they love him for that.
Right.
I mean,
what else are you going to do?
That's Lou.
He's like one of the guys from off the street.
You make good deals with him.
Who needs Jenny from the block when you get Lou from the block?
Exactly.
Yeah.
All right.
So much to get to today.
I got some correspondence from a listener that I want to talk about in a couple of few.
We got some booze news to get to.
Ludicrous libation law.
But let's kick things off with a little hydration from class to podcast Mel.
All right,
guys.
but audience,
I'll tell you.
I am stoked to try this beer.
I've been holding onto this one since the end of September.
This is a collaboration.
It's actually a charity beer for Melissa's Wings.
If you guys don't follow,
you need to.
Yankee Runner.
He's amazing.
His mother passed away from cancer.
He started a nonprofit.
And every year he goes to the brewers on the East Coast,
and everybody brews that charity beer for him.
And that's how he raises money.
So I think that's awesome.
I love charity and I love him.
So give him a follow.
This is a collaboration between The Seed,
Marlowe,
Mindful and Timber Ales.
It's a single barrel,
unblended,
untreated,
mixed culture saison envisioned among friends selected in honor of all those affected by the impacts of cancer.
Sorry.
This beer is released in support of Melissa's Wings,
our dear friend Jose's annual fundraising efforts to support cancer research.
Brewed and packaged by The Seed,
a living beer project.
And they are based out of Atlantic City.
Naturally conditioned in this bottle.
Please chill for 24 hours.
Okay,
I did that.
The graphics are amazing here.
I did it and then some.
I want to just get right into it because I've been waiting a long time.
So it's got a beautiful golden color.
It's got a nice effervescence on the nose.
I smell a lot of stone fruit.
Let's give it a taste.
Just wow.
Executed really,
really nicely.
A lot,
a lot of stone fruit.
Thanks,
Matthew.
Owen?
This held up.
I was thinking Matthew McConaughey for some reason.
I don't know why.
All right,
all right.
Forget the beer.
Let's talk about Matthew.
This held up fantastic.
This feels very luxurious.
It is actually more of like reminds me of a wine,
like a sparkling wine.
It's amazing,
guys.
You did a great job.
Can't wait for the next one that's coming up in just a couple months.
Oh,
another one coming out hot.
Do they do the same style?
No,
every brewery.
I think he gives them liberty to do whatever they want.
And I think last year they had maybe like 15 or 16 different breweries that had releases.
So I've had a few of them,
but I think they get the opportunity to make the decision.
But he does like a crazy,
crazy bottle share at a different brewery every year.
And there's like you got to buy a ticket to get in.
But it's like over the top good.
So hopefully one year,
I'll be able to make it to one.
But in the meantime,
I'll just follow the beer trail of breweries and support.
Nice.
Maybe we can get McDreamy to gas up the jet.
We could all go out there for it.
Come on down.
Yeah,
we keep saying that McDreamy obviously has a jet.
He's a surgeon.
I mean,
he must.
They have like sort of a farm going on.
Yeah,
they live in the middle of nowhere.
How does he get to his calls on time?
But a heart surgeon.
Yeah,
I mean,
at the very least,
he's got a chopper.
To get from home to hospital that he's hired.
Get to the chopper.
Thank you for that.
And at best,
he's got a jet.
So McDreamy,
we need a ride,
please.
It's important for your stuff.
How does it work with a helicopter?
How far can a helicopter fly?
How far can it go?
Valid question.
I have no idea.
It's like a local thing,
I think,
right?
You couldn't go across the country with one,
could you?
I don't know,
maybe a gas station.
Well,
Kobe could.
Oh,
too soon.
Too soon.
Was it a helicopter?
I thought it was a private jet.
No,
a helicopter.
They got lost in the fog.
Damn.
Yeah,
RIP Kobe.
Way to go,
Flex.
Yeah,
bring the whole show down.
McDreamy,
let's gas up whatever it is you're flying.
Can we get a ride?
Yeah,
please.
Thank you.
We want to hit.
This is important research that we want to conduct.
Well,
very nice.
I just followed Yankee Runner,
so go follow him.
Yeah,
he's awesome.
Great content.
Yeah.
All right,
let's get into things.
I got a text message.
I'll leave the listener's name out because I did not clear this with him first,
and I'd hate to,
you know,
say the wrong thing.
Okay,
what did Scott say?
We all know I don't give a shit about that.
I'd call him right out.
Said listener was up in Mammoth last week,
Mammoth,
California,
for one of the bigger beer festivals in California,
which is Bluesapalooza.
Sounds like a blues concert.
It sort of is,
but people really go for the beer.
I've not been to it before.
I've only been to Mammoth in the winter because I love skiing.
But anyways,
we were texting back and forth about it,
and he says,
hey,
you know,
fun time in Mammoth.
Not sure if I'll go back next year.
Some of the better breweries stopped coming,
but of the ones that were here,
I liked Casa Agria,
Malibu Brewing,
Bottle Logic.
There were several other above average and several mediocre breweries,
and that got me thinking,
and I even responded to him and said,
that is actually what I have found as of late.
I feel like a lot of the better breweries are starting to not show up to beer festivals.
I don't know if it's economics thing,
if they just don't fucking need it anymore because they're too cool for school or what.
But the last few beer fests I've been to have been a little bit of a letdown.
I mean,
there's been good beer,
but not as much good beers in the past.
Do you think that maybe beer fests became a huge trend and it's starting to fade?
I do think that's what the case is,
but I will tell you that over here there is a resurgence.
Drownlands just had a beer festival this past weekend.
Unfortunately,
I could not make it because,
you know,
school,
shit like that.
And then this weekend,
Tin Barn is having their first annual block party,
and they've got like 70 breweries from across the country also not making it to that one.
But I know that they're bringing it back.
But,
you know,
like for a couple of years,
like other half was really,
really like putting it down with Green City.
And what was the Stout one?
You guys remember?
I went there to it.
Yeah,
where was it?
Pastry Town,
Pastry Town.
Oh,
it's in Brooklyn.
Both of them.
And they were like meat,
like people flew in from it from all over the country.
And it was like a big meet up.
It was huge.
But then they kind of just didn't do it like last year at all.
And I don't I think they did a smaller version this year,
but I don't know if it was really publicized as much.
So I didn't.
Yeah,
I think they're trending out a little bit.
And I think they've been a little fucked out to like people.
I say people,
and I don't mean the general public.
I think the general public is still going as much as they can.
But like around here,
I thought there's more.
I think there's a brew brew fest for every event that you can think of.
I think the breweries are getting a little tired of going.
They're like,
what else are we going to do now?
It's another place we have to go.
And we got to donate beer and or send staff to man it or whatever.
Right.
You know,
like around here,
you know,
a couple of years ago,
we went to we went to the chili cook off,
which is very local here and where we live.
And they always had a beer fest associated with it.
The last time we went was a couple of years ago.
It was a total shit show.
Not fun.
Right.
I talked about I went to GABF last year for the first time.
And what made it fun was the people that we were with.
Erica and her crew.
Yeah,
the people are always.
No,
but the people are always what makes it fun.
And then you have good beer,
too.
But,
you know,
by the time you hit like five tenths,
like you're do you remember what you're drinking?
Because I did my best to like go slow.
And I was at the that GABF.
But but like so many of the breweries we had,
especially as we went to like try to go to,
you know,
here's all these California breweries that we know and love,
like you're pure and Malibu brewing all these guys we love.
So let's go to the middle of the country where we never have beers from Nebraska or whatever.
And like so much,
the beer just was mediocre at best.
And yeah,
even like,
you know,
like Loggerville was good.
You know,
it's a brewery inviting other breweries.
I think that helps.
I'm trying to think of other examples.
I just feel like beer fests are sort of not as well attended on the brewery side as they used to be.
I agree.
I don't know.
It's sad.
Bring it back,
people.
Bring it back.
Yeah,
well,
or we have a huge weekend in June here.
It's like usually around like that Father's Day weekend where there's two,
three,
four anniversary parties and like a city festival,
like a street festival type deal.
And they're all on the same weekend.
So it's like it's really hard to judge by going to like one event.
And you're like,
oh,
hey,
like this isn't as packed as maybe it used to be.
But then you realize there's like a lot of shit going on.
So maybe everybody is scattered.
Maybe they're like spreading it out.
Maybe that I don't know.
Maybe there's just stuff going on.
Yeah,
right.
So if beer fests aren't as well attended,
maybe that.
Yeah.
And I think also like the world's opened up again since COVID.
So I feel like before it was like,
all right,
like what are we doing?
We're going to go to the beer fest because what else can we do?
And now you can kind of go back to like your old routine,
like everything's back open and normal,
like so people are kind of functioning in normal life rather than like spending all their time on Instagram and like paying attention to what's actually happening in the beer world.
That's unfortunately,
it wasn't.
Graham definitely took a hit post COVID.
Oh,
God,
Graham.
Well,
it was up and then it was and now it's now it's like down.
COVID,
we're bored out of our minds and breweries were sending us beer,
hoping we'd post it.
And do you know,
I started my account in 2019 to advertise for Beer World.
And when the pandemic hit,
I had to go nurse mode.
So I just bailed on it completely.
And then,
like,
as I didn't have to do that anymore,
I'm like,
like,
let's get back into this and see.
And then,
like,
that's really when my account kind of took off because I was really investing time into it because it was like my mental health.
Yeah.
Cause I'm fucked up,
y'all.
I am not right after COVID.
It's funny you said that.
It was like mental health.
It was.
It was like a weird escape.
You know,
it's really,
really bizarre.
You put it like that.
Bunch of like minded friends hanging out talking about shit.
But now I have you guys.
It's like we're going on like four years.
So we're doing something right.
Talk about mental health.
The three of us could use some work.
Easy there,
man.
Yeah,
goodness.
But hey,
one one thing we know that you and I don't have in common with Flex is we've actually had COVID.
Right.
Yeah,
I've had it once.
Maybe two years ago,
actually,
almost to the date.
Yeah,
I had a year and a half ago.
It was January of 23 was my only confirmed case.
I'm pretty sure I had it in February of 2020,
but never confirmed.
Yeah,
August 9th,
2022 people.
That's when COVID got me.
Like I said,
it's almost to the date two years.
Pretty good.
Well,
it's right around my anniversary.
And literally,
it was my whole vacation from work.
I like usually take off.
And we went to a Mets game.
The next day I woke up,
felt like crap.
My best friend,
Diana,
felt like crap.
She was with me and then she tested and I was like,
"Damn it.
I'm on vacation.
I can't even use COVID pay.
This is nonsense." All of this time,
never got to use it.
What a rip.
My mom's in Europe right now.
She just tested positive.
Oh,
man.
It's going around again.
Yeah,
she packed Pex Lovett or whatever and is taking that.
I'm going to Europe in a couple of months here.
And I'm like,
"Shit,
what am I going to do?" You're going to be fine.
You're going to be fine.
Just don't test.
You're going to do what everybody else does.
You're going to have a little cold.
Just don't test.
Listen,
guys.
Sorry.
It is what it is these days.
We've gotten past the point of where it's severely dangerous to most people,
which is exactly what we expect from a virus.
So way to go science.
I'm sure the cold was killing people at some point in history.
For sure.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
But yeah,
the good news for me is whenever I get sick,
I get it super light.
My wife,
on the other hand,
is usually dying in bed or whatever.
I'm like,
"All right.
I'm going to go out and do shit." Anyways,
not a COVID show.
Not a COVID show.
Used to be.
It really was for a while.
You're not wrong there.
Yeah.
So beer fest,
I don't know.
I actually ran this by my wife.
I was like,
"Hey,
am I just being snobby that the good beer places aren't always showing up anymore?" She's like,
"No,
I think said listener is correct for the most part.
Some of the invitational beer fest,
you'll get some better." So I don't know.
Beer fest,
maybe A,
step it up,
and B,
have less of them and make them more special.
I think that's a big thing.
Somehow put a stamp on it.
Yeah.
It used to be a couple of year where you get your themed one,
like Lauderville and the Firestone Invitational.
That's what I like about Eagle Park's joint fest that they have every year.
It's around that 4/20 date every year.
So it's joint fest because they join with 12 other breweries and they have 12 different collab beers.
So it's a cool concept like that.
So it's their own festival that they put on and it's not necessarily that other breweries come in and work the festival,
but they are collabing on every single beer that is- Yeah,
it's a fun theme.
And it's a fun idea.
It's a fun theme.
Yeah,
so stuff like that.
Yeah,
yeah,
exactly.
Just don't post up a bunch of tents and just have it like you go to the Warped Tour back in the day and you go to the merch area and it's just 90 fucking tents.
Yeah.
You know,
just walking through everything.
And you're just like,
"Oh,
yeah,
no,
I'm not interested in that.
On to the next." Or there's a local beer fest out here that happens every year.
I haven't been in years.
Because of this where it got bad.
It got to the point where all the shitty breweries locally were showing up and now the good breweries.
So they had to start reaching out to distributors like,
"Hey,
you distribute for insert brewery here.
Can we get some beer?" Oh,
yeah,
no.
Because you want it to be special too.
You don't want to have their everyday distro beer.
You want it to be something that you can't get anywhere else.
Yeah,
for a while they had Stone every year.
It's like,
"Oh,
what is this Stone IPA you speak of?" Sorry,
Stone,
but no.
It was pre-sell out,
but still.
How many Stone IPAs can you fucking drink in a lifetime?
Probably one.
One.
What did they have?
Choco Vesa?
I did like that one.
Do you love me some Choco Vesa?
Yeah,
I would like that once a year.
But one Stone and I was done for.
I was like,
"Ugh." Yeah.
And Choco Vesa,
they sold out.
Stop making it.
Literally went into cat mode,
trying to lick anything I could to get that taste off of my tongue.
I think there was one night I went out and I got a Stone IPA and I got an arrogant bastard right after that.
That was...
We was good after that.
Yeah,
I bet.
To tell the story,
at least.
Yeah.
Couldn't taste anything.
Now,
after that,
you're blowing someone for a lager.
Who's a brother gonna move?
I got these cheeseburgers.
Maybe I didn't.
Oh,
man.
Bradley Cooper was a happy man that night.
Oh,
he's an off the air show.
He's a big crush on Bradley Cooper.
Not even gonna lie.
Who doesn't?
I mean,
yeah,
really.
Look at that man.
Okay.
So it's a normal thing.
I just wanted to make sure.
Gorgeous.
Very good looking.
Yeah.
So I've heard.
Oh,
a couple of weeks ago,
I mentioned the whole situation where I dropped wine in the parking lot and it looked like a murder scene.
Oh,
yes.
I listened.
I'm happy to report.
We went wakeboarding again,
went back and bought more wine.
And I did not drop it this time.
Good for you.
Winning.
Yay me.
I did get a concussion that trip,
but I did not drop the wine.
Well,
I'd rather have a brain bruise than a.
I'm sorry.
That took me a second.
You've got a concussion.
Bottle of wine.
How did you do that?
Very much concussed.
I was wakeboarding.
Shocking.
And was that when you had the one handed wakeboard with the beer?
Did the can hit you in the head?
No,
that was the broken wine bottle trip.
That was the same trip as the broken wine bottle.
This was last weekend.
We were up there.
Usually it's four of us on the boat.
We had six people on the boat.
This time had a party going,
which the party part of it was not the problem.
I was not drinking.
I don't I don't really drink when I wake.
Yeah,
you said that.
Yeah.
But because we had more people on the boat,
we had a much nicer wake to jump off of.
It was glorious.
Until it wasn't.
I have a helmet.
I chose not to wear it because usually I'm like,
I'm just fucking around.
I'm not doing hard tricks.
So I won't wear the helmet.
Well,
I kind of forgot that the wake was so much better.
And I was kind of pushing myself a little bit because of it.
And I came down off of a jump.
I didn't quite clear the wake.
And because it was bigger,
the wake caught the backside of my board,
which caused me to fall backwards.
And so I slapped the back of my head against the very cement feeling water.
Yeah,
that water is no joke.
It hurts.
No,
that's why I don't really do that stuff anymore because I'm old.
I have a helmet because the wife got a concussion a few years ago.
And I mean,
it's legitimate in five years.
And she's still a little light sensitive.
And it kind of fucked her up a little bit.
Yeah,
let's get some helmets and be adults about this.
And but I never wear it because I don't I don't go that hard or whatever.
Now,
our leaks aren't that big,
but I have never,
ever seen somebody wearing a helmet wakeboarding.
Oh,
I do.
I mean,
it's not like to me.
Oh,
it's not super common,
but I see people,
you know,
once a trip or so where the people that are really here's the thing.
They're the people that are like flipping and shit.
I'm not doing the cool trick.
OK,
I'm just trying not to kill myself as an old man.
So I probably should be wearing the helmet.
And man,
I smacked so hard,
like I felt it immediately and kind of like clunk.
And at first,
I couldn't move.
I was like,
oh,
God,
I need a second.
And the sign when we're done,
like if you fall or if you cut it or the sign when we're done wakeboarding is you slap you.
It kind of looks like you're jerking off the top of your head.
You kind of like pound the top of your head to let the boat driver know you.
I couldn't even do that.
I was just like slapping it like done,
which probably shouldn't slap top my head as I was like post concussion,
whatever.
And then like try to take my board off is a huge pain in the ass.
And then once that finally subsided like a day and a half later,
then my neck is still like super tense.
And I can't like if I'm laying in bed,
I can't lift my head up.
Oh,
yeah,
they take some time.
Yeah,
it's not fun.
But hey,
not an not an old man injury show.
So yeah,
but I didn't drop the wine.
That was the moral of that story.
We're glad the wine's OK.
Yeah,
there you go.
Mel,
have you had a chance to do any research lately?
You know what?
Not that I did research,
but was it last weekend?
Was it last weekend?
Yeah,
last weekend,
actually shredded brew and his wife and his kids were coming through.
They vacationed in Lake George.
And so Aspire happened to be on their way home like the route they took.
So I got to meet up with him and Gally,
his wife and his kids and show them Aspire.
And they loved it.
So it was awesome.
It's so exciting to,
like,
have like a beer friend actually come because I haven't had anybody yet to see the brewery and they were really pretty astonished by it.
He was like,
you did not tell us it was like this.
And I'm like,
I'm pretty sure I did.
But I mean,
it's just a real brewery.
It's like ridiculous.
Like the kids had a great time.
My kids were super awkward,
but that's it.
Neither here nor there.
Not a kid show,
but we had a great time.
And Lou got to meet up with us and he showed the brewery to them and myself,
even though I've been there a million billion times.
And then we got to sample some beer and just kick it for a couple hours,
have some lunch before they headed back on the road.
So that's really all I've done.
But it was a highlight for sure of my summer.
I was so,
so happy to see them and have and to host finally.
You know,
I like hosting.
Once again,
McDreamy,
we can gas up that jet.
Let's go.
We want to go check out Aspire Brewing.
Come to Middletown.
Yeah.
Quick stop in Milwaukee.
Off to Aspire.
Pick a straggler up and then get your asses to New York.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Flex's thumb is sticking out.
Let's pick someone up.
It'd be cool if it was a helicopter,
though.
Like the ladder dropped down from the helicopter.
Oh,
I grabbed onto it.
Just with one arm.
Heroic like.
Yeah.
There's no time to touch down.
Grab that ladder.
We're going.
No,
we got beer to drink.
Yeah.
Even though in like 10 more miles,
we're going to stop for gas.
No time.
I'll be back in six hours,
honey.
Just going to work via helicopter.
Right.
Just another day.
We'll pick him up in his backyard when he's been tanning.
Put your shorts on.
We're going for beers.
Or don't put your shorts on.
We're still going for beers.
Either way,
it works.
Yeah,
exactly.
Well,
that's awesome.
That's super cool.
Yeah,
it was fun.
Nice.
All right.
Before we move on,
let's ask the most important question of the night.
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 Flax drinking?
Well,
yeah,
it's crazy.
I don't know where with that.
It's funny that Mel's on today.
I bought this before I even knew she was coming on.
I got some Evil Twin Brewing.
Nice.
Are they out of New York?
No,
they're not out of New York.
I thought they were out of New York.
They have a brewery in New York.
They're like sort of New York.
Yeah,
I thought they were.
Well,
they're Connecticut,
so this is ruined now.
All right,
show's over.
Good night,
everybody.
You know,
Connecticut is basically a suburb of New York,
right?
I don't know.
Yeah,
that's where the rich people live.
They commute into the city.
So you're good.
That was the Hampton.
No,
the Hamptons is the vacation spot.
Yeah,
that's Long Island.
Connecticut people live.
You're good.
Got it.
It's New York.
Anyway,
I bought this beer because I saw it was Evil Twin.
You don't see that often here.
And it's called Blue Raspberry,
right?
I don't know.
It's just got a real simple handle.
Bizarre.
So when I bought it,
though,
I saw it was $11.99,
which I thought was really neato.
For a four pack?
Yeah.
Wow.
Yeah.
And it was 6% ABV.
I only read that it was a sour ale with raspberry flavor.
And then I got home and I poured it.
And I said,
this kind of tastes not like a regular sour ale.
And then I reread the can,
and it's a sour IPA.
When was the last time you had a sour IPA?
It's been a minute.
It has been a minute,
right?
That was like all the rage in 2019.
Yeah.
But I was for it.
So good.
I don't mind it.
Starting off,
the beer is not blue.
Yeah.
It looked like ecto cooler.
I was going to say,
it looks like a slimer juice.
Yeah,
ecto cooler.
100%.
I noticed that in the beginning.
100% ooze in a glass.
Really simple description on tap.
It's a sour IPA with raspberry flavor.
Thank you very much.
10,000 check-ins.
And it's got a 374.
Wow.
Kind of disappointed with this.
This thing smells like a snow cone.
Oh.
Like legit,
like a blue raspberry snow cone.
It's kind of mind blowing.
And then on the old tongue jobby.
Oh,
the whole reason milk came on.
It's sour as shit.
Oh.
Like really sour,
but delicious.
And the blue raspberry flavor is on point.
Like it's just like taking a straw and getting right to the bottom of the snow cone where all the sugary juices.
Oh yeah.
Before it waters down.
That's what this tastes like.
It's not too hoppy at all.
Like for IPA,
even like sour IPA.
Like this is a phenomenal beer.
And like 6% at $11.99 a four pack.
You can drink this shit all summer long.
You can drink this shit all day long.
It blows my mind.
It's phenomenal.
I feel like this is an algorithm winner.
It's crazy.
So I was really intrigued on this one.
So Saturday night,
I was like,
I had some Oktoberfest.
And then I said,
I got this beer downstairs.
I really got to try it because I didn't know if it was going to be shitty.
Sometimes it's sour.
Because at this point,
I still thought it was a sour.
I poured the thing out and I was kind of bummed out that it was green.
When it's blue,
blue raspberry,
whatever.
And then I just took a sip of it.
And I kind of,
it was like one of those moments where like everything went silent.
And like,
you're just kind of like,
yeah,
like gazing off into nowhere.
And you're just like,
what the fuck just happened?
And then I set it down for like 10 minutes just to like,
make sure I wasn't dreaming.
Clean yourself up.
And I picked it back up and I took another sip.
And I'm just like,
wow,
this is,
it's like exquisite might be the word.
Like it is exquisite.
It is very,
very wonderful.
It is wonderful feeling in my mouth.
It tastes wonderful.
I need more of it in or around my mouth.
You know,
Evil Twin does have a beer called Even More Jesus.
That's like a peanut butter stout.
And there's legit like peanut butter sludge at the bottom.
Like where it's like he just poured peanut butter into.
I don't mind that.
I'm like a peanut butter.
I don't know how I feel about that.
I love peanut butter,
but I'm like,
yo,
this is peanut butter.
I can get down with it.
It doesn't taste like beer at all.
But yeah,
they put those flavors in.
They really,
they seem like they know what they're doing.
So you were disappointed by its untapped score.
What would you give it?
Oh man,
like sour IPA wise.
I would probably give it like a four and a half.
This would be a perfect if this was like hoppier on the back end.
Like just to be like,
hey man,
like a little bit.
A little IPA-y.
Yeah,
I am an IPA after all.
But like this is,
it is wonderful.
It makes me,
I feel like a little kid,
like in a candy store.
Like I'm just smiling.
Like every time I take a sip of this,
I'm like,
oh,
candy.
No wonder he's got a blanket on his lap.
He's got to cover it up.
Oh my god.
Oh dear.
Well,
very nice.
I'm glad you're so happy with your purchase.
I'm glad.
We're all glad.
Oh dear.
All right,
before this gets dirty,
ludicrous libation law.
This one comes from California.
Police can arrest anyone for selling alcohol to a minor,
even if the purchaser uses a false or altered ID.
Why is that ludicrous?
So even if someone uses a fake ID,
totally fools the person selling the beer to the minor,
they can still be arrested.
I was thinking on the other side,
I don't know what I was just thinking.
No,
the person selling could be arrested no matter what.
They do major sting operations here in New York all the time at the stores.
Yeah,
they get set up like all the time.
And they'll have somebody go with a fake ID.
They'll be like,
all right,
you go on with this fake ID.
So that's not surprising to me.
They do it here.
What if it's like a really good fake ID?
I mean,
then you better hope it's not the person that was sent in on the sting operation.
I guess.
What makes a good ID?
Like it scans or like what makes it good?
Yeah,
New York state IDs,
you can scan them now.
So a lot of places will just scan them.
Yeah,
but you know.
It's like a good fake ID is scannable or something or.
I don't think so.
I don't even know how you fake them anymore.
Can you even replicate that?
Yeah,
we used to chalk our IDs back in the day.
Like you could like pull the lamination off of the ID because it wasn't like a credit card.
It was like flimsy like.
And so like we'd get like one of the really artsy girls to take it and like just change the last digit and then like re-iron it back on.
It was legit.
And then you would just get somebody else's ID that maybe looked like you enough to pass by and like get into the doors.
Ours have always looked like credit cards.
So you couldn't like just put a lamination off.
As long as I've had a license or ID.
Yeah,
ours weren't like that initially.
Originally.
I mean the school ID.
Sure,
you could fuck with those all you want,
but no one's taking that for beer.
All right,
then let's do a little booze news before I tell you about what I'm drinking.
Beer.
Booze is getting more expensive in Nebraska.
Nebraska's governor.
Who goes to Nebraska though?
Yeah,
only people that live in Nebraska.
Okay.
But none of us have anything to worry about.
Nebraska's governor is proposing to raise the excise tax on distilled spirits by 287% as well as raise taxes on other quote,
send taxes on things like cigarettes,
vaping,
Keno lottery,
etc.
As a way to provide property tax relief to the state's property owners.
We're going to take it out on the alcoholics.
Huh?
What does an average beer cost now?
Like two bucks?
Yeah,
I don't know.
Six dollars.
Yeah.
I don't know.
Right.
Average pint of a beer.
Oh yeah.
680.
Yeah.
As we talked about last week.
Yeah.
685.
But that's,
that's craft.
I don't know.
What's a fucking Coors Light cost these days.
I don't know.
I think they pay you to take it at this point,
right?
A two bits.
Here's your Coors and a dollar.
Have a great day,
sir.
Global beer production is down 1% in 2023.
And the US is the only country in the Americas to record a decline.
An estimated,
I'm not going to get into the hectoliters here.
1.58 billion barrels of beer were produced worldwide in 2023.
1% decline year over year.
According to global hop supplier,
Bart Haas and its annual report.
Annual report.
It sounded like I said anal.
China continues to reign as the number one beer producing country.
Making 301.14 million barrels in 2023.
Equivalent to 19.1% share of the global beer volume.
The country's production volume declined by negative 1.325 million hectoliters.
Stop fucking with me with the hectoliters.
Give me barrels people.
The US ranked number two with 10.2% of the share of global beer volume producing.
161.89 million barrels down from the 171.51 million barrels in 2022.
All these stupid numbers to say,
I'm glad you said that.
It's a lot of fucking numbers.
So many fucking numbers.
Anyways,
US is number two overall in beer production.
But it's down and we need to reign supreme people.
Let's get to fucking drinking.
You know what the problem is?
It's like all these youngsters that are like being sober.
And they're just like taking drugs instead.
Like this makes you feel funny,
but it's not booze.
It won't make you gain weight though.
All the seltzers,
the RTDs.
And I think like they just literally take like mushrooms and drugs.
Yeah.
No one ever gets fat off mushrooms.
No.
Well,
Mel gets bloated,
but that goes away.
I am allergic to mushrooms.
I don't get bloated.
I actually swell up.
Really?
She gets like crazy.
He's seen it.
I've shown him my legs.
I'm like,
look at these legs.
There's like four times the size of my body.
And it all mushrooms,
not just psychedelic mushrooms.
No,
no,
no.
Not psychedelic mushrooms.
Like regular ones.
Like the good ones.
Like a portobello.
I can truffle a truffle.
Kill me.
So what a psychedelic mushroom also give you allergic to take Benadryl.
It could take Benadryl.
Worth it.
That's crazy.
It's weird.
You mix a shroom and Benadryl.
I mean,
why not?
Yeah.
Sure.
It's like a hallucinogen and a depressant.
It's an antihistamine.
Yeah.
Antihistamine.
Probably use a Claritin.
Claritin doesn't.
Grab a Zyrtec and some shrooms.
Let's do this thing.
I don't know.
Maybe on the psychedelic podcast,
we'll test it out and see what happens.
When you're done listening to the Craft Beer Republic,
switch on over to mushroom madness.
Holy.
I do come from the original Woodstock.
Woodstock.
Oh,
yeah.
I'm well versed in this,
but not anymore because I'm old.
She likes to brag about that a lot.
Yeah.
I've never done shrooms,
and I kind of wish I would have.
It's my claim to fame.
You come from a podunk town that has that.
You take it and run with it while people still know it.
I'm hippie adjacent.
Come on.
Looks like my town was only established because of FDR.
Yeah,
see?
And the Great Depression.
Thanks,
Great Depression.
We got beer because of it.
And Millie Waukee.
Well,
super great.
Suburb of Millie Waukee.
I was going to say Millie Waukee was created because of the Great Depression,
but it's the suburb you live in.
That was the suburb I live in.
Correct.
Got it.
The town I grew up in was on the map because we had factory outlet stores.
Cool.
Before that,
we had one of the few state hospitals in California.
I thought it was because you had a thousand oak trees.
That's the town I live in now.
I'm talking about the town I grew up in.
All grew up in.
I'm sorry.
Yeah,
yeah,
yeah.
No,
but we also had a mental institution.
So you lived in a thousand outlet malls?
Yes.
It was like 582.
582 outlet malls where I grew up.
All right.
Let me,
you know,
I'm going to call the pen before I read this next story because I am struggling over here.
Switch it up.
Yeah.
Go lefty.
He calls to the bullpen for beer.
I'm drinking because I found this sitting in my fridge.
I didn't even realize I had it.
Equilibrium Brewing's Above the Clouds.
So that's exactly where I'm from.
Yeah.
I actually have a New York beer.
Flex.
He beat you,
Flex.
Eat my ass.
Gladly.
8% has a 4-2-3 on untapped out of over 7,500 ratings.
A lot.
The description is quite long.
If you walk into the brew floor any given day,
you'll likely hear the guys playing a lot of late 90s and early 2000s New York hip hop.
Around two weeks ago,
we were brewing this still unnamed beer while Above the Clouds by Gangstar was playing.
Considering the recipe and style of what was cooking,
we thought it would be a good nod to name it after the song playing and from one of our favorite groups around here.
Above the Clouds uses heavy oat base and a whirlpool blend of citra and Idaho 7.
We then dry hopped it with citra and the largest dose of Nelson to date and just feel a touch of lactose to really elevate its already velvety feel.
It pours an opaque,
bright straw yellow with flavors of citrus,
a touch of sweet pine,
gooseberry,
and faint notes of white wine grapes.
The Nelson hops are showcased well and we find the flavors deep and complex while the #EQJuice finish is smooth and velvety thanks to our hopping process.
We want to shout out one of our earliest local supporters,
Anthony Q,
for supplying the background picture for this label from a recent flight.
And for those of you,
being the two of you,
you can see it's like a sky shot from an airplane.
Hey,
it looks like someone took a picture in an airplane.
Yeah,
what do you know?
There's just no wings.
The schnoz.
What a big sniff.
I thought you were doing a line for a second.
Oh,
I'm getting a little bit of citrus.
I think what I'm getting,
because I don't really know what that should smell like,
is gooseberry.
It's some sort of like berryish flavor.
That's what I think every fucking time.
Okay.
What is that?
I don't know what that.
No,
it's the gooseberry then.
Okay,
I'm going to go with the gooseberry then because I don't really know what it is,
but it is very strong and I can't recognize it.
The gooseberries smell like gooseberries.
I was going to say that,
but what does a gooseberry smell like?
On the Old Tongue Jobber,
that Nelson really,
really shines.
I do get the white wine grapes.
I get,
they talk about sweet pine.
I don't know about sweet pine.
It does finish a little danky,
but not super piney.
You definitely get a little bit of lactose in there,
some of that sweetness from the lactose,
a very drinkable 8% beer.
I find that EQ does have those drinkable beers and they do have that like EQ taste of everything.
Yeah.
I think I attribute that to the lactose.
Probably is good.
All love for EQ though.
I love being able to go there whenever I want to.
Lucky you.
That's some good stuff.
Let's see if this works.
Hey Siri,
what does a gooseberry taste like?
Hey Siri,
what does a gooseberry taste like?
Stupid bitch.
Maybe they want you to sound more like Jerry Seinfeld.
Hey Siri,
what does a gooseberry taste like?
I hate it when Siri doesn't want to cooperate.
She's not cooperating.
She cooperates so well.
All right.
So thanks Google.
What is a gooseberry?
Tart,
sour,
or sweet,
depending on their ripeness.
Gooseberries are juicy,
tart,
and suddenly grape flavored.
Okay,
there we go.
No thanks to Siri for that one.
Well,
no,
I asked her and she- Now you know.
Now you know.
Now I know.
Maybe she just doesn't like you.
What is with all these berries?
What is the deal?
Oh dear.
Bunch of people doing horrible Seinfeld impressions.
Terrible.
Not a Seinfeld joke.
What is with these gooseberries?
What's with all these people?
They're not even laid by geese.
Oh dear.
And that one's for Kesha,
Jerry.
Suck it.
For Kesha?
You don't know,
he like snubbed her when she was like,
"Can I hug you?" And she was like,
"No,
I don't think so.
No,
I really don't want to." And then she leaves there like,
"Do you know who that was?" He's like,
"I don't know her." That's Kesha.
And he's like,
"Who now?" Yeah.
Yeah.
American Craft Beer Hall of Fame launches- There's a Hall of Fame?
Oh,
there is now.
That was kind of my reaction.
The American Craft Beer Hall of Fame- The American Craft Beer Hall of Fame- Sorry.
Has launched to honor,
celebrate,
and commit to history those people who are responsible for initiating,
sustaining,
and promoting American craft beer industry,
according to their announcement.
This feels a little forced.
As someone who loves craft beer.
I don't know.
It just sounds goofy.
Yeah.
Beer writer,
judge,
and educator,
Marty Nechelle,
developed the idea for the Hall of Fame,
which is also a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
He said,
"American craft brewers have changed the global landscape for beer.
40 plus years into this renaissance,
I think their stories need to be etched in history." The Hall of Fame will live online while also offering historical information and highlighting key events in the industry's history.
Can't wait.
I mean,
I guess if somebody has the time,
sure.
Right.
Sounds like a guy that got laid off from his real job.
Yeah.
But otherwise,
it's just like,
it seems like really awkward.
So what?
Like,
Ken Grossman,
Beer Nevada,
Hall of Fame.
Yeah,
like who's going to be in the first class?
Like,
it should be all the OGs,
right?
Right.
Fritz Maytag,
Hall of Fame.
Yeah.
It's just for anchor.
Yeah.
Oh,
man.
You got to be a super nerd to know that stuff.
Yeah,
it's California.
We'll end it on this one.
I hope you all appreciate this story as much as I did.
Let's take a trip to Florida.
Oh,
hi,
Vanessa.
Hi,
Vanessa.
Hi,
Vanessa.
Wait,
wait.
Hi.
What's with Vanessa?
Sorry.
Florida man caught in a high stakes golf cart chase with police.
David Pope,
55.
I don't even know if I want to hear this story.
It sounds so bad.
55.
What could make this a chase?
Is he got a bomb strapped to his chest?
Like they can't just-- Can't just rip him out of the golf cart?
Please,
God.
Of the villages.
You know,
like the old,
the huge retirement home.
The villages where like all the STDs are.
Yeah,
I was going to say that's where all the STDs are.
Yeah.
Watch it,
guys.
Yeah.
Tech Joe stuff.
Please.
You got to wear that naked gun like body condom when you go.
Was driving a gold golf cart in the wee hours of Tuesday on County Road 25 when an officer involved in an unrelated traffic incident noted that the golf cart was traveling on a prohibited roadway.
The officer got into his squad car and began to pursue the golf cart,
which made an abrupt turn onto Purple Martin Lane at the Blue Parrot RV Resort.
Purple Martin Lane is a one-way roadway and the golf cart was traveling in the wrong direction.
The golf cart finally came to a halt and Pope presented the officer with a suspended Michigan driver's license.
During the pursuit,
it appears that Pope had tried to discard something.
A white glass smoking pipe was found near the golf cart.
A female passenger told police the pipe belonged to Pope and that he had tried to get rid of it.
The pipe tested positive for what was he smoking?
Everybody.
Crack.
Mess.
Marijuana.
Wow.
Matt,
that's Florida.
Come on.
Did he have teeth,
though?
Well,
did not report on his teeth condition.
A check revealed that Pope's Michigan license had been suspended due to numerous DUI and controlled substance violations.
The officer confirmed the golf cart was not registered to travel on a roadway where the speed limit is 55 miles per hour.
He was arrested on charges of driving while license suspended,
no motor vehicle registration,
possession of a drug,
paraphernalia,
and tampering with evidence.
He was booked at Lake County Jail for forty five hundred dollars bond.
And my favorite part of the story.
The golf cart was towed from the scene by cling to it.
They couldn't just carry it or push it or something.
Could you imagine being that tow truck driver and showing up like,
all right,
what do we got here?
Oh,
it's over there.
Where's the car?
No,
it's right there.
Call me for a Hot Wheels.
Yeah,
it's a fucking power wheels.
What's going on here?
Guys charge the battery.
Yeah.
Oh,
my gosh,
man.
Florida is something in Florida,
man.
Yeah.
Florida is something else.
Well,
you know,
we go there to vacation.
They live there.
So yeah,
yeah,
it's definitely different in that aspect.
It's it's different.
All right.
That is for certain.
A lot of differences happening in Florida than,
you know,
the rest of the country.
Gators grenades.
It's got to be some meth heads on golf courts.
I just like how he just ditched the pipe right next to the golf cart as if they wouldn't see it.
I like not mine.
Some things blow my mind.
I do wish you would have walked up with a pipe bit like littering and littering and smoking the meth.
Yeah,
I'm freaking out,
man.
You are freaking out,
man.
Oh,
such a good.
It's good.
Anyhow,
that's all I got.
That's it.
That's the show.
I appreciate you all listening.
I appreciate you,
Mel,
for hanging out with us.
I missed you guys.
This was a great reunion.
It was.
Yeah,
it always does.
Yeah,
it always does.
We all drink New York beers,
sort of.
I love it is evil twin is new.
I didn't even look when I bought it.
I just said,
oh,
I'm pretty sure these guys are in New York.
It's just his distro area.
You're fine.
I love you.
You're good.
It's OK.
I promise.
Let's hit some music.
Follow us on all the socials at beer girl.
Mel underscore there in between at flex me beer underscores in between.
And of course,
Craft Beer Republic.
No underscores.
CraftBeerRepublic.com.
805-538-beer-2337.
I think that's everything.
I hope everyone out there is staying a very well hydrated.
And on that note.
Bye,
guys.
Good night,
everybody.
I have to get in there.