Over Beers

I sat down with Kathy Ganser of Devils Creek Brewery in Collingswood New Jersey. They’ve been brewing up great beer for three years now, in fact their third anniversary is on Saturday May 18th! Questions/Comments about Over Beersemail to cheers@santephoto.comFollow on Instagram & Twitter @santephotoProduced by Freddy ClarkMusic: "Slow Burn"Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

I had the opportunity to sit down with Jeff and Jessie Greco to talk about how you open a brewery, get engaged and keep your full time job while you wear out a lane on the Garden State Parkway getting it all done. Plus make great beer at the same time!

I had the opportunity to sit down with Jim Barbiere, head brewer of Two Ton Brewing in Kenilworth New Jersey. We met in their downstairs “speakeasy” taproom along with is father Doc the CFO, the talk about their journey to opening about two months ago.

After the show back in September on the ABC rule changes, when we had three breweries together on the show, I wanted to do another one where we had a few brewery owners but spoke about the beer, not the state rules. So I asked each brewery to bring two beers so we could sit down and discuss what went in to the beer, why they brewed and how they felt about the beer. I think you’ll find it was a really interesting discussion and we had a lot of fun.

Throughout history brewing and farming have always been tied together. You brewed with ingredients that were nearby and for farmers that meant you brewed with what you grew yourself. Today there is usually a space between where the grains are grown and where the beer is brewed. That is not the case with Screamin’ Hill Brewery. The brew house sits right on the farm, Owners Brett Bullock and Ryan Cole like to say “From Field To Glass”. Where ever possible they use their own grown ingredients, whether it’s the grains to make their base malt or the pumpkins, tomatoes or basil used to flavor their beers. It’s grown right there.

Breweries in most places were traditionally in industrial sections of town. When laws changed and they had the opportunity to open a tap room, they were created by carving out a section of the production brewery, putting in some taps, a bar and some stools. Tap room opened. For breweries that started after the law changes, the dynamic changed and they built their taprooms as the center piece. Thought was given to how welcoming the space can be. How will people feel when they visit. It can be a place where people can be social with one another and generate a sense of community. That’s the feeling you will get when you visit Death of the Fox. Plus there’s something different. The smell of coffee greets you when you walk in. In addition to being a brewery, Death of the Fox is also a coffee house.

www.brewedindependent.org

A couple of weeks ago the show was at the Fir Farm’s Hop Harvest. One of the places getting hops was Jughandle Brewing Company. We talked about getting together for the release of the beer they were making with the picked hops and that is exactly what we did last Saturday. Jughandle released Fir Coat, their harvest ale.

I knew that there was a rich history of brewing in the Northeast but I had no idea just how rich it was. During his talk Rich Wagner mentioned that he had published a book, entitled “Philadelphia Beer” going through the history of brewing in Philadelphia. I knew I wanted to read it and I knew I wanted to have him on the podcast.

There’s the old saying is Blood is thicker than water…but is blood thicker than beer? That’s what I was looking to find out when I visited Fort Nonsense Brewing Company earlier in the summer. FNC is owned and operated by not just two, but three brothers. Andrew, Thomas and James…the Aslanian Brothers. They are brewing a variety of classic ales and lagers with their own unique twists and talk about those beers with only a hint of sibling rivalry during the conversation.

A few months ago I met Mickey and Bobby Clark owners of the Fir Farm. Traditionally they’ve sold Christmas Trees, and they still do, but for the last few years they’ve also been growing hops right here in Central Jersey. They invited me to their 2018 Hop Harvest in early August.

Three years ago, Sanctuary Brewing Company set out to create a brewery and tap room committed to enriching the lives of both humans and animals alike through excellent craft, kindness and philanthropy. They’re making small batch high quality local brews in the town of Hendersonville North Carolina, which is about 30 minutes south of Asheville.

Insanely Flavorful Ales is the motto of Demented Brewing Company. As you will soon hear, Tom Zuber started out seriously home brewing with the goal of creating a yearly rotation of beers with a lot of flavor. A plan he took with him when he built his brewery in 2015.

With the nature of the brewing business, it’s not uncommon for brewers to move around a good deal. This is definitely the case for Patrick Morse, the Head Brewer of Staten Island’s Flagship Brewing. His career has had him crossing the US a couple of times as he worked his way up the brewing ranks.

This week we’re talking to one of the newest breweries in New Jersey. So new in fact that they have not opened…just yet. Bradley Brew Project is the creation of a husband and wife team, Mike and Chelsey. As you will hear, their love of craft beer brought them together and has fueled their passion to create their own take on a craft brewery.

I’m always impressed by people who follow their passion. That can be said for most brewery owners and brewers. It’s not a business for people who really aren’t in to it. Passion is a term you can really use for the partners at Atco Brewing Company in Atco New Jersey. These guys still have day jobs and work all hours of the day to get the beer out.

Phil Petracca and Greg Taylor of Source Brewing are spending a great deal of time paying attention to every detail of not just the brewing of the beer but the creation of the space that will become Source Brewing. We sat down in Phil’s kitchen to have a conversation about those details, Over Beers.

I recently visited Last Wave’s tasting room and found out how two guys, Nick Jiorle and Bert Roling, with a love of both beer and surfing decided to combine them and create a brewery in Point Pleasant Beach New Jersey.

Atlantic City Convention Center is the site for the 2018 Atlantic City Beer and Music Festival.  It's a great gathering of beer from all over, and especially New Jersey brewers.  I had the chance to sit down with people from 12 different breweries during the Saturday sessions and have some quick conversations.  Think of this as a special bottle release of Over Beers.  I think it's going to lead to more great conversations to come.  Here's the conversations from sessions 2 and 3 of AC Beer Fest.  

Atlantic City Convention Center is the site for the 2018 Atlantic City Beer and Music Festival.  It's a great gathering of beer from all over, and especially New Jersey brewers.  I had the chance to sit down with people from 11 different breweries last night and have some quick conversations.  Think of this as a special bottle release of Over Beers.  I had the chance to catch up with some folks who have already been on the podcast and some people who haven't been yet and I think it's going to lead to more great conversations to come.  Here's the conversations from session 1 of AC Beer Fest.  

"So exquisite is the cunning of mankind in gratifying their vices and appetites that they have invented a method to make water itself produce intoxication.” - Pliny the Elder. A few weeks ago I visited the taproom of Ludlum Island Brewery in Ocean View New Jersey just outside Sea Isle City and had a chance to talk to owner Billy Topley and learn all about the secret tap, the beers they are making and got the story of Ludlum Island Brewery. Questions/Comments about Over Beersemail to cheers@santephoto.comFollow on Instagram & Twitter @santephotoProduced by Freddy ClarkMusic: "Slow Burn"Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

A few weeks ago I sat down with Barry Holsten, Chris Vaughn and Lea Ann Wood, part of the brewing team at Flying Fish, in their tap room for this episode of Over Beers. In 1995 Flying Fish was started by Gene Muller as the world’s first virtual brewery.  Shortly after it became a real brewery now located in Somerdale New Jersey and the largest craft brewery in the state.  Talking with the brewers was a lot of fun and gave a great insight to how the largest brewery is working  to innovate.

The Human Village Brewing Co. is the shared vision of Richard and Megan Myers. What began as brewing days, gathering family together to share time and love of craft, evolved into a passion project. With a strong concentration on European and lesser known beer styles, Richard and Megan emulate traditional brewing methods and continue the cultural heritage of handcrafting beer one small batch at a time.

"Sometimes, for better or worse, your dreams get the best of you". When you visit riverhorse.com, the very first think you see will be that quote. Click on read more and you will learn more about the path that Chris Walsh, owner of River Horse took to get there. A couple of weeks ago I sat down with Chris and Head Brewer Chris Rakow in the River Horse tap room in Ewing New Jersey.

In 1889 Yardley National Bank opened its doors on South Main Street in Yardley Pennsylvania. An 8000 pound vault door was installed prior to the construction's completion. For the next 120 or so years the vault was used to hold only money. In October 2012 the vault was converted to hold something much more precious, it became a beer cellar when the Vault Brewing Company opened its doors to the public.

Coming up on it's second anniversary, Alementary has quickly made a name for itself and generated quite a loyal following. Their wood paneled tap room was starting to pick up on the Thursday night I visited and we had a real good conversation.

Gretchen Schmidhausler began making beers at home more than twenty years ago before she embarked on a career as a professional craft brewer. I had the chance to sit down with her in the taproom of her brewery, Little Dog Brewing Company in Neptune City New Jersey.

When you look at the website for Zed's Beer, one of the first things you'll notice is the phrase "local. fresh. focused on approachable craft." I sat down with Geoff and Lori to find out what that means to them and they got in to brewing craft beer in Marlton New Jersey

The phrase "Eight & Sand" was used to wish train crews a quick and safe journey. Today, in Woodbury NJ the name Eight & Sand is being used to talk about award winning beer.

Dedicated to crafting quality beer for all, as the brewer Dave Manka is critical to that end. I got the chance to sit down with Dave to discuss how he got in to brewing, where he learned and his approach to beer.

Tucked in to an industrial park in Edison New Jersey is Cypress Brewing Company. Charlie Backman is their head brewer and one of it’s owners. Charlie is a very friendly guy and as you will find out shortly is not at a loss for words. He poured a flight and we had a conversation, Over Beers

Icarus and his father were imprisoned by King Minos of Crete within the walls of the Labyrinth his father created. But being a great craftsman his father would not suffer captivity. He made two pairs of wings by adhering feathers to a wooden frame with wax. Giving one pair to his son, he cautioned him that flying too near the sun would cause the wax to melt. But Icarus became ecstatic with the ability to fly and forgot his father's warning and flew too close to the sun. The wax melted, the feathers came loose and Icarus plunged to his death in the sea. Centuries later, brewing occurred in Lakewood NJ

This week we’ve got a great interview with Tori Fisher of Backward Flag Brewing Company. They’re a veteran owned brewery focused on quality, community and education.

This week I sat down with New Jersey Brewers to talk about how the current laws effect their business and their customers.  What they're hoping to change and how people who are in to beer can do this coming Election Day, Tuesday November 7th.

Our guest today is Jason Carty, the Executive Director of the New Jersey Brewers Association. The NJBA is the voice of craft beer in New Jersey, representing the breweries and affiliated groups to support growth and beer appreciation in the state. They advocate for clear, fair laws and regulations as well as run special events for beer lovers throughout the year.

Dark City Brewing Company was the first brewery to open in Asbury Park. Kevin Sharpe and his partners opened in early 2016 and have been brewing some great beer since

Over beers is a podcast focusing on conversations with craft beer professions to give craft beer lovers an insight in their world.

For this week’s show, we’re talking with John “Merk” Merklin of Beach Haus Brewery in Belmar New Jersey. Beach Haus is one of the successful breweries that got it’s start as a contract brewer. Merk is a Jersey Shore native who loves where he lives and wanted to share his passion for beer with the shore. We talk about how his love for beer started and how Beach Haus began. He poured us a few to try and we had a conversation Over Beers

Episode 2 - Interview with Mike Kivowitz of New Jersey Craft Beer

Over Beers is a Podcast focusing on conversations with craft beer industry professionals to give craft beer enthusiasts an insight in to their world.  Geared toward people who may be new to craft beer, the goal of the conversations is to find out what set them on their path in craft beer, what inspires their work and how they see the future of their careers and the industry.