Pat's Pints

Friend of the podcast and homebrewer extraordinare, Bill Koeppen, joins for a look at Belgian witbiers. We start with the tart, white beers of the 18th century, working our way through Pierre Cellis' revival of the style with his style-defining Hoegaarden, through modern day American interpretations including Allagash White.

On this episode of All Things Beer, hosts Mark and Pat take a deep dive into the rich history and bold flavors of barleywine—a style that's as legendary as it is misunderstood. They're joined by Angelo Signorino, brewmaster at Barley's Brewing, and Sandy Hugill, Cicerone, beer judge, and craft beer enthusiast, to explore the origins of this high-gravity ale, its evolution from historic English strong ales to today's craft beer scene, and what makes it such a unique experience for brewers and drinkers alike.

Chris Davison and Bill Koeppen join us as we drink and discuss a variety of beer styles featuring smoked malts.  In the first half of the episode we sample homebrewed versions of the Polish Grodziskie and the German Lichtenhainer, as well as Bill's gold medal winning Smoked Helles. Then we shift our focus to the homeland of smoked beers, Bamberg, with three different Schlenkerla beers, the Marzen, Urbock, and Doppelbock. Along the way we discuss the history of these unusual styles, the flavors imparted by different woods, and offer up some tips for brewing these styles.

In this episode we explore one of Germany's classic exports, the Rothaus Tannenzapfle Pils. Clean, crisp and eminently quaffable, this beer exemplifies the simultaneous simplicity and precision of German brewing traditions. 

In this short episode we get a chance to sample three Idaho beers - Sweetgrass Pale Ale from Grand Teton Brewing, Mackinaw Red from McCall Brewing, and Longship IPA from Mad Swede Brewing - with Zach Popp who hails from the Gem State. Join us for a jump back in time to drink two classic American styles and one curious concoction that doesn't quite live up to it's description.

Mary MacDonald and Justin Hemminger from the Ohio Craft Brewers Association join us to talk about some important behind the scenes issues. We learn about the laws affecting craft beer in the Buckeye state, including the outdated franchise law, the OCBAs role in getting Ohio beer to the GABF, and which major and minor league baseball stadiums have the best craft beer selection. 

In this episode, we sit down with Beau Warren, the mastermind behind Species X Beer Project. Beau's remarkable blend of interests in artificial intelligence and craft brewing is truly unparalleled. Join us as he reveals the exciting ways he's integrating AI into the brewing process and shares insights into how this innovative technology is helping him perfect his brews. Don't miss this fascinating conversation at the crossroads of technology and tradition!

This episode we had the opportunity to sit down with Rob Camstra and Kayla McGuire to discuss a myriad of topics surrounding the history and brewing of German Lagers and are lucky to enjoy with them some award winning beers from Gemüt Biergarten in Columbus OH. Pröst!

This episode is going to be a fun one as we host three repeat guests, Dan Eaton, Madeleine Bogard, and Chris Mercehill as contestants for a bizarre beer gameshow! Our hosts Pat and Mark alternate rounds, each with their own challenge. Pat's game, Wait Wait... Don't Beer Me! has our contestants scratching their heads to figure out which of three extremely unusual beers is the real one. Next, they take their chances with Mark in a game we call ReinheitsgeWHAT? to see if they can identify the unusual ingredients that would never fly according to the centuries old German beer purity law. Play along and see if you can spot the fake beers as our contestants go for the win!

The Trappist brewery at Orval makes only one beer. A wholly unique creation that is a cross between a saison and an English pale, made even more complex by the addition of Brettanomyces yeast in the secondary. On this episode we drink a 5 year old version, a 6 month old version, and a 2 year old homebrewed approximation of Orval to explore the ways in which the beer evolves as it ages.

As the craft beer industry matures brewers are facing a number of economic challenges. In this episode we discuss those challenges with longtime Columbus Business First writer, Dan Eaton, who has covered the beer industry for nearly two decades.

Located in Lembeek, the center of traditional Lambic brewing, Brouwerij Boon has long been a champion of the traditional Lambic brewing process. Unlike most gueuze, Vat 92 Monoblend, is not blended, rather it is the product of a single foeder (Vat 92). The elegance and fruitiness of this 10 year old beer, definitely make it a beer worth drinking.

In this special competition edition, seven homebrewers square off to see who can brew the best British-style beer, as judged by professional brewers Angelo Signorino of Barley's and Ryan Torres of Brew Brothers. 

Old Peculier is possibly one of Britain's most well-known and loved ales. The name pays tribute to the unique ecclesiastical status of Masham as a ‘Court of the Peculier' and is also a reference to the strong characteristic of the beer! For many years it was affectionately referred to as Yorkshire's ‘Lunatic's Broth'.

Quinn Bartlett, formerly of Belgian focused Buzzsaw Brewing and now at Hoster's Brewing, joins us to talk about brewing Belgian-style beers. Along the way we try some new offerings from Ommegang and revisit an old classic from North Coast Brewing, while discussing the challenges of selling these beers in the American market. 

Bodhi sets the bar for Double IPAs as one of the most sought-after brands in Ohio. It's a combination of a big, bold ABV that drinks smoother than most classic IPAs. The bold fruit character adds dimension and makes this a staple in the Ohio craft community and truly a beer worth drinking.

If Columbus's own food writer Nick Dekker (Breakfast with Nick) asks why haven't you done a breakfast stout show with him yet, all you can reply is what are you doing Saturday morning? From there good times ensue as we explore breakfast stouts and donut pairings al a Founders, Jolly Pumpkin, Maumee Bay, and Buckeye Donuts.

Rich in color, flavor and tradition, this strong Polish beer has been brewed according to the traditional recipe from 1881, with the Munich malt and special malts for caramel and color plus the highest quality aromatic hops. Everything together creates a unique combination of taste. Head up to Weiland's to grab one and join us for a beer worth drinking.

To celebrate our 50th podcast we hosted a party at Brewcadia loacated upstairs from Barley's Brewing Company downtown. We invited everyone who has been a guest on the show in the past 8 year run of the show for the tapping of a cask of our collaborative brew, called AMP IPA. This collaborative beer was created along with brewmaster Angelo Signorino at Barley's Brewing Co. 

We are joined by beer writer Bill Babbitt who popped by the studio to share a Sam Addams Utopias, a boundary bending, barrel-aged beer that blurs the line between beer and fine spirit. At 28% ABV, it's definitely a beer worth sharing. Its reputation puts it on every beer drinker's bucket-list and we are indebted to Bill for sharing it!

In tribute to Quebec, Unibroue named this fantastic Tripel after the land encountered by 16th-century French explorers who thought they'd reached the end of the world. To date, it has won 55 medals and honors from top international competitions, including 13 platinum distinctions and 29 golds at prestigious events such as the Chicago Beverage Testing Institute's World Beer Championships and the World Beer Awards. La Fin du Monde is definitely a beer worth drinking!

Do you believe in Columbus style pizza? Jim Ellison, author of Columbus Pizza: A Slice of History and founder of the city's first pizza tour sure does! Jim joins as our guest this episode and chronicles one of the city's favorite foods. Also along for the ride is Columbus craft brewing pioneer Lenny Kolada who takes no back seat when it comes to pairing pizza with beer.

No one has written more extensively and authoritatively on craft beer in the Buckeye state than Rick Armon. A journalist by trade, Rick has published two books on the beers of Ohio – Ohio Breweries in 2011 and 50 Must Try Beers of Ohio in 2017 – in addition to his influential Ohio Beer Blog that covered Ohio beer and breweries throughout the teens. We couldn't think of a better guest for our 50th episode, so Mark and I made a pilgrimage to Akron where Rick was kind enough to sit down with us and talk about the past, present and future of Ohio beer. 

Jackie O's Oil of Aphrodite is an American double stout brewed with locally harvested black walnuts and Belgian candied syrup. English, German, American, and Belgian malts are accompanied by Pacific Northwest hops, creating a sweet and rich springboard for deep nuttiness making this dark brew definitely is a beer worth drinking.

This episode we talk all things cask ale with Angelo Signorino of Barley's Brewing, the only brewery where you can count on getting a cask ale in Columbus. We then pivot to our British correspondent, Nick Smith, proprietor at Steam Machine Brewery in Durham UK to get his perspective on the current state of cask ale in the UK and C.A.M.R.A. (campaign for real ale).

We here at All Things Beer have got something new for you, something we are calling "A Beer Worth Drinking". Think of these as bonus episodes where we'll introduce you to beers that are world class examples of style, rich in history, story and flavor. Definitely a beer worth drinking, we present Brouwerij Bosteels Tripel Karmeliet, one of the best beers in the world and a capstone for the Tripel style.  

Columbus Underground's annual reader survey had a huge response in the category of local breweries for 2023. Join us as we review their list, refute it, explain what we look for in a top brewery, and present our official 2023 All Things Beer Top Ten Columbus area breweries list. Who will be number one? Listen to find out!

It's a Christmas miracle, a bonus episode! Every year for over four decades, Sierra Nevada makes the journey to the Pacific Northwest to hand-select the best Cascade and Centennial hops for Celebration IPA. Once the hops are picked, the countdown begins as race back to the brewery to capture the citrus, pine, and floral notes at their absolute peak. 

Dan Shaffer and Ralph Wolfe join us again, this time for a festive look at the Christmas beers of Belgium. During our journey we sample strong Belgian holiday seasonals that include Delerium Noël, Scaldis Noël, Chimay Grande Reserve, and De Dolle Stille Nacht. We finish closer to home with Fathead's Pimp My Sleigh.

Brewed once per year on St. Nicholas Day, the Triplebock Samichlaus can rightfully be called the OG of extreme beers. Dan Shaffer, head brewer at Land Grant, and Ralph Wolfe join us for a closer look at this cult classic, as well as the Samichlaus-inspired Frogichlaus Swiss Style Celebration Lager from Akron's Hoppin' Frog Brewery. Along the way we discuss the historic St. Nicholas, and European traditions surrounding St. Nicholas Day. If you've been naughty, it might be worth your time to check out our primer St. Nicholas' sidekicks Krampus and Zwarte Piet, who deal with the bad kids.

Whether you call them Scotch Ales or Wee Heavies, who can resist the charms of one of Scotland's best exports. Brian Kimmel, a veteran of several hikes across the Scottish Highlands, joins us for an audio tour of Caledonia. We start in the south at the venerable Traquair House and work our way northward to Orkney Islands for a wee nip of the potent Skull Splitter, before finishing closer to home with Zaftig's complex barrel aged Wee Heavy. 

In this episode, we remain in the UK but cross over Hadrian's Wall and turn our attention to the malt-forward, yet sessionable family of Scottish Ales. We are joined by the dean of Ohio brewers, Barley's brewmaster Angelo Signorino, who has been making his unique interpretation of a Scottish Ale for thirty years.  Inspired by a Scottish beer that no longer exists, the Barley's Scottish Ale has captured the fancy of beer writers from Michael Jackson to Rick Armon.  Join us for a wide ranging conversation that touches on topics including wort caramelization, maintaining a house yeast strain for decades, the value of a schilling, cask ales, and single malt whiskey.

Continuing our exploration of sessionable British styles we turn our attention to Dark Milds in this episode. Packaged milds are almost impossible to find here in Ohio, but fortunately there are several local breweries that brew this classic low abv pub ale. Ryan Torres from Brew Brothers joins us to talk about his dark mild, Toasty, a two time GABF medal winner, and we head out to Columbus' newest brewery, Thunderwing, to talk with owner and head brewer Jason Wing about his dark mild, Far Shores.

Ordinary Bitter, Best Bitter, ESB and English Pale Ale are not the easiest style to find here in the USA. Fortunately in and around Ohio there are still some microbreweries being them with pride and English tradition. This month we travel up to Mansfield Ohio to talk with Carmone and Duncan MacFarlane to learn what goes into making a great ESB. Being this is our Halloween episode for the year, it is no coincidence that the Phoenix Brewery is housed in a former mortuary. Their resident ghost Charlie makes his presence known! Hopefully it is not too distracting a listen due to the clawing, shuffling noises, and bumps in the night that we picked up while recording. It was no doubt we were picking up something from the paranormal.  

What makes the perfect Saison beer?? Find out in this episode as we explore this remarkable beer style and are joined by fellow BJCP beer judge and returning guest Bill Koeppen and number one All Things Beer mega fan Robert Nauman. In a blind tasting session, beer steward Ralph Wolfe helps our 4 judge panel navigate through 8 beers ranging from local, regional, and national. In the final round we compare our favorites side by side and pick a winner. We hope you enjoy this listen as we find out what makes the perfect Saison. (NOTE: We had technical issues with this recording so the sound quality is not up to our usual standards. We apologize for that and promise to rectify things next time around.) 

In this episode we turn a spotlight on non alcoholic beers, defined as beers with < 0.5% abv.  We discuss the science behind various approaches to making NA beers and sample a bakers dozen examples representing styles that include lagers, wheat beers, stouts, pale ales and IPAs both traditional and hazy/juicy.

Fall is the time for beers made with freshly picked whole cone hops and no brewery in Ohio does fresh/wet hop beers like Columbus Brewing Company. In this episode Tony Corder tells us how the hop wizards at CBC conjure up a whopping 10 different fresh/wet hop beers, featuring hops from Washington, Oregon, Ohio, and Michigan.

Ever wonder what makes up a perfect Pilsner beer? Do you prefer a Czech Pilsner, German Pils, New Zealand Pilsner, or maybe an Italian Pilsner? In this episode we explore these beer styles and are joined by fellow experienced Pilsner tasters Jamie Gentry and Hans Gorsuch to determine what makes a great Pilsner-style beer. In a blind tasting session, beer steward Ralph Wolfe helps our 4 judge panel navigate through 10 beers ranging from local, regional and national. In each round we work to narrow down a favorite beer to push forward to a final round where we pick the best overall Pilsner in a side by side comparison. We hope you enjoy this listen as we find out what makes the perfect Pilsner and pick a winner in the All Things Beer Pilsner Challenge.

Held every two years the World Beer Cup is arguably the most prestigious and competitive beer competition on the planet. In 2022, breweries from the Buckeye state took home a total of 14 medals.  In this episode we drink and discuss the medal winners from Central Ohio breweries including Wolf's Ridge Brewing (Daybreak Coffee Cream Ale), Gemüt Biergarten (Woden's Hunt Dunkel), and Columbus Brewing Company (Lager and Crocodile Tongue).

With a malt bill more poetic than it's name may suggest, Pat and Mark are joined by Barley's Homebrew Competition winner Jim Sudduth to explore this classic beer style from the origins of the modern Brown Ale to modern day interpretations brewed here in Ohio. Along the way Jim shares some tips for what it takes to make an award winning Brown Ale. 

The invention and rise of the American IPA is one of those rare moments in the history of brewing that forever changes the rules of making beer. In this episode we turn our attention to this ubiquitous and hugely influential style by sampling six year-round American IPAs from our home base here in Columbus.  We are thrilled to be joined on our journey by Dan Shaffer, head brewer at Land Grant Brewing Co. Dan has a gift for finding hop combinations with flavor profiles that evoke almost any kind of fruit you can imagine, and in this episode he graciously shares his deep knowledge of hops.  

March is a month that takes us to Ireland as we celebrate St. Patrick's Day and wrap up the third installment of our three part Stout series. On this podcast, Mark and Pat talk all things Irish with Irish dancer, Guinness enthusiast, and good friend Madeleine Bogard. Join us at St. James Gate as we taste through Draught, Extra, and Foreign Extra Stouts and explore the unique culture surrounding them.

In a continuation of our exploration of stouts, join us as we dive into three more styles - Milk, Oatmeal, and Oyster! We get into a bit of the history on the styles, taste a three time GABF gold medal winning Milk Stout from Cincinnati's Brink Brewing, take a road trip to Bellefontaine where we find a wonderful small town and an outstanding Ohio Brewers Cup medalling Oatmeal Stout at the Roundhouse Depot with proprietors Ron and Kathy Troyer, and come back to our home base in Columbus to share an Oyster Stout at The Pearl restaurant with North High Brewing's Gavin Meyers.  

Dark days call for dark beers, and in that spirit we kick off a series of three podcasts on stouts with an episode on Imperial Stouts. We start by reaching out to our friend Nick Smith, co-founder and head brewer at Steam Machine Brewing in the UK, for a fascinating discussion on the historical origins of the style.  We then jump across the pond and see how American brewers in the 1990's reimagined and reinvigorated imperial stouts. In the second half of the show, Bill Koeppen joins us as we trace the path that these big decadent beers have taken in the 21st century – from barrel aging to adjuncts to the modern pastry stouts. Along the way, Bill shares some of his experiences homebrewing imperial stouts.

Just in time for the holidays we offer up a fascinating conversation with Jason McKibben of North High Brewing. Listeners in Central Ohio know Jason as the Brewmaster and Co-owner of North High Brewing, but his career in the brewing industry also includes stops at Anchor Brewing, where he was the Production Director, and Budweiser, where he spent 12 years in a variety of positions including a stint as manager of the research pilot brewery in St. Louis. In this wide ranging conversation, we cover topics as varied as medalling at the World Beer Cup, brewing with local ingredients, North High's embrace of the brewpub model, studying with Charlie Bamforth at UC Davis, a behind the scenes look at the iconic Anchor Christmas Ale, and an insider's perspective on Budweiser. Along the way we find out what they do at Bud's Research Pilot Brewery, and sample a vintage bottle of White Christmas, a white dog whisky distilled from the 2012 batch of Anchor Christmas Ale.

Our friend Johnny Clift from Jackie O's on 4th joins us for a special Halloween-themed episode. Johnny shares stories, past and present, on one of Ohio's most beloved breweries, and we take a closer look at his vision for their new Columbus outpost, Jackie O's on 4th. Along the way we savor a vertical flight of the iconic black walnut infused imperial stout, Oil of Aphrodite, starting with the base beer and working through various barrel-aged variants. In keeping with the Halloween theme we discuss haunted places in Athens, the annual Athens Halloween blowout, Frank Zappa, and the best monster inspired rock songs of all time.

After a summer break the All Things Beer podcast is back with an episode devoted to homebrews. We welcome back recurring guests Hans Gorsuch and Chris Mercerhill to discuss and dissect the fruits of our labor, including a hefeweizen, two different saisons, a biere de garde, and a wet hop harvest ale. Our conversation touches on topics like decoction mashing, the use of herbs and teas in brewing, aquaponic farming, mixed fermentation, the Great American Beer Festival, new yeast varieties, and brewing with home grown hops.

In this episode we take a deep dive on strong German lagers from the bock family (doppelbock, maibock, weizenbock, eisbock). We trace the history of this style back through the mists of time to the city of Einbeck and it's reinvention as a lager in 17th century Munich. Then we head out to Edison Brewing in Gahana, where they are pouring a bock, a doppelbock and a maibock, for a conversation with owner Wil Schulze and brewmaster Victor Ecimovich. Victor shares some of his wisdom learned in brewing traditional beers over many years at breweries including Millstream (Iowa), Goose Island (Chicago) and Hosters (Columbus). The final segment features friend and award winning homebrewer Jamie Gentry for a discussion on homebrewing  bocks. 

In a follow up to Episode 18 (Going for the Gueuze) we welcome back Dan Reeve for more discussion of Belgian Lambics. In this episode we explore Lambic variants beyond gueuze, with a focus on lambics conditioned on fruit. Along the way we enjoy and describe Krieks from both Cantillon and Drie Fonteinen, as well as Cantillon's Rose de Gambrinus (featuring raspberries). We discuss the microbiology behind Lambic fermentation and Dan discusses his successes and failures at homebrewing Belgian-style sours. 

Matt Cunningham from Rustic Brew Farms in Marysville, Ohio joins us to talk about the malting process. A fourth generation farmer, Matt got into the malting business in 2014 as a way to diversify the crops grown on the family farm. He discusses his journey from malting barley from hand transferring the malts in 5 gallon buckets to his current set up with two rotating drums that process malts one ton at a time. Along the way we get into details of the malting process, agronomics, European vs North American strains of barley, the challenges of running a small business, Czech Tmaves and Metallica.

Does the prospect of crisscrossing a foreign country in search of one of the world’s most sought after beers sound enticing? If so join us on a virtual tour of the Trappist Breweries of the Low Countries in search of the rare Westvleteren XII. Along the way we do our best to sample the best Quads and Belgian Dark Strong Ales that Europe has to offer. To finish things out we share a homebrewed Belgian Dark Strong Ale, featuring foraged black walnuts.