Talking Pints

It's been said that all roads lead to Rome. For the beer devotee, we might say that all beers lead to the brewery. To really understand beer, one needs to make some. In the January episode of Talking Pints, Lewis goes on a voyage of self-discovery and adventure when he tries to replicate the famous Duvel beer at home. Joined by avid homebrewer Reuben Mahaffy, the two slaved over the beer for months. Will their efforts be crowned by success, or will they be splashed with the unfermented barley juice of failure? Tune in to find out!

Monks are known for three things: prayer, beer, and kung fu. Two of those fall outside the purview of this podcast, but what remains makes fine fodder for a festive podcast. This month's show is all about ale produced by Catholic monks in Belgium. Our guide through the many pitfalls and Trapps that lie in wait for the unwary is Vince Schaeffer, vice president of sales and marketing for Horizon Beers, import company extraordinary. Listen in to learn all about dubbels, tripels, and quadrupels, and also the Other Michael Jackson and the benefits of altruistic monastic arson.

Beer is the modern magical drink – it foams and bubbles and transforms those who consume it. Leave it to science to come in and ruin the magic and mystery here, as its done in so many other areas. This month's Talking Pints jumps into the lab with one of these fun-hating scientists to investigate the fascinating chemistry behind beer.

Beer, as Benjamin Franklin said, is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. If he's right, we ought to spread the good news to all and sundry – but far too often, the portion of the population that experts describe as "female" gets left out of beer production and consumption. In this episode of Talking Pints, we sit down with Shelley Hall Zenew of Yukon Brewing to investigate the fairer sex's relationship with the greatest of all beverages.

How long can two people possibly talk about hops? Why are so many famous authors also famous dipsomaniacs? What do government-funded scientists have to do with the modern India Pale Ale? The answers to these and other irrelevant questions can be found in March's episode of Talking Pints, featuring beer writer and librarian Peter Bailey.

The first episode of Talking Pints features one of the seminal figures of Edmonton beer, Alley Kat's Neil Herbst. Over a glass of his brewery's St. Portersburg Baltic Porter, Herbst raps about his entry into home-brewing, the probable appetites of Russia's Catherine the Great, and the growing enthusiasm for craft beer in North America.

Students, as a group, are justly famous for their ability to put away impressive amounts of cheap beer. With classes resuming in September, this show samples some of the less expensive beer available around Edmonton to find out if cheap price always equates to cheap taste. Shane Groendahl of Edmonton Beer Geeks Anonymous also joins in for a free range discussion about local beer, and has his first taste of hallowed hipster brew Pabst Blue Ribbon live on-air.

August is summer, summer is hot, and hot weather means time for lager – the most popular beer in the world by a considerable margin. How did we get here? Just in time for the climax of summer in Edmonton, this month's episode of Talking Pints answers this question with a rollicking tale of yeast and irascible Bavarians. Plus Lewis drinks Hopworks Organic Lager and Ribstone Lager!

Science has irrefutably proven that the only thing better than drinking beer on a beautiful summer day is doing so while watching live Shakespeare. July's Freewill Shakespeare Festival gives Edmontonians the chance to do just that.We sit down with two of the festival's leading lights to talk about the world's best beverage, the world's best playwright, and hungover acting.

May saw the first rotation-style pub open in Edmonton when Beer Revolution flung open its doors in Oliver Square. In this June episode of Talking Pints, we sit down with Don McDonald, one of the biggest of wigs with Revolution's parent company, to talk selecting beer, Edmonton's enthusiasm for lager, why this summer seemed like the right time to expand to Northern Alberta.

May is a big month for homebrewing in Edmonton, with the year's biggest homemade beer competition taking place from the 22nd to the 25th. To prepare suds enthusiasts for the thrills, spills, cheers, and beers of the 2013 Aurora Brewing competition, this month's episode of Talking Pints features one of Edmonton's many fermentation fiends and carboy kings, the excellent and eminent Ernie Boffa.

Oktoberfest draws millions of people to Munich each fall to enjoy beer, sausages and lederhosen. This month's episode of Talking Pints details the history and quirks of the world's biggest beer festival. And since no show about beer would be complete without drinking beer, it also brings in esteemed writer Jason Foster to dissect two great German beers available at Sherbrooke, to help you plan your own mini-Oktoberfest.