The Beer Genome Project

Mike and Jason continue their conversation on aging various styles of beers while sharing a bottle of Evil Twin Brewing's Double Barrel Jesus. Beers Evil Twin Double Barrel Jesus American Imperial Stout, IBU Unknown, ABV 12% Reviews on Untappd and BeerAdvocate Show Links Evil Twin Brewing Mikkeller Recorded May 25, 2014 in Ankeny, Iowa Intro […]

Mike and Jason share a bottle from Zipline Brewing Co. of Lincoln, Nebraska. The beer featured is the Oak Aged Oatmeal Porter, which is aged for 10 months in Silver Oak Cabernet wine barrels. Beers Zipline Brewing Oak Aged Oatmeal Porter American Porter, IBU Unknown, ABV 6% Show Links Zipline Brewing Co Zipline Brewing Co […]

One of Minnesota's most award-winning brewpubs, Barley John's, lays out plans for expansion in Wisconsin. Hometown hero Surly brews a collaborative beer with Texas' Real Ale and the Indiana juggernaut Three Floyds. Colorado's Oskar Blues is now available in cans in Minnesota. And half-growlers make it easy to bring fresh beer home from Iowa. Beers […]

Mike, Shawn, Tony, and Gretchen are joined by Stu for an extra-long episode featuring beers from Confluence Brewing of Iowa, Dangerous Man Brewing, AleSmith, and a Deschutes Brewery collaboration with Great Lakes Brewing. Show Links Capital Gold by Confluence Brewing Company, Golden Lager, 4.8% ABV – Untappd South Side Citra Blonde by Confluence Brewing Company, […]

Mike, Shawn, Gretchen, John, and Tony attack the summer sippers known as shandies and railers. These are beers that are truly a cocktail of approximately half beer and half lemonade or soda. Some breweries, such as Leinenkugel's, pre-mix a shandy and make it available in bottles. Stieglbrauerei of Austria makes a similar beer called radler […]

Mike, Shawn, Gretchen, John, and Tony discuss four beers from Fitger's Brewhouse: Apricot Wheat, XXX, Starfire Reserve, and Superior Trail IPA. The tap list at Fitger's is constantly rotating, so make sure you stop in to get a growler fill when driving through Duluth. Show Links Fitger's Brewhouse on Twitter and Facebook – mncraftbrew.org Apricot Wheat […]

After episode 50, where we paid tribute to the American lagers that have shaped our beer culture, we decided it was time to revisit the beers that got our team started in craft beer. This episode covers the beginning of our craft beer culture shock. Each of our guests brought their gateway beers for the […]

We are hitting the big five-oh! We are 50 episodes into our project, and we are just getting started. As a form of celebration, each of the guests in this episode brought some American lagers to the table. We felt it necessary to pay homage to a few of the beers that introduced so many […]

TailGate Beer is based out of San Diego, California but currently brews in Monroe, Wisconsin. The company even once considered Cold Spring, Minnesota as home. Shawn got into a conversation with TailGate Beer's founder Wesley Keegan more than a year ago. Wesley wanted us to try out his current trio of beers: Blacktop Blonde, Hefeweizen, […]

Porters and peppers. The theme on this week's show involves breweries kicking up their porters by infusing pepper and vanilla flavors. Chocolate Sombrero from Clown Shoes is a 9% ABV Imperial Stout that was brewed with ancho chile, chipotle peppers, cinnamon, and vanilla extract. Clown Shoes barrel aged Chocolate Sombrero in Heaven Hill bourbon barrels […]

Inspired by our conversation regarding Fulton Beer's “War & Peace” from last week, we decided to round up all of Minnesota's coffee beers for another blind taste testing. At this time of the year, we were able to source six different coffee-infused beers ranging from Brown Ale-styles to Imperial Stouts. The craft brewers of Minnesota […]

Our latest episode is a bit of a Minnesota blowout! We start off with Size 7, an IPA from Steel Toe Brewing. We kick into high gear with Silhouette, an Imperial Stout from Lift Bridge. We continue discussions by side-stepping into War and Peace, a coffee stout based on Fulton's Imperial stout, The Worthy Adversary. […]

Sunday beer sales are a no-go in Minnesota. This forced Gretchen across the river to Wisconsin in search of some new beers to review in this week's show. She came back with a a Belgian-style Saison from Nebraska that was brewed with Apricot puree and then aged for six months in French Oak Chardonnay barrels. […]

We return this week with another three-way blind taste test of Farmhouse Style Ales made with Brettanomyces. We like the surprise reveal at the end, and try to avoid letting the marketing of the bottles truly sway our experience. The three beers we try are the Epic Elder Brett Saison Brett Golden Ale, a 2011 […]

Surprises are afoot as Mike, Jason, and special guest Luke attempt to decipher the differences between various American Imperial Stouts in a three-way blind tasting. We are at the tail-end of the season, but these beers from Bell's, Founders, and Sierra Nevada stand as defining examples of the winter warmers available throughout the Midwest. Bell's […]

John, Gretchen, Shawn, and Mike discuss the line of John Henry ales from Cold Spring Brewery of Minnesota – John Henry Colonial Cream Brown Ale, John Henry 3 Lick Spiker Ale, and John Henry West Indies Pale Ale. These three beers are part of a newer series of craft beer entries from the largest brewery […]

Jason and Mike take the hype head-on with the fresh release of Bell's Hopslam Ale. Hopslam is a Double India Pale ale brewed with honey. “Starting with six different hop varietals added to the brew kettle and culminating with a massive dry-hop addition of Simcoe hops…” At 10% ABV, this isn't a starter beer, but […]

Wisconsin is the home to New Glarus Brewing and their 100,000 barrel capacity Hilltop Brewery. Wisconsin Belgian Red was a game-changer for project members as it was one of the first locally-produced fruit beers that we came across. Available in 750ml bottles, Belgian Red was brewed with Wisconsin wheat, barley, and Montmorency cherries. The past […]

Toppling Goliath is growing in Iowa and will soon be moving to a 30 barrel brew system. With the coming expansion, the beer is now available across Iowa as well as Wisconsin. Jason and Mike take to their growlers to review a couple fresh pints of Toppling Goliath's Golden Nugget IPA. Golden Nugget is a […]

Jason and Shawn review a series of beers from Firestone Walker Brewing Company of Paso Robles, California. Union Jack is a dry-hopped, west coast IPA available year-round. Double Jack is a double IPA that won bronze medal at the 2012 Great American Beer Festival. Finally, Wookey Jack is an unfiltered, rye malt, American-style black ale […]

Shawn, Mike, Gretchen, and John taste two different collaboratively created beers. Conflux No. 1 from Deschutes Brewery and Hair of the Dog Brewing is a blend of Deschutes Brewery's The Stoic and The Dissident and Hair of The Dog's Fred and Adam. These four beers were aged for 24 months in a variety of cask […]

Shawn and Mike are joined by friends Gretchen, John, and Obi. This week's episode was an experiment. We recorded a five-person panel exploring an arrangement of Oyster Stout beers. There is no specific season for oyster stouts, as several of the examples we share in this episode are available year-round.Since we didn't expect any beers […]

Shawn and Mike are joined this week by special guest Corey Shovein, the West Regional Market Manager for Founders Brewing Co. Corey was kind enough to share a bottle of the latest release in the Founders Back Stage Series, Bolt Cutter. Bolt Cutter is a 15% ABV barley wine brewed in celebration of the Founders […]

Special guest Jason Brizzi calls in to discuss Day Tripper by Indeed Brewing Company, the expansion of breweries in Iowa and Minnesota, where these brewers are coming from, the favored hometown beer-styles, and the shake-up around Goose Island in the Chicago beer scene.

For the Minnesota beer fan, the end of October means the arrival of Surly's Darkness Imperial Stout. Since 2007, Surly Brewing of Brooklyn Center, Minnesota has released its 750ml bottles of the lauded Darkness. For people who are willing to make the journey, Surly celebrates the release of Darkness with food and bands on the […]

Tick, tick, tick. That's the sound of rare. This week's episode of the podcast was recorded almost one year ago. It was the culmination of a day filled with homebrewing and beer discussions. Shawn shared a 375ml bottle of the The Lost Abbey's The Angel's Share 2010 that he had procured during a trip to […]

One morning while reading The Heavy Table, Shawn learned about one of Minnesota's newest breweries, Boom Island Brewing Company. The biggest difference between Boom Island and many other breweries that have hit the news recently, is that Boom Island was already putting its beer up for sale. I attended a quick tasting at The Four Firkins in Saint […]

We've reached into the archives to release a “lost” episode of The Happy Hour. Back in 2010, Jason and Mike were lucky enough to receive a bottle of Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout. This annually released beer shouldn't be considered a simple oaked version of Founders Breakfast Stout, but is a wholly different beer. Kentucky Breakfast […]

I have to admit that I have missed our conversations through the microphone but we are at it again. Our scheduled programming returns this week with an exploration of some delicious sour beers. We delve into a comparison of a homebrew sour versus a commercial sour beer. Long overdue, Shawn and I share a bottle […]

Boulevard Brewing of Kansas City, Missouri has a wonderful series of beers that they call the Smokestack Series. The “Smokestacks” are typically limited release beers that come in 750ml bottles. For me, they represent some of the most innovative beers available in the Midwest. Last year I fell in love with the Bourbon Barrel Quad […]

It is the second of our recordings from the weekend that belonged to Darkness Day. Again, this meet-up presented an opportunity for Jason, Mike and Shawn to record together. On this occasion, the three hosts and guests discuss Darkness Day as well as review three different beers. Our first review is of the beer Rosé […]

This past weekend, many Midwestern craft beer fans descended upon Minnesota. Their destination: Brooklyn Center, where Surly Brewing hosted Darkness Day 2010. This episode was recorded on Darkness Eve, so stay tuned for next week's episode to hear our discussion about Darkness Day and Surly Darkness 2010. However, the meet-up for Darkness Day weekend provided […]

Replete with tangents about bottle dates and general beer geekery, we present another episode of our Happy Hour series with Mike, Jason, and special guest Brandon. Clocking in at just under one-hour, this week's Happy Hour circles around the reviews of two beers: Schlafly's (St. Louis Brewery) Biere de Garde, and the Oskar Blues Gordon. […]

Brew days can certainly be one of the more social beer events. When visiting Minneapolis, Shawn and I joined up with some homebrewing friends for a day of beer creation and discussion. Our friends at New Brew Thursday had arranged a trade with Shawn, in which we were the recipients of the Cuvée de Tomme […]

Brought kicking and screaming into the world of sours? No way – we dive right in! I feel a bit ashamed that it had taken me this long to hear about Captain Lawrence Brewing, but I have been properly introduced thanks to Shawn and our friend Tyler. In this episode, Shawn and I take a […]

First, I have a bit of backstory of everyone. This episode was first recorded mid-February, following the Minnesota Craft Brewer's Winterfest. We lost that original audio and our reviews for some New Glarus beers. So we recorded again, with most of the same conversation and two new Dogfish Head beers at a later date. We […]

This episode was probably recorded somewhere near the beginning of winter 2009. So even though it's a few months past recording date, there is quite a bit of relevant information to be taken from this episode. I was joined by Jason to review the 2009 Oak Aged Imperial Stout from Left Hand Brewing of Colorado. […]

Game changer! Ever so often, in the process of exploring as much of the craft beer world as possible, Shawn and I will come across a beer that epitomizes why we do what we do. Truly I don't want to give away much of the episode's discussion – but this was a milestone for us.

This week, the guys bring a review of one of Shawn's favorite breweries from the Land of the Rising Sun. Hitachino Nest is a brewery within a brewery; its parent company Kiuchi, has been brewing saké for nearly 200 years. These intriguing ales have been making their way into upscale Asian fusion restaurants, craft beer stores, and […]

Are you a big fan of bitter beers and Tyranena Brewing (@Tyranena) of Wisconsin? Then you might think that this episode was crafted especially for you. Shawn and I take some time to review two “out there” beers from our midwest sustenance provider. From their “Brewer's Gone Wild” series, we have the Bitter Woman in […]

In recent months, Shawn and I have been trying to learn about homebrewing with our friends and via the web. I must say that Twitter has been awesome to do some quick crowd-sourcing to get some different perspectives on a question I had. One source of help has been homebrewer and gent Stephen Freshnock, aka @slovakbrewer on Twitter. […]

This episode is an oldie, but a goodie. My friend Jason (one of the many here at The Beer Genome Project) and I got together to primarily try out Schlafly's Pumpkin Ale, and decided to throw on a few other beers that we haven't yet had a chance to try. Unfortunately Schlafly is not a […]

It's been a great first year everyone. Shawn and I wanted to start off the second year right by revisiting the beer we reviewed way back on episode one, the Winter Ale by Summit Brewing of St. Paul, MN. And even though this marks the beginning of winter and its own selection of seasonal beers, […]

We're really excited you guys have joined us on our journey and we are fully prepared to progress further in our second year. Episode 24 was actually recorded during the weekend of Darkness Day, up in Minnesota. On the evening I arrived, Shawn and I wanted to record reviews for a few beers the two […]

In the last episode, we presented a few Oktoberfest style beers as a traditional example of fall seasonal beers. This week we continue our foray into fall seasonals with three ales, two of which are of the pumpkin variety. Of course we detail a few upcoming local events, present some blog posts from our friends, […]

Look out your window; summer is almost gone. Or, perhaps, I'm just really excited for the fall. With all the new seasonal beers rolling out, there is good reason to be excited for this season. Shawn and I wanted to start the season right with two of the better known American versions of the Oktoberfest/Märzen […]

We recently had a friend of ours return from Argentina. He brought back with him the country's most popular beer, Quilmes Cristal. The Cristal is an American Adjunct Lager coming in at 4.90% ABV. In recent years, the Quilmes brewery (Cervecería y maltería Quilmes) has been all but bought out by Anheuser-Busch InBev. Making his […]

This week's Happy Hour features Shawn and Tom Hill, who review one of the most fabled beers we've featured to date. They take on Pliny the Elder, the first such commercial example of a Double/Imperial IPA, from Russian River Brewing Company. Thanks to Brad from the Hop Cast for making this review possible. The Beer […]

In celebration of #ipamonday, Shawn and I were able to record a 4-way IPA blind taste test episode in St. Paul. Truly this showdown was inspired by the ability to review multiple beers in person with each other, and since the list grew long, we decided to review all the brews in a blind tasting. […]

This week it's back to basics. On tap, or rather, from the bottle, are two beers of the Bock style. Bocks are a dark lager originally created as a drink by Roman Catholic monks for Lent. Bocks are higher in nutrients than the typical, lighter lager and provided sustenance for monks during the fast. In […]

My gosh, they've gone and done it. This week's Beer Genome Project remains on topic but swerves away from the reviews of craft beer to bring two macro American Adjunct Lagers to the table. The selection this week was of course inspired by the hot summer months, and the popular tendency to grab a light […]