Podcast: A Punkin Ale for Thanksgiving

Dog Fish Head Craft Brewery of Milton, Delaware makes an interesting seasonal beer. It’s called Punkin Ale, and is described by the brewers as “a full-bodied brown ale with smooth hints of pumpkin and brown sugar”. It is brewed with pumpkin meat, organic brown sugar and spices.

Punkin Ale is named after a locally-famous and seriously off-centered event in southern Delaware –Punkin Chukin, a competition where pumpkins are hurled more than 4,000 feet through the air. In fact, Punkin Ale made it’s debut as it claimed First Prize in the 1994 Punkin Chunkin Recipe Conest - 6 months before the brewery opened for business.

This podcast is about Dogfish Punkin Ale, which starts to be brewed in September and is gone by Thanksgiving.

More about the Punkin Chuckin event can be seen at this video (from Discover Channel) that inspired the name of the beer: http://science.discovery.com/videos/punkin-chunkin/

(Apologies for some porr sound quality towards the end- It’s a good beer, worth a listen and woth a taste)

Youy can hear the podcast @ http://conversationsontheroad.podbus.com/?p=319

Flying Dog Ale’s Dogtoberfest

We continue our survey of some interesting Oktoberfest beers.

One seasonal offering catches our attention even before you drink it. Flying Dog Brewery of Frederick, Maryland serves up something called a “Dogtoberfest”.

And, don’t like the cute name fool You it is a beer of character and substance – havingwon awards regularly at teh Great American Beer Festival in Denver.

We speak with Matt Brophy of Flying Dog about the beer, its great name and other offerings – including a “Doggie Style” beer.

At: http://conversationsontheroad.podbus.com/?p=299

Summit’s Oktoberfest

We continue our survey of some Oktoberfest beers by visiting with Mike Miziorko, a brewer of the Summit Brewing Company of St. Paul.

Their Oktoberfest is described as follows:

“Created to honor the popular European fall celebrations, Summit Oktoberfest is brewed in the Marzen style for a reddish-bronze color, smooth finish, and, of course, polka”.

http://conversationsontheroad.podbus.com/?p=297

Left Hand’s Oktoberfest

Say Oktoberfest, and you likely think of Munich and beer.

Undestandable, but you can also think beer and North America. The explosion in brewing over the past few years mean a number of new quality options for beer lovers.

We spend this month examining some of the quality Oktoberfest beers to be found. This conversation is with Ro Geunzel, Head Brewer of the Left Hand Brewing Company. He tells us what makes for a good Oktoberfest, and what makes for a good Left Hand beer.

At: http://conversationsontheroad.podbus.com/?p=283

Cooking With Beer (NPR)

From NPR:

by Kevin D. Weeks

A staple in many cultures since ancient Egyptian times, beer can be a fixture in your kitchen, too. Pour a bit of brew into a pot, pie or cake — then drink the rest.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113747902

This annual festival holds the Guinness World Record for most beers tapped in one location. More than 400 U.S. breweries participate

There’s live music, a Beer Garden, Food Marketplace and beer cooking demonstration area in this Septmeber festival that has become an autumn tradition in Denver.

In this Journey into Beer, we speak with Julia Herz of the Brewers Association about the origins of the Great American Beer Festival, what it is today and how you can be part of it – whether in person or online.

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com

Heard on the Radio: The Great American Beer Festival

Heard on the Radio: The Great American Beer Festival
This "Journey into Beer" on Left Jab profiled what is consider the granddaddy of beer events.

Our guest to talk about it was Julia Herz, Director of the Craft Beer Program for the Boulder, Colorado based Brewers Association (BA). She is a recognized beer judge in the BJCP program, an award winning homebrewer of over 17 years, and a Certified Cicerone™.

The Great American Beer Festival holds the Guinness World Record for most beers tapped in one location 1,884 beers on tap (2008) - now expected to be over 21,000. More than 408 U.S. breweries will be found on the festival floor. Also featuring live music and Beer Garden and Food Marketplace. In the cooking demonstration area one can learn to cook with beer and pair beer style with a particular food.

For more on the festival go to http://www.GreatAmericanBeerFestival.com.

For the SIRIUS-XM interview, go to http://leftjabradio.com, access archives and go to "Hidden America".

Introducing journeysinto.com

Anyone that's been in our neck of the woods knows that we could have used a re-branding a long time ago.

Some good content. Multi-media. But to more than afew folks, it was more than a bit confusing.

With this in mind, we have created a new umbrella place to go. It's called http://journeysinto.com.

Once there, you can take a journey into Hidden America, Canada, Beer or Hockey (with others to follow).

The content and the feel, hopfully, remain. And, with any look, less confusion.

Guinness After 250 Years

Guinness is famous for its beer. But Guinness is more than a beer.

Beer expert, journalist and historian Bill Yenne went on a journey of his own. The result is a book, “Guinness: The 25o-Year Quest for the Perfect Pint” (Wiley, 2007) in which Yenne traces the tale of this remarkable family and its beer.

He follows not just the fortunes of the Guinness family through the years, but also the development of the brand and beer - from Arthur Guinness’ earliest porter to a beer that is enjoyed in 150 countries today.

Bill Yenne joins us in this journey into beer to share his journey.

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com

Great American Beers: Twelve Brands that Became Icons

Beer has always been an important part of American culture. Bill Yenne wrote a book that looks at the history of a dozen brewers (Acme, Ballantine, Fallstaff, Hamm’s, Lone Star, Lucky, Miller High Life, Olympia, Pabst, Rainer, Rheingold and Schlitz) and what made them matter. It’s about beer but its’ about much more.

Bill Yenne joins us for this Journeys into Beer.

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com

Brewery Business Hopping Despite Tanking Economy (NPR)

From NPR News:

by John Burnett
All Things Considered, February 10, 2009

Both small and large breweries are struggling to keep up with demand.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100528810