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Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine Podcast

Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine Podcast

By: Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine
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Summary

 Listen to the podcast for those who make and drink great beer. Every week we talk to professional brewers and industry experts about practical brewing advice, in-depth coverage of brewing trends that matter to you, and tips for getting the most out of your homebrew.© 2026 Unfiltered Media Group, LLC Art Cooking Food & Wine
Episodes
  • 478: Bart Watson of the Brewers Association Unpacks the State of the Craft Beer Industry

    478: Bart Watson of the Brewers Association Unpacks the State of the Craft Beer Industry
    May 8 2026
    If you’ve read any mainstream news coverage of craft beer over the past year, it’s likely you’ve seen something about the “death” of craft beer. The apocalyptic tones and pearl-clutching over the industry’s recent economic woes mostly lack context, often painting a complex and diverse industry with a single brush—yet the stories continue. In his recent State of the Industry presentation at the Craft Brewers Conference in Philadelphia, Brewers Association president and CEO Bart Watson made an effort to acknowledge the real challenges facing the industry while also dispelling some of the more hyperbolic assertions often seen in popular media. In this episode, we unpack the data and arguments for a more nuanced and accurate understanding of the current state of craft beer. Through the episode, Watson discusses: the question of how many breweries the market can sustainhow the long tail of breweries creates noisy data often not captured by industry analyticssectors where craft beer is growingthe importance of investing in experiencechanging the narrative and capturing the breadth of craft beer todayunderstanding who your customer is and what your value proposition should bethe seemingly contradictory trends driving the top and value tiers in the industry And more. G&D Chillers G&D’s new Elite 290 Micro-series is built for brewers who care about sustainability and performance. It runs on a Natural Refrigerant with near-zero Global Warming Potential, has a compact footprint, and features variable speed fans for efficiency. They’ve chilled beer for over 3,000 breweries across North America, and with 24/7 support and remote monitoring, your cold side stays dialed in—day or night. Get the details on natural refrigerant technology at gdchillers.com/podcast. Berkeley Yeast Berkeley Yeast just launched Dry Tropics London! Our best-selling liquid yeast strain, now with all the ease-of-use benefits of dry yeast. Dry Tropics London delivers the soft, pillowy mouthfeel and juicy character you’d expect from a top-tier London Ale strain, but with a serious upgrade: a burst of thiols that unleash vibrant, layered notes of grapefruit and passion fruit. A lot of brewers love the clean passion fruit you get from Tropics, but they don’t want every IPA to be a tropical-fruit bomb. At the dry yeast price point, you can pitch and ditch without breaking the bank. Or, you can co-pitch with your house strain to adjust the intensity of the notes. And with nationwide free shipping, there’s never been a better time to try Dry Tropics. Order now at berkeleyyeast.com and experience the ease and impact of Dry Tropics London Yeast. PakTech This episode is sponsored by PakTech—delivering craft-beer multipacking you can trust. Our handles are made from 100 percent recycled plastic and are fully recyclable, helping breweries close the loop and advance the circular economy. With a minimalist design, durable functionality you can rely on, and custom color matching, our carriers help brands stand out while staying sustainable. Trusted by craft brewers nationwide, we offer a smarter, sustainable way to carry your beer. To learn more, visit paktech-opi.com. Indie Hops Oregon hop country is heaven to world-class lager varieties, and Indie Hops is proud to have introduced Oregon’s newest lager hop, Lórien, in 2022. Lórien is in a growing list of beers that have found their way to the podium and—more importantly—into the hearts of lager lovers across the country. Discover Indie Hops Lórien. (Side effects may include rampant festivity, sales bumps, and exceeded expectations.) Indie Hops—Life is Short. Let’s Make It Flavorful. Midea 50/50 Flex If you’re like many podcast listeners, you’ve got a lot of beers at home, and your regular fridge is at capacity. Enter the Midea 50/50 Flex—the industry’s first dual-compartment three-way convertible freezer. Here’s what all that means for you: options! The 50/50 has the power to be all freezer, all fridge, or a little bit of both. But you’ll probably want to use those 20 cubic feet as a massive, garage-ready beer fridge. You can also change which side the door is on or how you want the shelves to be arranged—the 50/50 totally flexes to fit your life. Plus, it’s designed to maintain a stable temperature even in non-climate-controlled conditions—so you can crack a cold one even on the warmest days in the man cave. Take your garage to the next level! Check out Midea.com/us/ to get more info about this game changer today. Old Orchard If your brewery is using fruit-juice concentrates, purees, and blends, then why not source everything from a one-stop shop? We might be best-known for flavored blends, but if you need 100 percent purees or concentrates, then we can likely help—even with options not listed on our website. Let us know what you need at oldorchard.com/brewer. ADM Are you ready to shake up the beverage world? ADM is passionate about ...
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    1 hr and 6 mins
  • 477: Source Material with Firestone Walker: Anywhere & Everywhere

    477: Source Material with Firestone Walker: Anywhere & Everywhere
    May 5 2026

    When you look at the top restaurants around the world, no matter what cuisine they may focus on, there’s one commonality they all share, and that’s deep relationships with those who grow and raise the very best ingredients. It’s the same in beer—you can’t be the best at what you do without the meaningful, personal, financial, and long-standing relationships that ensure the brewery has access to the very best quality ingredients. These relationships don’t materialize overnight, but for Firestone Walker, they’re the product of 30 years of work. In this series, we highlight a number of these crucial growers, brokers, and processors who have played a role in the world-class beer that Firestone Walker makes.

    Episode 3: Anywhere & Everywhere

    In this third episode of the Source Material series, we look at the international reach of hops with which Firestone Walker brews and head to New Zealand for a conversation with Brent McGlashen of Mac Hops, part of the bigger NZ Hops collective. Brent’s family has been farming hops down in Motueka for five generations, and their two farms produce quite a bit of the New Zealand hops that make their way into Firestone Walker beer. Joining from Firestone Walker is Tim Miller, raw materials manager and brewer, and it’s Tim’s job to source the highest quality ingredients, test and analyze them, and make sure that what comes into the brewery is what they expect to come in. Finding great hops wherever they’re grown, whether that’s Nelson, New Zealand, or Germany’s Hallertau, is a big focus for Firestone Walker, and the long-term grower relationships they’ve built over the past 30 years stretch far beyond North America to anywhere and everywhere that great hops are grown.

    Intro music: VintageGroove / Pond5
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    40 mins
  • 476: Matt Topping of COVA Finds Fruit Beer Gold with a Focus on Fresh Flavor and Drinkability

    476: Matt Topping of COVA Finds Fruit Beer Gold with a Focus on Fresh Flavor and Drinkability
    May 1 2026
    Matt Topping of COVA Brewing in Norfolk, Virginia, has a knack for winning medals with his fruit beers—but they aren’t what you think. From the full fruit refermentation to the light herbal spicing, he’s found an equation that’s equally successful on draft in the taproom and on the final judging table at the World Beer Cup. From slightly higher pH to low mash temps for fermentable wort, and from frozen purée to Ebbegarden kveik for the primary fermentation, he’s built a systematic approach to both the gose-style base and to the fruits and spices he layers on top. In this episode, Topping discusses: using Lactobacillus plantarum from Goodbelly for souring wortlow mash temperatures for greater fermentabilityusing frozen rather than aseptic purée to maintain the fruit flavor’s fresh edge strategically adding salt and hibiscus in the brite to dial in perfect amountscleverly pairing fruit-and-spice flavors such as rosemary-lemon, passion fruit–hibiscus, and moreproper temperature for herb steepingbrewing with difficult ingredients such as watermelon and strawberrycontrolling finished pH for greater function And more. G&D Chillers A quick word for the brewers out there staring down a broken chiller. You know the pain—warm fermentors, stressed yeast, and that sinking feeling when the repair quote lands in your inbox. With refrigerant regulations changing and the cost of obsolete refrigerants skyrocketing, sometimes the fix costs more than the unit is worth. G&D Chillers is there to help, whether you’re a small brew pub or large full-scale production brewery. Don’t throw good money at bad equipment. Invest in a solution that grows with your brewery—and keeps your tanks cold when it counts. Big thanks to G&D Chillers for supporting this podcast since 2019. Reach out to them at gdhillers.com/podcast to learn how they can support your next six years of growth. Berkeley Yeast Berkeley Yeast just launched Dry Tropics London! Our best-selling liquid yeast strain, now with all the ease-of-use benefits of dry yeast. Dry Tropics London delivers the soft, pillowy mouthfeel and juicy character you’d expect from a top-tier London Ale strain, but with a serious upgrade: a burst of thiols that unleash vibrant, layered notes of grapefruit and passion fruit. A lot of brewers love the clean passion fruit you get from Tropics, but they don’t want every IPA to be a tropical-fruit bomb. At the dry yeast price point, you can pitch and ditch without breaking the bank. Or, you can co-pitch with your house strain to adjust the intensity of the notes. And with nationwide free shipping, there’s never been a better time to try Dry Tropics. Order now at berkeleyyeast.com and experience the ease and impact of Dry Tropics London Yeast. PakTech This episode is sponsored by PakTech—delivering craft-beer multipacking you can trust. Our handles are made from 100 percent recycled plastic and are fully recyclable, helping breweries close the loop and advance the circular economy. With a minimalist design, durable functionality you can rely on, and custom color matching, our carriers help brands stand out while staying sustainable. Trusted by craft brewers nationwide, we offer a smarter, sustainable way to carry your beer. To learn more, visit paktech-opi.com. Indie Hops Oregon hop country is heaven to world-class lager varieties, and Indie Hops is proud to have introduced Oregon’s newest lager hop, Lórien, in 2022. Lórien is in a growing list of beers that have found their way to the podium and—more importantly—into the hearts of lager lovers across the country. Discover Indie Hops Lórien. (Side effects may include rampant festivity, sales bumps, and exceeded expectations.) Indie Hops—Life is Short. Let’s Make It Flavorful. Midea 50/50 Flex If you’re like many podcast listeners, you’ve got a lot of beers at home, and your regular fridge is at capacity. Enter the Midea 50/50 Flex—the industry’s first dual-compartment three-way convertible freezer. Here’s what all that means for you: options! The 50/50 has the power to be all freezer, all fridge, or a little bit of both. But you’ll probably want to use those 20 cubic feet as a massive, garage-ready beer fridge. You can also change which side the door is on or how you want the shelves to be arranged—the 50/50 totally flexes to fit your life. Plus, it’s designed to maintain a stable temperature even in non-climate-controlled conditions—so you can crack a cold one even on the warmest days in the man cave. Take your garage to the next level! Check out Midea.com/us/ to get more info about this game changer today. Old Orchard If your brewery is using fruit-juice concentrates, purees, and blends, then why not source everything from a one-stop shop? We might be best-known for flavored blends, but if you need 100 percent purees or concentrates, then we can likely help—even with options not listed on our website. Let us know what you ...
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 1 min
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