Ep. 19: First Cut Redux

In Episode 19 of the Operation Shutdown, I welcome back friends of the show Ed Grohl and  and Easy Pretzel. We discussed: Troegs Independent Brewing’s First Cut, some recent travels, Easy Pretzel’s hated of unnecessary tipping, Pergo flooring, and ironing, Bearcat goes an episode without saying hoi polloi or juxtaposition, and Ed recycles some old jokes.

A disclosure a quick note:  Troegs was kind enough to send us each a bottle of First Cut Mango IPA in advance of its recent release so that we could discuss it on this podcast. Special thanks to them.

first-cut-12oz-bottle

What We Were Drinking:
Easy Pretzel: First Cut by Troegs Independent Brewing Company, Phantom Chair by Fremont Brewing Company
Ed: First Cut, Stern Line Stout by 3 Daughters Brewing Company
Bearcat: First Cut, Conehead by Zero Gravity Craft Brewing

Link Dump:
Scratch #261 Mango IPA
Scratch #263 Mango IPA #2
Scratch #266 Mango IPA #3
Scratch #270 Mango IPA #4
Scratch #58 Triple Mango IPA
Scratch #98 Triple Mango IPA #2
Cultivator by Troegs Independent Brewing Company
Untappd 3.0
Mago Tago by Tired Hands and its 92 on BeerAdvocate.com (WTF?)
North Country Brewing Company
Brew Gentlemen
Spoonwood Brewing Company
Mindful Brewing
Voodoo Brewery
Dancing Gnome Brewery
3 Daughters’ Bimini Twist and their Ratebeer 34
Steel Reserve High Gravity and their Ratebeer 8
Cycle Brewing
Hunahpu Day at Cigar City
ManBearPig by Voodoo Brewing
Roundabout Brewery
Piggly Wiggly
Publix
Voodoo Employee Owned
Matthew Allyn
Allyn Consulting Services
Sole Artisan Ales  and Sole’s Consulting Arm — Brew Nerds
Susquehanna Brewing Company
Bryan D. Roth‘s There is No Bubble for October
Monkish Brewing Co.
Spring House Brewing Company
3 Floyds Dark Lord
Levante Brewing Company

Be sure to stick around for the After Show where: Dave celebrates, Ed mourns, Bearcat quietly wonders why life is so unfair, and you can learn about Ric Flair’s really expensive shoes.

You can listen by clicking above or find The Operation Shutdown on iTunes. If you use iTunes, please consider subscribing. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider leaving a review and sharing it with a friend.

Cheers!

Ep. 16 Beer in Review

In Episode 16 of the Operation Shutdown, I welcome back friends of the show Easy Pretzel, and Ed Grohl and we are joined by special guest Jeff Kupko. We discussed our favorite beers from 2016, Troegs Independent Brewing Company’s transparency, obligations to their customers, and their abysmal parking lot, as well as our thoughts after a shared happy hour at Tattered Flag in Middletown, and Ed’s love for everyone and everything.

Update: Tattered Flag reached out to me via direct message after listening to the episode and had the following to say: ” I just wanted to let you know that after I heard a complaint, that night, I did check it, I’ve actually been constantly checking that beer since before we put it on tap, nervous that the sourness was a sign of infection. I’ve had weekly tasting panels, and today after listening to you guys I had another professional brewer try it. We are not getting infection taste but your review and others on Untappd have my attention. It’s a 50/50 love hate in the brewery with that beer.”

Tony (the brewer) offered for us to come back and visit along with a sit down to discuss the beers. I have taken him up on the offer and invited him to appear on a future episode of the Operation Shutdown. I want to offer my appreciation for Tony reaching out and writing to me directly and to reiterate that our time TF was really great and if you go (and you should go) be sure to check out the double IPA.

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Easy Pretzel’s haul from an epic Smokey and the Bandit style run to the North East.

You can listen by clicking the bar immediately below or by subscribing on iTunes.

What We Were Drinking:

Resolute BBA – Brothers Craft Brewing
Rebel Raw – Boston Brewing
Pumpkinator Imperial Pumpkin Stout – Saint Arnold Brewing Company (Editor. Gross)
Java Cask – Victory Brewing Company
Kevin Kevin Sour IPA – The Veil Brewing Company
Recurrent – Wicked Weed Brewing Co.
Jai Alai IPA – Cigar City Brewing Co. 

Some of Our Favorite Beers From 2016:

It’s Complicated Being a Wizard DIPA – Burlington Beer Company
Helms Deep – Three Taverns Brewery
Juicy – Hill Farmstead
Even More Jesus – Evil Twin Brewing
Green – Tree House Brewing Company
Double Dry Hopped Galaxy Fort Point and Fort Point – Trillium
Gbop – New England Brewing
Coconut Porter – Broken Compass Brewing
Toof Toof Ache Ache – The Veil Brewing
Morning Wood – Funky Buddha Brewery
El Jefe – J. Wakefield Brewing
Liminal Moment – South County Brewing Company
Joose Juicy – Ever Grain Brewing Co.
Tickle Me Nelmo –  Mission Creek Brewing Co. (Editor: Extra points for 2nd coolest name ever.)
Excommunication – Max Lager’s
PNC – Firestone Walker
Oro Negro (BBA) – Jackie O’s
Barrel Aged Devil’s Abyss – Jagged Mountain Brewery
Nimble Giant and Barrel Aged Flying Mouflan – Troegs Independent Brewing
Tweak – Avery Brewing Co.
InTenSity BBA Barleywine – Hoppin Frog Brewery
Mexican Cake – Westbrook Brewing Co.
Simcoe Nerd – Sole Artisan Brewing
Lacto Calrissian Sour Double IPA – Pizza Boy Brewing Co. (Editor: Coolest Name Ever.)
Tropical Bitch – Flying Dog Brewery (Editor: Even thought its not good.)
Santé-16! – Brasserie Fantôme

Link Dump of Other Stuff We Discussed:

Frank Pepe’s Pizza
Sole’s Society
Bearcat’s Lacto Calrissian Post
Sour Murren River (Code Name Allison) Pizza Boy Brewing
LegenDairy IPA and Ep. 13 The LegenDairy Podcast
Michigan Maple Jesus – Evil Twin
Tattered Flag Brewery and Still Works
Beer Busters Podcast (Editor: It’s a very well done podcast.)
Steph and Richard Heffner from The Beer Busters Podcast
Tactical Nuclear Penguin – Brew Dog
Sink the Bismarck – Brew Dog
Tottenham Hotspur
Warwick Hotel (AKA – The Wick)

Be sure to stick around for the After Show where we discuss: Rogue One (No spoilers… I promise), The Pinstripe Bowl, Ed is drunk (again) and so am I.

You can listen by clicking above or find The Operation Shutdown on iTunes. If you use iTunes, please consider subscribing. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider leaving a review and sharing it with a friend.

Cheers!

Post Script:

If the episode is a little choppy when you are listening I apologize. I had some technical difficulties during the recording but I think this episode turned out pretty well despite the issues. I am working on a solution to eliminate this in the future. (Podcasting is hard.)

A quick aside: The LegenDairy Milk Shake IPA by Pizza Boy Brewing discussed at length in Ep. 13 of the Podcast made a Top Ten list for 2016. Thank you to BreweriesInPA.com.

Thank you to everyone that appeared on the show over 2017: Fetish Brewing, Sara Bozich, Tierney Pomone, Ffej Herb, Chelsie Markel, Al Kominski, Bryan D. Roth, and Jeff Kupko.

But the biggest of appreciation is for you, the listeners. I can’t say how proud I am of the fact that the show grew from single digits to 200+ listeners in just 15 episodes. I am very thankful for each and everyone of you. I hope that you continue to listen through 2017 and beyond.

Also Easy, Ed, and I have some big plans in the works for the near and not so near future involving the podcast. I am very excited for what the future will bring and we can’t wait to share it all… when the time is right.

From Easy, Ed, and I we wish you health, happiness and good beers in the new year. Cheers!

Ep. 10: I Want To Spray Paint Your Bottle

In Episode 10 of the Operation Shutdown, I welcome special guest Chelsie Markel from Stouts & Stilettos and It’s a Brew Life to discuss design in craft beer, fingerless gloves, a little about Harrisburg Beer Week, and her new blog.

headshots-website-chelsie

A quick aside about this post… It has a ton of links about the breweries we discuss and I tried to keep them in the order we discussed.

A big thank you to Chelsie for coming on the show. You can follow Chelsie on Twitter @dzyngrl. Also be sure to check out her new blog It’s a Brew Life and read her stuff at Stouts & Stilettos.

What We Were Drinking:

Crooked Stave Wild Sage
Almanac Beer Co. Tropical Platypus
The Alchemist: Focal Banger and The Crusher (Thanks to listener @Brookaveli and Dave for hooking me up with this beer.)

Breweries We Discussed:

Troegs Independant Brewing
Dogfish Head
Flying Dog Brewery (Ralph Steadman)
Highway Manor Brewing (Camp Hill, PA)
Creature Comforts Brewing Co.
Sole Artisan Ales
Roundabout Brewery
Fetish Brewing Company
Maine Beer Company
Russian River Brewing Company
Deschutes Brewing
Stone Brewing Company
Free Will Brewing Co.
Tired Hands
Green Flash Brewing Co.
Otter Creek Brewing Co.
Clown Shoes
3 Floyds Brewing Co.
New Belgium Brewing Co. (Fat Tire)
Appalachian Brewing Company
Golden Avalanche Brewery (Kutztown)

Other Links:

Oh Beautiful Beer
Brewed in the Burg by GK Visual
Harrisburg Beer Week
The Eternal Tap in St. Mary’s, PA
Death of Flagships: But Why?
A Tribute to a Mentor and a Friend
Market Cross; Carlisle, PA

House of 1000 Beers; New Kensington, PA

Beer Busters Podcast

Be sure to stick around for the After Show in which we discuss writing a beer blog, the design ideas behind Bearcat On Beer and The Operation Shutdown.

You can listen by clicking above or find The Operation Shutdown on iTunes. If you use iTunes, please consider subscribing. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider leaving a review and sharing it with a friend.

Cheers!

Would You Like To Take That In The Can?

No... I will have it right here
In the can? No, I think I will just have it right here.

For Episode 4 of The Operation Shutdown, I welcomed back friends of the show Easy Pretzel and Ed Grohl.

We also welcomed Bryan Roth. Calling Bryan a beer blogger seems trite when that is what I pretend to do. Bryan has the journalistic chops of working in newspapers. He writes for Beer Advocate and Good Beer Hunting, when not writing for his blog This Is Why I Am Drunk. You can follow him on Twitter at @BryanDRoth.

Bryan joined the show to discuss his recent post about canning and the media coverage canning receives.

It was a wide ranging conversation about everything from “Why canning is important or overrated? to “Are brewers using canning distribution to accelerate towards selling out?” In fact, the only thing about canning we did not discuss was this banned commercial from Bud Light Lime.

I hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we did making it.

Show notes:

Bryan D. Roth’s definitive work on canning. Please read this. We discuss it quite a bit.

Craft Beer’s Big Dilemma: Hold Out of Sell Out? 

Do Craft Breweries Fail?

Many beers were consumed during the making of this podcast including:
Pizza Boy Brewing Magic Under…Where? 
Pizza Boy Brewing Murren River
Pipeworks Brewing Co. Ninja vs. Unicorn
Half Acre Beer Company Vallejo
The Alchemist Focal Banger
Sole Artisan Ales Giant Juice Box
Oskar Blue Passion Fruit Pinner
Lone Ranger Brewing Addie’s Revenge

You can listen by clicking above or find it on iTunes. If you use iTunes please consider subscribing. If you enjoyed this podcast please consider leaving a review or sharing it with a friend.

Cheers!