This week Tony and Shawn (and surprise accidental guest Michael Buoni) talk about the Grainfather system for brewing at home and homebrewing culture generally in the run up to the National Homebrew conference in June. They also discuss the week’e beer news which includes more consolidation concerns, brewing classes and whether an all can festival is something worth having. We’re not going over the Budweiser/America in detail because, even though the news is only 24 hours old at this writing, but the time you read this it’ll be done to death.
If it truly isn’t an elaborate hoax I feel as if it’s an attack on PBR which so successfully got poor hipsters to pretend to drink it ironically rather than because they were broke.
Finally, the odds are Tony will mention his new book which is out now and tell you that you can attend a virtual signing at the Shore Craft Beer store.
Starting up and keeping going
Since I’ll be doing a feature on the Grainfather homebrew apparatus this week, we’ll revisit the upsides of homebrewing. Namely, getting together with friends and good folks and being part of a nurturing community.
So what’re we talking about at this point?
We’ve discussed the Modelo takeover before, and the attached story is a good refresher, but it is time to start thinking about these large independent brewery investment companies as different animals altogether. At what point to places like this start demanding a larger return? Do we care?
How necessary is college?
I know it is common for brewers to go to school as a way of getting the chemistry nailed, or maybe for some last minute technical stuff, but this is the point where I want to ask whether an apprenticeship might be better. I feel like it has been working for a few thousand years, but (I guess) that was the case with medicine until comparatively recently.
Author: Tony Russo
Tony Russo has worked as a print and digital journalist for the better part of the 21st century, writing for and editing regional weeklies and dailies before joining the team that produces OceanCity.com and ShoreCraftBeer.com among other destination websites. In addition to having documented everything from zoning changes to art movements on the Delmarva Peninsula, Tony has written two books on beer for the History Press. Eastern Shore Beer was published in 2014 and Delaware Beer in 2016. He lives in Delmar, Md. with his wife Kelly and the only of his four daughters who hasn't moved out. Together they keep their two dogs comfortable.
