Part 2 of my podcast conversation with special guest Chris Lohring, brewer/founder of Notch Session beer as we discuss the rise of craft brewing in the U.S. Listen to the show below or download it directly (right click and "save as").
The show notes...
- Recorded at In a Pig's Eye in Salem, Mass.
- Chris was a bartender at legendary punk club The Rat in Boston in mid-'80s
- Samples came in from new brewer called Samuel Adams
- Met a local brewer and got interested in craft beer in '89
- Chris took a liking to porter at Cambridge Brewing Co.
- Visited Anchor Steam brewery in California
- Boston Brewers Festival in early '90s started to draw big crowds
- People in attendance had never tried most of the beers there
- Pete's Wicked Ale had a good run in the '90s
- Commonwealth Brewery was ahead of its time, first brew pub in Boston
- Craft beer peaked in '90s and then fizzled
- Many local brew pubs ended up closing
- In early '90s, there was an explosion of new craft breweries
- By end of the decade, many of those breweries went away
- Things dipped with the economy after 9/11/01
- Bounced back a few years later
- Now craft beer has always been around for young drinkers
- Craft beer is still a very small percentage of overall beer market
- More of a market now for products that aren't mass-produced: beer, bread, coffee
- Chris: Budweiser is a high-quality beer, it's just not flavorful
- Major brewers have tried making so-called craft beers over the years
- Chris: I actually like Bud American Ale
- Craft brewing scene is kinda like indie rock
- Fat Tire in Colorado and Sam Adams are seen by some beer snobs as sellouts because they've grown
- Chris: Every brewer and consumer owes respect to Jim Koch for introducing craft beer to the masses
- Chris: I don't get involved in beer snobbery
- For Notch, Chris hopes to meet demand and slowly grow from there
- Hope to expand Notch regionally, but find a balance
- Locally, Chris sees return to focus on local beers
- Nationally, he's hoping for "return to sanity"
- Innovation means product fits consumer need and it sells
- Need to find ways to expand craft beer category
- Session beer could be a good transition for folks trying craft beer
- Sam Adams Light was an interesting experiment
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Thurston Moore - Benediction
Tres Mts. - My Baby
The Biters - Born to Cry
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get you 10% off any order of $50 at Eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at Eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at Footlocker.com.
The Thurston Moore song is on the forthcoming album Demolished Thoughts on Matador Records, where you can download the song for free.
The Tres Mts. song is on the album Three Mountains on Monkeywrench Records. Find out more and download the song for free (in exchange for your e-mail address) at the band's website.
The Biters song is from the EP All Chewed Up on Underrated Records. Find out more and download the song for free at the band's website.
The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blogs Clicky Clicky and Keeping Some Dark Secrets. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at his blog. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his new site PodGeek.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
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