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Hops, IPA, Stone & The San Diego Scene
304 Plays15 hours ago
"We never stopped experimenting. That's in our DNA.”
Stone Brewing are one of the biggest names in American craft beer: a bold, brash brand with a fondness for IPA that helped drive the rise of the industry in the US and played a key role in the growth of the San Diego scene.
So we jumped at the chance to sit down with Jeremy Moynier when he was in Beechworth recently to deliver the keynote speech at The High Country Hop. He’s now more than two decades into his time at Stone, where he’s focused on new releases, pilot brews, quality and sensory, among other things.
He was in Australia wearing two hats as Jeremy is also currently chair of the Hop Quality Group, whose work – and recent success in bringing new public hop variety Thora to the world – is part of our chat.
As well as hearing about his career, from arts degree to wine to beer, and his experiences as both Stone and beer in San Diego were exploding, we explore the brewery’s approach to hops and experimentation, navigating the ups and downs of the beer world, reworking the iconic Stone IPA to feature Aussie hops and more.
It’s worth noting that this was recorded before Stone’s recent sale to Firestone Walker and Duvel USA. As such, we’ve cut the parts of the interview covering the brewery’s prior sale to Sapporo without losing any of the insight and considerable charm Jeremy brings to the show.
Before we get to Jeremy, Will and James celebrate yet another World Beer Cup medal for TWØBAYS, discuss Spinifex Brewery’s innovative new wastewater pilot project, part two of Will’s reworked Crafty Crawl along The 86 Tram, and the impending arrival of Pint of Origin 2026.
If you enjoy the show, be sure to like, subscribe, rate, review and tell your beer-loving mates so we can reach more people. Cheers
Start of segments:
- 0:00 – The Week On Crafty
- 13:41 – Jeremy Moynier Part 1
- 32:18 – GoTab on maximising taproom revenue
- 42:09 – Jeremy Moynier Part 2
To find out more about featuring on The Crafty Pint Podcast or otherwise partnering with The Crafty Pint, contact craig@craftypint.com.
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Transcript
Studio and Festival Preparations
00:00:05
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Crafty Pine Podcast. I'm Will. I'm James and it feels like an age since we've been sat here recording like this, not rather than using Zencastr or sat in different places. So, you know, what a pleasure to have you back in the studio. It is. And after this, we're going to fold up some Pine of Origin t-shirts and organise them. So a reminder that the festival is almost here.
00:00:26
Speaker
I think, yeah, we've got about 2,000 t-shirts to separate into piles, few posters to stick inside ah envelopes, and stick inside elastic bands, I should say, and then 20 odd venues to get out to. But, you know, that's what we do.
Beer Industry Reflections
00:00:39
Speaker
i was saying to Liz, head of the the Pint of Origin launch party last week, that the reason I got into journalism just over 20 odd years ago was to spend several hours putting pieces of paper into tote bags.
00:00:50
Speaker
The thing is, it's darkest just before the dawn. Thank you for that reminder. um Yes, a couple of weeks away for that. So, yeah, it has been sort of a bit of all all sort of full steam ahead of a pint of origin. But we have I've got a two and a half week period now without any events to sort of catch up with other stuff, get my life hopefully... back on track. But yeah in the meantime i think as you said sort of you know last week we have still managed to maintain steady stream of keeping our eyes on everything else going around the beer industry and I guess one that um almost like signals the start of a bit of an awards season.
Two Bays Brewery's Success
00:01:24
Speaker
I think you know WA is up next, ABA is judging next week. There's a bit of a run of beer awards but I guess the the biggest in the world um took place last week and I guess no surprises really who brought back another medal for Australia. Yeah, well, the sole Australian winner was two bays at the World Beer Cup. ah This year they got silver for their barrel-aged Imperial Stout Rum smuggler. uses rum barrels from Jimmy Rum, who are right around the corner from them in Germana on the Mornington Peninsula. Silver this year, so, you know. One of my dad. Only second best in the world. I think, you know, any brewery is always going to be absolutely stoked to get medal the World Beer Cup. It is... the most competitive because there's only three positions you can get. It's not like there's multiple gold winners or anything like that. This year it was silver rather than gold, but um you know, what a time to get it as well. I spoke to Christian and Richard during the course of the
New Gluten-Free Venue Plans
00:02:23
Speaker
day. Christian said the thing he was looking forward to most was drinking the last can of it in existence. Well, his last can of it rather with his wife. And he sent me a text on Friday night as well saying mission accomplished. Well, and I can't imagine there's been too many rum barrel aged imperial stouts made in the history of gluten free beer either. So, you know,
00:02:43
Speaker
Certainly they're saying it's the first in Australia. Anyone who's um I think maybe been following beer for a while might remember Mornington Peninsula's barrel aged beers, which were always incredible pumping station, was a real favorite of mine when that came out, came out in elegant bottles. And Christian was the one who was behind that. He was Mornington Peninsula's barrel man. Yeah, well, I remember we did a cabal event down there a few years ago and it and it was amazing. They so gave gave all the members sort free reign of the the brewery. They were pouring stuff out of the barrels. They had bottles of old pumping stations to help you yourself kind of thing. And Christian, he hadn't done an event like that. He said he was professed, he was incredibly nervous, didn't want to speak to anybody. like well He was nervous about speaking in front of room of people, but then we put him in front of the barrels. And because he was talking about you know something he loved, he was very eloquent. And I think he's ah you know he's ah more than happy to hold hold the court now. Yeah, so congratulations to the team at Two Bays. Obviously it comes just a couple of weeks after you ran a story on their plans to open the free house in Collingwood. So the 100% gluten free venue. So should be a pretty big year for for Richard and Christine and their team. Yeah, i feel a bit like the two-base correspondent at the moment. I've been talking to Richard so much. But Christian also said, you know, it's it's really exciting to have beers like this. He's been to a few gluten-free breweries in America. or meant You know, you've got a a tap selection that's kind of like pale ales and lagers and hazies and all the kind of stuff you expect. But the thing that gets exciting is when you, like, see, you know, interesting bottles behind the fridge like you do in any other brewery and they're like, oh, wow, this is... this is a beer I can share with people and you know two bags have managed to to get there as well with their gluten-free beers yeah yeah for sure and I guess and another sort of good news story that we'll be running on the site today i think we sort of first got a heads up on this a few months ago but it's been a bit of a um I guess it's it's a work in progress still for the brewery but over in WA Spinefix Brewing they've just well they they've successfully I'll start that one again Maybe just that spin effects again, I
Sustainability in Brewing
00:04:41
Speaker
think. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, um yeah and and another sort of good news story for the local beer industry, one that we sort of first ah got sort of wind of it a while ago. It's taken a bit of bit of time to pull together because it's still very much a work in progress. Spinifex Brewing WA have secured some money for a wastewater project. Obviously a lot of water goes into making beer and they've secured some funding they help them sort of repurpose and reuse um wastewater but also
00:05:12
Speaker
Well, polished the water is how John describes it from the room. I could see your way to jump in and get a word in there. That's a lovely way to help you sort of understand it while taking all the complexity out. I think basically they're going to clean the water before it goes off. It saves them a lot of money and will save other breweries a lot of money if this if they're able to utilize it as well because you use a lot of water, it comes out in a not very good quality. You've then got to spend money to to the local council or state government or wherever. and your wastewater charges, this will sort of help them with that. And it comes at a good time for the brewery. Spinifex, they've just sort of re rebranded a lot of their range and relaunching to a degree. And they're really trying to sort of focus down and let people know about these four core pillars, talking about innovation, sustainability, provenance, hospitality, sort of this text ticks at least three of those boxes anyway, the first three.
Melbourne's Craft Beer Scene
00:06:04
Speaker
So yeah, um it'll be interesting to see how, if it's something that a lot of breweries can use as well. Well I know um the man in Perth, Guy Southern, he's been impressed with recent releases out of Spinifex as well. So yeah, good luck to them. And I mean, the the project, and i don't know that the the you know the equipment is yet to arrive, it's still very much a ah work in progress. But I think the idea is that if this, you know, if it works and it's successful, it's it's kind of a um yeah pilot scheme for others to look at and to to take on board as well. And I think that is one of the things, you know, whatever might be going on in the beer industry at the minute, and there are still challenges, the more closure, whatever, You know you sometimes get people going, oh you know it's had its day or whatever. but i think what's had its day, innovation, sustainability, you know people being creative. I don't think those things are ever going to have their day. And I think the industry is still really driving forward with these sort of new projects, partly because it has to. you know you know
00:06:54
Speaker
There is so much water used, for example, in brewing and so much energy. But um yeah, it's good to see. Yeah, i mean, if you can save money and also do something positive for the world, that that's a pretty big win. And I think sometimes people might be more guided by sort of the ability to save money ah and people sort of realizing that as well, that, yeah, we'll probably need to get off some of these heavy fuels because they're going way up at the moment or staying up anyway.
00:07:16
Speaker
Yes, yeah, for sure. And I guess on a more, I don't know, just sort of fun note, part two of the rebooted or sort of revised, reworked, whatever you want call it, 86 Tram Crawl went up this week. And I think, well, the first one was in two parts. Was it a one-part one? No, initially, I think initially when I pitched the idea of the article, it was called Six on the 86. Yeah, yeah. Because there only six venues from the whole length of it, from the CBD all the way to, well, Carwin Sellers would have been the final point. Yeah, so then it became a two-parter. Yeah. And I think when we looked at rebooting it a few weeks ago, were thinking three, you're thinking it may nudge to four. But anyway, this part two, High Street, so... Yeah, High Street, so the street that runs through North Kent and Thornbury. Listeners will know Carwin Cellars well, and there's a couple of other places that have been there for a long time, like Thornbury Local, but there's some newer venues, small bars. There's a lot of great places serving craft beer there still. I think, personally, the area around Carwin Cellars, and not just because Carwin Cellars is there, but they're sort of...
00:08:21
Speaker
Northern Thornbury, Southern Preston is like one of the most interesting parts of Melbourne at the moment in terms of openings and it's it's where a lot of the good new venues going into, not just bars but cafes there's and places like that. And there's a fair amount of live music, yeah like small live music venues along that whole stretch as well. ah It'd be interesting to actually look at you know sort of the density of where small, regular hosting live music venues are um in Melbourne. I'd be surprised if there's anywhere that's... you know much more than you'd find on that stretch of high street as well yeah if you spend a sunday afternoon or a saturday there like you could it's the vibe that it was what you know brunswick street was quite a few years ago now really i think yeah yeah and that's great so thanks for putting that together um and yeah which i guess brings us to this week's uh main guest now we only recorded the chat
00:09:10
Speaker
about a month ago, just under a month ago, um and I guess things have changed.
Stone Brewing Acquisition
00:09:15
Speaker
yeah So yeah, we we caught up with Jeremy Mornier from Stone Brewing. He's been there 22 years and counting, works in sort of innovation, new product development, quality, all that kind of stuff. um Fascinating guy and a really entertaining guy. He was the keynote speaker at the High Country Hop Technical Symposium. We sat down with him in the Bridge Road, Baudrin the day before,
00:09:36
Speaker
Had a great chat. Like we said at the time, we we both really really enjoyed it. He was very engaging company. um um But as people, you know i guess, who follow the beer world's news may have noticed, um things have changed at Stone in the the four weeks since we caught up with him. Yeah, apologies to anyone who's listening this going like oh wow they've got Jeremy on to talk about like what's going on within Stone This was recorded before that but yeah, uh since that happened ah Stone has now been bought by Firestone Walker so Firestone Walker bought Stone from Sapporo Firestone Walker itself is majority owned by Devel so few
00:10:13
Speaker
uh complicating things there the larger production facility for stone richmond that'll be a supporo brewery pumping out lager and that kind of thing whereas uh the escondido brewery brew where jeremy has been focused that will remain open for the moment but it it will be on the market so that that will go too so um obviously it's quite a big change um it It really gives, I think Firestone Walker a massive presence in California because they've already, ah Firestone Walker's more concentrated north and Stone Brewing is a San Diego brewery. So it gives them a lot of dominance in their home state. But um yeah, this chat really isn't about that to much degree. Yeah. Yeah. Well, there was, there was, you know, we did touch upon um the support our ownership because obviously back in the day,
00:11:00
Speaker
found that One of the founders, Greg, was you know famously anti-selling out kind of thing. So we did have a bit of a chat to Jeremy about that and he was singing in the praises of working for Sapporo and what good owners they'd been and you know supporting Stone and staying how they were. And yeah i don't think any of that has changed. like He does talk about how they've been allowed to continue to experiment and and And obviously the chat with him isn't just about that. He's also currently the chair of the Hop Quality Group and won't go into too much detail about that now, but it's a yeah group of craft brewers that works with the hop industry in America. um But yeah, so we decided that the best thing was to take that section about Sapporo out. It doesn't really affect the the rest of the chat. It goes into Jeremy's sort of life pre and through brewing, everything he does there about how the hop industry works in the States, both public and and private, sort of proprietary and breeding and yeah he's just he's just a good good guy with a lot of talk about ipas yeah and uh we go on to san diego a lot as well jeremy spent two decades working at stone as well so he's really seen the rise of certain beer styles and those kind of things um yeah and obviously really enjoyed his time working at stone as well so yeah i mean enjoy the conversation if you do make sure you leave us some feedback or subscribe or comment on our podcast however you listen to the podcast Yep, or you can contact us directly at podcast at craftypint.com, whether that's for some feedback or some guests you'd love to hear or some questions you'd like us to pose to people. um Yeah, just get those in at podcast at craftypint.com.
00:12:30
Speaker
Cheers. Cheers. Entries are now open for the Royal Adelaide Beer and Cider Awards. And according to previous winners, there are plenty of reasons to get involved. Here's reigning champion Chris De La Rue from Eclectic Brewing on why they enter the competition.
00:12:43
Speaker
We enter the professional competitions and the Royal Railroad in particular because we're after the judges' feedback. The judges' feedback is the most important thing to us.
00:12:55
Speaker
while trophies and awards are nice to pick up. The judges feedback is unbiased. They have professional pellet or a good pellet that can pick up any faults in the beer.
00:13:07
Speaker
So for my brewery and our processors I need to know that our beers are on point, make true to brand and product specification and while family and friends do a great job of talking us up and saying our beers are great, sometimes that's a little bit biased because they don't want to hurt us The judges feedback is the most important thing from the Royal Adelaide Beer and Cider Awards for us.
00:13:32
Speaker
If you're keen to prove your beers and ciders are the best, enter the Royal Adelaide Beer and Cider Awards today at www.beerciderawards.com.au
00:13:41
Speaker
Jeremy, thank you for joining us on the Crafty Pint podcast. Yeah, cool to be here. Welcome
Innovation at Stone Brewing
00:13:46
Speaker
to Australia. Ah, so good to be back here in Australia. It's been a few years. Cool, so for the listeners who don't know, do you want to tell us a little bit about what your role is at Stonebrew? Yeah, so I'm Senior Manager of Innovation and Supply Chain. Long title, but basically just work on new beer release. So I'm on a team that really focuses on new beers, a lot of trials and pilots. And also supply chain side, especially hops. Stone Brewing is a real hop forward focused brewery. So we spend a lot of time and energy on hops. um Yeah, and then do a lot on the quality sensory side as well. And and just kind of interface with production, make sure that all of our new beers are going well. And actually what we dreamt up is actually working on the on the big scale.
00:14:33
Speaker
Yeah, and with hops, is it like changing what you're doing in core ranges or just seeing how they work in pilot beers? Like how are you sort of throwing them into stone beers? Yeah, so we um we trial everything.
00:14:45
Speaker
So any kind of hop that we can get our hands on, any kind of hop product. We've been doing that for a long time. We have a really good solid system for that, a process. And basically we've helped a lot of the industry as far as getting feedback to breeders, to growers, and and to help you know develop hops. And a lot on the breeding side too. so How much can you tell us about that process that you used to test new hops? Do you always have a beer or certain beers that you'll do it through? remember A long time ago, time I was in the States for one of the CBC's, I did a tour around Fredericksburg. We went to Flying Dog and when they do their single hop beers or experiment at New Varice, they did it with 10% double IPAs, which I thought was quite a very them, but you know, of maybe not the way to pick up the nuances new hops. What's your process for sort providing feedback? So we don't do 10%, but we do 7.7% West coast kind of style, real basic recipe, but really showcases the hop. We actually use Magnum for bittering. So we have you know, like a stable bittering hop and then we'll just change out the whirlpool and dry hop hops. Right. Yeah. And we've expanded a little bit. We have a pilsner recipe now too for that and a hazy recipe. But typically go for the kind of the West Coast because to us that really kind of showcases a hop. And we just the three different styles because in a hazy with a different yeast, often hops going to perform in a different manner.
00:16:16
Speaker
Yeah, and and just to sometimes we'll do the West Coast and really like it. and And then we start to say, well, I wonder how it would be in a hazy and how about in a pilsner? So i think we added those two recipes just to have a little more flexibility. Yeah.
00:16:29
Speaker
And um I guess going a little bit back in time. So when sort of why and how did did you and get involved with Stone? Yeah, so um i I got a literature degree in writing from UCSD and didn't have any idea what the hell I was going to do. where we We're both arts degree people. perfect. In fact, we're both in politics, history degrees. What the hell do you do with that? Journalism is kind of all brewing, I guess. yeah but but So this is a safe space. I like it.
00:16:57
Speaker
Yeah, so I ended up going to Colorado for a year and just kind of was a bum. And then I followed a a woman over to San Luis Obispo because she got into Cal Poly. i grew up around wine and beer. My parents were really into wine tasting and my dad was getting into beer. um And so it was kind of always around me. um There was a lot of wineries up in the Central Coast area. So I ended up working at a a few different wineries, first in hospitality and then got into production.
00:17:25
Speaker
um Then got laid off and had a little crisis, kind of like a midlife crisis at early thirty s Yeah, I've got an industry degree, anybody? Yeah. ah I grew up in San Diego, so we moved back. And then I noticed, so you know this was like 2003. I'm like, wow, there's breweries in San
Career Path in Craft Beer
00:17:44
Speaker
Diego. you know Now there's like And fifty but i what would there have been like last, the previous time you've been in San Diego? Yeah, there was like one or two. Yeah, yeah. yeah um so I was like, well, there might be something to this beer thing. already worked in wine. So I went around town. I noticed that Stone was hiring. so I talked to Lee Chase, who was the head brewer at the time. And I just applied for a bowling line position, just thinking, I'll just get in and see what happens.
00:18:12
Speaker
And he's like, oh, you got some wine experience. We needed somebody to filter. So they trained me on the filter and I did that for a couple of months and then they had some brewers that weren't working out. and They said, Hey, we're going to train you to brew if that's all right. And I said, yeah. um Your dad was enjoying all these updates going, yeah, send me some samples. Oh, my dad was thrilled. My mom was bummed and my dad was thrilled. My mom was really in the wine. Yeah.
00:18:37
Speaker
Yeah. and And it just kind of took off from there. This is right when, you know, craft was really starting to boom. And like a month after I started, they brought us over to the new and the new site where they were going to build a new brewery. And I thought, wow, this was like fortuitous. My timing for once was pretty good. um And I never had looked at it like I was going to be there this long. But yeah, that was 22 years Wow. And, you know, any reason you think you've stayed there for so long? Like, have you just ridden with it or all the changes? Or but why do you think you've sort of wanted to be there? I think because it's, it's well, it's a great company.
00:19:16
Speaker
It's a great brand. i'm really proud of the brand. um And the fact that it changes all the time is not a boring job. You will not get bored at snow. And it's definitely evolved and continues to evolve.
00:19:28
Speaker
um and And not everybody can handle that. Some people like a little more stability. I think I kind of thrive on it. So yeah, I yeah i love i love it. And what was it like sort of being in the belly of the beast as Stone where went supernova to become one of the biggest brands in the world? Because you you'd have been there from, i I guess, maybe before that started to happen or just as it was starting to happen. yeah Certainly, you know once I guess once things really started taking off over here and once we launched the Crafty Pipe was 2010. So kind of that was when it was really starting to boom over here. And Stone was, you know once people found that Stone Brewing beers were coming over here and like Greg came to visit, it was just like it was its like serious fanbore fanboying amongst the Australian beer fans at the time. yeah And you'd have been sort of already riding that way for a while before that, I guess. Yeah, it was it was hard because we couldn't make enough beer. Yeah.
00:20:18
Speaker
And it was just, ah yeah, it was really a lot of work. And the expansion, you know, we we moved into the new brewery and we thought we'll never have to move again. Yeah.
00:20:29
Speaker
we realized you know within a few months that we didn't make it big enough. And we basically had to redo everything. And it was construction for another 10, 15 years. um But you know that was good. That's job security right there. so But yeah, it was it was tough, but it was also really exciting.
00:20:48
Speaker
And what about when, just going to mouth with a beer there. No, no, I'm going to do the same. And what about when, you know, jumping ahead a bit, we've got other things to talk about in meantime, but um when things sort of started getting tougher than i yeah over the last few years for craft beer everywhere, but especially in the States, like Stone would have been one of the ones that had got, you so big that there was it wasn't, became as sustainable, I guess. yeah What's it been like so sort of adjusting there and sort of going, okay, how do we keep this, you know, the beers we want it to be, the brands we want it to be, but still be viable and relevant as things, you know, as people are drinking less or, you know, drinking not local
Challenges in Craft Beer Industry
00:21:21
Speaker
or whatever. You know, it's been tough. yeah um
00:21:24
Speaker
You know, I always made the joke that we just used to make beer and then we would hand it off to sales and they would go sell it. um That's not, you know, exactly how it works now. You have to you have to work at it a little harder. Yeah. So yeah, you know, downsizing never easy. um But we've, you know, we've weathered it pretty well. And I think for us, we're we're seeing people return back to our brand as times get tough. Stone IPA last year,
00:21:55
Speaker
is up in sales. um We don't know exactly why, the guess is that, you know, in this kind of chaotic situation, people might be reaching for something that they're comfortable with. Well, I think we've seen sort around the world, in the UK, you craft brewers start returning to making dark milds and then double dark milds. And people have been in return to people drinking, you bass again or whatever. And over here, I think, you know, people returning to Well, certainly the bigger breweries, Troy and Pusha Returns, like Reschia, some of these more classic, you know bigger brand um labels before. And I guess maybe Stone IPA is legacy enough to be like, hey, let's go back to something we know and trust. yeah I guess I'm assuming that, you know, Serenity Art of Pale or whatever would have that sort of longevity as well, because it's like oh, come on, this beer's always been, it's always been there for us. Yeah.
00:22:44
Speaker
and Another bright spot too is our hospitality business. So, you know, we have a a couple of restaurants and we have several tap rooms. And that business is really thriving, and especially in the last few years. I think post-COVID, it took a little bit, but people are going out now and people want to do things.
00:23:03
Speaker
And I mean, that's ah that's a big chunk of our business right now, besides the you know the grocery store. you know So those are some bright spots. But yeah, it was tough there for a few years and and you get worried. yeah you know You're like, well, this was supposed to last forever. You know?
00:23:22
Speaker
And that large, the most significant tap room, right? um Just north of San Diego, the name. Sorry, escaped me for the minute. but Oh, in Escondido. Yeah, Escondido, sorry. i Like, that's a beautiful, that that for those who haven't been, there's like a garden path in there. It's a very unusual, quite sort of statement tap room, right? You can see why it's beautiful people in. Yeah, and we've got a ah big one by downtown San Diego as well, and they they both have the garden aesthetic. And, um,
00:23:49
Speaker
Yeah. and And like I said, people are returning to events. So people are looking for places like that where they can have a a wedding or a party or you know whatever. So that's been really good. And that's nice because that's ah that's a playground for you know our smaller stuff, the stuff we like to trial. And we have smaller releases that still have a home because of the hospitality side. And have you found that since the takeover, you've been freed up to do more of that experimental stuff again, because you know that a lot of the capacity and, you know, maybe some of the financial stresses are taken away. Yeah. And it's like you can return to the fun stuff because you've got, you know, this Japanese lager to push through as well. I mean, honestly, we never stopped. Okay. This is just too much in the DNA. we we Yeah. We never stopped experimenting. I mean, that's, and that's really, that's our DNA. Like you said. Yeah.
00:24:41
Speaker
um But it's nice to see, you know, it's nice to see the business there that, you know, on the hospitality side so that we can get those those kind of fun beers out to people.
00:24:51
Speaker
And I guess so stepping back from Stone into the wider San Diego scene, you said, you know, you talked about going back there when there's 35 breweries. Now there's 150. Can you give um listeners, viewers like some sort of insight what what what it was like to be part of that
San Diego Craft Beer Community
00:25:03
Speaker
scene? Because and it wasn't just Stone we had coming over here like Green Flash. Yeah. yeah I remember one of my good mates, Tommy, him and a few mates went over to um america i think they did 30 days of like pretty much drinking all the way around the country but they loved so and he came back you know think he posted back some ridiculously expensive like box of all his favorite beers and he just he was a green flash ipa convert yeah so there was that like there was that was there was a real i guess you know you created ah a style you know the san diego ipa what was it like being in the in the in that You were a killer. It was a lot of fun. um And you know that, you know, this industry, everybody knows everybody. And and in in San Diego was that way as well. And we're all friends and we like to hang out with each other.
00:25:44
Speaker
It's been obviously sad to see some breweries go away. um But it's been really nice to see some breweries digging in. There's breweries, I think about society that's doing really well. A brewery like Pizza Port or Virgin that have multiple tap rooms. And they've been around since the early days, haven't they? And they have, yeah. It's nice to see that there's still a model out there for success, even if it's smaller.
00:26:13
Speaker
you know It's kind of getting back to like having a brewery in your neighborhood, which is great. you know Was any awareness in those early days where we're going, we're part of something? Absolutely. This is something like different, wow, kind of thing. you know Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah.
00:26:31
Speaker
It's exciting, right? And like I said, we're all friends yeah and we borrow ingredients from each other and we help each other out, even though we're, you know quote unquote, competitors. um But there was a real sense of community there for sure. Yeah.
00:26:43
Speaker
and do you think this where's the style sort of of san diego ipa app now that's probably a pretty broad question but when i was over there a few years ago i kind of found like a lot of ipas i was drinking were more tropical maybe a bit leaner kind of what we in australia might call the cali ipa but they might just be labeled ipa in australia do you think you still like has that dial shifted at all or do you think people still brewing like West Coast to IPAs and sticking to that kind of route of beer style. I think you said leaner, you know. I think definitely kind of the leaner style is has really become the style. um
00:27:21
Speaker
You know, you still see some beers that like we make, you know, they're are bitter, but you see kind of a smoother palate, I think. And then Hazies are still, you know, There's still a thing and people still gravitate towards those as well. It's it's nice to see that IPA is still there and still i think there's still a lot of opportunity in future for IPA.
00:27:45
Speaker
And I think Hazy did a good service of getting more people into IPAs. I love the fact, it sounds like you're regarding Hazy as a stepping stone to real IPA, and I'm with you on that. I might have said that. I was trying to be nice. Yeah, but it's interesting, like, you know, with the IPA, certainly over here, I'm assuming we would have followed States as well, milkshake IPA, and it just went really crazy. Almost anything...
00:28:08
Speaker
was being called an IPA for a while, you know, as long as it had, I guess, but a bunch of hops in it. um it Was that sort of the same in the States? Has that sort of faded away now? Sort of like, we can just chuck a ton of lactose with another and some fruit in this, but hey, it's still got hops in. It's still 7%. It's still an IPA. But is that still a thing? I think it's mellowed out a little Yeah, yeah. I think you're right. For a while there, it got a little goofy, right? Yeah. I remember years ago, I was thinking, oh we should do like a family tree diagram with like, you know, the original IPA, modern IPA and where it's come from. And then like write a little piece about each of the different styles and who were the originators of it.
00:28:39
Speaker
And and yeah then you get on with just running a daily publication. You never get time to those bigger projects. And after a few a few months down line, like, there's no point even starting because someone's like claiming a new style pretty much every week. It's just like, it's just ridiculous now, you know? it'd be really hard to write, to to put that diagram out. It would be hard. i think it's getting a bit simpler now. We can go like, just ignore that period of about four or five years. Yeah. And then you've got a bit of a realistic sort of view of what happened. Yeah.
00:29:05
Speaker
I mean, I think as long as people are are using hops and making good beers, yeah you can call it whatever you want to call it. yeah But as ah as long as people are liking it and buying it, that's that's awesome. have you guys done much in the the West Coast sort of Cali Pils kind of space? Because that seems to be something that's caused a lot of excitement here yeah over the last couple of years. yeah we're We're big fans. like yeah I guess NZ Pilsners were kind of like that before anyway. yeah But just you know using these more you know modern, fruity, tropical, obviously whatever on that Pilsner base, is that something you see across the states that you're you're getting excited by as well? oh yeah, yeah. And we've done that ourselves too. i love Hoppy Pilsners. And lower alcohol and higher alcohol. I think there's a lot of runway there. so I was amazed you didn't come up upstairs with one. It's like it's fried chicken no coffee pilsners.
00:29:52
Speaker
um'm That sounds really good, by the way. and i guess And I guess stepping back even wider again, like you know the American craft beer industry, I guess, has been through well-politicized struggles, still is, same as here and anywhere else. Yeah.
00:30:06
Speaker
you know Do you think it's it's sort of a hit hit a peak and and now is going to find a new level? Or do you do you think this the industry will rise again, you know whether in the States or just globally? Yeah, that's a great question. That's a hard one to answer. No, I you know i think we started way down, right? And then we we got...
00:30:25
Speaker
Way up. So even if you dip down a little bit, you're still way up and you've still accomplished something amazing. So I do think it's settling.
00:30:36
Speaker
um But even if it settles and it's a little flat, I think that's fine. You're still at a higher level than you know we've ever been. um and and then hopefully it can just grow um you know more And you can't do 18% forever. We were in that for a while and it's just not sustainable. yeah So this is more sustainable, but obviously we'd like to see a little more growth than just being flat. um But yeah, i I don't know if it's going to go as high as it went, um but I think it'll it'll be strong still. And more sustainable, yeah. And more sustainable, yeah.
00:31:14
Speaker
Yeah, and you know, you go to the States and there's craft beer and service stations and things like that. It it is does feel everywhere and so yeah embedded. Even in Australia, I think we're still seeing it in a lot of places, even if it's diminishing, and and it's pretty present. Yeah, and it wasn't like that a decade ago. So it's a we can't lose sight of the
Future of Craft Beer
00:31:33
Speaker
accomplishment. yeah You wouldn't have been in Beechworth celebrating Australian hops with a festival on Saturday 10 years ago.
00:31:40
Speaker
Correct. Correct. Yeah. And I think there's still opportunity, right? um And there's still places that can grow craft beer. Even in America, there's some, you know, i was talking to somebody about New Jersey the other day, and it seems like there's something happening in New Jersey. So I think there's opportunity still out there. You just got to find it.
00:32:01
Speaker
Is there a New Jersey IPA? There probably will be. There probably will be. You can go and find it. You can just hum down Bruce as well. Wonderful. Let's take a quick break.
00:32:11
Speaker
Sounds good. Cheers. Cheers.
00:32:18
Speaker
And we're back with the team from GoTab for more insights on maximizing your taproom revenue. Today, we're talking about how to run things lean and profitably. I'm joined by Australian GM, Nathan Merriman. Nathan, welcome.
00:32:32
Speaker
Thanks for having me Craig. Excited to yeah to be here with you today. Fantastic. Mate, let's let's get straight into it. Profitability is just so important, but it can be easier said than done. Tell me about, I guess, some of the ways that you're seeing smart operators maximize taproom profit.
00:32:49
Speaker
Yeah, we all know across the hospitality industry that margins are just incredibly thin. It doesn't matter if you're in ah a restaurant, a pub, a bar. um it's It's hard. It's hard going. um The other thing to remember is that just because you've got a busy venue or a busy taproom doesn't mean that it's a ah profitable business as well, even if you've got amazing five-star Google reviews. So we've been working with venues venues and breweries all across Australia to help maximise profit. And there's a couple of key pieces that are really coming to light at the moment, Craig. And the first one I'll touch on would be you know the front of house, the service model in the venue as well.
00:33:37
Speaker
A lot of traditional breweries, Craig, you know you go up to the counter, you place your order, you sit back down and then you go back up again. So we're starting to see operators you know go back to looking into QR codes, but then also looking at but you know handheld devices so that they've got a roaming point of sale throughout the venue to help capture um more orders and and generate revenue.
00:34:07
Speaker
um another piece to remember is that you know one of the reasons we love breweries and tap rooms is that they're community hubs so you know we're finding ways to partner with local groups or sporting clubs or ensuring that you've got uh you know you know the birth dates of your guests and you can create events and functions for for those groups will also really help you know monetize those spaces bringing people into the venue and filling up empty spaces for for events right a and one other piece we'll add there is we're starting to see more operators getting deeper into the data again um you know we're really looking at the products the product mix so yeah know
00:34:57
Speaker
what's actually selling, which is then leading is to looking at, you know, how much does that dish cost or how much does that beverage item item cost as well.
00:35:08
Speaker
Labor is becoming another piece as well. So looking at our sales per hour and then Um, what kind of staffing levels we have at that, uh, at those hours so that we're essentially, uh, maximizing wage costs. And then another big piece would be guest retention.
00:35:27
Speaker
Um, you know it's expensive to go out and always get you, you customers to come to our venues. So how are we retaining those customers that are already there that love us and how do we keep them, you know, coming back for for more.
00:35:42
Speaker
Yeah. Nice. Um, Mate, how can GoTab, I guess, you know, all of these techniques and and tricks, I suppose, but how can GoTab get involved in supporting venues in maximizing that profitability?
00:35:53
Speaker
Yeah. ah One of the things that I love about the GoTab team here is that we're all hospitality operators first. It's my it's all I've done over my last 15, 20 years is operate venues. And um probably the piece that that comes next is how do we work with operators to ensure that they've they've got the right platforms in place?
00:36:19
Speaker
they're all talking to each other as well and how they're getting you know the maximum value out of the the tech stack in a way as well so um once we can kind of you know we run through that with them we bring it to life we highlight you know specific data points that we can help maximize profit maximize revenue um Another couple of ways that we've looked at there is um going back to the flexible service models would be a little product we have, a little feature we have called EasyTab.
00:36:57
Speaker
And when I mentioned the that taproom piece before of going up to the counter, placing your order, sitting back down, going up to the counter again, the beauty of EasyTab is I can go up to the counter I can, pre-off my card, open a tab with the the bartender while they're telling me about the the different beers on tap that I want to try. And you know I'm really excited by that.
00:37:26
Speaker
I opened that tab pre-author card. I can then go back to my my table. And if I've got a QR code on the table there, I can scan that QR code and pick that tab up again. So I don't have to go back for that second, third, fourth time.
00:37:42
Speaker
I can spend my time at the table with family and friends there while continuing to order. But if I want to go back to the bar and in order through my favorite bartender again, i can head back up there because that tab is still connected between both the point of sale and my QR code as well. So a really nice way to kind of give this hybrid service model as well.
00:38:04
Speaker
and When we start to get into you know cost management tools and um you know guest retention tools as well, Opsi by GoTab is you know one of the great products that we have in our in our suite. And it really allows operators to dive into their cost of goods, their recipe management, but they're also bringing across real-time sales data from GoTab. So we're now looking at real-time costs with real-time sales data and essentially allowing us to to make decisions a lot faster than instead of doing something through like a spreadsheet or on pen and paper and then waiting to the end of the week or waiting to the end of the month to review and and go again. You mentioned cost tracking, and I think that's one of the most important elements here. But but what about pricing? Do you have an example of how GoTab assists on that regard?
00:39:01
Speaker
Yeah, pricing is a fascinating one, and especially for you know a new venue opening. um And I'll start there. The new venues opening, they're definitely paying...
00:39:13
Speaker
much more attention to the market set. So you know making sure that their prices are comparable to you know the other venues around them. um We're also starting to see them wanting to understand um the cost of those dishes or those drinks. a lot more ahead in time as well. So it's not so much just about going in and saying, OK, this pub does it for $20, this pub does it for $19, this does it for $18, we'll go in the just go somewhere in the middle. um yeah They're wanting to jump into these you know cost of good management and recipe management tools a lot earlier.
00:39:53
Speaker
Another piece that GoTab does really well here which has ah you know an effect more on the the front of house and the guest facing side is a product we call a pricing engine rule. And that essentially gives operators the ability to have a form of dynamic pricing.
00:40:13
Speaker
um you can start to set pricing by zone, by product, by option or modifier. And when I refer to zone, that can be having a specific price on the on the rooftop for an item against the the main dining room where guests might expect to spend a little bit more, but then it also relates to happy hours and things like that. So on the rooftop, I might be able to get you know, it might automatically knock 20% off a specific cocktail or specific beer during a specific time period on a day of week. um you know and that's you know that makes it really easy for operators to do they're not having to you know kind of go and change something out you know a leaflet out on each table just to show that there's a pricing difference and once you start on top of the pricing engine rule once you start to layer in customer segments um member offices member start again
00:41:15
Speaker
Once on top of the pricing engine rules, once you start to layer in customer segments, um member offers, VIP pricing, you can do that through dedicated menus in each section as well. So really starting to personalize the experience, you know, for those guests, whether that's in section and or zone, or whether that's for a private event coming into the venue.
00:41:40
Speaker
Amazing, Nathan. Well, thank you so much. and And stay tuned, listeners, for more segments with the GoTab team looking at ways to maximize your taproom revenue. In the meantime, be sure to reach out to Nathan to arrange a demo via nathan.merryman at gotab.io.
00:41:58
Speaker
ah We'll put the email on the screen and in the show notes. And thank you very much, mate. Appreciate your time. Thanks, Greg.
Hop Quality Group Initiatives
00:42:10
Speaker
Welcome back, Jeremy. Part of the reason you're over here is working with the Hop Quality Group, yeah right? So yeah what is that for people who've never heard of it? Yeah, so Hop Quality Group started in 2010. And ten in in the reason the group started was basically the the quality side for hops is really driven by Anheuser-Busch for a long time, because they're the big player. They're the ones that put resources into visiting growers and making sure food safety was being followed. And so parallel to that, you have this craft brewing thing happening, right? um AB b kind of pulled out of the of that side of the business. And a group of k craft brewers were like, well, hops are really important to us. So this is like Vinnie Choruzzo, Matt Brindleson, John Mallet. You know, these guys got together and they're like, we you know, we think we need to kind of focus on hops for ourselves because we're...
00:43:06
Speaker
We need to make sure that we're known because we're craft brewers and the growers don't know us the vendors don't grow us So that was that was the start of the group um And it just kind of grew from there We're at about I think 50 plus now on on the membership side And really the focus is to engage with growers and vendors. We do farm visits every year. And these these aren't official audits, but they're in craft brewers going out and talking to farmers and growers with an eye on food safety. Because obviously we dry hop. and So hops are going, you know, they're they're skipping the ski ah kill step and going right into beer. And that's a lot of the conversations in the early days were like, hey, food safety side is really important to us because of the way we brew. um
00:43:53
Speaker
The other advantage of this, you know, these farm visits was just the relationships and and getting to know the growers. We have a unique supply chain in that we can we can go direct to where the the hops are grown. So it's pretty special.
00:44:10
Speaker
So, you know, there's that side of that. Also public breeding. So the public breeding program in the US 15 years ago was a bit of a mess. Proprietary hops really took off, which is great. And I love proprietary hops. but it's important to have a balance with public hops as well and that program was in disarray for a while so hop quality group really helped support that hop research council on a parallel path to the same um to where last year we had two new public hops in vera and thora so really an accomplishment to that the public breeding program is kind of back in the back in action and a very different naming uh policy there to you know the sort of you know crush or galaxy or whatever vera and thora it's like could be some characters from a sort of 80s british sitcom it's pretty cool right so obviously i mean cascade would have been the famous publicly yeah one of the big ones yeah centennial chinook yeah so there was like a sort of gap or it felt like there was a long time where no
00:45:09
Speaker
publicly available hops were coming through. Is that sort of what- Yeah. And then the program was just, it it was just in this kind of weird standstill moment um and it needed some support and, you know, it needed to help from brewers to be able to to trial these hops and give the feedback and and help, you know, point the way to grow something that brewers are going to use. Yeah. It's really interesting how we we talked about, um in the first half of the chat about how craft beer, craft brewers have made such a difference to sort of beer taste and beer styles and, you know, I guess just the whole beer culture of, you know, the States or America, wherever it might be.
Revolutionizing Hop Production
00:45:49
Speaker
But, you know, you can look at the hop industry as well and go, it's changed the hop industry. It's like injected in new life and more innovation and absolutely better standards. You you'd probably say the same with, you know, yeast yeast innovation and malt. Like, I go across the board and if it hadn't been for, you know, these, you know, it would have been young upstart brewers who the hell, who do I think they are coming in? yeah You know, we't we wouldn't be where we are now with these, you know, vast array of flavors and better quality, I guess. And I think that's the thing when we came in early on in Hop Quality Group, I think you said that they're like, who the hell are you? Who the hell are these guys? I'll just give yourself a name and turn it up in that spot. Hop quality in my ass, you dickheads. And it took a lot of kind of explaining that, you know, we're not the hop police. Yeah, yeah.
00:46:30
Speaker
But we're just brewers that care about hops. Yeah, And we want to have a conversation and learn from each other. Yeah. And I think once, you know, they knew they trusted us and knew we weren't there to like ransack the the farm, um you know, something really special happened. We had a relationship. yeah in and And that's really been fun for me to see. you know, now I'm the president currently. It's just been fun to see that evolution. And we're at such a cool level now.
00:46:58
Speaker
And if if you go and visit a hop farm with your stone brewing hat on, as opposed to your hop quality hat, is there a different mentality there? I guess if you're going in for stone brewing, are you looking for but like particular hops, you know, picked in a certain place for a certain beer or whatever? yeah And I guess when you're going in with a hop quality hat, is it more, i I just want to make sure your practices are okay and, you know, the the processes are right, you know, is it...
00:47:21
Speaker
or or Or do the two sort of always bleed into each other a little bit? I think they definitely bleed into each other. Yeah. Because it informs just the way you look at things. It gives you a broader perspective. Yeah. Having those two hats um because you just have more understanding of the process, what what growers have to go through. And just talking about challenges too, which I think is really important right now as the industry is where it's at. Mm-hmm. is to really, you know, we make a point to still show up on these farm visits because I think it's important for farmers to see brewers are still there yeah and they're still passionate. We celebrate hop growers. I mean, as breweries and hop quality group, but as brewers, we celebrate growers. They're the rock stars to us because without them, we're, you know, we're not going to, we're not going to have,
00:48:11
Speaker
these this wonderful ingredient and don yeah i'm sure they appreciate that as well there's a uh guy with a guy's to white cross he's got voyager craft malt which you may have heard of they won a couple of golds at the malt cup cup in recent years and they started very small they become you know the the most i think the largest of the independent you know your smallest sort of craft malts is over here but and it's all about regen you know a lot of stuff is regen organic um grains nice and they've been celebrating this you know I think there's one farm, Sam and Chris Greenwood. They grow everything organically. and They'll do anything Stu and Brad want them to do. And they've taken them to number of events, you know, where beer's been brewed with their beers. And they're blown away. They're like, because, the you know, beer drinkers come up to them oh, my God. Like, I'm so...
00:48:53
Speaker
pleased to have meet you and they're like i'm just a farmer. And guess the hop growers be the same thing. yeah Finally getting some credit rather than just being feeding it into a system and knowing it's going to come out in a beer somewhere, but actually going, oh, I know that that beer was made with these hops that I grew in this paddock that year or whatever. Like it must be such a validation thing, I guess. Absolutely. And it's special, right? yeah um and And then you can kind of celebrate that win together, you know, and then when times get tough, um you can talk to each other and say, well, you know, I know that you had to idle some fields and we had idle a brew house or or, you know, we're having to, you know, make some, we're having a hard time selling in these sectors or whatever it is, but you can just kind of help each other figure it out, you know? Yeah. Talking always helps. And I know you said you've been to Australia before. Have you been to offer hop farm visits in the past or is this the first time you've been to the, you know, here or the hop hop regions? Yeah, no, this is my fourth time. like ah um
00:49:50
Speaker
And it's been really cool to see the evolution here as well and how it's, you know, evolved. You know, just the the more use of technology and data collection.
00:50:02
Speaker
Seeing the pellet plant, Hop Central was really i was really excited to see it and it it lived up to the uh expectations for sure that's a world-class fellow plan yeah and and are they sort of you know their hpa for example you know wanting you to be here so they can pick your brains and go hey what do you think of this yeah what what else could we be doing as opposed to hey quick hey jerry come over a look at this like how how how cool this looking so they're like we want to get some ideas from yeah you know how we could be better or whatever.
Incorporating Australian Hops
00:50:31
Speaker
They want us to see it and also give feedback too. Yeah. And and continue that conversation. Yeah. And I mean, do you use many as Australian hops or do you have- We actually. Yeah. yeah um So, you know, Stone IPA is a very heavy centennial beer.
00:50:47
Speaker
We actually updated the recipe. It's been over 10 years now, but there is Vic and Ella in Stone IPA. And then we've always liked Galaxy. And we've had that in in our Enjoy by IPA.
00:51:02
Speaker
um So yeah, we've been using our Australian hops for a while. but I think Vic was the one that when they released it, they were like this is our most sort of... I guess, American IPA-esque. You know, it's that pine and pineapple kind of thing. I think it was always the one that they still would as fill in that slot. So, yeah. that That would be a validation for them. It's in stone IPA. Tick. Yeah.
00:51:24
Speaker
Well, and I mean, yeah yeah, what appeals about some of those hops? Is it just distinct flavors or anything like that? What made you, I assume you kicked out some of the sea hops potentially to get something like Big Secret in? Yeah, you know,
00:51:37
Speaker
we still We still kept the a lot of the hops. so I mean, Centennial's still in that beer, as is Chinook. But we were just looking to kind of round it out a little further, kind of give it a little a little broader palette and get a little more tropical notes. And I think that really helped adding those hops in.
00:51:56
Speaker
There's a Zaka in there as well, which I think it it just it gave it it more depth. But it's still a heavy Centennial beer. That's really the you know the key hop in that beer. I appreciate this this question, is it maybe a bit of a how long is a piece of string, but as someone who's you know spent so long working with hops in so many different ways, you know if there's any brewers, whether you know pro brewers or home brewers listening to this, you know what are your key, are any sort of key tips or guidelines for getting the most out of you know the hops, whether it's you know yeah pellets or the know new new products or whatever yeah i i mean i think if you have the ability to do a single hop trial that's always going to tell you a lot about the hop but that doesn't necessarily mean you're going to make all your beers single hop beers yeah and and the magic's in the combos most of the time it's very rarely that you're like oh i'm just going to use that hop um it's just really experimentation i mean there's no like real i don't think there's a real secret um but it's just you know having an open mind and and Trying to kind of trying to chase what the flavors and aromas that you want um and drink other people's beers and learn from other brewers. Yeah.
00:53:04
Speaker
Yeah. Basically just yeah play around. later Yeah. I mean, that's what innovation is. It's there's no easy answer. It's just you need to you need to trial yeah and play with it. You mentioned advanced products, yeah which we've trialed everything as we do. We have not seen anything to really replace T90s for us. Do you do use some in small amounts in certain beers or or oil alternatively, there's some some that you tried them when they just shouldn't exist. Yeah. Yes. You you don't have to name names, but you know I'm so sure there probably are. um
00:53:39
Speaker
We've seen it it as an additive, yeah but not a replacement. Yeah. um And there's a lot of exciting stuff out there. And, you know, some some of the stuff that's out there, it's like a little does a lot. So you have to really kind of work on your dosing rates.
00:53:55
Speaker
um but But there are a lot of nice products out there that can make things pop just with a drop. Yeah. If you're using like ah an oil. It's easy. He's got a tagline sorted for the next release. Pop with a drop. Yeah, there you go. I like that. um But yeah, we do a majority still T90, but we're very open to to experimenting and and using other stuff. And what is it you think that T90s can give you that nothing else yet can give you? Is it is it texture? Is it mouthfeel? Is it depth? of what What is it? Yeah, it's all those. Okay. No, I really think that's the
T90 Hops Preference
00:54:31
Speaker
case. It tastes it tastes like nature. It tastes real. It does. yeah And it's funny because some of the some of the hot products have this kind of synthetic twist to them or note to them. And a little of that can be fun, but too much is you know is kind of hard on the palate, I think. So there's a balance there. yeah yeah yeah i certainly find with some of those beers you get the aroma and you're like this is going to be the greatest thing ever like i'm so excited to drink this and then drink them you go ah okay now there's a lot of cordial or something like that going on in this ipa that maybe shouldn't be there
00:55:06
Speaker
Yeah, it can be a little a little over over, you know, drawn. i You know, one thing about Stone, our beers are balanced. um You know, even Arrogant Bastard, which, you know, when it first came out, people thought it was just this massive, intensive beer, but it's actually a really balanced beer. Yeah, it's still massive and intense, but it's just it's it's balanced. It's balanced. We're whilst doing that, yeah. Yeah, yeah, and you know, our beers tend to be a little higher on the ABV side. um But they're balanced and they're kind of scary sometimes. You're like, oh, that's 10%. It pretty you know smooth for 10%. I guess you know you've been at Stone for, let's say, 22 years. Yeah, 22 years. And you've been and involved in new product development, and refining existing beers. So I guess, you know ah I'm glad we gave you a few hours notes on this, but know of all the beers you've brewed at Stone, like what's what's your favorite?
Favorite Stone Beers
00:55:56
Speaker
would be your go-to? doesn't have to be one that's still around now, thing you know, there, is there beer being you like, that's been the best thing I've ever been involved in the the best thing I've I'd be hard to just pick one probably. Or you can pick a few. I mean, Stone IPA is still, I still love that beer. It's just, there's a reason why flagships are flagships, I guess. you Yeah. Um, Stone Delicious is something that is really one of my favorites. Um, I really like Eldorado hops and that beer is such a great showcase for Eldorado. Um,
00:56:27
Speaker
Yeah, there's probably several. But i I mean, Stone Delicious is kind of my go-to. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, great. And I mean, what's your take on Hazy IPAs? We're, you know, well over a decade, I think, into them. Originally, people liked it. Has it been a decade? Surely. I reckon we first wrote about some, know, a couple of brewers making what would be called like a Nipah back then in 2016. The first couple happened here. And they took a moment to come over here as well. Yeah. And then by 2017, was going, they're not going to work. They're badly brewed, et cetera, et cetera. And you know, it's like you talk to brewers now and they're like, we say to our sales team or market, you know, is there anything you want us to brew? What's the market? like, just do a hazy IPA. We'll sell it for you. It will sell straight away. It's like, wow.
00:57:15
Speaker
you know and you know i i only like them if they're kind of lean and almost west coasty you know what i mean well that's yeah i'm the same way i'm i'm with you and but but it but it does seem to like you you know you hinted at it like it does seem to have opened up beer to a new market who just are scared by business or not scared of this they just don't want it and they just maybe like that fluffy juicy i don't know yeah and i don't think there's anything wrong with that um i i have seen it seems like west coast has made a comeback But i I don't think there's anything wrong with having both those styles do well. Yeah. um
00:57:48
Speaker
As long as people are drinking beer. I mean, that's that's the main thing. The milk, you that you mentioned milk milkshakes earlier. yeah Yeah. I've always had a a little hard time with that. But if people, if that's what they want and they're into it, then you know far be it for me to say that's a bad thing. But i just I'm not going to probably...
00:58:06
Speaker
You won't say anything. You just judge them silently. I'll judge silently. Great. Well, Jeremy, thank you so much for joining us. Oh, this has been great. I appreciate you guys having me. No, have a great weekend. Yeah.
00:58:20
Speaker
Can't wait to have some great beers this weekend. It's great to be back here in Australia. Yeah. And there's going to be some good music on over the weekend as well. So you're going to love Cheers. Cheers.
00:58:33
Speaker
Heading to Pine of Origin Festival this May? Then don't miss your opportunity to win your very own home bar kegerator from Kegland. Just register for a free Pine of Origin passport and you're in the running to take home this premium Kegland keg fridge and beer tap system.
00:58:48
Speaker
Designed perfectly to fit in a standard underbench space, this is the ultimate addition to your outdoor setting, lounge bar or man cave. Valued at over $1,000, the stylish fridge can accommodate four 19-litre Kegland kegs. all the way up to a 50 litre commercial cake. Even better, Kegland stocks fresh kegs from local legends like Hobnation, Kaiju, co-conspirators and more, so you can keep the Pint of Origin vibes flowing all year round.
00:59:13
Speaker
Don't delay and get in the draw today. Register for your Pint of Origin passport at pintoforigin.com. The Crafty Pint podcast is produced and edited by Matt Hoffman.
00:59:25
Speaker
You can get all your beer-related news and reviews on the Crafty Pint website, craftypint.com. and can stay up to date on future podcast episodes via our socials. We wouldn't be able to produce the podcast or the website, events or festivals we run without support of the beer industry, whether that's suppliers, bars, breweries or bottle shops.
00:59:44
Speaker
If you'd like to support the show or partner with The Crafty Pine in other ways, please reach out to Craig via the details in the show notes. And if you're a beer lover who'd like to support what we do, you can join our exclusive club for beer lovers, The Crafty Cabal.
00:59:57
Speaker
Visit craftygabal.com for more. And until next time, drink good beer.