Craft Beers and Cheat Meals

Scott, Kit and Nick do a tasting of beers that Mike and Scott brought back from Tennessee. We also as per normal experience a comedy of errors trying to open the growler, the was top bottle and get into a little story telling. We hope you enjoy. This is part 1 of the podcast as it ran a little long and we split it in two to make it more consumable for you the listner.

Scott, Nick and Jay talk with John and John (Father and Son) from the Daily Growler, who now have 4 locations in Columbus, Ohio. They tell us about the process of curating beer and the issues that come with working with distribution and how important it is to build these relationships. We talk about our favorite beers and so much more...

Scott and Mike conclude their Cookeville Tennessee with a fun interview at Red Silo Brewing. They talk about how the brewery got started, the connection with the Mayhem Classic, Everyone's favorite beers and what the future looks like for Red Silo Brewing. All done with many laughs and a lot of passion.

Scott and Mike travel to Cookeville, Tennessee in part 1 of this podcast and find one of the best doughnut shops in the world. It's name is Ralph's and it is amazing! They then visit a local brewery named Hix Farm Brewing. It is a cool little artsy brewery where the decorations are unique and the vibe is so laid back, but the beer however, stands on its own. There is no laid back a

We introduce Jeff Bacon, who has worked in the casual/fine dining industry for years and became the beer buyer for these establishments and later went on to work for Sweet Water Brewing as a Market Developer for lower Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. "Bacon" shares his knowledge with us in the episode and will become a regular going forward with The Bacon Report.

Holiday "Black Bag" means each member of the crew bring one beer they love and one beer that don't care for so muck, each person draws two beers out of the bag and must drink them during the podcast. Kit brings a surprise beer, and we wrap up with our holiday beverages and visits and finally finish with Scott admitting he lost a bet and figuring out how Kit wants it payed off.

We sit down with Jason and Jim the two owners of Zaftig Brewing and discuss how they got started, the up and downs of the journey over the next 7 years and how they are now expanding into a second location that has a full kitchen, full bar and a really comfortable atmosphere to have a really good beer accompanied by some delicious food.

Kit and I discuss Sam Adams Utopia, Sample some high Alcohol Beers for Breakfast? Does the acquisition of Craft Breweries by big brewers make your craft beer better? and the confusing acquisition of Balast Point by the little known brewer in Chicago.

In this episode we taste 8 holiday beers to giver our opinion. They include Columbus Brewing Citra Noel, Breckenridge Christmas Ale, Tafts Santa's Bribe Christmas Cookie Ale, Shiner Holiday Cheer, Sam Adams Winter Lager, Troegs Mad Elf, Platform Barrel Aged Esther and Southern Tier 2XMAS Spiced Double Ale. We also talk Dukes of Hazzard and Mike Tyson makes and appearance.

This week we visit Pablo's Havana Cafe' for some of the best Cuban food I have ever had! We get to know Pablo,with the story of leaving Cuba as a boy all the way to ending up in Powell, Ohio and taking a chance on opening a restaurant.