Craft Beer Republic

Craft beer in hand, headphones on head. A listener meets Flex in person with Heady Topper, and Flex lives to test the hype. Greg’s hunt for one decent beer at a Weezer concert ends with a hazy that isn’t. Poop Beer Gate is back with a strawberry cheesecake sour and a bartender who already knew. And an Ohio man gets a courtesy ride home from police and blows it. Beers We’re Drinking: Flex is drinking Heady Topper from The Alchemist, an 8% double IPA hype beer that leaves him a little underwhelmed. Greg is drinking Wild Grove Hazy IPA from Malibu Brewing Company, a 6% hazy with coconut, citrus, and a sunscreen vibe that drinks real easy. Episode Highlights Listener Davis is in Flex’s neck of the woods for a Chicago beer trip and a Packers game, so he drops off some Heady Topper, one of the OG craft beer hype beers. Flex survives the meetup and throws on the lab coat to see if the can’s “drink from the can” rule really matters. Out in Los Angeles, Greg and Intern Brian walk half of Staples Center looking for anything but Michelob Ultra, Bud Light, and Stella, and find a $24 canned cocktail at 7%. Meanwhile, Poop Beer Gate brings listener Brian’s cheesecake sour that tasted like someone got sick on a roller coaster, and Vanessa calls in about dumping entire flights in brewery bathrooms. Shout-out to Austin, Texas, last week’s top listening city, and Flex explains what happens when customers wear cowboy hats in Wisconsin. Booze News: Grand Theft Auto VI beers hop off the screen and into real cans. Stone’s old Escondido home gets a new name: Quarry Escondido. Goose Island’s Bourbon County Triple Barrel Stout clocks in at 18.7%. Ohio man passes out three or four times, then turns a ride home into a ride to jail. Follow your favorite beer podcast on the socials: Flex: Instagram: @flex_me_a_beer Craft Beer Republic: CraftBeerRepublic.com Instagram: @CraftBeerRepublic Facebook: CraftBeerRepublicPod Threads: CraftBeerRepublic Voicemail: (805) 538-2337 Follow & Subscribe: Apple Podcasts Spotify More links

Hi, craft beer people. Glad you made it. Greg lets a drunk Giants fan trash the Dodgers for over an hour before telling her he’s from LA. Flex finds maybe the best vacation beer of his life on a Florida grocery store shelf. Greg dares a hydrated listener to call the show from a brewery’s emo Halloween night, and he does. And a Canadian man steals a live flamingo getting hammered. Beers We’re Drinking: Flex is drinking Hazy IPA from Palm City Brewing, a 6.5% New England-style flagship he ordered at every restaurant on vacation and calls maybe the best vacation beer he’s ever had. Greg is drinking Gnarly Budz from Altamont Beer Works and Shred Beer Co., a piney 7% West Coast IPA that drinks more like a hoppy pilsner. Episode Highlights Flex’s Palm City hazy came off the tiny craft beer wall at a Fort Myers Beach Publix, the nicest grocery store this 15-year grocery veteran has ever seen. Meanwhile, Greg is at a bar in Emeryville for Game 3 of Dodgers vs. Brewers, where a Giants fan spends over an hour roasting the Dodgers. When she finally asks where he’s from, Greg answers with “You ready?” Back home at Naughty Pine’s emo Halloween night, listener Michael keeps telling Greg he married up, so Greg tells him to quit talking and call the show. Shout-out to Vineland, New Jersey, last week’s top listening craft beer city. Booze News: Stone’s founders take back the Escondido bistro, men’s room death metal and all. Hardywood Park buys Starr Hill in a Virginia craft beer merger. The Brews to Barns Act wants tax credits for breweries donating spent grain. Ohio man celebrates the end of probation by twirling drunk outside a GetGo. Canadian man convicted of stealing a flamingo from a Vegas hotel after 30 to 40 beers. Follow your favorite beer podcast on the socials: Flex: Instagram: @flex_me_a_beer Craft Beer Republic: CraftBeerRepublic.com Instagram: @CraftBeerRepublic Facebook: CraftBeerRepublicPod Threads: CraftBeerRepublic Voicemail: (805) 538-2337 Follow & Subscribe: Apple Podcasts Spotify More links

Pour a craft beer and pull up a chair. Erica name-drops her advanced cicerone friend and scores a brewery tour with free tastings. Flex opens a Bourbon County Stout after all the trash talk, and the joke’s on Flex. His favorite brewery swaps out its French fries, and the regulars revolt. And Greg quizzes Flex and Erica on GABF winners like Zombie Shark Fight, with mostly wrong answers. Beers We’re Drinking: Erica is drinking West Ghost from Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., a 7.2% West Coast IPA she calls bright and true, in a can so cute Flex rates it ten out of ten without a sip. Flex is drinking Rectifier from Eagle Park Brewing, a 7.8% West Coast IPA he calls a banger (not rectum fire). Greg is drinking Sole Purpose from Obercreek Brewing Company, a 5% single-hop Nelson hazy pale ale and a craft beer gift from Non-Murderer John that Greg calls world class. Episode Highlights Greg and Erica are both fresh out of the tattoo chair, which reminds Flex of his script tattoo. Flex wrote “dying” on the paper, and the artist inked “DIEING” anyway. Erica’s craft beer friend Rachel turns out to be one of about 211 advanced cicerones in the world, and she still drinks Miller Lite. Greg’s GABF quiz, built with some help from Claude, also features Satan’s Pony and Feral Garden Gnome. As for Flex’s Bourbon County, it was a Costco bottle he let sit in his fridge for months. The Eagle Park fry swap lasted two to three weeks. Later, a drunk woman’s scooter crash gets Greg gushing about Lime scooters, until his boss offers to pay him to quit. Shout-out to Boise, Idaho, last week’s top listening city, and Greg has questions about their internet. Booze News: GABF goes outdoors and Denver actually behaves. Admiral Maltings shuts down the kiln for good. Constellation Brands pays $75 million for a vodka sports drink. Drunk woman falls off her scooter, gets help up, and scoots away anyway. Guest: Erica, the Hot Mess Express and salty pretzel slinger behind Neck Nosh (@necknosh, necknosh.com), is back hanging with Greg and Flex. Follow your favorite beer podcast on the socials: Flex: Instagram: @flex_me_a_beer Craft Beer Republic: CraftBeerRepublic.com Instagram: @CraftBeerRepublic Facebook: CraftBeerRepublicPod Threads: CraftBeerRepublic Voicemail: (805) 538-2337 Follow & Subscribe: Apple Podcasts Spotify More links

Got a craft beer handy? Good. Poop Beer Gate is back with a White Russian blonde ale full of brown floaters. Non-Murderer John hooks Greg up with another great beer, and Flex suspects a Hansel and Gretel setup. Greg once sent back a flat pilsner, and the server asked if he wanted the same beer. And a 76-year-old Florida man holds up a silver cup and tells a deputy, “This here is my rum.” Beers We’re Drinking: Flex is drinking Spring Road from Phase Three Brewing, a 7.7% double dry hopped hazy double IPA he bought mostly for the trippy can, and calls it light, well rounded, and very tasty. Greg is drinking Impulse from Fidens Brewing, a 7.5% IPA with Galaxy, Citra, and Motueka that looks like a cup of juice and is as good as it looks. Listener Mike writes in about his White Russian blonde ale, and when he asks if the floaters are normal, the bartender says, “Yeah, I think so.” That starts a round of craft beer horror stories, including Flex’s $15 movie theater Cream City Crusher that tasted like coconut from the first sip. Greg can count on one hand the beers he’s sent back, and the 14 Cannons pilsner is one of them. Non-Murderer John comes through with a Fidens IPA, and if John ever does turn murderer, Flex wants Greg’s username changed to “Greg is dead.” Shout-out to Sacramento, last week’s top listening city, and Greg owes Erica an apology. Booze News: Shock Top and Spirit Halloween team up on a candy corn beer and wedge head costumes. North Coast Brewing gives Old Rasputin a 4.5% little brother. Sam Adams front-of-house staff vote to unionize. Sapporo lays off 272 workers at the former Stone Brewing in Escondido. Pop-Tarts pulls the plug on its BuzzBalls collab. A 76-year-old Florida man tells cops it’s rum, then brings up the cocaine. Follow your favorite beer podcast on the socials: Flex: Instagram: @flex_me_a_beer Craft Beer Republic: CraftBeerRepublic.com Instagram: @CraftBeerRepublic Facebook: CraftBeerRepublicPod Threads: CraftBeerRepublic Voicemail: (805) 538-2337 Follow & Subscribe: Apple Podcasts Spotify More links

Cheers to you, craft beer drinkers. A hurricane floods Greg's Hawaii hotel, so he ends up in Portugal, where every park has a bar. Flex goes craft beer shopping for a hazy IPA, pours a clear West Coast, and nearly finishes it before the review. Alaskan Brewing's 40th birthday reminds Greg of a pumpkin beer that left him one of the sickest he's ever been. And a White Sox player skips the translator for his locker room interview, where his English is mostly "I'm drunk." Beers We're Drinking: Flex is drinking Dese, Dem & Dose from Hop Butcher for the World, a 6.7% IPA that pours clear. Greg is drinking Super Bock, a 5.2% lager from Portugal that's extremely crushable on a hot day. Listeners wrote in about the things they miss in craft beer: beer trades, black IPAs, and growlers. Greg calls growlers the worst vessel for your beer, yet Russian River growlers still sit on a shelf in his kitchen. He’s also just back from Portugal, the backup trip he planned in about a week after the hurricane took out Kauai. The little kiosks in Lisbon's parks look like information booths and turn out to be bars, so Flex names Portugal the Wisconsin of Europe. Later, news of Alaskan Brewing's 40th brings up the pumpkin beer that wrecked Greg. Shout-out to Vineland, New Jersey, our top listening city. Booze News: Bottle Logic and The Bruery form The Bruery Group. Alaskan Brewing turns 40 with a 40-pack. A fitness company wins the Rogue Ales auction for $2.82 million. Lost Coast Brewery is officially for sale. White Sox player Munetaka Murakami gives a very honest locker room interview. Follow your favorite beer podcast on the socials: Flex: Instagram: @flex_me_a_beer Craft Beer Republic: CraftBeerRepublic.com Instagram: @CraftBeerRepublic Facebook: CraftBeerRepublicPod Threads: CraftBeerRepublic Voicemail: (805) 538-2337 Follow & Subscribe: Apple Podcasts Spotify More links