11 AUG 2017 · Episode 44: Head Mixologist Trish Gavin, Melina Lamer Explains Switchel! by The Minnesota Skinny

27 JUL 2017 · I hung out with the guys from the 'Profession Confession' podcast this week, crushed a 12-pack of Coors Banquet had a great time. If you’re not familiar with the Profession Confession podcast, it’s time to check it out. If you enjoy my podcast, you’re gonna really enjoy Gabe Noah and Tevin Pittman as they talk every week with professionals who deal with life, death, sex, violence, drugs, you name it. Gabe and Tevin dabble in comedy, though, and I got some of their confessions! Gabe has been in the stand-up game for a long time, and Tevin is the general manager at the House of Comedy in the Mall of America. I asked Gabe who some of his comedy heroes were growing up, and whether he would go back in time and do stand up in that era. Gabe touched on life on the road as a comic, how far he’s traveled, and how much your average comic pulls in for a weekend of work. He has stayed in hotel rooms that were missing beds. He has been invited to sleep in mop closets. You hear those stories and much, much more. You also hear a couple of beer cans crack open. After you listen to this podcast, be sure to check out their newest episode, out this week! https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/12-heroin-dealer/id1228245208?i=1000390345276&mt=2

20 JUL 2017 · This week, our summer Drinking Apples series introduces us to a group of cider-makers who began their company as part of a project at the University of Minnesota! Jason Dayton, one half of the team behind Lionheart Cider, broke it down: the college class that got it all started, the English influences both his tastes and the progression of his company, and their big plans for the future. These guys are only like 25, so they’re just getting started. I re-united with Sarah Meyer of Bent Paddle, also at Tullibee. Minnesota’s premier beer party is next weekend, All Pints North, in my hometown of Duluth. I have never been to this beer festival and I’m not going again this year, BUT she’s got stories. She shared some treasured memories from last year, previewed this year, and talked about being local to Duluth and helping this beer festival grow. It’s a huge presence, both among Minnesota and regionally, and locally, it behooves them to keep this event moving forward. Sarah discussed the changing the strategies down here in the Twin Cities. She said tap takeovers like the ones you see advertised at your favorite bar don’t hold the weight they used to, and that forces a brewery’s sales team to adapt. She talked about how she does that, and one of the big events she’s got coming up.

13 JUL 2017 · Episode 41: Steven Jones of Hoch Orchards on Cider, Glaciers, Pigs, and More! by The Minnesota Skinny

7 JUL 2017 · This week, we've got a 1-2 punch of a Minnesota cider-maker on the come-up and a NYC-based brewery who has been on the forefront of innovation for years. Out in Buffalo, Minnesota, Colin Post and his business partner Steve Hence made a cider back in 2011 that was so impressive, so magnificent, so incredibly spectacularly incredible and spectacular, it won a blue ribbon at the Minnesota State Fair and launched a business. One little problem, though: the apples were foraged so the exact recipe was unknowable. I sat down with Number 12 Cider House's Colin Post and heard his quest to re-create that magic batch. I got a taste of something he thinks is close, learned his system, took a walk through the orchard he works with, tried a couple of his goods -- and they are goooods -- and much, much more. I met with the guys from Brooklyn Brewery: Simon Reading, Mike Maraghy, Evan Davis. The guys have been with Brooklyn Brewery for much different lengths of time, and they different perspectives on the business. Mike has been with Brooklyn Brewery since right after college, and he compared the Brooklyn of Day 1 to the Brooklyn today. Did you know Brooklyn Brewery has a James Beard award-winning brewmaster on staff? We discussed what he brings to the team, and the guys introduced us to Brooklyn Brewery founder Steve Hinde. We featured Brooklyn’s Summer Ale, and I asked why we don’t hear more about New York City craft beer.

28 JUN 2017 · This week kicks off our Summer Cider Series! We'll be spending the summer drinkin' apples with some of Minnesota's cider makers - and a couple out-of-state cider makers, and some folks who use apples for even more sinister purposes! In Webster, Minnesota, Gretchen and Mike Perbix of Sweetland Orchard are helping bring apple-growing into the 21st Century. I sat down with Gretchen at Republic Seven Corners a couple of weeks back, and gave us a great introduction lesson to ciders. She also told me how transactions for apple trees go down, who she gets her apple trees from, and how she keeps in touch with her suppliers - not by email, they do it old school. Gretchen and Mike go into great detail on their website about how they control pests at their orchard and keep other threats out of their apples. She talked about her decision to put all that information out there. I met with Scott Dillon last week, whose Twisted Shrub has been enhancing cocktails and exploding soda nationwide. What is shrub, you ask? I got Scott’s story: how a layoff planted the seed that grew the business he runs today. I’ve already made some cocktails with it and I told that story, and he took me back to the first days of recipe development. He also told me about his optimism for the MInnesota Timberwolves -- he makes playoff predctions -- and how the Amazon buyout of Whole Foods could affect him as a manufacturer.