Better on Draft | Craft Beer Podcast

In this special Halloween episode Wendy and Rob talk about their experience during Great American Beer Fest weekend in Denver. Visiting with some show friends and some festival events. Truly a great weekend!

More information about the Dogfish Head World Wide Stout - Xocolatl version: https://www.dogfish.com/blogfish/xocolatl-world-wide-stout

Congratulations to Soul Mega for winning the Business Experienceship! https://www.bostonbeer.com/news/2026/06/samuel-adams-awards-soul-mega-2026-brewing-and-business-experienceship

Wendy and Rob talk to Darrell of Starr Craft Brewery. Darrell has a lot going on in the town of Richmond, MI with a recently-opened kitchen addition to the brewery. Come check out the beer and the kitchen, maybe have a Foldie or Unfoldie as the mood strikes you.

Wendy and Rob are in Denver for Great American Beer Fest! They stopped by to see our friends at Alley Brews and had a nice chat.

This audio was recorded on-site in an active brewery. Listeners be advised!

Liz and Chelsea of Alley Brews were last on Better on Draft on episode 375.

Chris of Renegade was last on Better on Draft on episode 389.

Wall Drug is quite the thing and Butt Drugs is a totally different thing.

Wendy and Rob get caught up on some recent and less-recent beer news from around the Internet!

The Most Popular Beer In America (by search results): https://www.foodandwine.com/most-popular-beer-in-america-according-to-google-search-data-12071118

Why Craft Culture Doesn't Land With Gen Z: https://www.brewersassociation.org/insights/why-craft-culture-doesnt-land-with-gen-z

US Consumption of Alcohol Is at Historic Lows (also with GLP1): https://247wallst.com/investing/2026/09/10/us-consumption-of-alcoholic-beverages-is-at-historic-lows-heineken-hires-glp-1-pitchwoman-to-sell-beer/

Did Drunk Apes Help Us Evolve (Scrumping)? https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/08/250801020109.htm

5 Questions Brewers Wish You Would Ask During a Brewery Tour: https://www.craftbeer.com/editors-picks/5-questions-brewers-wish-ask-brewery-tour

Vaccine in a beer? Not as crazy as it sounds! https://www.sciencenews.org/article/vaccine-beer-polyomavirus-chris-buck

We're figuring out something for the show scheduled on the 26th, so watch that space. The October 9 show might not be live and might be released late. A lot of "mights". We do know Wendy and Rob will both be at Great American Beer Fest and that show on the 9th is related.

Wendy and Rob talk to Hamish and JP of Rocky Ridge Brewing in Australia. Founded outside Perth (where the $@#^ is Jindong?) Rocky Ridge is making some great beer with lofty sustainability goals. From farm to your glass (seriously, make the trip), Rocky Ridge is making some great beer and providing some cool locations.

https://www.rockyridgebrewing.com.au/

Wendy and Rob are joined by Alex of Cabin North Brewing, a new brewery in the heart of Detroit's New Center - Northwest Goldberg. Alex has brought his love of hazy beers and mixed in Detroit's love of more traditional beers to offer visitors a varied lineup.

https://www.cabinnorthbrewing.com/

Wendy and Rob talk to Jeremy Banas about Lone Star Beer since he wrote the book on it! Did you know this is the second business named Lone Star Brewing? You can find out all about it in Lone Star Beer: A History of Two Iconic San Antonio Breweries. Jeremy's books can be found at his website: https://jeremy-banas-ae3g.squarespace.com/books and your favorite local bookstore.

We also talk to Jeremy about San Antonio, Texas beer and the cities, and Tivoli brewing from Colorado.

Better on Draft 391 | Lone Star Beer By Jeremy Banas

Wendy and Rob return from their adventures! They recount the beer and non-beer parts of their travels and other things.

The wonderful brewery in Aukland whose name Rob couldn't remember just then is Galbraith Alehouse - stop 1 of the beer mile.

The birding app is Merlin: https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/

The Atwater article: https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/atwater-brewery-reacquired-detroit-entrepreneur-after-sale-molson-coors

The Hoppin' Frog article: https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/business/briefs/2026/07/10/akron-hoppin-frog-brewery-changes-management-new-owners-fred-karm-zachary-bastin/90877343007/

Rob visit Books & Brews to talk to people about the Schlafly Tap Takeover (and learns how to work his portable microphone).

Books & Brews was featured in Episode 370 when we had Nick on.

Schlafly was featured in Episode 382 when we had Jared on.

Rob later learned that aside from living in the same neighborhood as Bobby and Whitney, they go to another Naptown Trivia event on Wednesdays where they are on a team The Bored Gamers used to compete against at Mind Over Mash! Hello, Low Expectations!

Information for this taster episode came from the 2013 Splendid Table article by Greg Engert: https://www.splendidtable.org/story/2013/03/21/the-7-flavor-categories-of-beer-what-they-are-how-to-pair-them

Rob talks about the 7 broad styles of beer Greg chose at that time (2013 was a long time ago; before hazies and pastry stouts and the rise of the uber-fruited beer). These categories and similar categorization can help you to hone in on the beers you like.

Enjoy your beer but we know it's better on draft!

While in Denver recently Rob visited Renegade Brewing and pretty much forgot to leave. Wendy and Rob talk to Chris of Renegade about the awesome things going on there. The great beer, community, and fun times that can be had in this lively and exciting place.

https://www.renegadebrewing.com/

We also talk a fair bit about the Ales for ALS project and Renegade's participation this year. You can learn more about this cause and find a party near you: https://fundraise.als.net/renegade

In this not-episode Rob explains why this is not an episode!

Upcoming events:

- May 22 - Chris Lane from Renegade in Denver

- May 29 - Rob is at Books & Brews Brownsburg at a Schlafly Tap Takeover

- June will be prerecorded things due to vacations

- July 18 is the Indiana Brewer's Guild Summerfest at Victory Field

- August 20th is the Michigan Homebrew Festival that we heard about in episode 388

Wendy and Rob talk to Greig of Brewaucracywith Bill and Michelle of the Detroit area about beer judging. We get some of our burning questions answered about how to get started and see a bit behind the curtain of what a beer judging session looks like at a competition. If this show piques your interest in getting involved in beer judging or sheds some light on what a style is and why it's important, let us know!

Some organizations and events discussed on the show:

BJCP

Brewer's Association (BA)

Cider Association

Mead Makers Association

Michigan Homebrewers Festival

Kristen Radaich joins Wendy and Rob to talk about her recent book, Beer Hiking Minnesota, Wisconsin & the Upper Peninsula. We talk about hiking with dogs, finding breweries near trails, finding trails near breweries, beer flights, and so much more.

Wendy and Rob get caught up on various pieces of beer news. Some new laws, TTB stuff, mergers, grocery store beer, harbingers of spring, celebrities doing celebrity things, and some cool new technology useful to the beer industry.

March Draftness is coming to May. If you are a brewery in Michigan who wants to be involved, email us!

We had some real-world difficulties this week so cut the show very short.

Episode 386 will be on March 27 and will most likely be a news show.

April 10 we will talk to Kristen Radaich about her book: Beer Hiking Minnesota, Wisconsin & the Upper Peninsula: Great Hikes and Breweries from the Twin Cities to the Northwoods

May 8 we have Nick Lesogor of Exit 12 Homebrew to learn about BrewTubers, an online homebrew club.

Wendy and Rob catch up on some beer news and important lists!

Vinepair's highest rated beer in each state (and DC) using BeerAdvocate's ratings

Vinepair's article about cheersing with a list of equivalent sayings in other languages.

Portland, OR's Shebrew beer festival

USA Today's multiple articles - the final 20 that will be voted on for rankings:

• Best Beer Garden
• Best Beer City
• Best Beer Festival
• Best Beer Label
• Best Brewery Tour
• Best Brewpub
• Best New Brewery

Wendy and Rob talk to Stephen of OPA Design Studio about designing breweries, taprooms, and fun places to visit.

OPA Design Studio's blog with more looks at their projects and related topics: https://www.breweryarchitect.com/blog

The Obituary card game Stephen designed: https://obituarygame.com/

Wendy and Rob catch up in the new year and make some predictions for 2026. Predictions were about apples, the trend with IPAs, big releases, effects of consolidation, average ABV on shelves, and packaging formats.

We also talk about non-alcoholic versions of styles and what that means when you get into things like beer judging, Untappd, or as a consumer looking to purchase a beer.

Is Rob alone in having craft beer singles become rare to find around him?

What are some breweries you think could be legacy breweries and how are they changing with the times? (Segment inspired by Beervana)

Better on Draft is an independent podcast currently ad-free because the hosts have not gone looking for sponsors!

Wend and Rob talk to Jared Williamson, lead brewer at Schlafly of St. Louis. We talk about beer education, some historic styles, Schlafly's growth and role in the community, and the community of St Louis. This episode may cause you to want to visit St Louis!