A recent episode of the Grit & Grain Podcast was titled Wacky Podcasts Are Killing the Craft Beer Industry. It’s kind of ironic that a beer podcast did an episode about how beer podcasts are killing the beer industry, but who better to execute such a dicey maneuver than Grit & Grain? The title itself illustrates why this is one of my favorite podcasts.
This particular episode was about a now-infamous article (opinion piece) that appeared in the New York Times not too long ago: Wacky Labels and Silly Names Are Killing Craft Beer. The article asserts that goofy labels and ridiculous beer names, among other things, are to blame for the craft beer industry’s recent woes. Oh, if it were just that simple.
Beer nerds that are not nerdy
The Grit & Grain Podcast is the perfect podcast to address this topic because it breaks from what I think of as the mind-numbing, stereotypical beer podcast. It does not feature beer nerds blathering about what beer they’re drinking or some technical aspect of brewing; instead, it features beer nerds sitting around talking about all sorts of things while they drink beer. Listening to people sip beers and talk about the flavors, aromas, and characters of what they’re drinking gives me a headache in my eye. I can’t taste anything through my earbuds. It’s bad radio, so to speak. Grit & Grain rarely slips into that kind of mundanity.
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The folks behind the Grit & Grain Podcast (pictured above) are local beer lovers and industry insiders, representing different aspects of the craft beer industry: brewing, distributing, and serving. The podcast’s home turf is Peaks & Pints in Tacoma, where they record in front of a live audience on Wednesday afternoons. If you happen to find yourself available and thirsty on a Wednesday afternoon, I recommend it. There’s beer. It’s fun.
About Tacoma, but also not about Tacoma
Often but not always, there’s some kind of Tacoma or South Sound angle to the week’s topic. I was born in Tacoma, and my family has a history there, which was enough of a reason to invite me as a guest. We talked a bit about beer, how I ended up doing what I do, embarrassing moments from my past, how my parents ended up in Tacoma all those decades ago, and the corner store my newlywed parents operated near Point Defiance Park. And we talked about beer, too. My mom once told me that, back in the day, the Parkway Tavern was both a neighborhood market and a tavern. It’s true. But I digress. The conversation drifted in all sorts of directions, some of which involved beer. I find that most episodes of the Grit & Grain Podcast do that.
For example, another recent episode of Grit & Grain focused on how the City of Puyallup is embracing its role in hop farming history and working to create a living museum to celebrate its hoppy past. The guest for that episode was the president of the Puyallup Historical Society at Meeker Mansion. Many people in the region might be familiar with the name Meeker. It’s a name synonymous with Puyallup. Ezra Meeker, one of Puyallup’s founders, made a fortune farming hops in the late 19th Century. At one time, he was known as the Hop King of the World.
Hops are no longer grown commercially in the area, but in his time, Ezra Meeker turned the valley that stretches from Kent to Puyallup into the world’s leading hop-growing region. Who knew? The way he did it, by setting up a brokerage, laid the groundwork for today’s hop industry. It’s a fascinating bit of history, whether you’re a beer geek or not, and an excellent topic for a podcast that is both about beer and not about beer.
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It speaks my language
I think the Grit and Grain Podcast speaks to me because it’s a lot like me. I love beer and somewhat famously enjoy drinking it. I know a fuckton about beer, but too often I’ve watched people’s eyes glaze over when I talk about things like the role that protein-rich grains like wheat and oats play in binding polyphenols from hops into colloidal haze particulates that remain suspended in the finished beer. See what I mean. I almost lost you, didn’t I?
The Grit & Grain Podcast is tilted for beer enthusiasts, but it’s about more than beer. It’s about the big, beautiful world that beer is such an essential part of. You might laugh (you’ll probably laugh). You might even learn something (you’ll probably learn something). It reminds me that beer is supposed to be fun. Check it out. Go to the Grit & Grain Podcast’s website to listen and to explore all the different ways you can subscribe to the podcast.
