WTF Am I Drinking?: Recent Episodes
TapRm
This is a podcast + blog series born out of conversations about how literally every single one of us who enjoy craft beer, hard seltzer, cider, wine spritzers, canned cocktails, hard teas, hard kombuchas--you name it--is operating at a different level of knowledge. Some of us are connoisseurs, some of us are newbies. Some of us want to reach expert status, some of us really don’t care how the sausage, or seltzer, is made as long as it tastes good--but so we do want to know how and why a particular seltzer does indeed taste good.
WTF Am I Drinking? is an explainer series that will dive into different topics like what a certain beer or wine style is, how a hard kombucha gets made, what the difference is between a stout and a porter--things like that. It’s educational and informational but in the most fun way possible--consider it the perfect thing to do while you sip your favorite beverage. You’ll learn a thing or two, and no doubt develop a deeper appreciation for drink X, Y, or Z. Basically, we all get to geek out a little, and dish on the beverages we love.
This episode, we’re talking lager-focused breweries with Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers out of Framingham, Massachusetts. From Czech-style pilsners to amber lagers to hoppy lagers to blood orange wheat radlers, Jack’s Abby applies an extreme dedication to the delicate craft of lager brewing to creating style after style under the lager umbrella, beautifully showing just how rich--and delicious--the world of lager is. Since committing to lager exclusively is no small feat, and since Jack’s Abby has been doing just that successfully for over a decade, we wanted to catch up with Vice President of Marketing Rob Day to give us a quick review of lager basics and then dive deep on lager brewing, lager variety, lager perception, and Jack’s Abby’s role in all of it.
Hi, hello, and welcome to the fourth edition of TapRm’s podcast and explainer series, “WTF Am I Drinking?” This episode, we’re talking about mission-driven beer. What does it mean to set out with a social goal at the same time as a craft beer goal, and for that social goal to be every bit as important as that beer goal? How do you build a community outreach movement alongside a lineup of high-quality, crowd-pleasing craft brews? To find out, we caught up with Greg Thompson, founder of Prison Break Brewery. In our chat, Greg candidly opens up about his own past and struggles to find a second chance after being incarcerated, and how that journey inspired him and his partners Jim Monahan and Jack Straw to create a brand geared around helping others find that path in an easier, more fulfilling way.
Hi, hello, and welcome to the fourth edition of TapRm’s podcast and explainer series, “WTF Am I Drinking?” We’re so excited to be chatting about boozy tea with Owl’s Brew for this episode. We had lots of questions, like how in fact does a tea get boozy? Why is tea such an incredible base for a delightful cocktail, from flavors and aromas to creating a truly clean beverage? What, for that matter, is a truly clean beverage? Founders Jennie Ripps and Maria Littlefield gave us all the answers and so much more, from their unique journey (and passion for tea) that led to Owl’s Brew to the incredible and inspiring work that they do to make space at the table for women in the beverage alcohol industry.
Hi, hello, and welcome to the third edition of TapRm’s podcast and explainer series, “WTF Am I Drinking?” Each episode, we chat with one of our favorite brands and brewers to dig into a beer style, an ingredient, a brewing process, or really any topic that helps all of us beverage lovers at any level of knowledge develop both a better understanding and a better appreciation of the drink at hand. So far, we’ve learned about the piquette spritz with Ditto, and we dove deep on kveik yeast with Oslo Brewing Company.
This time, we’re talking about an area that is incredibly exciting, especially as it is exponentially growing and evolving at this very moment: Non-alcoholic beer. And we’re discussing non-alcoholic beer with who we think is one of the absolutely best sources: Athletic Brewing Company. Founded by Bill Shufelt with brewer John Walker, Athletic has revolutionized alcohol-free beer, essentially galvanizing the exploding market we’re all getting to enjoy now. Athletic helped make NA beer craft, creating options that had never existed before for people who want a booze-free beer--for any reason, for any occasion--but who shouldn’t have to sacrifice taste, quality, or selection. Athletic’s wide portfolio of beautifully brewed styles, their taproom, their events, their ethos, it all amounts to a whole new world of options. So, we got into all of that--the brand history, the culture and lifestyle, the motivation and drive, non-alcoholic beer and brewing, Athletic’s styles, and much more--with Athletic’s Project Manager Dermot Woods.
“Kveik yeast” has been showing up on more and more labels of more and more beers from your favorite breweries. It’s a hot commodity in great beer, but why? What makes it special--and how does it make beer special? And where did it even come from? There is truly no one better to walk us through all things kveik yeast than Dimitri Yogaratnam, Founding Partner and CEO of Oslo Brewing Company. This Norway-based brewery is lighting the world up with buzz for its fantastic beers, and one such example is its Kveik IPA. Because of Oslo’s must-have example of a kveik beer, and because kveik itself is also Norwegian just like this brewery, Dimitri was nice enough to walk us through the ins, outs, and surprises of kveik yeast--like the fact that despite its more recent rise in craft beer, it’s actually been around for centuries! This conversation will answer all your questions about kveik yeast, and will definitely make you thirsty for Oslo’s Kveik IPA.
WTF Is a Piquette? New brand on the block Ditto, refers to it as wine’s answer to hard seltzer, or like a cousin of wine, or any number of other comparisons, but as our Creative Lead Hannah Heath pointed out after tasting Ditto’s piquette, those labels really don’t do it justice. Ditto’s Piquette Spritz really is its own special, unique, and honestly just incredibly tasty thing. So, what exactly is it? That’s what Hannah and Courtney of TapRm get into with Ditto co-founders G.A. Vellios and Jake Schlessinger in this inaugural WTF Am I Drinking? episode.
Order Ditto on TapRm: https://taprm.com/collections/ditto
Follow TapRm: @taprmbeer
Follow Ditto: @drink_ditto