James Howat - Founder & Brewer at Black Project Spontaneous & Wild Ales

Fueled by the need to explore, Black Project is pushing boundaries at every turn.  James questions everything.  He sees things in a way most adults have forgotten how to.  Guided by the questions "why?" and "what if?" - it's this characteristic that has propelled Black Project into the elite of wild and sour beer breweries.  As the name suggests, Black Project ferments its beers on spontaneous and wild caught microbes - always.  Even their IPA is fermented on a foraged Saccharomyces strain from an apple tree in James' neighborhood. The beers are wonderfully beautiful and display terroir in a playful way.  The complex and thought provoking beers coming out of the brewery are a beer geek's dream; yet, they are approachable enough for a novice to enjoy.  Honestly, go find some now.  

As craft beer continues to evolve, it will breweries like Black Project and people like James and his wife Sarah who will force evolution and encourage exploration.  They'll lead by example, never take no for an answer, and always ask "why?"  We hope you enjoy our chat.

Cheers,

Craft Commander

Karl Volstad & Evan Miller - Founders Civil Society Brewing Co.

Hops are king at Civil Society.  They stand front and center, grab your attention, and satisfy your craving for those tropical juice bombs hop heads have come to love.  While they've built a strong following for their hoppy beers, the rest of the offerings on the menu are well made, balanced, and just as exciting.  The trio of founders never worked in a professional brewery before opening Civil Society.  Karl homebrewed among other things, Evan worked on yachts, lost at sea for months at a time, and Chris, pitched in the major leagues, spending time with the Marlins.  Yet, even with no professional brewing experience, the group brought the required skills to run a successful brewery to the table.  Lots of brewing experience and a seafaring fixer ready to tackle the day to day set up and mechanical issues most brewers have to pay someone to figure out.   Even more important, they have a thirst for knowledge and perfection that is the driving force behind their brewery.  Beers like Fresh, brewed over and over, making seemingly minor improvements each time, each one leading to a higher quality product.  It's that kind of attention to detail that is bringing the early success that the brewery is enjoying and will continue to ensure their growth in the industry. Find their beer but first enjoy our chat!

Cheers,

Craft Commander

Jeff Mello - Bootleg Biology

Homebrewing and small scale experimentation is pushing the envelope in brewing.  The lack of a production schedule and a required consistent core line-up allows small scale non-professional brewers and some pro brewers to explore technique, develop styles, and go out and find yeast cultures that most pro brewers don't have the time or ability to play with.  Jeff is one of those homebrewers turned "yeast wizard" that is pushing beer forward.  Culturing wild yeast, working to catalog yeast in every zip code and internationally, and most importantly, reminding brewers to constantly evolve and learn.  He's a steward of the craft and for all the right reasons.  This chat was fun and insightful but most of all, inspirational.  Jeff was a reminder of why craft beer has become such a large part of our lives and why we're excited to see what breweries that make the time and space for exploration in yeast and fermentation are going to come up with next.  If you brew, check out Jeff's site.  Buy the yeast wrangling kit. Buy one his proprietary cultures.  Brew a beer completely unique to yourself.  Contribute to his project and be a part of brewing history.  Most of all, explore the craft - the sky's the limit.

Cheers,

Craft Commander

Ashley Smith - Brewer Cigar City Brewing

Cigar City Brewing has led the charge for craft brewers in Florida.  Not only leading by example in the brewing process, ensuring quality and consistency from beer to beer, but also in their advocacy of the issues that face the industry in our state.  It's not luck that has allowed their rapid growth and place of importance in the country's brewing culture.  With that, Cigar City has continued to build on their facility, improve their process, and make additions to their team that will bring new perspectives and enhance the quality of the product leaving the brewery.  Ashley is the latest addition to the brewing team.  She brings a west coast perspective to an east coast juggernaut.  She brings an attention to detail and love for brewing to enhance an already meticulous and passionate team. Most of all, she's just awesome. We chatted with Ashley about all things beer, the future at Cigar City, the importance of women in the industry, and "brewpies".  We hope you enjoy.

Cheers,

Craft Commander

Bob Sylvester - Founder/Brewer Saint Somewhere Brewing

Before the term "farmhouse ale" became a cool buzz word that people used as a symbol of their arrival in the craft beer scene, Bob Sylvester was delivering some of the best and most complex "Belgian-ish" farmhouse ales in the world.  Small batches, everything done by hand, and everything done with a purpose - Authenticity.  Authentic.  It's the best word to describe Saint Somewhere and Bob alike.  Unapologetic for who he is and what he stands for, the brewery an extension of this sadly, dying character trait. 

Saint Somewhere is a shining star in Florida and a source of inspiration for other breweries around the country.  A great representation of Florida's past, future, and present.

Cheers,

Craft Commander

Michael Tonsmeire - The Mad Fermentationist

Author. Consultant. Homebrewer. Economist!  Mike has made a name for himself as one of the country's most respected experts on the production of sour beer.  His book "American Sour Beers" and his blog www.themadfermentationist.com are invaluable resources for brewers looking to improve on their craft.  He's also consulted with breweries like Modern Times to develop recipes that we've all come to enjoy on the commercial level.  Point is, he's a wealth of knowledge for homebrewers and professional brewers alike.  We're lucky to have had the opportunity to bring you some of that knowledge and experience in this conversation.  We geared the conversation towards providing homebrewers (and those thinking about starting) with a base knowledge of yeast and bacteria treatment in these wonderfully complex beers, as well as some insight into how to think about recipe creation.  Sit back, relax, and learn something! 

Cheers,

Craft Commander

Jeffers Richardson - Director of Firestone Walker Barrelworks

When you think about breweries who exemplify quality, consistency, complexity, and balance, few meet the standard set by Firestone Walker. From Brewmaster Matt Brynaldson on down, the team is committed to achieving the perfect beer every single time.  While Firestone Walker certainly made a name for itself in Paso Robles and around the world for its clean, straightforward approach to saccharomyces fermented ales (and maybe some of you have heard of Pivo Pils), Barrelworks, about 90 miles South in Buellton is bringing Firestone back to its original location to brew old world wild ales.  That project, which in a few short years has already become a major success, is led by Jeffers Richardson, its Director, who was hand-picked to come back and lead the charge on this new venture.  Along with his team, including master blender Jim Crooks "Sour Jim", Barrelworks is producing some of the most complex and balanced wild ales in the country, if not the world.  

Jeffers was Firestone Walker's first brewmaster, Barrelworks is located in Firestone's original location, and the emphasis for the project is on going back in time to recreate and expand upon old world wild beers - everything is coming full circle.  As the program continues to grow, a coolship and more foeders are in the works.  And guess what?  That merger with Duvel isn't changing things for the brewery, at least not in a bad way.  Duvel brings a like-minded approach to beer and affords the team the ability to continue to grow and serve you more of this incredibly high-quality beer.  So quit the trolling.  Things are looking up.  Barrelworks is leading Firestone in to a new era.  Sit back and enjoy it.

Cheers, 

Craft Commander

Matt Weintraub & Moh Saade - The Tank Brewing Co.

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I've known these guys for years.  I've had an opportunity to taste through their beers since before The Tank was even a thought.  I've watched them meticulously work through technique and recipe composition, test glassware's effect on their recipes, experiment with pH levels, test temperature's effect on hops, and other things nobody cares to hear about.  My point is, these guys have worked hard on every aspect of their brewing for years - they're ready for this.  After chatting about what's in store, the future looks good for Florida beer.  After tasting what's in store, the future looks even better. 

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I love a brewery that leads with a saison.  "La Finca Miami", which translates to "The Farm Miami" saison is the flagship for the brewery and sets the standard for what you can expect from the rest of their offerings.  Dry, slightly tart, yeast forward, citrus, and a nice foamy head, a beautiful beer from start to finish.  It's also a great representation of what you can expect to find in most, if not all of The Tank's offerings, a clean, dry, crisp finish - achieving complexity and drinkability.  That dryness is their calling card and it allows their flavors to shine.  Flavors achieved through quality ingredients treated with care.  Like other great breweries, a no nonsense and straight forward approach leads to fantastic beers, no matter what the name of the hop used in their IPA is.  Flavor is flavor.  Quality is quality.  That's exactly what they're after. 

We hope you enjoy the chat. 

Cheers,

Craft Commander

Luke Dickinson - Founder/Brewer Wicked Weed Brewing Co.

                           "A wicked and pernicious weed"

                                               - King Henry VIII (on hops)

In one of the best beer towns in the country, Wicked Weed is producing some of the best beers available in America.  Aggressively hopped west-coast style IPAs and wonderfully complex and balanced sour ales have brought the brewery world-wide acclaim and allowed Wicked Weed begin expansion into a 5 million dollar facility which will have a 50,000 bbl per year capabilities.  In just over two years, Wicked Weed has become the #2 tourist attraction in Asheville, NC, a statistic that Luke is still in disbelief over.

Why the success?  How so quickly?  Wicked Weed is one of the most innovative breweries in the country right now.  Constantly pushing the boundaries with traditional approaches and new ingredients and combinations.  With an eye towards creating a complete sensory experience, the label art, the look of the liquid, the nose, and ultimately the taste, take people lucky enough to try their beers through layer and layer of complexity. Just pour the beer into a glass and allow yourself to really experience the beer and you'll see a connection to the amazing art on the labels.  It's all about the experience.  Understanding that the beer is more than just a drink - it's a place in time, a memory, and ultimately an experience.  

Watch our conversation to learn about the past, the present and what the future holds for Wicked Weed from co-founder Luke Dickinson. 

Cheers,

Craft Commander