Other breweries popped up on the show. Characters were regularly sipping on Boulevard’s Tank 7 in scenes, and MolsonCoors had a Goonies-level of product placement for its hard seltzer brand in the third and final season.

The presence of Manhattan Brewing Co. really underscored the show’s local emphasis, and served as a reminder of how small breweries have a real presence and impact on local economies.

Manhattan Brewing Co. was co-founded by brewers Adam Krebsbach and Garrett Paulman, and Jake Voegeli, who handles sales and marketing. The trio previously worked together at Tallgrass Brewing Co., and when that company closed in 2018, they put the plan together to open Manhattan Brewing.

“We wanted to be Manhattan’s brewery. I didn’t necessarily care about selling a ton of beer in Kansas City or anywhere else outside of Manhattan,” says Voegeli. “It was important to make sure that the people of Manhattan actually had a brewery that they could call their own, the one that was solely focused on beer.”

“Somebody Somewhere” premiered in 2022 on HBO and aired its last episode at the end of 2024. It is inspired by the life of Bridget Everett, a singer, comedian, and actress who was born in Manhattan, KS. While most of the show was filmed in the Chicago suburbs, the cast and crew would often come to the city for premieres, parties, and some filming.

All About Beer editor John Holl spoke with Voegeli about the brewery’s role on the show, the impact it has had, and how they almost missed the chance to be featured.

Getting the Call from HBO

John Holl: It’s so cool to see the brewery featured in the show, but it almost didn’t happen, right?

Jake Voegeli: I think it was 2021. Our brewer Garrett Paulman was behind the bar, we weren’t open yet, and I was taking some packages in from FedEx or something and the phone rings. Garrett answers it and by the look on his face, I could see it was like a spam call because we get them all the time. So he says into the phone that we’re not interested and hangs up.

As I walked by I asked him who called and he said it was someone from HBO trying to sell us something. I continued on and a few minutes later I started wondering why HBO would want to sell us something, so I asked if Garrett remembered the guy’s name, and I found him online and sent him a private email asking for more details.

So, he calls back and he said they were starting the show and that Bridget Everett was starring and was an executive producer and that she wanted to feature businesses in the Manhattan area that she likes to visit when she’s in town, so they wanted us to be a part of it.

And so obviously I said ‘Hell yeah, let’s do that.’ And so we sent some stuff in and didn’t really know how much we’d be on the show, if at all. Then the first season came out, and we were like, ‘Holy shit.’ Manhattan Brewing was right there. It was amazing and it was a partnership that didn’t require us to pay anything. They just wanted us to be a part of it because Bridget loves the space and wanted us in there.

A well-known neighbor

John Holl: Did you know Bridget before this?

Jake Voegeli: No, we didn’t. We knew that she had come in before with her brothers – one lives in Kansas City, and another still lives here. So, she would come and visit and we would think it was cool, that she’d have a few beers, but we didn’t bother her. We’re LGBTQ friendly, and that’s a big part of her life on the advocacy front, so I think that it helped that our space is welcoming. A lot of breweries have that vibe, we don’t want to bother you. We just want you to grab beer and sit and have a good time.

HBO Comes to Town

John Holl: The show was mainly filmed in Illinois, but for the production in the city, were you aware it was happening?

Jake Voegeli: We didn’t, actually, because HBO just did b-roll in Manhattan. We did see Bridget this last season because they did a lot more actual shooting in Manhattan. Not a ton, they would just come by for some shots here outside and at some other stores.

One time we were eating at a Mexican place in town and looked over and saw them shooting. And it was cool to see Bridget because at that point we had already done a beer with her, and she came over to say hello, but mostly we didn’t really see any filming action.

Brewing Collaboration Beers

Jake Voegeli: We’ve actually done two beers with her. The first one was called Choir Practice, a reference to season one. We have an old opera house here in town called Wareham Hall where they did some filming and then Bridget came down and we watched the last two episodes of season one and then they actually had a choir practice after where Bridget got up and sang, and then we hosted an after party with her and her family at our place until 2 a.m. and it was a blast.

John Holl: Tell me more about the collaboration beer.

Jake Voegeli: Choir Practice was a Belgian wit with orange peel, tangerine peel, and very much like some other witbiers out there with the characteristics of coriander. And it sold out really fast.

Nothing much happened with season two because there was a writer’s strike going on, so for the season three finale, which we knew was the series finale on HBO, we wanted to do something big, and Wareham Hall was going to do something big again, and we started talking about doing a beer and Adam, out of nowhere, said ‘Why not call it Somebeer Somewhere?’ and that was perfect. So, we asked Bridget what kind of beer she would like to make and she suggested something light and easy, so we have a great recipe for an English Mild, so we rolled with that.

The art was done by a company across the street from us called Switch Wicked. They did a fantastic job just capturing the show’s essence and a little bit of Manhattan into it. And we got really lucky because they got almost the entire cast to come out for the finale here, which was really, really cool. They all showed up. So, they all got to see the beer. They all got to take some home. We hosted the after party again and they all came and took pictures behind the bar. It was a great time.

The country comes for a pint

John Holl: Seems like this has been a really great experience for you all. When did you start noticing that people coming into the brewery had found you via the show?

Jake Voegeli: Probably by the third episode of the first season. We actually had people traveling that came specifically to Manhattan from Colorado, from St Louis, from Dallas. And we just saw people just popping in and looking around. It wasn’t just because it was a brewery, they had a different look to them, and they were there because they wanted to see some of Bridget’s favorite places.

It quickly became a big thing with a lot of people coming into town and so the city of Manhattan did these life-size cutouts of Bridget that went to all the businesses that were on the show. So people could come in and take pictures at each spot. It wasn’t thousands and thousands of people, but I’d say hundreds.

John Holl: Do you all still have the cutout?

Jake Voegeli: Oh yeah, that’s going to stay for as long as it holds up. We do a lot of stupid videos around the brewery with Bridget.

John Holl: Even though the show has ended its run on HBO, it’s still streaming and new people find it all the time. Are you finding that the interest is still there?

Jake Voegeli: Absolutely. We get calls from New York, from Portland, Oregon and all over from people asking us to ship them beer. The Kansas laws are still pretty antiquated so we can’t do that.

Even though our collaboration beer sold out quickly, we don’t want to make it a year-round offering. The plan is to bring it back, but maybe just once a year. 

Staying true to roots

John Holl: It seems to me the benefit of the original plan of being a local brewery has worked in your favor, during this. I imagine you would have been successful because of who you are and the approach that you’re taking, but it does seem that that focus on local has helped this relationship with the show grow and has helped it feel more special for drinkers and consumers. Is that fair? 

Jake Voegeli: Maybe Bridget saw that. We never really asked her, ‘Why us?’ We probably should have, but we never did. I like to think that because of that ethos that we started off with, that was one of the things that drew her to us. Also having it being like a safe space for anybody to come in and drink. I think that that really helped.

Staying true to who we are, I like to think that really helped, and it still helps us to this day. We know a lot of people that have moved to Manhattan, not because of us, but we were a major part in that final decision, which is so much fun. It’s so much fun to hear those stories of people that come in and they see our space and they love what we’re doing. Then they say, ‘This is where we should move.’

A feel-good story on and off the screen

John Holl: It’s refreshing to hear how well this process went for you all. Thanks for sharing your story.

Jake Voegeli: Bridget was so instrumental in making this positive for all of us here in Manhattan, especially us, because she was very much adamant on using local Manhattan things and showing that off in the show. It was amazing. She is such an amazing person, and we are so grateful for that. Because without her, I don’t think it would have gone as smooth as it did.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Pull Up a Stool is a regular feature on All About Beer. Reach out to editor John Holl at JohnHoll@allaboutbeer.com with suggestions on brewing professionals that should be featured. And to support our journalism, please visit allaboutbeer.com/support

The post From Choir Practice to the Bar. How One Kansas Brewery Made it Big on HBO’s Somebody Somewhere. first appeared on All About Beer.

John Holl: Tell me about the brewery and how it came to be.

Matt Smith: The way it started is not really a typical path to starting a brewery. And actually in fact, I don’t have a physical location for a tap room that people can come visit. There’s a shed behind my house here in Beverly that is a fully licensed brewery. I have a state permit for the shed, as well as a Federal permit and an FDA registration. So technically, and legally, I can brew beer out of that shed and sell it directly to people. But they can’t drink here because they would literally be drinking at my house on my property.

So really, it’s just a formality for me to be able to take my recipes that I’ve accumulated for many years now and just produce them at other breweries in the area. Then I can self-distribute all that beer to local stores, bars, events and things like that.

The brewery has actually been a grief project for me. We lost our first daughter Melody in 2017. My wife was full term in her pregnancy, almost 36 weeks pregnant, and we found out that Melody’s heart stopped beating.

Our worlds were shattered. We had just moved into a new house, which is the house that we still live in. She was our first child, and my wife could have lost her life.  I had a stable job with another brewery. She had a stable job as a teacher. Everything’s going great. And then all of a sudden, everything just falls apart.

I had to leave my job with Clown Shoes Beer which, ironically, operated the same way I currently do; they didn’t have a physical location. I learned the business that way. If you’re making the beer somewhere else, and you’re relying mainly on wholesale, it’s a little different than having a place where you can invite people in and they can drink your beer there.

Basically, I entered the worst time of my life and the way that I grounded myself was to apply for the paperwork to start a brewing project which ended up being called Wandering Soul.

I wanted to release a beer in honor of Melody as a way to have a legacy for her. I was always afraid that her name would just get lost. And no one would ever remember, aside from us.

I didn’t think that I would get approved for the state and federal permits. I thought it was kind of a long shot.But it was approved at the end of 2018.

So I reached out to my friends at Castle Island Brewing in Norwood. I’m good friends with the owner, Adam. And I’ve become good friends with all of them. And I reached out on a whim saying like, ‘Hey, I got this permit, can we brew a batch of this beer that I want to call Melody Maker’?

It was a recipe I was working on prior to Melody’s death for a New England style IPA that’s 4.9% ABV. This recipe, I tweaked and tweaked and tweaked for years and did like 20 versions of it. And I finally reached a point where I was comfortable producing on a larger scale. I designed the whole label. And I donate some of the profits to a charity that helped me and my wife called Resolve New England.

The beer is brewed with two 2 row, Vienna malt and flaked oats, and I use Citra, Mosaic and Motueka hops. It’s fermented with a version of London Ale III.

Castle Island helped me make the beer and it sold out, and we made another batch and that sold out and it just became a business that was never supposed to be. But it did and it’s been amazing.

It’s the thing I’m probably most proud of in my whole life. And it’s been hard. I mean, this industry is not an easy one to operate in, especially when you’re tying your business and your brand to a story that’s so personal and not necessarily bright and cheery.

I’ve always designed it as a symbol of hope, because every beer is dedicated to a person or a concept, but there’s dark elements to it.

People can go through these things in life that can be labeled as sad, tragic, transformative, whatever the word is. And to produce something out of it, I think is very important for other people who are grieving and suffering to find some sort of creative outlet or something that they can use as a mode to get through the grief process. If I didn’t have this, I don’t know what I would have done.

John Holl: Have you been able to connect with folks through this? You’re talking about being hopeful, has that been able to forge a deeper connection with people you’re interacting with through this beer?

Matt Smith: The community around it is pretty amazing. I heard from a lot of people through Resolve New England. We’ve since gone on to have two other living children, they’re three and five years old now. The beer sort of opened up this conversation with all these people that were willing to share these things with me, that are so deeply personal,things like life and death situations. It was just so incredible, that people were willing to trust me. Because I think they saw that I was willing to take the step of talking about this in a very public way.

Especially for dads that go through this kind of thing, there’s really very little support. I think that for women that literally shoulder the load of losing a child during pregnancy, it obviously takes a much different toll on women. But also, women are a little bit better at talking about these things and finding community.

For men, it’s really hard, because I think men are supposed to be the stoic ones who just try to power through and not necessarily talk about it. That wasn’t an option for me. I knew that I had to talk about it.

John Holl: If other brewers go through extraordinarily terrible circumstances, like you did is there a path for them for this? Can projects like this have a larger place in beer?

Matt Smith: I was a little bit hesitant in the beginning about putting this out. Because I do know, a lot of other brewers. I had been in the beer world for a pretty long time before this and met a lot of people that way.

I was a little worried about what people within the industry were going to think. I was always very cautious of not trying to seem like I was trying to exploit some sad story to sell beer. This was a  very personal thing that I felt like I needed to do for my healing.

It did really have an impact. I’ve met so many other brewers through this and I’ve done at least 20 collaborations at this point with people, some who have become some of my best friends.

I want to help people at the end of the day, I want this story to have an impact not just for me, but for other people that might feel lonely or isolated or deep within grief.

Everybody’s going to be up against this at some point in their life. And it’s one of the hardest things I think to get through. Because in the end we are all in this together. It’s a human experience. And the only way to get through some of these really tough things in life, is to lean on people around you, or just find people that have gone through things similar to what you’re going through.

Maybe you come out on the other end a little different, and maybe a little damaged and scarred from the experience, but you’re still here. And you carry this stuff with you.

I carry the memory of my daughter every day. I wish she was here every day. But in a way she’s kind of been my copilot.

Pull Up a Stool is a regular feature on All About Beer. Reach out to editor John Holl at JohnHoll@allaboutbeer.com with suggestions on brewing professionals that should be featured. And to support our journalism, please visit and donate via Patreon.com/AllAboutBeer

The post Brewing Through Grief: The Story of Wandering Soul Beer first appeared on All About Beer.

It aims to help brewers support sustainable and environmentally-friendly suppliers and producers and foster lasting partnerships between breweries and environmental non profits.

Eric Steen, the creative force behind Beers Made by Walking, created Earth to Beer. He runs a marketing company called Forest Green, where he works with beer industry clients and environmental organizations. Steen spoke with All About Beer editor John Holl about Earth to Beer.

The Conversation

John Holl: What have you seen as the relationship, or the evolution of the relationship between beer breweries and environmental causes?

Eric Steen: I think a lot of breweries, a lot of brewers, and people who make beer, people who make beverages in general care about where their ingredients are coming from. And so as more and more breweries start their businesses and keep going, they care about community causes, and they care about what’s going around what’s going on around their brewery.

I’m based out of the Pacific Northwest, and around here I see more and more breweries that are sourcing locally, or who have sourcing processes that sort of intentionally bring on special certifications like organic or salmon safe. Or they are talking a lot more about regenerative agriculture. I think that’s happening across the country.

John Holl: With that in mind, then talk to me about where the idea came for this, this new initiative that you’re putting together?

Eric Steen: I have been organizing beer industry campaigns for about 10 years now and it started with Beers Made by Walking. That’s where I invite brewers on nature hikes and urban walks. And then they make beer with plants that we find on the trails. I worked with a couple hundred breweries on that campaign over the years and we have beer festivals and things like that.

It really introduced me to environmental conservation work. And it also eventually landed me real job in the beer industry, where I got to work with a brewer. I’ll try to make a longer story short, but I’ve been working on campaigns similar to that.

There’s one called “Cheers to the Land” based in Oregon, where, 20 or so breweries make beer with all Oregon ingredients, or at least to highlight Oregon farmers in the beer that they’re making.  The proceeds go back to the Oregon agricultural trust who works to permanently protect farmland in the state. I’ve been organizing that now for three years. And I just began to get a sense that this needs to be a national thing. There needs to be a national campaign.

Earth Day makes a lot of sense to me. And so that’s how I decided to make Earth to Beer happen. And so, Earth to Beer is campaign where breweries are challenged to make a beer in package that has intentionally sourced ingredients that are environmentally responsible, that’s upstream from the brewery and then donate back a percentage of the proceeds to an environmental organization.

John Holl: What’s the response been so far?

Eric Steen: We have 35 breweries signed up. And I think that’s in 23 or 24 different states across the country. For the initial year that’s really awesome. My goal is to eventually get every brewery to make a beer that has responsibly sourced ingredients, at least once in the year. Not every brewery thinks about these things, but there are lots of breweries who do think about it.

John Holl: What’s your what’s your call to action? For the brewers that are just learning about this? What should they do if they want to get on board for next year and beyond?

Eric Steen:  The simplest thing to do is just go to EarthToBeer.com  and get in touch with me and our team. We definitely want to build off of the momentum that we’ve gotten from this year.

In the future I think we’ll see some really cool opportunities for brewers in terms of sponsorship opportunities, and preferred vendors, and incentives along getting cost of goods price down.

Pull Up a Stool is a regular feature on All About Beer. Reach out to editor John Holl at JohnHoll@allaboutbeer.com with suggestions on brewing professionals, industry leaders, or curious drinkers that should be featured. And to support our journalism, please visit and donate via Patreon.com/AllAboutBeer

The post Earth to Beer: Making a Global Impact first appeared on All About Beer.

Homebrewers continue to inspire the larger beer community. Through the hard and small batch work, they showcase the grit and attention to detail that helped build the American beer industry to where it is today.

As part of winning the best in show, Schanz agreed to answer some questions from All About Beer Editor John Holl. His recipe for the award-winning Weizenbock is below the interview.

The Conversation

John Holl: How Long Have you been homebrewing?

Fritz Schanz:  I’ve been homebrewing since 2018, and I started for the typical reasons. I was frustrated by the limited availability, the lack of variety, and the lack of freshness in beers, especially the imports from Europe and the United Kingdom.

I got involved in homebrewing one day while shopping for beer. I overhead a couple of people talking about the local beer club; we struck up a conversation, and they invited me to their meeting that very afternoon! Talk about serendipity.

The very next weekend, club members were at my home, and helped me with an extract kit. That was five years ago. I moved on to all-grain, and I have been brewing regularly ever since.  I’d like to say that the beer culture scene in our town is rather small, but between our club, our local brewery/pub, and two local stores, it is a really tight-knit and supportive community.

Over time, like all homebrewers, I’ve gone through some equipment upgrades. I am brewing on an electric/gas RIMS, and I’m comfortable with it.

John Holl: What prompted you enter this particular competition?

Fritz Schanz: This festival has been on my radar for a few years. It is one of the oldest and finest in the nation, and it receives unbelievable support from breweries, civic groups, and homebrewers. I really like the focus of the competition on big beers and Belgians (which are the hardest styles to master), the judging is superb, and the competition and festival are well managed and supported.

The whole emphasis on the breweries, activities, and homebrewers is not only a fun social and educational experience, but it really brings the community together. There has been some talk nationwide about the “decoupling” of homebrewers and breweries, but this festival counteracts that; it brings the professional brewers, homebrewers, and beer afficionados closer together.

John Holl: What do you like about homebrewing?

Fritz Schanz: I love the freedom that homebrewing allows: I can brew any beer style that I desire, I can explore any variation within that style, and I can enjoy a beer fresh, or I can enjoy a beer that has been properly kept and aged.

I love the science and art behind brewing, both go hand in hand, and one can spend a life-time pursuing either.

Last, I love the connection that homebrewing has with places. It’s pretty hard not to pick up a magazine that has an article, say, on a beer vacation in Czechoslovakia and not fall in love with beers in their native places and cultures.

John Holl: Tell us about your Weizenbock, which won Best of Show?

Fritz Schanz: Of all the high-gravity beers, I think that the Dark Weizenbock is the most difficult to brew well. That has been my experience. The reason for this is that the beer must achieve a broader range of balances than other high-gravity beers. I find the beer more complicated.

In the past, my versions have been either too light or too heavy, too sweet or too dry, or too alcoholic, or too much clove or banana, or not enough malt differentiation or, especially, too much caramel. Over about six attempts at this beer, it slowly improved, and I think this current beer strikes a nice  balance: there is the bready background, but it soon gives way to a range of caramel, dark-fruit, chocolate malts.

I think the alcohols bring lightness and an additional fruitiness to the beer, and then there is the backdrop of clove and banana. I like the way the initial sweetness eventually gives way to a pleasant dry finish, and I like the mouthfeel. There is so much going on in this style of beer; it is amazing when homebrewers pull off a nice example.

So, in considering this style, three main issues surface:  grist formulation, mashing regimen, and yeast management. From a grist standpoint, the difficulty in brewing this beer is getting the right malt complex, and this has been the area that I have struggled with the most. Because I don’t do decoctions, I’m having to rely on the grist to achieve the desired melanoidin-dark fruit-chocolate character without overwhelming the bready backbone and the mouthfeel. I now keep the caramel malts less than 6 percent of total grist, and the chocolate malt less than 3 percent. Also, I’ve found that this beer expresses itself best at an OG of about 1079 to 1082 OG and a FG of about 1018 to 1021 FG.

Regarding the mash regimen, well it is complicated, comprising five steps. You want to increase the amount of ferulic acid to enhance the clove flavor. So, I do a ferulic acid rest for 15 minutes at 113F. Then, you want to break down some of the smaller proteins to release more amino acids and peptides into the mash for yeast nutrition. So, I do a protein rest for 15 minutes at 127F. You also want to achieve good attenuation in your final beer, so I increase the mash to 145F and keep it there for 45 minutes. Finally, you want to break down further any heavier dextrins that remain.

So, I mash at 162F for an alpha-amylase rest, and I’ll typically do this for 30 minutes. Then I raise the temperature to 172F for 10 minutes.

The hop character isn’t too important in this style, so I use just enough high-alpha hops to give about 23 IBUs, and the hops go in with 60 min left in the boil. I boil for 90 min.

Regarding yeast, I use White Labs 300, and I target a pitch rate of 0.85 million cells/ml/degree Plato, which results in a cell density of 17.24 million cells/ml, or about 326.32 billion cells. I’ve gone with higher pitch rates, but I didn’t get the banana profile I was hoping, and I’ve gone with lower pitch rates, and yeast had a difficult time finishing.

I pitch at 64F, and maintain that temperature for 24 hours, after which I allow the temperature to free rise to 70 – 72F. When fermentation is complete, I cold crash to 32F for three days, and I re-yeast, add corn sugar, and bottle, aiming for a carbonation level of 3.2 vols of CO2.

Pull Up a Stool is a regular feature on All About Beer. Reach out to editor John Holl at JohnHoll@allaboutbeer.com with suggestions on brewing professionals that should be featured. And to support our journalism, please visit and donate via Patreon.com/AllAboutBeer

Editor’s note: John Holl serves on the board of the Big Beers, Belgians, and Barleywine Festival.

Weizenbock Recipe

Vitals

Grain Bill

Water Chemistry

Mash pH 5.5

The post An Award Winning Weizenbock first appeared on All About Beer.

A notable exception is Bottle Conditioned, a film that released last year that takes a deep and loving look at lambic and some of the revered blenders who have created flavorful, intriguing, and sought-after bottles.

While previously available to watch at select screenings, the film recently launched on Apple TV and on Amazon.

What makes this film stand out among the others? All About Beer editor John Holl asked Jerry Franck, the director, producer, writer, and editor of the film, about the subject matter and what when into making the film.

Franck is an American/Luxembourgish director and producer whose work in both the documentary and fiction space often depicts niche topics that serve as a microcosm for the world at large. Bottle Conditioned is his feature directorial debut.

John Holl: Where did the idea for this film come from? 

Jerry Franck: Back in 2017, after our last documentary’s release, I was getting more into craft beer as an aficionado and collector rather than just staying an average drinker. Because of my filmmaking background, I was naturally seeking out documentaries about beer, wine and anything that had to do with a craft culture behind it.

As I watched through every TV episode, film and Youtube video that I could find, I felt unfulfilled by what I saw. I personally felt that most films about beer barely scratched the surface and appeared to be more fan-based content or corporate sponsored videos. I was craving something deeper, more cinematic and intimate.

At first I wasn’t sure what our film was going to be about because beer is such a vast topic, so I turned my attention towards Europe in the hopes of finding an origin story perhaps. It took another year or so to let these initial ideas mature, and a few trips to Belgium before I found myself lost in lambic land for 4+ years.

John Holl: What surprised you from the interviews and experience? Was there something uncovered that resonated with you on a deeper level. 

Jerry Franck: Initially I wanted to make a film about the different seasons of lambic production, from brewing to blending, to fruit harvest and everything in between. A bit like wine production. So when we filmed during the brewing season in 2019 and shot our first interviews, we cast a wide net of people and topics. Once we came back form the trip and I started digging through the many hours of footage, I realized that I was only catching glimpses of things, and it overall felt very technical. I got the sense that some of our interviewees were ready to open up further to us.

There were more personal stories, past hardships and opinions bubbling underneath the surface than I had anticipated. When we went back to Belgium that summer, we made a point to get more personal and dive deeper. This opened doors about topics and to people I wasn’t thinking of at first. Some of those people were Jean-Pierre Van Roy and Claude Cantillon, who single handedly saved lambic in Brussels during the hard times, but it came with a lot of personal sacrifices reflected in their heirs now.

 Our project slowly started to evolve from a basic beer film to an intimate portrait of people, talking about universally relatable issues.  

John Holl: The film has been out for a while now, and about to hit a larger audience. What do you hope it inspires drinkers to think about?

Jerry Franck: With our fast paced world, the influx of content and daily distractions, it can be hard to stop and take a moment to reflect on the past. Lambic is a slow food, and it takes time to understand and appreciate it, but to me it’s also a window into a different time when things were maybe simpler. Trends come and go, and it’s inevitable to get wrapped up in them, but remembering where it all started is important in my opinion. I hope this film inspires people to seek out more original stories like it, and stay connected through film (and beer) on a more human level. 

Pull Up a Stool is a regular feature on All About Beer. Reach out to editor John Holl at JohnHoll@allaboutbeer.com with suggestions on brewing professionals that should be featured. And to support our journalism, please visit and donate via Patreon.com/AllAboutBeer

The post Pull Up a Stool with Jerry Franck of the Bottle Conditioned Film first appeared on All About Beer.

“I started learning more and more. And then I became a bartender on the side to learn more about brewing,” she says. ”Then I decided to switch career paths and I went to brewing school.”

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic Klembara and her husband decided to make a change and moved to Iowa to pursue new brewing opportunities. A month after settling into their new home, her sister revealed that she had a genetic mutation that could lead to cancer. Klembara took a BRCA test and received a positive diagnosis that showed she had high risks for breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and pancreatic cancer. A later scan found a pre-cancerous tumor. Soon after, at the age of 27, she underwent a double mastectomy.

Post-surgery she transitioned from brewing work into beer marketing at Confluence Brewing. She was looking for a way to raise awareness and to support others battling breast cancer. The result is the Scars Are Beautiful campaign. She spoke with All About Beer editor John Holl.

John Holl: How did the beer come together?

Jess Klembara: We started here in Iowa, with Toppling Goliath and many other breweries. The following year we took it nationwide. About 300 breweries across the United States did this beer. I was invited to speak at the Craft Brewers Conference in 2023 and will do so again at the 2024 conference. The whole point is, your beautiful, your scars are beautiful. I have these very large scars. And I just want you to feel the same love that I should have felt earlier on in my journey. But that I eventually found.

John Holl: That brewers are getting on board is great. And the invitations to speak at CBC is very nice. What’s the what’s the overall reception been? From the public to drinkers to those this benefits.

Jess Klembara: It’s been amazing. I’ve had hundreds and hundreds of emails come in from survivors, providers, thrivers, anybody that’s going through cancer or know someone who is. They don’t know who I am, I don’t know who they are, but they share their journey. That’s something really special because for a lot of us in the cancer world it’s hard for us to be vulnerable and to speak about our journey.

So, to have these opportunities is amazing and I’m glad I could be there to support others and make them feel loved while they are going through the hardest time of their life.

The beer sells out quickly almost everywhere, and we hope to grow it more and more each year.

John Holl: Tell me about the beer. What’s the recipe?

Jess Klembara: I brewed a West Coast IPA, but it’s up to each brewery to decide what they want to do. Each brewery can focus on one style or focus on specialty ales. We do send them a recipe for the West Coast IPA if they want, because that’s where I’m from.

John Holl: Have most breweries brewed the West Coast IPA? Or are they doing their own thing?

Jess Klembara: I would say like 30 percent do West Coast. I mean, I don’t know about everyone’s recipe, but there have been a lot of sours. Some people made it pink. We had some dark beers. The Veil did a wine saison that was amazing.

John Holl:  Is there a unifying thread between the beers? There have been beers for various causes in the past where it’s been a single recipe and then people’s interpretation of that recipe. So, is there a unifying thread for all of the breweries that are doing this?

Jess Klembara: The only thing that’s the same is the branding. And all the breweries have to donate to a local cancer organization of their choice. It doesn’t matter how much it just matters that they donate something. We’re helping organizations nationwide, not necessarily nationwide organizations. This is a local initiative.

I’m hoping that companies like BSG or Country Malt or whoever will get involved as well, like they have with other beers like this, to get materials donated so that more breweries can make this beer and do more good.

John Holl: What else do you want people to know about this initiative?

Jess Klembara: That it’s important. It’s more important than people think. People just think that you’re slapping a label on a beer and you’re calling it a day. But to see the emails and messages that have come through, it means a lot more to everyone in the United States more than people think. It really does uplift them during the hardest moments of their life. And I mean, honestly, I probably wouldn’t have opened up as much as I did, because of my journey and how it started. But other people lifted me up just the same way that I feel. It’s like this spirit is lifting others up to become more comfortable in their bodies.

John Holl: For the breweries that want to participate, how do they get in touch?

Jess Klembara: Anyone interested in Scars Are Beautiful can visit our website, FiercelyBrave.org.

Pull Up a Stool is a regular feature on All About Beer. Reach out to editor John Holl at JohnHoll@allaboutbeer.com with suggestions on brewing professionals that should be featured. And to support our journalism, please visit and donate via Patreon.com/AllAboutBeer

The post Pull Up a Stool with Jess Klembara of Confluence Brewing first appeared on All About Beer.

Breweries are also looking to be spaces of inclusion, and Tiffany Fixter the owner and founder of Brewability, a Colorado brewery and pizzeria that primarily staffed by adults with developmental disabilities, wants to bring awareness to her peers on ways to create accessible environments for individuals with disabilities,

According to Fixter, Brewability offers color-coded beer menus and taps, a sensory dining area, and weighted silverware. Today the brewery announced that it has installed a vibrational dancefloor so that patrons who are deaf or hard of hearing can feel beats from live or recorded music.

Fixter spoke to All About Beer editor John Holl about Brewability and its initiatives.

John Holl: Can you tell me more about Brewability and its history?

Tiffany Fixter: I was originally a special education teacher with a master’s degree in autism spectrum disorders. I also ran a day program for adults with special needs.

During my years in special education, I became increasingly frustrated with the lack of valuable job opportunities for people with developmental disabilities, which led me to opening Brewability in October of 2016 with our head brewer, Tanner Schneller.

Our entire goal was to be the change we wanted to see in creating jobs specifically for adults with developmental disabilities and helping them gain a sense of purpose and independence. Brewability shows what our bartenders, servers and other staff are capable of when given the right tools and support.

John Holl: What are some of the initiatives Brewability has enacted since it opened?

Tiffany Fixter: Adaptation is crucial to giving our employees and our guests the support they need. The first thing people notice is that our beer menu is color-coded to match our tap handles. Another thing that people get excited about is our sensory area which has a marble wall and giant Lite Brite.

We also offer braille, large print and picture-based menus, weighted silverware, plate guards, and shirt protectors for adults and children.

We’re actually working on a Gastrostomy tube (G-tube)-friendly menu now, and we are in the process of flattening our outdoor patio thresholds for better wheelchair access and building an adjustable adult changing table in the restroom. We host a variety of inclusive events in our space including Autistic LGBTQ+ Adult Socials with the Autism Society of Colorado, Drag Bingo, live music, fundraisers and more!  It’s important to us that everyone who walks or rolls through our doors feels welcome.

John Holl: You’re adding a vibrational dance floor. How does that work and what will it add to the brewery and the space?

Tiffany Fixter: The technology is the same as bone-conduction headphones, just on a larger scale. The 12-by-12-foot dance floor transmits sound vibrations through the bones so patrons can feel all aspects of the music, not just the bass. This way, the bone-conduction technology allows users to experience every instrument and every type of music.

We worked with nonprofit Feel the Beat, an organization dedicated to creating sound accessible environments using vibrotactile technology for children who are deaf, hard of hearing and with disabilities. We’re also very thankful for the support from Developmental Pathways, which provided the grant to fund the dance floor.

Live music is a big part of our brewery experience, so this dance floor means we can provide a new level of inclusivity for those who are deaf or hard of hearing. Music may not be something certain staff members and customers have ever experienced in a restaurant before, so we’re excited for everyone to have the same opportunity.

John Holl: What can other breweries be doing or thinking about when it comes to making dining out or drinking easier for patrons with disabilities?

Tiffany Fixter:  Breweries need to consider every interaction and situation that could occur once a patron with a disability enters the location. Can this patron physically access a patio, bar top, or entertainment area? Is it easy for them to understand a menu and order a drink or food item? What assistance might someone need in the restroom?

All of these answers may look different depending on someone’s disability, and breweries need to design their space with these differences in mind. For example, some patrons may get overwhelmed in a crowded space, so it’s a good idea to have sensory-friendly areas that are quieter and dimmer. If a sensory friendly area isn’t an option, they could offer noise-cancelling headphones for their customers to check our or borrow. 

Ultimately, breweries need to take a hard look at how they can make their locations more physically accessible, comfortable and inclusive. Dining and drinking out can be a stressful experience for both patrons with disabilities and their families and friends, so it’s your job to help make the experience as enjoyable as possible.

Everyone has the right to eat, drink, dance and have a good time while out in public.

John Holl: Where should future efforts – in the beer space – be focused?

Tiffany Fixter: A good brewery is a communal space where people can come together. Unfortunately, adults with disabilities are oftentimes excluded from these social environments. The effort our team makes to create an inclusive experience for all patrons should be the norm, not the exception.

I’d love to see more focus on making the craft beer space more comfortable and accessible for all individuals, regardless of ability, gender identity, or sexual orientation.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

The post Colorado Brewery Being the Change and Bringing the Beats first appeared on All About Beer.

One such brewery is Migration in Portland, Oregon which announced earlier this month that it had formed a Pride committee that will work on regular programs that focus on employees and the community.

Through beer releases, programs, and events the committee has also been working to update Migration’s cultural mission, values, and inclusivity statements. A dry hopped hefeweizen named Colors of Love, was released in June and is available at the brewery and other locations. Proceeds from sales will support LGBTQ+ organizations in the Pacific Northwest.

All About Beer editor John Holl spoke with committee member and front of house supervisor Lily Merrill and Colby Schlicker  the director of marketing about the committee.

John Holl: How did this committee come about?

Lily Merrill.: The Colors of Love campaign has been something that Migration has been doing for a while during Pride month of June. And Migration wanted to include LGBTQ queer folks of the company to be a part of the planning for Pride and also be a part of the messaging that we want to include in the year-round aspect of Pride and of celebrating LGBTQ.

It was about just trying to include as many people within this decision-making process as possible, and who would be good representation of LGBTQ and of Migration as well.

JH: As you get this rolling a little bit more, what’s the hope? What’s the goal to accomplish over the course of not just Pride month, but beyond?

LM: The hope and goal is to curate and highlight safe spaces within the beer community, especially here in Portland. And we want to curate safe spaces within our pubs and our breweries for LGBTQ and BIPOC folks as well in what is normally a very male, white male dominated industry.

So, in order to give space and voices to minorities, and those targeted demographics, in a space where it’s not usually seen very often is, is very important.

And so to have a committee for year round, highlighting these people in these communities it really shows that this isn’t just something that happens in one month, this is something that Migration acknowledges.

It is bringing together even the people within the Migration community to show that Migration does have this in its best interest and is highlighting these communities in a in a respectful, safe, and a very inclusive way.

Colby Schlicker: There’s also an internal aspect of it where, as a company, the leadership team has been really wanting to develop our culture. And kind of essentially mark it from the inside out. We want to listen to our employees and have a culture that as the company grows, as the company matures, that we are doing sort of those best-in-class things to, to listen to our employees to make them feel like the company, cares for them or respects them.

And that’s part what of the Pride committee was. We could go about launching this campaign and kind of do a one-month thing. But I think if we’re going to be authentic, and listen to our employees, it has to be year-round.

We’re going to continue to kind of meet with the committee year-round monthly and have initiatives that are internal and to the market, every month.

JH: This came up earlier when you were talking about creating safe spaces. Have you seen progress on that front?  

LM: I think currently, and especially with Pride marketing and other companies and other initiatives and whatnot, through Pride, it has really highlighted the necessity to change direction or acknowledge and create those spaces.

And so, I think there is progress being made. It’s 2022 and we’re seeing a lot of companies get on the Pride wagon which is great, and it acknowledges the community.

I do think having more intention and having a look at more thoughtful ways of doing these things and incorporating LGBTQ within such a white male dominated community, such as the beer industry, is a big step that does need to be taken,

This interview was condensed and edited for clarity.

The post Talking Year-Round Pride with Migration Brewing first appeared on All About Beer.

Em Sauter is a cartoonist and visual beer educator who delights readers daily on her website Pints and Panels. During her career, she’s worked in breweries and been an advocate for good good beer.

This week she has a new book out – her second – called Hooray for Craft Beer! An Illustrated Guide to Beer, published by Brewers Publications. In it Sauter takes readers on a journey through beer history and styles in her usual engaging way. It is engaging and can be read straight through or just picked up for a few minutes here and there.

While the style of the book and her work might be whimsical, the material is serious and factually accurate. Sauter works hard to make sure what is in the book not only serves entertainment purposes but also can be used as a study guide or learning tool.

She spoke to All About Beer editor John Holl about her new book.

John Holl: Your new book is titled Hooray for Craft Beer! There can be some cynicism in the beer space by some fans or worry by brewers and owners. What are you excited about with beer today and what do you want to remind readers of when they think about their pints?  

Em Sauter: I’m excited by the aspect of choice in today’s beers. Beer encompasses so many flavors, ideas, aromas, emotions. Don’t drink alcohol? There’s NA beer for you. Can’t drink gluten? There’s beer for you. Want to support a brewery that gives exclusively to nonprofits? Beer’s opportunities are infinite which means there’s so much to explore and dive into. It reminds me a lot of music- everyone has a music style they gravitate to and the same is for beer. 

JH: On your website Pints and Panels you’re often pairing beer styles with events, holidays, or items. How do you come up with these beer and life pairings? Is it a feeling or do you have a scientific method?

ES: It’s a feeling. I kind of meditate on it- picture myself with the beer and go, okay, what do I want to be doing with this beer? The thing is- there are no wrong answers. Your ideas about where to drink an IPA may be different than mine and that’s great. Beer can go with anything from activities to baseball teams to seasons. That’s the fun part about pairing beers – it’s more about the state of mind than anything else. 

JH: Your drawings are very detailed. You focus on period clothing when talking about historic beer styles and work to make sure ingredients are represented in a proper way. What have you found to be difficult to draw and get right? What do you enjoy drawing the most?

ES: My work is quite simple so I feel like intricate details can get lost when discussing the deep ideas of the science of beer. I feel inhibited by the art style sometimes but it leads to fun challenges like- how to show spaces, perspective, the brewing process while only using a few sparse lines. P&P aims to be as accurate as possible so I really enjoy the research of it. Okay- I’m drawing an 18th century pub- what would people be wearing? What does the decor look like? What are they drinking out of? I love doing the research to make sure even the smallest details are accurate. 

Hear more from Em about her new book, how she creates “beer and life” pairings on Pints and Panels, and the overall state of beer education by tuning into Drink Beer, Think Beer with John Holl. The weekly interview podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts, and everywhere podcasts are downloaded.

The post Pull Up a Stool with Em Sauter of Pints and Panels first appeared on All About Beer.

For as long as he has worked in beer, Peter Bouckaert has also worked in wood.

He spent a decade early in his career at Brewery Rodenbach, a brewery with several cellars filled with large, oak foeders containing sour ales. Later he would grow his own “foeder forest” at New Belgium Brewing Co., where he aged beers like La Folie long before America developed a thirst for sour beers. He even co-authored a book on barrel-aging—“Wood and Beer: A Brewer’s Guide”—with Dick Cantwell in 2016.  

And it was around wood that Bouckaert charted his next course. Circling a campfire at Jester King Brewery in Austin, Texas, he and Zach and Laura Wilson of 1933 Brewing in Fort Collins, Colorado, discussed opening a small, community-focused brewery.

The Wilsons and Bouckaert, along with his wife Frezi, reopened 1933 Brewing as Purpose Brewing and Cellars in September of last year, quickly filling the small space with a variety of barrels. Since then, Bouckaert has been busy brewing with sometimes unconventional ingredients—spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and coconut flour, to name a few—and visitors will even find the longtime brewmaster manning the bar. We caught up with Bouckaert to hear more about his decision to leave New Belgium for a very different opportunity at Purpose.

All About Beer Magazine: What was it about Zach and Laura’s vision that resonated so much with you?

At one point they mentioned wanting to get on a farm, and that they wanted to stay small and be community members. They didn’t want to go shooting for the moon. That happens a lot with people.

And you’ve been through that over the last 20 years or so.

We started talking about a 10-barrel system, and I said, “No, I want it smaller,” and they said, “Why?” We really had to explore why we would do it smaller and if that would match with the vision going forward.

Do you think staying at that level of production is sustainable?

In my eyes, yes it’s sustainable. Especially with the influence that we have now. If you want to be in a long line of people getting into distribution—it’s a bottleneck, right?

How has your average day of work differed from when you were at New Belgium?

I’m not in meetings anymore, I’m actually doing things now. We’re only open four days a week, so I manage the bar two days a week of those four. Manage is a big word—I’m doing it. It’s that first line of interaction with the customer. We have only four beers over the weekend that we serve, and they’re always different. And they’re kind of crazy, maybe at first?

We have conversations with people on what they should try, and then get their direct feedback. Sometimes in the weekend we’ll even change the beer up a bit based on the feedback we had earlier. So it’s a short feedback loop.

And you probably didn’t get that at New Belgium.

Well, you got it. But you got it filtered through complaints and sales data. Really this is a one-on-one conversation with whomever it is I’m talking with at that moment.

Your cellar experiences and cooperage classes also allow you to have more of a hands-on role with your consumers.

Yeah, we’re in a 2,500-square-foot space and we do a three-hour tour. It’s a very customized tour. Sometimes we decide which barrel we’re going to put on next.

The cooperage class will be a fun one. If you’re interested in cooperage, it’s a fun night going out and having a beer. There are quite a few people who sign up who are really geeking out over barrels. It’s a small setting and can only be 10 people because everyone needs to do certain parts of the process.

You mentioned your beers may at first seem “crazy” to some. When it comes to your approach to brewing, what is your philosophy?

Yes, maybe we’ll use crazy ingredients or interesting ingredients. But we act as a chef, so we’re not going to make the spiciest beer out there, or use the weirdest ingredient out there. If we use these ingredients, we’re doing it to make a dish that is going to be beautiful. To me, it’s more the chef part.

When I first brewed La Folie, no one really understood what it was about. To be able to run such a niche brewery in Purpose now and to have customers who are willing to expose themselves to it or travel for it—we’re living in heaven right now.

Can you tell me more about the Smoeltrekker beers?

There’s a Smoeltrekker number, and it’s the barrel that it comes from. This week we’re serving Smoeltrekker 68, so it’s barrel 68. Sometimes we serve it straight from the barrel, sometimes we carbonate it up—it depends on how that beer is, how it serves and how it’s best.

What’s been the most satisfying thing so far at Purpose?

This is quite a beer savvy town. It’s a beer savvy world out there, and people love to come in and taste what we come up with every weekend. And that has been really satisfying to me. It’s so much fun to play around with so many directions, and then people give it a try.

I know your goal is to stay small. Are you still pursuing a farm location?

We are looking at different locations. The issue with farms is that we are looking in Fort Collins. Most of them would need serious upgrades to the extent almost that it’s better to build new. If you want to go 50 miles east of here in a rural county we could do it right away. But we want to be part of Fort Collins. We love Fort Collins.

This interview was conducted and edited by Daniel Hartis.

Peter Bouckaert At A Glance

Chief Wisdom and Other Nonsense / Co-Owner/Brewmaster
Years in brewing industry: 31
Go-to beer from another brewery: Zwei Pilsner
Beer that inspired him early in life: Rodenbach
Couldn’t live without: My wife and kids
Favorite place to have a beer: Campfire
Wishes he could buy a round for: Antoon Lietaer, brewmaster at Belgium’s Anglo-Belge Brewery
Biggest passion besides brewing: Barrels
Keeping him up at night: Too many things

Company Profile

Purpose Brewing and Cellars
Fort Collins, Colorado
www.purposebrewing.com
Founded: 2017
Annual Production: 120 barrels
Availability: Colorado

The post Pull Up A Stool With Peter Bouckaert of Purpose Brewing and Cellars first appeared on All About Beer.