The All About Beer Podcast, hosted by Em Sauter of Pints and Panels and Don Tse (The Don of Beer), is the twice monthly show that dives deep into a specific topic in beer. From ingredients, to style, to process the duo welcomes the very best guests who are experts in the field to help unpack it all.
This past year brought a raft of diverse episodes that informed and offered insight for both brewing professionals and curious beer drinkers.
Listen to the full show where you download podcasts including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, and Overcast.
Here are the top episodes for 2023.
1. Demanding Clean Draft Lines
There’s nothing more important in the beer world that’s also super misunderstood and unappreciated than clean draft lines- a dirty draft line can sully a person’s relationship with a brewery or bar and can also have legal implications as well. Our Guest: Neil Witte is one of the foremost draft beer experts in the beer business. He’s spent 20 of his 23 years in the business working in draft quality, first for Boulevard Brewing Company in Kansas City and now with his own company, Craft Quality Solutions. He co-authored the Draught Beer Quality Manual (DBQM), widely considered to be the most authoritative draft beer reference guide in the beer business today. He continues the work on this living document to this day as a member of the Brewers Association Draught Quality Subcommittee.
2. Beer and Food Pairings with Garrett Oliver
This episode goes deep on beer and food pairing. Our guest is the legendary Garrett Oliver who is the Brewmaster of the Brooklyn Brewery, but more importantly wrote probably the most popular book about beer and food pairing, the Brewmaster’s Table.
3. India Pale Ale Through Time
India pale ale is the style that built craft beer. With bold, hoppy flavors, it was distinctive and different and tantalized tastebuds of craft beer drinkers.
IPA is a historic style, but historic doesn’t mean static. Yes, there are many modern interpretations of IPA, but even historic IPA evolved over time, in response to tastes, wars, taxation and many other factors that drive beer makers and beer drinkers.
4. The Intersection of Beer and Geek Culture
Every May 4, Star Wars fans emerge with full Force from their winter slumber. Star Wars day celebrates not only the legendary Lucas films, but all things nerdy – from comic books to cosplay. Nerd culture and beer culture overlap greatly because of their shared ethos of passion and finding friendship with fellow fanatics.
5. What is a Juicy Lager?
What’s in a style name? On this episode of the All About Beer Podcast Em Sauter and Don Tse talk to three breweries who are pushing the boundaries of what people think of when they think of style. First, the brewer of Ecliptic brewing and Ravenna Brewing who created a “juicy lager.” Then the show pivots into a discussion with Bob Kunz of Highland Park Brewery to the new big style of the moment: West Coast Pilsner, which has taken off lately throughout the Western states.
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Don Tse
Living near seven malthouses, Don Tse is a freelance beer and malt writer and consultant known globally as The Don of Beer. He has been active in craft beer for over 25 years and has famously sampled and written tasting notes on almost 27,000 different beers. He is the co-host of the All About Beer podcast. Don has also written for magazines and presented on beer in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Ukraine and Singapore. Nobody in those countries thinks his jokes are funny.
Em Sauter
Em Sauter is an Advanced Cicerone®, cartoonist, author, beer reviewer, international beer judge and public speaker who runs the award winning website Pints and Panels, which focuses on visual beer education. Her first book "Beer is for Everyone! (of Drinking Age)" was published in 2017 by One Peace Books. Her second book "Hooray for Craft Beer!" was released in April 2022 with Brewers Publications. Em is also co-host of the All About Beer Podcast. She lives in New England with her husband Matt and two cats- Milbo and The Geen.