Grit & Grain Podcast

Happy Cinco de Mayo / May the 4th week! Owners and operators of Vice Beer, Michael and Bria Perozzo are in the house!

We are flush with Star Wars-themed beers, and we just couldn’t wait to bring the Tournament of Beer Best PNW Breweries champion onto the pod.  Round after round of single-digit victories led Vice to the top spot of Peaks & Pints‘ 10th iteration of their famous bracket event.  Fresh off the podium, Vice leaned straight into their yearly Star Wars-themed beer releases with seven new beers.

Tune in for the tourney recap, all the in...

Matt’s back from Berlin!  He was gone so long and missed so much that we figured we might as well just crack a few beers and catch up a bit.

Ron’s been busy traveling all over the PNW trying to hire as many breweries as he possibly can to wrap up his 10th year of the Tournament of Beers. Matt fills us in on his Berlin trip. And Bethany and The Funk Busters have some updates of their own! Plus, we get into the recent Brewer’s Association Annual Craft Beer Production report and what it says...

Matt’s still in Germany, and Ron, Bethany, Phaedra, and Doug held down the fort beautifully for this week’s super special episode.

We are joined this week by one of the strongest brewing duos working the state right now — Dan Cady and Meghan Michels of Holy Mountain Brewing.  Dan, having recently moved back up to Washington after years of brewing some of San Diego’s best beer, got rolling at Holy Mountain just a few months ago, where Meghan has been holding down the fort for the last few years, producing some of Seattle’s best beer.

There are brewers who arrive with a résumé, and then there are brewers who arrive with a landscape. Kulshan Brewing Head Brewer Wes Finger brings the latter — a stretch of Bellingham terrain shaping how he brews and how he thinks. In this episode of the Grit & Grain Podcast, Wes traces his roots to the Nooksack River Valley and a life built around weather, water, and patience. That ethos shows up clearly in his love for Helles lager — a style that demands precision, restraint, and a willingness to let the process speak without shouting.

Kulshan reflects that same gr...

This week, we are joined by Stoup Brewing co-founder, board president of the Washington Brewers Guild, and all-around industry powerhouse, Robyn Schumacher!

After spending her early career teaching high school biology for over a decade, Schumacher made the jump into the beer world and has been running at full speed ever since — being one of the earliest recipients of the Cicerone Certification in Washington, a regular in the famous Drunk Herstory lineup, and now using her platform and leadership in the Brewer’s Guild to establish a tighter knit Washington brewer community.

Tune in to lear...

The Grit and Grain team was lucky enough to be invited to the famous yearly celebration of Double Mountain’s legendary inception, so we packed up the cars and took a field trip to beautiful Hood River.

Nestled in the Brewer’s Lounge couches, the entire Double Mountain team sat with us for a glorious hour of brewery history, shenanigans, and fond memories of the early days of Hood River craft beer.  From award-winning beer to award-winning cider, airplanes, early influences, and future plans, we get the full scoop on the brewery that has spent nearly two decad...

Happy Orval Day Eve!

Saturday, March 21st, marks this year’s international celebration of one of the most unique and highly regarded beers ever made, Orval. A 1000-year-old Belgian ale brewed by Trappist Monks and bottle conditioned with Brettanomyces.

We thought it was the perfect time to bring back Aaron Cohn, regional sales manager at Merchant du Vin and lover of all things monastically produced (including cheese!). We dive into the 1500-year history of Trappist beer, starting with the original Benedictine monks, the technology developed by the Order of Cistercians, and eventually the reform movement th...

We’re back for the second half of our Tacoma Beer Week double header.  Hopefully you tuned in last week for the stellar hour we spent with Ezra Johnson-Greenough of New School Beer + Cider — he’s back again for another episode and joined this week by an extra special guest.

Founder, publisher, and CEO  of SIP Magazine, Kristin Ackerman Bacon joins us this week alongside Ezra to talk all things beer and cider journalism, publishing, and collaboration. Just this week, Kristin and Ezra dropped the news that The New School and SIP Magazine will join forces in a what i...

Happy Tacoma Beer Week! A whole week dedicated to fun events and just about everything craft beer around Tacoma and the Pacific Northwest.  No better time to bring on one of the busiest beer writers and event organizers in the industry.

We are joined this week by the founder of New School Beer + Cider, Fuji to Hood Beer Festival, and the Oregon Beer Awards — Ezra Johnson-Greenough!  From his beginnings at a beloved Portland taproom to his conquest of the beer media landscape, Ezra gives us a crash course on everything he’s done in the beer world.

T...

If you’ve been following some of the big craft beer news outlets lately, you’ve likely seen some of the big stories coming from Oregon recently.  Distributor consolidation, new craft beer start-ups, and brewery buy-outs.  These are all big indicators of industry shifts — so what do they mean for the future of beer in the Northwest?

This week, we discuss some of the big shake-ups in the Oregon craft beer world, how they telegraph the future of the beer industry overall, and how the Oregon and Washington markets can differ.  Our in-house distribution expert, Matt, takes the reins...

This week, we are joined by Nick Ladd and Jessie Quan, owners, operators, and the respective Ladd and Lass from Ladd & Lass Brewing.

Nestled in the heart of Seattle’s University District — and in the old Fabulous Rainbow Tavern, no less — the couple have spent the last four years creating something very special: bringing the attention to detail that comes from years studying architecture, and the creative instincts that have quickly turned them into one of Washington’s newest sweetheart breweries.

Tune in to meet Nick and Jessie. Find out how they got started, where they are...

Are you still scrambling for a thoughtful gift for your loved one? Look no further! The Grit & Grain team put our heads together and came up with a romantic plan you can use for the occasion — a beer and chocolate pairing, of course.

We’re joined again by our best buddy Stacey O’Connor, who stopped by to hang out after her Pink Boots episode last week and who also happens to teach a food and beer pairing class at South Puget Sound Community College. We gathered five of the most popular chocolate treats from the legendary Johnso...

The Pink Boots Society Conference wrapped up a few weeks ago. The every-other-year occasion brings together women and non-binary identifying beer industry professionals together to learn, network, and build community.

Our best buddy and fellow Funk Buster, Stacey O’Connor, was in attendance this year and joined us for a few beers to fill us in what the conference looked like. Everything from early morning talks, late-night brewery meetups, mentorship spaces, Zen dens for our neurodivergent friends.

Tune in for updates on what issues Pink Boots is tackling in the industry today, how the organization lo...

This week are joined by veteran firefighter and Top Rung Brewing Company owner Casey Sobol. For over a decade, Top Rung has slowly but surely built a loyal community around Lacey’s only brewery by creating a hub for local drinkers, training a staff of hyper-knowledgeable beer servers, and brewing award-winning beers.

Crack a Top Rung beer if you’ve got one, and tune in for the details on how this fantastic brewery was born from an unexpected homebrew competition win, how they’ve adapted to the changing craft beer landscape, and how a flagship beer ended up bei...

The Tacoma News Tribune is in the building!  We are joined this week by food and dining reporter Kristine Sherred. A longtime food writer who first cut her teeth writing a feature for a Chicago brewery, Kristine moved to Tacoma in 2019 to immerse herself in the city’s long-standing food and beverage scene via the TNT Diner.

Crack a Tacoma Brew and tune in to find out what hoops an up-and-coming writer in Chicago has to jump through, what spots have been the highlight of her Tacoma journey so far, and see if we finally get an ans...

Way back in 1978, craft beer legends Charles and Rose Ann Finkel founded a small importing business and began shipping classic European beers into the US, effectively changing the American craft beer landscape for generations. Nearly five decades later, and they’re still setting the standard.

Aaron Cohn, regional sales manager at Merchant du Vin, joins us this week.  After many years in the beer industry working with local breweries, Aaron found his calling slinging the absolute best beer in the world to American consumers looking to deepen their knowledge and appreciation for the classics.

Tune in t...

It’s 2026! After a short holiday break, we are back to bring you an absolute banger of an episode to kick off the new year.

We are joined this week by fermentation expert and beer education icon, Shanleigh Thomson. A longtime industry professional and creator of extra-crispy beer-focused content, Shanleigh has amassed an insane amount of beer experience and expertise. We dive into her history in the beer world, her diverse background and education, and her insights on the future of beer as the industry looks to utilize vintage hops and regional ingredients.

Tune in fo...

We’re less than a week from Christmas, which means it was the perfect time to sneak away with our best buddy and former co-host Sean Jackson for a secret Sunday podcast.

Tucked away in Doug’s studio, we popped a few fancy bottles to celebrate Sean’s 50th birthday and caught up with him as much as we could in an hour (it’s never enough time). Tune in to hear about Sean’s birthday surprise and, considering the recent news of Rogue’s closure, catch a few of his favorite stories from the Issaquah taproom and even som...

As odd as it may sound, there really is an art behind making smoothie sours taste good.  Like anything else, there are good and bad examples, and often the difference is the thoughtfulness of the ingredients.  That’s why we wanted to bring in our buddy, Odd Otter head brewer, to help answer the age-old question: “How much soft serve ice cream is too much to add to your beer?”

In all seriousness, Shelby is doing great work at Tacoma’s own Odd Otter Brewing Company, with a thoughtful emphasis on the “odd.” Everything from graf co-ferments with a Belgian...

We think it’s high time we took this interview gig a little more seriously, so we figured we might as well get some high-quality interview questions locked and loaded for future episodes, but we need to make sure they’re up to snuff first.

This week, we are joined by the effortlessly dashing Erik Dahlin of The Odom Corp. to field test some of our new, totally professional interview questions. After years in the beer distribution game, Erik has tasted droves of world-class pints and traveled to many historic breweries, making wonderful memories and collecting excellent stor...

Less than a week out from everyone’s favorite chaotic family holiday—the annual turkey-fueled collision of joy, gravy, and emotional turbulence—we decided it was the perfect time to sit down with our buddy R.J. Adler, from Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., to discuss pairing beer with Thanksgiving dinner.

Naturally, we lasted about 253 seconds before veering completely off the rails and dedicating the entire conversation to one of our mutual obsessions: the glorious, tart, ruby-kissed wonder that is a Flanders red ale. Why is it the perfect beer to bring to any family gathering? Why does it soo...

Time for a good old-fashioned debate. This week, we dive into the now-infamous New York Times opinion piece by famed journalist Mark Robichaux, “Wacky Labels and Silly Names are Killing Craft Beer”.

With a few prominent craft beer industry leaders already having responded, we figured we should throw our expert opinions out there as well, just in case. With Bethany being a professional brewer for much of her career, Ron and Phaedra coming at it from the retail perspective, Matt as a distributor, and Doug as an avid consumer, we share our takes and see where things make...

We’re back, baby! The Washington Brewers Guild‘s 2025 Washington Craft Beer Summit took place this week in SeaTac, Washington, bringing nearly 100 Washington breweries together under one roof to meet with vendors, attend expert lectures, and crown the first-ever Washington Craft Beer Hall of Fame inductees. We posted up for a live recording on the showroom floor again this year and had the chance to hang with a few friends.

First was Bryson Foster, a fellow Tacoman who owns and operates Foster’s Creative, a local digital marketing business. Bryson filled us in on his Summit lecture regardi...

Happy Halloween, Grit & Grain family! This week, we thought we’d dress up as a super serious political podcast.

Just kidding!

But we were indeed joined by the 10th District Representative and former Tacoma mayor, Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland, who joined us this week to fill us in on the current government shutdown, her history in Tacoma, and her love of craft beer (including her and Matt’s shared love of a certain Belgian dark strong ale).

Tune in this week to dial the scope out and hear what’s happening on the national stage...

It’s beer and cheese week! Beer industry veteran, professional cheesemonger, and German language educator, Ericka Baird, joined us this week to talk about everything beer and cheese.

We picked up a variety of cheeses, from real Wisconsin curds to the world-famous Rogue River Bleu, and tried them alongside a few beers chosen by Matt. Ericka and Matt walk us through the pairings, and we see what works and what doesn’t.  And of course, Ericka drops an insane amount of history with every new creamery we explored.

Open a fresh Kraft Single and tune in to...

The Great American Beer Festival wrapped up last weekend, and Ron attended for the second time with Peaks & Pints regular, Grit & Grain listener, and travel buddy, Bryan Johnson. Their four-day epic adventure had everything from hostile tap takeovers, $300 Lyft rides, Mexican food with a side of cliff diving, and, of course, a silent disco.

Tune in for all the details, plus Bethany and Matt went on their own beer-filled field trips, too!

Tap, tap, tap

Alright, Grit & Grainers! Please email us at cheers@gritandgrainpodcast.com with your comments, opinions, and your most creative...

Our best buddies at Vice Beer just celebrated their 3-year anniversary, so we figured it would be the perfect time to get owner, operator, and North Bank beer ambassador Michael Perozzo back on the mic for his third Grit & Grain appearance.

Running a brewery three years out of a global pandemic comes with lots of ups and downs, but as you’ll hear on this week’s episode, it’s been a lot of ups lately! The Vice team is prepping for a major remodel and expansion of their brewery space, welcoming a new brewer into the fold...

Back again with another hoppy episode this week! This time, we wanted to change it up and give you all a peek behind the curtain at a yearly industry tradition.

During hop harvest season, brewers from all over the world come to Yakima to rub elbows with industry friends and rub hops to find out which lots and blends they’ll be using for the following year. Matt and Ron were lucky enough to be invited to join Lucky Envelope Brewing for its hop selection process.

Tune in to find out what the process is li...

Nestled quietly in the margins of Oktoberfest and fresh hop season, pumpkin beers lay waiting to provide a reprieve from the punchy wet hopped IPAs and robust Marzen lagers.

This week, we quickly sample 15 different pumpkin beers currently on the shelves. What pumpkin beers are our favorites? Which ones are kind of weird? Which ones stand the test of time, despite numerous years in production and the emergence of new competitors?

Sheath your ego. Quell your pride. Embrace the pumpkin spice. It is here for you. It is here for all of us.

Tap...

This is super special! We all know Yakima is known for its incredible hop agriculture, but what many folks may not know is that the modern hop industry has its roots a little closer to Tacoma.

This week, we are lucky to be joined by Shelly Schlumpf, president of the Puyallup Historical Society at Meeker Mansion. As a long-time veteran of public service in the Puyallup area, Shelly has spent her career helping folks connect more with their community and history and has turned her sights onto hops. Her team and the City of Puyallup are embracing...

That’s right! Besides being fresh hop season, pumpkin season, and festbier season, it’s also homebrew competition season.

We’re lucky to be joined this week by Dustin Striplin from the Browns Point Homebrew Club to talk about their iconic Lights Out! Dark Beers Only competition making its return. With him is Phil Saurer, representing both Browns Point and the still young Peninsula Fermentation Society, to introduce their brand new All-American Homebrew Competition, featuring only American-developed styles of beer.

Tune in to hear what sort of work goes into running these events, the challenges organi...

We are just about a week away from the most wonderful time of the year for Pacific Northwest beer nerds — fresh hop season!  The chaotic, beautiful, and fleeting annual period where hops are plucked from the bines they grow on and thrown straight into beers while they are still dripping with aromatic oily goodness.

We are spoiled to have so many fantastic breweries that make incredible versions of these beers each year and we figured we would take a week, crack a few beers, and go through some ones we’re most excited for (shout out to our b...

It’s that time of year again! Brew Five Three Beer & Music Festival, Tacoma’s biggest beer taster-glass gathering, kicked off in a new location this year, the historic Armory building, and we were lucky enough to be invited back for another live show. We get into some highlights of the festival, our favorite beers of the day, and our best buddy and beer festival specialist, Gini Sommer, hops on the mic to talk about her work leading up to the big event.

Tune in for all the live show shenanigans and be sure to follow Tacoma Arts...

Nestled in the small downtown area of Renton, Wash., a sleeping giant of a brewery is starting to make giant waves.

We are joined by the family-owned and operated Four Generals Brewing. Brewer Ross, parents and business partners Mary and Mike, and Sales Manager Ali all took to the mic this week to tell the story of this small brewery doing huge things — including winning a silver medal at the most recent World Beer Cup!

Crack a classic Altbier, Kolsch, or Helles and tune in to hear how Four Generals pursues perfection and produces beer th...

We’re back with part 2 of our raw ingredients special, featuring Rikki Welz from Haas Farms and Brian Estes from LINC Malt. With Grainmaker only one week away, we figured it would be a great time to get all the details from these two about what makes this one of the best up-and-coming beer events in Washington, featuring incredible collaboration beers all geared to showcase specialty ingredients in interesting ways.  Plus, Matt gets all nerdy and philosophical about beer as usual, and who doesn’t love that…right?

If you haven’t yet, grab your Grainmaker tickets before it...

It’s an extra special double header! We are joined this week by our best buddy and legendary hop sniffer, Rikki Welz from the world-renowned Haas Farms, and we are so happy to welcome Brian Estes, the man behind LINC Malt‘s specialty grain program. The teams these two people help to lead at their respective operations are responsible for some of the most sought-after ingredients used in beer today.

Tune in for part 1, where we dig into some of the details in specialty malt and hop breeding, how Haas and LINC approach the industry in unique ways...

We’re back! Thanks for sticking around during our holiday hiatus week.  We’re back and have a bunch of catching up to do. Matt climbed a whole mountain, Bethany went camping with her little kiddos (arguably harder than climbing a mountain), and Ron attended the inaugural Legends of the West hosted by our friends at Grains of Wrath, where he caught up with an old Tacoma industry friend!

Additionally, we delve into the recent data released by the Brewers Association, which charts the trajectory of craft beer, the overall health of the industry, and some outliers that...

This week, we were super lucky to be joined by another local beer podcast crew. Austin and Julie uploaded the first episode of Thru The Sightglass back in March 2024 (with our good friend Rachyl from @beersandbedtime!). After a few excellent local episodes from around the PNW, they hit the road in their sick, live-in van. They spent an entire year visiting breweries around the country and recording the most fantastic on-location podcast episodes. Now they’re back and ready to catch us up on everything. And share a few special beers from the road, of course.

Tune in...

The Washington Brewers Festival and Firestone Walker Invitational have come and gone, and the Grit & Grain crew was lucky enough to be on the ground for both.

This week, we’re recapping the magic—our favorite beers, favorite moments, and the unforgettable folks who made both festivals shine. Don’t miss our Instagram highlight videos from the Washington Brewers Festival, where we chatted with amazing brewers and reconnected with some familiar podcast faces.

Tap, tap, tap

Alright, Grit & Grainers! Please email us at cheers@gritandgrainpodcast.com with your comments, opinions, and favorite SOS Pro Wr...

Kendall Jones is back!

For Part 2, we dive right into the article posted to his longstanding Washington Beer Blog the morning of our recording, wherein Jones breaks down the Brewers Association‘s announcement of Mexican Lager being added to official style guidelines right on the heels of our Mexican lager episode. He also weighs in on how the Washington beer industry has evolved over the last few decades, a few of his favorite under-the-radar breweries in our wonderful state, and the impact of his long-running triple IPA beer series, Washington Hop Mob!

Tap, tap, tap