Transcript
00:00:00 INTRO
Whether your beer is in a bottle can or glass kick back and relax, it's better on draft.
00:00:18 Ken
Welcome, everybody. Episode 345 of the Better on Draft podcast. My name is Ken. Thank you so much for joining us tonight. It has been a minute since I've been on the show, taking a much needed break from the world of craft beer. And boy, did I take the wrong time to take a break because of all the news and.
00:00:36 Ken
Especially around the state of Michigan.
00:00:38 Ken
Again, that has been going on, but let's go around and say hello to everyone, see what everybody is drinking, starting with Rob. Rob. First, did you see that opening our our brand new opening?
00:00:49 Rob
I did. That was a very nice work on the actual editing instead of just pasting a a white block over the the the show number and calling it done wait.
00:01:00 Ken
Yes, yes. No, he did not see it. He did not see it. Ohh.
00:01:01 Dan
You didn't see it. You didn't see it.
00:01:04 Rob
Ohh I saw the picture. It was at me. Oh oh, that guy looked way too nice to be me.
00:01:07 Speaker 4
Yes, yes.
00:01:13 Ken
Our compliments to the folks over at pints and panels and Souder over there, does an amazing job did that Commission for us go check it out. She's got plenty of amazing artwork on her Instagram, Facebook and of course, if you want your own stuff, you can always go in there and ask her. But Rob, what are you drinking?
00:01:32 Rob
Today I have a strawberry pineapple wheat to start from Great Lakes brewing.
00:01:38 Rob
I am looking forward to.
00:01:39 Rob
It.
00:01:42 Ken
Ohh man of short words Dan, what do?
00:01:43 Dan
You got, you know, I just got came up with a great idea after that last Pennant. We just need to add in and our truth to it, just to just to make it complete.
00:01:55 Ken
That would be a wrestling joke, I believe a bingo square.
00:01:59 Dan
Ken got it. I've.
00:02:01 Dan
Got myself an old last student.
00:02:02 Wendy
I didn't get it.
00:02:05 Ken
Wendy, what are you drinking over?
00:02:07 Ken
There.
00:02:07 Wendy
So I picked up a red Zeppelin. It is an English style red ale from Burnham Brewing in Michigan City. IN it is delicious.
00:02:18 Ken
Great city name. Horrible state. Sorry, Robin.
00:02:22 Ken
Now.
00:02:23 Rob
Not that long ago. I love that beer.
00:02:25 Ken
We do love our fans over in Indiana. If you are in the chat, live, go and say hello, see what's up. Come talk to us. We have a brand new starting time a little bit later in the evening, so hopefully we'll catch a few more live viewers. But of course, if you are listening to the podcast, you can go check out the video live over at youtube.com/better on draft.
00:02:45 Ken
Facebook.com/better on draft and if you're watching the video, of course you could subscribe and just get the audio so you do not have to look at my face the entire show. For myself, I have a nice tall glass of old nations B 43 that I will be drinking throughout the night and enjoying.
00:03:04 Ken
Well, I want to go over the first topic real quick just because I think there is a lot of news that has happened within the state of Michigan. And while we are a more national and international podcast, we still, you know are close to our roots. Even though Dan is in Arizona.
00:03:23 Ken
And I guess it's just half of us now, me and Wendy here in Michigan, bringing it down. Well, you know, we've had a lot of lot of fans join us through the Michigan Beer Days. So there is a lot of updates to go through. Since I have been gone.
00:03:25 Dan
Yeah, hold on here.
00:03:37 Ken
Which includes brewery Nicks announced today that they are going to be closing up shop. Michigan's only gluten free brewery. They were also a gluten free kitchen, so I'm surprised that did not take off as much as it needed to. Chelsea Ale House also announced today or yesterday that they are going to be closing in May. Dragons.
00:03:57 Ken
Landing closed over in Saint Clair Shores at the old Shipwreck site which I I kind of figured could be happening. You got 3 breweries, a competition and everyone still loves the OG.
00:04:07 Ken
Right, Jayden, James is closing up shop and moving to Rockford. So you'll still be able to get your monkey butter just in a different city. Grand Rapids Brewing had a fire and closed and they are closed for good. They will not be reopening. I believe that's going to be the same fate for traffic jam and snug which had a fire a year, year and a half ago. Michigan.
00:04:27 Ken
Distillery is now closing their tap room. They're just gonna be for private parties. Guardian, of course, as we knew is closed. They're moving to be closer to their.
00:04:35 Ken
Family N Center Brewing our friends at North Center. RIP to the brewery itself. Kevin is still alive and well, but the brewery sadly is not and we did get an announcement a couple days ago that one drop will be not evicted there. The lease is not going to be renewed.
00:04:52
That's.
00:04:55 Ken
Like, I mean, I guess that's evicted, but evicted sounds harsh. Is there a better word for that?
00:05:00 Ken
Non renewal forcefully not being able to renewed so one drop is looking to move their facility to another area. I think we've we've talked about it a handful of times here on the show and I don't think this is necessarily a craft.
00:05:00 Rob
Moving, yeah.
00:05:20 Ken
Or bubble. I don't think the bubble is bursting. I think there is a little bit of correction, a little bit of, you know.
00:05:28 Ken
COVID finally catching up to a lot of breweries, obviously a little private stuff, but kind of going over to Dan and Rob. Are you guys seeing this mass number of Closings within your states? Is this a Michigan only thing? What are your thoughts? I'll start with the Rob here.
00:05:47 Rob
Yeah, I haven't noticed a lot of closures in Indiana, not like this like this. These I think were all in the last.
00:05:55 Rob
Month or two.
00:05:56 Rob
I've seen these these announcements, the Grand Rapids, when I was a little surprised about, and I did see that their sign just sold for $2000.
00:06:05 Rob
Which is interesting, but we lost. So Indiana City is is one I can remember closed very, very recently and that was the same deal where the lease was not renewed. I think that they chose not to renew because the the rate was jacked way up.
00:06:25 Rob
Type of a.
00:06:25 Rob
Thing.
00:06:26 Rob
So, but that's hard for a brewery. That's a lot of equipment that you got to move. It's more than just looking at the lease price, it's it's moving all that stuff.
00:06:36 Rob
So. So no, I guess it's the shorter answer.
00:06:39 Rob
To that.
00:06:39 Rob
It's no, I haven't seen it so much here in Indiana. Haven't seen that many breweries close, just kind of a normal number.
00:06:48 Ken
Dan, are you noticing anything over there in Arizona?
00:06:51 Dan
Yeah, more and more. Keep opening. I can't tell you a single three that's actually closed.
00:06:56 Dan
In quite a lot, actually.
00:06:58 Ken
It, and I mean we're not, we're not like closing and only closing like a lot of people who do have the Michigan brewery map app, which is a free app on your Android and iOS device. You could go in there and you could see plenty of upcoming breweries as well as breweries that have recently opened. You know there are breweries.
00:07:17 Ken
Like as I'm looking, I think Grand River opened up their claws and brewery. I believe one for all opened while I was gone over in Livonia, and there's definitely a few more that have come through. So yeah, we are still seeing breweries open. 6 folks are still on this process of opening WHL Salty Mac.
00:07:37 Ken
But yeah, you're not seeing any Closings or anything like that is what you're saying?
00:07:41 Dan
Now, there hasn't been a closing in quite a while actually, so it's going pretty strong out here.
00:07:47 Ken
Well, I guess as someone who has lived in Michigan, moved to Arizona. Why do you think Michigan is having this? Not that this domino effect of closing breweries all at one time.
00:08:02 Dan
I think it's over saturated. We talked about that seven years.
00:08:05 Dan
To go, I think there's just too many breweries and too many locations out there, too close to each other. Like you mentioned, 3 competing with each other in one location. That's not going to survive forever.
00:08:17 Ken
Yeah, I was. I was talking about Dragons landing, which was only a handful of miles from the Dragon Meat Brewery over in Warren, MI, but they were competing against Jamex, Baffin, and copper hop. And of course, there was that new brewery that just opened up right over by in Grosse Pointe that.
00:08:37 Ken
I am just someday, someday opened over there. So yeah, there is a lot of breweries that are.
00:08:45 Ken
Closing and opening at the same time, so I was just curious if you had maybe any more thoughts on it. If you think there's anything else that I didn't mention that might be an issue, but you still think it's saturation and just that.
00:08:57 Dan
Yeah.
00:08:58 Dan
What? When I think about the breweries out here outside of the one stretch out here, a couple of stretches I should say in the.
00:09:05 Dan
Like down here, you've been down there on Roosevelt Row where we went to the, I think. No, that's the second to last Brewer that closed when we went to when you were out here, places like downtown Gilbert have two or three. But and it would also all.
00:09:18 Dan
Spread out, there's.
00:09:19 Dan
Nothing really, you know, congested. They're all pretty isolated from each.
00:09:24 Dan
Other so it keeps it pretty, you know, has assets, they're not competing for the same customers basically is what's what I think is going on.
00:09:36 Rob
To some degree, so I'm not sure if it's if it's me and just the way I have changed, but I feel like there's still that COVID recovery and there's not as many.
00:09:47 Rob
I don't have as many opportunities to go out to destinations and you know, hit a bunch of breweries, type of a thing. Also, my liver doesn't seem to allow it anymore. I do not recover as well.
00:10:00 Ken
I think consumption and the changes in consumption which I I want to talk about a little bit later, but Wendy, you're with me here in Michigan.
00:10:07 Ken
You obviously have been to many of these breweries.
00:10:09 Ken
That I named. What is your thoughts?
00:10:14 Wendy
Well, I think it's a lot more than just the beer industry especially and and us being oversaturated. I think there's a lot of restaurants that are closing as well. I see that happen on the daily on my social.
00:10:25 Wendy
Videos.
00:10:26 Wendy
I.
00:10:28 Wendy
I think people are.
00:10:29 Wendy
Going out as much as they used to.
00:10:32 Wendy
Honestly, that's kind of. I mean, I've come across that too just myself. But you know, as I'm getting older, life changes and I have other priorities than going and hanging out. So I think.
00:10:46 Wendy
That we're kind of seeing that trend in a lot of places. If you look at some of the lists though, a lot of it is that they're moving. They're not necessarily closing.
00:10:57 Wendy
So you have to pay attention to that as well.
00:11:03 Wendy
And and I said, I've been saying for a few years now that the berries that are really going to take off and survive are the ones that get a strong foothold in their community.
00:11:13 Wendy
You know, you look at the berries like badge has taken off and it's because of the roots that they have put down and the ties they've made within their community and throughout the area.
00:11:26 Wendy
So I I think that a lot of that has to do with it as well.
00:11:33 Ken
Yeah. In our chat, Bill Carney is talking that, you know, Nicks is kind of niche whereas Jayden James was also a part of a bunch of wineries. And Misha Green didn't sell that much beer. Mission Green also had the issue of being across the street from Lansing Brewing Company, which is a massive facility where they have beer, spirits, wine.
00:11:53 Ken
They have, like corn hole patio like it is a place where they can not only hold a bunch of people so they don't have to necessarily turn anybody away.
00:12:00 Ken
Hey, but they also, you know, keep people there for hours with their games, you know, giant Jenga, corn hole, that kind of stuff, that kind of keeps people drinking more beer or attending that type of facility, I guess, let's kind.
00:12:14 Ken
Of.
00:12:15 Ken
When was the last time you all went?
00:12:17 Ken
To a brewery.
00:12:22 Rob
I missed trivia this week, so it's two weeks for me as I go every every Tuesday.
00:12:25 Dan
Two weeks.
00:12:27 Wendy
Yesterday.
00:12:30 Dan
Yeah, it's been about two weeks for me.
00:12:34 Wendy
Yeah, it was yesterday for me.
00:12:37 Ken
Do do you think that you guys might minus your like weekly thing because that could be done at a bar in any you know?
00:12:43 Ken
Any place it's not.
00:12:44 Ken
Necessarily, because it's the brewery. Do you see yourselves drinking less today than you were, say, during the pandemic or even pre pandemic?
00:12:57 Rob
Yeah, I was actually pretty good during the pandemic of not drinking that much. But I I think I'm drinking less these last couple of weeks. Well, I was golfing last weekend, so that one doesn't, really.
00:13:07 Dan
Count but I yeah.
00:13:10
I think.
00:13:12
Yeah.
00:13:13 Ken
I think a lot of people like when you're dealing with those types of specialty events, not everyone is necessarily upset that they're drinking or they're having a few.
00:13:23 Ken
Extra drinks because the the.
00:13:25 Ken
Event around it is why you're drinking and you're not drinking, you know, to the event for. For me, I definitely.
00:13:33 Ken
Have cut back a lot on.
00:13:35 Ken
Booze intake since like, especially the beginning of COVID, I think I was a little too wild during then. Coming coming after this show. And I'm yeah. Drinking until 3/4 in the morning. But even before like I I'm not going to breweries as much as I want to anymore. I'm not going to bars.
00:13:55 Ken
I'm not doing anything special like I used to go to karaoke like 4 nights a week. I would.
00:14:00 Ken
Go to pool halls. I would go to. You know, the casino or city club like there's plenty of places that I. No, that's that's that. That's not I I want my money. Like I want to drink my money. I don't want to like have like 5 minutes with my money. I want at least a good 1520 in. That's really pricey at one of those.
00:14:06 Speaker 4
This club.
00:14:20 Ken
Facilities, from what I'm told from what I'm told.
00:14:25 Dan
What you're told?
00:14:27 Ken
Thank you. Thank you for catching that. But but really like Dan and Wendy like even like pre COVID to now, I know we've all aged five years you know naturally, but probably 10 years just from all the stress and everything. Are you going out as much are you doing as much? Would you be doing?
00:14:46 Ken
As much if you didn't have other obligations.
00:14:52 Wendy
Although I probably still would.
00:14:55 Wendy
Be going out as much. If I didn't have other obligations.
00:15:00 Wendy
Obviously, I take Graham with me when I go a lot of Times Now, she doesn't drink beer, but she will hang out with me and it never fails. She always wants to try it and goes.
00:15:12 Wendy
Every time it's the funniest thing. I have so many videos. One day I'm going to do a compilation of her trying all my different beers because she always makes faces and says yuck and.
00:15:23 Wendy
But she never remembers that she doesn't like beer, so she always wants.
00:15:27 Wendy
To try it.
00:15:30 Wendy
So yeah, I I would probably be doing more if I didn't have those obligations.
00:15:40 Wendy
I I still like the travelling and the going around and seeing the different breweries and you get a feel for the area that you're in and I love how every brewery has its own unique feel. When you walk in, I just, I find it amazing that we can have so many different.
00:15:56 Speaker 4
Print.
00:15:58 Wendy
Places.
00:15:59 Wendy
That.
00:15:59 Wendy
Do the same.
00:16:00 Wendy
Thing.
00:16:01 Rob
I'm especially with you on that like a weekend where you can go or a week where you can go somewhere else and and visit a bunch of breweries. I love those outings. I love those things. I just I I don't know what it is with me lately. I haven't scheduled any of those for quite a while. Plus I usually when I was so before COVID, I was traveling for work.
00:16:19 Rob
A lot, a lot. A lot.
00:16:21 Rob
And so it was kind of built.
00:16:23 Rob
Into that I.
00:16:24 Rob
Could I could you know, stay an extra day or whatever. And and, you know, see what was going on there.
00:16:29 Rob
Plus the week I.
00:16:30 Rob
Was working so I do miss that. I was thinking more my buddies and I we used to.
00:16:38 Rob
Pick like a Saturday. Well, we've got trivia coming up on Saturday downtown. I think we're. We're not sure if it's this week or next week, but if it's this week then, and we will probably go down early and you know pre-game at a couple of bars near the place and.
00:16:53 Rob
Then eventually walk there and and do trivia and get some food, and then get home. Eventually we used to do stuff like that without having trivia as the the kind of thing that we were coalescing around. We would just go and and sometimes it's bike ride or whatever, but we haven't done any of that for a while, just it just hasn't come together.
00:17:15 Rob
So I don't know if other people are experiencing that. If there's just less drive to get out there or or what if just me.
00:17:21 Wendy
Well, I've noticed too that like a lot of my friend groups, I have a very specific group of friends that we've been friends for a very long time and we would always try to get together every couple months and we.
00:17:32 Wendy
Would go out.
00:17:33 Wendy
But now that we're getting older, you know, some have kids, some have dogs, some have grams, and we tend to get together at each other's houses.
00:17:42 Wendy
Now so like tomorrow, we're going to hit or Sunday, we're going to have brunch at a friend's house instead of going out for brunch.
00:17:53 Rob
Yeah, that sounds less COVID related and more just age-related maybe.
00:17:57 Wendy
Yeah.
00:18:01 Ken
I I just haven't really had the opportunity to see a lot of friends I when we were going out all those times, that was just kind of your your chance to catch.
00:18:10 Ken
Up with everyone, everyone.
00:18:11 Ken
Knew that on X date, like Saturdays we are at this place. This is the bar we go to. Whoever shows up that week shows up. Whoever does it doesn't. And now I haven't.
00:18:20 Ken
You know, seeing a lot of people in months and probably even years so.
00:18:24 Ken
Unless it involves some type of very specific event, like a Lions game or I heard someone gasp.
00:18:34 Dan
What happens when you move like close to Lake MI? So I mean, it tends to happen.
00:18:34
A little.
00:18:40 Ken
I'm. I'm just in ipsilanti. I'm not that far.
00:18:45 Ken
I'm still quote and I'm still closer to.
00:18:47 Ken
Ohio than I am lake MI.
00:18:50 Ken
Which isn't really saying much. That is Ohio.
00:18:51 Speaker 4
Sure.
00:18:55 Wendy
When I lived in Ipsy, we used to go to Toledo for concerts because it was closer than Pontiac.
00:19:00 Ken
Yeah, there there is a show on Pontiac tomorrow. I'm debating going to as well, but that's the worst part. About Pontiac though is is that it's an hour and a half away and the show doesn't end till two 2:30 in the morning and you're like.
00:19:12 Ken
Oh well, I'll.
00:19:12 Ken
Be home at 4:00, I guess and.
00:19:14 Ken
There goes my entire Sunday.
00:19:19 Ken
Yeah, I so and talking about it like don't get to see friends anymore. So I don't, we don't go out anymore and I don't know if it's necessarily an age thing cause I mean I'm getting old up there. I'm 37.
00:19:32 Ken
I think yeah, I am 37. So you know I I I did a little bit, I I did a little math in my head. I'm like am I 37 am I?
00:19:34 Dan
You have to think about it.
00:19:39 Ken
38 so.
00:19:42 Ken
I know as I get older I just don't go out as much as I used to and I don't know if it's necessarily a age thing because I've always naturally hung out with older people.
00:19:51 Ken
Like I you know, usually I'm the youngest person in any group. Whatever I do, whether it's better on draft, whether.
00:19:58 Dan
You know what? I just laughed at, sorry.
00:20:03
No, no, no, no.
00:20:04 Ken
No, it's but. But that's that's kind of.
00:20:06 Ken
What it is I've?
00:20:06 Ken
Just always, you know, hung out with older people and you know, even what I'm bowling like. I'm the youngest kid on my bowling team still.
00:20:15 Ken
It's just a weird thing to see, you know, all these other people still going out, whereas I'm just kind of cutting back, not going out as much and it's not for any like savings issue or monetary issue or anything like that. I just, I want to stay in and watch the new Fallout series or play a game and just.
00:20:34 Ken
Go to bed at a decent time.
00:20:37 Rob
Could be a seasonal thing too. The When the weather is nice I.
00:20:39 Rob
Do get out a lot more.
00:20:42 Ken
I mean, even even when the weather gets nicer, the only change is is that I hang outside on my patio and smoke a cigar. Like, that's the difference is that I don't. I go outside, but I don't go out. Whereas like Dan when.
00:20:59 Dan
Go ahead. I'm sorry, I think.
00:20:59 Rob
What? What?
00:21:00 Ken
No, no, no, no, no.
00:21:02 Dan
They're real real man of travel there, heading from the living room to the.
00:21:08 Dan
Traveling man over there.
00:21:10 Ken
Hey. Hey. Sometimes you know if it's raining, it's the living room to the garage.
00:21:15 Ken
So you know I I got. I I.
00:21:16 Dan
Even.
00:21:17 Ken
I go to the the.
00:21:19 Ken
East side of my home and the West side of my home.
00:21:24
Oh.
00:21:25 Ken
I think I can get a hot passport stamp at both sides too. Buy one, get one free drinks.
00:21:31 Dan
There you go.
00:21:34 Ken
I feel like it's just a me problem now. Y'all are like Ken, you're you're an old foe, you.
00:21:40 Dan
You're you're the youngest.
00:21:40 Ken
Just does nothing.
00:21:41 Dan
Person here and you act like.
00:21:42 Dan
You're 60. I mean sometimes.
00:21:45 Dan
I know 60 year olds I go out more than.
00:21:47 Dan
That.
00:21:48 Ken
So do I like that's that's, you know, I see one of my friends that I used to bowl with. He's retired. He's got like 4 kids, 5 grandkids and him and his wife.
00:21:59 Ken
Just like trekking the entire city of Detroit, going from bar to bar to bar to bar and I'm like.
00:22:04 Ken
How have you been to like? He's lived in the city for so long and he still goes to Ohh never seen this place before. Ohh never been.
00:22:10 Ken
To this place before.
00:22:11 Rob
Yeah, he's gotta get out of the house for.
00:22:12 Rob
Some quiet go to a bar.
00:22:14 Dan
Where it's quieter.
00:22:14 Ken
No, he goes.
00:22:16 Ken
He he goes with his his wife like him and his wife, just like transit. Like when we did.
00:22:21 Dan
Get away from the kids and grandkids.
00:22:24 Ken
I think thankfully they don't have them at the because they just live in an apartment. They sold their house in Madison Heights or whatever and just got an apartment in Detroit to not worry about upkeeping all that other **** that they have to worry about.
00:22:36 Ken
I was. I was going to mention because they came and saw us over at the March draft, this party for copper hop two years ago, which we have a winner. Have you have you guys been on since we've crowned our new March draft this winter?
00:22:52 Rob
We've not really announced it. I kind of.
00:22:53 Wendy
I don't think so.
00:22:55 Rob
I sent something in one of the teaser.
00:22:56 Dan
We were going to be, but then you cancelled.
00:22:57 Dan
It I cancelled it.
00:23:00
That's.
00:23:02 Dan
Yeah, two weeks ago, we were gonna do a show and.
00:23:04
I don't.
00:23:04 Dan
You're like Nope.
00:23:06 Dan
Oh.
00:23:07 Ken
I mean, you all come to the show after the three hours we were hanging online, but Arctic Circle Arctic Circle is our winner over in Chesterfield. Apparently we cannot get out of Macomb County for too long as they won with the runners up being Coopersville Brewing and Coopersville mix.
00:23:24 Ken
Again, now a lot of people who were participating in the March draft, less competition. 1/2 of them didn't know where Coopersville was. The other half didn't know where Chesterfield was. So they are definitely learning about each other. But we are going to be celebrating and doing our keg release party on their sour magazine.
00:23:45 Ken
Today, which is going to be May 4th, 2024, we're gonna be recording a podcast live before they open and then starting at noon, we're gonna be giving away a keg 1 pint at a time. That is their grand prize. We do hope we see you guys there, of course, while thousands of you voted, only a handful of you could get a beer.
00:24:06 Ken
So make sure you get there. Get in line, get early and yeah. Did you guys do any predictions or anything like that? Did you talk about March drafts on the show while I was gone?
00:24:16 Dan
Yeah.
00:24:17 Dan
The last year we had was had the final four. We went over and it was pretty good. I thought I had picked, I forget who I picked.
00:24:24 Dan
Out of those I was pulling was coopersville in the north.
00:24:28 Ken
Coopersville was in northwest.
00:24:29 Dan
Or no, that was the great length.
00:24:31 Ken
Yeah. Gray Grayling versus coopersville rolling.
00:24:31 Dan
Victoria length so one room free length.
00:24:35 Ken
Oak.
00:24:36 Dan
Yeah, that's the.
00:24:36 Dan
That I was.
00:24:37 Dan
Took the long shot on and it didn't pull off.
00:24:40 Ken
No, I thought Rolling Oak was gonna do. I was waiting for a a nice little drive up to Grayling in the summer to to go check it out. I might just have to.
00:24:48 Ken
Do it just.
00:24:48 Ken
To do it now, but Rolling Oak is a beautiful brewery. I'm trying to think of who the 4th brewery was in that competition. If it was rustic leaf, or if it was a.
00:24:58 Dan
It.
00:24:58 Dan
Rustic leave. It was. Period.
00:25:00 Ken
Yeah.
00:25:02 Ken
Yeah, that was that was a little bit of a heartbreaker for them, that's for sure. Did anybody pick?
00:25:07 Dan
Great guy.
00:25:08 Ken
Arctic Circle to be the winner.
00:25:10 Wendy
I think I did.
00:25:12 Dan
I thought Rob did too, honestly.
00:25:13 Rob
Yeah, I wasn't invested. I think I did. Yeah, because I like their name.
00:25:18 Ken
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00:25:38 Ken
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00:25:59 Ken
Copper hop in Saint Clair Shores or even the 2024 March draft this winter. Arctic Circle in Chesterfield.
00:26:05 Ken
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00:26:26 Ken
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00:26:39 Ken
I just pieced together one of their schticks because the the Penguin obviously Arctic Circle makes.
00:26:46 Ken
Sense the Penguin.
00:26:48 Ken
But then they always did. Sour magazine day. And if you hear the inflection in my voice when I say sour magazine day, it almost sounds like the Billy Madison quote of Nudie magazine.
00:26:59 Ken
Where there's the Penguin in the the trips, the drunken trips that he takes while he is all over the place. So yes, we had Arctic Circle win and I'm trying to pull up the website because I believe rustic leaf had been so close.
00:27:20 Ken
To winning a handful of times, and they it might not have been. Ohh yeah they were. They were runner.
00:27:27 Ken
Up in 2018.
00:27:28 Ken
So I know rustic Leaf has been up there a few times.
00:27:33 Ken
But yeah, last year two guys was the runner up and I don't. I don't even know if they were in our competition this year.
00:27:38 Wendy
There.
00:27:39 Ken
Now that I think about it, so they didn't, they didn't have a chance to.
00:27:41 Dan
They were.
00:27:43 Ken
No, they weren't.
00:27:45 Ken
I'm looking at the list right now, yeah.
00:27:47 Rob
You have to go back to a thing that you said and point out that.
00:27:47
Have.
00:27:49 Rob
There are no Penguins in the Arctic, you know.
00:27:52 Dan
No, I was going to say the same thing. There are none up there.
00:27:55 Ken
I don't live there, so I don't know.
00:27:59 Dan
Well, you're gonna. You're about to have to cross Hudson Bay next week when you go out there, so.
00:28:05 Dan
Isn't that how far north it is? Right where there breweries.
00:28:12 Dan
No, I got it, yeah.
00:28:16 Ken
You said Hudson Bay and I'm like, what are you talking about? I could not.
00:28:18 Speaker 4
Yeah. Well, we've had there that part.
00:28:22 Rob
That's you're looking for the Northwest Passage up there.
00:28:28 Ken
I don't know. I mean, Dan was the one that was alive in the the Ice Age. So he probably crossed the the ice bridge up there.
00:28:31 Speaker 4
Yeah, yeah.
00:28:36 Rob
Apparently me too.
00:28:38 Dan
Yeah.
00:28:40 Ken
Yeah, I'm just. I'm. I'm. I'm the old soul here. Ken walks around in a bathrobe and slippers all day. Get my newspaper delivered to my door. Still got a got a kid. You got a kid throwing them? Oh, yeah, I'm sure you probably could.
00:28:41 Wendy
I think you said.
00:29:00 Ken
Except I don't think there's a kid anymore on a bicycle. I think it's a a car that's that's throwing them out the window. Also, while I was gone, they announced the top 50 breweries by production, which caused a little chatter over on the Facebook, better on draft page because people I think really took it personally, that it was a production list.
00:29:02 Wendy
You can slow.
00:29:03 Rob
That's a.
00:29:21 Ken
And not a what's the best beer list?
00:29:24
List.
00:29:24 Ken
Or what was the highest rated beer list or anything like that?
00:29:27
Why would they? Why would?
00:29:28 Dan
You get hurt over that. I don't even understand.
00:29:30 Ken
Well.
00:29:30 Rob
Those are straight up numbers.
00:29:33 Ken
Yeah, so people didn't understand two things. One, the numbers.
00:29:37 Ken
Of the the.
00:29:39 Ken
Breweries and how they got there. Two why Parin was there not realizing that they're owned by Monster Energy?
00:29:46 Ken
And three, like, you know, just a lot of, like, either. Where's bells? Where's founders? Or this list is terrible. Parent is terrible. Beer. Why is it, Holmes on there? Or why is it Old Nation on there?
00:30:00 Ken
And like it.
00:30:01 Rob
It's terrible beer, but it comes with huge volumes.
00:30:03 Ken
Apparently yes.
00:30:04 Ken
Yes, there there is one that I noticed on here and I don't know if you wanna go over or two, two main ones that I noticed one athletic brewing is a top ten brewery now craft brewery in the.
00:30:14 Ken
State of Michigan, which of course.
00:30:16 Ken
Is the largest non alcoholic only house in this country.
00:30:20 Dan
Aren't they? Aren't they in the state of?
00:30:22 Ken
California. No, there's they are not in Michigan. No. So the top 50 production in the country, not of Michigan only.
00:30:30 Dan
No, got you.
00:30:30 Speaker 4
Oh, gotcha.
00:30:30 Ken
OK. Yeah, that that list probably won't come out for another month while they're getting all the the rest of the information.
00:30:37 Ken
And then yeah, they are in California and they're in another state. I think they're on the East Coast as well. They had two breweries cause if you remember, they they're in Connecticut. They were when they came onto the show years ago, they actually had one of their owners was at the new brewery in California.
00:30:57 Ken
So yeah, so.
00:30:57 Dan
That thing.
00:30:58 Ken
Is massive. Yes, yes, yes, they they understood exactly what was about to happen to them and they went off with the production and everything.
00:31:11 Ken
So yeah, so Monster Brewing is #9, which owns Comstock Michigan's Perrin bells. Founder is not on that list, but the other one that I'd never heard of. And apparently there's a place over here that carries it. Have you guys ever heard of the brewery? Montucky cold snacks?
00:31:29 Dan
Yeah, you can. They make a.
00:31:29 Wendy
Yes.
00:31:31 Dan
Logger or something like that.
00:31:33 Wendy
Yeah, it's kind of.
00:31:34 Wendy
Like a Unicorn on it or.
00:31:35 Ken
Something. Yeah. Yeah. They make a beer and they are the 40th biggest brewery in the country.
00:31:43 Ken
Because of that.
00:31:45 Ken
I.
00:31:45 Dan
Out here, that's that's one of the beers they'll have. You know, if you go to a place that doesn't have much craft beer, that'll be one of the ones that they have at a lot of places.
00:31:54 Rob
To answer the old, I'll have a beer. Yep.
00:31:54 Wendy
Yeah, I've seen a lot of places with them.
00:31:57 Ken
Yeah. So that's like the the 2009 version of Fat Tire, where like any place that had, like, one craft tap, it was most likely fat tire.
00:32:06 Wendy
Yes.
00:32:06 Dan
Yes, usually it's in cans, so I haven't seen it as tap personally, but yeah.
00:32:11 Wendy
Yeah.
00:32:12 Ken
Yeah, I I looked up where they are and there's like one place in Ipsy that sells it, and then the next place is like Ferndale. Like, that's the next closest place that sells it over here. But I had never heard it before. I'd never seen it before. So it kind of definitely struck my eye when I was going through the list. Is there any other breweries?
00:32:31 Ken
I know Wendy's favorite krogers is #27.
00:32:33 Ken
On that list.
00:32:35 Ken
But were there any breweries, any surprises, anything that you're missing or seeing or anything like that or surprised to continue to see?
00:32:43 Wendy
It still blows my mind that New Glarus is number 11 and only sells in the state of Wisconsin. Blows my mind every single time I see it.
00:32:43 Speaker 4
So.
00:32:54 Ken
Part of me almost thought that that montucky cold snacks was only in Montana, but apparently it's a lot bigger than I even knew about, even after reading about it.
00:33:01
You're.
00:33:04 Rob
My first thought was that that athletic, with their so they they do the non alcoholic Nicks is doing, you know, gluten free stuff and you almost have to operate out of volume up comparable to athletic. If you're going to be in such a niche.
00:33:05 Speaker 4
So.
00:33:23 Rob
Yeah, just to get your product out there.
00:33:27 Ken
I think there's more sober, sober, curious, like the people that want.
00:33:34 Ken
And alcohol free beer can still drink alcohol, whereas the people that want gluten free beer can only drink gluten free beer. So I think there's definitely a issue of want versus need when.
00:33:48 Ken
It comes to those two.
00:33:49 Ken
But in the same token I I agree that I I felt like.
00:33:54 Ken
Giving the ability you know prior to the whole non alcoholic thing like there was a handful of massive bars over in Dearborn that were alcohol free, that a lot of people went to because they knew they were alcohol free, you know, a little bit of culture. And then of course, people coming into Dearborn just to do, you know, to have the food.
00:34:14 Ken
Have the non alcoholic drinks. So I think that is a big thing, whereas gluten free gluten intolerance and I.
00:34:21 Ken
Mean these are.
00:34:23 Ken
Brewery Nicks is for the people who are massive, celiacs like that can't even smell gluten.
00:34:28 Ken
Without bad things happening. But Dan, I think you've tried to get in a word edgewise a few times.
00:34:35 Ken
What are you going to say?
00:34:36 Dan
Well, real quick with the gluten free thing, I think finally a lot of people have dropped off that FAD where they think that they need to.
00:34:42 Dan
Not have gluten.
00:34:43 Dan
Versus it's really one of the people with celiacs that should that can't have it. So I think that's kind of finally tapered down, but what caught my attention and correct me if I'm wrong, I noticed Kona out in Kona.
00:34:56 Dan
Was on there and I don't they brew their own beer. I'm not quite sure how they ended up on that list because I feel like they only brew for the state of Hawaii, but maybe I'm wrong.
00:35:06 Rob
I thought they had.
00:35:07 Rob
An A mainland version as well.
00:35:10 Dan
They do, but it's owned by someone else. I thought I could be completely wrong here.
00:35:18 Dan
Yeah, there's New Jersey, something like that.
00:35:23 Ken
There is I'm. I'm looking at the the Kona website and like information and stuff they do. However distro in 36 States and 10 countries.
00:35:36 Ken
And it looks like at this time it might only be the handful of breweries on the islands themselves. But yeah, I'm not seeing anything that's outside of Hawaii, like in the main 48.
00:35:51 Ken
Like you were saying.
00:35:53 Ken
But they were also part of they they were part of the the Craft Bureau alliance at one point, which I don't think they are.
00:35:53 Dan
Yeah, I'm curious.
00:35:59 Ken
Anymore.
00:36:02 Ken
So I think that is part of it, cause that had, like Widmer Red Hook, Portsmouth. So maybe that could.
00:36:09 Dan
Ohh, that's right. Yeah, I forgot about that too.
00:36:14 Ken
Have been the.
00:36:14 Ken
Thing where you would have saw like craft Beer alliance and saw those other cities and states but for.
00:36:22 Ken
Kona itself, it looks like Kona just manages Hawaii and of course ships it out.
00:36:28 Ken
To other places.
00:36:30 Rob
I'm surprised Minhas is so low. They used to at least make all the Kirkland loggers.
00:36:38 Rob
And that alone has got to.
00:36:39 Rob
Be huge volume.
00:36:40 Dan
Filthy 50. Hell yeah.
00:36:43 Ken
Yeah, Mint Minhas is always been like, cause that's that's a a Canadian owned technically company because the the, the lady that owns Minhas is also on.
00:36:56
The.
00:36:57 Ken
Canadian version of Shark Tank Dragons den.
00:37:04 Ken
Which might be the actual like the American version of, you know, Earth Dragons. That's the shark tanks, the American version of Dragons that there we.
00:37:12 Rob
Of the British Dragon sounds.
00:37:13 Ken
Go.
00:37:13 Ken
Figure it out. Oh, I'm sure. I'm sure we all steal from each other. Let's be honest.
00:37:15
Yeah.
00:37:17 Rob
Here. Yeah, right. They're set up in Calgary. It was a big deal when they.
00:37:23 Rob
Opened up operations in in the US and there was a huge like kerfuffle about it being a tax dodge and stuff. And I was in Calgary when all that stuff was going down, just on vacation.
00:37:34 Rob
But it they I've been to Minhas. In Wisconsin, it was a pretty neat tour. They were interesting to tour, but yeah, their their volume, just the amount that they can produce in such a small facility and that the Monroe location is pretty impressive.
00:37:51 Rob
I'm surprised that it's that low like they are a huge contract Brewer.
00:37:56 Ken
Yeah, I think they have. Well, one, if you have the ability like if you have the production, you could just run the tanks all day like you can run two to three batches a day pretty easily as long as you have the space.
00:38:08 Ken
To hold it.
00:38:10 Ken
That's obviously most likely the the big issue is not necessarily brewing the batches as much as holding the batches.
00:38:15 Ken
Where you gonna hold them? Where you gonna store them? To let them, you know, get made for 30 days.
00:38:22 Ken
But yeah, and hassles on there. Is there any other breweries that kind of just stick out to you while you're looking?
00:38:29 Ken
At the list itself.
00:38:31 Rob
Point.
00:38:31 Rob
Brewery Stevens Point brewery. They make point beer, which was my first craft beer that I ever really had. My dad always used to bring it back from Wisconsin whenever we went up there, so I would have a bottle every once in a while at home, but that my wife just visited them and they've been on my bucket list for ages. But she went up there, she visited them and she visited.
00:38:52 Rob
Central waters, which is the same area.
00:38:56 Rob
But Point Brewing is another. I mean, they're a big contract Brewer. They do their own stuff, but they contract brew for other people too. So I'm not surprised they're on the list. I am kind of surprised they're only at 19.
00:39:14 Ken
Wendy. Dan. Anyone else?
00:39:18 Dan
Now, nethanel surely stuck out. It was just like going one I was like, oh, that's actually pretty interesting.
00:39:25 Wendy
I am a little surprised real gails is still on there.
00:39:30 Ken
Hi.
00:39:30 Wendy
Like we see them a lot anymore.
00:39:33 Rob
Yeah, it's just around Portland. They have so many brewpubs could get them on the list.
00:39:40 Wendy
There could be.
00:39:43 Dan
Yeah, I can see you the.
00:39:44 Ken
I promise.
00:39:44 Dan
Last time I saw a rogue in a store.
00:39:47 Dan
Thinking about it now.
00:39:49 Ken
I I definitely seen Rogue, but I just.
00:39:52 Ken
Don't buy dead cause. Didn't they go through the whole like dead Guy brand change kind of like when?
00:40:02 Ken
What's the Voodoo Ranger started doing all the Voodoo Rangers and and stuff?
00:40:08 Ken
I feel like that was a thing like they had like 4 different dead guys and everyone got mad because like, it wasn't their dead guy anymore. It was.
00:40:15 Rob
I think they I think they still do that and I think 2 dead guys have won and they're very different beers.
00:40:24 Dan
Yeah, there was of the same beer. They're not Highlanders, that's for sure.
00:40:26 Dan
Experience.
00:40:28
Well.
00:40:32 Ken
There you go. I see dead Guy Colson Club, which is dead. Guy IPA. Dead guy. Pills. Dead guy. Pale and dead guy ale.
00:40:41 Ken
So there was 4 dead guys at.
00:40:43 Ken
One point different dead.
00:40:44 Ken
Guys.
00:40:46 Ken
At least Buddha Ranger keeps it in the IPA category.
00:40:50 Dan
Yeah, I was gonna say they just do different variants and everyone buys them.
00:40:54 Rob
Yeah, bells stuck to the IPA's too, with all their hearted variants. So many of those now.
00:41:00 Rob
I want to.
00:41:00 Wendy
Tell you I really like the new the Voodoo Ranger Peach tea.
00:41:04 Wendy
Is delicious. It's super sweet like.
00:41:07 Dan
Peach tea.
00:41:08 Wendy
It is. It's a hard tea, but it's it's really good. I don't mind it. I mean, I don't think I could drink like, two of them. No, actually not. It is 100% RTD hard.
00:41:13 Rob
And is it an?
00:41:14 Rob
Feel you're very kind.
00:41:20
T.
00:41:22 Dan
It's the other branch. Now they know everyone notices the brand now they it's gotta make more different kinds. Yep.
00:41:30 Ken
Before we kind of get into RTD's and stuff a little bit more, Rob, you got some beer from Great Lakes Brewing. Give us a little rundown of what you.
00:41:39 Ken
Think about it.
00:41:41 Rob
So I got the strawberry wheat from well, this, that's the one I'm currently drinking from Great Lakes. I got three others and I really wish I had them all in here with me so I could remember them, but they released.
00:41:54 Rob
Ohh the the the monster, the Great Lakes monster. Like the best monster. I am loving the strawberry wheat I it has got a lot of strawberry flavor and I really like that. And it tastes like real strawberries. So that's more strawberry than we, but it's it's quite delicious and it's it's funny that I got beer from them because.
00:42:14 Rob
Theirs was the 15 pack that I took golfing with me last weekend, so I've actually been drinking rather a lot of Great Lakes for, you know, over the past.
00:42:21 Rob
Week or so.
00:42:26 Ken
Perfect. So the one thing I wanted to talk about because we discussed a little bit in the you know what's going on with all the breweries and y'all calling me old and 60 year old and a robe and slippers there. There's been a handful of studies. Obviously, as COVID hit people.
00:42:44 Ken
Started to drink.
00:42:45 Ken
More because they were drinking at home. They were spending almost the same amount of money at home as they were outside, which of course gets you more beer and alcohol.
00:42:52 Ken
Well, at home, but as more people are coming out of COVID and they are starting to go out more and stuff, people aren't drinking as much. But the people who are drinking are drinking more. So not only do we have an issue of heavy drinkers going out there, but a lot of people slowing down and killing it.
00:43:14 Ken
As well as Gen. Z, right now, nearly half of Gen. Z over the age of 21 has yet to come consume alcohol, whereas typically that rate is around 3 out of 10 as generations do age into the alcohol industry.
00:43:30 Ken
And there is another interesting stat that I saw that 1/4 of drinkers in total will try will have tried to dough dry January back in 2024. But in that quarter when you get into like the cross tabs like 46% are rarely drink already and 41% drink only one to five drinks a week.
00:43:49 Ken
Which brings you at 13% of.
00:43:53 Ken
Drinkers that drink, you know, at least one drink a day on average. So with this, the trends of Gen. Z going for different options, whether it's RTD's, whether it is mocktails or alcohol spirits, more premium.
00:44:13 Ken
Alcohol. Different options like do you think this is going to cause an issue for?
00:44:18 Ken
Or breweries in the future. Or do you think this is kind of like?
00:44:22 Ken
A.
00:44:23 Ken
You know, as Dan kind of said.
00:44:24 Ken
Like a fad?
00:44:25 Ken
With the the people with quote UN quote gluten deficiencies, that didn't actually have them. Not to say not everyone has. There's people who do have it, not as many people as.
00:44:32 Dan
Yeah, just.
00:44:37 Ken
Claimed.
00:44:39 Dan
Yeah. The ones that pretended to be, you know, this is anecdotal, but it's a place I go to on the weekends. It's a dive bar place, but they have karaoke and everything people in there, you know, and we joke about my age. You know, I'm in my mid 40s. These people that are up there are definitely in their early 20s to mid 30s.
00:44:58 Dan
So I don't know if it's everywhere unless I see the same thing down here at the breweries, you know that are downtown. They're packed with people, Twenties, 30s and 40s. So I don't know. Again, all anecdotal, but what I've seen it, it doesn't seem to be an issue.
00:45:14 Rob
I've got more anecdotes. One of the guys on my trivia team is Jen Z. Like he's actually my son's age, roughly just a friend from a game and we've, we've been playing trivia for maybe a year now. Yeah. And he was. So that's at a bar and he.
00:45:31 Rob
Does.
00:45:31 Rob
Drink, at least at the bar and then when we go out, sometimes on weekends and.
00:45:36 Rob
But my son was just visiting us for the eclipse. We were in the path of totality here. It was very exciting, very cool. And Speaking of big traveling, well, they came down from Madison, WI. But then we walked across the street to the soccer field and watched from there, which was pretty cool. But I can tell you those five gens ears do drink.
00:45:58 Rob
I don't know if it's cause they were here for the eclipse you.
00:46:00 Rob
Know it was a.
00:46:00 Dan
Party, but yeah, well, it was like it was night time. So you had to knock back like, 5 beers during those 4 minutes.
00:46:07 Ken
That's straight now, Wendy and I. If you haven't listened to the Dingus Day episode with Eastern Market, Brilliant went over to Dingus Day over in eastern market and it felt like it was a much older crowd over there. I don't know if you felt the same way, but everyone that I saw there.
00:46:24 Ken
Was in their late 30s, early 40s and then of course, you know Fifties, 60s, and 70s. It felt like with the some of the people that we saw celebrating Dingus Day, when you go out, Wendy, and you go out and do, you know you're supernatural or wherever you go, are you seeing younger people, older people, like, I, I personally am not seeing it.
00:46:45 Ken
But I probably aren't paying as much of attention as I think I am.
00:46:51 Wendy
I see a big mix when.
00:46:52 Wendy
I go out.
00:46:54 Wendy
And at least here, when I when I go out of state, I'm usually at berries at weird times, but when I go out here, I'm it's usually in the evening, so there's a lot more people and I don't think that like the.
00:47:10 Wendy
The breweries are so full.
00:47:12 Wendy
There's a lot of people in there and there are so many different aid troops. I see young people. I see older people.
00:47:20 Wendy
I don't know that I believe that they're just not drinking. They might be choosing to.
00:47:26 Wendy
Drink less and do other things.
00:47:30 Wendy
I don't really know anybody.
00:47:32 Wendy
That doesn't.
00:47:34 Wendy
Drink at least every now and then, like I know people who say they don't really drink, but they will have a drink when they go out.
00:47:41 Wendy
With their friends. So.
00:47:43 Wendy
Yeah.
00:47:45 Ken
Maybe it's the definition of drinking, like when we talk about going out and drinking. We might be referring to going out, you know, 3-4 nights a week to karaoke, to trivia to whatever else, you know, industry night, that kind of stuff. Like are we?
00:48:00 Ken
Be going. Are we just going less? Are they going less? So we don't hear it. Cause I I think about like all the days that.
00:48:07 Ken
I used to.
00:48:07 Ken
Drink way too much and then you know, obviously it go to with with.
00:48:13 Wendy
Class in the morning.
00:48:14 Ken
Yeah, like class or work or whatever. Like I I'd go to like auggies RIP auggies. That's a place that closed recently, apparently, and I would go in and have, like, 4 bombas for 12 bucks of Guinness.
00:48:28 Ken
And just that was that was kind of the night, whereas now like I could, I could never imagine a.
00:48:33 Ken
Place getting that.
00:48:34 Ken
Much gas for that cheap be there. Maybe that's that's a thing to think about, too, is that people are, you know, they were already spending money on premium, and now they're just like, well, I'm only going to spend on the little premium that I want to.
00:48:48 Ken
But I think maybe we're conflating what we used to think is drinking, like going out and having a beer with dinner wasn't drinking to us. I was just having a beer with dinner, whereas now, like, that's considered drinking as having a beer with dinner or having a drink with dinner.
00:49:04 Rob
Yeah, that could definitely be part of it. I'm I'm thinking I'm going through my head of the various places I I frequent, or at least I'm familiar with around Indianapolis, regularly familiar with and like. So we've got books and brews in Brownsburg which I I go to pretty regularly, and that one's a mix because they allow they've always allowed.
00:49:24 Rob
Place because they've got food and stuff.
00:49:25 Rob
So that one you get the really young kids, but they're not drinking because they can't, you know? But their parents are happy to go because.
00:49:33 Rob
They can drink.
00:49:34 Rob
I mean the food there is adequate enough to get, you know, the legally minimum type of a thing. But the food there is good enough. So it it keeps everybody happy.
00:49:45 Rob
Then we've got metazoa downtown.
00:49:48 Rob
And when they went in, there wasn't much around them. There was just an office park, very large pharmaceutical company based in Indianapolis is right there, basically across the parking lot from them. And shortly after they opened there, they huge condos went up in the area, and they're full of young kids.
00:50:07 Rob
You know, recently out of college type of a thing and metazoa is just always full of of young kids. They've got the dog bark so they.
00:50:16 Rob
People who live in condos can have dogs and take it over to the dog park, and it's just they seem really well set up and situated for the younger crowds. There's some of us olds in there too, but it's mostly young kids.
00:50:32 Dan
Some of us called.
00:50:34 Wendy
I refuse to call myself an.
00:50:35 Wendy
Olds.
00:50:36 Dan
Kenzie, the old person here.
00:50:39 Wendy
I'm pretty sure he's our youngest.
00:50:42 Ken
I I I am by by a good amount of years too, that's for sure. Yeah, I might be physically younger than y'all, but apparently my mentality has me as a forgotten generation.
00:50:45 Dan
Yeah.
00:50:57 Wendy
She does have a.
00:50:58 Wendy
Lot of get off my line moments.
00:51:00 Ken
I I do. I do. I I can't even deny that. I'm still we've we I shared a few things on Facebook just to just to poke you a little bit, Wendy. The the whole flight anti flight thing.
00:51:13 Rob
I think Venezuela does a 12 last flight.
00:51:17 Ken
And I I I feel like more and more, more and more people are coming onto my side these days. It seemed non flight.
00:51:18 Dan
You still there?
00:51:25 Wendy
I don't agree with that. I what I get out of everything that we've been talking about online is that it's everything has a time in its place and every single one of those people.
00:51:34 Wendy
Have been like.
00:51:36 Wendy
There are times when I want a flight.
00:51:38 Wendy
But there are times when I don't think it's appropriate.
00:51:42 Wendy
Which is nothing that we haven't said as somebody who is pro flight.
00:51:48 Wendy
I'm not going to order a flight when.
00:51:49 Wendy
There's.
00:51:50 Wendy
100 people waiting in line.
00:51:53 Wendy
But.
00:51:54 Wendy
If there's nobody there, why wouldn't I just get the flight so they can do it all at once and then go about their business instead of keeping having to keep coming back to me?
00:52:02 Wendy
Does it make any sense?
00:52:05 Ken
Well, the the big change to of craft beer is, is that there's a lot less servers. There are a lot less, there's more bar service or like funneled bar service you might call like with Eastern Market Brewing, where you kind of just walk up order and go sit down with your beer like they hand you the beer and you go.
00:52:25 Ken
Almost like a.
00:52:26 Ken
Barista like a coffee shop.
00:52:27 Wendy
I think that's normal for most berries though.
00:52:31 Wendy
A lot of the breweries that I've been to are like that. It's not just new like they've always been like that.
00:52:37 Ken
I I think maybe the big thing cause I always sit at the bar, so I never necessarily I guess realize it until all the times that I've gone out with like my fiance and I realized how we're ordering the beer a little bit more. But again, that's just.
00:52:51 Dan
Because I typically.
00:52:52 Ken
Sit at the bar as opposed to sit at a table.
00:52:57 Ken
What? What did I miss while I was gone? What else? What? What did you guys talk about? I didn't listen to any of the shows. So you guys could have talked so much. ****. The only thing I listened to was the great, great collaboration that Rob put together for us.
00:53:11 Ken
Of you all.
00:53:12 Dan
Because we can't figure out the ending.
00:53:13 Ken
Fumbling and fumbling and ending that I've said 400 times plus on the show.
00:53:19 Wendy
I always want to do the beginning instead of the end.
00:53:23 Wendy
Always. I don't know why.
00:53:25
I.
00:53:26 Ken
What are this any good topics any. Anything that I should know about?
00:53:31 Dan
I'd have to go back and listen, but.
00:53:32 Speaker 4
Hello.
00:53:34 Rob
I got to. I told the full story of my beer butts from hell. It wasn't actually from hell. It it turned out great fun. It was a huge story where the bridge was out and we had to.
00:53:43 Rob
Take back.
00:53:43 Rob
Roads and to a brewery that had just opened or hadn't really just opened it. It was like we were the first visitors and.
00:53:51 Rob
That was pretty fun.
00:53:54 Rob
We talked about gear cities. We've been to places, Ubers have dropped us. That shouldn't have.
00:53:55 Speaker 4
So yeah, what is what is the.
00:54:01 Ken
Wouldn't the bus have reached out to that brewery before showing up like, hey, we're coming to your brewery with X amount of people.
00:54:07 Rob
Ohh they they were expecting us.
00:54:09 Dan
Driver was drinking.
00:54:10 Rob
He was he was super excited that we were coming because we were basically the first tour he was having at the new facility.
00:54:17 Ken
Wait, did you say Uber X driver was drinking or no drinking? Ohh well, because one of you mentioned like places where Ubers dropped you off. I I think there's. Yeah.
00:54:21 Dan
No, the you know the bus driver was drinking? Yeah.
00:54:29 Dan
Oh yeah, Rob tried to break into some place in South Africa. Apparently, that's right.
00:54:35 Ken
Yeah.
00:54:36 Wendy
I think they told the story about.
00:54:38 Wendy
Paying Uber driver in Indianapolis? That was.
00:54:41 Rob
Yeah, the this red ripple one.
00:54:42 Wendy
So hi, I had to give him directions.
00:54:46 Rob
And then he wouldn't stop because there was.
00:54:47 Rob
A cop there?
00:54:48 Wendy
Yeah, he wouldn't stop at the place he was taking us to because there was a cop. So he dropped us like a.
00:54:53 Wendy
Block and a half down.
00:54:57 Ken
Back in the Wild West, days of Uber, where the Uber drivers would purposely take you the long way to get to your.
00:55:04 Ken
Nice. I remember back when I lived in Detroit. I can't remember where I got picked up, but I remember going on 75 N 75, S, 94 E and 94 W and I'm like I was just in like midtown, like I wasn't far away.
00:55:24 Ken
How how did this take this long? I I have one question for y'all.
00:55:30 Ken
Before we kind.
00:55:31 Ken
Of close up shop, unless you guys have any other topics but open in talks for back seat passengers of an Uber, thumbs up, thumbs down.
00:55:44 Dan
No, you need a chauffeurs license for that. So thumbs down, yeah.
00:55:47 Ken
Do you really?
00:55:49 Ken
Ohh now I.
00:55:50 Dan
Feel bad? Yeah, so thumbs down.
00:55:52 Wendy
Yeah, it comes down because it'll make our.
00:55:53 Dan
You know a lot of.
00:55:56 Wendy
Uber paster are you so high?
00:55:56 Rob
They already feel sorry.
00:56:00 Ken
I can't tell you how many times I've brought a A can of beer or a glass of beer or something like that into an Uber. I mean, I I did it just as recent as.
00:56:08 Ken
When we were in San Antonio.
00:56:12 Ken
A year and a half ago.
00:56:12 Dan
I think you know, they probably won't care, but it's bad news if you get pulled over, you know, probably a lot of them will care. But it's yeah, just for the driver.
00:56:17 Ken
No, no, no, that's.
00:56:22 Ken
Yeah. No, that's there's a difference between knowing it's like bad and the driver like like if the driver said, hey, don't do that. Obviously I'm not going to do it. But if knowing now that it's not necessarily a good idea, I'm probably not gonna do it anymore. Kind of like the whole drinking in the parking lots of breweries.
00:56:44 Ken
For opening, you know, beer releases like we know this is illegal now, so I will never participate in it again, whereas something I just don't care. Ohh yeah. I saw a post recently of Ascension and they always have.
00:56:53 Dan
Anymore.
00:57:00 Ken
The the the patio banister filled with all the empty bottles and stuff all across.
00:57:06 Dan
The.
00:57:06 Ken
Nice, but I mean, it's not like you're they're they're hiding it in a a parking a parked car or something like that. Or people are, like, hunting, huddling over, tailgating like they're doing it right in the open. That someone could see.
00:57:17 Ken
Them right off of.
00:57:18 Ken
The the main road, but if they don't care then.
00:57:22 Speaker 4
I don't.
00:57:23 Ken
You know, that's their license, not mine. I know this can end their license, so I'm not going to participate and be that person. Just like now that I know if people don't take tokens at Michigan brewery festivals, like you can get in a lot of trouble by not.
00:57:37 Ken
Taking the tokens.
00:57:39 Ken
Although we I Oh yeah, that's the pipe. And black I think.
00:57:42 Ken
Got it up to us where?
00:57:44 Ken
If, like MLC person is there and they purposely don't give you a token like they could shut down the entire festival.
00:57:51 Ken
After one incident.
00:57:53 Dan
Oh wow, like that's.
00:57:56 Ken
That is crazy to me, but after that I'm like, alright, I'm just going to make sure, especially at the Michigan Guild festivals, like it's $0.50 an extra token like it's not.
00:58:05 Dan
Just hand them pennies and it works.
00:58:09 Speaker 4
It's it's not that. No, no, no. You still. You still got to hand them kendo sold it.
00:58:10 Wendy
No, that's not what you knew. You did not know that here at better at draft.
00:58:18 Ken
I I did a little bit, but I guess Wendy is right. I should have made sure.
00:58:23 Ken
To to have said something. Yeah, you. It's. It's something where the the other festivals, like when we went to two years ago. So last year at the brutality festival at the Michigan Science Theater, Michigan Science Center, they didn't care about tickets or anything. This year they did. But after like 3 minutes.
00:58:42 Ken
Nobody cared about tickets.
00:58:46 Ken
So.
00:58:48 Ken
You know, Guild festivals obviously have a different license than a regular beer festival. When I say like regular, like, you know, there's it's not a Guild. So there's different rules that you have to follow. Also big rules. Bernie Foot is now the Bernie Foot Beverage Festival or something like that. Like it's not a beer festival anymore. It's a cocktail, beer, cider, wine, everything.
00:59:08 Ken
Test, so that'll be interesting to see this coming year great festival. If you've never been to it.
00:59:18 Speaker 4
What's that, Wendy?
00:59:19 Wendy
There's a lot.
00:59:20 Wendy
Are they coming on the show to talk about this year?
00:59:22 Wendy
There's a lot of changes, I'm.
00:59:24 Ken
I'm sure we can get them on. Obviously the gentleman that we talked to a few times ago is no longer the President of the Lakeshore Guild. So it is a whole different thing. That's why I think that's why you also got the reggaeton music last year as opposed to the the weird. That's what I call late 90s, early 2000s hit mix of filter.
00:59:43 Ken
Everlast lit Limp Bizkit cover band.
00:59:49 Ken
And a few others that's going to do it for us for this episode 345, we will be back in two weeks. That's right. Two weeks at 8:30 PM Eastern, our brand new start time. Thank you to everyone who joined us in the chat. As I'm kind of going through, we got Bill Carney, Chris Connor, we've got Brian Lesniewski.
01:00:08 Ken
We've got the half asked beer review over on YouTube and of course our friend our #1 fan.
01:00:17 Ken
Two, it's microg.
01:00:18 Dan
Ohh yeah, toots.
01:00:20 Ken
Good old toots microg his bag. He is drinking. A2 Ties lime light lager, saying happy Friday to us. Thank you so much for joining us. Are you guys ready? Pencils take notes. Because no matter what you think of your beer, we think it's.
01:00:33 Speaker 4
Ohh yeah.
01:00:38 Ken
Better on draft. Have a good night.
01:00:41 Wendy
Cheers.