Episode 191: What’s so Japanese About Rice Lagers?

Episode 192: Firestone Invitational Recap with Melissa Urquhart

The 2026 Firestone Invitational Beerfest was amazing.  Matt, Ron, and Phaedra had all planned to meet up for the festival, but Ron had to rain check this one as he had a staff emergency and hung back to cover the bar, because he is an absolute saint of a business owner.   BUT! with our long-time industry friend Melissa having gone for the first time this year, we wanted to hang out for a beer and recap the shenanigans. Tune in to discover which California beers Matt smuggled back for tastings, why the Yoho Brewing team from Japan loves American, and which Seattle brewery made the most amazing splash for their first invite to the festival. Tap, tap, tap Alright, Grit & Grainers! Please email us at cheers@gritandgrainpodcast.com [cheers@gritandgrainpodcast.com] with your comments, opinions, and favorite Firestone Walker 2026 Invitational moments. You can subscribe to GGP on YouTube, Amazon, Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play, and iHeartRadio, and please leave us a review. Be sure to also follow us on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/gritandgrainpodcast/] and Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/peaksandpints/]. If this podcast is not what you expected, please alter your expectations. No such thing as a bad time to visit Tacoma. No such thing as too much barleywine. Tune in next Friday for more sweet chatter. Cheers! The post Episode 192: Firestone Invitational Recap with Melissa Urquhart [https://gritandgrainpodcast.com/episode-192-firestone-invitational-recap-with-melissa-urquhart/] appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast [https://gritandgrainpodcast.com].

Episode 191: What’s so Japanese About Rice Lagers?

The World Beer Cup [https://www.worldbeercup.org/] added a “Rice Lager” [https://www.worldbeercup.org/winners/award-winners/] category for the first time in 2026, and two Northwest breweries promptly earned medals in it — which is pretty amazing. Much like Mexican lager, rice lager, or Japanese rice lager, as some folks call it, seems to remain relatively ill-defined outside of the newly instituted guidelines.  This week, we sat down with a flight of five iterations of this wonderful but potentially misunderstood style to see how our favorite breweries are approaching this beer. Tune in to find out what makes different versions unique from one another, what some Japanese breweries are doing to help develop their own lager distinctions, and get some bonus spicy takes from our best buddy, Barry [https://www.luckyenvelopebrewing.com/]! Tap, tap, tap Alright, Grit & Grainers! Please email us at cheers@gritandgrainpodcast.com [cheers@gritandgrainpodcast.com] with your comments, opinions, and favorite rice lager. You can subscribe to GGP on YouTube, Amazon, Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play, and iHeartRadio, and please leave us a review. Be sure to also follow us on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/gritandgrainpodcast/] and Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/peaksandpints/]. If this podcast is not what you expected, please alter your expectations. No such thing as a bad time to visit Tacoma. No such thing as too much barleywine. Tune in next Friday for more sweet chatter. Cheers! The post Episode 191: What’s so Japanese About Rice Lagers? [https://gritandgrainpodcast.com/episode-191-whats-so-japanese-about-rice-lagers/] appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast [https://gritandgrainpodcast.com].

Episode 190: Shouldering the Weight of Limitless Talent with Grains of Wrath

Way back when our episodes were still in the double digits, the stellar brewing talent Mike Hunsaker sat down to tell us about his journey setting up shop in Washington and winning every award in the book brewing at Grains of Wrath [https://gowbeer.com/]. We’ve been long overdue in getting the rest of the Grains of Wrath team behind the mic and thankfully they were in town and made it a point to swing by and hang for a beer!  Owner and operator Brendan Greenan, Production Manager Owen Lamb, and Sales Manager Kira Harris joined us this week to talk about everything they’ve been doing to push the brewery to the next level. Tune in to find out how the GoW team is maintaining demand in a tough market, how a few new key team members will help level up their brewery, and why Mike is mysteriously absent for this episode! Tap, tap, tap Alright, Grit & Grainers! Please email us at cheers@gritandgrainpodcast.com [cheers@gritandgrainpodcast.com] with your comments and opinions. You can subscribe to GGP on YouTube, Amazon, Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play, and iHeartRadio, and please leave us a review. Be sure to also follow us on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/gritandgrainpodcast/] and Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/peaksandpints/]. If this podcast is not what you expected, please alter your expectations. No such thing as a bad time to visit Tacoma. No such thing as too much barleywine. Tune in next Friday for more sweet chatter. Cheers! The post Episode 190: Shouldering the Weight of Limitless Talent with Grains of Wrath [https://gritandgrainpodcast.com/episode-190-shouldering-the-weight-of-limitless-talent-with-grains-of-wrath/] appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast [https://gritandgrainpodcast.com].

Episode 189: Real Ale with Michael Messenie from Dutchess Ales

Happy Seattle Beer Week! A bunch of amazing brewers and beer folks have converged on Seattle this week to celebrate all things beer.  We took advantage and dragged Michael Messenie down for a quick pod to talk all things cask, English brewing traditions, and recipe tweaking. Michael started Dutchess Ales to bring the balanced, refined English beer he loved to New York, where he lived. It quickly grew into a much bigger project, and now he hops all over the country spreading the gospel of real ale. Tune in to hear about his approach to complex grain bills, secretly hand-delivering firkins to NYC’s only beer engine bars, and some of his favorite English pubs, should you ever visit. Tap, tap, tap Alright, Grit & Grainers! Please email us at cheers@gritandgrainpodcast.com [cheers@gritandgrainpodcast.com] with your comments, opinions, and favorite cask ale. You can subscribe to GGP on YouTube, Amazon, Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play, and iHeartRadio, and please leave us a review. Be sure to also follow us on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/gritandgrainpodcast/] and Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/peaksandpints/]. If this podcast is not what you expected, please alter your expectations. No such thing as a bad time to visit Tacoma. No such thing as too much barleywine. Tune in next Friday for more sweet chatter. Cheers! The post Episode 189: Real Ale with Michael Messenie from Dutchess Ales  [https://gritandgrainpodcast.com/episode-189-real-ale-with-michael-messenie-from-dutchess-ales/] appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast [https://gritandgrainpodcast.com].

Episode 188: May the 4th Be With You: A New Vice

Happy Cinco de Mayo / May the 4th week! Owners and operators of Vice Beer [https://vicebeer.mmm.page/], 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 [https://www.peaksandpints.com/peaks-pints-tournament-of-beer-best-pnw-breweries-winner-and-recap/] champion onto the pod.  Round after round of single-digit victories led Vice to the top spot of Peaks & Pints [https://www.peaksandpints.com/]‘ 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 info you need to pick out the best Star Wars beer for you, and we even get some extra special news about the new brewer joining the Vice team. Tap, tap, tap Alright, Grit & Grainers! Please email us at cheers@gritandgrainpodcast.com [cheers@gritandgrainpodcast.com] with your comments, opinions, and Jar Jar Binksberry recipe suggestions. You can subscribe to GGP on YouTube, Amazon, Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play, and iHeartRadio, and please leave us a review. Be sure to also follow us on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/gritandgrainpodcast/] and Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/peaksandpints/]. If this podcast is not what you expected, please alter your expectations. No such thing as a bad time to visit Tacoma. No such thing as too much barleywine. Tune in next Friday for more sweet chatter. Cheers! The post Episode 188: May the 4th Be With You: A New Vice  [https://gritandgrainpodcast.com/episode-188-may-the-4th-be-with-you-a-new-vice/] appeared first on Grit & Grain Podcast [https://gritandgrainpodcast.com].