Heavy Hops Ep. 044: Recreating Methode Accidental (Dr. Garth Cambray/Makana Meadery & David Frost/B. United Int.)
Heavy Hops Ep. 043: Meanwhile In Springfield (Danielle D’Alessandro/Illinois Craft Brewers Guild)
The 2020 pandemic, among many things, dried up market access for craft brewers. As bars, restaurants and venues closed, breweries that stayed afloat had canning lines, steady access to ingredients and packaging; set placements in liquor, grocery and convenience stores; and feet on the street to ensure those placements didn’t get lost. This only represents a small number of the
Continue ReadingHeavy Hops Ep. 042: Can Mead Lead? (Ken Schramm/Schramm’s Mead)
Ken Schramm is the Founder and President of Schramm’s Mead in Ferndale MI and author of The Compleat Mead Maker, widely considered to be the book on home honey wine production. Using proven methods from the wine world – including punchdowns, pump overs, free runs, real fruit and lengthy maturation times for clarity – Ken seeks to showcase a true
Continue ReadingHeavy Hops Ep. 041: Reverberations (Adrian Utzon Dietz & Tobias Hjorth/Solbrud)
Joining us this week are Adrian Utzon Dietz (Guitar) and Tobias Hjorth (Bass) of the Copenhagen, Denmark-based black metal band Solbrud. Their fourth album – a double live album and DVD titled Levende I Brønshøj Vandtårn – is a collection of material primarily from the band’s first three albums, recorded in a water tower, over two sold out evenings in November
Continue ReadingHeavy Hops Ep. 040: Sencerone (Pat Fahey/Cicerone Program)
Pat Fahey is the Content Director for the Cicerone® Certification Program – a globally recognized certification and education program for beer professionals. In May 2013, Pat was the youngest person to pass the Master Cicerone® exam, and has dedicated his professional career to sensory, education and development of the beer category. We discuss his first book Building A Sensory Program:
Continue ReadingHeavy Hops Ep. 039: Elemental Forces (Alex Stjernfeldt/Novarupta)
Joining us this week is Alex Stjernfeldt, a Gothenburg, Sweden-based multi-instrumentalist. You may know him from past and present musical projects: Grand Cadaver, Let Them Hang, The Moth Gatherer, and Novarupta. Our conversation begins by discussing the latter, an ambitious, concept-driven collaboration with Dutch artist Arjen Kunnen that calls on the talents of guest collaborators from all corners of Sweden’s heavy
Continue ReadingHeavy Hops Ep. 038: We’re Just Getting Started (Johannes Eckerström & John Alfredsson/Avatar)
Johannes Eckerström and John Alfredsson, are the vocalist and drummer respectively, of the Gothenburg-based metal band Avatar. Our wide-ranging discussion covers the Ages live stream series, building success in America following 2012’s The Black Waltz, animal rights and competitiveness. Johannes walks us through the Hunter Gatherer album concept, where he’s finding inspiration, and offers a glimpse into new material the band
Continue ReadingHeavy Hops Ep. 037: Happy Happy Cold Club (Noah Hopkins/Dark Matter Coffee)
Noah Hopkins is the Production Manager at Dark Matter Coffee’s Mothership facility located in Chicago’s West Town neighborhood. We discuss how Noah applies methods of building and balancing flavor in brewing to roasting coffee, enhancing Dark Matter’s barrel aging, dry-hopping and cask conditioning programs. The wider world of beverage is an inspiration for Noah and his team. Coffees fermented with
Continue ReadingHeavy Hops Ep. 036: The House Is Home (Cathy Pellow/Sargent House)
Cathy Pellow is the founder of Sargent House, a record label and artist management company based in Los Angeles. In putting the commitment to long term artist development at the center of her work, Cathy facilitates a growing community of highly respected, like-minded, artists from the dark and heavy worlds of music. You know these bands. Chelsea Wolfe, Russian Circles,
Continue ReadingHeavy Hops Ep. 035: Thirty Years of Royal Destruction (Marko Tervonen/The Crown)
Marko Tervonen is a founding member and guitarist of The Crown, a death/thrash metal band from Sweden’s west coast. Royal Destroyer, the band’s tenth album, comes out on March 12 via Metal Blade Records. Marko discusses reaching this landmark, their thirty plus year career, songwriting, recording with live performance in mind, and how the five year break after Crowned Unholy
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