1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:06,919 This is Beer in Front, part of the Oddpods media Network. Every week 2 00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:11,839 i'll talk about a beer that maybe we've forgotten along the way while we get 3 00:00:11,880 --> 00:00:16,480 those check ins and badges. Some weeks, i'll talk about a new beer 4 00:00:16,760 --> 00:00:21,800 that has potential to be a classic. Being the Chicago beer Guy, I'll 5 00:00:21,839 --> 00:00:27,320 also talk about great craft beer and craft beer news in the city of Chicago. 6 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:32,280 Remember, sometimes the beer in front of you is the best one yet. 7 00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:43,759 That's Beer in Front, and it's coming up now. Welcome to episode 8 00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:49,079 one hundred and sixty one of Beer in Front. I'm your host, Dave's 9 00:00:49,119 --> 00:00:54,640 allatorus in. Beer in Front is a proud member of the Oddpods media Network. 10 00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:58,679 I have a great show. This week. I talked to Jay over 11 00:00:58,759 --> 00:01:03,120 at Walnut River Brewing in Kansas. That was informative, and yes, there 12 00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:08,560 will be talk of a brothel. This week, I interviewed people from Montucky 13 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:15,560 Cold Snacks, Great Lakes Brewing, the Cicerone Program, and those shows will 14 00:01:15,599 --> 00:01:19,200 come out in the next few weeks. I'll also be talking soon to Crook 15 00:01:19,239 --> 00:01:23,879 at Hammock Brewing. They're out of Myrtle Beach. George Tomay. He's the 16 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:29,319 author of the book The shape of brewing, and I'll also talk with Barry 17 00:01:29,359 --> 00:01:36,079 and Abigail from the Pops on Hops podcast. I just came back from vacation. 18 00:01:36,519 --> 00:01:40,640 We were out in California. This was the first time I've been on 19 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:46,359 a plane since the pandemic. Between the pandemic and our Goofy Dog, I 20 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:49,959 haven't had a chance to go anywhere. It was nice to be in sunny 21 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:53,799 California for a few days for my mother in law's birthday. A few things 22 00:01:53,840 --> 00:02:00,200 about California. What's up with all the crows? Everywhere where I went there 23 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:05,280 were crows. They were dark. I was expecting them to break out a 24 00:02:05,319 --> 00:02:09,680 little remedy or anything else, but no, they didn't sing. Also, 25 00:02:09,719 --> 00:02:14,159 I happened to be at a gas station buying beer and I didn't know. 26 00:02:14,199 --> 00:02:20,639 I'm just looking at the counter killing time. California band menthol cigarettes. As 27 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:24,840 a former cool mild smoker, that's messed up. To the person who listened 28 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:30,439 to the podcast in the last month. From the state of Nebraska, thank 29 00:02:30,479 --> 00:02:36,000 you. Beer in Front has now been listened to in every state. Also 30 00:02:36,159 --> 00:02:40,919 to those in Portugal, Singapore, New Zealand and Paraguay. Thank you for 31 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:46,360 listening. If you'd like to support the show. You can head over to 32 00:02:46,520 --> 00:02:58,759 patreon dot com slash beer in Front for more information. Thank you. In 33 00:02:58,879 --> 00:03:05,039 beer news, Oscar Blues is revamping the look of the iconic Dale's Pale Ale 34 00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:09,400 as well as coming out with the new Dale's Light Lagger. We'll see how 35 00:03:09,439 --> 00:03:15,240 that shakes out. Sales of the new Sam Adams and the new Fat Tire. 36 00:03:15,879 --> 00:03:21,039 After an initial bump, they haven't picked up like they've hoped. Speaking 37 00:03:21,039 --> 00:03:27,039 of relaunches, ConA Brewing is separating its Big Wave from the rest of the 38 00:03:27,120 --> 00:03:31,919 line, and Big Wave gets a new logo, packaging and is now going 39 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:38,080 to compete in the premium beer category. Long story, but I have the 40 00:03:38,199 --> 00:03:44,280 old ConA Brewing tattoo and I'll be sad to see the lizard go away from 41 00:03:44,319 --> 00:03:50,759 Big Wave. But wait, there's more. Hawker Shore is joining the new 42 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:55,919 logo trend by releasing a new packaging and logo for Get This, a more 43 00:03:57,159 --> 00:04:05,000 updated look that will appeal to new traditions of drinkers. Cincinnati's Rhineeist Brewing they're 44 00:04:05,039 --> 00:04:11,840 teaming up with the University of Cincinnati for a new Cinse Light Lagger, a 45 00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:17,040 portion of Cincy Lights. The sales are going to support the nil efforts of 46 00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:26,639 Cincinnati Bearcat student athletes. So a beer will help fund eighteen year olds to 47 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:31,639 get a name, image, likeness, money, compensation to play sports. 48 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:35,519 I don't get it, but who am I? I mentioned on the show 49 00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:41,160 a few weeks ago that there could be a Purdue Beer canned chicken beer. 50 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:46,920 Well it's official now, Purdue the Chicken Company. They're partnering with New York 51 00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:53,040 based Torch and Crown and this is a summer ale with Citra hops and seasonings 52 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:59,519 like time pink, peppercorns and rosemary to enhance the flavors of the chicken as 53 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:03,639 well standalone as a beer to enjoy. So I guess you could head over 54 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:09,399 to Torch and Crown or Purdue's website to see if you could get your hands 55 00:05:09,439 --> 00:05:16,120 on the beer can Chicken beer locally here in Chicago. Choose Chicago in partnership 56 00:05:16,199 --> 00:05:21,639 with the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild. They announced the launch of the twenty twenty 57 00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:28,879 three Chicago Friday Night Flights. It's going to open this Friday, June second, 58 00:05:29,079 --> 00:05:34,399 in Gallagher Way in Wrigleyville. There's going to be over thirty breweries from 59 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:41,240 neighborhoods across the city Food. There's a DJ now. I'm going to be 60 00:05:41,319 --> 00:05:45,560 at this one Friday, so if you're in the wrigley Field area Friday between 61 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:48,639 five and seven, look for me. But there's also another session later on 62 00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:54,360 the day. You could get tickets in advance for twenty five dollars or thirty 63 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:59,160 dollars at the door. That's going to include ten three ounce beer samples. 64 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:01,920 A haunt of breweries here. They all look great. I don't want to 65 00:06:01,959 --> 00:06:05,800 list them all goes. It's a quick show. I don't talk that long, 66 00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:11,000 but there is a lot of great breweries across the city and state, 67 00:06:11,439 --> 00:06:25,560 so please check out Chicago Friday Night Flights dot com. I'm Richie aka Midnight 68 00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:30,519 Agent Raw. I'm Devin aka Special Delivery Dev. We're the Supermedia Bros. 69 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:34,480 Podcast and each week we give a comedically informative take on movies, music, 70 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:40,199 television, pro wrestling, and much more. Check us out at Supermedia Bros 71 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:45,040 podcast dot Com, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere else that you can 72 00:06:45,079 --> 00:06:53,079 listen to podcasts. Shades on We're off. Be sure to catch the latest 73 00:06:53,199 --> 00:06:59,839 from Supermedia Bros. Wherever you listen to podcasts. All right, welcome, 74 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:04,959 Walnut River is a brewery located in El Dorado, Kansas, with a restaurant 75 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:10,480 and brew pub in which it's all. They began operations in two thousand and 76 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:15,680 thirteen, and in July, Walnut River will celebrate their tenth anniversary. Coming 77 00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:20,439 on now to talk about Walnut River is j Sanderson. He's the head of 78 00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:25,800 sales. Jay, thanks for coming on in an early tenth anniversary to the 79 00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:29,879 brewery. Well, thank you, Dave, And I must say before we 80 00:07:29,920 --> 00:07:31,639 start, I really really enjoyed the podcast. I was turned onto it not 81 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:38,839 too long ago by a friend and I actually it seems like almost counterintuitive, 82 00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:42,480 counterproductive, but I listened to the podcast when I'm working out, so I'm 83 00:07:42,759 --> 00:07:46,040 thinking about my reward at the gym while I'm getting in my workout. So 84 00:07:46,160 --> 00:07:50,399 thank you. Yeah, Well, most most gym show the food Channel or 85 00:07:50,519 --> 00:07:55,040 something while you're working out, so it's good that you're listening about beer. 86 00:07:55,720 --> 00:07:59,839 Yes, sir, How did you guys start the brewery? How did that 87 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:03,920 come about? So the brewery, it's actually kind of an interesting story. 88 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:07,439 So we have three principal owners and they're in the building every day. We're 89 00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:11,279 a small company. We're actually the second largest brewery in the state of Kansas, 90 00:08:11,279 --> 00:08:13,160 and there are eight of us who worked their total. So we get 91 00:08:13,199 --> 00:08:16,920 after it with a small crew. But the three owners, a guy named 92 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:22,319 BJ Hunt, Travis Rohberg, and Rick Gearing are the owners. BJ Hunt 93 00:08:22,639 --> 00:08:28,879 was his career was he ran a family business. It was a daycare center 94 00:08:28,879 --> 00:08:31,759 that had two hundred and fifty children in it. Rick was a corporate IT 95 00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:39,759 guy for a long time, and Travis was in pharmaceuticals and the ethanol industry. 96 00:08:39,799 --> 00:08:43,360 He got a degree in microbiology. And so BJ wanted to open up 97 00:08:43,360 --> 00:08:48,559 brewery in Wichita, and he didn't know anything about brewing, but he had 98 00:08:48,559 --> 00:08:52,799 a friend who did and hooked him up with Rick and they got together one 99 00:08:52,879 --> 00:08:54,480 day and he said, yeah, all try the beer. And they got 100 00:08:54,519 --> 00:09:00,159 together and Rick had been a homebrewer for thirty years and had a dream of 101 00:09:00,159 --> 00:09:03,759 owning a brewery someday also, and so they got together. They BJ sampled 102 00:09:03,759 --> 00:09:07,679 some of Rick's homebrew stuff and as we say lovingly at the brewery, this 103 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:13,679 doesn't suck. That's kind of that is high praise at our place. And 104 00:09:13,879 --> 00:09:16,360 BJ said, yeah, this beer doesn't suck. And so they started to 105 00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:22,440 launch a business plan and then not long after they started that plan. Travis 106 00:09:22,440 --> 00:09:24,879 got involved kind of just coming around helping out. He also was a homebrewer, 107 00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:28,279 so he got involved slowly but surely, and then after a short amount 108 00:09:28,279 --> 00:09:33,679 of time saw that this was gonna probably be successful. Invested in the company 109 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:37,399 in its early days. And that was ten years ago, and we are 110 00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:43,360 now just smooth sailing here ten years later. Awesome. The building that you're 111 00:09:43,399 --> 00:09:46,879 in now, looking at the website, the building itself could be a whole 112 00:09:46,879 --> 00:09:56,039 episode by itself. The building opened up around World War One. In between 113 00:09:56,120 --> 00:10:01,000 then and now, it's been a bakery, a creamer, a market, 114 00:10:01,519 --> 00:10:07,000 and a brothel. Yes, and so it's a two story building. As 115 00:10:07,039 --> 00:10:09,120 you mentioned, it's more than a hundred years old. And in the early 116 00:10:09,240 --> 00:10:15,679 days it first opened as a grocery store, and that was on the lower 117 00:10:15,759 --> 00:10:20,200 level. On the second floor there was a much more sordid operation going on. 118 00:10:22,159 --> 00:10:26,240 A woman named Goldie operated her brothel upstairs, and for years and years 119 00:10:26,679 --> 00:10:31,639 the police left her alone. She was open from basically World War One through 120 00:10:31,679 --> 00:10:35,360 World War two. At that time, Elderado was almost as big as Wichita, 121 00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:39,840 and in fact it was a far wealthier town than Wichita because the oil 122 00:10:39,879 --> 00:10:45,399 boom in Kansas was centered in Elderdo, and so at the time Goldie's service 123 00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:48,799 was two dollars, and a similar service in Wichita was just one dollar. 124 00:10:50,240 --> 00:10:54,759 Because it was wealthier money, wealthier people out in Elderdo, and so the 125 00:10:54,799 --> 00:10:58,679 market was a little higher out there. But the po local police left her 126 00:10:58,679 --> 00:11:03,600 alone because they were far more We're worried about gambling rings and prohibition behavior down 127 00:11:03,679 --> 00:11:07,559 on the first level, and so the police left Goldie alone and she did 128 00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:13,360 her thing for all those years. Any chance of a Goldie's Golden Ale coming 129 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:20,240 up soon, we have discussed that a number of times. Modern sensibilities are 130 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:26,080 a smitch different now and so's it has come up where it's not a complete 131 00:11:26,159 --> 00:11:31,480 no, But we just haven't found the right scenario to launch that beer yet. 132 00:11:31,759 --> 00:11:39,000 Yeah, when initially Ben now he's the marketing person, he got a 133 00:11:39,039 --> 00:11:46,519 hold of me and was saying that your flagship beer is an Irish red and 134 00:11:46,600 --> 00:11:52,120 I'm actually drinking war Beard right now. I love Irish reds one of my 135 00:11:52,159 --> 00:11:58,960 favorite styles. And actually when I make my corn beef around Saint Patrick's Day, 136 00:11:58,200 --> 00:12:03,240 I always get in Irish red beer. So Ruby, my wife. 137 00:12:03,279 --> 00:12:09,000 If you're listening and you see a debit card charge at a gas station in 138 00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:13,759 Kansas. Just let it be. It's research and development. How did how 139 00:12:13,759 --> 00:12:18,279 did Irish Red become your flagship? Well, in the initial days of the 140 00:12:18,279 --> 00:12:22,960 brewery, that was not the beer that they had intended to become the flagship. 141 00:12:22,039 --> 00:12:28,480 So Rick wanted to have a California Common being the flagship beer. But 142 00:12:28,759 --> 00:12:33,320 as most people in business find out, you don't decide what your flagship is 143 00:12:33,360 --> 00:12:35,840 the market does. A couple of things happened with war Beard. One, 144 00:12:35,919 --> 00:12:39,679 as you're sampling it right now, it's a damn good beer. It's just 145 00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:43,840 the liquid is fantastic, it's smooth, it's easy drinking, it's it's just 146 00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:46,879 it hits, I mean, the maltiness. It's just on point in every 147 00:12:46,879 --> 00:12:50,879 way possible. That And if you look at the can, the can art 148 00:12:52,559 --> 00:12:56,639 is fabulous. It's it's just beautiful. And when you see that sitting on 149 00:12:56,679 --> 00:13:01,080 a shelf, it stands out. Yeah. Really, So at that time 150 00:13:01,480 --> 00:13:05,799 when when when the brand was launched, it was just a perfect confluence of 151 00:13:05,840 --> 00:13:09,320 everything happening all at once. There was no Irish Red really on the market 152 00:13:09,480 --> 00:13:15,200 outside of maybe like Killions, and that's kind of even dissipated a little bit 153 00:13:15,240 --> 00:13:18,720 in the United States also, and so in Kansas, it's the only Irish 154 00:13:18,720 --> 00:13:24,200 red that is packaged and sold, and we have distribution in Kansas and Missouri, 155 00:13:24,240 --> 00:13:26,799 and it does well in Missouri. Also, your Chicago guy, you 156 00:13:26,799 --> 00:13:30,200 can get it in Saint Louis. If you're ever in that area where we 157 00:13:30,279 --> 00:13:33,919 do really well in Saint Louis, Yeah, take a drive down and pick 158 00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:37,840 some up. That's exactly right. So one of the things that really made 159 00:13:37,879 --> 00:13:41,120 it go well early was it was there was some scarcity to the product in 160 00:13:41,120 --> 00:13:46,679 the early days. The brewery now is on a thirty barrel brew system, 161 00:13:46,679 --> 00:13:50,720 but it originally started just on a modest two barrel system and we actually still 162 00:13:50,759 --> 00:13:54,480 have that and use that as our pilot batch system. But in the beginning, 163 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:58,679 the the guys they kept their full time jobs and would just brew on 164 00:13:58,879 --> 00:14:01,960 Sat. Friday, nights, Saturdays and Sundays, and they would triple batch 165 00:14:01,120 --> 00:14:05,039 into a seven barrel fermenter. And so they were serving beer in the back 166 00:14:05,039 --> 00:14:09,360 of a flea market, which is where the brewery is now. It was 167 00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:13,799 a flea market right before it turned into the brewery. But they were just 168 00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:18,000 serving it out of a kegerator just into growlers and crowlers to go. They 169 00:14:18,000 --> 00:14:20,159 were they didn't have any on premise consumption or anything like that, but they 170 00:14:20,159 --> 00:14:24,200 went through it quickly because it became well known and popular that people liked it. 171 00:14:24,519 --> 00:14:28,559 And then their first they got a bar in Wichita to take it and 172 00:14:28,559 --> 00:14:31,600 sell it. And the first night they sold through a keg in like an 173 00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:35,759 hour and a half on a night that they had a concert. And then 174 00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:39,879 words started to spread. And so you put in the scarcity of a really 175 00:14:39,879 --> 00:14:45,559 good product with the popularity of it and the cool marketing, and the brand 176 00:14:45,559 --> 00:14:48,279 just exploded. Everything happened in the right place at the right time, and 177 00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:52,440 then Walnut River Brewing was established, and then we've launched the other flagship brands 178 00:14:52,440 --> 00:14:56,240 since then. But war Beard is what keeps the lights on. It kept 179 00:14:56,240 --> 00:15:01,600 them on then and it is absolutely the cash cow, so to speak. 180 00:15:01,639 --> 00:15:07,279 And really war Beard is the number one selling locally made craft beer in the 181 00:15:07,279 --> 00:15:09,159 state of Kansas, and we're very, very proud of that. Yeah, 182 00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:16,399 it's an excellent beer. I'm having it right now. Very good multi profile 183 00:15:16,559 --> 00:15:20,639 here, that's the first thing that I get looking at the specsheet here. 184 00:15:20,679 --> 00:15:26,879 Only five and a half percent alcohol. This is easily crushable. You could 185 00:15:26,919 --> 00:15:31,720 have this all year round. It's not just for Saint Patrick's Day when you 186 00:15:31,759 --> 00:15:37,240 see a lot of the Irish shreds that come out. So this is definitely 187 00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:41,919 a year round beer and delicious. It doesn't drink like a beer that color 188 00:15:43,080 --> 00:15:46,240 you would suspect would drink. It's very very easy to drink. I see 189 00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:50,120 people have this at the lake all the time, you know, I mean. 190 00:15:50,159 --> 00:15:52,120 And yes, we have lighter offerings. We have a Coalsh, we 191 00:15:52,200 --> 00:15:54,639 have a wheat beer, we have some summer beers. We do a rattler 192 00:15:54,639 --> 00:16:00,639 in the summer. But war Beard is all reliable and it just it just 193 00:16:00,679 --> 00:16:03,159 goes and goes and goes. Now, there is a segment of the of 194 00:16:03,240 --> 00:16:07,840 the drinking market that doesn't buy it in the summer. They'd prefer to drink 195 00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:11,480 it in the spring in the fall, but that's not what our market at 196 00:16:11,559 --> 00:16:15,320 large does. It really does sell well year round. You were mentioning some 197 00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:19,039 of the other beers you have. Are you seeing that you have five beers 198 00:16:19,039 --> 00:16:23,960 that are available year round and you have an additional ten that are in the 199 00:16:25,120 --> 00:16:30,759 yearly rotation. Besides what you mentioned, what other styles of beer does Walnut 200 00:16:30,840 --> 00:16:34,600 River put out, So we do a six month seasonal coffee line. We 201 00:16:34,679 --> 00:16:40,200 do a coffee porter called Devil's Blend Coffee Porter that has done in the fall 202 00:16:40,279 --> 00:16:44,799 in the winter, and then we do Angels Blend Coffee coolsh in the spring 203 00:16:44,879 --> 00:16:48,000 and summer, the Coffee Coalsh. This is the second year that we've done 204 00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:51,960 that. We introduce that last year. The Devil's Blend Coffee Porter used to 205 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:56,279 be a year round beer, but it did kind of fizzle a little bit 206 00:16:56,320 --> 00:16:59,320 in the in the warmer months, and so we pulled that back to a 207 00:16:59,360 --> 00:17:04,160 six months and complimented that with the coffee cools and they've they both do beautifully. 208 00:17:04,200 --> 00:17:07,480 In fact, the Devil's Blend is my favorite beer that we make at 209 00:17:07,480 --> 00:17:11,400 the brewery. I like porters, I like coffee, and we do ours 210 00:17:11,400 --> 00:17:15,680 a little bit differently than a lot of other breweries when they do coffee beers. 211 00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:18,440 Um, we kind of have a proprietary method that we have developed that 212 00:17:18,559 --> 00:17:23,000 I've not heard of anybody else using, and it keeps some of the astringency 213 00:17:23,039 --> 00:17:26,200 and bitterness of the coffee out of the beer and it really smooths it out 214 00:17:26,240 --> 00:17:30,720 a whole bunch and if you're ever able to get your hand on the Devil's 215 00:17:30,759 --> 00:17:36,160 Blend. A couple of tips. It's really really good with pancakes and sausage. 216 00:17:36,480 --> 00:17:40,319 It's just fabulous. So it's like on a Saturday morning, you know, 217 00:17:40,960 --> 00:17:44,799 you're kicking around. I first had it we went camping and somebody offered 218 00:17:44,799 --> 00:17:48,480 it to me with breakfast out on a camping trip. It was good. 219 00:17:48,519 --> 00:17:52,720 And then the other way that it's just blissful is do a beer float and 220 00:17:52,759 --> 00:17:56,759 put a scoop of vanilla ice cream in with the coffee porter and it is 221 00:17:56,759 --> 00:18:00,400 just out of this world as a dessert. So those are our two coffee 222 00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:04,680 beers. And then the rest of the seasons we do a Belgian tripell called 223 00:18:04,839 --> 00:18:11,279 Maniacal Monk. We do a session ipa called day pass Our Rattler is called 224 00:18:11,359 --> 00:18:17,039 Eliminator um so and that has there's a meaning to that. Zz Top is 225 00:18:17,480 --> 00:18:19,880 Rick, our headbrewer's favorite band of all time. And if you look at 226 00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:23,720 the high Beam, can it looks like the cover of the Eliminator album. 227 00:18:26,759 --> 00:18:30,200 Yeah, I could definitely see that, yes, sir. And then uh, 228 00:18:30,359 --> 00:18:33,519 the of course naming Elimon Rattler the Eliminator, that was a no brainer. 229 00:18:33,559 --> 00:18:37,559 To do that. Our october Fest is our most popular seasonal. I 230 00:18:37,599 --> 00:18:42,079 will put our October Fest up against anybody else's in the United States. We 231 00:18:42,200 --> 00:18:47,319 do an imperial version of war Beard. Our Imperial Irish reddit is called more 232 00:18:47,400 --> 00:18:52,440 Beard. And then we do a Russian imperial stout called Kuvalda, and Kuvalda 233 00:18:52,599 --> 00:18:57,720 actually means sledge hammer in Russian and as an imperial stout, it is a 234 00:18:57,720 --> 00:19:03,440 bit of a sledge hammer. And then the last beer that we release annually, 235 00:19:03,799 --> 00:19:07,359 it's a short run and we do a really a kind of a limited 236 00:19:07,359 --> 00:19:11,440 batch of it. But we run a homebrew contest every year and the winner 237 00:19:11,480 --> 00:19:14,920 of that gets to come in and brew on our big thirty barrel system and 238 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:18,640 have their their beer sold in the market. So those are the ten seasons 239 00:19:18,680 --> 00:19:22,720 that we have in addition to our five year rounds. When does this homebrew 240 00:19:22,839 --> 00:19:27,519 competition run? Like? Is it open now? Can people send in entries 241 00:19:27,559 --> 00:19:33,559 now? So what we do is we have a mug club at the brewery, 242 00:19:33,920 --> 00:19:37,519 and mug clubs sign up day is always Black Friday, the day after 243 00:19:37,559 --> 00:19:45,240 Thanksgiving every year, and so with our mug club we have we have seventy 244 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:49,119 five members at our main brewery and fifty at our restaurant in Wichita, and 245 00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:53,079 you get to renew every year. We limited we cap it at that number, 246 00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:57,160 but every year we'll have a handful of people who don't renew, and 247 00:19:57,200 --> 00:20:03,119 so on Black Friday, don't announce how many there are available. And so 248 00:20:03,240 --> 00:20:06,559 every year on Black Friday we have a line out the door at nine am 249 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:11,279 for people wanting to get however many available Mud Club memberships there are, and 250 00:20:11,319 --> 00:20:15,519 so Black Friday has kind of become a big day for us. Even people 251 00:20:15,519 --> 00:20:19,000 who don't get the membership. We still have food trucks out front and we 252 00:20:19,039 --> 00:20:25,119 have kind of a little party to celebrate our town and our customers. And 253 00:20:25,160 --> 00:20:29,160 so a couple of years ago we came up with this idea that we're going 254 00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:33,640 to do this homebrew contest, and so we run it differently than everybody else, 255 00:20:33,079 --> 00:20:37,240 and so we have it goes in two stages. We actually have a 256 00:20:37,279 --> 00:20:41,960 brew Day where people can they reinvite them and they come to our facility and 257 00:20:41,000 --> 00:20:45,400 in our parking lot they set up their homebrew equipment. We supply the water, 258 00:20:45,759 --> 00:20:49,680 we supply electricity, but they bring their entire systems set up in our 259 00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:52,920 parking lot and we have like a group brew Day, and it's kind of 260 00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:57,440 become a festival for homebrewers. And we celebrate homebrewers because I started as a 261 00:20:57,440 --> 00:21:02,920 homebrewer. Most everybody the brewery was a homebrewer before they got into the business, 262 00:21:03,119 --> 00:21:06,160 and so we want to celebrate the heart of where we came from and 263 00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:10,279 celebrate, you know, the craft beer community. You know, the DNA 264 00:21:10,519 --> 00:21:14,359 is homebrewing, and we want to celebrate that. And so we run this 265 00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:18,359 contest. So brew Day is Black Friday. We bring we open up our 266 00:21:18,400 --> 00:21:19,599 taps in the building to them. They get to go out and kind of 267 00:21:19,599 --> 00:21:22,920 have pores of you know, whatever they want of our beers while they're making 268 00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:26,519 theirs. Then they take it home and ferment it, and then we bring 269 00:21:26,559 --> 00:21:30,599 them back on us. We do it seven weeks later. We do it 270 00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:34,000 the Saturday of Martin Luther King weekend because a lot of folks have that Monday 271 00:21:34,039 --> 00:21:38,240 off, and we do that. We do a judging day where all of 272 00:21:38,279 --> 00:21:42,920 it we employees the brewery and we bring in a couple of guest judges from 273 00:21:42,920 --> 00:21:48,240 other local breweries to help judge. And while we're judging, all the entrants 274 00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:55,440 bring their entries back and while we're upstairs in the office doing the judging. 275 00:21:55,880 --> 00:21:59,279 All of those guys and gals are on the first floor basically having a big 276 00:21:59,279 --> 00:22:03,880 bottle share part and so it's like it's become like a two day homebrew party 277 00:22:04,079 --> 00:22:07,680 slash festival, and then we go down, we announced the winner, and 278 00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:11,920 then everybody just kind of hangs out and it just becomes like a big beer 279 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:15,200 party. And so we do run our homebrew contest goal differently, so that's 280 00:22:15,240 --> 00:22:19,960 in January is when the judging is, and we typically schedule the brew day 281 00:22:21,680 --> 00:22:25,599 for early April to have the beer out into the market on May first. 282 00:22:26,319 --> 00:22:30,920 The winner, they get their beers out in cans and it's all around like 283 00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:33,960 the distribution area as well too. Yes, we do put it out for 284 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:37,720 distribution. So each year the winner can have a six pack or whatever he 285 00:22:37,799 --> 00:22:44,000 wants sitting on his mantle as a trophy of his beer that he made that 286 00:22:44,160 --> 00:22:48,359 has a label, a professionally designed label, and that's his keepsake in memento 287 00:22:48,480 --> 00:22:52,599 forever. And it's become a really cool thing. We've never had anybody asked, 288 00:22:52,599 --> 00:22:55,240 well, what's my code of the profit. And we don't make a 289 00:22:55,279 --> 00:22:57,480 whole lot on this. We do it more as a labor of love to 290 00:22:57,559 --> 00:23:03,079 give back to the homebrew community. We you know, we assume all the 291 00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:08,200 risk in brewing the big batch and so but the winner they get to have, 292 00:23:08,960 --> 00:23:12,960 they essentially help us design the label that goes out into the market. 293 00:23:15,039 --> 00:23:18,039 Their name goes on it. I mean, it's a whole big package that 294 00:23:18,119 --> 00:23:22,000 they receive, and then they come out on brew day, they come out 295 00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:25,279 on packaging day, and they participate in the process start to finish, so 296 00:23:25,319 --> 00:23:27,160 their hand is in it the entire time. And this year was the second 297 00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:32,119 year we did that. The first year our winner was a black Ipa, 298 00:23:32,279 --> 00:23:36,240 which was fantastic, and this year was it was kind of an off the 299 00:23:36,559 --> 00:23:40,119 beaten path beer, but it was boy, it was delicious. It was 300 00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:45,119 a fruit punch ale and it I mean, if you imagine Hawaiian punch as 301 00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:48,640 a beer, that's exactly what this was. And it was out of this 302 00:23:48,680 --> 00:23:51,359 world. And he did it entirely with hops. He didn't put any fruit 303 00:23:51,400 --> 00:23:56,720 in it. He got the red color from using hibiscus, but the tropical 304 00:23:56,720 --> 00:24:02,079 fruit flavor came from hops. And it was awesome. Oh. I see 305 00:24:02,680 --> 00:24:06,279 for year or four of this, maybe doing a mix pack of all four 306 00:24:06,319 --> 00:24:08,960 winners from the first four years. That's a cool idea. Yeah, I 307 00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:12,279 know what, I'm gonna write that down because as we say in the building, 308 00:24:12,279 --> 00:24:15,640 if you steal from a brewery, you've stolen twice. Yeah, everybody's 309 00:24:15,640 --> 00:24:18,839 stolen somebody else's idea at some point. Yeah, so I'm gonna make a 310 00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:22,960 note of that. We ought to kind of bring back those on like our 311 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:26,640 two barrel system into a small run of variety packs. That's a great idea. 312 00:24:26,759 --> 00:24:29,920 Well, you know for payment, you could send a twelve pack my 313 00:24:30,079 --> 00:24:36,079 way that we can do that. Yeah, you mentioned the distribution, Like 314 00:24:36,119 --> 00:24:40,119 you said, you're big in Saint Louis, you're in Missouri. Are there 315 00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:44,279 any other like states? I mean besides the two that you could get it? 316 00:24:44,400 --> 00:24:48,519 Or do you do like mail order if people wanted to order your stuff 317 00:24:48,519 --> 00:24:52,799 online? Well we wish we could. So what a lot of folks don't 318 00:24:52,839 --> 00:24:56,240 know is Kansas, and this is a true story, was actually ground zero 319 00:24:56,319 --> 00:25:02,200 for prohibition. Prohibition and Kansas was an active in eighteen eighty and it was 320 00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:06,119 federally enacted in nineteen nineteen, So Kansas had a forty year head start on 321 00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:10,559 the federal prohibition and then after the federal prohibition was repealed in nineteen thirty three, 322 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:15,160 Kansas held onto it until about nineteen fifty. So Kansas still has some 323 00:25:15,359 --> 00:25:21,319 very very arcane liquor laws, including the inability to ship beer directly to customers. 324 00:25:21,359 --> 00:25:25,440 And it's it's an unfortunate thing because people travel in here, they try 325 00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:27,440 war Beard, they want to take it home or some of our other beers 326 00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:34,839 we get. We get requests all the time to our email inbox for asking 327 00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:37,640 us to mail samples, and we just can't do it. I wish we 328 00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:42,240 could. I wish we could sell beer through the mail, because it would 329 00:25:42,279 --> 00:25:47,440 it would open up a lot of different channels for us business wise. But 330 00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:55,359 Kansas is a deep, deep red state and some of those uber conservative sensibilities 331 00:25:55,400 --> 00:26:00,240 from the past are being held onto very rigidly. Yeah, well even Nooi, 332 00:26:00,400 --> 00:26:03,640 which is pretty much a blue state. But we have the same laws 333 00:26:03,759 --> 00:26:10,000 here where it was on the books for this session and I don't think it's 334 00:26:10,079 --> 00:26:14,480 finally been voted on, But we have the same thing where breweries here cannot 335 00:26:14,880 --> 00:26:18,519 direct ship to consumers. And yeah, like you said, that would just 336 00:26:18,599 --> 00:26:22,680 open up a whole new revenue stream for you know, every small business it 337 00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:29,640 really would, but it also would limit the ability for the governments to tax 338 00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:33,519 it ship directly to customers, and Uncle Sam's going to get his piece of 339 00:26:33,519 --> 00:26:38,039 the pie no matter what. What's funny is between state and federal taxation here 340 00:26:38,359 --> 00:26:44,119 the government writ large in Kansas and the federals they make more money on a 341 00:26:44,119 --> 00:26:48,440 gallon of our beer than we do, which is just insane. And what 342 00:26:48,599 --> 00:26:56,880 about like here, I know between the distribute the distribution channels and the retailers, 343 00:26:56,359 --> 00:26:59,599 you know, if you add them up, they make more than the 344 00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:03,000 brewer. He does too, And that's okay because that's part of the three 345 00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:07,839 tier system. And we are okay with that because we are distribute our distribution 346 00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:11,839 network. We need them because we don't have the band power or the infrastructure 347 00:27:11,839 --> 00:27:15,839 with trucks and whatnot to get everything delivered out to two different states. And 348 00:27:15,880 --> 00:27:19,119 so we do rely on our distributors and it's a wonderful working partnership and we 349 00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:23,480 are so so thankful for them because there are boots on the ground and we 350 00:27:23,559 --> 00:27:27,440 have fantastic relationships with all of them. It's it's part of the business deal. 351 00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:30,960 It's set up the way it is, and it works for us. 352 00:27:30,039 --> 00:27:34,880 I know there are others who have more nuanced views of how the distribution all 353 00:27:36,759 --> 00:27:40,559 works, but we're pretty happy with how that all goes. As we're finishing 354 00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:45,480 up here and I'm finishing up my war beard. You mentioned in Imperial what's 355 00:27:45,519 --> 00:27:49,640 the difference between the Imperial and the regular war beard. So we basically double 356 00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:55,359 the grain bill when we make it. It's it's it's a little bit heavier 357 00:27:55,400 --> 00:27:57,319 on the mouth field. It's so it's it's war Beard, it's our imperial 358 00:27:57,319 --> 00:28:02,599 IRUs red it's called more Beard. And if you've got that little magazine that 359 00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:04,200 I sent you, it's in the back of there. The description of it 360 00:28:04,279 --> 00:28:08,079 is in there. But it's ten point one percent, whereas war Beard is 361 00:28:08,079 --> 00:28:12,759 five point five percent. But it's so it's essentially the exact same grain bill 362 00:28:12,920 --> 00:28:18,599 and hop editions, it's just doubled, and we do that in it's a 363 00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:21,839 little bit smaller run that we do that. But also we do those are 364 00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:26,720 most of our beards were six pack cans in cases, we do this in 365 00:28:26,839 --> 00:28:30,680 four packs of sixteen ounce cans as opposed to six twelve ounce cans, And 366 00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:34,119 so we want you to get more, you know, each time, And 367 00:28:34,160 --> 00:28:40,000 so it is that's a brand that is kind of gained a cult following here 368 00:28:40,079 --> 00:28:42,240 a little bit. People do say, hey, when's more Beard coming out? 369 00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:45,799 This year, we re we adjusted when we release it. It had 370 00:28:45,799 --> 00:28:49,200 previously been like a January February release. This year we shifted it back to 371 00:28:49,240 --> 00:28:52,400 September, and the people who were waiting for like where is it, where 372 00:28:52,400 --> 00:28:56,480 the hell a Dell's going on? And when it didn't come out in the 373 00:28:56,480 --> 00:28:59,839 early part of the year. But now it'll create even more pull when we 374 00:29:00,079 --> 00:29:03,920 let go of it in September. Oh awesome. Well, Jay, I 375 00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:07,079 appreciate you coming on. I really enjoy talking to you. I have to 376 00:29:07,599 --> 00:29:12,799 make a drive down to Kansas and pick some up. Is there anything else 377 00:29:12,839 --> 00:29:17,680 you'd like to tell the people about your brewery that you know we didn't touch 378 00:29:17,720 --> 00:29:19,680 on. Well, first of all, if you ever make it to Kansas, 379 00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:22,880 give me a call and we'll make sure you get a private tour of 380 00:29:22,920 --> 00:29:26,000 the brewery. It's not a big building, but since you talked about the 381 00:29:26,039 --> 00:29:27,400 building, you've got to come see it. So if you're ever down toward 382 00:29:27,759 --> 00:29:33,039 the Wichita, Kansas area for any reason, we would love to welcome you 383 00:29:33,119 --> 00:29:36,960 and host you at the brewery. That would be a great time. You 384 00:29:36,960 --> 00:29:41,000 know, we just check out our website Wallet River Brewing dot com. We 385 00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:45,400 you know, we're just we're just hard working, blue collar guys that like 386 00:29:45,519 --> 00:29:48,279 beer, that work hard, that have fun with what we do. We 387 00:29:48,359 --> 00:29:52,559 don't take ourselves seriously. We take customer service seriously, but we feel like 388 00:29:52,599 --> 00:29:56,880 we're just like every other average Joe out there who just likes to drink good 389 00:29:56,880 --> 00:30:00,759 beer. Yeah. Well, and I'll vouch for their beer because it's all 390 00:30:00,839 --> 00:30:03,599 great. If you listen. Later on in the show, I'm going to 391 00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:07,319 have a few more of their beers and I'll talk more in depth about them. 392 00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:11,920 But everything I've had so far that was delivered via carrier pigeon, I've 393 00:30:11,920 --> 00:30:17,400 really enjoyed. So Jay, thank you again. Brother. I will see 394 00:30:17,440 --> 00:30:19,039 you down the road. Sir, Yes, sir, take care of stay 395 00:30:19,039 --> 00:30:33,799 in touch. Hey. I'm Lauren and I'm John and we host the beard 396 00:30:33,799 --> 00:30:37,279 Ol Podcast, the podcast where we talk about two of the greatest things in 397 00:30:37,279 --> 00:30:41,599 the world, beer and weird al and a lot of other things. We're 398 00:30:41,680 --> 00:30:45,599 funny. Yeah, that's basically what I told him to say. Good job 399 00:30:47,039 --> 00:30:52,400 with yay, But no, seriously, we try and care of beer. 400 00:30:52,559 --> 00:30:56,799 Weird ol song and talk about both things and go through the conversation takes us. 401 00:30:56,920 --> 00:31:00,559 It's fun. I promise you'll like it. Yeah, I mean if 402 00:31:00,599 --> 00:31:07,119 you like talking about random things as well as you know fine craft beers and 403 00:31:07,559 --> 00:31:14,640 some wonderful craft music, please check out my friends at Beard All any place 404 00:31:14,759 --> 00:31:18,880 you listen to podcasts. The next beer from Walnut River that I'm going to 405 00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:25,599 have is their IPA. This is called high Beam. This checks in at 406 00:31:25,680 --> 00:31:30,880 seven point seven percent. It's a West Coast style IPA with sixty five IBus. 407 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:41,880 So let's crack it open. Ibeam is a really nice color, good 408 00:31:41,039 --> 00:31:45,720 amber color. I'd say to this good two fingers of foam. Good, 409 00:31:45,799 --> 00:31:52,400 the aroma some it's citrus. I'm trying to think what else. Maybe a 410 00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:57,880 little bit floral as well, But the aroma is very nice. No, 411 00:31:59,079 --> 00:32:06,319 that's good. I get some floral notes to the taste as well as not 412 00:32:06,400 --> 00:32:09,440 so much tropical. I get more of the citrus here. But I think 413 00:32:09,440 --> 00:32:17,200 this is a really good West Coast IPA. High Beam uses falconers flight hoops 414 00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:22,640 in the recipe. I think this one's a winner. So if you're in 415 00:32:22,680 --> 00:32:28,720 the distribution area, I would definitely pick up High Beam. IPA. The 416 00:32:28,799 --> 00:32:35,319 next one up from Walnut River is Reo Ranged. This is an IPA with 417 00:32:35,519 --> 00:32:42,559 added orange zest five point nine percent alcohol forty four IBus. Let's crack open 418 00:32:42,599 --> 00:32:51,319 this one. This is a nice light color, really good color, really 419 00:32:51,359 --> 00:32:54,640 good foam here. Yeah, the aroma is good. I definitely pick up 420 00:32:54,680 --> 00:33:00,079 the orange zest and I get a little tropical notes to the But for me, 421 00:33:00,240 --> 00:33:05,680 the orange is the predominant flavor here that I'm getting. That's good. 422 00:33:06,440 --> 00:33:10,559 I'm a big fan of orange in anything, so this is a nice touch 423 00:33:10,599 --> 00:33:15,920 to this. I like this one a lot. So once again, another 424 00:33:15,960 --> 00:33:20,559 great beer from Walnut River. If you see rearranged, throw it in the 425 00:33:20,640 --> 00:33:36,319 carts. All right. That's gonna wrap things up for this week's episode of 426 00:33:36,519 --> 00:33:39,759 Beer in Front. I thank you very much for listening. I want to 427 00:33:39,839 --> 00:33:45,440 thank Jays Anderson from Walnut River Brewing. Please check them out if you're in 428 00:33:45,799 --> 00:33:52,039 their distribution area, which is Kansas in Missouri. Well worth it. Great 429 00:33:52,079 --> 00:33:55,319 beers, great people. Please check them out. Next week's show, I'm 430 00:33:55,319 --> 00:34:00,799 gonna have Monentucky cold snacks, so look for that. A lot of good 431 00:34:00,839 --> 00:34:05,920 stuff happening in the next month or so on Beer in Front. Please remember 432 00:34:06,480 --> 00:34:10,000 sometimes the beer in front of you is the best one yet. All Right, 433 00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:13,719 everyone, take care. I will talk to you next week.