We spoke with KC Bier Co. Head Brewer Karlton Graham about KC Bier Co. Festbier.

BC: Who came up with this beer’s recipe?
Our team wanted to make a Wies’n or Festbier that would be closer in character to the fall seasonal bier brewed in Bavaria, which has diminished in color over the years to make them more quaffable during the long hours of merrymaking at Oktoberfest. While the Big Six Munich brewers typically brew a pale, higher ABV version of their Helles Lager for Oktoberfest, our beer is a bit deeper in color and more similar to other Bavarian breweries that produce a fall festival bier with a reddish golden hue.

BC: What’s your favorite aspect of this beer (flavor, aroma, etc.)?
It has the clean, crisp, refreshing soul of a lager balanced with the honey and toasted biscuit character from the Vienna malt.

BC: Where does this beer’s name come from?
The name is copied from the generic name given to the modern bier style served in Munich at Oktoberfest that is usually referred to as Wies’n or Festbier.

BC: Is this your “desert island beer?”
I love our Helles Lager, but Festbier would be a close second.  Both biers have that same simple, everyday goodness of fresh homemade bread.

BC: Can you describe this beer in 10 words or less?
Honey and toasted biscuit maltiness with a crisp, clean finish

We spoke with KC Bier Co. Head Brewer Karlton Graham about KC Helles Lager.

BC: Who came up with this beer's recipe?
Steve Holle, our founder, is responsible for the original recipe and for acquiring the yeast strain that we use with it from a monastery brewery near Munich, Germany.

BC: What's your favorite aspect of this beer (flavor, aroma, etc.)?
The best thing about Helles Lager is that it's a crisp, clean and easy-drinking bier that has enough malt and hop character to be satisfying and interesting to the palate. It is hard to find all of this in a truly refreshing bier, which is why I believe it's the most-consumed bier style in Bavaria.

BC: Where does this beer's name come from?
Helles means "pale" or "bright" (in color) in German and is the generic name for a golden lager in Bavaria

BC: Is this your "desert island beer?"
YES! Helles is the bier that is famous for being served in a one-liter stein in Bavaria. It is interesting to the palate as well as bright and thirst-quenching enough that you always want to drink more. If I were trapped on a desert island, our Helles Lager would be the one bier I would want to have with me.

BC: Can you describe this beer in 10 words or less?
The ultimate, flavorful, everyday bier!

We spoke with KC Bier Co. Head Brewer Karlton Graham about KC Bier Co. Hefeweizen.

BC: Who came up with this beer's recipe?
Steve Holle (our founder and owner) and I established the original malt and hop bills as we prepared to open in late 2013.

As required in Germany to be called a wheat beer, we use more than 50% wheat malt, with the rest comprised of Pilsner malt, and a touch of Vienna malt for color. Making this bier is more about executing a process well. Most importantly, fermentation time, temperature and pressure must be managed perfectly for the yeast to consistently produce the desired flavors.

BC: What's your favorite aspect of this beer (flavor, aroma, etc.)?
My favorite part of this bier is the distinct estery banana flavor and aroma. We coax the yeast to produce lots of isoamyl. Spicy phenols linger in the background for balance, but the banana ester definitely is the star.

We spoke with Goodwood Brewing Co. COO & Brewmaster Joel Halbleib about Goodwood Bourbon Barrel Stout.

BC: Who came up with this beer’s recipe?
Myself and brewer David Pierce worked on this recipe together. 

BC: What’s your favorite aspect of this beer (flavor, aroma, etc.)?
My favorite aspect is the balance between the fresh malts, bourbon, char and oak. The blend is perfect in my book.

BC: Where does this beer’s name come from?
We like to keep it simple for our customers to know what they are drinking. Bourbon Barrel Stout says it all. 

BC: Is this your “desert island beer?”
It is a bit strong for island heat! Seriously, it is a very good brew but one beer for the rest of my life… No beer fills that role.

BC: Can you describe this beer in 10 words or less?
American Stout and fresh bourbon barrels blended to perfection. 

BC: Do you know a story – or have a personal story – that revolves around this beer?
It was my first week on the job as a professional brewer. The brewmaster came to me and told me we need a bourbon barrel-aged stout. He gave me some American Stout and asked me to come up with a blend and aging range that produced an exceptional brew. Two months later the brew went into production.  

We spoke with Cape May Brewery Head Brewer Brian Hink about Temporarily Permanent.

BC: Who came up with this beer’s recipe?
Temporarily Permanent started its life as a simple golden base beer intended for extended barrel-aging and was one of our first beers to be laid to rest in barrels to begin our sour program. We wanted each of the initial beers to focus on a specific aspect of barrel-aging -- maltier beer with a diverse set of microbes, expressive base beer with diverse microbes, Brett Saisons, and, in what came to be Temporarily Permanent, a Brett-heavy base beer intended for fruiting. So, while I technically came up with the recipe here, the end result was a team effort. From the cellaring, to the sensory panel selecting the right barrels for blending, to selecting the right fruit to pair off the barrels, to packaging what was our first can-conditioned sour beer, Temporarily Permanent was truly the work of the whole production team here at CMBC. 

BC: What’s your favorite aspect of this beer (flavor, aroma, etc.)?
This beer is very layered throughout. Upfront is a lot of the rustic Brett notes, followed by the subtle fruitiness, with a gentle acidity rounding everything together: it's really a fun beer. It definitely doesn't drink like 9.2%, but I really think that helps attribute another layer of depth to the whole profile. 

We spoke with East Brother Beer Co. Head Brewer Paul Liszewski about Oatmeal Stout.

BC: Who came up with this beer’s recipe?
These recipes were developed by Co-Founder Chris Coomber. It is my job to ensure that we flawlessly execute those recipes with pride and precision. We evaluate every batch and have tweaked the recipes as a part of our continual improvement philosophies.

BC: What’s your favorite aspect of this beer (flavor, aroma, etc.)?
The roast and chocolate malts with a smooth mouthfeel really make this a great stout. Overall, it is a light stout that doesn’t fill you up and breaks that preconceived notion that stouts are heavy and filling. The Oatmeal Stout tastes great out of the fridge, out of the beer engine or at room temp, and the malt really shines.

BC: Is this your “desert island beer?”
The Oatmeal Stout would make a great breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert beer. Tastes great icy cold and at room temperature. Makes for great ice cream floats too, assuming that there is a desert island ice cream available too.

BC: Can you describe this beer in 10 words or less?
Roasty, toasty, chocolaty, yum.

We spoke with East Brother Beer Co. Head Brewer Paul Liszewski about Bo Pils.

BC: Who came up with this beer’s recipe?
These recipes were developed by Co-Founder Chris Coomber. It is my job to ensure that we flawlessly execute those recipes with pride and precision. We evaluate every batch and have tweaked the recipes as a part of our continual improvement philosophies.

BC: What’s your favorite aspect of this beer (flavor, aroma, etc.)?
I love how pronounced the malt and hop flavors are in the Bo Pils. There is a nice graininess to the malt and a wonderful lemon hop character. It is a great beer for friends and family that haven’t been introduced to craft beer and mass produced beers are their go-to.

BC: Where does this beer’s name come from?
It is short for Bohemian Pilsner. We like to call our beers what they are. Brewing keeps us so busy and focused that we don’t really have the time to come up with witty names.

BC: Is this your “desert island beer?”
If there is refrigeration, absolutely. I can drink this beer all day while I forage for food, figuring out how to get rescued and whatnot. Then again, if it is an unlimited supply, I might skip the rescue part. If no refrigeration, see Oatmeal Stout.

BC: Can you describe this beer in 10 words or less?
Admire the perfect pour before enjoying.

We spoke with East Brother Beer Co. Head Brewer Paul Liszewski about Gold IPA.

BC: Who came up with this beer’s recipe?
These recipes were developed by Co-Founder Chris Coomber. It is my job to ensure that we flawlessly execute those recipes with pride and precision. We evaluate every batch and have tweaked the recipes as a part of our continual improvement philosophies.

BC: What’s your favorite aspect of this beer (flavor, aroma, etc.)?
I really enjoy a nice clear IPA that is a bit malt-forward balanced with great aroma and flavor from hops. The Gold IPA covers all that for me, and it’s just shy of a Double IPA. With a toddler at home, I am lucky to get to drink any beer, so I make it count.

BC: Where does this beer’s name come from?
This is actually our third iteration of the beer’s name. At one time we had the word “wheat” in the name, but that was confusing for people. We finally settled on calling it what it is, Gold IPA.

BC: Can you describe this beer in 10 words or less?
Balance of malty and fruity, beautiful head and clarity.

BC: What's a good food pairing for this beer?
This is my go-to, spicy-food beer. It’s perfect for grilled hot links, mustard and sauerkraut. Pairs well with the grilling of the hot links too.

We spoke with Coronado Brewing Director of Brewing Operations Shawn Steele about Island Vibes.

BC: Who came up with this beer’s recipe?
Many years ago, I was at a garden supply store and came across this wonderful aroma. Not knowing what was growing on the vine, I asked one of the employees – they told me it was passion fruit. Since then I’ve gone on to brew a few passion fruit beers – Island Vibes is my latest foray into a passion fruit beer. It turns out passion fruit is a great match for beer.

BC: What’s your favorite aspect of this beer (flavor, aroma, etc.)?
My favorite aspect of this beer is the drinkability. It’s super refreshing, effervescent and at 4.5%, it’s the perfect session beer.

BC: Where does this beer’s name come from?
When I think of tropical fruit like passion fruit, the first thing that comes to mind is an island paradise. Everything about this beer screams summer vibes, so we named it to evoke feelings of island living.

BC: Is this your “desert island beer?”
Yes! Island Vibes is perfect for drinking on a desert island.

BC: Can you describe this beer in 10 words or less?
Bright, crisp and refreshing with vibrant flavors of tropical fruit.