INTERVIEW CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

SI: What are your go-to beers (or for lack of a better term, your UNLimited beers)?

Rob: Being a Minnesota guy, most of my real go to stuff comes from around here.  If I’m in a position to drink a bomber, I drink a lot of stuff from Steel Toe, which is a real small outfit that only sells through a handful of stores.  Their Size 7 is a good, strong IPA.  When I’m only up for a can, I usually go with Surly.  Abrasive when it’s in season, Furious if it’s not.  Bender, and Bitter Brewer are great when I want something with a lower ABV.  But in reality, 2/3rds of the beers I drink are something I only drink once.  Not because I don’t like it, but because I’m always wanting to try new things.  Plus when I go around the country, I smuggle back all the local brews I can.  Now I have a beer fridge packed with random beers that I’ll probably only get to drink once.

Ron: Being from San Francisco, I always like to keep some fresh Pliny and (now) Blind Pig in the fridge as they are available and make for a great flavorful beer. Otherwise I actually like the Spiced Oak Innis & Gunn as a good secondary beer.

SI: Are the crowds you encounter at these events similar or are does each beer draw a different type of beer geek?

Rob: There are certainly differences and similarities.  The diehards are the same everywhere.  It’s just whether or not the event draws in casual fans.  For example Darkness Day is mostly going to draw in real diehards.  People aren’t going to wait in line for 10 hours at night in a cold MN night in the end of October if they aren’t serious about getting their hands on rare beer.  So there you get a lot of diehard beer geeks – and frankly mostly dudes – who can stay up most of the chill night and share beers…  Whereas the Black Tuesday release was more of a party for the special society members in Southern California.  There you got a lot more people dressed fashionably looking to have a party.  And much more even gender mix.

The one commonality is that beer people are quick to make friends with other beer people.  Beer fans love to talk about beer.  And given a chance, they all love to haul beer from their hometown and show it off to people around the country and taste things they can’t get at home.  Put those together, and add a little consumption for social lubricant and you’ve got instant friends.  Then as you go to more and more events, you start to see that there are a handful of the same people that keep showing up, and you get to know them better and better.

SI: Is there a beer or event that is requested most for a future episode?

Rob: We’ve had a lot of people suggest we attend Sexual Chocolate out at Foothills.  We were actually going to do that one this year, and decided on Hunahpu’s Day instead.  Maybe we’ll get to North Carolina next winter and hit this one up.  We have a wish list of our own too.  We really wanted to do King Henry last year, but it never got released.  We’re on the look out for releases of things that aren’t Imperial Stouts, so if anyone has suggestions please send them in. That was a big reason we did Younger.  When we do the same style over and over it makes it harder for us to add information on the history of the style.  Looking at it, we’re probably going add another beerfest or two in the future.  It’s technically not our original format, but it opens the door for variety for our viewers. We have had lots of people suggest we do the GABF, but there would be a lot of challenges associated there from what I’ve heard about the event.

Ron: And lets not forget the trip we want to do to Westvleteren to pick up some real Westy XII sometime!

Rob: Yeah – we  should do an international tour…as soon as we find a big sponsor.

SI: Are there beers that haven’t reached the “limited” status that might in the future?

Rob: There are a lot of world class beers coming out of tiny brew-pubs.  Like here in the Twin Cities Town Hall Brewery does the Czar Jack which is supposed to be incredible.  And another tiny place on the side of the freeway in the north suburbs here called Barley John’s that makes a beer called Dark Knight (Returns) that people swear by.   But they don’t bottle, and it’s not as nationally known as the others we’ve done.  Maybe that’s a good thing.   Maybe it would be more interesting for our viewers to hear about no-names.  I’m sure there are hundreds of these around the country waiting to explode.  If you make good beer, people seem to find you, wherever you are.

We have started featuring micro-breweries located near big events like 7th Sun in Florida, and Solemn Oath in Chicago.  The idea is to show our viewers; OK you’ve come to this big event, but while you’re in town – check out these places you probably haven’t heard of.  I mean, I know about Dark Lord as a beer, and I can get my hands on a bottle via trade or paying a small fortune if I really want to taste it.  But I’d never heard of Solemn Oath before, and their Snaggletooth IPA was outstanding!  One of the highlights of our trip that weekend. So if I’m watching these episodes and thinking of going to Hunahpu’s day next year – I see this other fun place called 7th Sun and instead of hitting up the bar at Appleby’s the next day waiting for my flight home. I’ll drive across town and check this little place out to try something cool and unique.